Books I love - Jane Austen

 
I feel a little unqualified to write about Jane Austen. I mean, my sister took an entire class on Jane Austen and some other guy (she's an English major). She could tell you a lot more about the history or politics or undertones of Jane Austen's novels. A lot of people can tell you about those things a lot better than I can. What I can tell you, however, is how much I personally enjoy her novels.

Jane Austen wrote and published seven novels - Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, and Lady Susan. Pride and Prejudice is probably the most famous, and you've probably at least one of the movie adaptations. I really like a lot of the movie adaptations of the books; it's the reason I first read any of them. But, while the movie adaptations are good, the books are even better because you have Jane narrating, and she's one of the best narrators I've ever come across.

Jane Austen has one of the most unique, clever, witty narrative voices of any author I've read. There's a reason she and her novels are famous hundreds of years after she wrote and published them. She's really good at what she does. Not only are her plots fabulous (as we know from the many movie adaptations of her novels), but the way she tells them is so enjoyable to read. I mean, she's just so funny. She's witty. And I love that about her novels.

Furthermore, you can identify with her characters. Anyone who's ever liked someone and been unsure of their feelings back can identify with a lot of her characters. I really identified  at times with Anne in Persuasion, to where some of her passages of thought I felt could have come from my own mind. It gave me hope. And, luckily, my own Captain Wentworth and I got together in the end. :)

Jane Austen is awesome. If you liked any of the movies about her books, you'll enjoy her novels. Read them. You know you love romance. ;)

Books I love - Percy Jackson

All right, still building that summer book list? I have another amazing, super enjoyable series for you to add to it: Percy Jackson & the Olympians.

The basic premise of the Percy Jackson series is that the Greek gods are still alive. Throughout the centuries, they've moved to wherever the light of civilization is burning brightest, which, at the present time, is America. The gods are also continuing to do what they did best in ancient times, which is... have kids with mortals. Percy Jackson is (unknowingly) one of these kids. He soon finds out, however, and that is when the excitement begins. (Actually, I can't say that. It's exciting before he even finds out. But you know what I mean - big things begin to happen.)

Percy Jackson is an amazing series. These books have the best pacing out of pretty much any books I've ever read. Seriously, you are never bored. They are action packed throughout, and it's done brilliantly. I can't stress that enough. The plot is awesome, and the pacing is incredible.

The characters are awesome and endearing. You have your three main characters, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover, who are awesome, and a whole cast of truly amazing characters who contribute greatly to the story.

Rick Riordan (the author) does a great job of interweaving Greek mythology in the books. You learn so much, and feel excited every time you knew about a bit of mythologic trivia before he mentions it.

A word of caution if you've seen the movie: disregard it. Like so many other book/movies, the book is better than the movies, in a lot of ways. The movie was decent, but the characters were way too old (Percy starts out at like twelve in the books) and some of the characters were really different than they are in the books (*cough* Annabeth*cough*). So, forget the movie. Wipe it from your memory. And then read the books.

Rick Riordan is starting two new series right now - The Kane Chronicles and Heroes of Olympus. I've read the first book of both, and they're both awesome. When I found out the second book in the Heroes of Olympus series doesn't come out until October, I just about died. They're so good, and I really want to know what happens next. Yay for more books from amazing authors!

So, yeah. If you want to check out Percy Jackson (the first book is The Lightning Thief), I would highly recommend it.

Books I love - Fablehaven

I'm starting to build my summer book list, and I imagine you might be looking for a good book to read as well (when you have time, of course). The hard thing about creating book lists is that you don't know what books are going to be good or worth your time. Sure, it might have an intriguing cover (and I don't know about you, but I do often judge books by their cover) and a somewhat good excerpt, but is it actually good? It's hard to know.

So, while I compile a list of books I'm going to give a chance this summer, I thought I'd recommend to you another one of my favorite books (or rather, five of them): Fablehaven.

The two main characters of Fablehaven are two kids (sister and brother) named Kendra and Seth. The books start out when one set of their grandparents dies and their parents have to go on an obligatory cruise with the rest of the aunts and uncles. Kendra and Seth go to stay with their other set of grandparents, who live in rather rural woods and who they've rarely seen. They soon learn that there's a good reason they've never been allowed to visit before.

These grandparents - as Kendra and Seth come to discover - are caretakers of a magical creature preserve. They learn that magical creatures all over the world have taken refuge or have been forced on to these preserves, so that both they and humans are safe. Caretakers all over the world watch over these creatures and this great secret. Soon, however, they learn of a large and evil group that is dedicated to overthrowing the preserves and creating worldwide chaos. Kendra and Seth, along with their grandparents and other allies, must work to defeat them.

I love Fablehaven for a lot of reasons. The idea is so original and so fun, the characters are all so different and believable and likable, and you wish you were there and are so relieved you aren't all at the same time. The plot is awesome. Seriously, awesome. There are some really cool parts that are - they're hard to describe - cool and comforting and rewarding and just incredible.

I have to admit, the first book is a little slow. I think it's that way because it's Brandon Mull's first book, and he learns as he goes. The books just get better and better. Book one is good, book two is better, and book three just explodes with awesomeness.

Did you know, I got to meet Brandon Mull? He came to the Provo Library before he released Book Five. I brought all of my books, and he signed them. He's really nice; I liked him a lot.

He has a new series starting this month, and I can't wait to read it. Brandon Mull is definitely one of my favorite authors. Fablehaven is fun, exciting, funny, and just plain good. I highly recommend it. It would be a great book to pick up if you're looking for something good to read.

Prayer

One of the things I love the most about the gospel is prayer. I love prayer. I know that Heavenly Father listens to my prayers, and I know that he listens to yours. I always feel closer to him when I pray, because I know he's listening and he cares.

This video's really good; a really cute latin lady tells her story of prayer. :) If you have just a minute, it's worth watching.

My Classes

Despite the barrage of midterms I seem to be mired in right now, I really do have awesome classes.

For example, this week in my Marine Biology class I got to watch members of my class dance around with a ginormous crab claw to fiddle music.

Then, yesterday in my Evolutionary Biology class, we played with Betta fish for two hours. We set up experiments to determine dominance in the displaying patterns of males, and then we put their little cups next to each other and saw which ones were the best.

We were divided into groups of four, and each group got five fish. We named our fish Kyle, Steve, Philip, Nephi, and Red Hawk. Nephi (who is blue) and Red Hawk (who is red) were totally the two most dominant. As soon as they saw the other fish, they flared out their gills and their fins and danced around excitedly. Nephi was so good that we put him in the class competition, and he won! (Honestly, he was kind of tied with Megamind, but our teacher had to call a winner because we were out of time).

Sometime during the lesson, my friend Kira and I were eyeing the fish. We both love pets, and were wondering what the destiny of these fish were. "Joey," we asked innocently, "What are you guys going to do with the fish?"

Joey, our TA, answered without hesitation, "Flush them."

We gasped. "Really?!"

He started laughing. He's a really nice guy. "No, of course not. We'll find them good homes."

Relieved that he was kidding, and pushing forward with our plan, Kira asked, "Can we have one?"

"Yeah," answered Joey. "Totally. Come around here at 1 tomorrow when the last lab is over. Right?" He glanced at the other TA for confirmation, and she nodded her head.

So, we totally scored! I am currently sitting in the hall outside the class, waiting for the last lab to get over. Then, I will go inside and pick up Nephi, who I was lucky enough to be able to claim at the end of the lab. I'll also pick up a red fish for Alyse, who wanted one.

Do I have the best major at BYU? Why, yes. Yes I do.