This Side of Paradise

My Rating: ★★★★

Method of Reading: Personally owned paperback novel, 320 pages
Dates of Reading: June 26, 2014-July 1, 2014
Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
Publication Year: 1920
Recommended to: Gatsby fans and also Catholic readers, who may find Fitzgerald's covert philosophy interesting.
Quotes: 
Movie: Oh sure.

Wikipedia Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Side_of_Paradise
Link: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/this-side-of-paradise-scott-fitzgerald/1116616137?ean=9781593082437

My View: It was the first time in a while I couldn't put a book down. Really interesting, almost more so because it didn't have much of a story arc--that's what made it a real story. (see my love for the ending of Best Foot Forward)

Always,
Your Bibliomaniac

Bibliography:
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. This Side of Paradise. New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1920. Print.
"This Side of Paradise (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)." Barnes & Noble. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 July 2014.

The Book Thief

My Rating: ★★★★

Method of Reading: Personally owned paperback novel, 576 pages
Dates of Reading: June 1, 2014-June 25, 2014
Author: Markus Zusak
Publication Year: 2005
Recommended to: Readers.
Quotes: 
"and they were you" (350).
"You taught me to read" (538).
Movie: Yeah. Have not seen it.

Wikipedia Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_Thief
Link: http://www.amazon.com/The-Book-Thief-Markus-Zusak/dp/0375842209

My View: For maybe the third time I ever, a book made me cry (to be fair, I was really sick in bed when Himmel Street was bombed so I was all teary already. But I think I would've cried anyway). I read this while traveling in Europe which made this moving story even more powerful, as that entire continent is still defined by the events of the World Wars. Death makes a surprisingly compassionate narrator, and I fell for Rudy entirely. But maybe what this book really gave me was a heroine I adore: Liesel's book thievery and passion for reading puts her in my list of well-read people despite the scarceness of her reading list. I was really in love with the fact that I planned on leaving my paperback behind when I left Europe (along with the others I'd packed) to make room in my suitcase for my terrible clothes-folding skills. But what was actually more satisfying was that one of my closest friends from the trip saw the book on my nightstand the night before we left and asked to take it with her--there was something great in sharing a book meant to be stolen.

Always,
Your Bibliomaniac

Bibliography:
Donnelly, Elisabeth. "Could the Movie Version of 'The Book Thief' Be a Sleeper Hit?" Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2013. Web. 14 July 2014.
Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. Print.