Notable Quotable: Gillian Flynn (#49)

"My mother had always told her kids: if you're about to do something, and you want to know if it's a bad idea, imagine seeing it printed in the paper for all the world to see."
     --Gone Girl

Harry Potter Moment of the Week (#12)

hosted by Uncorked Thoughts.

Quibbler or Daily Prophet

OH this is a very difficult decision because I would be interested in reading both.  I would love reading the Quibbler.  It would be like crack to me; I may not believe everything I read but I would definitely enjoy reading it.  Besides, Mr. Lovegood knows how to report news.  However, I would be interested in reading the Daily Prophet for more run-of-the-mill news, though I would find it nearly as entertaining nor informative as the Quibbler.  Either way the moving pictures would be incredibly cool!

Son

by Lois Lowry
Published:
Pages: 393

Claire was just doing her job.  She was a Vessel; she carried the Product at age fourteen.  She didn't know that she'd become attached, that she would love and long for her son once he was born.  When they took him away, it became her mission to find him.  She came from a community where she was supposed to forget him, but that was impossible.  Claire will stop at nothing to find her child, even if it means sacrificing what she holds dear.

This book is the answer to the rest of the sort of connected series.  It brings back old, well loved characters from the other books and gives you new exciting and lovable one to attach yourselves to.  I found myself smiling every time one of my old favorites came back into this story.  It was as if I were a proud parent watching them grow and prosper.  Baby Gabe has reached his teenaged years and become a genuine young man.

Claire is one of Lois Lowry's strongest characters in this series.  Each of the characters have a driving force that propels them, but Claire's is one that kept me reading late into the night.  I couldn't put this book down.  In fact, when the book was over, I wanted more.  I wanted to see character interactions when everything was said and done.  That being said, I love how it ended.  I love that it wasn't quite an ending but it felt finite.  Even though we see an ending, it is clear that the story is just beginning for some of the characters. 

Lois Lowry took her time creating this world and these characters and this was definitely the conclusion I wished for these much loved characters.  I give Lowry a grand well done.

Stars 4/5

Praise:

"Son is a tender conclusion to this memorable story, and definitely the best of the books in this sequence since The Giver itself."
     -- School Library Journal

"Written with powerful, moiving simplicity, Claire's story stands on its own, but as the final volume in this iconic quartet, it holistically reunites characters, reprises provocative socio-political themes, and offers a transcending message of tolerance and hope."
     --Kirkus Review

"Lowry is one of those rare writers who can craft stories as meaningful as they are enticing."
     --Booklist, stared review

Top Ten Tuesday: Character Driven Novels

hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

1. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith - This book took me awhile to read, but it was so beautifully written and tells the story of a young girl and her family so captively that I just couldn't stop reading this story.

2. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - Most people know my thoughts and feelings about this book, but just to say it again: I love this story.  I love who narrates the book, I love Liesel's story and the people that surround her.

3. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger - This book is such an interesting character study of a teenage boy.  It will be the closest thing I will ever get to understand the teenage guy psyche, and I find that fascinating and also incredibly thought provoking.

4. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee - Seeing Scout and Jem grow up in this sotry is one of my favorite things.  We see everything from the young girl's perspective and speaks simple truths that adults seem to over-think or forget about.

5. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - The writing in this book is captivating, it just made me want to continue to read and learn about this man's childhood and his friends.

6. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss - The main character drives this story forward, but the thing I really like about this book is that the main character is literally telling the his story to someone else and we have the privilege of hearing it too.

7. The Help by Kathryn Stockett - This story is all about the characters and there is so much character development here.  I got caught up in their stories and experiences.

8. The Fault In Our Stars by John Green - I haven't used this book in a while, but I am struck by the characters in this story and how I feel right along with them.  By the end of this book, it is as though I'm reading something about some friends rather than fictional characters.

9. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher - This story is driven by one girl's story and people's interactions with her.  It's narrated in two voices which gives it a particular impact that is devastating and impossible to ignore.

10. Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky -  Charlie's story is what drives this book.  His observations are unique and potentially life altering for him and the cast of characters around him.  He sees the world in an interesting light.

 

Notable Quotable: Louisa May Alcott (#48)

"'Oh, my girls, however long you may live, I never can wish you a greater happiness than this!'"
     --Little Women

Harry Potter Moment of the Week (#11)

hosted by Uncorked Thoughts. 

Judging by your family, would you be a Muggle-born, Half-blood or Pureblood?

I would most definitely be a Muggle-born.  My family is fun and quirky but they are altogether muggle.  However, my family would be completely accepting of the fact, in fact I'm sure my brothers would be jealous even if they didn't let on.  My parents would send me packages just to be able to say they sent me mail view and owl.

October TBR: Sequels

I wanted to read the Harry Potter series again this month but they are all packed away in boxes at a different house from the one I am currently living in, so that's not going to work.  Instead, I thought I'd read some of those sequels I've either been procrastinating or dying to read.  Off to the library I go to pick these up.  

Currently Reading

• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Possible Candidates

• The Scorch Trials by James Dashner
• The Death Cure by James Dashner
• Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
• Hollow City by Ransom Riggs
• Rebel Angels by Libba Bray
• City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
• The Dream Thieves by Maggie Steifvater
• Independent Study by Joelle Charbonneau
• Graduation Day by Joelle Charbonneau

New Releases

• The Young Elite by Marie Lu (Oct. 7)
• The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan (Oct. 7)