Notable Quotable: Jerry Spinelli (#41)

"During the night, March doubled back and grabbed April by the scruff of the neck and flung it another week or two down the road."
     --Maniac Magee

Harry Potter Moment of the Week (#4)

Harry Potter Moment of the Week hosted by Uncorked Thoughts.

Most Inspiration Moment/Passage:


There are quite a few that come to mind but one of the things that Sirius Black says to Harry struck a chord with me.

"If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals."

The idea of this was very clear in my mind, but it wasn't until I read The Goblet of Fire that it was so clearly laid out for me.

Another moment that sticks out in my mind is when we discover that Hermione has erased her existence from her parents' memory.

"I've also modified my parents' memories so that they're convinced that they're really called Wendell and Monica Wilkins, and that their life's ambition is to move to Australia, which they have now done."

This moment is where we discover just what Hermione is willing to do to keep her loved-ones safe.  It must have been incredibly difficult for her to do that, knowing that if things didn't work out as planned they would go on not remembering her.  It's quite heartbreaking really, but it's one of those small moments that speaks wonders about her character.

Thirteen Reasons Why

by Jay Asher
published: Razorbill, 2007
pages: 304

Trigger warning: suicide

Hannah Baker could have been anyone and she was that; she was just a person trying to survive high school with her life and reputation in tact.  Unfortunately, that was stripped from her in a series of seemingly unrelated and inconsequential events.  Now the thirteen people who helped her make her decision will hear her entire story and understand that their actions or inactions affect those around them.

This book is important.

This book was told in a way that is unlike anything I've read before.  Hannah speaks openly through a tape recorder to the people who have helped her unravel.  It gives the readers an insight and explains that every action has a reaction whether or not we see it.  There are consequences.

The message is powerful, moving, but it doesn't come off  preachy.   It makes people acutely aware of situations that they've experienced.  When I was reading this, I found myself thinking back to high school, wondering if I had blown off someone who just needed to talk, needed a friend.  I'm sure there was an instance, it happens to everyone right?

We meet Clay who very suddenly receives an unknown package which reveals to be a box of tapes, Hannah's tapes.  Reading this book, I felt like I was witnessing two people slowly coming undone, but in very different ways.  It is heartbreaking; I felt completely helpless reading this book as I imagine the receiptents of the tapes would feel the same.   Hannah might be unloading her story, and intentionally (in most cases) guilting the people who receive her tapes, but she is also giving them a chance to make it right.  Maybe not for her, but for other people who may feel the same way she did.  I think that's where the importance of this story lies, not with Hannah, but with Clay and the others and how they chooses to respond to the tapes.

Stars: 4/5

Praise:

"A brilliant and mesmerizing debut from a talented new author."
     --Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"A stealthy hit with staying power...thrillerlike pacing."
     --The New York Times

"Thirteen Reasons Why is a mystery, eulogy, and ceremony.  Twenty or thirty times, I snapped the book shut when a sentence, an image, or line of dialogue was too beautiful and painful.  But I, afraid and curious, would always return to this amazing book.  I know, in the years to come, I will often return to this book.
     --Sherman Alexie, author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I Own the Most Books

hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

I had to do this from memory since I literally just packed all my books away.

J.K. Rowling (14 books) - Aside from The Silkworm (which may or may not count in this case) I own at least one copy of every one of her books. (In the case of Order of the Phoenix - I own three copies.)

Lemony Snicket/Daniel Handler (14 books) - I own the entire Series of Unfortunate Events and Why We Broke Up. They look beautiful together on my shelf!

C.S. Lewis (8 books) - I own the Chronicles of Narnia series and an extra copy of The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Meg Cabot (6 books) - I own three Princess Diaries books, How To Be Popular, All American Girl (my favorite book during middle school), and Abandon 

John Green (5 books) - Except for the books with his short stories, I own all of John Green's books.

J.R.R. Tolkien (5 Books) I own the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit (my favorite of his books.), and The Silmarillion which I've never read.

Laura Ingalls Wilder (5 books) - I own the first five Little House on the Prairie books and I've actually read none of these books.  Maybe I'll give them a chance soon.

Laurie Halse Anderson (5 books) - I own Catalyst, Chains, Fever 1793 and multiple copies of Speak.  I love Anderson and think that she speaks about very important topics in her books.

Jane Austen (4 books) - I own two copies of Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, and Sense and Sensibility.  I need to get her other books, asap.

Jennifer Allison (3 Books) - I have three of the Gilda Joyce mystery series, but none of them are
the first one so I haven't been able to read them yet.

Notable Quotable: Jerry Spinelli (#40)

"Vowels were something else. He didn't like them and they didn't like him. There were only five of them, but they seemed to be everywhere. Why, you could go through twenty words without bumping into some of the shyer consonants, but it seemed as if you couldn't tiptoe past a syllable without waking up a vowel. Consonants, you know pretty much where you stood, but you could never trust a vowel."
     --Maniac Magee

Harry Potter Moment of the Week (#3)

Harry Potter Moment of the Week hosted by Uncorked Thoughts.

Best Ron Moment:

There are so many great Ron moments and there are awful Ron moments as well - it's almost impossible to choose.  However, I'm making myself choose.

'At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in,' said Hermione sharply.  'They got in on pure talent.'
The smug look on Malfoy's face flickered.
'No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood,' he spat.
Harry knew at once that Malfoy had said something really bad because there was an instant uproar at his words.  Flint had to dive in front of Malfoy to stop Fred and George jumping on him, Alicia shrieked, 'How dare you!'; and Ron plunged his hand into his robes, pulled out his wand, yelling, 'You'll pay for that one, Malfoy!' and pointed it furiously under Flint's arm at Malfoy's face.
A loud bang echoed around the stadium and a jet of green light shot out of the wrong end of Ron's wand, hitting him in the stomach and sending him reeling backward onto the grass.
'Ron! Ron! Are you all right?' squealed Hermione.
Ron opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Instead, he gave an almighty belch and several slugs dribbled out of his mouth onto his lap.

This moment is one of my favorite moments because it shows just how loyal he is to his friends.  This one of those ordinary moments in which we see Ron defend his friends and even though it didn't turn out as planned his intentions counted one hundred percent.  Yes, Malfoy said a disgusting thing and all the Gryffindors around him were appalled, but something strikes me about how Ron reacted.  It makes me proud to think that a 12-year-old has enough tenacity to fight for his friends in a way that would definitely get him in trouble if a professor caught them regardless of what Malfoy had said.

BookTube-A-Thon Wrap Up