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Showing posts from July, 2022

Book Notes: Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane by Suzanne Collins

    Summary I love this series. Gregor , book 2 in The Underland Chronicles, is an epic for young adults--probably the same audience as Narnia , Wingfeather , and Green Ember . It is a fast-paced, heart-tugging adventure story that takes place deep underground. This book has brains and heart. Like everything I’ve read by Collins, there isn’t a word in the wrong place. Nothing is wasted or confusing or missing. Why I read it I read and loved the first book in the series while we were on vacation. After reading several more serious books since then, I wanted a break to read a lighter book. I can't believe I waited so long to read this series since I loved Hunger Games . I've never heard anyone mention this book. f Quotes Gregor realized that the journey filled with squids and whirlpools and mites and serpents and loss, great loss, had change them. It had made the oath they had sworn in front of that furious crowd in Regalia real. 210   "Run like the River, Ripred," said

Book Notes: Emma by Jane Austen

   Summary This is my favorite Jane Austen novel. It feels like a modern situation and story. It is the story of a young woman who thinks she has the world figured out. Her attempts to craft people, relationships, and situations to her liking meet the chaos and complication of real life. When I finished it, the word that came to mind was “delightful.” It’s just a fun story. Why I read it I realized a year or so ago that my favorite books have tended to be literature, but I also realized that I don't read much literature. To correct that, I made a resolution this year to read all of Jane Austen's novels that I haven't read. This is the 5th of her 6 novels. Quotes If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more. 445   The affection which he had been asking to be allowed to create, if he could, was already his. 447   Key Takeaways This is my favorite Jane Austen novel. This is long (500 pages or so) and worth reading. I would just read it along with something lighte

Book Notes: All Things Bright and Beautiful by James Herriot

  Summary I love these short reflections on life as a country vet. They are good for reading one or two per night before bed. This collection of columns is deeper and more thoughtful. They draw from history and they jump back and forth more than the first collection. This one also describes the transitions in life on farms in the early-mid 1900's. Why I read it We have really enjoyed the TV series based on Herriot's stories. I intended this to be my light reading before bed. Quotes And as the years passed I often wondered on the beneficent providence which had decreed that an animal which had spent his first twelve months abandoned and unwanted, staring uncomprehendingly into that unchanging, stinking darkness, should be whisked in a moment into an existence of light and movement and love. Because I don't think any dog had it quite so good as Roy from then on.  78       "You are quite proud of your little dog, aren't you Nellie," I said, and the gentle squinti