Samwise the Brave (Amber's Quote, Unquote)

As a huge Lord of the Rings geek, I shall commence to write down one of my favourite quotes. This may or may not be from the book, I do not, unfortunately, remember, but it's at a pivotal point in The Two Towers, the middle installment in Tolkien's famous three-part saga.

It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo, the ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were, and sometimes you didn't want to know the end, because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end it's only a passing thing, this shadow, even darkness must pass. A new day will come, and when the sun shines it'll shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you, that meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going because they were holding on to something. That there's still some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for.

- Samwise Gamgee

And so I just wanted to share that.

Allons-y!

Amber

Tallulah Says

In "Up From Jericho Tel" There are quotes from the fictional character Tallulah at the beginning of each chapter (excepting the first one). Since they in no way relate to the story, and I happen to like them very much, I shall commence posting one once a month.


"A star should demand three things in her contract: her name above the title, a limousine to take her to and from the theater and fresh Belgian chocolates in her dressing room. If she doesn't want the chocolates, then she should demand free hospitalization, for it's certain that she's crazy."

        - Tallulah, chapter six.





A little wisdom from Tallulah :)


Annabelle

Up From Jericho Tel by E.L. Konigsburg

Okay, so having a little trouble with my image setting thingy. :( Sorry.

Anyway, Up From Jericho Tel is a book about a girl named Jeanmarie and a boy named Malcolm. Both are what Jeanmarie calls 'latchkey children'. They are not popular, and not part of the clone group. Clone is Jeanmarie's term for girls and boys who "knock themselves out to be just like everyone else and then brag about how they are different." Jeanmarie and Malcolm bond and become friends over an extremely unlikely activity. Burying dead animals in the woods in a spot that Jeanmarie dubs Jericho Tel. When they find a dead dalmatian, though, things start. The two friends are sucked down through a box called the Epigene to find an actress named Tallulah, who is dead. Tallulah sends them on a quest to find her missing necklace, the Regina Stone, and the three things needed to make a star. Jeanmarie and Malcolm are both stubborn, know-it-alls, and smart-alecky. There is (extremely) mild language in the book, but otherwise I would suggest it for families.

I give this book 4 and 1/2 stars, with a caution for young children.

Annabelle

Quote, unquote

"On the way home on Apollo 11, it struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye and my thumb blotted out planet Earth. But I didn't feel like a giant. Instead i felt very, very small."
- Neil Armstrong

The Book Thief

The Book Thief

By Markus Zusak

15 (yeah, off the scale)

1939.
Germany.
The Jewish Purge.
And Leisel Meminger is learning how to read.
The little girl sits in a basement, forming a close relationship with words, when her world is turned upside down by a Jewish man arriving at her doorstep.
Her world is closed off on the outside, but her mind expands in ways she could never have imagined.
Nothing will ever be the same.

This book I recommend for ages 12+. Some mild language and vulgarity, and also hard topics like the Holocaust and WWII. I actually had a bit of trouble reading it.

I shall now commence the commending.
Zusak makes the words live. They fly off the page. And the characters-- oh my goodness.
This is a must-read, especially for readers and writers. Even more so for writers.
Oh my goodness.

Allons-y,
Amber Shipp

That Hideous Strength

That Hideous Strength

By C.S. Lewis

Fantasy Science Fiction

10

That Hideous Strength recounts the adventures of the illustrious Dr. Elwin Ransom, the man who went to Venus and fought an ancient darkness there. But now there's another problem, and this time it's on Earth! Merlin's waking, and the descent of horror unimaginable has come. And who can stop this Hideous Strength? Certainly not Ransom.

I would rate this book for ages ten and up, for language and disturbing imagery. Overall, I absolutely adored it. I recommend it highly.

Other New Word (I'm noticing a trend here!!)

heterogeneous |ˌhetərəˈjēnēəs|adjectivediverse in character or content: a large and heterogeneous collection.• Chemistry of or denoting a process involving substances in different phases (solid, liquid, or gaseous).• Mathematics incommensurable through being of different kinds, degrees, or dimensions.DERIVATIVESheterogeneity |-jəˈnēətē| noun.heterogeneously adverb.heterogeneousness nounORIGIN early 17th cent.: from medieval Latin heterogeneus, from Greek heterogenēs, fromheteros ‘other’ + genos ‘a kind.’usage: The correct spelling for the word meaning ‘diverse in character or content’ is heterogeneous, but a fairly common misspelling is heterogenous. The reason for the error probably relates to the pronunciation, which, in rapid speech, often skims over the fifth syllable as if to skip the e. Take care to note that heterogenous is a different word, which is used in specialized medical and biological senses and means ‘originating outside the organism.’


Good for writing. Yes indeedy.


Annabelle