Another month is over, and with it means another set of books! For the month of October I read three books, and I think that this might be the first time I strategically picked out the books. I chose to read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in honor of Halloween, Gossip Girl so I could finally watch the show, and The Book Thief because I had started reading it the month before. Well, 2/3 has to count for something...
The first book I read was The Book Thief. Like I said above, I had actually started reading this at the end of September, but I wasn't able to finish it in time to include it in that review.
I think this book is phenomenal! I will say that it was hard to get into at first, (I think that might be because I watched the movie first and I was marking everything that was different as inconsequential... I really love the movie...), but once I did, I couldn't stop! Even though I knew the ending because I had seen the movie, Markus Zusak was able to keep me on the edge of my set regardless. I love how he used death to narrate the book, and I'm obsessed with each of his flawed, yet beautiful, characters. You fall in love with them because they are imperfect.
Favorite Quotes:
"I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope that I have made them right." - The Book Thief
"One was a book thief. The other stole the sky." - The Book Thief
"I'm compelled to continue on, because although it's not true for every person on earth, it's true for the vast majority - that death waits for no man - and if he does, he doesn't usually wait very long." - The Book Thief
"They were French, they were Jews, and they were you." - The Book Thief
There are three main things that I love about the next book I read:
1. The fashion in it is unbelievable and if I could have their closets for the price of my right arm, I would do it.
2. The characters are flawed, like completely and utterly messed up, and I love that to no end.
3. I am by no means a wealthy elite, but I can still relate to these teenagers.
I initially bought a whole slew of Gossip Girl books at two different thrift stores, in the hopes that I would read one, fall in love, and be able to watch the show with the comfort that I had read the books before. I never knew how obsessed I would become with both mediums. The show is brilliant, and I actually prefer Serena van der Woodsen on television to the book version. However, I do think that the book allows for you to truly understand the lives of these elite teenagers. The Serena on the show is not naive and she feels like she needs to change, contrary to her book counterpart. I think that S in the book is perfect for the scene that Cecily created.
I love hating and adoring these characters, and I cannot get over the fashion. To me, it feels like a grown up version of the clique books that I read back in middle school and FREAKING OBSESSED OVER FOR YEARS. Honestly, all it takes is flawed characters and fashion to get me in permanent fangirl mode.
Favorite quotes:
"Life is fragile and absurd." -Gossip Girl
"Face it: we're all the same." -Gossip Girl
"No matter the truth, people see what they want to see..." - Gossip Girl
"I don't eat chicken abortions!" - Gossip Girl
There's nothing like the wizarding world of
Harry Potter to get you in the mood for Halloween! I decided to reread one of my favorite books after discovering
pottermore.com, which is another one of my obsessions. I really have a problem.
This book is so beautifully written, and time after time after time I find myself falling in love with this world. I have never been so involved with a book so many years after the first time I read it. I totally get that this book has been there and done that at this point, but I still feel the need to rave about it, because it is THAT good. J.K. Rowling is a genius and I respect her so much.
If you haven't read this series yet, please do.
Favorite quotes:
"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that." - Sorcerer's Stone
"To the well organized min, death is but the next great adventure." - Sorcerer's Stone
"... to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever." - Sorcerer's Stone
"Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself." - Sorcerer's Stone
(I just realized those are all Dumbledore quotes... no regrets...)
Join me again next month were I will probably have gained more obsessions and get the chance to read my babbling nonsense once again! It'll be great!
