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larilari

Lari lari, lari lari lari.

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Challenge Day 30 - Your favorite book of all time

Persuasion - Jane Austen

“How quick come the reasons for approving what we like.”

Persuasion - Jane Austen

 

I can't pick ONE all time favorite book, I'm weak. Terribly weak. I have a shelf named all time favorites even. I'll just go with Persuasion this time.

 

I've heard a lot of people say Persuasion isn't easy to like, but I'm not sure I agree. I think it's really funny and Anne is really different from the other Austen heroines and her relationship with Captain Wentworth is different as well, as in a different level. They barely talk but you feel it anyway.

 

And it is bitter and rewarding at the same time.

Challenge Day 29 - A book everyone hated but you liked

Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog - John Grogan

I couldn't think of any book that fits this challenge really, but I've seen a lot of people saying bad things about this book, or rather about the author and how bad a dog owner he seems to be or bashing the sympathetic reactions to him.

 

Personally I think some people just thought he should be a perfect writer/pet owner/father and he wasn't afraid to show that he isn't any of the three but that there are redeeming things about him and I think there isn't such perfection. It felt honest enough I thought it was pretty nice.

Challenge Day 28 - Favorite book title

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim - David Sedaris

It isn't my favorite but it's one I like a lot (I like fun titles). Haven't actually read it yet though.

Challenge Day 27 - The most surprising plot twist or ending

And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie

One little Indian boy left all alone; he went and hanged himself and then there were none.”

And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie

 

Great?

 

Yes.

 

Yes.

Challenge Day 26 - A book that changed your opinion about something

I Am the Messenger - Markus Zusak

“Believe it or not -- it takes a lot of love to hate you like this.”

I Am The Messenger - Markus Zusak

 

I don't know if I can exactly say it changed my opinion but it definitely made me aware of how much small deeds and strangers can impact your life, for better or worse, and how much one can actually achieve through these small deeds, despite their opinions of themselves and of their place in the universe.

 

It's a magnificent book, really.

Challenge Day 25 - A character who you can relate the most

Sense and Sensibility (Oxford World's Classics) - Claire Lamont, James Kinsley, Margaret Anne Doody, Jane Austen

“I wish, as well as everybody else, to be perfectly happy; but, like everybody else, it must be in my own way.”

Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen

 

I can relate plenty with Elinor in S&S.

 

My friends like to remark that in coversations with many people I mostly stay quiet and everybody thinks I'm coldly uninterested until I smile suddenly or raise a brow in time of the topic. They think I'm too pragmatic in things they make a lot of drama about (I just think I'm surrounded by drama queens really) and unresponsive to bad things that happen to me but I actually just bottle it up and usually share with people more distant that won't try to make everything sound better or say that I'm blameless. I feel awkward receiving comfort but I like giving and taking care of people, and I'm a very patient person (influence of my mother who is basically a saint). I am outgoing and I laugh a lot and talk plenty if the time is right but the other side of my attitudes frustrate a lot of people and with time they just start overlooking whatever reaction I might have so in various situations my feelings start getting less attention in comparison to other people who react more visibly to things, which sometimes can be very upsetting and I can't say I get used to it. But I live on.

 

Now, where's my happy ending?

Challenge Day 24 - A book that you wish more people would've read

Artemis Fowl  - Eoin Colfer

“If I win, I'm a prodigy. If I lose, then I'm crazy. That's the way history is written.”

Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer

 

I wish more people would've read the Artemis Fowl series.

 

While I realize it has flaws and some predictability (specially in the first few books) I think it's a great series and I rarely see it commented upon in fantasy series listings. I've read a lot of stuff well recommended that I liked a lot less than I do AF so maybe someone out there would as well.

 

Challenge Day 23 - A book you wanted to read for a long time but still haven't

The Great Railway Bazaar - Paul Theroux

I have never even ever seen it in a bookstore/library but I've always wanted to read it.

What to do?

Challenge Day 22 - A book that makes you cry

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows  - J.K. Rowling

I don't cry much, in general. I get a bit misty eyed sometimes but I don't know to consider that crying.

 

I had been to London for the book launch parties but the lines were too long I couldn't wait because I was leaving for the continent in the morning (I was touring Europe). I only bought my copy a couple days later in Salzburg after almost harrassing this poor austrian boy who was reading on the street to give me indication of a bookstore.

 

I was on the bus reading and then poof! 

Dobby died. (are spoilers even needed?)

(show spoiler)

I cried, I cried sooo much it's not even funny. And not very prettily either.

 

I didn't cry anywhere else but I cried when I was done. Almost an hour crying for what felt like the end of my childhood. Was very dramatic.

Challenge Day 21 - The first novel you remember reading

The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.” 

The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

 

I was way too young and my mother said I cried and asked to move to a more interesting place for months.

Challenge Day 20 - Favorite romance book

The Heiress Effect - Courtney Milan

"If people want you to stop talking, or to stop dressing the way you do, or to change who you are, it's because you hurt their eyes. We've all been trained not to stare into the sun."

The Heiress Effect - Courtney Milan

 

I think if I tried to manage a top 5 of that I'd end up listing 200 so I just picked my most recent favorite one.

 

And Courtney Milan rocks!

Challenge Day 19 - Favorite book turned into a movie

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory  - Quentin Blake, Roald Dahl

"I want an Oompa-Loompa!' screamed Veruca"

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

 

 

 

The 1971 musical adaptation because it's awesome even with the story changes.

 

 

I have never even watched the recent (ha, recent 2005) one because I heard it didn't have Oompa Loompas. Don't even know if that's true.

Challenge Day 18 - A book that disappointed you

Storm Born  - Richelle Mead

“‎Keep your love, I have no use for it anymore.”

Storm Born - Richelle Mead

(and my feelings for this book exactly)

 

Silly, weak, we-had-sex-several-times-now-I-love-him, no development, story all over the place, subterfuge, subterfuge, subterfuge.

 

Richelle Mead you let me down.

Challenge Day 17 - Favorite quote from your favorite book

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows  - J.K. Rowling

Like everybody else, it's too hard to pick one favorite book let alone one favorite quote but this is one I love and it means the world to me.

 

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J. K. Rowling

 

and then I cried all over again.

Challenge Day 16 - Favorite female character

The Grand Sophy - Georgette Heyer

“It is abominable, Sophy!"
“Yes, if the motive were not pure!”

The Grand Sophy - Georgette Heyer

 

While I love way too many women in books my first thought and my final choice is Miss Sophia Stanton-Lacy, from The Grand Sophy.

She is nosy, bossy, unmanageable, independent, funny, different and so bright and everything I wish I were.

 

That's all.

Challenge Day 15 - Favorite Male Character

Oh my, this is hard hard hard because I happen to consider every male I like in books my personal book boyfriend and you might guess by now I have a splendid harem.

My attempt to do a top 3 got me 15 names so since I've been doing a good work so far in picking only one choice for each day I'll do it again.

And the oscar goes to

 

Reginald Jeeves!

 

 

from P.G. Wodehouse's series of short stories, novels and tv series.

 

I had read Thank You, Jeeves and several short stories before I'd known about the Fry & Laurie tv show of it and then I came to love it even more because they're so perfect at it.