Get Lost in Literature

 I'm writing this post as I wait for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade to start. And while I've seen posts this week denouncing Thanksgiving for political reasons, I firmly believe it isn't a bad thing to have one day a year where we stop and reflect on what we are grateful for... One day where instead of thinking about what we want, we give thanks for what we have. This year I'm so thankful for the following things: my family, my job, my horse, my health, and my home. There are people spending their holiday season without these things, and I can't help but think how very fortunate I've been to have them. The things I want pale in comparison to the things I have. The things I have are beautiful. I hope that each and every one of you has a beautiful day, filled with laughter and love and warmth and gratitude. Happy Thanksgiving!

Today's Top Ten Tuesday was listed as Thankful Freebie and decided to go with books that I was thankful for, for they have influenced both me as a reader and have encouraged my love of reading. Some of these books are repeat offenders, that is they've appeared on numerous lists, but they wouldn't have appeared there if I didn't love them so much. 1. Call of the Wild by Jack London . The first classic I truly enjoyed, I actually acquired my copy at a Scholastic Book Fair in elementary school. And though that time was long ago, I still love revisiting the story. 2. 1984 by George Orwell . This is a recent addition to my book list, having only finished it last week, but I found it to be a beautifully written story about dystopian future. 3. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling . I can't tell you how many times I read and re-read these books; each time a new one came out, I couldn't wait to get back on the train for Hogwarts. JKR's political views are offensive to me...

"The past was dead, the future was unimaginable. What certainty had he that a single human creature now living was on his side?" Let me start by saying that a portion of my readers are not going to like my review as I plan to compare it to certain current events. Some Democrats (mostly online) have dramatically compared the current Administration to the government that exists inside this book. After reading the book, I think the comparison is a bit extreme, but they're not completely wrong about there being similarities. Winston Smith starts this dystopian classic by writing a diary, an act that is punishable by death. He lives in the totalitarian state of Oceania, where free-thinking is forbidden. As stated above I can't help but draw parallels between our current day world, and the world depicted in 1984 . Everyone in Oceania is under surveillance; their movements and conversations constantly videoed and recorded by telescreens and monitored by the Thought Police. T...

Today's Top Ten Tuesday list is Books I Enjoyed that Were Outside My Comfort Zone (or books you’d like to read that are outside your comfort zone!) .  I don't step outside my comfort zone often so I didn't have ten titles that I've already read to give you. Instead I decided to split my list between books I have enjoyed that were outside my comfort zone, and books I haven't read yet that are going to be outside my comfort zone whenever I get around to them. These are my top 5 books I liked that were outside my comfort zone: 1. Red White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston – Romance isn’t really my thing, and I don’t try to hide it, and I don’t hesitate to call out books when romance is inserted for seemingly no reason at all… So it was odd that I picked up a romance novel (and even watched itits movie) but I did and found it to be kind of cute. 2. Quiet Dell by Jayne Anne Phillips – This is a weird one, I picked from the library because I needed a Q entry for ...

I did not have time to post on Friday so welcome to Friday Book Beginnings and Book Blogger Hop on Saturday. These should have been posted yesterday morning, but I was otherwise occupied. Book Beginnings on Fridays by Rose City Reader -  Share the opening sentence (or so) of the book you are reading this week. You can also share from a book that caught your fancy, even if you are not reading it right now. "Conscription Day is always the deadliest. Maybe that's why the sunrise was especially beautiful this morning - because I know it might be my last." The Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros This book pulled me in from line one... What the hell is Conscription Day? Okay, so I knew this book was about an elite school of dragon riders so I could make a little assumption about the day in question, but I had no idea why it was deadly or who was the character wondering whether or not he or she was seeing their last sunrise. Book Blogger Hop Q: How many "bo...

"...instead we entered battle with an enemy I'd thought were only folklore last week, and now we're... well, we're here..." Violet Sorrengail returns to Basgiath War College after surviving a war game that turned real and cost her friend his life. Her and the other survivors must pretend like everything is normal to protect themselves and the rebellion and she's miserable lying to her friends. Xaden has graduated and is at the warfront, still smuggling weapons in his spare time, while Violet tries to survive her second year of school without him. I actually thought this book was better than the first. Rebecca Yarros just assumes no character intros are needed if you made it to book two, and with introductions out of the way the adventure intensifies. Like the first book, this story included a few plot twists but these ones I didn't see coming. I enjoy it so much more when a story is unpredictable, it's easier to sink into it.  When not worried about sc...