Category: Thoughts

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

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I’ve been on a bit of a Zac Efron kick lately and this is probably one of my favorite movies that he’s starred in, so of course I decided to read the book.

This was actually a really nice break from some of the longer, more serious books that I’ve been reading lately. I actually read the first half of this book so fast that I really delayed finishing it because I didn’t want it to be over.

It was nice how there were little differences from the movie like Logan meeting Keith at the beginning. This was actually really interesting because it set up the hatred Keith had for Logan even before he was with Beth.

The different perspectives for each chapter really worked to tell the story from all sides. When authors do this in books a small part of me always thinks about how I had professors in my writing classes say that this is lazy storytelling. I don’t really care about it though or think that it’s lazy, Game of Thrones does it and that’s one of my favorite series. It’s almost necessary sometimes and helps to bring a story together from different points of view.

The end had me freaking out. I almost cried when Zeus was in the creek. I was seriously more worried about him that anyone else, and they made it seem like Logan died too! I was actually really angry that they would do this in the book and almost put it down. Super relieved when I kept reading and found out that he had survived.

White Oleander by Janet Fitch

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I’ve been reading some pretty great stories written by women lately.

White Oleander by Janet Fitch hands down has some of the best writing and storytelling that I’ve ever read. It’s so lyrical and each line felt so purposeful and important to the story.

This is such a crazy story on the surface. A woman murdering her ex-lover and her child having to deal with the consequences and ending up in so many horrible situations completely out of her control.

I thought that the mother in The Glass Castle was terrible, but this mother really takes the cake. It’s really hard to accept that redemption Astrid gives her at the end, and makes you kind of sad for her.

This book really accurately shows the different dynamics between mothers and daughters with each of the women who come into her life. Her own mother seemed to think that she owned Astrid. That she was just another one of her creations that she could shape into whatever she wanted her to be, and was shocked when Astrid ended up as someone she didn’t recognize.

Starr showed how there can be jealousy with having another woman around a man who isn’t her father. Even though Astrid was a child, she was beautiful in a way that Starr felt challenged by and she couldn’t handle it. Astrid definitely didn’t do herself any favors sleeping with Ray, so she kind of asked for the trouble in this situation.

Claire was the real loving, overbearing, needy mother that Astrid ended up having to take care of. She was so fragile, but so nice in comparison to the women that Astrid had been with before.

Rena was probably the best at helping her realize that she didn’t need to hold on to all of these experiences and people. She could let go and live her own life and do what was best for her.

I really loved the interest in art and poetry throughout the entire story. Creative people always seem like they’re the most interesting, and I’ve always been attracted to that lifestyle, even though I know I could never actually live like that.

I had to keep reminding myself that this was a fictional story. I would never wish this life on anyone and I realize that there are probably so many children who go through situations way worst than this with their actual parents and in foster homes, but I kept thinking of Astrid as this real person who was able to grow and overcome so much, which is inspiring. I’m glad that she isn’t real and didn’t have to deal with this, but these situations are real and make me sad for the children that have to go through them. I hope that they are able to find peace with their lives like she did in this story.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

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What a book. What a story.

I wish that I could meet Rex Walls. He sounded like such an interesting person. He was so smart and had such an incredible mind. His alcoholism was really sad actually and it seemed like he had some deep-rooted issues with his upbringing. In a way it kind of makes the horrible things he did forgivable, and you don’t totally hate him by the end of the story.

I did, however, hate her mother. I do have to say that it was almost like a “love to hate” her feeling though. She made terrible decisions and was completely selfish, but you could kind of understand someone having that idgaf attitude. Just maybe she shouldn’t have been a mother.

Jeannette is such a good storyteller. I seriously loved reading her words and most nights felt like I didn’t want to put it down and go to sleep.

The lifestyle that her parents had would be such an interesting way to grow up. It’s maybe not the best way to raise your family, but she’s probably a more realistic and independent person because of it. I definitely wouldn’t want to drag my kids around like that, but learning to live off of nothing and being sort of “scrappy” is something that’s always been intriguing to me.

It sounds sort of great to just be able to pick up and leave everything behind sometimes, but it’s definitely a lot harder than it seems and you’d have to be okay with the struggle. If I was on my own the whole “minimalist” lifestyle would maybe work, but I wouldn’t want to force children to struggle with me.

This is really such a great story, and I’m really glad that by the end of it all of the Walls children seemed to have found their place in the world. It’s kind of funny that most of them ended up in New York out of everywhere they’d been. I feel like New York definitely has this sort of magic to it and it’s really a good place for new beginnings. Especially if you can afford it or figure out how to, and of course the Walls children figured it out.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

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Took a little break from Harry Potter before coming back to read the final book, but it felt so good to come back and all I have to say is WOW. This book was seriously sooooo good.

It’s definitely the best out of all of them. Seriously there was so much action from beginning to end, I’m not surprised at all that they decided to break it up into two movies.

I am so sad that so many characters had to die in the end. It was hard to read about the deaths of so many of them.

I really can’t believe I never read these books before now. I grew up with these books around constantly and I’m so sad that I missed out on the hype of the new books being released and the movies coming out, but I’m so glad that I’ve read them now. Better late than never, right?

Seriously this series is just so amazing and the writing is so good. Everyone should read these books. I can’t believe I’m done!

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed

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This was one of those movies that I saw a while ago and reflected on while I was going through a rough patch with a guy. I felt like my feeling for him were consuming me and it made me feel like I was worthless because he wasn’t returning the same feelings.

I decided to read the book and I’m really glad that I did. This book and Cheryl’s story really helped me. I know that our stories weren’t the same at all and she had it much worse than I did, but I think that when you find something like this that helps you, it’s really special.

Things get better and life is going to be full of situations and issues that you’ll have to overcome. It’s important to work on yourself and to not blame yourself for the things that happen to you. Sometimes, it’s just completely out of your control.

I like that this book really made me feel like anything is possible and to never let yourself believe that you can’t do something. Cheryl wasn’t a hiker, she had hardly any experience on this trek and she did it, even though people doubted her and she doubted herself. She did it, and that’s so important.

I’d be lying if I said that i didn’t want to do a hike of my own after reading this book. It’s so inspiring and it just sounds so amazing to make that decision to change your life and do something for yourself.

If you haven’t read this book, I would highly recommend it. Seriously, it’s a good one.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

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Before I Fall was one of those movies that really makes you think about your life and the way that you treat people. There are things that I said and did in high school that I 100% regret and wish that I could take back, and in this story Sam got the chance to change how she treated the people in her life.

It’s one of those stories that really makes you realize that everything you say and do can affect someone in a way that you didn’t intentionally mean, and that you should do your best to be good to others and honest about your feelings because you never know when it will be your last day on this Earth.

Basically, I really like this movie and I loved the book even more.

Even though I knew how the story would end, while I was reading I couldn’t help but hope that it would be different and that somehow both Sam and Juliet could be saved.

It’s definitely a sad story and I’m not going to lie, it was hard to read about a girl killing herself over and over again. But it’s a good story and it has a good message.

Seriously, why are people so afraid to live their lives the way they want? We should be able to speak our mind and tell people how we really feel without worrying about being judged for it by others. Why do people care so much about what others do? It doesn’t make sense.

Live your life the way you want, tell the people that you love that you love them, be a good person, and read this book 🙂

Love, Rosie by Cecelia Ahern

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Here’s yet another book that I decided to read because I was obsessed with the movie. Don’t worry, I promise it won’t be the last 😉

When I decided to read Love, Rosie I had no idea that the entire book was made up of letters, emails, and instant messages. At first I was a little put off by it, but it actually made it a lot easier to read and it was a good way to show the personalities of all of the characters.

Man, this book was frustrating. They loved each other for SO long and it took SO long for them to finally be together. At least in the movie they were still pretty young when the ended up together.

I guess this story really resonates with me because I have a “friend” in my life right now who for awhile was someone I only communicated with through text messages. We seriously went for about 9 months texting every day before meeting and so love stories like this remind me of it. I hope that if I’m going to end up with this person, like Alex and Rosie *eventually* did, that it happens faster than it did for them.

I was glad that Alex’s kids were grown up by the time he finally ended up with Rosie. It would’ve felt wrong if Rosie had broken up his family so that they could be together.

I did have to re-watch the movie after I finished reading and I just have to say, it’s so crazy how much they sped the whole story up! I mean, I totally understand why they did it, it’s just insane how quickly they went through everything!

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

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After reading The Order of the Phoenix, I needed a break from the Harry Potter world. Like I said, that movie was never my favorite, and the book was just as hard for me to get through. It was a good book and I did have a better appreciation for it by the end, but it is not the best one of the series.

I took a break and read a few other books, as you may know if anyone actually does follow this blog, but I’m not one to give up on something I’ve set my mind to!

I’m so glad I decided to pick the Harry Potter books up again and read the Half-Blood Prince. This book was sooooo much better than the last one. It was way more action-packed and I was excited to read it every day. I actually finished this one pretty quickly once I really got into it.

I thought it was interesting how the romantic relationships really started to develop in this book. It makes sense that as these characters get older they’ll start developing romantic feelings for each other. I actually really like Harry and Ginny together in the books. It’s funny, because I always see how people say they shouldn’t have ended up together in the movie, but with the book it totally makes sense.

The one thing that did annoy me was how obsessed Harry became with stalking Draco. Like, I know he was right, but it was just so annoying to have to get through.

I know it’s a major story line in the last book, but I wish that Dumbledore would have taught him more when they were hunting for the horcrux. He just did it all by himself and didn’t really explain it all to Harry, which wasn’t helpful at all.

I think because I knew that Dumbledore was going to die, it didn’t really upset me when it happened in the book. I’m sure it would have been shocking and upsetting for anyone who read it before the movies came out, but I was more upset about Fang being in the burning hut.

This book definitely made up for the last one, and I’m so excited to read the next one!

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

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I watched the first season of 13 Reasons Why as soon as it came out on Netflix. It was hard to watch at times, but I absolutely loved the characters and that the show was opening up a dialogue about mental health issues. When I found out that the show was based on a book, I had to read it.

I’ll admit, I was a little disappointed with the book. Usually, when a show or movie is based on the book I love it because I get to learn more about the characters and how they’re feeling.

The number one thing that bothered me about the show was how long it took Clay to listen to the tapes. In the book, it’s too fast. It actually made me appreciate the show and how it gave you time to emotionally deal with each revelation. It make me realize that it was actually probably pretty hard for Clay to keep listening, which is why it took so long. In the book, it was just one after the other in one night.

I also feel like I don’t know anything about the people on the tapes from the book. The show did such a good job building these characters that it feels wrong to be judging them from one or two things that the they did to Hannah.

I felt bad for every one of them in the show (except Bryce) and Hannah makes them seem like they’re just horrible people all of the time. Although a lot of the things they did to her were awful and mean, I don’t think they really knew what all was going on in her life, and she didn’t know what they were also going through.

The book left me wanting so much more, so I’m really glad that the show exists and that the continued to build on these characters in the second season. In the book, you don’t even get to see how Clay reacted to being around these people after he finished the tapes and that’s what I was most looking forward to when I was reading it.

They really did such a good job with the show. I understand the controversy, but I think that parents can use it as a way to talk to their kids. The issues in the show are real things that happen to people of all ages. It’s definitely uncomfortable to talk about, but we need to be talking about them.

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

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Okay, so I love love loved this show. Everything was so good – the acting, the plot, the relationships. Literally everything.

I was really surprised when I started reading the book because it actually takes place in Australia. I have to admit, I didn’t think that people from Australia would be as gossip-y as Americans, but I guess that’s kind of a dumb assumption to make. Everyone gossips and everyone lies sometimes.

There were a few other differences from the show – Madeline and Renata both had more kids, there was no Madeline affair, and as always there were way more details to the story.

The book was really good. I found myself picking it up just to read one or two chapters and not being able to put it down. Just one more, I kept telling myself.

When I read this there was a lot of talk about a second season of the show and how they would continue the story after the book ends, but I think there’s a lot that they could do with this next season. The characters are amazing on their own and I would honestly watch them just hanging out and gossiping about each other. I also think that there is a lot more to explore with Renata’s character and with Bonnie’s character. We didn’t get to see too much with them this past season and they’re both very interesting characters.

I loved it. It was sad, but good, while still being sad. I’m very excited to see what’s to come next season and to have these characters live on for a little while longer.