Persuasion by Jane Austen

You must forgive me dear reader for spoiling the book for you, but I cannot bear not to put Captain Wentworth's letter to Anne here in my blog. For my heart took wings, smiling like a fool upon reading the letter.


I must advice you to stop and read no more if you want to thoroughly enjoy the book for the said letter near the end is the summit of all pleasures(this story builds and builds and then explodes).

Miss A.E --

I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant. You alone have brought me to Bath. For you alone, I think and plan. Have you not seen this? Can you fail to have understood my wishes? I have not waited even this ten days, could I have read your feelings, as i think you must have penetrated mine. I can hardly write. I am every instant hearing something which overpowers me. You sink your voice, but i can distinguish the tones of that voice when they would be lost on others. Too good, too excellent creature! You do us justice, indeed. You do believe that there is true attachment and constancy among men. Believe it to be most fervent, most undeviating in  

                                                                                                                  F.W.

I must go, uncertain of my fate; but i shall return hither, or follow your party, as soon as possible. A ward, a look, will be enough to decide whether I enter your father's house this evening or never.

There! Such satisfaction to finally read Captain Wentworth's feelings for Anne; my heart and soul revel in Anne's happiness. haha!

I was smiling throughout the book, very much amused of the tug and pull of emotion it has put me through. Jane Austen is a master of telling mundane everyday life, and situations that can happen most likely to people. She tells it as it is, as it should, yet amazingly well.

My only regret is that I wish i could have read it along with Adriana of Classicalquest. My happiness would have been doubled.  But, yeah, this book leaves one satisfied and I am very glad I read it.

The Education of Little Tree

The education of Little Tree is a book by Forest Carter. The story is about an Indian boy who grew up with his Grandma and Grandpa. It is the first book I read this year. I loved it! I was already taken the first time I read it. It seems like the book is a gentle Cherokee hostess touring you around their way of life. Letting you see things. Halfway through the book I felt like I am already one of them. That's how enchanting the book was. The forest, the trees... One beautiful sentence after another like:

One little patch of fog would come around the end of a mountain like a silver boat and bump into another one and they would melt together and take off up a hollow.

There is not anything like dawn from the top of the high mountains. 

My head swirled after reading that sentence and I felt the urge to want to go to the mountains and experience the dawn at the top of it. That's how badly affected I am with the book. It made my head swim.

Nuggets of wisdom sprinkled the book which made we wish I could live like them.

“Grandma said when you come on something that is good, first thing to do is share it with whoever you can find; that way, the good spreads out to where no telling it will go.” 

"Grandma's name was Bonnie Bee. I knew that when I heard him late at night say, "I kin ye, Bonnie Bee", he was saying "I love ye," for the feeling was in the words. And when they would be talking and Granma would say, "Do you kin me, Wales?" and he would answer, "I kin ye." it meant "I understand ye." To them love and understanding was the same thing. Grandma said you couldn't love something you didn't understand; nor could you love people, nor God, if you didn't understand the people and God." 

The book was so mystical - characters could sense the trees, stars, changing of seasons and spirits. It was so mystical I believed it.

That's why I was shocked to find (google) that there were many complaints against the book claiming that it was fraud and that the author was really not Little Tree, and to top it all he was a racist. I did not care. I'm glad he wrote it. And im pretty sure he had somehow understood people and learned to love regardless of race for him to write this. I felt the spirit of the book (and the sincerity of the man behind it) and I am glad he wrote it.

I am an emotional reader. When I read this near the end,

Little Tree, I must go. Like you feel the trees, feel for us when you are listening. we will wait for you. Next time will be better. All is well. Granma."   

I could not hold it in. I cried like Pine Billy would. I cried with a glad heart for it was such a good story. I cried knowing that all is good. Life is good. And that it is possible. You can listen and talk to trees. I love trees. I love this book. I think it is true. All is told in honesty. No assumptions, no pretensions, just what is.

This is the kind of book I want to read again from time to time for the rest of my life.

The Gifts of Imperfection: Let go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are

I have been listening to Brene's Brown TED talk on YouTube. She is a research professor and a story teller (you know, when I was in High School, my dream really is to be a story teller. I just don't know how that could be possible for me so I kept it to myself and never told a soul. But since 2012 I have been thinking that maybe it can come true. I still don't know how but I know it will. That's faith... and madness courage.)

Brene Brown studies shame and vulnerability. I am a shy girl. I grew up really quiet and shy. And so topics like shame and vulnerability speak to me. This is supposed to be a book review but I figured it would do you much good if I just show you all the sentences Ihave highlighted and marked for your own study. Enjoy!

Courage originally meant “To speak one’s mind by telling all one’s heart.”

Speaking honestly and openly about who we are, about what we’re feeling, and about our experiences (good and bad) is the definition of courage.

Ordinary courage is about putting our vulnerability on the line.

Until we can receive with an open heart, we are never really giving with an open heart. When we attach judgment to receiving help, we knowingly or unknowingly attach judgment to giving help.

If we want to fully experience love and belonging, we must believe that we are worthy of love and belonging.

The greatest challenge for most of us is believing that we are worthy now, right this minute. Worthy now. Not if. Not when. We are worthy of love and belonging now. Right this minute. As is.

A deep sense of love and belonging is an irreducible need of all women, men, and children.
...true belonging only happens when we present our authentic, imperfect selves to the world, our sense of belonging can never be greater than our level of self-acceptance.

To begin by always thinking of love as an action rather than a feeling is one way in which anyone using the word in this manner automatically assumes accountability and responsibility.

When we don’t practice love with the people we claim to love, it takes a lot out of us. Incongruent living is exhausting.

If we want to live and love with our whole hearts, and if we want to engage with the world from a place of worthiness, we have to talk about the things that get in the way—especially shame, fear, and vulnerability.

Shame is the intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love and belonging.

The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.

Healthy striving is self-focused—How can I improve? Perfectionism is other-focused—What will they think?

A moment of self-compassion can change your entire day. A string of such moments can change the course of your life.

Self-kindness: Being warm and understanding toward ourselves when we suffer, fail, or feel inadequate, rather than ignoring our pain or flagellating ourselves with self-criticism.

Common humanity: Common humanity recognizes that suffering and feelings of personal inadequacy are part of the shared human experience—something we all go through rather than something that happens to “me” alone.

Mindfulness: Taking a balanced approach to negative emotions so that feelings are neither suppressed nor exaggerated.

When we’re kind to ourselves, we create a reservoir of compassion that we can extend to others.

“Today, I’m going to believe that showing up is enough.”

Hopeful self-talk sounds more like, This is tough, but I can do it.

The dark does not destroy the light; it defines it. It’s our fear of the dark that casts our joy into the shadows.

  

And lastly this one, which I really find astonishing, thought provoking and so true too.
An excerpt from Brene Brown’s interview with Krista Tippet:

Ms. Brown: Appearance and body image is still the number one shame trigger for women. For men, there's a really kind of singular, suffocating expectation and that is do not be perceived as weak. So for men, the perception of weakness is often very shaming and that one of the things that's interesting is, I talk to men and, you know, what I heard over and over was some variation of, look, my wife, my girlfriend, whomever, they say be afraid, they tell me, you know, share your vulnerability with me, open up, but the truth is, they can't stomach it.

The truth is that, when I'm very vulnerable, when I'm in fear, when I talk about it openly, it permanently changes the dynamics in our relationship. And when I started sharing this with women or whenever I started interviewing couples, women are like, oh, God, it's true. I want you to be open and I want there to be intimacy, but I don't want you go to there.

You know, and so, I've come to this belief that, if you show me a woman who can sit with a man in real vulnerability, in deep fear, and be with him in it, I will show you a woman who, A, has done her work and, B, does not derive her power from that man. And if you show me a man who can sit with a woman in deep struggle and vulnerability and not try to fix it, but just hear her and be with her and hold space for it, I'll show you a guy who's done his work and a man who doesn't derive his power from controlling and fixing everything.

***

To admit that you are terrified and afraid takes a whole lot of courage.
To not know what to do next and to admit to yourself that you don't know is terrifying. I have been there so many times.
And this one thing I know: It is okay to be afraid, it is okay to be vulnerable - but you know what, courage is showing up even when you feel vulnerable. Like, "OMG! I don't want to come to class today. I am not prepared with my report. I would be very embarrassed if I do this."  But you show up anyway and did the report. For me that is courage.

Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

Image Source

"Leave your mouth open."

I was so surprised by this request that my mouth remained open of its own will.

I blinked back tears. Virtuous women did not open their mouths in paintings. 

I did not know what to think of this book but the author writes so beautifully.

It's about a story behind a painting of a girl with a pearl earring. The painter is Johannes Vermeer. First, I would like to tell a story. I bought this book long before I heard the author, Tracy Chevalier speak at TED onYouTube. She tells of watching paintings on museums and coming up with an idea to tell stories behind those paintings. A story behind a painting, pretty clever! I was so surprised when she talked about the book, Girl with a Pearl Earring. I was like "I had that book on my shelf!"

I did not know what to feel about this book really. It felt like I understood the protagonist (Griet) completely but at the same time I did not. I find the girl shallow and so limited even though she was clever, perhaps because she was a maid and a bread winner in the family or maybe because of the culture itself.

I find it shallow of her to think that she was ruined after her master had seen her hair. A hair she kept hidden for so long.

I felt it was stupid to run and give herself up to Pieter just because of a hair exposed. I never thought that hair could be that powerful or crippling. Well maybe but to be ruined by a hair! It's supposed to be a woman's glory.

I also think that every character in here is a prisoner of their own circumstance. They do things because that is what is expected of them. That is what the society expects. Or what they themselves expect. The rule is to remember who you are and to look after yourself, to cross the line maybe the start or end of a drama.

My Favorite Part

She looked at me, and then she did the worst thing. If she had sulked or shouted, I would know I had mastered her. Instead she laughed.

  I reached over and slapped her.

- This is Gariet first day as a maid where she slaps Cornelia when she was just a little girl.

As I brushed past her she said in a low, eager voice, "You could give them to me." Her greedy eyes were laughing.

I reached over and slapped her.

- This was 10 years after the incident and Gariet, no longer a maid, met Cornelia again who was now a grown woman. This is my favorite because it felt like Cornelia deserved every slap.

Conclusion

The whole novel was a struggle of some sort.

I felt like I was struggling too. It's not easy to be a maid and it is not easy to be a woman of their time, 1664, Delft.

The book left me confused and I do not want to say that it wasn't worth my time. But I am sure that I would not want to read it again for a long time.

Fitzgerald and I - The Great Gatsby

If you want to be a great writer read the Great Gatsby.

I once read that somewhere over the internet. That's why I bought the book and forced myself to read it even though many times I wanted to throw it out of the window and go far away from it.

 It is the hardest book I've ever read or come across.

If I had not read that quote above I wouldn't have bothered to pick it up over and over again. I cannot tell you how badly I want to throw it, but when I see it lying there(which happens to be just everywhere in the house) I could not resist toying with the idea that it might somehow in the end make an impression on me and indeed make me a great writer. I'm that desperate when it comes to writing.

It took me almost 3 months to finish the first chapter because I kept re-reading it. God, I won’t move not unless i understood every word. It's written in an old style and every sentence is really long. It's painful for a lazy reader like me. The setting is from a long time ago. Talk about parties and balls and dresses like the ones you read from Jane Austen books, but this one is set in America, New York in particular. At the back of my mind I keep watching for sentences that are nicely put to satisfy my suspicion of why Fitzgerald is esteemed as a great writer. I’ve written notes down its pages, like I'm some Editor or Critique; scrutinizing the book and its every word and sentences.

In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that Ive been turning over in my mind ever since.
         "Whenever you feel like criticizing any one," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this word haven't had the advantages that you've had"

This is how the book starts and I’ve been reading that part over and over again. haha. Just so I could wrap my mind around it and find that magic- of how great writers become great. But to tell you the truth I am not that sold with his style of writing. WHO IN THE WORLD AM I TO SAY THAT? English is not even my first language. And the problem lies there. Or maybe it's just me. I'm not making excuses for my bad writing here, nor would I want to apologize for my wrong grammar.

Actually I want to apologize for every wrong grammar but I won’t, I just won’t, because I'm too proud for that.

So is this post really about my insecurities in writing? Maybe Yes. I'm not that kind of reader who would force myself to read a book I have no interest about. If I don't like it I won’t read it, period. This is about the rave reviews of the book and of the writer himself.

 This is my little investigation of why a writer becomes great and famous and how to write such a book. But maybe I'm too immature to understand all of this, and that maybe although it's embarrassing to say, my command of English is weak. But I won’t stop, I will read this again next month, or maybe next year, or when I get to 50. haha. But yeah I have read 3 chapters already in the span of 6 months (that is half a year!!!) and I am deliberately taking my time.

Someday, when I’m done reading this, I'll write a book review. I hope soon. 

Paper Towns by John Green book review

What can i say? I love this book. I love the adventure. I love how the words are so simple to read. I love how beautifully it was written. And surprisingly, I love how sad it was. There were parts were i suddenly just tear up. Some things written in there are just so painful. Like cracks and all. I love Quentin and his group of friends and I love how they did not left Quentin to search for Margo; the love of his life. Although the story was about a person who got depressed and run away, it was also about the beauty of a pursuing love, and the beauty of friendship and acceptance. I couldn't recommend it enough so read it. And you'll find Whitman's Leaves of Grass partly discussed in there too. If you love him that would be a bonus. lol.

Some favorite parts:


"We got on our bikes and I let her go in front of me because I was crying and didn’t want her to see." - this was on the first chapter and it just melts me.


“Maybe all the strings inside him broke,”


"I could never stop thinking that maybe she loved mysteries so much that she became one."


"It is so hard to leave—until you leave. And then it is the easiest goddamned thing in the world." - relate much!


“I mean, you are a hero, do you realize that? They give out medals for this stuff.” - the fun part!


“Because it’s kind of great, being an idea that everybody likes. But I could never be the idea to myself, not all the way. And Agloe is a place where a paper creation became real. A dot on the map became a real place, more real than the people who created the dot could ever have imagined. I thought maybe the paper cutout of a girl could start becoming real here also. And it seemed like a way to tell that paper girl who cared about popularity and clothes and everything else: ‘You are going to the paper towns. And you are never coming back.’”


“‘But when it came right down to it, the skin of my wrist looked so white and defenseless that I couldn’t do it. It was as if what I wanted to kill wasn’t in that skin or the thin blue pulse that jumped under my thumb, but somewhere else, deeper, more secret, and a whole lot harder to get at.’” - where Margo reads the Bell Jar




I may have highlighted a lot of things in this book but i couldn't help it. :)

Discovering Orhan Pamuk

It is the first time i cried with a book. With  Füsun, feeling what she feels. After making love for the first time...

...only saying that she would remember this day till the end of her life, before beginning to cry again, and then falling silent once more. 

I am reminded of a dear friend when i asked her of what she initially felt after their first time. She told me she cried. She cried for her many ambitions and dreams in life. And at that moment, I felt her, I felt a lifespan of dreams and promises that seems to elude after doing such a sacred but forbidden thing would certainly occur in one's mind. The so many what if's questions to follow. It seemed to me that i understood what had happened and inside i cried with her. I have never been so much touched with a book. And i am only just beginning to read it.


P.S. I am afraid to read what will happen next. I am so afraid to jump in and walk in their shoes. Feeling what they feel. I am not sure if i would like to be inside Pamuk's book regardless of how skillfully he weaves every word like a work of art- to evoke such emotions from me is a little bit unsettling. I am not even sure if he is a He. But i am guessing he is. I should really google the name now.

Books Im planning to read this 2012.

"There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written."

- Oscar Wilde

Here is a list of books im planning to read this 2012. Im not that much of a reader so im trying to be one now. Help me God. This is not much but i know somehow it will force me to focus on my goal. My books have become so dusty they deserve my attention. To all you book lovers out there, it would really mean a lot if you could give me ideas on how to achieve my goal.

Books i have on my shelf that needs reading:

1. A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold - (this one talks about our environment, i am really interested.)
2. Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder - (A novel about philosophy. I am currently reading this now :)
3. The Giver by Lois Lowry - (done reading this one but would like to read it again. I was not able to understand it that's why.)
4. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery - (halfway through; read again)
5. The Great Gatsby by Fitsgerald
6. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
7. Fear and Trembling by Amelie Nothomb
8. As A Man Thinketh by James Allen - (one of my fave book, re-read)
9. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli - (one of my fave also, would love to read again)
10. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
11. The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren - (Was able to read the 1st chapter only; allocate 40 days of reading)
12. Life of Pie by Yann Martel
13. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
14. Frankenstein by Shelley
15. Small Change by Susan and Larry Terkel
16. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
17. The Examined Life by Helming
18 The Picture of Dorian Gray - (Was able to read the first few chapters and then stopped, I can't stand Dorian's vanity, would love to try it again this time)
19. A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russel
20. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
21. Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
22. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
23. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein
24. Your Best Life Now by Joel Osteen
25. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson -(was not able to finish)

So that's 25 books all in all. As you can see the pattern, i have a way of reading books without even finishing them. I'm like a rolling stone when it comes to books, i gather no moss. Sometimes i get really lazy especially if the book aint fun at all. The tendency to doze off is really high. But, hey i can read books in one sitting, like  really funny books. I love books that have humor glimmering in every page.
One way to attack/achieve my goal is to maybe read one book for a week and then for those books that i want to read again it would be for December. There are 52 weeks in a year but im making allowances so 25 books to read for one year would probably be enough. What an allowance that is! Aint bad, aint bad.
 If you have any suggestions, i would love to hear from you.

The Book Of Everything

The Book About Everything is written by Guus Kuijer Nietherland's best known and best loved writers. In 2005 The Book of Everything won The Flemish Golden Owl Award and the Dutch Golden Pencil Award. This book was translated by JohnNieuwenhuizen.

Thomas sees things that no one else can see - like frogs wriggling through the letter box and tropical fish swimming in the canal. He sees angels cover their eyes and weep when his father hits his mother.

He writes everything down in his secret notebook, including his greatest hopes and darkest fears. Then an unlikely friendship leads Thomas to a startling revelation: that happiness begins with no longer being afraid.

 Fave Quotes:

"When i grow up, I am going to be happy" - Thomas
"Do you know how happiness begins? It begins with no longer being afraid." - Mrs Van Amersfoot
"A man who hits his wife dishonours himself."
"You are strong because you are kind" - Jesus to Thomas (Thomas talks to Jesus and gets a reply, i mean they chat for like real)

My take:
This book is about a boy named Thomas who wants to be happy. Thomas is on a family where his Father hits his Mother and where every time he does something wrong his father hits him with a wooden spoon. Its a very sad and touching book, when the hitting starts to begin he imagines it like rain pouring down and that he no longer exist. But this book is simply written and you will feel close to the characters it becomes beautiful then. I get to like some of the characters like Margot(i liked her at the end part of the book, what she did was surprising and brave) and Mrs Van Amersfoot the witch. I have seen a lot of families with the same situation, I can really relate with this book. Happy childhood is indeed important because it shapes you. It shapes who you become in the future. I wish no child should ever undergo this same kind of situation- seeing your own father hits your mother and being helpless about it. But for those who is now going through the same ordeal i wish that you like Thomas will find your own happiness, and it starts with no longer being afraid.

One fact: My mother gets to read this book too.(The book is too short, like 118 pages short) not that my mother reads only short books. Anyways, she said this relates to old generation family. This kind of Father belongs to some past. He sort of does not exist now, maybe we can have some but only a little for those who still do this kind of punishment. I kind of agree with my mom and maybe you will too when you get to know the character of the Father. He is very religious.


Oh i forgot to mention, there is a love story in this book. A very cute love story. The love story of Thomas and Eliza. hehe Im in the mood so im going to write Thomas love letter to her. Now that's a bonus for you. Here it is

 Dear Eliza,

Maybe you think you are not beautiful because you have a leather leg that creaks when you walk. Or because one of your hands has only a little finger and nothing else. But that is not true. You are the most beautiful girl in the world. I think that later you are going to live in a castle with a Rolls-Royce in the driveway. I do not write this because i want to go out with you, for you are already sixteen and I am only nine(nearly ten), so that is not possible. I write it because it is true.

O pure innocent love! aw.

Anyway - The Paradoxical Commandments

Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments: Finding Personal Meaning in a Crazy World is written by Kent M. Keith in 1968. This book is an expanded version based on the "The Paradoxical Commandments," which he wrote when he was 19, a sophomore at Harvard College. 

The Paradoxical Commandments

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.
People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

Favorite Quotes: (Everything written on it is worth quoting :))
My Take: 
The book  talks about finding meaning in a crazy world. I was amazed by how much Keith has learned from all his experience in life even at a young age and much more in awe of how he applied it.  While i was reading this book i cannot wait to share it to all of you. I was thinking like "oh-my-this-is-a-gem! a one of a kind gem". This is something worth reading. I know for sure you will learn and get something really really important that you can apply in your life from this book. I agree with him that life is not about working for yourself or your family but it is about finding meaning on what you are working for. This book reminds me much of James Allen's As a Man Thinketh where every written word on it has substance and meaning. A very inspirational short read book .
Ratings: 10/10 ; highly recommended!

Little Altars Everywhere

Little Altars Everywhere is a national best-seller, a companion to Rebecca Wells' celebrated novel Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Originally published in 1992, Little Altars introduces Sidda, Vivi, the rest of the spirited Walker clan, and the indomitable Ya-Yas.


"We are swinging high flying way up, higher than in real life.And when I look down, I see all the ordinary stuff — our brick house, the porch the tool shed, the oil drum barbecue pit, the clothesline, the chinaberry tree. But they are all lit up from inside so their everyday selves have holy sparks in them, and if only people could see those sparks, they'd go and kneel in front of them and pray and just feel good. Somehow the whole world looks like little altars everywhere."

 ---

"You can't go anywhere with Mama without things getting nuts. If it's going along too smooth she will invent something just to stir things up. Sometimes we'll be downtown shopping and everything's going normal, and Mama will put her fingers in her mouth and let out the loudest, most piercing whistle you ever heard in your life. Then everyone gets startled and drops what they're doing and looks around to see where the noise came from. And Mama, she'll just bend over and pretend to be looking at a pair of shoes."


Favorite Quotes:
"Sometimes you just have to reach out and grab what you want, even when they tell you not to. This is something that I've struggled with my whole life long."

"Listen to me, Siddalee, and listen good: There is no excuse to let your looks go, no matter how poor you are. Cleanliness is next to Godliness, but honey let me tell you, ugliness will get you nowhere."  

"It’s life. You don’t figure it out. You just climb up on the beast and ride." 

My Take:

Reading Little Altars Everywhere is fun fun fun! It kind of gets so sad sometimes i have to stop. This book is about Sidda and all the Walker family including the Ya-Ya's told in alternating voices . I like how i can just relate to it. Even though the book is set in Louisiana it felt like the Walker family is my second door neighbor family when i was still growing up in Camiguin Island. A lot of fighting and shouting but in the end you can see how much everyone loves everyone. There are so many "aw" moments in there for me. Sometimes i am so much touched i felt like crying. But a lot of times you cannot help but laugh. Crazy crazy people. The book is wonderfully told and it is written in easy simple English which i like.

Ratings: 8/10

To Kill a Mocking Bird

 A Timeless Classic of Growing Up and the Human Dignity that Unites Us All

A novel set in a small town in fictional Maycomb County, Alabama, 1933-35; written in the 1950s, published in 1960. By Harper Lee.

Mrs. Dubose was a morphine addict" said Atticus."She took it as a pain-killer for years. The doctor put her on it. She'd have spent the rest of her life on it and died without so much agony, but she was too contrary--"

  "Sir?" said Jem.

 Atticus said "Just before your escapade she called me to make her will. Dr. Reynolds told her she had only a few months left.. Her business affairs were in perfect order but she said, There's still one thing out of order."

  "What was that?" Jem was perplexed.

   "She said she was going to leave this world beholding to nothing and nobody". Jem, when you're sick as she was, its alright to take anything to make it easier, but it wasn't alright for her. She said she meant to break herself of it before she died, and that's what she did."

   Jem said, "You mean that's what her fits were?"

   "Yes that's what they were. Most of the time you were reading to her i doubt if she heard a word you said. Her whole mind and body were so concentrated on that alarm clock. If you hadn't fallen into her hands, I'd have made you go read to her anyway. It may have been some distraction. There was another reason--"

   "Did she die free?"asked Jem.

   "As the mountain air," said Atticus. "She was conscious to the last almost. Conscious, he smiled, "and cantankerous. She still disapprove heartily on my doings, and said id probably spend the rest of my life bailing you out of jail. She had Jessie fix you this box--"

   Atticus reached down and picked up the candy box. Inside surrounded by wads of damp cotton, was a white, waxy, perfect camellia. It was a Snow-on-the-Mountain.

  Jem's eyes merely popped out of his head. "Old hell-devil, old hell-devil!" he screamed, flinging it down. "Why cant she leave me alone?"

  In a flash Attius was up and standing over him. Jem buried his face in Atticus's shirt front. "Sh-h" he said. "I think that was her way of telling you- everything's alright now, Jem, everything's all right. You know, she was a great lady."

   "A lady?"Jem raised his head. His face was scarlet.

   "After all those things she said about you, a lady?"

   "She was. She had her own views about things, a lot different from mine, maybe...son, I told you that if you hadn't lost your head id have made you go read to her. I wanted you to see something about her- I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. Its when you know your licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs. Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person i ever knew." xxx

To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee is one of my All Time Favorite Book. You know when they'd asked  what book changed your life? I have none(maybe the Bible). But this book would come close as to have made an impact on me. It widen my views on things and made me open my mind to understand people a whole lot better. You know when Atticus said that,"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view-until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." I love every part of this book and it was so difficult to choose which one to post. I choose that one up there because it talks about freedom in a hard and beautiful way. I love Scout and Dill and all their crazy ideas and  i  can relate somehow to everyone in Maycomb county. I highly recommend this book. If you can only read one book in your lifetime this would probably be it for me.

Fave quote: "It's not time to worry yet."

Ratings: 10/10