Book Challenge Day 6

Day 6: Edition

I don't have any limited edition books or anything. However, there was one series that immediately came to mind when I was thinking of different editions (basically different covers). I read Across the Universe and A Million Suns by Beth Revis and I loved them. I (im)patiently waited for the third and final book to come out, only to be severely disappointed with a cover that didn't match the first two. They then proceeded to change the other covers. What is this?!? I understand that the new covers are more gender neutral, and therefore appealing to a wider range of young adults. I also tend to like originals better. (For instance, the new Harry Potter covers will never do it for me. I like the old ones.) So there you have it, I like this edition better.


"'I'm sorry.' The two most inadequate words in the English language." -A Million Suns by Beth Revis

Book Challenge Day 5

Day 5: Favorite Cover

Don't you just love this cover? I know I do...it's absolutely beautiful! The book is Candide by Voltaire. I read it for a history project and it was one of the most boring books I have ever read. But it's pretty and it has colored illustrations. So I'm keeping it. I don't really have much to write about other than that it is pretty. Perhaps I'll find the time to read it again. Maybe I'll like it better the second time.





“I have wanted to kill myself a hundred times, but somehow I am still in love with life. This ridiculous weakness is perhaps one of our more stupid melancholy propensities, for is there anything more stupid than to be eager to go on carrying a burden which one would gladly throw away, to loathe one’s very being and yet to hold it fast, to fondle the snake that devours us until it has eaten our hearts away?” -Candide by Voltaire

Book Challenge Day 4

Day 4: 1990s

There are so many books published in the 1990s that I could have done...a lot that I almost did, too. However, many of the books I was thinking of were also applicable on different days of the challenge. So I chose Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. I got this book at a garage sale for fifty cents years ago and I reread it frequently. I love the way this book is written. It's not in letter format or anything, but there is almost no dialogue. The way the dialogue is written is in this style:

Mr. Teacher: I told you to do this assignment.
Me:
Mr. Teacher: Well, what have you got to say for yourself?
Me:

This is not a quote from the book, I just made it up as an example. But I really liked how Anderson handled the dialogue. The whole story is from Melinda's (the protagonist) head, and her head, although very sad, is also very sarcastic and I love it!



“When people don't express themselves, they die one piece at a time.” -Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Book Challenge Day 3

Day 3: Spring Time

For my Spring Time book, I honestly didn't know what to pick. Should it be a book that takes place during spring? Or should it be one that I happened to read in spring? Maybe find a book with spring in the title...? As you can tell, I was having a hard time picking a book, which is why I've taken so long to put up another post. But then something happened today, and I happen to find this perfect, even if it is a bit of a stretch. I was at a garage sale at my grandpa's house (where I was selling some of my belongings) and I was the only one there and it was boring. I picked up Juliet by Anne Fortier, one of my old books that I never read, but always meant to, and started to read it. I got to page ten and this photo strip fell out. It was from my junior year prom and it took me back to that spring and how fun it was. It was a good memory. So, even though I've never actually read this book, I think I'm still allowed to use it for the book challenge.


“By the time we left college, I had become my own image: a dandelion in the flower bed of society. Kinda cute, but still a weed.” -Juliet by Anne Fortier

Book Challenge, Day Two

     

Day 2: Newest Purchase

          Before you judge me, I am using this for a project for my Children's Lit class. Now, here comes the part where you can judge me: I chose my topic for my project specifically so I would have an excuse to buy this book. Even worse, I am really enjoying it. Did you hear me? I am enjoying a book of essays! Yes, they are about Harry Potter, which makes them pretty awesome regardless, but they're also about psychology, which I find very interesting. 

"The consequences of our actions are always so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed." -Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

Book Challenge

          Hello, hello. Yes, I know I haven't really had anything exciting for you lately. Never fear, I have found another challenge! This one is a book photo challenge, but I will talk about the book(s) in the photo and why I chose said book(s). Sound good? Of course it does!

Day 1: Currently Reading

         How can I possibly be reading so many books, you ask? Well, I very much like to read and I happen to be taking classes that require a lot of reading. Starting from the bottom, I've got a textbook (Classics of Children's Literature, 6th Edition). It was quite a wide variety of fairy tales, poems, and novels in it. Currently, I'm reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer out of it. Next is my sister's copy of The Chronicles of Narnia. I am just starting The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Next is Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, which I am unfortunately still on the first chapter. I fill finish it, Franco Fan! And of course, Tolkien is on the list. I've been slowly chugging away at The Return of the King. That's one that I read when I have the spare time. I could be doing that now, you know! (Actually, I should be working on my presentation right now...) Next is Thomas C. Foster's How to Read Novel's Like a Professor. I am using this as a source for my aforementioned presentation. As much as I hate to admit it, I kind of am enjoying the book. And last, but certainly not least, is Over Nine Waves. I'm reading this for my Literary Ireland class and it is absolutely fascinating! I love reading through all the myth cycles (Mythological, Ulster, and Finn) as well as the Saint's stories (I've always loved St. Patrick :o) That's all for today...and if you're lucky, you may have something tomorrow!

"For three days his enemies watched Cuchulainn. The ravens of battle, the Morrigu and Badb, hovered around his head and at last the hero light faltered, flickered and went out." -Over Nine Waves by Marie Heaney

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
By: C.S. Lewis
Read: March 25-26, 2015
Published: October 16, 1950
Genre: High Fantasy
Series: The Chronicles of Narnia

          Four adventurous siblings—Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie—step through a wardrobe door and into the land of Narnia, a land frozen in eternal winter and enslaved by the power of the White Witch. But when almost all hope is lost, the return of the Great Lion, Aslan, signals a great change . . . and a great sacrifice.
          Journey into the land beyond the wardrobe! The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the second book in C. S. Lewis's classic fantasy series, which has been captivating readers of all ages for over sixty years. This is a stand-alone novel, but if you would like journey back to Narnia, read The Horse and His Boy, the third book in The Chronicles of Narnia. (Amazon)

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Why did you read this book?

This is a book that I've always had in the back of my mind, but never really gotten around to reading. I'd seen the movie and liked it, and, as odd as it sounds, I didn't want to ruin the movie by reading the book. We all know that the book is always better, right? Anyway, I had to choose five children's novels and read them for my Children's Lit class. In all honesty, I was going to read The Hobbit for my fantasy selection. So how did I end up reading this? I have no idea.

What did you like about this book?

There are several things I liked about it, how couldn't there be? I think my favorite part is not necessarily the story itself. First off, I love C.S. Lewis, even though this is the first of his works that I have read (I am planning on reading more of his books after this, perhaps The Screwtape Letters) I also absolutely love the Christian symbolism in this book, particularly that of Aslan and the stone table. I could go into it, but I wouldn't do it justice. So here is an article that pretty much says what I'm thinking. 

What didn't you like about this book?

I wish the characters had been better developed. I had a sense of who they were, but I felt they were rather one dimensional (except perhaps Edmund, who does go through a transformation). I found myself comparing the book characters to the movie characters and found that I much preferred the Pevensies that I met in the movie. Speaking of the movie, it followed the book rather well, except for a few minor differences and one major difference. Remember the battle scene? It was only briefly mentioned in the book after it had taken place. For me, that was my favorite part in the movie and I really wish it would have been in the book. Don't get me wrong, it was a really good book. I just wish it had been more than 80 pages or so, which could have left more room for more detail.

Bottom-Line:

I know, another short review. In my defense, it was another short book. Anyway, the bottom-line...I really did enjoy this book. I think I may have enjoyed it more when I was younger. So while I would still recommend it to fantasy lovers of all ages, I would definitely recommend it to 10-12 year old kids.

"I hope no one who reads this book has been quite as miserable as Susan and Lucy were that night; but if you have been - if you've been up all night and cried till you have no more tears left in you - you will know that there comes in the end a sort of quietness. You feel as if nothing is ever going to happen again." -The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis