After Alice by Gregory Maguire (273 pages). I've read almost everything Maguire has written. And his books are totally hit or miss. Some of them I've loved, some of them I've hated. This was one of the later. It literally took me all month to finish. I read "finis" on the 31st! Yet I only actually read for 4 days. That should definitely tell you something! Admittedly, I read half of it in one day. But I was going to finish this book before January was over, by George. Anyway, this story is about Ada. She is Alice's friend. And is on her way to visit Alice when she finds herself falling down a rabbit hole, right into Wonderland, mere minutes behind Alice. She has her own set of adventures in Wonderland. Meanwhile, Alice's sister Lydia (only briefly mentioned in Alice's adventures) finds adventure herself in Oxford. I enjoyed that the book showed what was going on Up Here while the girls were Down Under. But that's about all I liked.
The Grownup by Gillian Flynn (62 pages). This was a short story. And the first one I've read by her that I didn't wonder whodunit. There wasn't a real ending here. The narrator is a psychic, of sorts. She is hired by a woman who is terrified of her Victorian home. And her stepson. But is it the house, the stepson, or the woman who is true the threat here? Who knows. It was an easy read- it took me about an hour. Thus endeth January. 2 books, 335 pages. Ouch.
