10 posts tagged “(3)”
Post number 51 is for J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. It's a book that's been on my to-read list for the past three years, so it's nice to finally scratch that one off. I wish I'd read this one prior to The Lord of the Rings books, because it was easier to get through, and perhaps would have prepared me for Tolkien's wordiness. Of course, it also could be that this book was simpler because I'd read the LotR books, although I doubt it, as this one was originally written for kids.
Quick spoilers follow.
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
This book tells the story of Frodo's uncle, Bilbo, who's coerced into an adventure via Gandalf, who's informed a company of dwarfs that he's a burglar. He ends up going across Middle-earth with them, during which time he's involved in a great many adventures. He's nearly eaten by a group of trolls, captured by goblins (then, as the dwarfs and Gandalf are escaping, he's hit on the head and gets left behind, during which time he gets involved in the riddle exchange with Gollum and steals the One Ring), escapes a murderous group of spiders in Mirkwood, burgles the Elf-King's halls while rescuing the captured dwarfs, escapes down the river on a barrel, before finally getting where they were headed, where he meets Smaug the dragon and fights in the battle of the five armies. The story ends with his return to Hobbiton, where the town was in the process of auctioning off his belongings as he was "presumed dead". He ended up having to repurchase many of his own items with the gold and silver he got in exchange for his burglaring, although he never did recover all of his silver spoons. :))
I liked this book, as it was very full of adventure, and was rather non-stop. Bilbo was a wonderful narrator whose inner thoughts were oftentimes amusing. I liked the glimpse of Middle-earth prior to the happenings in The Lord of the Rings, and liked the glimpses of some of the characters that we meet later in the trilogy. It also got me even more interested in Tolkien's world, so much so that I just ordered another book off Amazon called The Unfinished Tales, some of which I've already read, like the "Disaster at Gladden Fields" (i.e. the recounting of the death of Isildur) and the history of the palantiri. My next Tolkien book to read will most likely be The Silmarillion, although that will have to wait for a while, as I have some library books and some more books off my to-read list to get through first. (One thing I love about The Unfinished Tales is that there's a glossary in the back with all the names/places/terms/etc. from Middle-earth, which is much more handy than getting online and searching Wikipedia, as much as I love Wikipedia. (It's one of my favorite sites, in fact.))
Anyway, if you've never read anything by Tolkien, this is the best book to start with. And if you had trouble with the Lord of the Rings books, don't let those deter you from reading The Hobbit. It's really a rather delightful story that I will no doubt reread several more times in the future.
(In my LotR kick, I also just purchased this Faramir figure (not at the listed price - I did it via the used function, although the one I'm receiving is actually still in its package), which I'm rather excited about. There are a few others that I'd like to eventually own as well. Not sure what I'm going to do with them, but at least I'll have them when I figure it out. :-P)
Post number forty-eight is for Neil
Gaiman's Neverwhere, which has been on my to-read
list for the past four years at least. I enjoyed the book quite a bit
and have put the BBC production of the TV show (which was created first)
into my Blockbuster queue to watch. You know, eventually.
Brief spoilers follow.
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
Neverwhere
is about a sort of dual world, London Above (i.e. the actual city of
London) and London Below, which is where the people who have "fallen
through the cracks" have gone. It's a sort of medieval world, with
baronies and fiefdoms. Richard is from London Above. He has a stable
life: a good job, a fiancée, etc. One day he stumbles upon Door, a
girl from London Below, who he finds lying bleeding on a sidewalk while
he's headed out to dinner with his fiancée. Against Jessica's wishes,
he takes Door to his apartment to care for her, and that's when his
adventure starts.
Door is being hunted by two
assassins, Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar. She's special because her family
has a Talent: they can open things. She can basically open doors that
aren't there and send herself wherever she wants to go. Richard gets
pulled into the adventure against his will because, by helping Door,
he becomes one of the people who falls through the cracks.
The adventure includes a race
against the two assassins and includes a cast of colorful characters,
including rat-speakers, Hunter the bodyguard, and the marquis de Carabas.
Richard's only hope is that he can eventually return to London Above
and his real life. The angel, Islington, tells Richard that it can return
him to his previous life if he'll help Door get a key from the Black
Friars. There's a twist involved with this that the marquis finds out
about via Croup and Vandemar. Actually, there are a whole ton of twists
in this story that kept it quite entertaining and suspenseful and a
lot of fun to read. It took me longer than it should have to finish
the book because I've been balancing work and homework along with my
reading time, but is something that, if you could devote a few consecutive
hours to, you'd be able to finish quite quickly.
I've heard grand things about
Neil Gaiman and have now read four of his books, although one was a
collaboration. I like his writing and his worlds, and definitely liked
this book better than American Gods, which I felt
dragged in some places and was rather dense. This book is kind of graphic
in regards to Croup and Vandemar and some of the other characters, so
that's something you should keep in mind if you do read it. But it's
definitely a fun book. I look forward to seeing how the TV adaptation
of the plot plays out.
I have one more Gaiman book in my possession that I may finish prior to the end of this year, but have to admit that I'm not sure I agree with the idea that he's the best thing ever. He's good, but there have definitely been books that, imo, are better. (Although I will say that I loved Stardust.) *shrug* To each their own!
Post number forty-one is for Libba Bray's A Great and Terrible Beauty, which is another of those books that's been on my to-read list for a few years. I don't know why I waited so long to read it, though, because I really enjoyed it and it has me intrigued and eager to read the second book (the third one is soon to be released), although I'm going to hold off on it for a while yet in order to get some other things read first.
Anyway, real quick spoilers follow, although I'm not going to go into major detail regarding the plot.
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
Gemma is a girl growing up in the early nineteen hundreds in India. Her mother is killed via unexplained circumstances, and Gemma is taken to England, where she's enrolled in a finishing school. However, she has the power to have visions, and it turns out that she's magical, if you will, and can enter the realms - the world between the world we live in and the world of death.
Gemma makes friends with three girls at the school: Ann, her roommate who is a scholarship student and therefore "lower class"; Felicity, whose father is an Admiral in the British Navy and whose mother is a courtesan in Paris (this isn't public knowledge, mind); and Pippa, who is the most beautiful girl anyone has ever seen, but is fated to marry a much older man by her family, as Pippa is epileptic and they don't want this knowledge to get out. The girls each want something: Pippa wants to find true love, Ann wants to be beautiful, Felicity wants strong will and Gemma wants to understand herself and what's going on with her visions.
There's also a little sidestory of a potential romance for Gemma with Kartik, who is a member of a strange secret society that doesn't want Gemma to use her magical gifts, but the main plot is that of Circe, who wants to kill Gemma and take her power for herself.
What I was mainly left feeling at the end of the book, though, were these two thoughts: I hope Felicity doesn't turn into another Circe, and that her friendship with Gemma and Ann remains true, and I also hope there's a way for Gemma to be with Kartik, which, as of right now is impossible because Gemma, too, is higher class and Kartik is decidedly not. :-P
So, anyway, it's a nice start to the series, in my opinion, and I will definitely be checking out the second book.
Post number thirty-two is for Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass, and what Alice found there, which is actually my thirty-fifth book of the year. This is an astronomical number for me at this point of the year, considering that I only read sixteen total last year.
Very very brief thoughts follow, as this book was so odd I didn't really take a whole lot away from it. At least it's another of those (3) books off my to-read list!
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
There was so much poetry in this book and some of it was so ridiculous. But I did like "The Walrus and the Carpenter", which I knew from the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland, and also the flowers. But other than that this book was just strange, from Alice's constant chatter to her cats to the strange chessboard game, to the duel between Tweedledum and Tweedledee, to the strange feast at the end where no one seemed to actually eat anything. Just ... weird. I liked the first book a lot more, although maybe if I'd read them back-to-back I would have liked the second one, too.
Whatever. There are a lot of people who truly love these books and I guess I am just not one of them. Which is fine: to each their own, after all. I'm not sorry I read it or anything, but I've definitely read other books that I've liked more.
Oh, well.
Next up will probably be The Diamond of Darkhold, the fourth Ember book, although I have three books from the library to read, too (including one that's an Interlibrary Loan item, which gives me a little extra time to finish it), and two that I'm still waiting on. I certainly can never say I don't have anything to read!
Post number thirty is for Tamora Pierce's Trickster's Queen, which is another of those books that's been on my to-read list for several years. This is the sequel to Trickster's Choice, and you definitely need to read that one first, although be forewarned that I had a hard time getting into - and finishing - that one. I'm not sure if it's the way Pierce writes (she does a lot of telling instead of showing, and her writing is therefore kind of, I dunno, dense? Whatever you call it, it's not easy to read at first) or something else, but, while the plot was interesting and I liked the characters, it just wasn't grabbing my attention. The sequel, however, *does* do that, for which I was glad. I was hoping it wouldn't be a struggle to finish it.
Anyway, here are some light spoilers, so avoid if you feel it necessary.
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
This book picks up pretty much right after the first one. Aly, a former slave, who is actually a family member of some Very Important People from the rival land of Tortall, is the Trickster God's - Kyprioth - spokesperson, for lack of a better word. She is working for the Balitangs and the raka conspiracy to help bring down the Rittevon throne and place the oldest Balitang daughter - Sarai, who is "twice-royal" because she's royal on both the luarin and raka sides of her family - on the throne. However, lots of problems arise, notably Sarai's unexpected elopement with a man from the neighboring lands of Carthaki. So they turn their attention to putting Sarai's younger sister, Dove, on the throne instead.
There's lots of drama with the current King of the Copper Isles, Dunevon (who is four-years-old), and the Princess and Prince regents acting in his name, including a conspiracy to kill both him and Elsren, Sarai and Dove's younger brother, who also has royal blood thanks to his father, Mequen, who was a Duke and killed in the previous book. (And that was a really long sentence, so sorry about that.) The death of Dunevon turns his guard, Taybur Sibigat, to Aly's side, although this doesn't happen until the almost very end.
There's also some drama between Aly and Nawat, the man she's in love with who used to be a crow but turned himself human in order to be with her, and some other things I don't really want to mention in order to keep the spoilers down, but everything ends up working out in the end, although I didn't like some of the deaths, namely the ones that killed an entire family of the raka conspiracy who you really grow to love in the course of the two books. And yes, I know war is unpredictable and deaths happen, but I still don't have to like it. :-P Anyway, Dove ends up getting the throne, Aly becomes her spymaster (even though she's Tortallan and related to the Tortallan crown), and her and Nawat get married and Aly's pregnant at the end of the book.
Anyway, this book was MUCH better than the first one, even though it had been several years since I'd read the first one (I believe I finished Trickster's Choice in 2005). So if you can get yourself through the first book, give the second one a read, too, because I think you'll enjoy it much more. Aly is a great narrator, mostly because she seems very real to me: she's funny, determined, and fiery. All in all, a great character. :)
Post number twenty-three is for Neil Gaiman's American Gods. This book actually took me a while to read - nearly a whole week, which is odd, since I'm a very fast reader.
I haven't read too much of Gaiman's work. I've read Coraline and Good Omens (which he co-wrote with Terry Pratchett), but he's talked about so often among my friends that I figured I'd read another of his books just to see what all the fuss was about, especially since I was sort of underwhelmed by Good Omens.
What follows is fairly brief, as I am tired. :-P Spoilers do follow, so please avoid if you're inclined.
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
First off, this was a very interesting concept: that everything you believe takes root in your country, and once you - and anyone else - stops believing in something, they fade away and die. I really liked the look at the different Gods and Goddesses (I especially liked Mr. Nancy, most likely because we read Anansi stories to our kids at my job), and I liked the way Gaiman weaved the "supernatural" (if you will) with modern times. I'd like to eventually see the Center of the US (I'm assuming it does actually exist?), the House on the Rock, and Rock City. Maybe someday. :)
I liked Shadow a whole lot - he was a fabulous narrator - and I read online that it's mentioned that he himself is actually a Norse God as well, although that's not revealed until the novella that followed this book. Interesting how everyone we met was somehow involved in the God War, and how Shadow realized what was going on and managed to stop it, thereby making sure this reincarnation of Wednesday and Loki never returned. I also liked how Czernobog didn't harm him with his hammer after all, and that he seemed to be a much happier man after it was all said and done, and could finally be Bielebog. And the Zoryas were great, too.
My favorite bit was probably the time Shadow spent at the Funeral Home with Ibis and Jacquel (I think I may have spelled that wrong...), and I also liked how we got to meet the real Odin, because I was wondering if the same Gods could exist on multiple places. Of course, the more I think about it, the more I realize that that's kind of obvious, because as long as someone believes - or believed at a prior time - they'd stay on that continent for people to worship.
So, all in all, a good book. I can see why people enjoy Gaiman's writing. It's very unique and dark, and he's a fabulous storyteller. I have Neverwhere on my to-read list as well, so we'll see if my opinion remains the same after reading that one. Which I will ... eventually. :-P
Post number nineteen is for Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife, which I've been poking at for two years or so. I was first told to read this book by my friend, Jessica, so bought it from the bookstore when I was still working there (and getting that lovely 30% discount). However, I'd been told by several people that the ending was really sad, and, knowing that, I was kind of reluctant to read it, even though I'd also been told that the story was really good. When rumors started going 'round about the film being released, I decided I'd better hurry up and finish the book, so started reading it again last year. Then rumors started going around about the movie being delayed, so I stopped. :-P However, I finally managed to finish it today, thereby scratching yet another of those pesky (3) books off my To-Read List. Hurrah!
I'm not really going to get into too much of any spoilery content - just my general thoughts, really - but here's the spoiler space just in case.
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
Okay, so everyone was right: This book was pretty damn heartbreaking. I don't think I went through so many kleenex since I finished reading The Amber Spyglass. I felt so badly for Clare - she'd dreamt her entire life of Henry, and their life together, only to have it cut short. And while she no doubt could feel the end drawing near, it still must have been totally shattering to her. I wonder if her father or brother ever tell her the truth about how Henry was killed.
It was interesting, because Henry comes across as a total prick in some places, but he loved Clare so entirely that it was really a redeeming factor for him. I'm glad that they had those completely joyful moments intermixed with the tradegy and sorrow, but it really felt unfair that the two of them had to live the lives they were given. At least with their daughter it seems there's a bit more research and support for the time-traveling gene - while Henry really seemed to hate the fact that he had to time travel, Alba seems to love it. Hopefully her future was better than her father's.
But my heart literally broke when Clare read the letter Henry had left for her, and how, even though he hadn't wanted her to, she seemed to live the rest of her life just to get to that point in time when she'd see Henry again. Those glimpses we got of Clare post-Henry were heartbreaking, too - she was so empty, and lost without him that you have to wonder what she thought of her life. (And the fact that she got to "see" Henry only briefly that day he'd traveled to Alba's field trip - see him but not touch him - GOD. I'm not sure I could have dealt with it, to be honest.)
So - all in all, it was a really well-written book. But the ending was so sad that I don't think I'll be picking it up again any time soon. And seeing this on the big screen (should it finally be released) may just reduce me to the kind of tears I was crying at the end of Return of the King. Woe. :(
EDIT: So I was thinking more about this story last night before I went to bed, and I couldn't help but think about how Clare must have felt each time Henry disappeared. Would he come back? When would he come back? Was he all right wherever he was? Was he hurt? Would he come back in one piece? And I can't help but think how worrying it must have been knowing that he lived "at least until he was 46". Because that's not such a long time, and with as gaunt and thin and old-looking as he was getting, you know Clare had to be thinking that the reason he only knew into his future until he was 46 was because something bad happened, and not because he found a way to stop time traveling. I just. Man. My heart is still breaking over their whole life. How much must she have loved him to live that life each day? And the way he loved her - so much that it totally transformed him - that's what everyone wants, but was it worthwhile, do you think? Was the time she got to spend with Henry worth everything? Especially since she lived the rest of her days counting them until she saw him again? I don't know. It's really too sad to think about, which of course is probably why I can't stop. God. This book really twists your heart, doesn't it?
Post number eleven is for Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden, which I finished reading today. I'd been working on this book for over a week. It was a little more difficult to read due to the language and phrases used. Several of the characters spoke in "broad Yorkshire" and dialects always take a bit of getting used to when you're trying to read them - reading, I actually felt much like Mary did upon hearing the Yorkshire dialect, so was glad she often asked for clarification in the beginning. :))
What follows does contain spoilers not only for the book but for the film version, too, as I want to note down the differences for my own curiosity's sake.
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
This was a book that's been on my to-read list for several years. In fact, if you look at this year's list, it has a (3) next to it, so I'm happy that I've finally gotten another title off that list. I also really enjoyed the book, although I had to keep putting it down in the last couple of chapters because it made me slightly weepy, and I didn't want my kids at school asking me what was wrong. :-P
Things I Liked:
Watching Mary's transformation
Mary's handling of Colin's tantrum (I loved how she got right in his face and screamed back at him and stomped her feet. Just what the spoiled brat needed!)
Dickon (LOVE!)
Martha (MORE LOVE!)
The description of the garden itself, especially while it was in bloom
One thing I have a quibble about (and it's kind of what the whole book is based on, so it was a rather big deal, I think, in the grand scheme of the story) was that Archibald Craven basically disliked his son because his birth took away his mother. I've seen this used in several other stories (although this one probably came first, so who's to say that the other stories didn't steal this from The Secret Garden in the first place?), most notably for me in Heaven by V.C. Andrews (I know, I know). In that story, Heaven is the eldest child of a very poor family. Her mother was a beauty who fell in love with her father. She became pregnant and died shortly after Heaven's birth. Her father always blamed Heaven for her mother's death. He later remarries and has a ton more kids with her stepmother (Sarah? I can't remember), but always treats Heaven rather cruelly. When her stepmother dies, the father decides to send the rest of his kids off to live with various other families, as he doesn't have the money to provide for them, but more truthfully, just doesn't want to deal with them. Heaven gets a choice between an older couple and a young, hip couple. She chooses the young couple, which her father was hoping for, and is subjected to absolute cruelty and hatred by the "mother", because she had been in love with Heaven's father and hated the fact that he'd chose Heaven's mother over her, and took her dislike of that out on Heaven herself.
And that was a rather long ramble about something that doesn't have anything to do with this, but that's what I kept remembering during this story, especially when Archibald Craven is having his epiphany about how badly he handled Colin's birth and growing-up. I understand feeling lost and rather hopeless after losing the love of your life, but it just doesn't give you an excuse to treat your children badly. And while Colin had everything materialistic he could ask for, what he really needed was a *parent* - someone to provide him with love and to give him boundaries, of which he had none. Which is what made his and Mary's arguments so much fun to read, because she, too, never had any boundaries or had to do anything for herself.
In the film, it's mentioned that Mary and Colin's mothers were twins - they are not - and that there's a semi-love triangle between Colin, Mary and Dickon towards the end - which there also is not. Colin's mother died in the film after falling off the swing in the garden (there is no swing in the book - she fell when the branch she was sitting on broke) and having to endure a difficult delivery. Mary finds an ivory elephant that was a match to her mother's that she broke in the film, whereas in the book, she finds a room with several ivory elephants in it (she dubs it "The Indian Room") and spends an afternoon playing there. Then there's the basic, Mary-is-blonde in the book vs. Mary-is-brunette in the film, but that's really more a matter of the casting. Obviously the girl they found played the part so well that they didn't care what color her hair was.
I think the ending was a bit abrupt. The servants are staring out the window at Mr. Craven and, "by his side with his head up in the air and his eyes full of laughter walked as strongly and steadily as any boy in Yorkshire-- Master Colin!" Er, okay. I would have liked to have a little bit more than just that, especially since the book up to that point was really about Mary, and she's not even mentioned. Then again, maybe the book was really about transformations in general, as opposed to just Mary's or just Colin's. I dunno. Still felt abrupt.
I also think there were some things that could have been cut out or changed. For instance, I thought it was kind of silly to read from the robin's point of view, as he mentioned things like safe deposit boxes and whatnot which no bird would know anything about. But quibbles, quibbles - I can let it slide. I loved Colin's slightly unrealistic statement of, "I'm going to live forever and ever!" and the effect it had on his father, even though Colin - and Mr. Craven - weren't aware of it. I also loved Dickon and Martha's mother, and her letter to Mr. Craven: I think your lady would ask you to come if she was here.
But best of all was this quote:
A thistle cannot grow.
A nice statement for everyone to pay attention to, don't you think?
Post number four for 2009 is for Bram Stoker's Dracula. I originally started this book in 2005 while I was working cashwrap at Barnes & Noble, and also only picked it up because it was the only thing that looked remotely interesting AND was close to where I needed to stand. I stopped reading it after a couple of days, then decided last year that I should try to read it again, so checked it out from the local library. That attempt didn't go so well either, so I finally just bought the book and have since been picking at it for about six months or so. Possibly longer.
And now I've finally finished it. What follows will contain spoilers, so please avoid if you're so inclined.
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
Much like when I read Frankenstein, my feelings about this book are mixed. I enjoyed some parts more than others - in particular, the beginning and the end were, imo, better than the rest - and some parts were just downright difficult for me to get through. I had a difficult time with Van Helsing's speech, and the book in general reminded me of Tolkien's writing, in that, for one reason or another, I had a hard time reading it and staying involved in the story.
That being said, I enjoyed Jonathan's journey into Romania and all the things that happened to him at the Count's castle. It did a really nice job of setting up the story and introducing the different elements. The middle seemed to drag; I enjoyed Mina's telling of her time spent with Lucy, but at the same time it didn't engage me like the beginning had. There were a lot of new characters introduced - Dr. Seward, Quincey Morris, Lord Godalmning - and it seemed too big of a coincidence that they'd all be right there when needed, especially Morris who, if I was understanding correctly, actually lived in the U.S. Also terribly coincidental (and slightly eyeroll inducing) was the fact that all these men were iinterested in Lucy. It seemed a bit much.
One thing that irritated me was that the men didn't figure out what was happening to Mina until it was nearly too late. I mean, they'd all been there for Lucy's demise - shouldn't they have realized much more quickly what was going on? How many times do they need to see someone completely colorless and lethargic before they realize that Dracula just might be about? Also, Renfield's reason for being in the asylum was rather gross, and I could have done without quite so much detail. :-P
I enjoyed the end because of the whole "adventure" feeling I got from it. They were all working together to find Dracula and dispose of him, and I liked the various accounts of what each party had to go through. Although, that being said, these characters sure had exquisite memories! They were able to tell us exactly what every character ever said, even when the conversations went on for a long time. I get that we needed to suspend our disbelief, but I almost think it would have just been better to write this book like most other author's do and forgo the journal entry format. (Although, that being said, Frankenstein was built around journal entries, too. Must have been the literay method of the time, perhaps.)
I was glad that this edition of the book included footnotes to tell me what the heck they were talking about as far as geographical features and the different ways of speaking by the characters (the Czarina Catherine's captain's speech in particular was difficult to understand even *with* the footnotes), because I would have been quite lost without them. I'm glad we don't talk like that any longer. It may have been melodic, but MAN did they take a roundabout way of saying what they meant to say. :))
While I did enjoy the book and am glad I read it, I don't think I'll be rereading any time soon. Maybe it was the fact that it took me so long to get through it the first time that makes me feel this way, but I kind of feel that this book may be one of those that's just better off being read the one time. Time will tell, I suppose. I may find that I want to revisit it again after all. And I don't mean to sound like I didn't like it. I just ... didn't like it as much as others I've read.
One final thing. The back of the book declares, "The quintessential tale of suspense and horror, presenting one of the most terrifying characters ever born in literature: Count Dracula of Transylvania." My only thought on that is that I disagree. I have read several other books that do the suspense/horror thing much better. Maybe it's because I knew that in the end Dracula would be killed, but I wasn't terribly surprised by anything that happened in this book. Oh, well. Now I know. :-P
Post number three for the year is Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The version of this story that I own at home actually has both this story and its sequel in one. However, I started reading this book at work, and therefore haven't yet read the sequel - will need to dig up my own copy of the book in order to accomplish that.
I don't have a lot to say, but here's the usual spoiler space just in case.
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
As someone who only knows this story through the film versions, I was surprised at how many liberties many of these movies take. Some of the things that happen to Alice in Wonderland weren't in the film, and some things were brought in from the sequel, namely Tweedledee and Tweedledum and the flowers who mistake Alice for a flower. I always love the Chesire Cat and the madness of the croquet game (I laughed at the comment that Alice's biggest problem with the crochet game was managing her flamingo, hee) but the weird side story with the Duchess and the pepper and the weird pig-baby was ... well, odd. I suppose it's silly to ask what the point of it was as the whole story is pretty nonsensical, but that chapter in particular seemed stranger than all the others.
The king must certainly be a patient sort if he can handle living with the Queen whose only joy seems to be sending people to be beheaded (I laughed again at the whole argument about how they could go about beheading the Chesire Cat when the only part of him they could see *was* his head). The Mad Hatter and March Hare were as ridiculous as ever, and the poor White Rabbit really needs to find a new job that won't cause him as much stress. :-P
I'm looking forward to the sequel, as I'd like to see how many of the characters return, and also am looking forward to seeing those elements that have been taken from the sequel that I'm so familiar with.
