I’m reading Outlander by Diana Gabaldon and there’s this scene where they are on a boat on the Loch Ness and I had vivid daydreams about how terrified I am of the Loch Ness Monster. Like, I’m sure she’s very kind once you gain her trust, but the initial meeting would just be very unnerving.
Moving on… I want to talk about Patrick Ness… (see how my little bunny trail happened? heh)
So, Patrick Ness
I love this guy. I own almost all of his books and they are all so beautiful. (You will see how beautiful I think they are when you see how many pictures I’ve added…) I’ve written about one of these on here before, but a whole post dedicated to him is just a nice excuse to write a new post, a way to bring attention to Ness, and a seemingly valid way to avoid homework.
Patrick Ness writes fantasy-like books, but they all somehow are still very real. They have a lot to say, in fact, The Crane Wife went straight over my head because of all of the symbolism and my too-quick reading pace, but I’ll get to that eventually. (Actually, I probably won’t, that’s the one book I’ve already written about.)
The Rest of Us Just Live Here
The “tagline” to this book is, “What if you aren’t the Chosen One?” It presents a typical story about high school kids saving the world but you barely hear about the “heroes.” The main characters are just the “normal” kids just trying to get through high school.
The book is a bit satirical at times, but still had a lot of goodness to it. The Rest of Us Just Live Here has a main character very similar to Charlie in The Perks of Being a Wallflower. So it’s pretty emotional at times.
I’m actually a bit disappointed in myself because I didn’t underline or journal a single thing through this book. I’d love to share some quotes or something from it… but I’d have to read it again… So here are just some pictures instead.
A Monster Calls
This book was just…beautiful. It’s almost a split between a regular novel and a graphic novel. (It was illustrated by Jim Kay who is illustrating all the new illustrated Harry Potter books!) The story is about a little boy dealing with his mom being sick and it is just heart-wrenching. The illustrations are so beautiful as well. This actually took me just a few hours to read, but it has stuck with me for months!
Also, it’s going to be a movie in October (I think it’s October.) And Liam Neeson will be in it! WOOT.
The Crane Wife
I’m not going to write much about The Crane Wife because I already have before. But I am going to repost a quote:
This, I will never understand, the inability of people to see themselves clearly. To see what they are actually like, not what they fear they are like or they wish to be like, but what they actually are. Why is what you are never enough for you?”
Chaos Walking Trilogy: The Knife of Never Letting Go, The Ask and the Answer, & Monsters of Men
I haven’t read these yet, but I’m so excited to! It’s about a town where everyone can hear everyone else’s thoughts – there’s no privacy at all. Then something happens that needs to stay hidden, so the main character has to flee. (With his dog. I love that.)
More Than This
I’m actually unsure what this one is really about, but I love that. And it’s awesome looking.. so..
In short –
Check out Patrick Ness. He’s the bomb diggity.
Casi Spear Stansbury 