so-soI couldn‘t help but wonder, was the original source material that different? After two series and two movies I still needed more. I needed to know where it all began. Sex and The City, although similar in voice to the early seasons, is more like a collection of tales of dating in NYC in the mid-90s. Filled with familiar names and episode themes, but lacking any larger narrative. And just like that, I got my answer.
#sexandthecity
pickThe Secret History
The cold, dreary college life feels tangible, threaded with drug and alcohol abuse, but at its core, the novel is about relationships—and the secrets they try, and fail, to keep. Donna Tartt‘s sophisticated, lyrical prose weaves an alluring story like falling snow: gentle, yet covering everything.
#thesecrethistory
pickElephants were my first favorite animal, and still hold part of my heart, I wish the world had more of them.
“...there were themes one could neither paint nor put into words. Themes so vast that only composers could even approach them. If at all. All other artists must practice humility before them.” 🙌🏼
pickWhat's the meaning of art? How does tragedy shape the way we see the world? Can beauty be stolen? What's legacy without love? I don't have the answers to these questions, but I enjoyed asking them.
TFW you find a good book so you read it slowly in short bursts to savor it
pickWow. I never thought a story about a horrific prison could be so beautiful. The writing is amazing, and I loved way the story is told from the perspective of the mute prisoner on death row.
Page 3! Feeling like this might be a great read already :)
pick448 pages and I just read the last 272 today. Great page turner! Genius time traveling plot device, I only wish it were real. I definitely want to read the sequel!
It's all a scam! Capitalism is the real evil.
"It's a foolish culture that entrusts its food supply to simpletons."
Boom! Probably the cause of many rural industries lacking brain power.
Humanity has seriously screwed itself.
Humans suck.
I've always thought this, not just about food, but how a young country with plenty of space, coming of age during the greatest industrial and technological advances, so we're like teenagers growing up without adult supervision.
pick636 pages and I can't think of what to say... Some of my favorite moments are the simplest, yet they made me think of much larger questions of life. Not every hero wins, and not ever hero wears a cape, but everyone needs a purpose.
"As with many lonely children, his problem was not solitude itself but that he was never left free to enjoy it."
"Put him in front of a roomful of people at work and he would be impossible to shut up; work was not work for him. Parties were work." Amen
pickHard book to review. Writing 5 stars, pacing 3 stars, historical detail 4 stars, storyline 3.5, narrative device 4 stars, characters 3 stars, so I would give it 3.8 overall. The telling and history of the battle of Thermopylae feels more real than watching 300, and I kind of wished they had used this book as a script instead.
pickPretty epic conclusion, Quentin does (thankfully) grow up over the course of the trilogy. The different worlds feel just as real as their magic. I like the series as a whole, and individually, which can be hard for some stories to accomplish. I've been living in this world for almost two months, wanting to see how it ends but not able to let go of the magic. Goodbye Fillory, at least I can watch the TV show now.
#bookhaul from the library Fall book sale, $2 for hardbacks #booksnob #readingisfundamental #nevertoomanybooks
pickPretty good second book, more adventure than the first. And I have no idea what could be in store for the third, which I like!
pickAs wild and ridiculous as that ride was, the world and characters are flawed and crazy which makes it feel grounded and real somehow. "Harry Potter goes to college"...and then goes to Narnia. Except I wanted to smack this Harry Potter several times. All that intelligence and magic and some how he's still that clueless? The story is not predictable as I thought it would be, which enrages me more!
pickI am immensely proud to live in my hometown of Portland, Oregon, which has the worlds largest independent bookstore @Powells which offers a map for visitors because you will get lost for hours exploring other worlds! Try to walk out empty-handed! Lol #getindie
so-soConnie is a Grad student who stumbles upon a key and a name that leads her on a unique witch hunt. Researching her way around Salem 1991, while in 1692 Deliverance stands trial, can Connie find the spell-book lost to history in time? ---The first half was kind of slow, but the second half made up for it.
Finally watched the movie! Of course the book is better as so much detail and emotion is in his thoughts, but they made good edits for time and still kept the story intact. I miss Rosie already 🐘💗
pickI thought I loved elephants before! What a fantastic read, so hard to put down. Amazingly written characters, a grounded story, emotional in many ways, and a fantastic ending!
"There's something wrong here. This animal isn't stupid."
Annnnd I'm already crying on page 18 😖
pickPresent, past, present, past...you'll pick it up and read it fast. Drowning mermaids, a mute fortune teller, librarians, tarot cards, and a menagerie of characters are entangled in the limbs of this mysterious families history. You can feel the water rising, hoping you'll make it to the surface in time.
"Had Evangeline been awake she might have seen Amos fade into the fabric of the room, vanishing into the gaze of their unnamed child. It was the first time he had ever vanished in joy."
"We would bury ourselves in books until flesh and paper became one and ink and blood at last ran together."
"My head is exploding and my eyes feel like I spent hours in the wind. If it's possible to have a reading hangover, I have one." Oh, it is lol, if you're doing it right!
On the subject of suicide, "Despite my memories and their flashes of warmth, the picture shows that my mother was not a happy woman. Not something on which I ever dwelled. It's brutal to realize that someone might find a life with you in it unbearable."
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