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The Fellowship Of The Ring

The Fellowship Of The RingTitle: The Fellowship of the Ring
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Series: Lord of the Rings #1
Genre: Classic, Fantasy
Format: Kindle
Pages: 432
Reason Read: Buddy Read
Rating:

Also in this series: The Two Towers, The Return of the King
My Thoughts

I’m so excited that I’ve finally finished reading THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. At times, the book was very slow, but it was always interesting and I always wanted to keep going.

Before reading this, I had little knowledge of Middle Earth. I’ve read THE HOBBIT and I’ve seen Peter Jackson’s movies. Other than that, I had no idea what to expect. There were times I was frustrated because I expected things to happen in the book because of what happened in the movies that didn’t. Overall, though, I liked the book much better.

I loved Tolkien’s writing style. I loved all his descriptiveness. It makes it easy to envision what he saw in his head. There are times when his flowery language makes it a little difficult to follow but not too often. I especially loved all the Britishisms. I wasn’t a huge fan of all the songs, but they have started to grow on me. By the time, I’m done with the trilogy, I may downright love them.

My favorite character so far is Sam. I absolutely adore him. He’s so kind, loyal, and selfless. Sam had no thought for his own well-being. He only thought of Frodo. He wanted to keep him safe and help him with his task. I’m pretty sure he’s the true hero of this epic tale.

I’m very excited to keep reading this trilogy. I can’t wait to see how it unfolds. I can’t wait for the surprises that lie ahead since there are bound to be many differences from the movies.

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Through The Looking-Glass

Through The Looking-GlassTitle: Through the Looking-Glass
Author: Lewis Carroll
Series: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland #2
Genre: Classic, Fantasy, Middle Grade
Format: Kindle
Pages: 192
Reason Read: Just Because
Rating:

Also in this series: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
My Thoughts

Just like with ALICE’S ADVENTRUES IN WONDERLAND, I thought THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS was a discombobulated book of nonsense.

I didn’t have high hopes going into this because of my experience with the first book. Because of that, I wasn’t too disappointed, but I still didn’t enjoy it. Alice still went off on unnecessary tangents, nothing was coherent, and nothing she did made any sense. I thought this one was even more confusing than the first one, which is saying something.

The only thing I liked about this one were the backwards letters on everything and the “Jabberwocky” poem. I think it’s neat that Carroll coined the terms galumph and chortle. I also thought that having everything take place on a chessboard was neat, except that it didn’t add anything to the story because the reader couldn’t follow the game.

The one thing I did learn from reading both of these books is that most adaptations to these stories mix the two together. For example, in Disney’s Alice in Wonderland, the talking flowers, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, and the Walrus and the Carpenter tale are all in THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS not ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND.

Even though I didn’t enjoy these pretty much at all, I’m glad I took the opportunity to read them. If for nothing else just to familiarize myself with them and get a foundation in the cannon of Alice and her adventures.

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Wintergirls

WintergirlsTitle: Wintergirls
Author: Laurie Halse Anderson
Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult
Format: Paperback
Pages: 278
Reason Read: Book Club
Rating:

My Thoughts

Going into WINTERGIRLS, I knew it was about eating disorders, but I didn’t know how that was going to be portrayed exactly. I figured it’d be very emotional. The first-person POV made the story seem more real, almost too real. There are times when Lia lets her negative talk run rampant and it was almost too much for me because I have a hard time dealing with my own negative talk. I can honestly say that I’ll never read this again.

The story and imagery are powerful. It’s well-written, although I didn’t like the writing style very much. While I think it’s great that Anderson tackles these horrible issues that teens face, I came away with a sense of loss, depression, and a little bit of “I could see myself doing that” kind of thinking. I don’t think that’s what Anderson was going for. I’d hope she’d want readers to come away with a sense of hope. The book does end on a positive note, but 97% of it is so depressing that the last 3% doesn’t really do much for the overall feel of the book.

If the book had been written in a third-person POV, I think I may have been more okay with this story. I may have seen the book as a help to understand what people with Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia go through. But, instead, I saw too much of a mirror into myself and my own issues. I don’t suffer from either of those eating disorders, but I do suffer from an eating disorder and I suffer from self-deprecating behavior and depression. While I read this, I couldn’t stop the negative talk because it wasn’t actually mine.

I think other readers could see the value in WINTERGIRLS and its message, but it just wasn’t for me.