Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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An Old Favorite

Howl's Moving Castle by Dianna Wynne Jones

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  I don’t know how many times I’ve read Howl’s Moving Castle. At least three, but probably more. If books were comfort food, this one would be creamy mac-n-cheese in a ceramic bowl on a cold winter’s day. It never gets old, it never gets dated. It is always exactly what it needs to be; which is a romping good time. For those who’ve not yet indulged in this delight, Howl’s Moving Castle follows Sophie, a young woman who inadvertently angers Ingary’s resident bad-witch and gets herself […]

“I’m going up to my room now, where I may die.”

Howl's Moving Castle (Howl's Moving Castle, #1) by Diana Wynne Jones

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**30 Books in 30 Days** Book 17/30 Most of the way through this, I couldn’t figure out why I had only rated it four stars on my first read (which was quite a while ago, in high school I think?). I was all, This is delightful! I love this! I’ve only ever had fond memories of it. And then I came to the ending, and I was like, Oh yeah, this is why. And then I also remembered Diana Wynne Jones book endings always tend […]

In which I review Howl’s Moving Castle

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

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Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones is one of those books I read as a grown-up and wished I had discovered as a child. It stuck with me enough that when I saw that the Folio Society had produced a copy I needed to get it, and whilst I missed the first print (nobody took the Christmas present hinting I did…) I managed to get it on the reprint and so had a re-read of it this year. A lot of people will come […]

I hope your bacon burns.

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

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This is a perfect little book. It’s a fantasy story that understands how perspective limits the ways in which stories can be told, in the very best of ways. It’s a lot like the movie (or more so the movie does a great job of translating the story to the screen) and the result is a beautifully visual novel with heart, intrigue, curiosity, and sense. The story begins in a fantasy kingdom and Sophie’s mother has decided to push her three daughters into apprenticeships. Sophie […]

I got to find my baby

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Howl’s Moving Castle is one of my favorite books ever, and I was over the moon when I found out Diana Wynne Jones had written a lesser-known sequel (or at least companion book.) As much as I enjoyed the way things came together at the end of the first book, I wanted more of Sophie’s fierceness and ability to cut through society’s nonsense, and I wanted more of Howl’s vanity and snark and never quite succeeding at being a truly terrible person. Unfortunately, Castle in […]

Easy and Breezy

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A magical little journey that was delightful but also didn’t quite have the teeth for me to really sink in with it. I am of course familiar with Hayao Miyazaki’s movie version of Howl’s Moving Castle, but heard that the novel was quite different. And it is in some ways, but also follows a similar plot in others. It really is fun and delightful, and not too serious which was great for me to read through at work while in the midst of some personal issues. […]



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