Reading Rampage!

So I've had a bit more free time the past few days (4 maybe?) and I have read A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray, Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, and Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares. I am just going to combine them into one blog post. :)

A GREAT AND TERRIBLE BEAUTY by Libba Bray:
This is not a classic but was highly recommended to me by a very good friend so when I received it as a birthday present I decided to read it. It is set in the late 1800s and tells the story of Gemma Doyle who discovers on her 16th birthday (Hey! That's when I got this book!) that she has the power of the Order which allows her to travel in and out of the "realms." Her mother is killed and she is sent to boarding school where she finds out more about the visions she has been experiencing. She and her 3 friends travel in and out of the realms and begin to be addicted to the power stored there. Read the book! I very much enjoyed the setting of the novel (late 1800s, English boarding school) and once I got into the story it only got better and better. (Now I'm reading the sequel!)

FARENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury:
So I was going to alternate between classic and non-classic so I chose Farenheit 451 as my next classic. I finished it in maybe 4 hours at the most. It was an extremely good story that I very much enjoyed. I didn't know if I would like it since I don't always enjoy scifi but this novel read as short stories usually read for me. Farenheit 451 tells the story of a future world where instead of putting out fires, firefighters start them. Firefighters are responsible for burning books and the houses of those who read books. It's a story of censorship and anti-knowledge. Since I am such an avid reader and I love to learn so the idea of hoarding and destroying knowledge is quite concerning to me. I also read Bradbury's afterward and "coda" and learned that people have tried to censor Farenheit 451, a book about censorship. How ironic and twisted is that? If you haven't read this classic novel, give it a chance, you could learn something.

SISTERHOOD EVERLASTING by Ann Brashares:
I am not going to write much about this novel because it is very recent and I do not want to spoil it for anyone. Basically, it is a continuation of Ann Brashares series, the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I read that series through junior high and absolutely adored them (the movies do them no justice). When I found out about this novel, I was thrilled and couldn't wait to read it and I finished it in less than a day. It was a tragically heartwarming story of friendship (as cheesy as that sounds). But a wonderful, wonderful story. If you read the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants novels: READ IT. (Or read the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series and then read it!)

Now as I said earlier, I am reading the sequel to A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels by Libba Bray.

Happy reading! :)

Jane Eyre

Hey all! So it's been like forever but Jane Eyre is a pretty long book.

I read it after it was suggested by my soon-to-be sister-in-law because she has pretty good taste in books. And it was a fantastic book. Jane Eyre tells the story of a plain Jane (literally) who has a bad childhood and spends time in an orphanage but finally gets a job for a mysterious man as his child's nanny.
She finally meets Mr Rochester and as she continues to work for him, she begins to fall in love and he falls in love with her. They arrange the marriage but once at the church a shocking discovery (READ IT FOR YOURSELF!) splits them up and Jane runs away and stays with some other people which she later discovers are her cousins and she has actually inherited some money from a long lost uncle.
The love that Rochester and Jane share lasts through many years though they are not in touch or seeing each other. I wanted them to get back together already! They were amazing together even though Rochester was much much older. And you'll have to read it to know the ending.. but I like the ending.. :)

I wish I could really see Jane's artwork, because it's beautifully described.

My favorite line in the book is probably: "We know God is everywhere; but certainly we feel His presence most when His works are on the grandest scale spread before us: and it is in the unclouded night-sky, where His worlds wheel their silent course, that we read clearest His infinitude, His omnipotence, His omnipresence... I felt the might and strength of God."

Now I'm reading A Great and Terrible Beauty (Not a classic- but on the long time list of "books to read")!

Happy reading, Kelsey