Fates and Stars.

Occasionally, I read a book that drains me.
I can't quite describe the multiple levels it drains me on. Certainly emotional, but there's something else. A sense of awe at the words that have caused whatever my reaction is, and I need to shut myself off because they're too beautiful.
After all, you can only ever read a book for the first time once, so you might as well savour it madly.

I have just read a book, and I suppose I'm writing about it now because I've not read a book in quite some time that drained me. The Fault in Our Stars.
I started this book, and I finished it falsely to begin with. I flicked. I was stressed at the time when I received it, so I didn't want to read and fall into someone else's pain, be overwhelmed with sympathy only they deserved. Selfishly, I wanted to hold onto my own mind's worries, the ones that don't matter. The ones you know don't matter.

Today, I read it fully.
I cried.
I have cried during one other novel, and that was during a time when I cried over the Lion King and Fantastic Four.

I don't know how to describe fully what I'm feeling after reading it, but I feel less sure of things. Less sure of what matters.
I want to curl up in my bed and sleep for days, in the hopes that I'll understand whatever it is this book has caused me to feel.
I'm silently tossing up making deals with God to let me never go through what Hazel and Augustus and Isaac did, be it as a daughter or sister or girlfriend or wife or mother or grandmother or aunt or friend, and dismissing it as a futile activity.

And John Green has taken my breath away again with a book, and if I write like that one day - if I drain just one person the way his words have drained me - then my words will be a success.

30 Days of Books, Day 30.

[Your favourite book of all time.]
Classic versus contemporary romance. You get a series and a book.

Confession time!
I, until a few months ago, had never fully read this book.
I'd read snippets. I'd skipped. I'd read the parts that I liked over and over again.
I now have fully read this book, and I understand why everyone adores it.
Enough said.

If you've read this blog enough, or even stalked me on Twitter, you'll know that I'm a sucker for weddings. I'm also a sucker for romance. Nora Roberts writes brilliant characters, and these four books - wow. Little sad that you don't get to see Emma and Jack, Laurel and Del, and Parker and Mal all get married, but it was lovely seeing Mac and Carter get married.

Guys. That's the end of the 30 Days of Books!
If you ever wanted to see how 30 days can turn into six months or more, that's how you do it.

30 Days of Books, Day 29.

[A book everyone hated but you liked.]

I'm sure plenty of people actually adore this play (shush, it's the only one I can think of, and it's in book format so I'm technically not cheating). I remember in Year 9 English having to read this play and most everyone howling at it. 
Daniela is in Year 9 now, and just stared at me, eyebrows raised, when I got excited that she had to read it.
Daniela: "Tash. It's lame."
Me: "How can you even say that? It's amazing. It's hunting. For witches."
Daniela: "..."
Me: "And there are so many techniques! So many!"
Daniela: "I don't even know how you get excited over 'so many techniques'."
Me: "The communism thing, Daniela! How does that not interest you?"
Daniela: "Ugh. Give me algebra any day."
Me: "How are we related?"
Daniela: "I don't even know."
Me: "It's completely relevant today!"
Daniela: "Where are the witches?"
Me: "... oh gosh, you've never even listened to Bloc Party. Never mind that I gave you all their music."
Daniela: "You said it yourself. You listen to whiny guitar music."
Me: "Bloc Party - oh, I give up. Want to watch Johnny Depp?"
Daniela: "Yes."

30 Days of Books, Day 28.

[Favorite title.]


(Yes. I am getting all of these finished.)

The title is poetic, and the rhythm in it is beautiful. When you close your eyes - I don't know about you, but when I close my eyes and imagine this, it's peaceful, beautiful. Like another time.
The wind becomes more alive than before when I imagine this. Rather than knowing it exists by faith, you see it gently settling on cobbled streets, watch its shadow take different forms as it whistles through windows and around the people walking. It's alive, and it has somewhere to go, something to do. Another person on a journey.


La Sombra del Viento, in Spanish.

I can't explain why I love that so much beyond the usual reasons I love Spanish - the passion in the words, the beauty that English lacks upon occasion. The rhythm is different, has different pulses.


Also, I love the covers for this book.

30 Days of Books, Day 27.

[The most surprising plot twist or ending.]

Call me crazy, but I was pretty surprised when I found out Aunt Petunia had written to Dumbledore, begging to be admitted to Hogwarts. In Philosopher's Stone, Petunia shrieks about Lily, admitting that she knew all along that Lily and James - and Harry, by default - were magical.

"How could you not be, my dratted sister being what she was? Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that - that school - and came home every holiday with her pockets full of frog-spawn, turning teacups into rats. I was the only one who saw her for what she was - a freak!... of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as - as - abnormal - and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you!"

Knowing Petunia's attitude towards the wizarding world, I didn't expect that she'd wanted much to do with it. I didn't even consider that she would have been close to Lily. She was "proud to say that [she] was perfectly normal, thank you very much".

However, in Deathly Hallows, all was revealed.

Petunia wanted to be a 'freak' as well.

She caught her sister's hand and held tight to it, even though Petunia tried to pull it away. "Maybe once I'm there - no, listen, Tuney! Maybe once I'm there, I'll be able to go to Professor Dumbledore and persuade him to change his mind!""I don't - want - to - go!" said Petunia, and she dragged her hand back out of her sister's grasp. "You think I want to go to some stupid castle and learn to be a - a -"Her pale eyes roved over the platform, over the cats mewling in their owners' arms, over the owls fluttering and hooting at each other in cages, over the students, some already in their long, black robes, loading trunks onto the scarlet steam engine or else greeting one another with glad cries after a summer apart." - you think I want to be a - a freak?"Lily's eyes filled with tears as Petunia succeeded in tugging her hand away."I'm not a freak," said Lily. "That's a horrible thing to say.""That's where you're going," said Petunia with relish. "A special school for freaks. You and that Snape boy... weirdos, that's what you two are. It's good you're being separated from normal people. It's for our safety."Lily glanced back towards her parents, who were looking around the platform with an air of wholehearted enjoyment, drinking in the scene. Then she looked back at her sister, and her voice was low and fierce."You didn't think it was such a freak's school when you wrote to the Headmaster and begged him to take you."

But, obviously, Petunia wasn't accepted.
I don't know why, but I often wonder that had Petunia held the mild interest in it that her parents held, rather than the desire to do what Lily did, and the jealousy that stemmed from being left behind - would Harry have grown up differently?

Who knows. Silly question, anyway, when the books are fabulous as they are.

Note: Quite obviously, all that text above is copyright of JK Rowling. 

30 Days of Books, Day 26: A book that changed your opinion about something

I can't really cite one book that's changed my mind on one issue. But we'll go with this one, as it shuttled me down the road to where I currently am now.

[Yes, the Bible is a massive one for me, but that's changed many aspects rather than one.]

I, to a certain degree, consider myself a feminist.
I am not one of those who aims for a matriarchal society, I am not one of those who believe that 'testosterone is a rare poison'. I am, essentially, just a woman living in Western society and I believe that God sees me on par with men ("There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus," says Galatians 3:28), and ideally, society should as well. I look for equality rather than dominance of either gender. As soon as that begins happening, we're regressing.


When I was a few years younger, I agreed with Germaine's ideas more than I do now. I thought, from what I'd read of her essays on the internet, that she had some decent ideas with how to get society functioning as it ought. Once I moved to Brisbane with access to a decent public library, I immediately checked out The Female Eunuch, expecting to have my beliefs reconfirmed. 


They weren't, and I began to wonder. With some of the statements Greer makes, I wondered how I'd misplaced my goals for the world. Why dominance in any respect? Surely that would make us as oppressive as the men we, as true followers of a Greer-brand feminism, enjoy dismissing. As I read on further, I noticed that I was disagreeing with an awful lot of what Germaine said.


Don't get me wrong - what Germaine Greer and other feminists of her era have done for society is great, and I know that in order to make the smallest step of progress, you need to want to move the furthest. And my desires for the world could only come about in Paradise. But for books that changed my mind, it was this. Progress for the sake of progress, at the risk of hurting others, isn't progress. 

30 Days of Books, Day 25.

[A character you can relate to the most.]

I want a Jacob. *This* Jacob, not a Pedowolf Jacob.

Josephine Alibrandi, of Looking for Alibrandi fame, was always going to win this one. I don't think I've ever identified with a character so much. I saw the film of this book first (doesn't begin to do it justice) and thought, "Huh. Her family's sorta like mine, except they speak Italian."
Read the book, and Josie was exactly who my fourteen year old self longed to be when I hit eighteen. And re-reading the book as I did when I was eighteen, I think I'm far too close to there. Not that I'm complaining, of course.

The cultural issues - who am I? "Technically," Josie says at one point to a fellow student, a typical Anglo, "I'm older than you are, and I was born here. If anyone's the New Australian, it's you."
I laughed so much at that line, and tucked it in my mind for future use.
Knowing where you come from is an interesting thing. So interesting, they make a point of asking it of you on a Census. "What's your cultural background? Where were your parents born?" I'm partly Chilean, partly English and Welsh, wholly Australian. And for Josie, I suspect her cultural makeup was much the same - that despite the roots, what mattered was the Australian part. Yet you can't really run from those roots; they'll hold you as tight as they can. In high school, identifying myself was hard - I wanted to run to Chile and see if I fit. I wanted to escape here, because in my family - an eighties-clad version of Chile, clashing with Australia - I didn't fit. I was too white. At school, it wasn't huge as some kids would get, but I was told that there was a difference between my life and everyone else's. No one else would bring sopapillas or empanadas to school, or carry massive flasks of green tea with a strange combination of herbs that Nana would subtly ask Mary to bless before she slipped them in my Thermos. (She knew how I felt about Mary.) Other kids' fathers didn't have accents like mine supposedly did.
And Josie Alibrandi was the same.
Crazy nonna (seriously, are hers and mine the same woman?!) and traditions that aren't practised at all in the home country. Rules, so many rules, that other people just don't get.

The way Josie navigated her life was how I imagine I'd do it, and not out of my old desire to emulate her. It's because Josie was a real character - or at least, very real to me. There'd be the ups, and the downs, and the walking around for forty years in the desert because you're trying to figure out what the heck you're supposed to do. 

And the eyeroll. My mother probably thought I was possessed,
I did this so much.

And at the end, acceptance. Because no matter what you do, your heritage won't change. She and I aren't defined by that, but enhanced by that.
And we also come up with lines that in hindsight make you facepalm. "Don't say that! You're not an idiot, you idiot!"

30 Days of Books, Day 24.

[A book you wish more people would have read.]

I'm sure many people have read this book, but in my group of friends I'm the only one who has. When I've presented this book to them, they react with blank stares. And perhaps by also backing away slowly, lest they scare Crazy Book Lady.

I told you I'd do a post about this. Not when
I said I would, but I figured this would fit better.

This book is, to put it mildly, abso-flipping-lutely, mind-blowingly awesome.

The story takes place in a country called Opium. Like the name suggests, this country makes its revenue by farming and exporting opium. It is situated between the US and Mexico (now called Aztlan), and is run by Matteo Alacran Sr (who is about 140 years old, give or take). It gains its workers in the poppyfields by capturing illegal immigrants attempting to cross the border either way. These immigrants are implanted with a computer chip, which renders them zombie-like and only able to do what they are told to do - so, farm until they're told to stop - eejits, in the book. As a result, El Patron (Matteo Alacran Sr) has a pretty good system going on, and won't get investigated by authorities either side of him due to their immigrant agreement.
It's not only the drug shenanigans that could theoretically get El Patron iced - he also harvests clones. And so enters our protagonist, Matteo Alacran Jr.

Matt's age varies throughout the book, but his purpose in being cloned is to provide organs for El Patron. Because, you know, that's how you survive if you're a crazy drug lord/dictator - you clone yourself, and kill them off to harvest new organs for yourself. Matt, however, has survived out of some creepy memory that El Patron had (he had some vast amount of siblings, all died but him - Matt was supposed to receive the life his siblings did not). Matt is treated cruelly due to his status as a clone, yet he possesses an unbelievably kind nature. He has a rather many few adventures - I won't go into them here, because you need to read this book and discover them for yourself.

Nancy Farmer deserves all the accolades that have been bestowed on this novel, and then some. Go to your local library, support a bookstore, do whatever it takes to get your paws on this book. You won't regret it whatsoever. The storyline is as engrossing as anything I've read, she deals with some very thought provoking issues, and her characters are fleshed out to the point where I wanted to leap into the pages and hug Matt, see his tattoo, explore El Patron's house and Celia and Matt's hut.

Ay, I love this book massively. Unfortunately I don't own it. (Will accept any gifts.)

30 Days of Books, Day 23.

[A book you've wanted to read for a while but still haven't.]

Two for you today, because it's Indecisive Sunday here.

Firstly...

The sensual, rebellious Anna renounces a respectable yet stifling
marriage for an affair that offers passion even as it
ensnares her for destruction. Her story contrasts with that of Levin,
a young, self- doubting agnostic who takes a different path to fulfillment. 

Why I want to read it: The storyline looks to be fantastic. Of course, I've had any spoilers well and truly spoilt after reading both the Wikipedia entry and the Sparknotes entry, but kaphwoar this looks to be great reading. The majority of reviews on Goodreads declare it perfection, Dostoevsky described it as "flawless as a work of art", and it has been criticised countless times, referenced in myriad novels, and adapted into film, TV, opera, radio, ballet, theatre and a not-so-well-received stage musical. 

Even the Quirks got a hold of it.

I'll admit it: there is something in me that wants to read it for the sake of reading a Tolstoy. When I'm invited to a literary party (you know, the sort that Gary Shteyngart trains his writing students for), it will be bliss to go, "Oh? Tolstoy? Yes, I've read Tolstoy. Who hasn't?" 

But that's only a small part. The majority of me responded to this:

hypocrisy, jealousy, faith, fidelity, family, marriage, society, progress, carnal desire and passion

and said, "I NEED TO READ THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW."

Why I haven't read it yet: Alongside my "Of course I've read Tolstoy; are you still reading Twilight?" snobbery that I jokingly long for, there's the fear.

What fear? you ask. 

If you buy the Penguin Classics version, it's 864 pages. I've felt how thin these pages are, too. They're borderline tissue-paper. Probably just a tiny bit thicker than the pages in my Bible. Of course, it's not as daunting as War and Peace in this same version (1440 pages, thin as rice paper). Still, very daunting.

Other things that I've realised in writing this post: Joe Wright is making a movie out of this. The cast is reportedly as follows:

Keira Knightley (Anna), Jude Law (her husband, Karenin), Matthew MacFadyen (Oblonsky), Kelly Macdonald (his wife, Dolly), Olivia Williams (Countess Vronskaya, Vronsky’s mother), Saoirse Ronan (Kitty, Dolly’s sister), Aaron Johnson (Anna’s lover, Vronsky), Andrea Riseborough (Princess Betsy) and Domhnall Gleeson (Levin).

Of course Keira is the leading lady (Joe Wright, be creative! Find someone new!). Extremely excited for yet another Matthew MacFadyen drool-fest (though, once again... be creative, Joe). Apparently Kitty and Levin marry one another... I tell you, I'm going to be getting so confused throughout this entire movie. "NO! LIZZIE, STOP KISSING WATSON. GO BACK TO MR DARCY. Incidentally, why is Mr Darcy with the Grey Lady? AND BRIONY YOU ARE NOT FLEUR STOP ATTEMPTING TO SEDUCE BILL."

If that's the correct pairings, anyway.

However, I'm most excited about Tom Stoppard writing the script. Squee x a million.

Next up...

Falsely accused of treason, the young sailor Edmond Dantes is
arrested on his wedding day and imprisoned in the island
fortress of the Chateau d'If. Having endured years of
incarceration, he stages a daring and dramatic escape and
sets out to discover the fabulous treasure of
Monte Cristo, and to catch up with his enemies.

Why I want to read it: This book seems to be the great adventure novel I've been searching high and low for. I don't know much about it to see how accurate that is. Once again, Goodreads made it look very promising, as did a quick Wikipedia scan (I didn't read too much for fear of spoilers. I refuse to have this one spoiled). It looks like it's going to be filled with brilliantly written characters, which is my absolute favourite thing when reading.

Character relations in the novel (click to enlarge. You'll need to).
The saying "it's a small world after all" clearly came from
a fan of this book.

My friend Joshua has been extremely inspired by this book, and has urged me countless times to read it. Much to his dismay, I still haven't actively hunted for it and haven't bought it when it's been right in front of my face. (I can still remember the day when I bought a Sophie Kinsella novel instead of this one. He nearly cried.) So that's another reason: I sort of promised him I would before I died.

Why I haven't read it yet: I'll chalk this one up to laziness, and there always being an easier read around. Case in point, I'll choose chick-lit over something that will stimulate my mind more. (No offense, chick-lit writers. I'm probably going to be one of you anyway.) With books like this, I have an, "Eh, next time" frame of mind as I'm scouring libraries. I nearly missed out on the joys of Jane Eyre, The Virgin Suicides, and Pride and Prejudice as a result of this, but still I persist in this way of thinking.

Other things I realised in writing this post: Jim Caviezel (aka Guy Who Starred in A Movie Once With Jennifer Lopez, But Who Is More Commonly Recognised Due To Playing Jesus in The Passion Of The Christ) is in the most recent (?) film adaptation.

Guy on the right.
Who is guy on the left, though? And can I have his sword?

Apparently, he makes the ladies swoon.

Caviezel outwardly is calm, but inside is frantically
trying to remember the DRABC method.

The question remains... when will you get around to reading these books?

Oh, all right. Stop twisting my arm. I'll aim to do it by this time next year, okay?

I have a full list of books I've been meaning to read but keep forgetting to. But I'll put these ones first, because I love you all.

30 Days of Books, Day 22.

[Favourite book you own]

Oh gosh. How on earth can I even pull out one?

I’ve just gone and stood in my horrifying mess of a room (note to self: clean it) and surveyed my book collection. Unable to specify one, I’ve decided to write down the ones I reach for when I’m desperate for a book, the ones with excellent memories, the ones that get me through tough times and the ones that have taught me things. The ones whose passages leap into my mind months, years, after I last closed them.

There’s a vast amount of non-fiction – more than I realised. So I’ll divide this up into my non-fiction loves and my fiction loves.

Non-fiction, in no particular order

Long Way Round, Ewan McGregor & Charley Boorman

I bought this in the throes of my Ewan McGregor adoration, and boy did it hurt. Even with a 40% staff discount I had to put it on layby and stroke it occasionally during my shifts ($75 here). If you've seen the doco that ties in with this, you’ll know the basic storyline. Essentially Ewan and Charley get on motorbikes and ride around the world. They released a memoir about it, and this version contains the memoir with photos. The photos are stunning, though my Ewan-Adorer-Self was a bit saddened at the beard he sported throughout. They released a different version to tie in with the African journey, Long Way Down.

Sydney Morning Herald’s Big Picture

I got this for my 18^th last year. Thanks to my grandfather, I’ve become besotted with the Herald (cue the disapproving glares of Queensland newsagents. What, I’m supposed to become a better writer reading the Courier Mail?). Dad, fully aware of this, came across this book in the Xavier library office, given to them by the Herald and awaiting a shiny plastic cover. “Can I buy one of these directly?” he asked Gloria. “Tash would adore one.”

Unfortunately, there were some sort of conditions attached – these books were only being distributed to certain people, perhaps subscribers. I can’t remember. However, Gloria gave the book to my dad to give to me for my birthday.

The book contains photos of memorable events from the last 125 years of the Herald. Believe you me; there are some stunning shots in there.

Bill’s Sydney Food

Living in Brisbane, I was excited. The Dymocks in the city was amazing, and I could spend hours in there indulging my new fetish – pretty cookbooks. Dad phoned for Mum’s birthday. “What should we get her?”
“Leave it to me,” I said, thinking of all the fun I could have in the bookstore, “I’ll bring the presents with me.”

I found Bill’s Sydney Food and Food Safari for Mum and promptly spent the majority of my savings on them. It was a no-brainer. Food Safari was incredible, but Bill’s Sydney Food was ten times better. Maybe it was my creepy bookseller attitude prevailing, but the slipcover. The colour scheme. The photography. The weight of the book, just right for reading, perfectly balanced to lay flatly open to any recipe.

When we presented the books to Mum, she was more excited about the ‘Bill Granger aspect’ than the ‘exquisite slipcover aspect’. I pointed it out. She stared blankly. “… yes, Tash… a slipcover.”

Disgruntled, I returned to Brisbane. A few weeks later it was my birthday, and Mum bought me this. “Tash, look! There’s a slipcover!” she teased.

Liquid Desire, National Gallery of Victoria 

The final school holidays before my HSC, my parents took me to Melbourne. It probably wasn’t the best for my study regime (then again, what study regime? Watching Scrubs and solely speaking in Spanish is probably not recommended by teachers), but it was the best for every other aspect of my life. We mainly went so I could see two exhibitions – Salvador Dali, and Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Dad bought me this as a grad present, along with a miniature painting. I love this so much. I no longer need to Google his paintings and be presented with tiny results. Instead, they’re all in here, with titles in English, Catalan and Spanish. Swoon.

Every Young Woman’s Battle

This book is excellent. I’ve noticed that whenever I fail at life, particularly in my purity, I start thinking “Goodness, I am clearly depraved and worthless and the only one feeling like this”. But this book? Showed I’m not the only one. Showed I’m feeling things everyone’s felt. It’s encouraging to be reminded of this, and to also be given encouragement to become who I was designed to become.

31 Girl

Ah, Proverbs 31 Woman. So unattainable. I get up for work and am all, “BLERGH HATE MY JOB HATE BEING AWAKE RIGHT NOW COMPLAINTS”, then feel ridiculous about not meeting the standard. Receive a $500 bill (really, just did) – not doing the Prov. 31 thing with my possessions and money. This book shows practical ways to incorporate Proverbs 31 easily into our lives. Also, hugely fun ways.

True Images Bible (NIV)

I got this Bible probably in Year 9, from Robyn (my amazingly awesome Sunday School teacher and now mentor in all things life-related). I’ve tried to move onto less youth-centred Bibles. This Bible has quizzes and facts specifically centred towards teens, and I decided I clearly was moving into the next phase of my life. I bought a woman’s Bible. Still can’t give this one up. It’s got my notes in it from all areas of my life. Got my prayers. Got lots of underlines (all colours). Love, love, love – it’s a journey of my Christian walk.

Fiction, in no particular order

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling

I have read this book so much it’s been taped together repeatedly, futile attempts to stop it from collapsing in two. Chris once threw it at me as part of our war – it tore in two. I tenderly sticky-taped it back together as we called a temporary truce, and laid it in the hospital. One of his friends gently tossed it to me a few months later, and the sticky tape fell off. This friend, a fellow Harry Potter lover, gasped and scooped it up. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to! Not to this!”

If you don’t know what Harry Potter’s about… you need to go read them, now.

 Finding Cassie Crazy, Jaclyn Moriarty

One of those ones that has perfect writing that’s so exquisitely amusing and painted true to life. It was the first that I’d read that wasn’t linear novel, but composed solely of letters and emails. I adored it, I adored the characters, I adored the story. Froth.

Seasons of the Heart, Janette Oke

Remember how I said I need to finish series as a part of my creepy compulsive writer-self? This is another one. I’d only read the first (won it in the Youth Group auction, Year 7) and desperately wanted the others in the series. Think I could find them? Of course not.

Then, Melbourne trip, I found a Koorong. AND I FOUND THEM ALL BOUND UP AND NEAT AND ONLY $20.

Good buy, great read.

Confessions of a Shopaholic; Shopaholic Ties the Knot; Shopaholic and Baby; Mini Shopaholic, Sophie Kinsella.

Not very intellectual, I admit it. But oh so addictive. Follows the adventures of Becky Bloomwood/Brandon as she navigates her debts, her shopping addictions, married life and family life, in typical Sophie Kinsella form – by which I mean, with a whole lot of humour and with an engrossing storyline. Certainly takes your mind off your day!

30 Days of Books, Complete List

UPDATE: I have finally, at long flipping last, finished this meme.
All the links are there, and you know what? I'm going to be generous. Titles are here as well.
To neatly scroll through all the posts with the 30 Days tag, click here.

So I figured that I should probably post an entire list, on the off chance that someone decides they want to do this challenge as well.
Also, credit where credit is due (can't remember if I've mentioned this blog): I found this challenge on Subtle_Sarcasm's LJ.
Bold text is what I've completed, with links included.

Day 01 - Best book you read last year: How I Live Now, Meg Rosoff.
Day 02 - A book that you've read more than 3 times: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, JK Rowling.
Day 03 - Your favorite series: Only in Gooding!, Cathy Marie Hake.
Day 04 - Favorite book of your favorite series: Fancy Pants, Cathy Marie Hake. 
Day 05 - A book that makes you happy: The Poetry of Pablo Neruda, Pablo Neruda.
Day 06 - A book that makes you sad: Atonement, Ian McEwan.
Day 07 - Most underrated book: Agent Angels Series, Annie Dalton.
Day 08 - Most overrated book: Twilight Series, Stephenie Meyer.
Day 09 - A book you thought you wouldn't like but ended up loving: The Godfather, Mario Puzo.
Day 10 - Favorite classic book: Animal Farm, George Orwell.
Day 11 - A book you hated: An Open Swimmer, Tim Winton.
Day 12 - A book you used to love but don't anymore: Nil, because I am a bit of a cheat.
Day 13 - Your favorite writer: Melina Marchetta.
Day 14 - Favorite book from your favorite writer: Saving Francesca, Melina Marchetta. 
Day 15 - Favorite male character: Remus Lupin (Harry Potter Series, JK Rowling).
Day 16 - Favorite female character: Proverbs 31 Woman (The Bible).
Day 17 - Favorite quote from your favorite book: Lives in the Saving Francesca post.
Day 18 - A book that disappointed you: The Slap, Christos Tsiolkas.
Day 19 - Favorite book turned into a movie: The Notebook, Nicholas Sparks.
Day 20 - Favorite romance book: A Walk to Remember, Nicholas Sparks.
Day 21 - Favorite book from your childhood: Bananas in Pyjamas series, Katrina van Gendt.
Day 22 - Favorite book you own: 

• Long Way Round, Ewan McGregor & Charley Boorman
• The Big Picture, Sydney Morning Herald
• Bill's Sydney Food, Bill Granger
• Liquid Desire, National Gallery of Victoria
• Every Young Woman's Battle, Shannon Ethridge
• 31 Girl, Mary Simpson
• Bible
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
• Finding Cassie Crazy, Jaclyn Moriarty
• Seasons of the Heart, Janette Oke
• Shopaholic Series, Sophie Kinsella

Day 23 - A book you wanted to read for a long time but still haven't: Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy & The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas.
Day 24 - A book that you wish more people would've read: The House of the Scorpion, Nancy Farmer.
Day 25 - A character who you can relate to the most: Josephine Alibrandi (Looking for Alibrandi, Melina Marchetta).
Day 26 - A book that changed your opinion about something: The Female Eunuch, Germaine Greer.
Day 27 - The most surprising plot twist or ending: Petunia writing to Hogwarts (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, JK Rowling).
Day 28 - Favorite title: The Shadow of the Wind/La Sombra del Viento, Carlos Ruiz Zafon.
Day 29 - A book everyone hated but you liked: The Crucible, Arthur Miller.
Day 30 - Your favorite book of all time: Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen & The Bride Quartet, Nora Roberts.


I'll keep linking as I go along, in an unusual sense of being organised and whatnot.
G'night, todos!

30 Days of Books, Day 21.

[Favourite book from your childhood.]

I can't even find these books online. I shouldn't feel this old, but upon incessantly Googling and not being able to find a thing I felt a glimmer of sadness for the childhood that's clearly stomped off into my past.
Oh, 90s childhood (okay that was twenty years ago, I need to stop being surprised by this sort of thing), you were wondrous.

GPOY, circa 1995-6 (guessing here) with
my charming uncle.
... oh, you got that we were related?

Oh right, I'm meant to be writing a post. Oops.

So my favourite childhood books, seemingly no longer in print (sob)?

The Bananas in Pyjamas books, by Katrina Van Gendt.

I don't really know how many people had these books. From what I know of my childhood, my parents were into some pretty wacky things. Not in a bad way, of course. We were raised on Franciscus Henri, who is an absolute legend.

But yeah, these books were lovely and awesome.
Rather than just the three teddies of the show's fame - who I believe are Morgan, Amy and Lulu - there are 12 teddies.

There were Beans in Jeans and Beetroots in Gumboots.

They're simple, lovely, easy to read books.

And apparently, they were the very first books I ever learned to read by myself.
This picture will forever live in my mind.

I'd tell you to go get them, but... sadly, no longer in print.
And you are not getting my copies. *hugs them close while staring creepily*

Anyway. Short one, really. I'm not the best to talk about kiddie books so I did it with pictures. Instagram-ed pics courtesy of Andromeda, shoddy lighting in my living room, and the furry mat my parents bought to hide the copious amounts of dog fur that floats around our house.

Wordless Wednesday Explanation Post that's horrifically full of words.

Wordless Wednesday

Good gracious, I like contradictions.

So everything I said about Harry Potter blogging will be postponed til tomorrow, as I’ve decided to hop on another internet bandwagon. (I’m on so many I’m going to have to start cloning myself. Or making Horcruxes.) The bandwagon? Wordless Wednesday.

I’m mainly doing this because I’m becoming increasingly fascinated with the visual world, and you can glean so much from a photo that words aren’t always necessary. It’s going to be a great challenge, finding an appropriate photo for what I’m feeling each week.

(Also, considering this post has taken me nearly an hour to write thanks to Offspring, there’s another reason to do WW.)

Blog schedule shenanigans will change – I’m going to do Book Fridays (reviews etc), Wordless Wednesday and whatever 30 day challenge on the weekends.

There we go!

Back to Offspring.

30 Days of Books, Day 20.

[Your favourite romance book.]

As much as I love Darcy and Lizzie, and Emma and Knightley, and even Becky and Luke - though that falls more into the category of chick lit than romance - Landon and Jamie take the cake.
I first read this book towards the end of Year 11, I think. I was in my senior high school years, after I'd dropped out of conventional schooling to study via Distance Ed, and I was working at the local bookstore a few afternoons a week. Dad would pick me up from the library once he finished work (only a short walk from my job); my day was effectively books layered on more books.
It was cold, I remember, and I'd just watched the Notebook after reading the book. I slouched through the rows of books til I found Nicholas Sparks again. A Walk To Remember seemed like an okay way to fill in an afternoon.
As I settled into a cushy brown chair, wrapping my handbag and copious jackets around my knees, I opened to the first page.

When I was seventeen, my life changed forever.

Jamie and Landon's story is a beautiful one, one that reminds me of the importance of faith. I don't specifically mean faith in God, but faith in humanity. Faith in change. Jamie also has her personal faith in God, which gets her through her illness.

I love that Landon and Jamie appear to be different, and in such an unreconcilable way. You wouldn't consider that these two would be together, yet as they become closer you can see the similarities they slowly draw out of each other.

She looked exactly like an angel. I know my jaw dropped a little, and I just stood there looking at her for what seemed like a long time, shocked into silence, until I suddenly remembered that I had a line I had to deliver. I took a deep breath, then slowly let it out. "You're beautiful," I finally said to her, and I think everyone in the whole auditorium, from the blue-haired ladies in the front to my friends in the back row, knew that I actually meant it. 

The afternoon fluttered away as I sank deeper into the book, fully immersing myself in 1958 Beaufort, and into the beauty of this relationship. I didn't notice much going on around me. I didn't notice my phone vibrating on my lap. In fact, Dad was standing in front of me for a good five minutes watching me read, until I closed the book with a sigh of satisfaction. 

"Good book?" he said.

I could only nod. I was too busy texting Belinda telling her she had to read this book.

I held her close to me with my eyes closed, wondering if anything in my life had ever been this perfect and knowing at the same time that it hadn't. I was in love,  and the feeling was even more wonderful than I ever imagined it could be.

The first trip I remember taking to Brisbane with my parents isn't that long ago. (My memory is a thing is shame for me at times.) It's also a pretty fuzzy memory. I saw my first Borders bookstore, and as I wandered the shelves in crazed excitement, I came across the book. I couldn't idly walk by and not read it, could I? 

It was Dad who found me again, and who noticed book in my hands.

"Again?"
I blushed. "It's my favourite."
He tugged the book from my hands - I let out a mew of protest - and sighed, noting the price. "Okay. Okay. But if it's as good as you say, I'm reading it after you."

"I love you, Jamie," I said to her. "You're the best thing that ever happened to me."

The film for this is good. I won't lie and tell you it's not.
It's one of those movies that should be considered in its own right. The setting, the time, and the storyline all deviated from the book far too much to be the adaption. I'd have loved it if they'd done this book as it was written, but you could tell Nicholas Sparks had a hand in the script. That made me happy.
Also, if you're a romantic fangirl like me, there's so much to squee over in the movie it's practically required viewing.

"Do you love me?" I asked her. She smiled. "Yes."

Maybe I'm the only person who follows the happy ending. You know, the one where Jamie doesn't die. I've never been inclined to think that she died. It could be the overwhelming belief I have in miracles, something that this book makes massive reference to. Nicholas Sparks seems to agree, but he also mentions it's completely open to interpretation.

I want the ending to be as happy as possible. I refuse to believe in another Atonement ending, where everyone's dead.

It was, in every way, a walk to remember.

So if you've never read a Nicholas Sparks novel, this should be your first. It might be a simple love story, but it's a perfect one. It's beautiful. It's love. Gina Biggs says it perfectly on the Redstring banner, that no matter what, love is good.

I smile slightly, looking towards the sky, knowing there's one thing I

still haven't told you: I now believe, by the way,

that miracles can happen.

30 Days of Books, Day 19.

Okay, I completely understand this is borderline crazy, and this'll be equalling 3 posts in one day.
*hides*
But I feel bad about this challenge not being done in thirty days (woe for my future career as a writer; already I suck at deadlines), and so I'm cramming.

[Favourite book turned into a movie.]

When a book is made into a movie, the fanbase is generally incensed. You only have to have watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire with a cinema full of cloak-wearing fans to understand the horror. "But... but that never happened!" "Why is Neville assuming Dobby's role?" "WHERE ON EARTH IS CHARLIE WEASLEY?" And, too, in Order of the Phoenix. "That so wasn't long enough for Snape's memories!" "Hang on, Sirius died and Harry's just turned emo? What happened to the blinding rage?"
Etcetera, so on, so forth.
However, the general consensus I'd heard about The Notebook was that the film was actually better than the book.

My Nutri-Grain is flying everywhere.
Then again, I'm so tough, I don't need any more Iron Man food.

I think the movie was a lot less daunting than the book. Yes, I know the book's only a centimetre thick, but I opened the book to an elderly couple, and they reappeared far too often for my liking. (Sorry, Old Noah.)
Also, I'll be vapid. I really, really, really quite like beardless Ryan Gosling.

I think they just put the most necessary parts of the book into the movie. The parts that the fans needed, and the parts that made this book just work so well. As I just mentioned to Glen, this movie was the first to make me cry.
(No, Daniela, we're not mentioning the Lion King because I was heavily PMSing then, and I'll cry at Dora the Explorer when I'm in that state of mind.)
Noah was an adorable character, and while Allie was significantly less likeable - Bridget Vreeland all over again - I still developed an emotional attachment to her. I wanted her to be with Noah. Lon, while a nice guy, wasn't for her.
And in the movie they did it so well. The characters fit together so nicely in the book, and the actors slipped into these roles and into this relationship with ease. Also, James Marsden as Lon was inspired. Once again, he lost the lady.

I'm so sad, my shirt's evaporated.
I'm crying behind these rock hard abs. 

Anyway, final post for the night. 

I've been uber-sick tonight (how indie am I?) so I'll see you all tomorrow, hopefully with less nausea.