No two persons ever read the same book. ~Edmund Wilson
I so whole heartedly agree! Books are so many things. They are worlds to get lost in. They are messages about the world, life, and love to ponder and cherish. They are examples, and warnings. They encourage us to find the hero in ourselves, and recognize the villain.
Words have a sort of power in them. They can build someone up so they feel like they rule the world, and they can tear someone down. They can make your heart pound with giddy excitement, they can make you shout, cry, rant, and gain passionate opinions about what was said. They document history, record facts… Peace treaties: just a bunch of words on a sheet of paper. Yet they save lives and stop wars. Words can suck us in, convincing us that the product on that poster really is something we need. They can be spun with music to create emotions.
Let’s face it, words have power. When words are spun into sentences, and paragraphs, pages, and then whole books, they become something else entirely. Reading has a way of reducing stress, letting you forget about the worries of the world, and watch as a character overcomes tragedy, faces deadly foes, and quite possibly falls in love. I would say reading is like watching movies, but it just isn’t. Watching movies is just what the description entails. You’re watching… comfy in your chair and watching as the action happens. When reading, you get sucked in. You can smell what the character smells, see what they see, hear what they hear. You can feel their fear, their excitement, joy, and sadness. We really do get immersed in the book.
So… after being away from these beloved books for way too long, I have finally gotten back into reading and boy am I glad I did! Not only does it help a ton with getting inspiration for my own writing, but it allows me breaks here and there from the work load I am dealing with currently in school.
So, here are the most recent books I have read, and what I think of them:
Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress from the Lunar Chronicles:
Rating: 4.5 stars
Review:
Can I just say… wow… Meyer really has a way with words. Her descriptions are vibrant and compelling, just as much so as her characters. The world they live in, New Beijing, is so charming I couldn’t help but get lost in this book. I found myself reading the next, and the next… and now I have to wait a painful year to get my hands on the final installment – Winter (Nov 2015). Such a great tale, such great writing! Highly recommend. The only reason it is a 4.5 and not a five star, was that the first book was a little slow to begin with.
Spoilers:
I kept wanting Cinder to tell Kai who and what she was! But that didn’t even happen. He just found out, at the very end. But the book still flowed and was very enjoyable.
Throne of Glass books one and two:
Rating: 3 stars
Review: Again, such great writing! The book was so fast paced and imaginative that I couldn’t help but get hooked. The characters are lovable and totally worthy to be cheered on through it all. The only reason that this lost a couple stars from me, is that from a Christian point of view, it had some objectionable content (some swearing here and there, and some pretty graphic violence).
So that’s it for today! Thanks for reading,
Lara
P.S. I really hope to get more regular posts coming up in the next weeks. My work load has prevented this, but I am trying. : )