A Game of Thrones

So I am fully aware that I missed a post last week, and it was not for lack of trying. Ever since I finished The Best of Me, I have been mercilessly plowing my way through a book on the complete opposite end of the spectrum: A Game of Thrones.
I am once again going to wave my nerd flag and say that I love HBO's Game of Thrones. A friend got me in to it a few months ago, and I was hooked. No surprise, but I heard that they books were even better than the series. When I went to visit my dad in Tennessee two weeks ago, I decided to start the first of the five books.
In case I haven't made it clear before, books are my life fuel. My cocaine. When I go on a vacation, where most people see beaches and sightseeing, I see endless amounts of uninterrupted time to curl up with a book. The first day I was there I swung by the bookstore, planning to pick up something for the week. One hour and six books later, I was parked on the back porch of the farm, already diving into A Game of Thrones.
I was done for. I literally read almost non-stop. Ask my family. If I had a minute, I was reading. I read on commercials, I read while we set the table. I read with my morning coffee and before I went to bed. Heck, I even read in the bathtub. Despite all that reading, I returned to Chicago only 450 pages into the book. Hence, the missing post.
I think that George R.R. Martin is a genius. I think that he is extremely, unbelievably talented as a writer. Time after time I was blown away by his imagination, and to put it all on paper that skillfully just boggles my mind. In my opinion, you have got to respect and admire this author and these books, regardless of your literary tastes.
It was fantastic.
And mark my words, when I finish my next five books, I will be reading book number 2 in the series.

The Best of Me

So, as I recently confessed, I have a somewhat embarrassing love of Nicholas Sparks books. Contrary to what you may assume, this did not start with The Notebook. The first Nicholas Sparks book I read was actually A Bend In The Road, and it was something my mom had gotten from a garage sale. But I'm not going to lie, I did read The Notebook shortly after.
But anyway, Nicholas Sparks is kind of my guilty pleasure. I've probably read at least ten of his books, although that's probably creeping closer to fifteen. And I have an eerie ability to read the book, and within months it's announced as becoming a movie. Seriously. The Lucky One? Dear John? The Vow? Read them all.
I had a somewhat slow start to this one. Once you read enough of his books, you start to see all the similarities. They're always set in a small town in North Carolina. A man and a woman always fall in love before facing some unforeseen complication. It sometimes starts to feel a little predictable (but God knows I keep reading them anyway). When I started The Best of Me, it felt a lot like The Notebook. Two teenagers fall in love in spite of their differences, and although they fight all the time, they share a once in a lifetime love and yada yada yada. I had my doubts about it for a while, trying to predict what would happen as I went along, but at some point it became nothing like The Notebook. Nothing like any Nicholas Sparks book I've read, and that's saying something.
The Best of Me may very well have just become my favorite. I cried. Twice. Before the epilogue, I took a deep breath and paused. I did that again at the end. It became so much more than a typical mushy love story, which is why I think that I keep reading these books. Like I said, they all seem to start the same, but they always end with this gut wrenching turn of events. At some point, they are no longer predictable at all.
So, yes. I love my Nicholas Sparks books. I'll say it loud and I'll say it proud, and The Best of Me is definitely worth picking up. And if you don't, there's a good chance it'll end up in theaters in a year or so anyway (my money says Valentines Day. Some things are still predictable).

Top 5 Favorite Books

So because I am getting a slow start to my new book, I've been trying to think of something else to write about. I have a ton of rants stored up about many different books, but I figured I'd start with something a little simpler so I don't scare anyone off.
Like I said, I have pretty much been reading non-stop since I first learned how. When I was a kid, I would ride my bike down to the public library and fill my backpack full of Nancy Drew (and everything I needed to know about horses and being a vet, of course). I first picked up Jane Eyre when I was eleven, and after months of renewal after renewal (I actually had to return it and ride my bike back the next day to check it out again. Apparently they only allow a certain number of renewals) I finally finished it almost a year later. My family bought me my own copy for Christmas that year, and I have probably read it at least 5 times since.
So as a life long book worm, I decided to figure out my top 5 favorite books of all time. You know, the desert island type. The 5 books that you would keep if you could only read 5 for the rest of your life. Not an easy thing for a book nerd to do. But after much consideration and many sleepless nights, I composed the following list.

In no particular order:

 1. Anne of Green Gables
This was a book that I didn't even have to consider. It had been on this list from the moment I read it. When I was in 6th grade, my Social Studies teacher saw that I had a Little House on the Prairie book on my desk. He called me over after class and suggested that I read Anne of Green Gables and, as cheesy as it may sound, it might have changed my life. As a kid, you literally step into Anne's imagination. She speaks so poetically and you come to love each character. If you finish the series (like I did) you see her grow from a spacey, scared little girl into an intelligent, strong woman. At 23 years old, this book was on my Christmas list and I finally added it to my personal, permanent library. I cannot stress enough how much I love it. I also fell in love with the movie as well.

2. Little Women.
Again, this was sort of a no brainer. The first time I read it, it was The Great Illustrated Classics version, and I was probably no more than 9 years old. I loved the movie with Susan Serandon and Winona Ryder. When my mom would let my brother and I each pick out a movie from the library, this was always one of them (oddly enough, it was usually my brothers choice..). I was probably 12 or 13 before I read the actual version for the first time, and I fell in love. It had so much more details than the movie or the GIC version, and it made me love the characters even more (I was a Jo then, now I'd have to say I'm a Meg). It's another one of those books that I never get tired of, and I usually try to read it every Christmas.

3. Gone With the Wind.
 This was only recently added to my library, although I have loved the movie forever. I love old movies about as much as I love books. My favorite is Breakfast at Tiffany's (I have yet to read the book out of fear of ruining the movie). I love love love Audrey Hepburn, Lucille Ball, Cary Grant, and of course, Fred and Ginger, but I could go on with that list all day. So anyway, that was the first reason I even watched Gone With the Wind. Gotta love some Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh. I loved the movie. The whole 4 hour, 2 VHS tape, movie. I always planned on reading the book, but it wasn't until I started the top 100 novels of all time that I actually got around to it. Like Anne and Jo, Scarlet and Rhett became so real to me. It was one of those books that you close and feel empty, missing the characters and wondering what they are doing and where they are now.

 4. The Time Travelers Wife
As I said before, I like to read the book AFTER I see the movie. I know that if I like the movie, I'll love the book, but if I love the book, I'm gonna hate the movie. The only time I do that in reverse is with Nicholas Sparks (I love Nicholas Sparks. Call it a guilty pleasure). I loved this movie. I cried like a baby, and I do every time I see it. I know, I know, it's a cheesy love story, but it gets me every time. I read the book right away and, of course, it was even better. The books always have so much more detail and are so much more in depth. Granted, there are some books that I read after the movie (PS. I Love You, My Sister's Keeper) that I love, don't get me wrong, but this was one that just stuck with me. I could read it over and over and I recommend it to everyone I know.

5. True Colors
Coming up with a number 5 book was definitely the hardest. My first 3 were no brainers, I had to put a lot of thought into the 4th, and especially the 5th. There are so many books that I love, and I could recommend them all day, but to narrow it down to one was harder than you might think. I considered the obvious choices, like Pride and Prejudice and The Great Gatsby. I even considered picking my favorite Jodi Picoult or Nicholas Sparks. I stood in front of my book shelves and pondered, racking my brain for the books I've read but do not own, and the one that I kept coming back to was True Colors. I borrowed this book from my friend a few years ago because she knows how much I love horses and thought that I would love the book. I did, and I even ended up passing it on to my mom before returning it. It follows three sisters in their battles of jealousy, betrayal, redemption and love, and again they are characters that I grew attached to (I'm noticing a pattern here). I won't go much more into the story line, but just knowing that it made the cut as the number 5 book should be enough.

The Awakening

After finishing Between the Lines, I was forced to take a reading break to focus on finals. Being a Journalism major, those no longer consist of all night study sessions and 100 question exams, but rather 12 page papers and 10 minute speeches. So basically, I had to give up my reading to do some writing.
When I finally turned in that final paper and ran from the building like my butt was on fire, I got back around to all those books I'd gotten for Christmas and picked up The Awakening by Kate Chopin.
I found The Awakening on a list of books every girl should read in her 20s on Pinterest (where, by the way, I find a ton of awesome books). It is a book that was first published in 1899, but shocked and disturbed society so badly that it was banished for decades. Reading it, it was easy to see why it would have been so disturbing at that time, even though today's reader would hardly blink at what was considered so scandalous.
It's the story of a young wife and mother who feels that she is not living her life for herself. She begins to discover what she wants and the freedom that she craves, but she struggles with society's disapproval.
I think that what keeps this story so popular today, in spite of the cultural differences, is the fact that its so relateable. Sure, as women we no longer have to keep silent and maintain our households and support our husbands in the way they did in 1899, but I think that at one point or another all of us have felt tied down or tried to fit a mold of what others think you should be. Whether that's a high school girl trying to conform to the norm or a business woman trying not to look to masculine, nor too feminine. I think that in one way or another, each of us has felt like Edna Pontellier, and that makes a 100 year old book still relevant today.

Between the Lines

I love Jodi Picoult. The first book of hers that I ever read was, of course, My Sister's Keeper. I know that most people like to read the book before the movie comes out, but I'm the opposite. If I love a book, I'm going to hate the movie, but if I like the movie, I'm going to love the book. Make sense? 

So anyways, I read My Sister's Keeper after the movie came out and I think it started a Jodi Picoult kick for me. I read The Pact and House Rules, and she went on the list of author's I put on my Christmas and birthday lists. Typical nerd, every time my mom asks for a wish list, I google authors I like and pick out some of their books. Which is how I discovered Between the Lines. 

I found this book this past Christmas, and I liked the story line so I added it to my already long list of books. It took me a few months to get around to reading it, because I always manage to have at least five books I want to read at a time. I finally picked it up, and finished it within the week. 

First of all, I found out that Picoult wrote this with her daughter, Samantha Van Leer. Apparently, Van Leer had the idea to write a story about what happens to the characters in a book when the book is closed. Kind of like the Toy Story of books. 

Between the Lines ended up being nothing like I expected. It was such a cool idea to imagine that the characters in a book actually have real lives outside of the one that was written for them. It made me think about Scarlett, and Jo, and Anne at Green Gables and imagine that they were still around even when I wasn't reading their stories. 

As an adult, I enjoyed the book, but it's something young adults would as well. It is a book that I would have liked to read with my mom, and one that I would one day like to read with my daughter. 
It was a very easy read, and it was a very cute story. 

March

I wish that I could remember the first time that I read Little Women. I know I was very young, and it wasn't the original, but the Great Animated Classic's version (loved those!). I read Louisa May Alcott's version in junior high, and I was hooked. Since then, I must have re-read it a hundred times (okay, so probably not a hundred, but enough). If I absolutely had to choose one favorite book, Little Women might be it. My teacher recommended March to me when we were off on a book-loving tangent one day. She said that if I loved Little Women, that I would love March as well. She leant it to me, and here we are.
It's the story of the patriach of the March family. Which in itself is an interesting idea, and something that I'm sure most Little Women fans have not thought much about (myself included). It tells the story of how he met Marmee, and how their family lost their fortune, as well as what Mr. March was doing while Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy were being ingrained into our hearts.
Dealing with the civil war, March also deals with slavery and issues of race. We learn that a young Marmee worked passionately with the underground railroad, and continued this work with her girls. It gave dimension to one of my favorite families, bringing Mr. March, and Marmee, to life and putting a new perspective on Alcotts story. And it made me cry. And we know I'm a sucker for a book that makes me cry.That being said, it also stays true to the original version. Little Women was based so much on Louisa May Alcott's life, and Geraldine Brooks clearly did her research to continue that. The writing is also fantastic. If you're a fan of Little Women, I highly recommend this book. And if for some unexplainable reason you have never read it, I suggest you start there!

I Remember Nothing

 After reading something as heavy as The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, I picked up Nora Ephron's I Remember Nothing. I loved it. I finished it in a day. There were so many things that I liked about it that I kept stopping and making notes for what I wanted to mention. 

1. First off, I liked that it was such a light read. I always have to have a book on my bedside table, and sometimes it's nice to have one that I can just breeze through. I Remember Nothing is just a collection of Nora Ephron's reflections and each one was it's own separate story. 

2. I liked the history of it. I firmly believe that I was born at the wrong time, and I should have been living in the 1940's, 50's, and even the 60's. Nora talks about meeting Eleanor Roosevelt and references Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, Tippi Hedren, Casablanca, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and The Ed Sullivan Show. I loved that.

3. I liked that it was relatable. There is a whole chapter about forgetting someones name, and that awkward moment when you have to introduce them to someone else. She talks about the cowlick on the back of her head, and the fact that she has to google everything. The things that she talks about are things that I relate to, things my mother could relate to, and things my grandmother good relate to. And the best part is, she does it with humor.

4. I liked that it made me think. I am the girl that always has a journal. I think my dad bought me my first one when I was eight years old, and I have been keeping one ever since. When Nora talks about all the things from her youth that she has forgotten, it made me think about all the things that I write about. It made me think about the kind of things that I am going to want to remember and the things that are not going to matter in the long run. 

5. I liked her reflection on Journalism. As a journalism major, I loved reading about her early experiences as a journalist, and what made her want to do it in the first place. She also gave advice, like "Never begin a story with a quote", "Never use anything but 'said'", and "Never put something you really care about into the last paragraph because it will undoubtedly be cut for space". Great advice.

6. It made me cry. At the very end of the book, Nora Ephron reflects upon the things that she will and will not miss when she dies. They are simple lists, but they made me cry. It made me think about the little things that you take for granted, and she showed me to appreciate life while you are living it.  So, yes, I loved this book. I definitely recommend you pick it up, and gaurantee you'll finish it the same day.