Reader's Corner - March 2013 Update

"I don't think Elphaba's that bad."

Another crazy busy month is almost over. But I did manage to get some reading in.

I finished reading Scarlet by Marissa Meyer and now I'm almost done reading Don't Expect Magic by Kathy McCullough (review forthcoming).

In audibooks, I listened to the delightful (and incredibly short) I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith.

I also listened to Wicked by Gregory Maguire. I haven't seen the musical, but I know a few of the songs and have a rough idea of what it's about. The book is substantially different from what I thought I knew. The novel's world-building is phenomenal and its characters are rich and complex. Elphaba grows up to be the Wicked Witch of the West, but "wicked" is a dubious term. The novel starts shortly before her birth and continues to her inevitable death. Elphaba is outcast from the moment she's born because of her green skin. But when she makes the wrong choices, does it prove that she's wicked or merely human?

Maguire was clearly influenced by both the original L. Frank Baum book and the 1939 movie of The Wizard of Oz, and yet clearly makes Wicked his own.

Bonus Video: Gregory Maguire discusses the origins of Wicked: