21. The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien.

So far I love these books. I've never seen the movies so it hasn't officially been ruined for me..although I'm pretty sure I know how it all ends, unfortunately. I can't stay away from spoilers and I think they fucking STALK ME. Anyways, I read The Fellowship of the Ring earlier in the year and then took a break from the LOTR trilogy to read other books because LOTR takes me longer than most books. Probably because 934583429 out of 9325832958932589325 pages contain Hobbits walking through a motherfucking forest, but I love it anyways. I usually find it hard to concentrate on books that, for example, describe a tree in five paragraphs (you know what I mean) but LOTR is just, er, un..hate..able? Yeah.

//tiny tiny tiny spoiler alert//

So, I just finished The Two Towers and I can't decide if I like it more or less than Fellowship..it was quicker and easier for me to get through, that's for sure. I really like how it jumps from the different points of view of the separated "company" or whatever you want to call them. I enjoyed reading about how Merry & Pippin ended up kicking so much ass and I LOVE Treebeard, teehee. Legolas and Gimli's once-rival relationship is now so heroic and brotherly. Aragorn is a badassmothafucka as always. And of course Gandalf the Grey coming back as Gandalf the White was amazing. You just can't resist loving Gandalf, there's no way.

Then there's Frodo and Sam's journey. Most of the time I want to tear Gollum out of the pages but considering that's not possible, I must move on with my grief. I can't really describe how much I adore Frodo and Sam's relationship. Sam's royalty and Frodo's constant battle with the ring..fighting so hard to do what he believes is right. What's not to love?

//end tiny tiny tiny spoiler alert//

I'm not going to do a summary or anything. It's just something you need to read and let it come alive for you on your own.

I watched the first movie after I finished the first book so now I'm anxious to watch the second movie. I'm going to take another break from LOTR even though I reallyyyyy don't want to. But I DESPERATELY need to read the next book on my list and after I finish that I'll most likely finish up LOTR. I'm going to the beach house this weekend and we all know what that means..reading extravaganza, of fucking course!

I rate it 5 out of 5, no doubt.

AHHH, HOW I LOVE LOTR QUOTES!
I'm going to post the ones from Fellowship that I like since I didn't talk about it on here.

FELLOWSHIP:

"Ho! Ho! Ho! to the bottle I go
To Heal my heart and drown my woe.
Rain my fall and wind may blow
And many miles may still to go,
But under a tall tree I will lie,
And let the clouds go sailing by."

"Now is the time for resting. Some things are ill to hear when the world's in shadow. Sleep till the morning-light, rest on the pillow! Heed no nightly noise! Fear no grey willow!"

"Indeed in nothing is the power of the Dark Lord more clearly shown than in the estrangement that divides all those who still oppose him. Yet so little faith and trust do we find now in the world beyond Lothlórien, unless maybe in Rivendell, that we dare not by our own trust endanger our land. We live now upon an island amid many perils, and our hands are more often upon the bowstring than upon the harp."


TWO TOWERS:

"But there, my friends, songs like trees bear fruit only in their own time and their own way: and sometimes they are withered untimely."

"Now we feel the peril that we were warned of. Have we ridden forth to victory, only to stand at last amazed by an old liar with honey on his forked tongue? So would the trapped wolf speak to the hounds, if he could. What aid can he give to you, forsooth? All he desires is to escape from his plight. But will you parley with this dealer in treachery and murder? Remember Théodred at the Fords, and the grave of Hama in Helm's Deep!"

"If we speak of poisoned tongues what shall we say of yours, young serpent?"

"But I wish I could make a song about her. Beautiful she is, sir! Lovely! Sometimes like a great tree in flower, sometimes like a white daffadowndilly, small and slender like. Hard as di'monds, soft as moonlight. Warm as sunlight, cold as frost in the stars. Proud and far-off as a snow-mountain, and as merry as any lass I ever saw with daisies in her hair in springtime. But that's a lot o' nonsense, and all wide of my mark."

"The land dreams in a false peace, and for a while all evil is withdrawn."

"And we shouldn't be here at all, if we'd known more about it before we started. But I suppose it's often that way. The brave things in the old tales and songs, Mr. Frodo: adventures, as I used to call them. I used to think that they were things the wonderful folk of the stories went out and looked for, because they wanted them, because they were exciting and life was a bit dull, and kind of a sport, as you might say. But that's not the way of it with the tales that really mattered, or the ones that stay in the mind. Folk seem to have been just landed in them, usually -- their paths were laid that way, as you put it. But I expect they had lots of chances, like us, of turning back, only they didn't. And if they had, we shouldn't know, because they'd have been forgotten. We hear about those as just went on -- and not all to a good end, mind you; at least not to what folk inside a story and not outside it call a good end. You know, coming home, and finding things all right, though not quite the same -- like old Mr. Bilbo. But those aren't always the best tales to hear, though they may be the best tales to get landed in! I wonder what sort of tale we've fallen into?"

"I wonder, but I don't know. And that's the way of a real tale. Take any one that you're fond of. You may know, or guess, what kind of tale it is, happy-ending or sad-ending, but the people in it don't know. And you don't want them to."

Of course, they are many many more from these stories that I love, but I can't type the whole damn book. Time to go start #22 ;)

Muchacha Bye Bye!
KRISTEN

PS/
Christopher's review of The Two Towers:

philolol: two towers is really good
philolol: helms deep is metal as fuck

20. Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson.

I didn't know what to expect from this book when I bought it. I've heard of Speak but haven't read it or read any of her other books. This book is about a boy named Tyler that did a high school prank which lead him to have the reputation of a somewhat mysterious badass with a not-so-great reputation. The story pretty much revolves around his workaholic+asshole dad and his high school crush, Bethany. His best friend, called Yoda, and his freshman sister, Hannah, are also involved quite a bit. Him and Bethany gradually start talking and it leads to events that just trouble his image even more. He has to deal with being bullied (even though he buffed up a lot and became more intimidating after doing so much community service) and suffer his dad's wrath. You hear his unspoken thoughts a lot throughout the book and discover why he feels so..twisted (obviously!)

I thought it was a pretty good read. I hardly ever read something and don't like it, though, so the whole rating part of my entries are a bit stupid. But I'll go ahead and rate it a 4 out of 5 stars, lol.

QUOTE TIME. Honestly, I usually go through books so fast that I typically don't stop and record the quotes I like..but here's one.

"I leaned closer to the glass. The guy in the mirror looked like somebody had wrapped his heart in barbed wire and pulled. He wasn't just a loser. He was a lost, no-compass lost, don't-speak-the-language lost."

I like the no-compass lost part, teehee.

I realize that my reviews are kinda boring but I really suck at putting my thoughts into words when it comes to shit like this..but I'm trying..and I do enjoy discussing these books..so I'll keep doing it until I get too lazy.

L8R.
KRIS10.