Book of a Thousand Days

I just finished the book, Book of a Thousand Days over the weekend. It is the 4th book I have read by Shannon Hale recently. I really enjoy her retellings of fairy tales. As I pondered why I think it is because her of characters. I grew to really like each of the heroines in her tales. One of the things that I thought about was how in each of the tales the magic that happens isn't really magic but just a person that is more attune to the natural forces. I guess that is what the x-men or other super heros do but it didn't really make me stop and think until reading these books. I delight in that the goose girl can talk to the wind, and therefore use it to do her bidding or that Enna learns to collect heat from living things around her and therefore can create fire. But I really enjoyed how Dashti was able to heal by singing. Her songs were able to help the body remember what it was like to be whole. The song itself didn't actually do the healing it was the person himself that did the healing the song just helped it remember. The person also had to be willing to let the song heal before it would work. I loved that idea. This is a superpower that I wouldn't mind having.
So for anyone that hasn't read these great books, head over to your library and look in the children's fiction section under Hale and you should find a few there. I hope to find River Secrets or Princess Academy there next time. I haven't read those ones yet.