quotes from The Count of Monte Cristo

I have been thoroughly enjoying The Count of Monte Cristo this afternoon. There is a lot of politics and intrigue going on in the book, and I have to admit, most of it kind of goes over my head. I am really terrible at following those types of things in books, especially when it revolves around French history. It isn't really affecting my enjoyment of the novel though, but I am thinking I should really take some time to look up a bit of French history. This book reads a lot like a fairy tale, reminds me of The Princess Bride story and The Prisoner of Zenda. It is really just written in a super fun way. Here are some quotes for you to get a feel: 

"...at other times she would sit on the beach listening to the moaning of the sea, as eternal as her grief, and ask herself whether it would not be better to leap down into the abyss below than to suffer this cruel alternative of a hopeless suspense."

 

'"When I was still a man, strong and free, commanding other men, I have seen the heavens open, the sea rage and foam, the storm rise in a patch of sky and like a gigantic eagle beat the two horizons with its wings. Then I felt that my ship was but a weak refuge from the tempest, for did it not shiver and shake like a feather in the hand of a giant? ..."'

 

I just find this book filled with so many things going on, there is never a dull moment. I am not even 100 pages in, and it is filled with despair, longing, love, jealousy, and injustice. Love it! I am finding this to be quite a good surprise!

the little prince

This post is written in response to a prompt for Quote Quest from The Splendor Falls on Castle Walls. Here is the prompt:

"It's too early in the day for killing princes."
This quote was originally from the movie Troy, spoken by the character Achilles.

The prince whined from the table, clattering his spoon against his plate. "Where's my quail? I asked for quail today! I demand quail!" He continued to holler across the room as his feet kicked around, hidden beneath the lacey tablecloth. Steam rose from the freshly carved turkey before him, plump red berries surrounding the platter. The little prince formed his mouth into a tight pucker, frowning. He crossed his arms over his chest in defiance, refusing to eat his dinner that was void of quail.
"But, Sir," stuttered the cook, who was quickly pulled from the kitchen to fend for himself before the prince.
"I want quail!" He demanded again. His father, the king, watched his son's growing fit from across the table, sighing. How will such a child ever grow into being king over the realm? 
The young prince began tossing potatoes at the cook who stood before him, shivering in fright. One of the potatoes bounced off the arm of the cook, bopping the little prince in the head. He began to wail, rubbing the rising bump on his forehead. The guard beside the king immediately withdrew his sword, ready to defend the royal family, even if it was just from a potato.
"There, there," the king told his guard, lightly patting him on the shoulder. "It's too early in the day for killing princes," he playfully added. He quickly rose from his seat and dismissed the cook from the room so that he could speak with his defiant little prince.

weekend reads

Since my oldest daughter just had her Remicade yesterday, that means an indoor weekend for us. My hubby is working this weekend, so I will be enjoying some TV and reading my new books. I am absolutely enjoying me new novels, and can't seem to stop myself from hopping from one to the other. I have dipped into reading several chapters in The Count of Monte Cristo, which I am loving. The style of writing is simply fun. It is very different than other classics I have read, and is kind of surprising to me. The writing feels a lot like a fairy tale, and I think I am really going to love this story. I have also read a good chunk of The Sharing Knife. I like it a lot, however, it is strange for me. The details of this world and the monsters within are a little hard to understand and the writing is a little different for me. I get sucked in for a bit while something is going on, then when that situation is handled and revealed, I need a break from it (which is probably the biggest reason I keep novel hopping). I am unsure how I will feel when I finish it, but it is at least holding my interest. I took The Sharing Knife to the hospital with me yesterday and got a lot of reading done while my daughter was watching some Disney movies. Those are the two novels I have been mostly reading. I am also feel quite curious to give The Talisman a try. I may read a few chapters in that book today. I am kind of holding off on the King Arthur book, as I think I will enjoy that one a lot more if I can focus my attention on only that reading. 
It should be a fun reading weekend. I am also thinking about doing a craft with the girls later today to make some fun new bookmarks. I have stamps, cardstock, hole punch, and lots of yarn...so they should turn out awesome!

What is Crohn's Disease?

Yesterday was a childrens hospital day for us, which means a Remicade Infusion day for my oldest daughter. My hubby took off work and stayed home with my youngest while my oldest and I had to venture out into the cold and snow and drive 1-1/2 hours to the childrens hospital. I was feeling a bit like spreading some Crohn's Disease awareness today...so here we go!
Crohn's Disease is an autoimmune disease, which means that my daughter's immune system is heightened dramatically, to the point of working so strongly that it attacks parts of her own body as if it were foreign. Crohn's Disease means that her immune system can attack anywhere throughout her GI tract, from the mouth to the anus. This disease in turn can also affect organs in the body, her eyes, her bones, and many other things. There is no cure to Crohn's Disease, so a doctor's goal is basically to try and find a medication that helps to put the patient into remission, which means that the Crohn's Disease is not active and running amuck. A remission is just like any other that you might know of, which means it can last a long time, or a very short time, sending the patient into a flare (which is the term use when Crohn's Disease is active within the body). When Crohn's Disease is active it can cause inflammation, ulcers, sores, abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation, and many of things. Many times procedures and surgeries are required.
Remicade is one of the medications for those patients with severe Crohn's Disease that helps to lower the person's immune system, to help stop it from attacking the GI tract. Remicade is taken through an IV, which means that every 8 weeks my daughter has to go to the hospital, get and IV, and receive Remicade over a span of 3 hours. Sometimes when the process isn't going well, it has her 8 hours before we could start the drive home.  Remicade specifically helps my daughter with the Peri-Rectal Disease part, which is the biggest issue for her. She was once hospitalized for this for a week because the ulcers in her bowels burrowed through her intestines, creating tubes from her bowels all the way through to breaking skin. Remicade prevents that for her, which is something I am enormously grateful for. The other parts of her disease, mainly throughout her bowels, is still in a flare, and we have struggled to find a good medication that suppressed the immune system to help in that way, which is why she is once again on steroids. There is only a handful of medications for Crohn's Disease patients to try, and we have just about tried them all.
This is a very painful disease that is lifelong. This disease is silent, and I believe the severity of this disease is a lot of times misunderstood. It can also be embarrassing for those that have this disease, as a lot of this disease revolves around bowels and stool. Please remember to take the time to let anyone you know that suffers from this disease that you care about them, it can mean the world to them on a bad day.

books I just couldn't part with

I came across a surge of YouTube videos with readers sharing their top 5 books they'd save in a fire. This is apparently part of a Goodreads group meme, and thought I'd simply write up a post about something similar. I don't want to say they are the top 5 books I'd save in a fire, mainly because I don't think saving books would even enter my mind during a fire. I'd probably be freaking out and scrambling to get my family to safety. I personally find this top 5 title slightly off putting, so I am changing it up a bit to say that it is the top 5 books I just couldn't part with. This doesn't necessarily mean that they are books that are my favorite, but more they are books that I know I would struggle to find them again in the book world, or hold a very sentimental value to me.

1. Great Expectations. Of course I love this book, one of my all time favorites. I wouldn't doubt that it would be easily replaceable with it being a Charles Dickens', but my specific copy is hardcover, beautifully red, small with a ribbon bookmark, and a Christmas gift from my husband.  I have a lot of good memories reading through this novel. The edition pictured, though, is not my specific edition. I couldn't find it...

2. The Christmas Box Collection. Again, another easily replaceable book, but it was the very first Christmas gift ever from my husband.

3. The Poets Grimm: 20th Century Poems from Grimm Fairy Tales. I love fairy tales and poetry, and searched long and hard for a book that incorporated the two. I was so disappointed to discover that this book was no longer being printed and was super hard to find, and when I did, super ridiculously expensive. I lucked out stumbling upon a copy on half.com being sold for just a few dollars. It arrived horribly packaged that caused some damage to the back pages of the book (I even had to cut some parts off the pages). But, I have a copy with all the poems perfectly readable, and ended up getting it free with the damage. I know I would not ever come across this book in an affordable way again. Plus, it is filled with wonderful poems revolving around women and fairy tales, what more could you want?

4. Beowulf and Other Old English Poems. I searched for a really long time to find a translation of Beowulf that I adore. Even though it is easily replaceable now, I'd be afraid that it wouldn't always be, as there are plenty of translations available and I have a really hard time hunting down the specific ones I want for certain books. Not parting with this one would just make it incredibly easy!

5. The Count of Monte Cristo. I have yet to read this novel, as I just purchased it yesterday, but (hoping that I will love it) I did realize after looking it up online that my specific copy with the movie tie in cover is no longer available, other than finding it used. I only paid $7 for it from my local used bookstore, and I really love the cover of this book. Right now, I would be sad to discover that I loved the book and didn't get to keep this version. It is part of what drew me into considering this novel for an upcoming read. I looks so incredibly awesome!

And yes, I just couldn't limit it to five, I had to add a sixth book:

 



6. Le Morte D'Arthur: King Arthur and the Legends of the Round Table. I have been looking for a good version of King Arthur for probably a good year. I have been disappointed flipping through the many versions I previously considered purchasing, but they did not meet my expectations. I cannot believe I finally have a version that I am pleased with in my hands, with a bonus of the cover being so incredible. I would be sad to part with at this point, especially before I could completely finish reading it.

What about you? What books do you own that you just could not part with?

new books...that are not young adult

My husband had off work today, so I had the luxury of going to our local bookstore by myself! This is a very rare occasion, for me to be out without my girls with me. Not that I want to be out without them, but it was super nice to be able to take my time browsing through books without my husband or my daughters bored and rushing me. I only spent about $25 and came home with a total of 6 novels (all but one were used books). I am super excited to start reading them, and am having a terrible time trying to decide which one to start first! Here are the books I purchased:
The Sharing Knife by Lois McMaster Bujold. I purchased one hardcover that includes book one and two in the trilogy (Beguilement and Legacy), and a third separate softcover of the third books, Passage. I was searching pretty hard to find either a new sci-fi or fantasy series that I might enjoy, and settled on this. I am a bit confused, as the book containing book one and two looks and sounds really awesome, while the third separate one looks and does not sound at all interesting. So we will see.
I also decided that I really wanted to try a Stephen King novel. I am not much for horror or gory books, but I think I can handle scary or eerie (depending on the topic). I thought a Stephen King book would be well out of my norm, and might lead me to some different books I might enjoy. I settled on The Talisman, which is co-written with Peter Straub. It is a fantasy, and sounds really interesting. I hope it goes over well for me!

And now onto classics! I really wanted to get a new classic book. First, I found Le Morte'Arthur: King Arthur and the Legends of the Round Table. I have been really really wanting a good King Arthur book for a long time, since I watched that Merlin series on TV. I didn't really care if it was a classic or a novel retelling, but I settled on this one. It looks like an awesome version. I did find a few series in the fantasy section, but the writing wasn't really pulling me in. This one was in the classics section and immediately drew me in within the first paragraph. Can't wait to start it! This was the only book I purchased that was not a used book.
And Lastly, The Count of Monte Cristo. This was more of a surprise purchase for me. I knew I wanted to look through the classics today and find something new, but I was surprised I was drawn to Alexandre Dumas' books. I have never been interested in reading them before, but today I was actually struggling to choose between the few I saw. I suppose it is not all that surprising I chose this, it sounds similar to The Prisoner of Zenda, which I really liked. I had a hard time finding the specific edition I purchased, as it has a movie photo on the front. I couldn't get the photo to load on here, but you can see the specific cover I have here.

Now I just have to figure out which book I want to start first. I think I may start off with the King Arthur book...but I might change my mind several times before I actually get to sit down and read today.

my Divergent rant

Okay, so I am rethinking my approach on books at the moment. My previous post shared some series I was interested in, but I think I am going to have to swerve in another direction. I beginning to think that I really need to stray from YA novels and read more true to adult novels. I went ahead and (sadly) canceled my order for the Shatter Me series. I am having some of the same issues in Divergent as I had in The Two Princesses of Bamarre. Divergent is really not wowing me like I was hoping it would. At first I was thinking it was due to the fact that I saw the movie already and just knew the story, but there are things within that are just kind of....irritating me? First off, I am super glad that some of the ridiculous things in the movie that didn't make sense (such as Abnegation ruling over everyone because they are the only faction that is a public service, when in fact, they all do things for the community), were not written specifically like that in the book. But there are things that I preferred in the movie over the book as well. For example, the technology. I am reading through this book slightly confused of where this civilization stands in terms of advancement. I mean, they have developed this really awesome serum that one can drink or inject that creates fear within your brain, triggering your mind to experience all of these different kinds of scenarios to test your reactions to fear, while also giving another person the ability to watch these images and scenarios, or to even have them plastered on a screen like a TV show. But, when the Dauntless have their war games, or capture the flag, they use paintball guns? Did paintball guns and tattoo needles and supplies survive the war enough to be usable, or were they re-invented? This seems incredibly silly to me, and I guess I am just a more serious reader? I don't know. On top of that, I have a huge issue with how the author wrote about the Abnegation faction. This is the first year so many teens have left Abnegation, it was apparently rare. Which goes against everything we have learned in science about our human nature. There are actually stages that our brain travels through to get to a point where we can be selfless and truly think of others over ourselves, but all of those teens never felt that human desire to explore who they are? I personally think every one needs to first understand who they are and what makes them tick, before they can suppress and become truly selfless. None of these teens, for years, have been human? They set it up to make it look like Tris is someone incredibly rare and special, yet more teens, logically, should have been craving to understand who they are in this world. And why are they expecting 16 year olds to be able to make a lifelong decision? Haven't they at least gleamed from the previous civilization that most 18 year olds couldn't do that when they approached college? The reason they even have these different factions is in response to the previous civilization, but they chose to make the age younger when it comes to deciding what you want to be for the rest of your life? It is kind of nonsensical. Another small rant, the wording, and sometimes the editing. There are times when there needs to be an obvious space between two different scenes in the same chapter, but there is nothing. It takes me several minutes to figure out what they heck is going on. There is also several chapters where the word "hem" is overused to my liking. Which is kind of random, and weird. I could probably overlook most of these issues that crawl under my skin, my pet peeves of book reading, except for the fact that the entire book revolves too much around the Dauntless training, which is very vulgar and violent, and too little about Four and Tris. The movie was kind of deceiving in that part, it appeared that Four and Tris were an important part in all of this, their growing relationship, but I am almost on page 300, and it barely exists, like a snail crawling to nowhere. I love people interacting, and bravery, and all of that good stuff. But this novel focuses too much on so much negativity, it isn't panning out for me. One thing I do love though, is reading about Tris coming into her own. I like reading about how she grew up forced to completely ignore anything personal about herself, and now she has the freedom to explore it. Even though it shouldn't be a rare thing, it is nice to see that aspect in a character.
I will read the next book when I finish this one, and hope that not knowing the story will allow me to read through it more enjoyably and not focus so much on the little details that don't add up, but after this series I need to do some more researching. I am having trouble discovering things to read, as most searches I do online tend to pool the YA and adult genres together, so it is becoming slightly confusing, and I don't really have a good book store to explore these things. Any tips on figuring out how to separate these genres in book searching on Barnes and Nobles or Amazon? Or anywhere else?