Around The World In 80 Days - Jules Verne

“He was so exact that he was never in a hurry, was always ready, and was economical alike of his steps and his motions.”

Around The World in Eighty Days - Jules Verne

I found this book was a very entertaining and light read. It was a joy to read the adventures that Phileas Fogg went through during his traveling.

The story starts by introducing Phileas Fogg as a very routine-orientated man. His life seems simple and boring. In actuality, I was wondering how the author was going to take such a dull character on such an exciting journey. Yet when he is challenged by his peers, Phileas Fogg cannot refuse. He bets with his friends that he can travel the world in eighty days. Throughout many strange and thrilling events, Phileas Fogg astounds his friends, as well as his fellow citizens of Europe, by the end of his journey.

I liked that this book was continually changing the scenery and events. On every page and every chapter, something new, and possibly dangerous, was going on. The book certainly managed to hold my attention until the very last page!

After finishing the book, I realized that there were certain clues as to what was going to happen softly embedded within the chapters. It was like an "A-ha!" moment when the ending finally came together. The ending seemed to be disappointing, yet amazingly things worked out for the better.

I admired how the journey around the world changed Phileas Fogg. He seemed to have a Stoic personality, where he refused to show too much emotion. By the ending, however, it was as though his heart softened and he found much joy in life. His transformation, although somewhat subtle, was a large factor that made this book so great.

Jules Verne certainly had a wild imagination. Some events in this book may have been a little overdone and extremely exaggerated, but it was fun to read. Reading this book was like sliding down a hill at a rapid pace, hitting jumps and almost crashing a few times, but coming out of it alive and ready to do it again.

Inside the O'Brien's - Lisa Genova

Gratitude and love. Joe replays the memory, and he sees his mother again and anew. Unable to walk or feed herself, unable to defend her reputation from the rumors that she was a drunk and a sinner and a bad mother, unable to live at home or hug her kids or tuck them into bed at night, she's smiling with her eyes at Joe.

Inside the O'Brien's, Lisa Genova 

If I'm completely honest, I almost cried reading this chapter. And you must know that I never cry for anything fictional.  Lisa Genova has done it once again, entangling a story of pain and love into my heart. Awakening a new realization of Huntington's Disease and the horrors of it.

I love Lisa Genova's books because they showcase, if you will, atypical diseases that are oftentimes ignored in today's society. Huntington's Disease is an incurable, fatal and hereditary disease. It causes it's victims to gradually lose all voluntary control. It was at times painful to read this book. Huntington's has been called the cruelest disease known to man, and Lisa captured every fear and horror of this disease through her words. I do find it personally frustrating that people with diseases like Huntington's, or even Alzheimer's, are often considered outcasts in society. Yet they cannot control their "weird" behaviors. I agree that cancer is also a terrible disease, but why is it that cancer patients are hailed as heroes in their death or victory, and everyone roots for them, runs marathons in their honor and... yet the family who suffers from Huntington's Disease, or Alzheimer's is pushed aside into a dark corner? Lisa explores the gruesome journey of having Huntington's, and it broke my heart. She is demonstrating that cancer is not the only disease that haunt's the human race. 

Despite the shadow cast over this book due to such a serious disease, the O'Brien family managed to find hope. And then the rest of the book seems to only be the dark before the dawn. Huntington's is real, but Lisa Genova proved that so is hope. It was an inspiring story, and I encourage you to read this book sometime this year. I could not put it down and I feel that the book has had such an impact on me, that I just want to leave it out for a bit before placing it back on the shelves. 

The ending of the book was probably the most confusingly satisfying. Some things may be left unsaid, yet it gives the book a final sense of hope and peace. The message throughout the book was attempting to live every moment of life. Since the symptoms of Huntington's generally begin in the late thirties, the victims are almost sure to die a young death. One of Joe's daughter's worried about her future constantly, as the child of a parent with Huntington's Disease has a 50/50 chance of inheriting the disease. She is faced with the  hard choice of finding out if she will develop the disease through a genetic test or of leaving her gene status unknown.

Although I loved this book dearly and would highly recommend it, it did have one flaw: The language. I do understand that rage and anger are typically symptoms of Huntington's, yet this book used unpleasant words quite often. As a person who doesn't swear, I did find the language a bit disturbing and distracting from the main focus of the book.

In the end, however, this book had a profound impact on me. For some reason, I dived completely into this book and it left its mark. Lisa Genova has once again created a masterpiece. 

To see Lisa Genova talk about this book, click here

Promises to Keep - Ann Tatlock

I patted my jeans pocket, not the one I'd taken the candy wrappers from but the other one. Tucked deep inside was the necklace Daddy had given to me for Christmas. That, I was going to keep. Not for any sentimental reason, but as a reminder. If I was going to survive in this world, I  had to understand that not everything I wanted to be true was true, and not everything that looked good was good. 

-Promises to Keep, Ann Tatlock

New year... same authors. Ann Tatlock has remained my favorite author ever since Every Secret Thing, and Promises to Keep book was no disappointment. I literally could not put it down, it was in my hand every day of my winter break until I finished it. 

This book was written in a different style than the first book I read by Ann. It had a little more of a charming, cozy and humorous theme to it. It had a lighthearted tone and I found the style of writing as well as certain topics reminded me greatly of To Kill A Mockingbird. 

The story centers on eleven year old Rosalind (Roz) Anthony and her family. Her mother was forced to leave the young girl's father due his alcoholism and anger issues. Throughout the story, we catch glimpses of what Alan Anthony (her father) was like, and we see that it wasn't safe to be with him. However, he soon finds and meets Roz and mends their relationship, but in secret. He has promised to change and restore their family when the time is right,

and Roz is very excited to be seeing her father again.

It is very difficult to write about this book without spoiling the ending. Roz definitely matured by the end. She learned that trust is something that is demonstrated by someone's actions rather than their words, and old habits die hard. My eyes were glued to the page during the last few chapters from excitement, and shock.

In typical Ann Tatlock style, the last two chapters were a curve-ball from the rest of the story. Somehow, she created a beautiful story, while disrupting the happy-go-lucky personality of the book. 

I really don't want to say much more, this book left me surprised, yet pleased. It was a masterpiece in my eyes... and another Ann Tatlock book will soon be in my hands.