Top Ten Tuesday: Book Quotes

Top Ten Tuesday and this week we can link up with any past themes. I was glancing through them and the obvious one that stuck out to me was "Top Ten Book Quotes". I couldn't resist. :) So here are ten of my favorite book quotes (I don't want to say favorite for fear I missed some).

1. "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a large fortune must be in a want of a wife."- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
2. "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat; it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort."- The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
3. "Miss Morland, no one can think more highly of the understanding of women than I do. In my opinion, nature has given them so much that they never find it necessary to use more than half."- Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
4. "I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."- The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
5. "Red hair, sir, in my opinion, is dangerous."- Very Good Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
6. "She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me, and I am in no humor at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men."- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
7. "Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you may feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?"- The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
8. "Arise, arise, riders of Théoden! Fell deeds awake, fire and slaughter! Spear shall be shaken, shield shall be splintered, a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises! Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!"- The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
9. "Love has a lot of press-agenting from the oldest times; but there are higher, nobler things than love. A woman is only a woman, but a hefty drive is a slosh."- A Woman is only a Woman by P.G. Wodehouse
10. "If I loved you less I might be able to talk about it more."- Emma by Jane Austen

Somehow that came out as a bunch of Jane Austen and J.R.R. Tolkien quotes with a couple P.G. Wodehouse quotes. I guess it's easy to tell who my favorite authors are from that. :) There were conversations from their books that I wanted to use but they would be more difficult to include so I'll leave you with those. :)
Linking up with The Broke and the Bookish. 

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Eight Must Read Books

Today I am linking up again with Mama Kat to talk about eight books that I believe everyone should read in their lifetime. Before I list them, this is just my opinion, there are a lot of books I haven't read, so take it as it is. Some of them, I list one book, but I like all the books by that author so kind of think of it as a set of books. :) Please comment and let me know what books you would put on your list of must reads!

The Bible

As a Christian I obviously consider this to be a must read. It is the word of God and it shows us His will for our lives. I am given to understand, that even non-Christians consider it to be a "good book". 

Pride and Prejudice

Of course… y'all know it's my favorite book. I think all of Jane Austen's books have a lot to teach about human nature. Some of my favorite aspects of her books are how she shows who people really are by what they say, the relationships that she creates between people (not necessarily romantic but also familial) and her strong sense of right and wrong. In Pride and Prejudice, I especially love the witty lines and how it portrays the relationship between Elizabeth and her father. I love all of Austen's other books but especially Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. 

The Lord of the Rings

Another of my very favorites. In this book Tolkien created an incredible whole new world that is breathtakingly beautiful from the majesty of Minias Tirith to the simpleness of the Shire. I also enjoyed The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion. 

David Copperfield

Dickens is considered one of the greatest authors in history. His characters and stories are timeless. David Copperfield isn't my favorite Dickens but I do think it is probably his best. I also enjoy Bleak House, Nicholas Nickleby and Dombey and Son. I know Great Expectations is also considered very great but I watched the movie when I was young and Miss Havishman freaked me out so I couldn't enjoy the book as much after that. 

To Kill a Mockingbird

To be honest, I've only read this once, and I don't very clearly remember the book… though I do remember liking it. However, I very vividly remember the movie as one of my favorite movies ever. This is a great story that goes deeply into issues that still face the world today. 

The Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechism

This made a big impact in my life when I read it during high school as it helped me understand a lot more about what I believe and why it is true. I believe it to be a great tool to help Christians understand what the Bible says… though definitely not a substitute for the Bible.

Killer Angels

I thought I should include something historical as well and I consider this to be one of my very favorite historical novels. It concerns the War between the States. One of my favorite aspects of it is how it shows both sides of the war, allowing you to see and sympathize with the various historical figures. 

The Taming of the Shrew

Okay… this probably isn't Shakespeare's best or most famous… but it's my favorite of his works and I thought some Shakespeare should be included on this list because, well, he is kind of an famous and impactful author. I enjoy his other writings as well… especially Much Ado about Nothing. 

This was an incredibly hard list to make. I had to not think only of what my favorite books are, but what are books that I think important to read. Obviously this isn't an exhaustive list, as there are so many other great books out there that I would highly encourage people to read, but I think this is a good start with a mix of fun and humorous to serious and thought provoking. Again, please comment and let me know what you would consider the the top eight books everyone should read in their lifetime.

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.

Certified Tolkien Geek

Yep! Certifiable! This past week I finished The History of the Lord of the Rings, which is all of the drafts and notes of JRR Tolkien for The Lord of the Rings compiled by his son Christopher Tolkien. When I returned them to the person I borrowed them from he told me that he thought that I could get the certificate of Tolkien geekdom now. So I'm taking it. While there's so much more I want to read and re-read from Tolkien I would say I've tipped into the certifiable geekdom realm. So I made myself a certificate and I am going to print it out and carry it around with me all the time so all shall know.

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.

The Lord of the Rings Movies: What I would have done differently

So y'all know I LOVE the Lord of the Rings books but I've never really shared my feelings about the movies... apart from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. I was quite young when the first movie came out... seven to be exact. However, I had to read them before I got to see the movies... my Dad's rule.  So I was just seven years old when I read the Lord of the Rings because there was NO WAY I wasn't going to miss out on seeing those! I absolutely loved them as a kid. It has now been several years since the movies were released. I've matured a lot in how I view the movies and though I still really enjoy them, I now see the errors that were made, some of which were just in my opinion UNFORGIVABLE!!!! Let's review them shall we?

Aragorn and Arwen Scenes

You know what I'm talking about. The million and one romantic scenes of them together that never ever EVER existed in the book. The whole Aragorn and Arwen relationship was really blown out of proportion in the movie. Besides my disliking this change because it wasn't in the book, I also just disliked them because (you know me) they were icky romancy gag me stupidity! I can't believe that far more important scenes from the BOOK were left out and THOSE were put in. 

Sam, Frodo, and the stairs of Cirith Ungol

I think you know what scene I'm talking about here too... the scene that once again, was NOT IN THE BOOK but somehow made it into the movie. I really dislike this scene because it completely goes against the character of all of the characters involved... except Gollum I suppose. Frodo would not have believed Gollum over Sam and he most definitely would not have told Sam to go back! Sam would assuredly have NEVER left Frodo. And, as mentioned afore, IT DIDN'T HAPPEN IN THE BOOK!!!!!!!!! 

Faramir

Like they REALLY messed him up. You know, in the book he's supposed to be DIFFERENT than Boromir but in the movie they have him make the SAME mistake Boromir did, though granted in the end he makes the right decision. I really liked Faramir in the book, he's one of my favorite characters. There are certain qualities about him that caused him to make the right choice when Sam reveals that Frodo has the ring. It completely went against his character to have him do what he did. And, once again, IT WASN'T IN THE BOOK!!!

Those are my three main aggravations with them movies that really irk me to no end (as you may have noticed). You'll probably get the idea from what I wrote that I am a stringent "movie has to be like the book" kind of a person but I'm really not. Normally I'll be fairly lenient when it comes to movies staying true to the book. However, when movies add in scenes that aren't in the book (so they have NO reason to add them in) that are just stupid and don't help the movie at all, then I get very unhappy. 

There are a few other complaints I have about the movies that I have learned to partially forgive Peter Jackson for so I will spare you form those rants. Those listed above are most definitely my top ones though. What are your thoughts on the changes the Lord of the Rings movies made from the books? Do you have other parts of the movies that you find unforgivable? Share your thoughts in the comments section! 

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.

Tolkien Geek?

During the first half of January I enjoyed re-reading the Lord of the Rings and I don't know why but this time it really just clicked for me.  I had read it probably two or three times before that and I had always liked it okay but this time I LOVED it.  In fact, after I finished it I really just wanted to re-read it again.  I was told by one person that it was because I had changed, which is probably true, and by another that it was called "sanctification". :)
However, the real question now is am I a Tolkien geek?  According to my brother not only should I have read the Lord of the Rings (including the appendices) and The Hobbit, but I also will need to have read at least The Silmarillion as well to be a Tolkien geek.  So now I am working on The Silmarillion so I can move up to that much coveted level of geekieness.  After that, if I am still in the Tolkien mood, I might try some others of his works.
I just continue to be fascinated at the whole world that Tolkien created and how he puts so much into it that you could almost believe it is real... you definitely want to.  The style of his writing is incredibly beautiful, something I think will never be imitated, not matter how many Tolkien wannabes there are. However, we will still continue to try.  I know that after I finished reading them I told my sister that I would just have to go back and re-write my whole book now.  Then she accused ME of being a Tolkien wannabe!
So my advice to all of you is this, maybe you never liked The Lord of the Rings when you first read (or tried to read it) but who knows, you might have become "sanctified" too.  So try it again.  I can't promise you'll love it but you SHOULD. :)

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.