State of Obvious

Day 30 – Your Favorite book of all time  It's so hard to pick one favorite book.  I love many books for many reasons.  I suppose if I had to pick a single book to read for the rest of my life it would be Little Women.  Sorry Harry.

Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked This one is just weird.  I honestly can't think of something I liked that others hated.  I suppose I'm just too generic.  Since I can't think of anything, here's a picture of Carly being sassy instead!  And a sad looking puppy.  Lucky you!  (Do you see Eric in the background of the first picture, he's seriously starting to look like half of himself.  Also the puppy is really not sad, she's just watching our the kids play.  And I'm pretty sure those are my feet.)

Day 28 – Favorite title The Adventures of Captain Underpants. Can you really go wrong with a title like that?  I suppose you can, fortunately the book is pretty entertaining (Josh and  I have both read it.)

Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending Now, if you haven't read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and you're waiting to see what happens in the final movie or you plan to read the final book and don't want the end ruined, stop reading now. We good?  Okay. When HP dies, I'm not gonna lie, I was totally shocked.  He just walked right up and got zapped.  What a great, unexpected, brilliant twist.  Of course, if he had stayed dead, I might not be so enthusiastic.

Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something the way you look at the world Shall I make a short list? Stargirl Farhenheit 451 The Giver The Hunger Games A Series of Unfortunate Events The Host Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo Never Can Say Goodbye Charlotte's Web Maybe I'm just cliche, but each of these provided some fresh perspective, usually something to do blessed I truly am.  They also helped me realize how precarious the balance between safety and control is, how delicate the balance of love and hate can be, how obsession can overtake the goodness in our characters, how love truly is the most powerful and worth living for influence in our lives. 

Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most This is an interesting question to think about. Which character do I want to relate to the most? Well, that would be a whole other answer. But the character that I can most relate to is probably Jo March. Imperfect with a whip temper, often buried in the world of words, longing to create that one magical story, longing to fit in but still on the fringes...I get all that.

Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve should read Twilight.  Seriously, nobody has even read that.  Or maybe Harry Potter. Ok, obviously I'm just kidding. I'm going to go with Fahrenheit 451.  Probably a lot of people have read this book, but I personally did not read it until a year and a half ago when I was given a free copy.  It's a disturbing, enlightening, very current book - which says something given that it was first published in 1951. 

Day 23 – A book you wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t I guess I'm going to go with "The Gathering Storm" by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson.  TGS is the 12th book in the Wheel of Time series, I've read the others in the series - although I'll admit to some skimming.  These aren't little books, they are big bricks of words and sometimes you just gotta skip some stuff.  Anyhow, I've also read some other books by Brandon Sanderson - two to be specific, Elantris and Mistborn Book 1.  I enjoyed both of these books and I think that Brandon Sanderson has a fresh voice and style which should mesh well with Robert Jordan.    

Day 22 – Favorite book you own I hate to repeat myself here, but Peter Rabbit.  My grandparent's weren't big gift givers (that I remember) and so each of the gifts I still have from them are highly treasured.  Especially now that they're gone.

Day 20 – Favorite romance book I do like a good love story, especially one where the characters feel real and genuine.  I think I might go with Pride and Prejudice for this one simply because Mr. Darcy really goes out of his way to make things better for the woman he loves, and he takes no credit (in fact, he doesn't want anyone to know he's done it). 

Day 19 – Favorite book turned into a movie I'm not picking Harry Potter, are you surprised?  Probably not.  The movies on their own have been fine, definitely not perfect.  Given the time and imagination constraints, I prefer to just consider the movie and books independently.   That being said, my favorite book turned into a movie is North & South.  The British-non-civil-war version, there is some confusion there (my own included, when my sis-in-law first loaned us the movie and promised it was great I thought she might be crazy.  I was happily surprised.)  I watched the mini-series-movie a few times in the last year, high praise coming from me since I rarely watch a movie more than once in a short time span (Disney movies excepted).  My second favorite would be Pride and Prejudice (Kiera Knightly edition, I adore the music absolutely), followed by Anne of Green Gables (which I actually enjoy in movie form more than in book form).

Day 18 – A book that disappointed you Stone of Tears by Terry Goodkind.  The second book in the Sword of Truth series, to be specific.  I read the first, "Wizard's First Rule", and had a hard time with the graphic violence at the middle but skimmed through and finished the book.  I liked it enough to buy the second book, but never made it out of the first couple of chapters.  I wanted to like them, I really did, but it was just to intense I suppose.

Day 17 – Favorite quote from your favorite book I suppose I'm going to give my favorite quote from Half Blood Prince, although that might not be my favorite book of all time.  I haven't decided. "And now, Harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure." - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, JK Rowling.

Day 16 – Favorite female character I'm gonna go with the first person that popped into my head: Jo March.  Strong, sassy, a little bit quirky, and very reminiscent of my sister.  I'm also a big fan of Anne Shirley for much the same reason, she just isn't your typical damsel in distress.

Day 15 – Favorite male character Another interesting question with quite a few possibilities.  I am quite partial to Severus Snape - the name alone is awesome.  But, he's probably not my favorite ever.  I highly enjoy Mr. Thornton from North and South.  If you've seen the movie, the book goes on to tell of the many more good deeds and thoughts of Mr. Thornton.  I'm also a fan of Laurie in Little Women, even if he did marry Amy.  Simon and Jace in the Mortal Instruments series are also great.  I very much appreciate the boys of Harry Potter, too, and in particular I think Neville Longbottom is fantastic. If I'm going to pick an overall favorite, I think the top of my list is Peeta from the Hunger Games series.  Throughout the series he never strays from his basic goodness, even when he's been brain-washed he tries to be and do good.  Peeta, not Katniss, is the true hero of the series.  

Day 14 - Favorite book of your favorite writer Since I named 3 favorite writers yesterday, I'll name my favorite books for each today (that way it won't just be Harry Potter again...) Favorite writer off the page: Obert Skye .  Favorite book by Obert: Pillage.  (Obert Skye is a lesser known author, his books include the Leven Thumps series, Pillage, and Choke.  I happen to know Mr. Skye personally and he's pretty fantastic.  But that's another story.) Favorite Young Adult writer: Suzanne Collins.  Favorite book by Suzanne:  The Hunger Games. Favorite overall writer: JK Rowling.  Favorite book by JK: (as previously mentioned) Half Blood Prince.

Day 13 - Your favorite writer This is another question with a few possible answers.  My favorite writer off the page?  (Obert Skye).  My favorite YA writer?  (Suzanne Collins).  My favorite blog writer?  (Now that would just be rude to tell).  I guess if I have to pick one favorite writer, I'm going to go with JK Rowling.  When I grow up, I want to write like that.

Day 12 - A book you used to love but don't anymore I feel like some of these are repeating - or maybe it's just my answer.  In an effort to throw the unexpected your way, I'm going to go with Years by LaVyrle Spencer.  Ms. Spencer writes romance novels.  Not the dirty, explicit kind with every single detail, but certainly more details than I'm comfortable with nowadays.  I first read Years back when I was a teenager.  I was babysitting during the summer for a local family and the lady of the house was reading it.  So I read it during down time.  I probably spent too much time reading it instead of actually babysitting, but that's another story.  I've read a few other novels by Ms. Spencer, most notably Morning Glory which was turned into a movie starring Christopher Reeve.  I liked that book also.  In fact, I would probably read both of these books again if they were on my shelf.  But I do wish they had clean versions so that my e...

Day 11 - A Book You Hated If you get the title, it wasn't that book.  I liked that book even though it was extremely long and wandering.  Anyways, a book I hated - the first book that comes to mind is Jane Eyre.  I KNOW!  We read this for our local book club and when they asked if anyone didn't like the book, only 2 of us put up a hand.  I. just. don't. get. it.  I actually compared Jane to Bella from Twilight.  Jane is a very sophisticated Bella.  Wait, wait, put down the pitchfork.  This comparison drew immediate objection and ire (oooo, fancy words) but just think about it for a minute.  Jane spends a lot of the book whining about her life.  Bella spends a lot of the book whining.  Jane has to overlook Mr Rochester's flaws in order to be with him.  Bella has to overlook that Ed's a vampire.  Both of them are emotionally repressed and prone to fits of sudden passion.  The difference, what makes me not d...

Day 10 - Favorite Classic Book Little Women.  Except for the parts with Daisy and Demi which are just boring.  Also, Jo and Laurie should have gotten married.