
A Long Way from Home
Book
Growing up in Barbados in humble surroundings as a devout Christian, Una was the oldest of ten...

Alexander the Great: A Very Short Introduction
Book
Alexander the Great became king of Macedon in 336 BC, when he was only 20 years old, and died at the...

Alexis Taylor recommended Parade by Prince and The Revolution in Music (curated)

Her Own Hero: The Origins of the Women's Self Defense Movement
Book
The surprising roots of the self-defense movement and the history of women's empowerment. At the...

The Codger's Kama Sutra: Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Too Tired to Ask
Book
What is the Kama Sutra? Is it a spiritual text written by a visionary man of wisdom in India almost...

Lottie disney bookworm (1056 KP) rated Trying to Live Happily Ever After in Books
Oct 8, 2019
I was very intrigued by the concept of Trying to Live Happily Ever After: bringing fairytales into the modern age is right up my street and, on the whole, Clive Lilwall did not disappoint.
With 17 short stories in total I must admit I did not enjoy every tale.
Cinderella, in my opinion, was just as vapid as her stepsisters and it felt like her owning an old model of a mobile phone justified her to get "the prince". Granted, this may have been Lilwall's aim to show how we associate technology with social standing. However, I would have appreciated a stronger role model as opposed to the slightly kinder but still materialistic Cindy we received.
Unfortunately some of the fables were also lost on me but that may be because I am not familiar with the originals.
Nevertheless, some of Lilwall's tales will possibly stay with me forever. Red's granny getting saucy under a wolf skin; Hansel and Gretal getting fat and baked in a whole new way and, of course, the blunt, shameless, no-holds-barred adaptation of The Emperor's New Clothes, starring a certain "president".
The writing is overly simplistic at times but this only highlights the roots of these tales as stories and fables.
The writing does not need to be complex when human actions and consequences are under the spotlight in such a humorous, satirical and thought provoking manner.
These are not the fairy tales you remember, they're not even revolting-rhymes-sort-of-for-kids. Not in the slightest. You have been warned.

Making the Most of the Anthropocene: Facing the Future
Book
Ever since Nobel Prize-winning atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen coined the term "Anthropocene" to...

We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy
Book
A sweeping collection of new and selected essays on the Obama era by the National Book Award-winning...
Politics social issues essays

Angry Birds Space HD
Games
App
The #1 mobile game of all time blasts off into space! Play over 300 interstellar levels across 10...

Last Exit To Brooklyn
Book
Few novels have caused as much debate as Hubert Selby Jr.'s notorious masterpiece, Last Exit to...