The Last Battle

My Rating: ★★★★★

Method of Reading: 
Dates of Reading: May 28, 2015-May 29, 2015
Author: C.S. Lewis
Publication Year: 1956
Recommended to: No need to repeat this one....
Quotes:
"In our world too, a Stable once had something inside it that was bigger than our whole world" (744).
"The inside is larger than the outside" (765).
"...it was only the beginning of the real story" (767).
Movie: Someday...?

Wikipedia Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Battle
Link: https://www.cslewis.com/us/books/hardcover/the-last-battle/9780060234935

My View: An epic ending. I don't even mind the bump I got from being bludgeoned with a blunt allegory.

Always,
Your Bibliomaniac

Bibliography:
Lewis, C.S. The Silver Chair. 2001. The Chronicles of Narnia. New York: HarperCollins, n.d. 664-767. Print.

The Silver Chair

My Rating: ★★★★★

Method of Reading: Target's seven-book paperback.
Dates of Reading: May 20, 2015-May 28, 2015
Author: C.S. Lewis
Publication Year: 1953
Recommended to: The same people as always.
Quotes:
Movie: Coming soon.

Wikipedia Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Silver_Chair
Link: https://www.cslewis.com/us/books/hardcover/the-silver-chair/9780060234959

My View: Another lovely installment. So engaging, Jill and Eustace are my favorite team yet.

Always,
Your Bibliomaniac

Bibliography:
Lewis, C.S. The Silver Chair. 2001. The Chronicles of Narnia. New York: HarperCollins, n.d. 542-663. Print.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

My Rating: ★★★★★

Method of Reading: Target's seven-book paperback.
Dates of Reading: January 10, 2015-May 20, 2015
Author: C.S. Lewis
Publication Year: 1952
Recommended to: Readers of the other books.
Quotes:
"'Why!' cried Lord Rhoop. 'You have destroyed it!'
   'I don't think it was us,' said Lucy" (512).
"I am the great Bridge Builder" (541).
Movie: Yes, but I haven't seen it nor do I remember it being advertised.

Wikipedia Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Voyage_of_the_Dawn_Treader
Link: https://www.cslewis.com/us/books/hardcover/the-voyage-of-the-dawn-treader/9780060234867

My View: This is likely my favorite Narnia book yet. I've been amazed at how quickly Lewis's stories read, but this one's "checkpoints" at various islands made it move even faster than usual.

Always,
Your Bibliomaniac

Bibliography:

Lewis, C.S. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. 2001. The Chronicles of Narnia. New York: HarperCollins, n.d. 419-541. Print.

A Dog's Life

My Rating: ★★★★★

Method of Reading: Paperback given to me for my birthday.
Dates of Reading: May 5, 2015-May 6, 2015.
Author: Peter Mayle
Publication Year: 1995
Recommended to: Anyone who loves funny books. Specifically, if you loved Catch-22 but weren't a huge fan of its cynicism, this is the read for you. Also, those who like dog books but want to avoid inevitable doggy death... pick it up.
Quotes: So many good ones.
Movie: Nope.

Wikipedia Link: N/A
Link: http://www.amazon.com/Dogs-Life-Peter-Mayle/dp/0679762671/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1431667899&sr=1-2&keywords=a+dog%27s+life

My View: Super funny, very endearing. Heartwarming and unique. The sympathy Mayle displays for his canine companion is admirable not only humanely, but also in the skill it helps him to exhibit as a writer. Few others have put themselves in the shoes (or collar) of such a very different creature and created such a likable, believable, fully fleshed character. Few can be this connected even with human characters, let alone dogs.

Always,
Your Bibliomaniac


Bibliography:
Mayle, Peter. A Dog's Life. New York: Knopf, 1995. Print.

Prince Caspian

My Rating: ★★★★

Method of Reading: Target's seven-book paperback.
Dates of Reading: January 5, 2015-January 10, 2015
Author: C.S. Lewis
Publication Year: 1951
Recommended to: People who've read this far.
Quotes:
"'That's the worst of girls... They never carry a map in their heads.'
   'That's because our heads have something inside them,' said Lucy" (370).
"Oh Aslan... How could I - I couldn't have left the others and come to you alone... oh well, I suppose I could. Yes, and it wouldn't have been alone, I know, not if I was with you" (380).
"We don't know when he will act. In his time, no doubt, not ours. In the meantime he would like us to do what we can on our own" (397).
"'You come of the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve,' said Aslan. 'And that is both honour enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth. Be content" (416).
Movie: Yes'm in 2008.

Wikipedia Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Caspian
Link: https://www.cslewis.com/us/hardcover/prince-caspian/9780060234836

My View: So beautiful, once again. Not as favored as The Horse and His Boy, but great nonetheless. My favorite symbolism being the well water turned to wine.

Always,
Your Bibliomaniac

Bibliography:
Lewis, C.S. The Magician's Nephew. 2001. The Chronicles of Narnia. New York: HarperCollins, n.d. 311-418. Print.

The Horse and His Boy

My Rating: ★★★★★

Method of Reading: Target's seven-book paperback.
Dates of Reading: December 26, 2014-January 5, 2015
Author: C.S. Lewis
Publication Year: 1954
Recommended to: The people who have read up to this point.
Quotes: 
"'They'd kill me' ... He had, you see, no idea of how noble and free-born people behave" (239).
"...one of the worst results of being a slave and being forced to do things is that when there is no one to force you any more you find you have lost the power of forcing yourself" (298).
"And certainly both Horses were doing, if not all they could; all they thought they could, which is not quite the same thing" (270).
"He had not yet learned that if you do one good deed your reward usually is to do another and harder and better one" (272).
"But as long as you know you're nobody special, you'll be a very decent sort of Horse" (275).
"I was the lion" (281).
"...the smaller woodland people were safe and happy that they were getting a little careless" (285).
"Do not dare not to dare" (299).
Movie: Walden Media, which made 3 Narnia movies already, has the option for this movie as well... it hasn't made a move yet.

Wikipedia Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Horse_and_His_Boy
Link: https://www.cslewis.com/us/ebook/the-horse-and-his-boy/9780061974137

My View: I love the fast style of the story, the characters, and the landscape created. This has been my favorite Narnia book so far although I can't definitively figure out why... perhaps it was thanks to the relatively minimal military action. Plus, I haven't enjoyed what is essentially a roadtrip story this much since Rules of the Road.

Always,
Your Bibliomaniac

Bibliography:
Lewis, C.S. The Magician's Nephew. 2001. The Chronicles of Narnia. New York: HarperCollins, n.d. 199-310. Print.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

My Rating: ★★★★

Method of Reading: Target's seven-book paperback.
Dates of Reading: October 25, 2014-December 24, 2014
Author: C.S. Lewis
Publication Year: 1950
Recommended to: Everyone who read The Magician's Nephew.
Quotes:
"People who have not been in Narnia sometimes think that a thing cannot be good and terrible at the same time" (168).
"'Please - Aslan,' said Lucy, 'can anything be done to save Edmund?'
   'All shall be done,' said Aslan. 'But it may be harder than you think'" (169).
"...never forget to wipe your sword" (171).
"Did you hear what he said? Us Lions. That means him and me. Us Lions" (190).
"'Does he know,' whispered Lucy to Susan, 'what Aslan did for him?'
   ...'Oh, surely not,' said Susan. "It would be too awful for him. Think how you'd feel if you were he.'
   'All the same I think he ought to know,' said Lucy" (193).
"One day you'll see him and another you won't.... He's wild, you know. Not like a tame lion" (194).
Movie: Yessir.

Wikipedia Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lion,_the_Witch_and_the_Wardrobe
Link: https://www.cslewis.com/us/ebook/the-lion-the-witch-and-the-wardrobe/9780061974151

My View: A story so gorgeously written that the movie visuals (I've seen the film at least two or three times) never even popped into my head... Filled with even more beautiful, subtle, and smoothly integrated allegory (regardless of whether CS Lewis would acknowledge it as such), like when Susan and Lucy are looking for Aslan in the wood (the women searching for Jesus's body).

Always,
Your Bibliomaniac

Bibliography:
Lewis, C.S. The Magician's Nephew. 2001. The Chronicles of Narnia. New York: HarperCollins, n.d. 107-197. Print.