Book Review- Sarah, Plain and Tall

For the Hard Core Re-reading challenge and newberry reading challenge I read Patrica Maclachlan's book Sarah, Plain and Tall.

Synopsis from Goodreads: This Newbery Medal–winning book is the first of five books in Patricia MacLachlan's chapter book series about the Witting family. Set in the late nineteenth century and told from young Anna's point of view, Sarah, Plain and Tall tells the story of how Sarah Elisabeth Wheaton comes from Maine to the prairie to answer Papa's advertisement for a wife and mother. Before Sarah arrives, Anna and her younger brother Caleb wait and wonder. Will Sarah be nice? Will she sing? Will she stay? This children's literature classic is perfect for fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie books, historical fiction, and timeless stories using rich and beautiful language. Sarah, Plain and Tall gently explores themes of abandonment, loss and love.

This is a simple little book but with an endearing and prevalent story line. Maybe it is just because I'm still so close to having lost my grandfather but the grief and uncertainty they were still going through really touched me. Obviously it is quite different when it is a mother and then you're maybe getting a new mother. The childish wonder that the children experience towards Sarah is I know so much how I would have felt if it had been me at that age. Living on the prairie myself, I wonder what it would be like in reverse if I had to leave here and go to Maine. New settings, no matter how slight are hard to get used to... at least for me. I think Sarah was brave to do it and brave to stay. The concept of the mail order bride, while not new to me, is still weird. Did you know that mail order brides still exist, in a way? Look it up!
So all my wandering musings to say, I found this a surprisingly touching book that I think would be good to give to a child whose parent may be remarrying or if they have lost a parent.

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Top Ten Books I'd Love to Read with a Book Club

Today's theme for Top Ten Tuesday is my top ten books I'd love to read with a book club if I had one.  These are all books I've read before but I'd love to read again with someone to discuss them with. There were so many I thought of that I ended up with more than ten. Oh well! :)

1. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
2. 1984 and Animal Farm by George Orwell
3. Farenhiet 451 by Ray Bradbury
4. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
5. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
6. Till We have Faces by C.S. Lewis
7. The Bible
8. Any Shakespeare
9. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
10. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorn
11. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
12. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
13. Guilliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

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It's Monday and School has Struck!

Last week brought the beginning of my last semester of nursing school! It's a scary and exciting feeling all at once. My first exam is later this week and the thought terrifies me. However, I'm liking my teachers a lot and I'm excited to be back with my same group of nursing students. We've all been through so much crazy fun and insane stress together.
I've been floundering on my reading though and Goodreads told me the other day that I was one book behind! My first reaction was, "Already? It's too soon!", but then I picked up a quick re-read and completed it in about thirty minutes so now I'm back on track. However, I do need to be a lot more diligent with my reading this year if I expect to meet my goals.
On that low note... what's up in my reading world? ;)

Finished this week

• Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia Maclachlan.

Currently Reading

• The Valley of Vision
• Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery (re-read) (audiobook)

Coming Soon (hopefully)

• Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts by Jerry Bridges
• The Young Carthaginian by G.A. Henry
• Peace Like a River by Leif Enger 
• Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransom

Book Reviews Posted this Week

• The Book of Lost tales by J.R.R. Tolkien

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Stacking the Shelves #2

I'm back for my second Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

Library

• Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery (audiobook)

Bought

• The Holiness of God, Chosen by God, Pleasing God (three in one collection) by R.C. Sproul- I picked this up at my church's "book table" for a great price. I've already read Chosen by God and it's one of my favorite but I have yet to read the others. 

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Book Review- Book of Lost Tales

I've finally finished J.R.R. Tolkien's The Book of Lost Tales! This will go towards my Full House challenge (It's a borrowed book) and my Classic Club challenge.
The Book of Lost Tales is split up into two parts which are in separate books. I read the first part/book last summer and the second this past month.

Here's the synopsis from Goodreads for the two books: The Book of Lost Tales stands at the beginning of the entire conception of Middle-earth and Valinor, for the Tales were the first form of the myths and legends that came to be called The Simarillion. Complete with commentary and notes.This second part of The Book of Lost Tales includes the tale of Beren and Luthien, Turin and the Dragon, and the only full narratives of the Necklace of the Dwarves and the Fall of Gondolin. Each tale is followed by a commentary in the form of a short essay, together with the texts of associated poems.

So as you can see from the synopsis, The Book of Lost Tales is basically the early form of Tolkien's better known work The Silmarillion. J.R.R. Tolkien's son, Christopher Tolkien, compiled the book from notes and writings of his father.
Eriol (later changed to Aelfwine) is a traveler who is shipwrecked upon an isle where the last of the elves dwell. There he stays and every evening he is told of the tales of long ago, the tales of ancient Middle Earth. Many of these tales made it into The Silmarillion but in a more edited and refined version. Personally I preferred the first part better. It reminded me of Greek mythology and I felt like the story telling aspect of it flowed better. In the second part, I felt the stories didn't flow as smoothly and Christopher Tolkien had a lot more commentary, which was understandable as the notes that his father left behind weren't as clear for these sections and sometimes even contradicted themselves. However, this caused the book to flow less smoothly.
Overall I did enjoy these books but I think I prefer The Silmarllion. They earned four out of five stars for me on Goodreads.

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Top Ten Tuesday- Book to Film Adaptations

Today's Top Ten Tuesday is a freebie! Oh the possibilities! ;) I decided to go with my top ten book to movie adaptations. I tend to be a book purist and my motto is always "the book is better than the movie". However, there are some great book to movie adaptations out there. :)

1. Number one is without a doubt the 1995 miniseries of Pride and Prejudice. It is my favorite "movie" and book. This is a great adaptation for how incredibly close it is to the novel, the perfect casting and of course the beautiful scenery. You can watch this movie and get 90% of what was in the book, which is quite a lot more than I can say for most book to movie adaptations. 
2. Second would probably be The Book Thief. Now the movie isn't amazingly close to the book like Pride and Prejudice is, though it isn't far from the book by any means. However, I think that the movie leaves aspects out of it that I disliked in the book, making the movie actually one of the few I would say is better than the book. That is just my opinion. I do love both the book and the movie. :)
3. Next I guess would be The Lord of the Rings trilogy, though I suppose no movies have given me greater aggravation or have sparked as much complaining about how the book was better than the movies. I love the books, they are my second favorite (just behind Pride and Prejudice of course) and I grew up with the movies. Peter Jackson got a lot right with the movies  but he also got a fair amount wrong... some of which I've reluctantly forgiven him for and some of which I find unforgivable. You can read more about that in THIS POST. Bottom line, I love the book and the movies. :)
4. To Kill a Mockinbird is a family favorite that I was raised on. It wasn't until I was in high school that I read it and fell in love with the book as well. They are different but both great in their own way. I'm really looking forward to re-reading it this year. 
5. The 1982 version of The Scarlet Pimpernel was another family staple growing up and when I read it in my teenage years I adored the book as well. Though the book and movie are different they are both great. 
6. Anne of Green Gables was a childhood favorite and the film was no less. A beautiful adaptation that while not perfect, is pretty close. 
7. A recent book to film favorite is Little Dorrit. The 2008 miniseries has great casting and follows the story pretty well with only slight deviations. 
8. I read The Prisoner of Zenda a few years ago and then watched the 1937 film version, which is a masterpiece as well. It stays pretty well to the plot and has excellent casting. 
9. Nicholas Nickelby is a great Dickens and I was raised on the nine hour Shakespeare theater adaptation, which is as much a classic as the book. However, it is really long. 
10. The Swiss Family Robinson was a staple in our family growing up and is a movie I still love to go back and watch. When I read the book some years ago I was disappointed. The truth is, the movie is almost completely different from the book so the book threw me for a loop and frankly I found it boring. It has been my plan to re-read the book now that I'm older for some time now and though I do not think I will get to it this year, I should be getting to it in 2016. 

A few honorable mentions would be:

• The Princess Bride- This was a favorite growing up but it was only a couple years ago I discovered there was a book it was based off of. This last year I read and enjoyed it. However, I think I like the movie better, probably because I was biased though. They are both good. :)
• Sense and Sensibility (1995)- Another film I was raised on and then I read the book for the first time probably when I was in middle school. While again not a perfect adaptation, I believe it well captures the chapters and storyline of the original classic. 
• Emma (1996)- There have been multiple versions of Emma but the 1996 one is the version that stands out to me and the one I was raised on. For me, Kate Beckinsale is Emma and this version, while not perfect captures the spirit of Austen and tells the story beautifully. 
• The Help- I thought the movie was a decent adaptation and of course while not as good as the book, I think they did a good job of telling the story.
• Treasure Island to Treasure Planet- Different stories in a lot of ways but both great. Who would have thought that you could take a classic children's tale and make it sic-fi and it still be good. 
• The Harry Potter movies- I have a lot of gripes about them but they aren't bad. :)

On a side note, a couple books I haven't read but I have seen the movie of and have enjoyed are The 39 Steps and Rebecca. However they are on my Classics Club list so I hope to read them some day soon. Books I have read but haven't seen the movie of are God and Generals and Killer Angels (Gettysburg). I have heard the films are excellent so I'm looking forward to watching them soon.  Also, I haven't read the book or seen the movie of Gone with the Wind but I've heard they're both excellent so I look forward to reading it for the Classics Club as well and hopefully adding it to this list. :)

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It's Monday and I've been Skiing!!!!!

I know I didn't post last week. All last week I was gone skiing in Colorado with my family. It was an absolute blast though so I'm not sorry one bit. ;) I planned on doing some reading while I was gone, especially a most craved LOTR re-read, but in the end I was so busy I didn't read anything until the way home when I finished the audiobook of Anne of Green Gables and Tolkien's Book of Lost Tales part 2. Also, I turned 21 a couple weeks ago! Check out the details HERE. Tomorrow (Tuesday) school commences. :( Hopefully it won't cut into my wonderful reading time too much.

Finished this week

• Strawberry Girl (re-read) by Lois Lenski
• Book of Lost Tales part 2 by J.R.R. Tolkien
• Anne of Green Gables (re-read) (audiobook) by L.M. Montgomery

Currently Reading

• The Valley of Vision
• Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery (audiobook) (re-read)

Coming Soon

• Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts by Jerry Bridges
• The Young Carthaginian by G.A. Henry (re-read)
• Peace Like a River by Leif Enger

Book Reviews posted in the last couple weeks

• Beowulf by Unknown
• Agamemnon by Aeschylus
• Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski

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Stacking the Shelves #1

This year I have decided to join in on the Stacking the Shelves weekly meme, which is hosted by Tynga's Reviews. I've seen this one floating around for a long time and I guess now the time is ripe to join in. Basically Stacking the Shelves is about highlighting the books that you bought, got from the library, got as a gift, borrowed, etc. The idea is they came into your possession somehow. ;) I don't always have books finding their way into my possession so I probably won't participiate in this meme every week but when I have books (and time) I will. :)
Today since it's my first time I'm going to include everything I've gotten this year so far.

Library

• Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (audiobook) 
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling- Not for me but for my brother... he's finally reading them! :)

Bought

• A Child's History of England by Charles Dickens
• Coronation of Glory: The Story of Lady Jane Grey by Deborah Meroff
• The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope

Gift

• The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers- My birthday gift from my parents! I've wanted this for years. :)

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Bout of Books #2- Day 5

Yesterday was the fifth day of Bout of Books. I didn't get much done actually in the way of anything.
While I was doing dishes I listened to three chapters of Anne of Green Gables. After that I watched one episode of The Adventures of Merlin and then watched far too many Studio C YouTube videos. They're addictive people. :( Number one reason I should never get on YouTube... I never get off. ;)
In the evening before bed I did read one prayer from The Valley of Vision, as is my new custom. I always have to read them twice because they are incredibly theologically dense. I'd definitely recommend it.
With family coming in today and last minute preparations I doubt I'll get much reading done but I'll try my very best. At the least I'm sure I'll listen to Anne of Green Gables. :)
How is everyone else doing on their Bout of Books?

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I'm 21!

This past week I celebrated my 21st birthday!
Did I have a first drink? Yes I did! I had a little bit of wine... maybe four ounces and about that much of a light beer as well. Neither were much to my taste but I think I will try some other alcoholic beverages in the future. I was thankful to have that first drink with my family and friends. We also had a chocolate peanut butter cookie dough cake, which was delicious! To top the day off I got a Doctor Who T-shirt and Doctor Who trivial pursuit as well as the book The Valley of Vision, which is a collection of Puritan prayers. I will be making my way through it this year.
On my birthday my sister and I began our fifth game of Canasta. We had both won two games and our competitive natures are going into this last game, which determines the winner of the best out of five. Unfortunately she won the fifth game so we have started our sixth and we're going for best out of seven now. I'm determined to win!!!
The family also played a game of Apples to Apples on my birthday, which was fun as always. I didn't win... I rarely do, but it was still quite enjoyable. Apples to Apples is just one of those games that is fun even if you don't win.
All in all it was a great birthday! I still need to get my license renewed but I have a 45 day grace period and there's no way I'll wait until the last moment for that... right? I mean... I don't have a history of waiting until the last moment... do I? ;)

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Book Review- Strawberry Girl

For my Monthly Keyword Challenge, Re-reading challenge and Newberry challenge I read Lois Lenski's Newberry award winner Strawberry Girl. 

Synopsis from Goodreads: The land was theirs, but so were its hardships. Strawberries- big, ripe, and juicy. Ten-year-old Birdie Boyer can hardly wait to start picking them. But her family has just moved to the Florida backwoods, and they haven′t even begun their planting. "Don′t count your biddies ′fore they′re hatched, gal young un!" her father tells her. Making the new farm prosper is not easy. There is heat to suffer through, and droughts, and cold snaps. And, perhaps most worrisome of all for the Boyers, there are rowdy neighbors, just itching to start a feud.

Reading this book made me feel incredibly lazy... like I should go work in the garden for a few hours in 100 degree weather. Throughout the book I was continually impressed with how hard they worked and strove to build their new life. The biggest contrast to our current day of this book was how they seemed to take their work as a granted part of their day. The children didn't sit around complaining about it.... they did it. They all, from the youngest to the oldest, understood the consequences of laziness and the rewards of working hard. I thought it was a great reminder to my generation that if you want something you have to work for it. Few things come easy.
Overall it was actually a pretty simple book but with a good message. When I was done I wondered if it was quite worth of winning the Newberry award, as even though I thought it was good I thought there were better books out there. However, I looked up what else was up for the award that year and of the ones I have read I think it deserved to win. :) Not that my vote counts. ;)

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Bout of Books #2- Day 4

Yesterday was day four of Bout of Books.
I read a chapter of Book of Lost Tales part 2, listened to seven chapters of Anne of Green Gables and read a couple more prayers from The Valley of Vision. 
I love the time I have right now to study and I'm not looking forward to the resumption of school in a couple weeks and the lessening of time for reading. However, I think I need school in my life again as I feel I'm just getting lazier and lazier. :(

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Bout of Books #2- Day 3

Yesterday was day three of Bout of Books!
I listen to several chapters of Anne of Green Gables (I'm through chapter 18) and also read in Tolkien's Book of Lost Tales part 2. I also started reading The Valley of Vision which is a collection of Puritan prayers. I only read a couple prayers last night. My plan is to read one or two every evening until I'm through. It isn't something you can just rush through. :)

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Bout of Books #2- Day 2

Yesterday I listened to a couple chapters of Anne of Green Gables and read a chapter from The Book of Lost Tales part 2 (The Fall of Gondolin!). Not too much I'm afraid. I was running around getting my hair cut and shopping. To clarify, I wasn't running while my hair was being cut. ;)


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Book (play) review- Agamemnon

For my Play On challenge, Books in Translation challenge and Pre-Printing Press challenge I read the Greek play Agamemnon by Aeschylus.

Synopsis from Wikipedia: The play Agamemnon details the homecoming of Agamemnon, King of Argos, from the Trojan War. Waiting at home for him is his wife, Clytemnestra, who has been planning his murder, partly as revenge for the sacrifice of their daughter, Iphigenia, and partly because in the ten years of Agamemnon's absence Clytemnestra has entered into an adulterous relationship with Aegisthus, Agamemnon's cousin and the sole survivor of a dispossessed branch of the family (Agamemnon's father, Atreus, killed and fed Aegisthus's brothers to Aegisthus's father, Thyestes, when he took power from him), who is determined to regain the throne he believes should rightfully belong to him.

This play is confusing. Especially if you don't know your mythology. I read a lot of Greek and Roman mythology when I was younger but apparently the information has fled my brain because I was entirely lost. Thankfully halfway through it I stopped to eat lunch and my sister filled me in because her memory is far better than mine. Once I understood the setting, I was able to enjoy it a lot more. So my recommendation if you read this play is to find out about the setting and about the characters before you start it. It will make the reading experience ten times better. :) Just reading that above synopsis would have helped me a lot while i was reading it.... unfortunately I didn't. :(
That being said, I'm still not a big fan of Greek plays but it was interesting. It was also incredibly tragic though. Nothing cheery about those Greek plays. :(
All in all, as far as the Greek plays that I've read go, it's better than most. :)

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Bout of Books #2- Day 1

Yesterday was my first day of my second Bout of Books! Somehow I kind of forgot it was going on until this morning... no worries though! I still read a lot! :)

• Book of Lost Tales part 2 by J.R.R. Tolkien- I read one chapter of it, which constituted about a quarter of the book (i.e. pretty long). It was great though! It was the story of Túrin, which is one of my favorites but incredibly tragic.
• Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (Re-read) (audiobook)- I listened to multiple chapters (I'm not sure how many). I'm about a third of the way through it and I realized I haven't met Gilbert Blythe yet! I didn't realize it took quite so long get to him. I was listening to this while doing dishes and cleaning the sink. It sure made the chores go by faster! 
• Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski- I started and finished this last night.... it took me about an hour and a half to zip through it. It was a Newberry award winner back in the day and I though it was pretty good. :) It was a cute story and a little reminiscent of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books. Reading it made me feel incredibly lazy... like I should go out and hoe the garden in 100 degree weather for a few hours. 

So all in all a great first day of Bout of Books, despite me forgetting it was happening. :) The joys of not having started the semester of school yet and having lots of time. :)

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Book Review- Beowulf

For the Classics Club, the literary movement challenge, alphabet soup challenge, pre-printing press challenge, author a-z (unknown) challenge, books in translation challenge, back to the classics challenge, full house challenge and the Mount TBR challenge I read Beowulf. Yes, that's a lot of challenges it counted for... but it needs to because I'm signed up for a lot of challenges. :)

Synopsis from Goodreads: The earliest extant poem in a modern European language, Beowulf was composed 400 years before the Norman Conquest. As a social document, this great epic poem reflects a feudal, newly Christian world of heroes and monsters, blood and victory and death. As a work of art, it rings with a beauty, power, and artistry that have kept it alive for more than twelve centuries.

I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. It was a pleasant mixture of the epicness of Tolkien and the format of Homer's The Odyssey. I whizzed through this in one day, something I did not expect to do. It actually kept me riveted the whole way through. I enjoyed the Christian aspect to it and the unquenchable bravery of Beowulf. If you like Tolkien I think you'll love this as well. Tolkien actually wrote a translation of it but unfortunately that's not the copy my family had. Someday though I'm sure I'll re-read it and be sure to get that copy. The translation I did read was from Burton Raffel.
Beowulf goes in the Medieval section of my literary movement challenge. I think it belongs there not only because of the time period within which it was written but also because various aspects of the story fit into that movement such as the anonymity of it, it's written in old English, and the poetic style in which it was written.
This was the first book I read for 2015, which was very exciting! I actually started it about 12:30 the morning of New Years just for the fun of it and then finished it that evening. :)
How are you all doing with reading this year? :)

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Bout of Books: New Years Resolutions Challenge

The Book That is hosting a challenge for Bout of Books and I'm going to join in! Basically I'm listing books that represent my resolutions for the new year. :)

• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee represents the 50+ books I plan to re-read this year. I've been wanting to re-read this one for a long time. :)
• Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens represents the 20+ classics I will be reading this year. 
• The Golem and the Jinni by Helen Wecker represents the more modern books I hope to read this year. 
• Horse of a Different Color by Ralph Moody represents the Little Britches series that I hope to finish at long last this year. 
• Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier represents my TBR pile list. I've had this one on there for a long time and I'm looking forward to knocking it off. :)

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It's Monday: A New Year and a Bout of Books

It's 2015! Already I'm heading into the new year full speed. I began reading Beowulf just shortly after midnight New Year's Day just for the fun of it and then finished it later that day. :) This is also my first day of Bout of Books!
I don't know if people get reading cravings but I if they do I have one! For the last few days I've been longing for a re-read of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and I can't get rid of the longing! This is not planned into my schedule of reading this year but I'm thinking I'm going to have to work it in somehow. It's such a great book that I don't see why I should resist this craving. ;) For now I'll probably just suffice with Tolkien's The Book of Lost Tales but I think I'll take LOTR along with me when we go on our family ski trip next week. It's rather appropriate actually as the last time I re-read LOTR was two years ago on our last ski trip. :)

Finished this Week

• Beowulf by Unknown- Excellent poem! I was surprised to love it! A beautiful mixture of the epicness of Tolkien and the poetry format of Homer's Odyssey. A full review will hopefully be coming soon. :)
• Agamemnon by Aeschylus- Somewhat difficult to read and comprehend but interesting nonetheless. 

Currently Reading

• Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (re-read) (audiobook)- A classic childhood favorite. :)

Coming Soon

• The Book of Lost Tales part 2 by J.R.R. Tolkien
• Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski (re-read)
• The Lord of the Rings trilogy (re-read)???

Book Reviews posted this week

• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley 

Let the reading commence!

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Book Review- Brave New World

For the Classics Club spin I read Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.

Synopsis from Goodreads: Far in the future, the World Controllers have created the ideal society. Through clever use of genetic engineering, brainwashing and recreational sex and drugs, all its members are happy consumers. Bernard Marx seems alone harbouring an ill-defined longing to break free. A visit to one of the few remaining Savage Reservations, where the old, imperfect life still continues, may be the cure for his distress...

I was entirely shocked at this book when I first started but as I went along I became more sensitized to it as I got used to the setting of the story. When I thought about this, I realized that this is what has happened to the world too. The World, I'll think specifically of America here since I'm American, has become progressively more depraved and we've reached the point that we're so sensitized to evil that it really doesn't strike us as too terrible anymore. Have we gotten to the point of Brave New World yet? No, but I think we are far closer than we are comfortable admitting.
Here are a lot of quotes that I found thought provoking in various ways. In a way, I think Huxley was trying to make us think while reading this story, asking us questions. 

Here is a passage of dialogue that prods the mind. 

"But if you know about God why don't you tell people?" Asked the Savage indignantly. "Why don't you read these books about God?"
"For the same reason as we don't give them Shakespeare; they're old; they're about God hundreds of years ago, not about God now."
"But God doesn't change;"
"Men do though."
"What difference does that make?"

That last line for me is the cruncher. What difference does that make?

This is a great passage:

“Isn't there something in living dangerously?'
There's a great deal in it,' the Controller replied. 'Men and women must have their adrenals stimulated from time to time.'
What?' questioned the Savage, uncomprehending.
It's one of the conditions of perfect health. That's why we've made the V.P.S. treatments compulsory.'
V.P.S.?'
Violent Passion Surrogate. Regularly once a month. We flood the whole system with adrenin. It's the complete physiological equivalent of fear and rage. All the tonic effects of murdering Desdemona and being murdered by Othello, without any of the inconvenience.'
But I like the inconveniences.'
We don't,' said the Controller. 'We prefer to do things comfortably.'
But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.'
In fact,' said Mustapha Mond, 'you're claiming the right to be unhappy. Not to mention the right to grow old and ugly and impotent; the right to have syphilis and cancer, the right to have too little to eat; the right to be lousy; the right to live in constant apprehension of what may happen tomorrow; the right to catch typhoid; the right to be tortured by unspeakable pains of every kind.' There was a long silence.
I claim them all,' said the Savage at last.
Mustapha Mond shrugged his shoulders. 'You're welcome,' he said.” 

This quote in my opinion really pertains today in a world of instant gratification and where we have incredible resources and for some of us, we don't really work for what we get (I know I am guilty of that sometimes). “The Savage nodded, frowning. "You got rid of them. Yes, that's just like you. Getting rid of everything unpleasant instead of learning to put up with it. Whether 'tis better in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows or outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them...But you don't do either. Neither suffer nor oppose. You just abolish the slings and arrows. It's too easy."  ..."What you need," the Savage went on, "is something with tears for a change. Nothing costs enough here.” 

This quote really goes into "happy" and what that means. “Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the overcompensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand.”

Just reading back over these quotes I'm reminded how scarily real this book is and how America is truly creeping this way. Have you read Brave New World? What did you think of it? I would love to hear your thoughts on it. Do you agree or disagree with me? Let's start a discussion! :)

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2015 Hard Core Re-Reading Challenge- Review Posts

This is where you can link up your review posts for the 2015 Hard Core Re-Reading Challenge. If you don't have a blog feel free to use Goodreads or any other medium and if necessary you can just comment your review. :)
For the original listing of rules you can check out this post HERE.

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2015 Birthday Month Reading Challenge- Review Posts

This is where you can link up your review posts for the 2015 Birthday Month Reading Challenge. If you don't have a blog feel free to use Goodreads or any other medium and if necessary you can just comment your review. :)
For the original listing of rules be sure to check out this post HERE.

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Birthday Month Reading Challenge- January

It's a new year, a new month and time to start our new reading challenges! I'm incredibly excited for a new year of reading and my mountain of challenges I will be participating in this year. :)
If you haven't yet signed up for my Birthday Month Reading Challenge or my Hard Core Re-Reading Challenge be sure to check them out! There's still time to sign up.
So for the birthday month reading challenge the goal is every month to read a book by an author who has their birthday in that month. To help y'all out, I am including a list of some famous authors who have birthdays in January. :)

• J.R.R. Tolkien
• Wilkie Collins
• J.D. Salinger 
• Edgar Allen Poe 
• Benjamin Franklin 
• Edith Wharton 
• Zora Neale Hurston
• John Piper 
• Zane Grey 
• Max Lucado
• Francis Schaffer
• Lee Strobel
• Horatio Alger 
• Bill Peet 
• Harriet Tubman
• Martin Luther King Jr.
• Lloyd Alexander 
• Walter Brooks
• Arthur Ransom
• Anne Bronte
• A.A. Milne
• E.M. Forster

For a more complete list of authors check out THIS website. I just included the ones that immediately caught my eye. 

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