An Epic Tale

Before I chat about the series I finished a few months ago, I want to set up the scene a little bit. These books have an unfair reputation of being "uncool." They were written in the 50s by an English author, whose voice I find very similar to other classics that came out of English writers, such as Jane Austen. It is completely my loss that I don't enjoy reading books that were written that way. Do you know what I mean? I know that is stupidly vague. Here is an example:

“Begone, foul dwimmerlaik, lord of carrion! Leave the dead in peace!"

A cold voice answered: 'Come not between the Nazgûl and his prey! Or he will not slay thee in thy turn. He will bear thee away to the houses of lamentation, beyond all darkness, where thy flesh shall be devoured, and thy shrivelled mind be left naked to the Lidless Eye."

A sword rang as it was drawn. "Do what you will; but I will hinder it, if I may."

"Hinder me? Thou fool. No living man may hinder me!"

I am ashamed to say that I am a bit dense when it comes to these types of novels. I was never able to get even halfway through Pride & Prejudice, even though I love the plot of the story (thanks to the movie). Same with Anna Karenina. Or anything written by Shakespeare.  I feel like it's sacrilegious for me to call myself a reader and lover of books and not love the classics...but there it is. 

Those who have read them will know right away what series I am referring to after reading the quote...I'm talking about the Lord of the Rings series.

I watched the movies first. If you are going to read the books, I highly recommend that you watch the movies first. It really helps put the many strange names and places into perspective. And the movies were AMAZING. Seriously. Watch them. You will have such respect for Peter Jackson in addition to J. R. R. Tolkien and the worlds they created together. The way he uses technology and special effects is nothing if not inspiring. 

In summary, I think you should read Lord of the Rings if you like any of these things:

1.) An epic story (One story split into 3 books...4 if you include The Hobbit)

2.) The Harry Potter Series (Another epic fantasy series)

3.) Fantasy  (I actually don't generally like the Fantasy genre, so going off those other 2 points alone is enough!)

So watch the movies. Read the books. Listen to the books on audio DVDs. You won't be disappointed.

Harry

Stone. Chamber. Prisoner. Goblet. Order. Prince. Hallows

 

We all know them. We all love them We have all (secretly or not) wanted to be sorted into houses. We are Generation HP.

 

These movies are always circulating through various TV channels. I have watched more than a few Harry Potter Weekends on ABC Family. When I learned that I would get the chance to visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando, I started thinking about the books. In general, I feel that rereading books is a waste of time (I know many people disagree) so I hadn't opened a book in the Harry Potter series since the 7th book came out several summers ago. I reasoned that even though I know the basic plots and endings, a lot of story and detail are left out of the movies. And since I rescued the series from my husband's childhood room, I had them all at my fingertips. Ready, Set, GO!

 

The most common thought I had while reading was that J. K. Rowling's imagination is SPECTACULAR. The universe, the detail, and the character development are all so in-depth that it is easy to imagine a world where this really does exist and I think that's why kids are drawn to the series. I mean seriously, who truly hasn't wondered what house they would be sorted into? (I think Hufflepuff for me.) I'm not going to recap the books since even people who haven't read them know what they are about, but I thought I would list some of the best quotes from each one.

 

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

 

It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.

 

It takes much bravery to stand up to our enemies but we need as much bravery to stand up to our friends.

 

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

 

It is our choices, Harry, that show us who we truly are, far more than our abilities.

 

Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain.

 

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

 

You can exist without your soul, you know, as long as your brain and heart are still working. But you'll have no sense of self anymore, no memory, no...anything. There's no chance at all of recovery. You'll just exist. As an empty shell. And your soul is gone forever...lost.

 

You think the dead we loved ever tryly leave us? You think that we don't recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble?

 

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

 

We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.

 

It was like trying to keep water in his cupped hands; the details were trickling away as fast as he tried to hold onto them.

 

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

 

Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike.

 

We've all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to at on. That's who we really are.

 

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

 

Have you any idea how much tyrants fear the people they oppress? All of them realize that, one day, amongst their many victims, there is sure to be one who rises against them and strikes back!

 

It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more.

 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

 

Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on Earth should that mean that it is not real?

 

It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it.

 

 

 



Always impressive

Chicago

I went to a book club meeting yesterday to discuss our latest book, The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. When I picked it up from the library, I was looking forward to reading it as I had never even heard of it and probably wouldn't have picked it off the shelf even if I had, because I rarely read non-fiction. Not because I don't like to read about true events, I just never know which events are worth reading about.

In the interest of seeing if any of you would be interested in this book, I'm going to throw out some key words:

Chicago. World's Fair. Architecture. Serial Killer.

This book is about the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, how it came to be, how it was built, what came out of it. And an additional story about a serial killer who lived and worked within walking distance from the fair and how he took advantage of all the tourism by killing many of the tourists.

It was definitely an interesting read...but knowing what I know, I still wouldn't have picked it off the shelf. For one thing, it was very architecture-heavy. I skimmed over a lot of the too-detailed descriptions and jargon involved in designing and re-designing,  the executing and re-executing, the building and re-building of the many structures involved in the Fair. But if that kind of stuff interests you, then you will LOVE this book.

Also, I wish the stories intertwined more. Obviously history can't be re-written, but it would have been way more interesting if the killer's story somehow intertwined with the magic of the Fair. But the two plots are seperate which meant I was less invested in going back and forth between the two stories.

It would have been amazing to see the Fair, though. Huge and beautiful. So many inventions came out of that fair, totally changing the course of history. I'm not going to mention them here because it's more interesting to read them in the context of that time period.

Or go see the movie due out in the next few years, rumored to be starring Leonardo DiCaprio!

Twenty Six

When I was a teenager, I had a theory about turning 26. In my mind, 26 was the ultimate age to be because it's the youngest age to be old and the oldest age to be young. I was really hoping to find an old diary entry that stated my 26 Theory, but I guess I never wrote it down. So today, I've been thinking about 16 year old Sam and wondering if she would be happy with the person she turned out to be at 26. I am pretty confident that she would be thrilled, as I am the happiest I have ever been and I am so excited to see what changes occur in the coming year. While I never saw myself as a military wife, I know that I was meant for this role and while the crazy last minute changes and switches are frustrating, my life has never been more exciting. So thank you to everyone involved in my life at this point, you all had a hand in helping me reach a happy 26!

And now, here are some people who share my birthday:

Poncho Villa
Richard Scarry
Kenny G
Mark Wahlberg
Chuck Klosterman

Book Fair!

My local library had a book fair this weekend and I was so thrilled that I found out about it! As I have mentioned before I love book stores but I hate spending money on these expensive books that I'm most likely only going to read once. And I love libraries, but it sucks to have a time limit on books, plus having to to wait for a checked out book to come back. So book fairs are the best of both worlds! Super cheap books. There were people with gigantic shopping bags full of books. I can't buy anything that I don't know I will like...not exactly a risk taker. But I managed to walk away with 4 books for a grand total of $2.50.

I mean seriously, does it get any better?

Here are my purchases:

This was the first book that I stumbled across.
I know that I have strayed a bit from my original
intention of reading through Oprah's book list,
but I try to find them at book stores. Generally,
I buy them for cheap, read them, then end up
donating them back to a library at some point.
The gift that keeps on giving. I have never heard
of this book before, so hopefully it's good.





I was particularly excited to have spotted this book
next, as I had actually planned on buying it. I read
this book at camp a long time ago and I remember
loving it, even though I don't actually remember what
the story is about. I love that about books, that the
feelings about a book last longer than the memories
of the book itself. Sort of like muscle memory.






I never had any interest in reading this book,
though I remember it being at the top of the
bestseller list for a long time. I figured that
it must be good and for $.50, I figured it
was completely worth it.








Now don't laugh, or scoff, or gasp, or roll your eyes.
I know that this book is completely outdated at this
point and that there are many later additions. I know that
I am not pregnant at this point. But I knew I would eventually
buy this book when I did become pregnant, so I figured I
should buy it now for 2 quarters instead of later for $20+.
I stared at it for a while, not sure if I should actually go through
with it, until I saw the sweet inscription on the inside cover. A
woman gave this book to another woman and wrote about how
excited she was that they would be "sharing something so miraculous together."I just thought this would be worth saving.


I wish I could have stayed in the room longer to look at everything more closely, but at this point, I was sneezing my brains out because of all the dust in these old books. I think I made out pretty well. And I have 2 boxes filled of books in the back of my car that I need to donate to the library for the next book sale!

Spring is not "Springing"

I have to say, I am loving 2013 so far. I finally took the GREs and got a decent score. I've lost close to 10 lbs. And I can officially run for 10 whole minutes without walking! That last one may not sound impressive, but for someone who couldn't run for 30 seconds, that's a pretty big deal. My next goal is to run a whole mile. And then to run a whole mile in less then 11:57 (which was my lowest time in high school). If only my gym teachers could see me now...I'm also looking forward to a lot of traveling this year as well as making a lot of choices and decisions about my life. This is the Year of Sam.

Life of Pi by Yann Martel
I have actually been wanting to read this book since I saw my friend Jenna reading it back in sleepaway camp. I have no idea why that book stuck with me all these years, but when I saw that they were making a movie out of it, I knew it was finally time to read it. I still haven't seen the movie yet, but I've heard that it's beautiful.
This book is split into two parts. I have to say, I didn't quite care for the beginning part. Everyone knows that the book is about a shipwreck, a boy, and a tiger, but none of that happened until the second part of the book. The first half is all about Pi's life before the wreck, which I did like reading about, but there was a lot of zoology and religion talk and at times, it was hard to get through. It really was interesting, but I thought the whole book would be about the wreck, so I wasn't expecting to read about religion. But now that I'm telling all of you about it, you will be expecting it when you start the book! And I do recommend it. Or at least see the movie! It is a fantastic story.

                                                                            

Crash and Burn by Michael Hassan
I can't remember the last time I was this excited about reading a book. The day this book hit the shelves, I had Barnes n Noble put it on hold for me. Why, you ask, was I so excited to read this particular book? Because I know the author! And that made it so much more fun. Also a little nerve wracking, because you don't want to hate a book that was written by someone you know. Fortunately, that was not the case. It is a Young Adult book, which I was excited about because it is still one of my favorite categories. And it was a thick book! I LOVE a good, thick book because it means tons of character and plot development. Some of my favorite books were gigantic reads (Atlas Shrugged, I Know This Much Is True, the Harry Potter series).
So if you love big books and you love young adult fiction, then I recommend you read this book. It is told from an 18 year old boy point of view, reminiscent of Catcher In The Rye, except not annoying. It's about the relationship and intertwined lives of two teenage boys and how it all led up to a school shooting (I promise I didn't just ruin the ending!) It's funny, suspenseful, and interesting and I recommend you pick it up at your local bookstore!