Laurie Lyda, thank you, thank you, thank you for introducing the OUTLANDER series by Diana Gabaldon to me!!! I LOVE it! I share it with everyone I can! I even bought the audio CD and downloaded it to my computer so I can share the CDs, too!!! So now I have the mass market paperback version (it's falling apart from being read so often), the audio CDs, and now the digital ebook!!! And I just purchased the ebooks for books 2-4! They're all on sale through Amazon.com (Kindle) for $4.99!!! I can't resist!!!! The digital reader is so much easier to hold than a massive book of over a thousand pages! Don't get me wrong, now. I love the actual books, but I don't mind having the ebooks, too! In fact, while reading OUTLANDER this time on the digital reader, I had to get my paperback copy out for a day or two because my digital reader wasn't available at the time!
I LOVE that OUTLANDER doesn't neatly fit into one genre category. I don't believe in genres anymore anyway. I get that publishers/libraries/book stores, etc. need to have genres in order to have places to put the books on the shelves and thus to find them quickly and easily, but yet it's ridiculous to attempt to put every single book into one simple category and expect that to be the end-all answer for what that books is really about. For a practice book,
Gabaldon hit this one out of the park!!!
If you haven't read the OUTLANDER series yet, what are you waiting for?!
And, yes, I LOVE the series as it's playing out on STARZ! They're doing a fantabulous job with the books to tv series! Jamie is even more gorgeous than anticipated!!! ;)
THE PRINCESS BRIDE is truly one of the greatest movies ever made. It isn't THE GREATEST, but it is pretty awesome and should be a movie EVERYONE sees! I love it so much, I own two DVDs and, yes, I can quote a good portion of the movie, as so many others can and do!!! I especially love to attempt the accents used within the movie, but I'm not very good at them. Cary Elwes is pretty awesome himself and his telling some of the behind-the-scenes stories of the making one of the greatest movies of all time just made me cry--in a good way!!! The movie is so special in so many ways that reading about it as told from the perspective of Westley himself just makes it that much better. Thank you, Cary
and others from the cast, for sharing so much of yourselves in AS YOU WISH: INCONCEIVABLE TALES FROM THE MAKING OF THE PRINCESS BRIDE. I loved reading it!!!!
THE MACKINNON'S BRIDE by Tanya Anne Crosby is my typical "guilty pleasure" read. Nothing extra special about it. Just a simple, quick read where I don't have to think much, but just enjoy reading for the sake of reading.
I don't know why I seem to be reading so many Joyce Meyer books lately, but as I look back over my reading list for the past few years, I have read quite a few of her books. She just has some books that I've wanted to read. I'm probably not done reading books by her, but I'm not choosing her books necessarily on purpose. With that being said, I do always receive a lot of great insight when I read books by Joyce Meyer and BEAUTY FOR ASHES is no different. If I could, I would go through and highlight her the passages/words/phrases that stood out for me throughout this book.
The only problem I have with BEAUTY FOR ASHES--if "problem" is the right word--it isn't, but I can't think of anything better that fits right now--is that Meyer focuses this book on victims of physical abuse. Because I am not really a victim of abuse, that part of the book kind of got in the way for me, but that is not to say that
the book isn't valuable even for those who have not suffered abuse. It's just that abuse is the basis for everything she discusses in this particular book.
I look forward to the day when God will "give [me] joy instead of mourning, a garment of praise instead of a heavy, burdened and failing spirit, and beauty instead of ashes" (Isaiah 61:3).
Oh. My. Goodness. Holymolyholymolyholymolyholymoley.
This is the most hauntingly beautiful book I have ever read! The illustrations alone will creep themselves into your brain and burrow down deep for nightmares to come. The writing and dialogue both have a way of whispering something right into your ear, giving chills and everlasting goosebumps. I don't think I will ever be able to explain in words how absolutely brilliant and freaking creepy and unique this graphic novel is. Emily Carroll has upped my fairy tale expectations to a point that I will probably never be able to happen across a graphic novel that will captivate my heart like this little gem did.
I just want to take a moment to gush over the cover and the illustrations. The cover effectively sets the tone for the stories and it will definitely draw you in whether or not you want to be. The woods are enchanting and inviting (just look at those white trees on the cover!) - they are raised and textured, and if you look closely enough, you can see claws branching out to grab you. You will be captivated by each and every story, and you will probably skim through the whole book needing to see the stories before you can actually bring yourself to read them. That's the beauty of this graphic novel: you don't have to read it in order to feel the eeriness. The words and the dialogue only add to the horror and suspense that you already feel.
There are five stories in this collection, plus an introduction and conclusion.
'Our Neighbor's House' tells the tale of three sisters who are left to fend for themselves when their father does not return from his hunt. What happens when a man in a wide-brimmed hat starts visiting them in the dead of night?
'A Lady's Hands are Cold' has a "Bluebeard" feel, when a young woman goes hunting through her new husband's house for the source of a mysterious song.
'His Face All Red' is my personal favorite. It tells the tale of a man who has it on good authority that the person claiming to be his brother is an impersonator.
'My Friend Janna' is about two friends who get into the medium business; contacting spirits of people's deceased loved ones.
'The Nesting Place' introduces us to Bell, who is staying with her brother and his fiancee while she's on
holiday. . .but she discovers something terrifying in the woods near the house.
And then the ending, the 'conclusion' of the entire book, is a story on its own, too. It is by far my favorite part of the book since it seems to be an obvious nod to Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. Yes, the entire book is influenced by this fairy tale as well, but here is where it all starts and ends, and it is truly brilliant!
I know these stories will linger in my mind for years to come. . .and I'm not ashamed to say that I might sleep with the light on tonight.
Now I am even more excited than ever for the October release of LEAVING TIME!!!! Jodi Picoult's LARGER THAN LIFE is beautiful, tender, and a true page-turner that has only made me that much more excited about the release of her new book. Why Jodi is not on EVERYONE'S reading list, I will never know. For the past 10 years or so, I have bought Jodi's new books as they have come hot off the presses. Yes, in hardback. I do not regret a single purchase. Owning all of her books is a goal of mine, but not just owning them, reading them, loving them, enjoying them for the greats works of literature that they are. I would have to say that of all the authors writing in the twenty-first century, Jodi Picoult's books represent the world, humanity as it currently is. A hundred years from now, people will still be reading her books not just for their amazing literary value, but also for their historical value in understanding humanity and the culture of today. Keep on writing, Jodi, and I'll keep on reading and enjoying!!!!!
Jodi Picoult continues to hold my rapt attention with every single one of her books! I am excited about her new books coming out in October! In the meantime, she has written a novella or two that she has graciously shared with us in preparation for LEAVING TIME's release date. WHERE THERE'S SMOKE is one of those hang-on-to-every-word books that I read in one sitting and wanted to keep going!!! I can't wait to read more about this amazing character in LEAVING TIME!!!! Thanks, Jodi, for sharing this great "little" story with us!
