Low Maintenance, High Standards
Awww. I’m done with my 30 Days of Books Challenges. :( Sad.
30 DAYS OF BOOKS — DAY 30: YOUR FAVORITE BOOK
- GONE WITH THE WIND by Margaret Mitchell (1936)
Gone With the Wind is a sweeping, romantic story about the American Civil War from the point of view of the Confederacy. In particular, it is the story of Scarlett O’Hara, a headstrong Southern belle who survives the hardships of the war and afterwards manages to establish a successful business by capitalizing on the struggle to rebuild the South. Throughout the book she is motivated by her unfulfilled love for Ashley Wilkes, an honorable man who is happily married. After a series of marriages and failed relationships with other men, notably the dashing Rhett Butler, she has a change of heart and determines to win Rhett back.
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1850)
The Scarlet Letter follows the public shaming and punishment of a young woman named Hester Prynne in mid-17th century Boston. When Hester becomes pregnant, everyone believes her to be guilty of adultery: she has been separated from her husband for two full years, and the baby cannot be his. The magistrates and ministers order her to wear a scarlet letter “A” on the bodice of her dress, so that everyone can know about her adultery.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (1999)
This is the story of what it’s like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie’s letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world he shares. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it puts him on a strange course through uncharted territory. The world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends. The world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite.
Through Charlie, Stephen Chbosky has created a deeply affecting coming-of-age story, a powerful novel that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller coaster days known as growing up.
I actually haven’t had the chance to read this either. But I think the name is really engaging.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (1954)
Poirot is called to upon to investigate the murder of Roger Ackroyd, a man with an intriguing story. He’d been courting Mrs Ferrars, a wealthy widow, who had recently died of a suspected suicide by overdose. To solve the murder of Roger Ackroyd, Poirot realises he must delve deeper into the circumstances surrounding Mrs Ferrars’ demise.
30 DAYS OF BOOKS — DAY 25: A CHARACTER TO WHOM YOU MOST RELATE
- JOSEPHINE “JO” MARCH — Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1868)
I have always really identified with Jo since I first read Little Women when I was nine years old. I always felt like the odd one out in my family because even though I loved playing sports in my athletically inclined family, I also loved to read. I loved to write. I wanted to act and be on stage. Dressing up was and still is kind of a chore, and while I think I embraced the manners of a lady much better than Jo, I identify so closely with her passion and fire and not knowing exactly where to use it. I also love my family more than anything on the face of the earth and would literally do anything and everything for them.
Frank: The Voice by James Kaplan (2011)
Frank Sinatra was the best-known entertainer of the twentieth century—infinitely charismatic, lionized and notorious in equal measure. But despite his mammoth fame, Sinatra the man has remained an enigma. Now James Kaplan brings deeper insight than ever before to the complex psyche and turbulent life behind that incomparable voice, from Sinatra’s humble beginning in Hoboken to his fall from grace and Oscar-winning return in From Here to Eternity. Here at last is the biographer who makes the reader feel what it was really like to be Frank Sinatra—as man, as musician, as tortured genius.
I hope more people take the time to read about this exceptionally talented man. It was a fabulous read and a wonderful tribute to the most talented vocalist of the twentieth century. We miss you, Old Blue Eyes.
Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding (1996)
Bridget Jones’s Diary is the devastatingly self-aware, laugh-out-loud account of a year in the life of a thirty-something Singleton on a permanent doomed quest for self-improvement. Caught between the joys of Singleton fun, and the fear of dying alone and being found three weeks later half eaten by an Alsatian; tortured by Smug Married friends asking, “How’s your love life?” with lascivious, yet patronizing leers, Bridget resolves to: reduce the circumference of each thigh by 1.5 inches, visit the gym three times a week not just to buy a sandwich, form a functional relationship with a responsible adult and learn to program the VCR.
With a blend of flighty charm, existential gloom, and endearing self-deprecation, Bridget Jones’s Diary has touched a raw nerve with millions of readers the world round. Read it and laugh—before you cry, “Bridget Jones is me!”
30 DAYS OF BOOKS — DAY 22: FAVORITE BOOK YOU OWN
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Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine (1997)
How can a fairy’s blessing be such a curse?
At her birth, Ella of Frell was given a foolish fairy’s gift—the “gift” of obedience. Ella must obey any order given to her, whether it’s hopping on one foot for a day or chopping off her own head!
But strong-willed Ella does not tamely accept her fate. She goes on a quest, encountering ogres, giants, wicked stepsisters, fairy godmothers, and handsome princes, determined to break the curse—and live happily ever after.
A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks (1999)
There was a time when the world was sweeter….when the women in Beaufort, North Carolina, wore dresses, and the men donned hats…. Every April, when the wind smells of both the sea and lilacs, Landon Carter remembers 1958, his last year at Beaufort High. Landon had dated a girl or two, and even once sworn that he’d been in love. Certainly the last person he thought he’d fall for was Jamie, the shy, almost ethereal daughter of the town’s Baptist minister….Jamie, who was destined to show him the depths of the human heart-and the joy and pain of living. The inspiration for this novel came from Nicholas Sparks’s sister: her life and her courage. From the internationally bestselling author Nicholas Sparks, comes his most moving story yet.
30 DAYS OF BOOKS — DAY 19: YOUR FAVORITE BOOK TO MOVIE ADAPTATION
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy — J.R.R. Tolkein (1954-1955)Fellowship of the Ring: Sauron, the Dark Lord, has gathered to him all the Rings of Power — the means by which he intends to rule Middle-earth. All he lacks in his plans for dominion is the One Ring — the ring that rules them all — which has fallen into the hands of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins.
In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as his elderly cousin Bilbo entrusts the Ring to his care. Frodo must leave his home and make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ring and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose.
Two Towers: Frodo and the Companions of the Ring have been beset by danger during their quest to prevent the Ruling Ring from falling into the hands of the Dark Lord, Sauron, by destroying it in the Cracks of Doom. They have lost the wizard Gandalf in a battle with an evil spirit in the Mines of Moria; and at the Falls of Rauros, Boromir, seduced by the power of the Ring, tried to seize it by force. While Frodo and Sam made their escape, the rest of the company was attacked by Orcs. Now they continue their journey alone down the great River Anduin — alone, that is, save for the mysterious creeping figure that follows wherever they go.
The Return of the King: As the Shadow of Mordor grows across the land, the Companions of the Ring have become involved in separate adventures. Aragorn, revealed as the hidden heir of the ancient Kings of the West, has joined with the Riders of Rohan against the forces of Isengard, and takes part in the desperate victory of the Hornburg. Merry and Pippin, captured by Orcs, escape into Fangorn Forest and there encounter the Ents. Gandalf has miraculously returned and defeated the evil wizard, Saruman. Sam has left his master for dead after a battle with the giant spider, Shelob; but Frodo is still alive — now in the foul hands of the Orcs. And all the while the armies of the Dark Lord are massing as the One Ring draws ever nearer to the Cracks of Doom.
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
While in Paris on business, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call: the elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum. Near the body, police have found a baffling cipher. While working to solve the enigmatic riddle, Langdon is stunned to discover it leads to a trail of clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci — clues visible for all to see — yet ingeniously disguised by the painter. Langdon joins forces with a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, and learns the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion — an actual secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci, among others. In a breathless race through Paris, London, and beyond, Langdon and Neveu match wits with a faceless powerbroker who seems to anticipate their every move. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle in time, the Priory’s ancient secret — and an explosive historical truth — will be lost forever.
Scarlett O’Hara — Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
- 30 DAYS OF BOOKS — DAY 17: FAVORITE QUOTE FROM YOUR FAVORITE BOOK
30 DAYS OF BOOKS — DAY 16: YOUR TOP 5 FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTERS
- ELIZABETH BENNET - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (1813)
“You are mistaken, Mr. Darcy, if you suppose that the mode of your declaration affected me in any other way, than as it spared the concern which I might have felt in refusing you, had you behaved in a more gentlemanlike manner…You could not have made the offer of your hand in any possible way that would have tempted me to accept it…From the very beginning— from the first moment, I may almost say— of my acquaintance with you, your manners, impressing me with the fullest belief of your arrogance, your conceit, and your selfish disdain of the feelings of others, were such as to form the groundwork of disapprobation on which succeeding events have built so immovable a dislike; and I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry.”
- SCARLETT O’HARA - Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (1936)
“After all, tomorrow is another day!”
- HERMIONE GRANGER - The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling (1997-2007)
“I hope you’re pleased with yourselves. We could have all been killed — or worse, expelled.”
- JO MARCH - Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1868)
“I’ll try and be what he loves to call me, ‘a little woman,’ and not be rough and wild; but do my duty here instead of wanting to be somewhere else.”
- KATNISS EVERDEEN - The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins (2008-2010)
“Fire is catching!…And if we burn, you burn with us!”
