Book Review- The Borrowers

For the Key word reading challenge, the authors a-z challenge and the hard core re-reading challenge I re-read Mary Norton's children's novel The Borrowers.

Synopsis from Goodreads- The Borrowers are tiny people hidden away in houses and safe places, living off what they borrow from human Beans. Pod and Homily want daughter Arriety to be safe, never seen, but she feels lonely and trapped. The Boy visiting Great Aunt Sophy brings doll furniture in exchange for Arriety reading, until mean housekeeper Mrs Driver calls the rat-catcher.

This was a fan little re-read. The characters are quirky and cute. I'm sure I probably found it to be even better when I was a kid but I still enjoyed it as an adult. The story makes you want to go searching for some Borrowers in your house. ;)
All in all a good book. :)

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Book Review- Armadale

For the monthly motif reading challenge, Victorian Bingo challenge, library reading challenge, lucky No. 15 reading challenge, full house reading challenge and the Classics Club I read Wilkie Collins's novel Armadale.

Synopsis from Goodreads: The novel has a convoluted plot about two distant cousins both named Allan Armadale. The father of one had murdered the father of the other (the two fathers are also named Allan Armadale). The story starts with a deathbed confession by the murderer in the form of a letter to be given to his baby son when he grows up. Many years are skipped over. The son, mistreated at home, runs away from his mother and stepfather, and takes up a wandering life under the assumed name of Ozias Midwinter.

This book is loaded with mystery, intrigue and murder! It kept me guessing the whole time wondering what was going to happen and most interestingly it really left me uncertain on who to root for. My poor family had to hear my expositions on this book quite a lot and oftentimes could not get me to put it down. I could frequently be heard exclaiming "I just want to know how it's all going to turn out!" It was one of those books where I saw the possibility of it ending with the "bad guys" winning but I won't tell you if they did or not!
The two Allan Armadales- I'll just call one Allan and the other one by his alias Ozias Midwinter to eliminate confusion- both had their issues in their own way. Allan was a total airhead, entirely naive and just really annoying sometimes. However, Allan was kind and considerate of others. Ozias Midwinter was a lot more discerning having been mistreated by the world since he was young. He does become blindsided and fall for the villianess but he learns in the end. I personally liked Ozias the best of all the characters in the book. I felt his struggle on whether to stay with Allan and be his friend or to leave him, worried as he was by circumstances (if you want to want the circumstances are you'll just have to read the book!). I felt that Ozias had a lot of weight on his shoulders throughout the book. In the end, I appreciate that he was able to look at the dream (okay I'm giving you one of the circumstances!) and see it's true purpose.
Miss Milroy was also quite the interesting character. She is a love interest of Allan. I'm not really quite sure what to think of her. She can be somewhat manipulative but not in a hard hearted way I don't think. However, I wonder if potentially down the road it could lead to it? Miss Gwilt's opinion of her is as an artful woman but then Miss Gwilt isn't very fond of Miss Milroy.
Now for Miss Lydia Gwilt. What a villianess! So warped, so heartlessly evil and yet we pity her so much and root for her to have a change of heart throughout the book, always wondering if possibly she could. Does she? Read the book and find out!
Seriously, I could not figure out how this book would conclude right up to the end!
This book was kind of long and in a few places I felt it drag but for the most part it kept me entertained throughout. I'm a fast reader and I tend to start skimming if it starts dragging so therefore I don't notice slow paces quite as much.
All in all I recommend the book highly! :)

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Top Ten Books which Feature Characters Who Resemble Me

The theme for Broke and Bookish's Top Ten Tuesday this week is books which feature characters who BLANK. To fill in that blank I chose to go with characters who resemble me. I hope you find this enlightening. ;)

1. Catherine Morland from Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen- I know I've mentioned this before on the blog but my mom has likened me to her multiple times and when I take Jane Austen character quizzes it's always Catherine I come out as. 
2. Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables and others by L.M. Montgomery- Her imagination really resonates with me as well as other qualities she possesses.  
3. Phillipa Gordan from Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery- There's a part in the book where Phillipa says something along the lines that she can act and look silly on the outside but on the inside she is actually thinking and intelligent and so much more.... and I think that really applies to me. And yes, the actual quote sound way more intelligent but I couldn't find it try as I did to do so. 
4. Scout from To Kill a Mockinbird by Harper Lee- I more remind myself of Scout when I was younger... not so much now probably. 
5. Molly Gibson from Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell- I don't see myself wholly in Moll, as she is far more forbearing and kind than I will ever be but as goes keeping other people's secrets and bearing other people's burdens I can see myself a little in her. My grandpa loved the movie of Wives and Daughters and he always told us granddaughters that he wanted us to be like Molly. With him having passed away recently, I take those words deeply to heart. 
6. Hermione Granger from The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling- Now I'm not a super genius like Hermione by any means but there are definitely times in school, especially when I'm studying for tests or the end of the semester looms nearer and nearer, that I go all Hermione and study and stress like crazy! 
7. Lucy Penvensie from The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis- Us poor younger children that get overlooked for the older siblings and are never listened to... not that I'm bitter or anything. ;)
8. Jo March from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott- I haven't re-read this in awhile (but I'll be re-reading it soon!) but from what I recall of Jo, she loves writing, she is a little hot headed sometimes and she has many of the other qualities and defects I possess. 

BONUS- Movies/TV Shows which feature characters who resemble me! 

1. Martha Jones from Doctor Who- I am defininitely Martha in that I know I would end up falling in love with the doctor and having to leave. I would also be totally geeking out about everything and asking questions like Martha does. :) I love Martha. :)
2. Belle from Beauty and the Beast- I recently realized that I am very much Belle. I love to read, I love my Dad despite his quirks ;) and of course a spot of adventure would be cool. ;)

I could only come up with eight but then I finished it off with two from the film department. :) If you think of a character that remind you of me let me know in the comments! :)

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

It's Monday! Final Couple Weeks!

Just a couple more weeks and I'll be graduating (Lord willing)! I'm not sure how reading is going to fit in but I'm sure it will. :)

Currently Reading

• The Valley of Vision
• Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransom (re-read)- I'm just started reading this aloud to my brother Sunday. I'm not sure how well reading it aloud will turn out but I guess I'll find out. ;)

Finished this Week

• The Borrowers by Mary Norton (re-read)- A nice light re-read. :)
• Armadale by Wilkie Collins- This book kept me intrigued the whole time! Review coming soon(ish). ;)

Coming Soon in May!!!

• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (re-read)
• Dream Thief by Stephen Lawhead (re-read)
• Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell- I'm doing my first read-a-long for this book!

Reviews Posted this Week

• Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott (re-read)
• Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Book (play) Review- Romeo and Juliet

A whole lot of DRAMA! That's what this play entailed. None more dramatic than Juliet, closely followed by Romeo. Apparently opposites don't attract...
William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet goes towards my audiobook challenge, mount TBR challenge and Play On challenge.
So you may get the impression that I wasn't crazy about this play. You'd be right. I'm not a big fan of romance and since Romeo and Juliet kind of epitomizes romance, it didn't really sit well with me.
First off, Romeo liked Rosalind first and he was crazy about her and mooning about her and blah, blah, blah. However, then he meets Juliet and suddenly Rosalind is not so hot and Juliet is perfection and he's head over heels for her. Seriously? Don't forget that their parents are feuding so they can't openly love each other.
Then, Juliet speaks to the night about her love for this guy she scarcely met while Romeo listens because he sneaked into her garden to watch outside her window because that's not stalker like at all. Then Romeo reveals himself to her and they declare their undying love for each other, blah, blah, blah. Seriously? Then the next day they decide to get secretly married because they are so in love. Seriously?
Then you know there's the whole thing with Romeo killing her cousin in a duel (which really wasn't exactly Romeo's fault... I'll give him that). So Romeo gets banished and Juliet is more heart broken over that than the fact that her cousin who she was close to was killed. SERIOUSLY??? Than Juliet's parents want her to marry Paris, who is actually a decent guy, so Juliet is in a sticky situation. The friar who married them comes up with a plan to have her fake her own death and than Romeo come rescue her from her tomb. However, there's some issues with communication so Romeo only hears that she's dead... not about the whole plan where she's not dead and he rescues her. So he plans to commit suicide over her grave. SERIOUSLY??? Unfortunately he picks a bad time to as Paris is also visiting her grave then so they fight and Paris is killed. Than Romeo downs some poison and dies over Juliet's grave. THEN, Juliet wakes up from her deathly slumber and sees Romeo lying dead and decides to commit suicide too so she takes his dagger and falls on it, killing herself. SERIOUSLY???
Than their family's show up and the only really good thing that comes out of this mess is that they decide to stop their feuding due to the deaths that it has caused.
I can't say much good about this play. I thought it was entirely over the top and mushy and dramatic and ugh. I've heard from some reviewers that people like me are missing the point of the play so maybe I am. Overall, though I tend to like Shakespeare, I am not a fan of Romeo and Juliet.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Book Review- Ivanhoe

For the re-reading challenge, literary movement challenge, alphabet soup challenge and mount TBR challenge I re-read Sir Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe. I wanted to re-read it because the first time I read it I didn't care for it much. However, this re-read has changed my mind and I am a fan! It went from a three star to a five star on Goodreads! The back of the copy I have says that Ivanhoe was the original historical novel, which I had not known and I thought super interesting!

Synopsis from Goodreads: Set at the time of the Norman Conquest, this novel discusses Ivanhoe's return from the Crusades to claim his inheritance and the love of Rowena and his involvement in the struggle between Richard Coeur de Lion and his Norman brother John. It is structured by a series of conflicts: Saxon versus Norman, Christian versus Jew, and men versus women.

I grew up watching the 1982 film version with Anthony Andrews (best loved for his performance in The Scarlet Pimpernel made in the same year). When reading the book this time, I was amazed at how closely the film version had stuck to it and actually because I had the mental picture of the film in my head I was really able to see the book come alive for me. All of the characters are very real to me: Ivanhoe's chivalry, Rebecca's devotion, Brian de Bois-Guilbert's evil and lustful heart and so many more! It was interesting to see the dynamic of the Jews vs. Christians play out and see Ivanhoe's attitude change from mild disgust to deep respect for Rebecca.
The big bad three- Brian de Bois-Guilbert, Font-de-Bouef and de Bracy are so creepily bad, though when it comes down to it I prefer de Bracy... he has traces of honor. There was a part in the book, I think after Font-de-Bouef had been fatally injured, where Brain de Bois-Guilbert and de Bracy were arguing over who was the better Christian and I was just dumbfounded by their ridiculous arguments and their blindness to their sins!
And the action! I love a good joust! ;) It was exciting to read the jousts, sword fights and the storming of the castle in the book. Sir Walter Scott did a good job bringing them to life.
Oh and one of my favorite parts of the book is that it includes my old favorite Robin Hood and his merry men! King Richard and Friar Tuck's songs together are actually quite hilarious! Oh yeah, and King Richard is in it too and he's awesome. ;)
This books definitely fits in the Romanticism literary movement. You have the young love of Ivanhoe and the fair lady Rowena, the romantic tension of Ivanhoe and Rebecca, and the romantic tension between Rebecca and Brian de Bois-Guilbert. Obviously quite a lot of romantic tension, which I'm not normally a fan of but thankfully Sir Walter Scott is not a 21st century writer so it worked. ;)
Overall a great book and I would highly recommend it!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Top Ten ALL TIME FAVORITE AUTHORS

Almost as hard as favorite books, today's Top Ten Tuesday asks for my favorite authors! I'll try my best. :) Besides the first and second they aren't in any particular order. This was a hard list to come up with so I've included a few honorable mentions and hopefully I haven't missed any. :)

1. Jane Austen- This is an obvious first :)
2. J.R.R. Tolkien- Again... kind of obvious. 
3. Charles Dickens
4. Agatha Christie
5. P.G. Wodehouse
6. Brian Jacques
7. L.M. Montgomery
8. Harper Lee
9. William Shakespeare
10. Elizabeth Gaskell

Honorable mentions

• J.K. Rowling
• Lewis Carroll 
• G.A. Henty
• Louisa May Alcott
• C.S. Lewis
• R.C. Sproul
• Andrew Peterson
• Anthony Trollope
• Wilkie Collins
• Dorothy Sayers
• Ellis Peters
• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• N.D. Wilson

Hosted by The Broke and Bookish.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

It's Monday! A little Respite

I made it through last week's tumultuous school activities well and now I have a little bit of a break before I take on the final stretch before graduation. I was able to go to the local homeschool convention, which was amazing and buy too many books (as if there is such a thing!) from my favorite used books vendor! I had to restrain myself from buying more even though there were so many I saw that I wanted. See what I ended up buying below!

Currently Reading

• The Valley of Vision
• Armadale by Wilkie Collins

Finished This Week

• Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
• Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott (re-read)

Coming Soon

• The Borrowers by Mary Norton 

Bought 

• All the rest of the Anne of Green Gables series EXCEPT Anne of Green Gables as I already had it. I'm so excited about these! After re-reading them all this year I was longing to have my own copies!
• The Chronicles of Prydain series by Lloyd Alexander (The Book of Three, The Black Cauldron, The Castle of Lyre, Taran Wanderer, High King)- A favorite fantasy series growing up and one I'm planning to re-read this year. :)
• Waverley by Sir Walter Scott- After finishing re-reading Ivanhoe and loving it, I knew I needed more Sir Walter Scott on my bookshelf! 
• Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier- I was already planning on reading it this year and now I have my own copy! 

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

A Disney Book Tag!!!!

I saw this over at Reviews from a Bookworm and thought it looked fun so here are my answers! Beware, my thought processes come out a lot in these tags!

Anna and Elsa- A book involving siblings

So many options for this one! I love The Lord of the Rings (Eomer and Eowyn), The Chronicles of Narnia, Little Women, Pride and Prejudice (Jane and Lizzy!), To Kill a Mockinbird, Sense and Sensibility, Swallows and Amazons, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series. There are more I'm missing I'm sure but these are the first ones I thought of. 

Rapunzel- A book that made you emotional

Recently, Rilla of Ingleside had me almost tearing up, which shocked me. I was tired. ;)

Merida- A book featuring a female warrior

The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings are what first come to mind, but I'm probably missing something obvious (and no I haven't read The Hunger Games or Divergent). 

Tiana- A book that features realistic struggles

Not sure on this one. How about Little Women? I can empathize with Jo's struggles. 

Belle- A literary book or classic

Pride and Prejudice for the win!!!

Pocahontas- A nature themed book or a book by a naturalist

The Redwall series by Brian Jacques and Watership Down by Richard Adams. 

Jasmine- A book about the desire to be free

I don't know! The first thing that actually came to my mind was The Lord of the Rings and Eowyn but the book isn't actually just about that.

Mulan- A book featuring war or battles

The Lord of the Rings!!!!!

Ariel- A book featuring curiosity or learning

The first thing that came to my mind was Harry Potter... I'm not sure why as I don't think it completely fits the description of this one. 

Cinderella- A book featuring manual labor

Hmmm... I don't know... again! Okay, I came up with Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. They're manual working in it so it counts! 

Sleeping Beauty- A book featuring sleep

What books feature sleep???? Goodnight Moon? Does that count? 

Snow White- A book featuring one of the seven deadly sins

A lot of books do! Lust- I think of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. 

Megara- A book featuring Greek mythology

Okay I should be able to think up something for this! I haven't (yet) read the Percy Jackson series so don't suggest that! I've read a lot of Greek mythology books but not fictional books based off of Greek mythology that I can think of... but I still have a funny feeling I have! Okay it's come to me! Till  We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis! 

Alice- A book featuring nonsense or a book featuring an unusual other world

Honestly the first ones I think of are Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass but that seems like cheating since this is Alice. Therefore, I'll also include The Wonderful Wizard of Oz! 

Maid Marian- A book with a canine

The Hound of the Baskervilles? ;) Where the Redfern Grows is also good and I like the movie of Old Yeller but I haven't read the book yet. 

Nala- A book with a feline

I don't know! I don't care for cats much! Oh but I do like Anne of the Island's cat Rusty! 

Well that's all! They really did include pretty much every Disney heroine ever! 

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I Mustache You Some Questions Tag!

I saw this tag over at Spoonful of Happy Endings and you all know I love tags so naturally I couldn't resist!

Four names people call me other than my real name

1. Lo-Lo- Mostly my Dad :)
2. Peppernut- A nickname since birth... long history behind it.
3. Lega-Lois- After Legolas from LOTR.... that has a long history to it as well.
4. Lois Lane- Please just do NOT ever call me this! I've never seen any Superman movies and I know minimally about Superman but I promise you basically everything I know is relate to people always relating my name to Lois Lane! I'm sick of it! Don't do it! Rant over. ;)

Four jobs I've had

1. Waterer at a nursery
2. Student worker at my college's library
3. Pig farmer (not sure what my title was actually) at a pig farm
4. No more yet but hoping for a nursing job soon once I graduate! 

Four movies I've watched more than once (I've watched plenty more than once but these are my favorite to rewatch and probably the movies I've rewatched the most... not necessarily my favorite movies).

1. Pride and Prejudice 1995
2. National Treasure
3. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
4. Charade

Four Books I would Recommend (so many but I'm narrowing it down!)

1. The Bible (of course!)
2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (duh!)
3. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien 
4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Four places I have visited- I'm not much of a traveller as evidenced here. Not that I don't want to travel because I do, I just haven't much. 

1. Costa Rica
2. Canada
3. Colorado
4. Yellowstone National Park

Four places I would rather be now

1. England
2. Ireland
3. Scotland
4. Italy

Four things I don't eat (actually two... I'm not a very picky eater)

1. Bell peppers
2. Fish (I do eat it sometimes) 

Four TV Shows I watch (A lot.... But I'll just include some of my favorites and of course I couldn't keep it down to just four)

1. Doctor Who
2. Leverage
3. Stargate: Atlantis
4. Psych
5. Monk
6. Firefly

Four things I'm looking forward to this year (2015)

1. Graduating from nursing school!!!
2. Startin a job as a real nurse!
3. Regaining my sanity ;)
4. Spending more time with my family once I'm free from the clutches of school! 

Follow my blog with Bloglovin