Miniature Reviews

Its finals time at Purdue… so that means that I have been reading even more than normal to avoid studying.  I really enjoyed so many of these books that I wanted to share some of my thoughts about them.  However, I didn’t think I’d have enough time to write full reviews for all of them, so I’ve decided to write a few mini reviews for all of you!

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

While I loved this book, and couldn’t put it down while I was reading it, when I was finally finished I realized that the story as a whole fell a little flat.  The theory behind this book is so interesting, a girl who lives her own live in thousands of different ways, constantly living and dying.  However, when a  character’s story keeps restarting instead of evolving it is hard to get truly involved with the characters.

A Murder of Magpies by Judith Flanders

While I don’t usually enjoy mysteries the setting of this novel, part of the London publishing world, drew me in right away.  My favorite part of this novel was the characters.  Sam is surrounded by a strange cast of characters, from a gothic secretary to Sam’s domineering mother. The only downside to this book was its tendency to drag on by being just a little too descriptive.

The Cove by Ron Rash

This book takes place  during World War 1 and though it is first and foremost a love story, much of the novel focuses on the grim reality of war and how it affects even those tucked into a cove in rural Appalachia.   My favorite part of the novel is how well Rash paints a picture of a small town in the midst of war hysteria and gripped with superstition.  I really enjoyed this novel, but it did seem to run a bit long for the simplicity of it’s storyline.

Anne of Green Gables Review

In case you couldn’t tell from my post where I chose “Anne of Green Gables” as my April Book Challenge book, I am a huge fan.  I read the first book in the series when I was nine or ten, and I have been hooked ever since.

I stumbled upon the books when I was nine or ten, finding an old box set among the piles of books my family had accumulated.  I devoured the first four books, and was hooked right away. It was a few years late that I realized there were even more books about Anne. Even though I was probably 14 at that time, I had to reread the first four and then rush through the rest of them.

Clearly my love of these books is going to keep me from providing an unbiased review for this book.  Instead, I will definitely be leaning more towards a strong recommendation that all of you read them.  Whether you have read some or all of them as a child, or have never read them at all, I strongly recommend  you pick up a copy, especially one as pretty as these.

Anne Shirley is one of my all time favorite literary characters.  This should come as no surprise seeing as I included her in my “Five Favorite Women in Literature” list.  Whether you are a young girl or a grown women I truly feel that Anne’s story can teach you something.

While the life of a young Canadian orphan is not all that similar to my own suburban Indiana childhood, I still found it impossible not to relate to Anne Shirley.  Though the books were first published in 1908, and the writing is old-fashioned, L.M. Montgomery writes in such a way that children today can still relate to the dramatic, intelligent and imaginative little girl she created.

While you might be thinking “That’s great, but I’m a little old for a children’s book,” I have to beg to differ.  This month was just another of many times that I have reread these books.  Anne’s story still gets me every time, and for me Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe will always be the perfect romance story.  I still love reading their story to this day, and I am certain all of you will as well.

Sticky Note Reviews

I’ve decided to dedicate this post to one of my favorite book-related things I’ve stumbled upon recently, the Sticky Note Reviews from Barnes and Noble’s pinterest page.  I stumbled on these reviews a few weeks ago, and I absolutely love this idea.

These short, but informative reviews are perfect for sticking on a book in a library or bookstore for some other bookworm to stumble upon later. Here are a few of the recent reviews from Barnes and Noble, so you can get a better idea of what the reviews are supposed to be.

Now that you have seen some of these amazing reviews, I hope that you guys like them as much as I do.  Below are my first few attempts at these short reviews.  I still haven’t decided exactly where I am going to be putting these for someone else to find.

April Update: 2015 Reading Challenge

It is once again time to choose my newest book for the 2015 Reading Challenge.  April was especially difficult to choose a book for, because this month’s topic is “a book from your childhood.”

Like any good bookworm, my love of literature came from reading so many amazing books as a child. It was so hard to pick just one of the books I loved to read this month.

Even though it was incredibly difficult to pick a book this time around, I still love this month’s challenge.  There will always be something special about picking up a book you loved as a kid.  If you don’t agree with me, agree with Meg Ryan.

So, without further ado, my book for April is…. “Anne of Green Gables” by L.M. Montgomery.

There were so many books I loved as a kid, many even more than “Anne of Green Gables.”  I chose to read this one however, because I got a beautiful new set of puffin classics with a copy of the book for christmas, and I hadn’t gotten to enjoy it yet.

Here are a few more of my favorite books from childhood, I would love to hear about some of your favorites in the comments!

10 Words You Didn’t Know Were Invented by Writers

#1 – Muggle: a person who possesses no magical powers

Well… you probably did know that this was created by J.k. Rowling in her Harry Potter books, but did you know that it was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2009?

#2: Chortle: combination of chuckle and snort

The word was coined by Lewis Carroll in “Through the Looking Glass.” In fact Carroll invented many words in his stories, most of them combinations of pre-existing words, such as frumious (“fuming” and “furious”), mimsy (“miserable” and “flimsy”), frabjous(“fabulous” and “joyous”), and slithy (“slimy” and “lithe”).

#3: Banana Republic: A politically unstable, undemocratic and tropical nation whose economy is largely dependent on the export of a single limited-resource product.

The term was first used by William Sidney Porter in “Cabbages and Kings.”

#4: Bedazzled: To be irresistibly enchanted, dazed or pleased.

Shakespeare coined this term in his popular play “The Taming of the Shrew.”  Katharina says: “Pardon, old father, my mistaking eyes, that have been so bedazzled with the sun that everything I look on seemeth green.”  This is a long ways off from what it currently means…

#5: Pie Hole – slang term for mouth

Though this word was likely already common slang at the time, Stephen King is credited with the first written account of the word.  It was found in his 1983 novel, “Christine.”

#6: Malapropism – the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one, often with unintentionally amusing effect.

The word originated from the character Mrs. Malaprop, from Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s 1775 play “The Rivals.”  Mrs. Malaprop could be read exclaiming “He’s the very pineapple of success!” and “She’s as headstrong as an allegory on the banks of the Nile!

#7: Boredom: the state of feeling bored

Charles Dickens is credited with inventing the word boredom in his classic 1853 novel “Bleak House.”

#8: Yahoo – a rude, noisy, or violent person.

The term originated as the name of a race of people in Jonathan Swift’s 1726 novel “Gulliver’s Travels.”

#9: Catch-22 – a dilemma or difficult circumstance from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting or dependent conditions.

Catch-22 was popularized after Joseph Heller made it the title of his book based on a real military regulation called Catch-18.  The regulation says that the only way to be excused from flying on a suicide mission is to be declared insane.  However, asking to be excused because of insanity is proof of a rational mind and means you cannot be excused.

#10: Nerd – a foolish or contemptible person who lacks social skills or is boringly studious.

While the actual invention of the word nerd is still debated, Dr. Seuss is responsible for the first written use of the word in his poem “If I Ran the Zoo.”