Of Phantoms, Princesses, and Mandolins

I've decided!

Here are the first three books I'm going to read this summer:

1. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. Our blog's namesake! Read it with me for the first time, Lauren! Read and relive it, Laura and Bronwen!

2. Princess Academy by Shannon Hale. I saw this at Stanford Bookstore and I admit, I was sucked in by the cover. It's lovely and arty and muted colors and matte, and it said "Princess" and "Academy" on it and how could I resist? And then I read the book jacket and it looked adorable. I'm a sucker for princess stories. I bought a copy for Alyssa, and now I want to read it myself. Here's the review from Amazon:
The thought of being a princess never occurred to the girls living on Mount Eskel. Most plan to work in the quarry like the generations before them. When it is announced that the prince will choose a bride from their village, 14-year-old Miri, who thinks she is being kept from working in the quarry because of her small stature, believes that this is her opportunity to prove her worth to her father. All eligible females are sent off to attend a special academy where they face many challenges and hardships as they are forced to adapt to the cultured life of a lowlander. First, strict Tutor Olana denies a visit home. Then, they are cut off from their village by heavy winter snowstorms. As their isolation increases, competition builds among them. The story is much like the mountains, with plenty of suspenseful moments that peak and fall, building into the next intense event. Miri discovers much about herself, including a special talent called quarry speak, a silent way to communicate. She uses this ability in many ways, most importantly to save herself and the other girls from harm. Each girl's story is brought to a satisfying conclusion, but this is not a fluffy, predictable fairy tale, even though it has wonderful moments of humor. Instead, Hale weaves an intricate, multilayered story about families, relationships, education, and the place we call home.

3. Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres. Your crazy review convinced me, Bronwen. I have to read something you think of as one of your favorites.

Now I have a really terrible case of the hiccups. And my dad is going on and on about some woman's daughter he knows who interned at some corporate law firm every summer and got paid 11,000 a month blah blah blah is this what my summer is going to be?

Thank goodness for books. And blogs.

OMG Hiccups ARE a big deal. My laptop keeps jumping off my lap from the ferocity of my hiccups. Hiccup!

p.s. I've made you all admin. You should sign up to get email updates under the settings tab. I'm trying to figure out how to get it to notify all of us by email when one person posts to the blog. Otherwise we'll just have to check it every day.