Favorite Quote Friday

Last night I dreamed that I met a young boy who told me with the saddest eyes that he was never born and I asked how could that be and he explained very slowly and quietly that his father had died at the front. And then I looked behind the boy and I saw hundreds of the thousands of children, just standing there. Infinitely mute.

and

Maybe I saw her sitting on the beach too, or maybe it was just the expression on Daniel's face when he talked about her, but for me, Julia soon became my own escape from the war; my personal guardian angel who beckoned me away from the madness every time I closed my eyes. Daniel offered hundreds of dots and I connected them, until the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen emerged, my angel in the trenches; my incantation against despair. My Julia.

and

I miss my books. I gave most of them away when I sold the house. I had 2,142 of them, not counting the books at my store, which I considered mine as well, my darling pets up for adoption. The kids took what they wanted and the rest I gave to a local library. I've felt naked ever since, like a soldier stripped of his weapons.

Like most bookworms I read so as not to be alone, which often annoys those who are trying to make conversation with me. Lately I've taken to rereading the classics of my youth—a rare chance to relive the past—though I must confess that some of the books aren't what I remember at all.

Books aren't just my defenses, the sandbags I use to fortify my position; they are also the building blocks of my soul, and I am the sum of all I read. The truth is, reading about life has always proved much more satisfactory than living it, and certainly reading about people is far more interesting than actually sitting across from them at, say, a dinner party. On the page people come alive: they have sex, they travel, the reveal their deepest thoughts, they struggle against overwhelming odds, they search for meaning. In person, well, few dinner partners do any of these things.

Losing Julia

by Jonathan Hull

I read this in April 2000. Here's my journal entry:

Wonderful, wonderful novel!! I became engrossed from the very beginning, yet tried to read slowly, savoring each sentence. I had some difficulty with the three timelines, initially, but it didn't take too long to get used to the transitions. Beautifully written. Funny, yet sad. Thought-provoking. Makes me want to read more about WWI. Rating: Excellent!!

I reread Losing Julia the following year for a f2f book club. Here's my journal entry for March 2001:

Beautifully crafted story of love, reflection, hope and regret.

This is the second time I've read Losing Julia. It wasn't nearly the pager-turner as with the first reading, but I enjoyed it on a different level just as much. I got more out of the beautiful writing this time. I knew the storyline, so I wasn't as anxious to find out what was going to happen. Oh, I love this book. I got a huge lump in my throat and teary-eyed as I read the last few pages. I have dog-eared dozens of pages. I want to write a fan letter to Mr. Hull. Rating: 10/10 Excellent!!

Favorite Quote Friday

Joan unwrapped the strips of linen, then gasped as she saw what they had concealed. It was a book, bound in the Eastern fashion with leather-covered wooden boards.

"It is my own," said Aesculapius. "I made it myself, some years ago. It is an edition of Homer—the original Greek in the front half of the book, and a Latin translation in the back. It will help you keep your knowledge of the language fresh until the time you can begin your studies again."

Joan was speechless. A book of her own! Such a privilege was enjoyed only by monks and scholars of the highest rank. She opened it, looking at line after line of Aesculapius's neat uncial letters, filling the pages with words of inexpressible beauty. Aesculapius watched her, his eyes filled with tender sadness.

"Do not forget, Joan. Do not ever forget."

Pope Joan

by Donna Woolfolk Cross

I read this in February 2002. Here's what I wrote in my book journal:

I read this for The Book Spot group read [a Yahoo group]. Informative and entertaining. A provocative work of historical fiction. Based on the legend of a female pope back in the 800s. Doesn't sound too exciting, does it? But the characters are well-written and the plot is a non-stop adventure. It's extremely readable (not a dry, boring paragraph to be found!), yet provocative and educational. There's a bit of romance that keeps things moving along, too. There is a significant amount of "near misses" for Joan and the reader must have a willingness to suspend disbelief in order to not be put off by Joan's incredible luck. I caught myself shaking my head several times, whispering, "Phew! That was close!" A real page-turner. Will read more by this author. Highly recommend. Rating: A (9/10 Terrific! Couldn't put it down.)

It's fun to look back on my journal entries, but they're certainly not as polished as my reviews for this blog!

I re-read Pope Joan a few years ago and was a little concerned it wouldn't be as good as the first time I read it. I was pleasantly surprised that it was just as entertaining. This is a wonderful book. Definitely a keeper!

Favorite Quote Friday

...what a sound that was, his laugh, low and confident again, like your best friend's laugh in the darkness when you believed he was gone forever. (Peace Like a River by Leif Enger)

I read this in September 2001. Here's the review I wrote in my book journal:

Started out great! Very lyrical, humorous and touching. Yet something happened halfway through. It just lost the sparkle. Swede, the younger sister, wasn't as big of a character as she was early on. I have to be fair though. Last Tuesday, terrorists hijacked four U.S. commercial jets and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon, and into the ground in Pennsylvania! Our country has been traumatically altered forever. I couldn't concentrate on my book, so perhaps it was a better book than I thought. What a terrible time for America. My heart breaks for all who were personally affected by this horror! Rating: A- (8/10 Very Good)

How odd that I found this particular quote and review so close to the 8th anniversary of that tragic day. In many ways, it seems like yesterday...

Favorite Quote Friday

He nodded, and I was out the French doors and across the terrace in an eye blink, into the stream of the wind. It caught me and washed over me like water itself, cool and damp and smelling of pine and salt and distance and dark, secret green places, and I threw out my arms and laughed aloud and rode the wind down the steps on the face of the cliff to the beach and the sea. (Colony by Anne Rivers Siddons)

I read this in November of 2001. Here's the brief review I wrote in my journal:

Unforgettable! Took a couple of chapters to hook me, but then I couldn't put it down. Reminded me of Pilcher's The Shell Seekers. Not great literature, but not fluff either. Beautiful passages and a great three-generational saga. I grew to care about many of the characters and still think of them. Maude tells the story of her marriage and family and of their summer visits to "Retreat" on the Maine coast. She loved her husband dearly in spite of his flaws (selfish and a terrible father). Raised two children and several grandchildren. Dysfunctional family, yet not an overly depressing story. Moving, yet not maudlin. Overbearing mother-in-law, Hannah, warms up toward the end of her life. Rich with emotion. Intense drama. Memorable characters and events. Will read more by Siddons. Rating: A (9/10 Terrific!)

Well... I have read more by Siddons, but only one (The House Next Door) has been as good as Colony. Everything else has paled in comparison. And about those memorable characters and events. Hmmm, let's just say it's been a long eight years. I only have a vague recollection of a few events. I could definitely read it again and would probably be just as entertained.

Favorite Quote Friday

I've decided to start a new weekly post, sharing some of my favorite passages here with you. I have dozens and dozens jotted down in various book journals — I could easily post two or three a week, but I think I'll stick to one at a time.

What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. (The Catcher in the Rye)

I read this in June of 2001. Here's the brief "review" I wrote in my journal:

I never read this in high school (or college) and decided it was high time I did. Thank goodness it was a fairly brief story. I thought it was terribly dull! Perhaps I missed the underlying themes, but even a follow-up read of the Cliffs Notes left me wondering what all the hype was about. Rating: C+ (4/10) OK, but don't recommend.