Little Bits of Wisdom- January and February 2010

So I'm back with a new post today! As it's the last day of February, it's time for the quotes I've found in books during the past few months (since I'm trying to do some catch up!). I made a name for this post, since I'll be doing it every month now. It's not very creative but I think it's a heck of a lot better than just plain old book quotes! So, here we go:

"...I don't regret yesterday and I don't anticipate tomorrow. I live in today, and revel in it." -Carolly Erickson, The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette

"Honest men have no occasion to fall on their knees to make their requests."- Marie Antoinette

"In troublesome times, a mere nothing may save a life, or destroy it." -Madame Campan, The Private Life of Marie Antoinette

"Persons of integrity have nothing to fear from the evil-disposed." -Princesse de Lamballe

"Fear isn't actually a bad thing. It's a primitive instinct that's your friend. It warns you to pay attention, because you're in danger. It tells you to do something, to act, to save yourself." -Nancy Werlin, Rules of Survival

"But when you insist on cleaving to the past, no matter how enchanted your memory of it might be, you have to endlessly revise the present to accommodate it." -Kathryn Davis, Versailles

"Nothing's certain in this life, unless you count being born and dying. Everything in between in a gamble, and anyone who thinks otherwise in a damned fool." -Catherine Anderson, Early Dawn

"Wherever the hand of God take you, remember that you will teach by your example, do good every time you find the occasion." -King Louis XVI

"He must forget all hate and resentment." -King Louis XVI

"Do not give in to useless alarm... though it is right to be prepared for the worst, there is no occasion to look on it as certain." -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

"Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure." -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

That's it, not nearly as much as last time, so I'm very proud of myself. =D Right now, I'm still getting through Sharon Lathan's continuation series of Pride and Prejudice. I just finished the first in her series, Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwillam Darcy, a few hours ago, and started the second, Loving Mr. Darcy. I'm very excited, because I was never a huge fan of the first book, but, from what I remember, I like the second one A LOT better. So, after that, I'll read the third one in the series, My Dearest Mr. Darcy, which is the one I'll be reviewing. I'll try to get it up quickly, but I happen to have a lot of stuff coming up this week, so it probably won't be up for at least a week and a half.

Also, it recent news, I made a Twitter account for this blog! It's really weird for me, because I've never had a Twitter because I think it's pretty pointless to have a one, if you have a Facebook and actually write your status updates. But, since there's no Facebook for the blog, I decided, might as well! So, you follow it! It's really simple: KristiReads. And I'll try to make sure to update it! =D

And as always, feel free to email me at Kristi_Reads@yahoo.com or comment to discuss anything!

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Kristi

A Walk to Remember

Author: Nicholas Sparks

Just for reference, I'm going to try REALLY hard not to compare the book to the movie (which is one of my favorite movies ever!).  But I just have to say before I start, that they're really different and I recommend everyone who loves the movie to also read the book. 

This was also the first book I've read by Nicholas Sparks and I was pleasantly surprised. For some reason, I had this image in my mind of a super sophisticated piece that you'd have to dig into to actually understand any of it (why I had this thought, I have no idea!). And while I like books that make you think, I hate having to analyze symbolism and all that stuff, because I like reading for pleasure, and that just reminds me of the weird books we read in school. =D However, the book was easy to follow and seemed really relatable, even though it took place in the 50's, so a few things seemed weird to the modern perspective. But it was good, since that's how it was supposed to be. 

It was also really cute, as you would suspect. A few points were cheesy, but I thought it was ok, because it wasn't overdone. I also liked how there were a few funny moments, not in what actually happened, but in the things that Landon said. I thought that the author made a really good choice in making the novel in first person, as it provoked a more emotional response, from me at least. You got to really relate with Landon and what he was going through, first with being almost forced to be friends with Jaime, then eventually falling in love with her, and finally dealing with her illness. I thought the novel was extremely touching, and I was completely absorbed in the book the entire time.

The only thing I would have wanted would have been for it to be longer. I don't usually buy books that are under 250 pages (this one happened to be 207, and I actually borrowed it from my best friend) because I read them really quickly (as you can probably tell, if you looked at what time I wrote the last post). While I didn't think that there weren't enough details, I think that it could have easily been expanded on, although, if I think about it, adding more fluff could actually detract from the book. It was relatively straightforward, which I think is something you don't get a lot of nowadays. So, the shorter length was probably the best choice, and I think Nicholas Sparks made a good choice with that, as well.

So, overall, I think it was a great book, and I highly recommend it! What do you think? Leave a comment or email me at Kristi_Reads@yahoo.com and talk about it! Well, I think I've decided to read Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, followed by Sharon Lathan's continuation series, since I got the third novel, and, I'm sorry to admit, I may have forgotten what happened in the very last book. Oops. So, a reread is always good. And once I finish the whole thing, I'll make sure to put a review of the newest book in Lathan's series, My Dearest Mr. Darcy, since it's the only one I haven't read (and, if you've read my previous posts, I only review books after I read them the FIRST time).

Anyways, thanks, as always, for reading!

Love,

Kristi

Marie-Therese: Child of Terror

Author: Susan Nagel

I have to say, I was extremely excited to read this book. I am almost literally obsessed with Marie Antoinette and I've read quite a few biographies about her and I always wondered, what happened to her daughter, Marie-Therese, the only survivor of the Temple Prison? This is the first book that I've heard of (that's in English) about the "Orphan of the Temple", besides her actual memoirs. So, major kudos for Professor Nagel.

I thought she did a wonderful job telling Marie-Therese's story, and I found it extremely interesting. I can't believe there aren't more biographies about her. She lived through so much history and impacted it incredibly. Nagel showed perfectly how the emotional state of Marie-Therese was constantly changing. She was born to loving parents and had an almost idyllic childhood. Then the revolution set in and Marie-Therese, as the oldest child, was at the age where she mostly understood the horrible things happening and her parents' unhappiness, and the loss of her little sister, Sophie, and her little brother, the first Dauphin, Louis-Joseph. Then they witnessed the deaths and escapes of many loyal servants as they were moved to the Tuilleries Palace in Paris, and then they were transferred to the Temple Prison, where her family was eventually taken away from her one-by-one. First her father was taken to solitary confinement, and then sent to the guillotine. Next, her brother, Louis-Charles, the second Dauphin, was removed from his family, into his father's old apartments, where his remaining family could hear his cries as he was tortured. Then, Marie Antoinette was taken to the Conciergerie, put on trial, and sentenced to death, although Marie-Therese was not told of this. And lastly, her aunt, Madame Elisabeth, the former king's sister, was taken away, and also sentenced to death, but again, Marie-Therese was not aware. She was kept all alone, in ignorance, since her jailers were forbidden to tell her the fate of her family, for years, until on her seventeenth birthday, she left the Prison. The new French government transferred her into the care of her Austrian relatives, where she lived until she married the Duc d'Angouleme, her first cousin. She continued her life in exiled court of Louis XVIII, where she had to constantly be accustomed to change. She lived through the Bourbon Restoration, then through their continued exile until she passed away in 1851.

Susan Nagel also showed the major political influence that Marie-Therese had. After her escape from the Temple Prison, the French people were fascinated in her and many began to sympathize with her and all the ordeals she lived through. Therefore, her opinion was very important to the French people. When the Bourbons were restored the throne of France, her uncle, Louis XVIII, relied heavily on her and also encouraged her to go visit all parts of France. Due to this public relations scheme and also to her forgiving, virtuous nature, the French people were enchanted by Marie-Therese. 

Professor Nagel also talked about the "Dark Countess" legend, which says that the real Marie-Therese was switched with her half-sister, Ernestine, who lived for the rest of her life as the very public figure that was the Orphan of the Temple, while the real Marie-Therese lived in extreme secrecy with a single companion, and the protection of some members of royalty. Nagel tried to put the theory to rest by doing DNA testing like the ones done on Louis-Charles's heart, in order to prove that he had actually died in the Temple at age seven, but due to disintegrated DNA and not having permission to exhume the corpse of the Dark Countess, she was unable to do the tests. Instead, she compared several handwriting samples, and convincingly proved (to me, at least), that there had never been a switch, and that the daughter of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, was indeed the Marie-Therese that was known all over Europe. 

However, in order to talk about this, Nagel had to make the assumption that Louis XVI had had, not one, but two affairs, which, if you read ANY other biography regarding Marie Antoinette, is completely ridiculous! Louis XVI was way to pious to ever commit adultery, and is famous for refusing mistresses that his ministers wanted him to take. While everyone has heard of Marie Antoinette's supposed affairs (of which, there is absolutely NO proof), no one has ever, as far as I and many other people who love Marie Antoinette, heard of Louis XVI being unfaithful, especially with a servant (who Nagel says is the mother of Ernestine), and his wife's best friend, the Duchesse de Polignac. These accusations made me have doubts about the truth of the rest of the facts in the book. 

I also think that the biography needed a better proofreader. I saw some simple mistakes, and a few footnote markings that lead nowhere. I'd also like to add that I wish the notes had been on bottom of the pages, instead of in the back of the book, because I had to constantly go back and shuffle through the pages to find the note that went with page. 

However, besides these few things, I really liked the book, and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning a little more about the life of a very interesting woman, who doesn't get much mention in other history books. 

Anyways, I hope that you'll give it a try and, as always, feel free to talk to me at Kristi_Reads@yahoo.com or leave a comment if you want to discuss this book, or any others, or give opinions, etc. The next thing I'm reading is A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks, because my best friend lent it to me (and it's also my favorite movie!), so I'll make sure to get a review up as soon as possible.

So, thanks for reading!!

Love,

Kristi

Book Quotes-2009

So, during the summer of 2009 I started writing down quotes that I found in books that I liked, and I figured that since I'm taking an abnormally long time to finish my book, I might as well post the some of the ones I found last year, and then I'll start posting new ones at the end of every month (I'll put January's with February's). 

And, just for reference, they're in the order that I found them, and quite a few of them are quotes from real people that I just read in a book. I liked them all at some point, for some reason, even if I don't remember why now. And I write the quotes down whether I liked the whole book or I didn't, so just because I have a quote down, doesn't mean I liked the book (although most of them I did like. =D).  I hope that you'll read some of these and hopefully share your thoughts with me at ihs_colorguard@yahoo.com! Enjoy!

"You don't want the best of times to be just one thing, forever. You have to have lots of bests of times, each one topping the last." -Sarah Dessen, Along for the Ride

"It's the things you fight for and struggle with before earning that have the greatest worth. When something's difficult to come by, you'll do that much more to make sure it's even harder- if not impossible- to lose." -Sarah Dessen, Along for the Ride

"It didn't make you noble to step away from something that wasn't working, even if you thought you were the reason for the malfunction. Especially then. It just made you a quitter. Because if you were the problem, chances were you could also be the solution. The only way to find out was to take another shot." -Sarah Dessen, Along for the Ride

"It was so easy to disown what you couldn't recognize, to keep yourself apart from things that were foreign and unsettling. The only person you can be sure to control, always, is yourself." -Sarah Dessen, Along for the Ride

"Perseverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages." -George Washington

"You can't be trapped by other people, you can only be trapped by your own fear. Defy and win." -Michael Grant, Hunger

"There are few certainties in life. Chin up!" -Sharon Lathan, Loving Mr. Darcy

"I wished to be as happy as I was at that moment. Fool that I was, I had no concept of the greater happiness in store for me." -Sharon Lathan, Loving Mr. Darcy

"Life is not flawless, no matter how close one may obtain excellence." -Sharon Lathan, Loving Mr. Darcy

"We learned our lessons via grievous methods, but we did learn them." -Sharon Lathan, Loving Mr. Darcy

"It is time- more than time- to reflect and construct a better way of life. You are getting older and you no longer have the excuse of youth." -Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II

"I've seen everything, known everything, and forgotten everything." -Marie Antoinette

"Prudence, patience are my lot. Above all, courage." -Marie Antoinette

"It is in misfortune that you realize your true nature." -Marie Antoinette

"I had friends; the idea of being separated from them forever, and their sufferings as a result, are one of the greatest regrets I take with me to my death; they should know that at the last moment I think of them." -Marie Antoinette

"It's vital to keep a sense of humor when the world seems to have suddenly become a very strange place." -Michael Grant, Gone

"No man knows til he suffered from the night how sweet and how dear to his heart and eye the morning can be." -Bram Stoker, Dracula

"I've given lots of people chances.... But there's only so much faith you can have in people." -Sarah Dessen, Someone Like You

"I wondered again why the right thing always seemed to be met with so much resistance, when you'd think it would be the easier path. You had to fight to be virtuous..." -Sarah Dessen, Someone Like You

"You can't just plan a moment when things get back on track, just as you can't plan the moment you lose your way in the first place." -Sarah Dessen, Someone Like You

"I was beginning to see, though, that the unknown wasn't always the greatest thing to fear. The people who know you best can be riskier, because the words they say and the things they think have the potential to be not only scary but true, as well." -Sarah Dessen, Just Listen

"I mean, when you really thing about it, music is the great uniter. An incredible force. Something that people who differ on everything and anything else can have in common." -Sarah Dessen, Just Listen

"And as to our destinies, yours and mine, we must simply do the best we can from day to day, and not think too much about tragedies." -Carolly Erickson, The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette

"A lot of people mistook ignorance for stupidity, and knowingness for intelligence." -Michael Lewis, The Blind Side

"...He actually believed that to be light of heart is the same as being light of head." -Kathryn Davis, Versailles

So, I definitely didn't realize that there were so many Marie Antoinette quotes, because I didn't really read that many books about her recently (besides the one I'm reading right now). I guess I managed to lose my notebook and forgot about it as well, (and therefore didn't write in it) because I'm smart like that. =D So, again, feel free to email me with comments, book suggestions, ect. at Kristi_Reads@yahoo.com. Next time I post quotes, there definitely won't be as many, because this is around 6 or 7 months worth of them, and I'll only be doing two month's worth from now on.

Anyways, thanks for reading!

Love,

Kristi

The Luxe

Author: Anna Godbersen

I've had this book on my bookshelf for quite awhile now and I haven't gotten to it, pretty much because most of my Marie Antoinette books happen to be on the same shelf and I got distracted. haha. So, I finally read it and I loved it!

The basic plot was Elizabeth Holland is forced by her new circumstances and her sense of family duty to marry Henry Schoonmaker, a man she hardly knows and, coincidentally, is also being forced to marry Elizabeth due to his father's political aspirations. Henry had been secretly seeing Elizabeth's best friend, Penelope Hayes, a vain, spoiled, bratty socialite. She gets angry about their surprise engagement, and plots behind Elizabeth's back to end the relationship. However, unbeknownst to Penelope, both end up falling in love with someone else. Henry finds himself falling for Diana, while Elizabeth has had a long standing relationship with her stableboy, Will, who also happens to have a secret admirer, Elizabeth's maid, Lina Broud. 

The book had everything it promised to have: romance, scandal, luxury, betrayal, and more. It's told from the perspectives of Elizabeth, Diana, Penelope, and Lina, and they each add significantly different points to the plot. Lina and Penelope show how much bitterness comes about from unrequited love and also a certain naivete when it comes to the difference between one-sided love and mutual affection and also love and lust. Diana shows the innocence of first and true love while Elizabeth allows us to see the affects of a forbidden love and the duty one feels to society and to family. 

The plot also went along at a good pace, and I never got bored. There was always something happening and I hated putting the book down. However, at some points, the plot went just a bit too fast and jumped around too much. For example, towards the end of the book, you see Elizabeth go to meet Penelope, and then the next page, she's being reported dead! You do receive an answer in a few chapters, but I was confused when I read that.

I'd also like to add really quick that I really enjoyed the little snippets of books, newspapers, diaries, or letters that came before every chapter. It kind of gave you a little warning of what was coming, but still not giving it away. It also helped me feel like I was more a part of the period and that I was actually reading the same things the characters were. I love things like that, and I thought it was a really nice touch.

I personally love historical novels, but I've never before read one that took place in the late 1800s. This was my first and now I really want to read more from that time period. The people and the places and the parties were very luxuriant and interesting. I can't wait to read the next book in the series, Rumors, and I'll be sure to review that once I actually buy it!

So, I would highly recommend this book! And I'm sorry if my review is too short or not detailed enough, but I had a time limit to write this and I'm now about 16 minutes over that time limit. haha. So, as always, please feel free to email me at Kristi_Reads@ yahoo.com and discuss the book, or give your opinion on my review, or to just talk about books in general! I think I'm going to read Marie-Therese: Child of Terror by Susan Nagel next, and I'll make sure to review it! It's going to be my first review of a nonfiction book! 

Anyways, thanks for reading!

Love,

Kristi

What I Did For Love

Author: Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Hey everyone-if anyone's actually reading. I'm back! Sorry about the very long absence! My computer crashed during the summer and I JUST got it fixed. But I totally forgot what website I started this blog on and I couldn't figure it out, because I tend to have quite a few dumb moments. =D I've been super busy as well, getting all my college stuff settled, so I honestly wasn't trying very hard. haha. So, here's my review for What I Did for Love by Susan Elizabeth Phillips:

And here's my honest opinion: This book was disgusting.

This was a completely uncreative, unrealistic piece of cheesy romantic crap. Most of the plot was predictable and seen in various other places.

Let's take some of the characters for an example. Now, personally, I don't follow the lives of celebrities, but the main character, Georgie, her ex-husband, Lance, and his new wife, Jade, and the whole mess surrounding them, reminds me quite a bit of the rumors around Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt's breakup.  Weren't there a few rumors about Brad cheating on Jennifer with Angelina Jolie? And wasn't it also talk about how Brad wanted kids and Jennifer didn't? Please forgive me if I'm wrong, but I recall these rumors. Georgie broke up with her famous ex-husband, Lance, because he cheated on her with his charitable movie co-star, Jade. Lance also tells the tabloids that while he wanted children, Georgie didn't want any, which was the complete opposite of what happened (Now I wouldn't even mention this point, but apparently it was extremely important to the story since it was mentions several times, although in very awkward, random moments). The charities that Lance and Jade support sounds a lot like those that Pitt and Jolie support. Every time Phillips explained character traits of any of these three characters, my mind immediately shot to the whole Aniston-Pitt-Jolie triangle. Am I the only one who sees the similarities???

Now let's get to the plot. Georgie, who used to be the star of a very popular sit-com once upon a time, flips out in front of the paparazzi after learning about the baby that Lance and Jade will soon have, so she runs off to her friend Trev's house and asks him to marry her just to get the paparazzi off her back. However, who would've guessed the Bramwell Shepard, her former bad-boy co-star of "Skip and Scooter", who actually caused the show to prematurely canceled, would show up just in time to hear her desperate plea. Hearing her most hated enemy make fun of her, made Georgie mad, so she planned to take a trip to Las Vegas with her friend. However, her friend can't make it and Georgie soon finds herself face to face with Bram in the casino. But they end up going to a party in a hotel room, though why Georgie went with him, I still don't understand. To make a long story short, basically they both end up drugged and wake up married to each other the next morning. Sound like "The Hangover" to anyone? 

Georgie convinces Bram to stay married to her and they move into his house and try to convince everyone that they're a happily married couple. However, everyone who actually knows Georgie, knows how much she always hated Bram and tries to talk to her about it, including her ex-husband, who shows up as Bram and Georgie were hosting a dinner party. Then Jade comes in and tells everyone that as she and Lance had come straight from the airport after a charity trip, two of their staff had come down with a very serious ailment. Thinking it was SARS, the Health Department said that Lance, Jade, and everyone they had come into contact with, meaning the whole dinner party. This was the only slightly creative plot point in the entire book, but I found it so far-fetched and unrealistic, the creativity was wasted. 

After that, various things happen, and Georgie realizes that she's in love with Bram, who tries to use that to his advantage, they fight, she runs away, he realizes he's also in love with her, gets her back, and they live happily ever after and make babies. Add in Georgie realizing that her father did actually love her, and few random budding relationships, and you've got the whole story.

Overall, I obviously didn't like the book. However, I must say that Bram was my favorite character because he actually had some depth to him. He was a former bad-boy who was trying to go good, but trying to hide that part of him as well. I thought he was one high point to this book. However, that wasn't the author's intention. She wants the reader to be drawn to Georgie, the main character and "victim", but I usually took Bram's side in everything. So kudos for the one good character!

So I think that's everything I wanted to to talk about. If you love my review, or hate it, tell me! I'd love to hear your thoughts on the book or any other books as well. You can email me at Kristi_Reads@yahoo.com. Right now I'm reading The Luxe by Anna Godberson, and it's my first time reading it, so I'll try to get a review on here when I'm done.

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Kristi!