pickOh my gosh.
Oh my gosh.
"It is a strange thing, but when you are dreading something, and wouldn't give anything to slow down time, it has a disobliging habit of speeding up. The days until the first task seemed to slip by as though someone had fixed the clocks to work at double speed" (Rowling 317).
pickI very much appreciated the elegant diction in this book, and finished all of its 734 pages in three days.
pickI appreciated the author's incorporation of time traveling into this book, as well as her incredible use of suspense. It wasn't until very late in this book that we learned Sirius Black was not someone Harry should beware of, and instead a great friend.
"It was an interesting psychological experiment" (Christie 245).
pickThis was the first mystery I read in a very long time, and I was not at all unimpressed. Christie's ability to create a mystery that was hidden to only a certain degrees, so that the reader may still be able to figure out the mystery for himself, astounded me. Her use of Frank Green's poem especially influenced the astonishing manner in which I flipped the pages. Absolutely incredible. Must reread.
"He was glaring at me.
'I'm sorry,' I said.
He asked, 'For what?'
'For what I did.'
'What about for what you didn't do?'
I nodded. 'I'm sorry for that too.'
'Sorrow,' he said, 'comes so cheap.'" (Anderson 289)
pickWords cannot express how thoroughly I was impressed by this book, which immersed me in Titus' world so easily and so completely. The ignorance and haughtiness of the main character in contrast to the virtuous nature of his girlfriend astonished me, and often forced me to reconsider my daily actions. Was I too being selfish and rude?
"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far from our abilities" (Rowling 333). - Dumbledore
pickThis one moved a lot quicker than the first book, and so I didn't find myself struggling in anticipation. Harry learns that Voldemort put a bit of himself in him. Ginny wrote Harry a love letter under the influence of Voldemort, and referred to Voldemort as the Dark Lord. Long story short, Voldemort wrote Harry Potter a love letter, a poem, no less.
"He was soon borne away by the waves and lost in darkness and distance" (Shelley 211).
so-soAlthough it took me a couple dozen pages to really appreciate this story and get used to Ms. Shelley's eloquent style of writing, I am sure that with a second reading, I would follow the first bit much more easily. I enjoyed the fact that the monster was more human that the man named Victor Frankenstein.
so-soPros: everyone but Voldemort Cons: no one except Voldemort; moves slowly compared to rest of series
so-soAlthough not one of my all-time favorites, I found myself flying through this book and finishing it really quickly. I enjoyed the small-town aspect of the world in this book, and was interested to note how real the characters seemed to be. Definitely going to read the other books in this series!
pickOh my goodness. I am a die-hard Christie fan, and extremely enjoyed reading this classic of her's. As always after reading one of her books, I am sure that were I to read this one again, I would pick up on little clues in early chapters that give hints about the final outcome, which was unexpected, seemingly impossible, and yet all too real.
so-soIf I had to give this book a rating of stars, I would give it about a 4. This is only because I have still not become completely accustomed to reading books written 100+ years ago, as writing styles in general have developed into something a bit less complicated. Nevertheless, I did enjoy reading one of the earliest sci-fi books, and really liked the characters the Time Traveler encounters. Also, it was cool that we never find out his real name.
