The One with the Book List: Swamplandia!

There exists a list of recommended books to read based on books you liked as a kid. I picked up an armful of these books a few weeks ago (thanks Half Price Books- Olathe) and the first one to be marked off the list is Swamplandia! This books was paired as similar to A Wrinkle in Time which I read in Mrs. Beatty's elementary school class and totally enjoyed.

The characters, family dynamics, and plot were all very captivating. Although the story would have been so much less rivoting without the series of detailed events, I sometimes found myself wishing to get to the end. Part of that was simple curiosity and anxiety to see how the story ended. What I loved most about the book was the visual language in which it was written. For example, someone was eating a "roast beef sandwich that was hemorrhaging horseradish." At one point in the story I thought a quote was describing me, "I could sleep into the deep yolk of any afternoon, wear my dirty pajamas to the pit, stow away on the library boat and read murder mysteries until four in the morning." The language added so much to the story and now I feel like I have actually visited Swamplandia! and witnessed the alligator-wrestling shows. 

Swamplandia! was a pleasurable read, but I am excited to get started on the next recommended book.

"The beginning of the end can feel a lot like the middle when you are living in it."