Reading Challenge Review 2015 #2: “A book you started but never finished”

The Book of Lost Things is a book my newspaper teacher in high school recommended to me my senior year. I bought it and started it shortly after but never finished it.  I graduated almost two years ago now so I’ve had this book on hold for a while now.  I’m glad I finally finished it because it was a great read.

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly is an enthralling novel that twists and intertwines the classic Grimm’s fairy tales with the story of a young boy into one wicked and fascinating tale.

The book follows a young boy named David as he deals with loss, grief, and jealousy. After David’s mother dies, David has only his father to lean on; when his father later remarries and has another child, David is left feeling abandoned, betrayed, and jealous. David takes refuge in his books and uses his imagination to cope with his anger and loneliness.  For David, the real world soon begins to combine with the stories in his books and he is thrown into a fantastical world of mysterious people and creatures. In this mysterious land, he must overcome dangerous circumstances in order to discover how to return home.

Connolly was inspired by the Grimm’s fairy tales and other classic fairy tale creatures. He incorporates and reinvents the classic stories we all know such as Beauty and the Beast, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, and Goldilocks. Do not be fooled, however, this is not a happy story of princesses and silly little girls. “The Book of Lost Things” is a very dark, and often disturbing, story.  While I was reading, I got chill bumps often from the villain in this story. He does some truly creepy and evil things.

The main antagonist in the story, The Crooked Man, is inspired by Rumpelstiltskin. Readers will never expect the story that unfolds with the Crooked Man. This character is one of the most intriguing book characters that I have encountered. Everything he does is so manipulative, strange, wicked, and cruel. When I picked up this book I didn’t expect it to scare me, but I was definitely disturbed many times while reading.

The Book of Lost Things  is a great option for readers who enjoy the moral lessons and dark settings and characters of the Grimm’s fairy tales. Connolly expertly picks and recreates the fairy tales that will relate to David’s journey and further his growth in some way. Connolly’s twists on classic fairy tales will give readers a new perspective. My favorite twist is with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.  All the characters have totally different personalities than I am used to, so it was interesting to see another version of that classic story and how Connolly related it to David’s story.

The plot and characters of The Book of Lost Things are unique and fascinating. The main character, David, experiences great character growth. He begins the story as an innocent child, and by the end of his tolling journey he is more mature and on the track to becoming a man.

David’s story is not the only story told in this book however. There are many side stories that make this book interesting. All of the characters that David encounters along his journey, The Woodsman, the king, Roland the soldier, the Huntress, and more, all have unique and compelling back stories.

John Connolly’s The Book of Lost Things is a dark and thrilling story of a young boy’s journey into adulthood that will captivate readers. I would definitely recommend this book if you love Grimm’s fairy tales and don’t mind being scared a little bit by the dark and disturbing aspects of the story.

Liebster Award Nomination

I was nominated by Thistles and Whistles! Thank You!! This is so late. I was nominated weeks ago, but better late than never I guess!

“Liebster Award is a chain award created by bloggers and passed on from one blogger to another to encourage connections. It is a wonderful, fun way to interact and make friends in the blogging community.”

These are the rules:

1. Thank and link the person who nominated you.
2. Answer the questions given by the nominator.
3. Nominate 11 other bloggers, who have less than 200 followers and link them.
4. Create 11 new questions for the nominees to answer.
5. Notify all nominees via social media/blogs.

Thistles and Whistles’ Questions:

1. What is your dream job?

My dream job would probably be to do communications for a theatre or ballet company or something like that. I would love to write press releases and feature articles for a fine arts organization of some kind. Or just a job where I can read, write, and research! 

2. Any hobbies you spend your free time pursuing?

I have been dancing since I was four years old and I still spend a lot of time doing that. I am on the dance team and dance ensemble at my college. I’ve made some great friends through dancing and it is an amazing stress reliever for me. I also love to do crafts like card making, embroidery, and diy decorating projects.  
3. Do you have a hidden talent?

I can’t think of anything! I mean love to sing, but I’m not amazing at it or anything.

4. The best piece of advice you’ve received so far.

My mom has always told me to “be good and sweet and kind.” I try to have this mentality in everything I do.  

5. Have you done something so unlike your personality and felt incredibly brave for accomplishing it?

I have done a lot of things in college that I am very proud of: trying out for dance team, applying to be an ambassador, getting out of my comfort zone and talking to new people. 

6. If you could time-travel, which era would you like to visit?

I think I would want to travel to some time in the 1800s because it was such a wonderful time for literature. I love Edgar Allan Poe so it would be so cool to be alive when he was writing. The people back then really knew how to use vocabulary in their written and spoken word. The clothes the women and men wore were so beautiful. 
7. Something that you miss from the pre-internet/technology days and wish that it would come back again.

I miss having less distractions.  I feel like my smart phone and laptop distract me from so many things. I think I would get my homework done faster, I would read more, have better conversations with people, and who knows what else if I was less dependent on technology.

I also hate that the art of letter writing is dying.  I think a handwritten letter or card can say so much.  It is something that I personally will never let go of.

8. What’s in your travel essentials bag?

I’m notorious for over packing for even the shortest of trips, but I can’t think of anything very interesting that I pack every time I travel.  I always have my makeup bag and lots of different outfit choices because you never know what you are going to end up doing. I always bring a few books to read as well.

9. A living person you admire the most and why?

I think I’d say Emma Watson because she is not only a great actress, but she is furthering herself by getting an education at Brown University and she is using her platform to bring about social change.  Her HeforShe campaign is so inspiring.  She is trying to show people that feminism is not just a women’s issue. It is an issue for everyone. She’s making progress in showing that being a feminist doesn’t mean that you hate men and believe that everything is their fault etc. She’s using her fame to promote equality. 
10. Your frequent guilty purchases.

Chocolate, especially Reese’s Cups, is probably my biggest one. Chocolate is my weakness!  

11. Your favourite season and what you love most about it.

It’s a tie between fall and spring. I love them both for similar reasons.  I live in the south so I love to see the leaves change colors in the fall. I live for the chilly, sweater and boots weather.  My wardrobe is definitely the best in the fall.  I love spring because I love the beautiful flowers and the mild temperatures.  I love wearing bright colors and cute sandals and cardigans.  

I am nominating:

– Tales of a Triplet

– Bibliophilia Reviews 

– A Comfy Chair in the Corner

– Reviews of a Self Proclaimed Bibliophile

– Laura’s Health & Beauty Advice

–  And anyone who wants to do it! Just comment your URL so I can check it out. 🙂

My Questions:

1. What is your favorite book?

2. If you could be any animal, what would you be?

3. What is your prized possesion?

4. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would you pick?

5. If you could jump on a plane right now and go anywhere you wanted to go, where would you go?

6. What is you biggest fear?

7. What is/was your favorite subject in school?

8. What do you like to do for fun?

9. What do you believe is the best quality a person can have?

10. What is your favorite holiday?

11. If you could change anything about the world, what would you change?

A Book That I Will Always Love With All My Heart

There are books that you read and want to keep to yourself because they are so wonderful that they feel like they were written just for you. And then there are the books that you read and instantly want to tell everyone around you to read too because they are that beautiful and important. North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley is a book that I wish I could to give  to every teenage girl and young woman to read. The book is filled with so many beautiful and valuable words.  I was looking up quotes from this book online tonight, as I often do, and I decided to write a post about it.  I’ve been meaning to write a review of this book for so long.

The book is about a teenage girl named Terra. Everyone says that she has the perfect body and the most beautiful blonde hair, but she has one huge flaw, a large birthmark on the side of her face. She has an attractive, athletic boyfriend who she should, ideally, be happy with, but she constantly feels insecure and inadequate. She soon meets a goth teenage boy, Jacob, who used to have a cleft lip.  Terra and her mother decide to go on a trip with Jacob and his mother to visit the orphanage he was adopted from in China.  The book follows Terra as she discovers the difference between physical appearance and true beauty.

This story is empowering in so many ways.  Terra, her mother, and Jacob all transform and have valuable realizations.  I think every teenage girl and young woman should read this book.  Justina Chen Headley makes valuable commentary on beauty, love, identity, and relationships.  This book truly helped me a lot as a teenager.  We will always have insecurities and flaws, but this book made me realize that I don’t necessarily have to see them as completely bad. North of Beautiful is a well-written, funny, romantic book with a very important message.  I would recommend this book very highly!

I haven’t read any other books by Justina Chen Headley, but I would really love to so if you have any recommendations please comment below!

Some of my favorite quotes from the book (I have so many!):

“That’s exactly why nature always trumps gardens. Gardens are just reality pruned of chaos. What doesn’t work you rip out.”

“Beauty—real everlasting beauty—lives not on our faces, but in our attitude and our actions. It lives in what we do for ourselves and for others.”

“To dream is to starve doubt, feed hope.”

“Flawed, we’re truly interesting, truly memorable, and yes, truly beautiful.”

Reading Challenge Review #1: “A book with a number in the title” (Just One Day by Gayle Forman)

Just One Day by Gayle Forman is the kind of book that makes you want to pack a bag and jump on a plane to Paris tomorrow morning. This is the first book by Forman that I have read and I am so excited to read the companion book, Just One Year. Just One Day includes so many of the romantic things that I love to read about: Shakespeare, Europe, and spontaneous adventure and travel.

During the summer before her first year of college, Allyson Healey travels on a group trip around Europe. At the end of a slightly disappointing trip, Allyson meets Willem, a Dutch boy who wanders around the world performing with a Shakespeare troupe. When Allyson mentions that she did not get to travel to Paris because of a strike, Willem suggests that they go for just one day. Allyson decides to take a chance and go to Paris with this boy that she has just met.  The book follows Allyson as she experiences a day in Paris with Willem and her life after her time with him is up and she is forced to return to reality.

I love to read Young Adult fiction, but I often get tired of the books continually surrounding characters that are still in high school. I was very glad to see that this book was about college age characters.

Throughout the book, there are allusions to Shakespeare’s famous play “As You Like It” and its theme that not everyone is who they are pretending to be.  Allyson, like many young adult characters, is trying to figure out who she truly is while everyone around her seems to be changing or pretending to be someone that they are not. Allyson experiences a lot of character growth in the book and it will be interesting to see how Willem develops in Just One Year.

Gayle Forman provides unique and thought provoking views on love, time, and identity. The book centers around the “accidents” of fate. The way the story pieces together through a series of “accidents” to reach the conclusion is very intricate and intriguing.

There are many aspects of this story that would make a realist scream.  The idea of falling in love with someone you’ve just met is very romantic, but the lack of deep conversation the author includes between the two main characters makes the reader wonder why they think that they love each other so deeply, never mind the fact that going to Paris with a stranger is very unsafe. I hope to see more genuine interactions between the two main characters in the next book. However, often times, I read to escape the realities of my own life for a while, so the aspects of the story that may not have been as logical did not negatively affect my opinion of the book.

I loved traveling with Allyson around Europe. She meets so many interesting people and visits so many interesting places on her journey. Just One Day is a romantic story that will make you want to travel and fall in love. Just One Day is a great book to read if you want to dive into a world of spontaneous adventure and love.

I Accept the Challenge… The Reading Challenge!

One of my greatest passions in life is reading. All of the books I have read, in one way or another, have contributed to the person I am today.  Reading makes you more intelligent. It doesn’t matter if it is a classic novel or a lighthearted magazine article; I believe that you can always learn something from reading.  I’ve recently realized that over the last couple of years I have not made time for reading as much as I should, so I’ve decided that 2015 will be the year that I become a reading machine once again!

I’ve recruited my best friend, and fellow book nerd, Kayla to join me in the 2015 Reading Challenge created by Pop Sugar. I stumbled upon this list while I was wasting time on Pinterest, and I knew I had to take on the challenge. This reading challenge is a really cool list that contains things like, “a book set in a different country” and “a book your mom loves.”

I love that I can customize the list to my tastes, but I expect it will also take me out of my comfort zone at times. Most of the list I am really excited about, but there are a few that make me a little nervous, like “a graphic novel.” I have never seen myself as someone who would enjoy graphic novels so that will be an interesting one for me. Also, “a book you were supposed to read in school but didn’t.” As I genuinely love to read, I actually read all of the required reading… except for one, The Scarlet Letter. (Sorry if you’re reading this, Mrs. Wilson!) I read the majority of the book via the modern interpretation on Sparknotes, so technically I read the whole book just not in its original form. This was because 1. The copy I had was a very old copy that I bought for 25 cents at a yard sale. I thought this would be really cool, but the dusty pages just made me sneeze the whole time I was reading, and 2. The language of the book really intimidated me at the time and because I procrastinated on starting the book I had trouble understanding what was going on in the very little time I had to read it. So as part of this challenge I will finally read The Scarlet Letter as it was actually intended to be read. *cue intimidated cringe face*

Writing is another passion of mine and also another thing that I do not practice enough in my free time, so I intend to document my year of reading with book reviews! I’ve already read a few books for the challenge so expect reviews soon. (Permission to get on to me if this doesn’t actually happen.)

I’m super excited to see what kinds of literary adventures this challenge takes me on throughout 2015. I would love it if more people joined me in this challenge, so I have posted the picture of the challenge to accompany this post. Happy reading, everyone!

Contemplating a blog name…

I’ve always thought about starting a blog, but what I would name it has always stumped me, so I quickly filed the idea away for another day. Recently, the idea came to me again, and, again, I was stumped on what to call it.  I had a lot of ideas, but none of them seemed to come together into a coherent, catchy name. I wanted something simple enough so I could write about whatever I wanted, but also something that wasn’t too boring or too cheesy.  I am not too sure if I have found that awe-inspiring name yet, but, alas here I am, writing a blog.

When I began thinking about a name I tried to think of meaningful words that I could incorporate into it. Some of the words that came to mind were “infinite,” and “wallflower.” I decided against putting these words in the name, but these words mean something to me, and I will explain why.

If you have read Perks of Being a Wallflower, or seen the film adaptation, you may already have some idea as to where this is going.

Although Perks of Being a Wallflower, both the book and the movie, has been out in the world for a while, I just recently discovered it last month. I never really quite understood what the term “wallflower” meant until one night I was talking to my roommate about how people always seem to see me as someone who they can trust and confide in and she told me it was because I was a wallflower.  She probably doesn’t even remember this conversation, but after she said this I silently looked up the term on urban dictionary.

After I read all the definitions I realized, yes, I am in many ways a wallflower. I don’t really feel like I don’t belong anywhere like many of the definitions said, but I do believe that I notice things and I listen to people. There are positive and slightly negative connotations to the term “wallflower.” My roommate meant it in a positive way, and I’ve come to see it as a mostly positive thing.

After this encounter I decided that I was going to read, Perks of Being a Wallflower, a book that I had been intending to read for a while but had simply never gotten around to. Perks has very quickly become one of my favorite books and movies. After I saw the movie in my dorm room one night with some friends, I was so moved by Charlie, the main character’s story that I couldn’t go to sleep for hours after. I couldn’t stop thinking about how troubled and wonderful he was.

In the story, Charlie has been through a lot, I won’t tell you exactly what as you really should read or watch it yourself. I can’t really imagine completely how he feels because I have not experienced anything like what he has, but I relate to him in many smaller ways.
Charlie is one of my favorite characters of any book or movie I have read or seen.  He is very lonely where the book begins. He is left friendless for various reasons. Charlie is not happy and is often uncomfortable at school where he is just beginning his freshman year of high school. When he meets Patrick and his step sister Sam, he finally begins to feel like he belongs in the world. He quickly makes a good group of friends that he truly cares for. When he is away from them he is very lost because he loves so deeply.

Charlie puts his friends before everything. He will do anything to help them even if it inconveniences him in some way. He loves giving them things that they will truly love like mix tapes of their favorite songs or his own personal copies of his favorite books. His friends trust him and because he often observes his surroundings and listens more than he speaks, he knows the truth about people sometimes good, sometimes bad. That is what I believe a wallflower is.

These are some of the qualities in Charlie that I see in myself. These are the qualities that I love about myself and that I love about Charlie. Patrick says at one point in the book to Charlie, “You see things. You keep quiet about them. And you understand.” I love that I’m a little bit of a wallflower. Sure, like Charlie, I know I should probably “observe” less and “participate” more, but the way I see it, wallflowers listen, they understand, and they love with their whole heart, so I hope that I will always be a wallflower.