Meanwhile, in Rivendell . . .

Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting is quickly becoming one of my favorite books.  It holds a special place in my heart.  My parents and sister had watched the movie version starring Alexis Bledel years before, but all I remember hearing about it was that it was heartbreakingly sad, and thus I'd airily dismissed it (this was before I read the book, understand).  But then I began to appreciate the book, and decided to try it out after all. By the way, y'all should be prepared for a very picture-heavy review. Reaction?   It was perfect . Seriously, I really do think it was about as perfect an adaptation as a movie possibly could be.  Yes, I know some things were changed.  Yes, I know Winnie is older than she's supposed to be, and that they over-romanticize Jesse's and her relationship.  Yes, I know they spend more time in the beginning of the movie portraying Winnie's home life than Babbitt does in her book.   I still think it's ...

This is what my copy looked like, except much more vibrant. *WARNING*:  This story deals with content such as societal hypocrisy, adultery, and the question of chastity, so I will be discussing those kinds of things in this review. Where to start...this book blew me away. The story is about a man named Newland Archer, who is waffling between baffling social hypocrisies and his own occasional aspirations to a "higher philosophy." Already sinking into discontent after his engagement to May Welland, his conflict is cemented when May's cousin, Countess Ellen Olenska returns. Before I get on to the philosophical part of the review, a quick overview of the novel itself:  the writing was excellent, the characters were believable and evoked the right emotions, and the plot, if not dreadfully original, was flawlessly executed and given a wonderful sprinkling of authenticity by the unsuspected outcome of certain events. Now.  On to "the good stuff" ;)...

I've been meaning to write another "defense" post, and since we're in the midst of Hamlette's awesome Tolkien Week, why not now?:)  (In case you all didn't know, these "Why I Love…" posts are basically the equivalent of those "In Defense Of" or "Defending" kinds of posts--talking about why I love certain undervalued or misjudged characters, and you can read my previous ones by clicking on the link "Why I Love…" in the labels section:D  Just thought I'd mention it.) So.  Boromir. First of all, yes, Boromir is proud.  Boromir is brash.  Boromir is reckless.  But, darlings, that is because Boromir is human .  I'm not excusing all of his behavior by any means, but I do think we all need to step back and look at him objectively as a character and realize how similar to us he really is .  Pride is Boromir's downfall, and it is a weakness with all of us--if not often, at least from time to time.  Hamlette...

Today, the birthday of our own dear, illustrious Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, marks the beginning of Hamlette's annual  Tolkien Blog Party of Special Magnificence !  Click on the link to find out all the juicy details, and for directions to enter her giveaways!  I, for one, think it's all monstrous exciting;) To kick it all off, Hamlette has put together a super list of questions for participants to answer on their blogs.  Let the festivities begin! 1. What draws you to Tolkien's stories? (The characters, the quests, the themes, the worlds, etc.) The hope. 2. What was the first Middle Earth book you read and/or movie you saw? What did you think of it? That would be The Fellowship of the Ring , non-extended edition.  Oh, dear.  Must I tell?  I've mentioned it in other posts, but I was shamefully unimpressed by the movies the first time I watched them.  I have repented, have no fear! 3. Name three of your favorite characters ...

What-ho, all!  The lovely  Ivy  has tagged me for her '5 Male Characters Tag' :)  (You can see my answers to her 5 Female Characters Tag  here .)  Thank you so much, Ivy! Before I start, though, I just wanted to apologize--a number of my wonderful bloggie buddies (you know who you are) tagged me a long while ago for a great end-of-summer tag.  However, I didn't really have that eventful of a summer, and I just sort of kept postponing the tag until, lo and behold, it was September.  So I'm very sorry about that; I SO appreciated being tagged, and it was a lovely tag, but I think I put it off a bit too long, and as I said, I wouldn't really know how to answer the questions.  I sowwy:( Rules : 1.) List 5 of you favorite male characters (book or screen) 2.) Tagging other people is optional 3.) If you are tagged link back to the person that tagged you 4.) Link back to Revealed In Time (preferably using the link to this post) ~ ~ ~ ...

(I had no idea how to title this post, nor how it'd turn out, so bear with me.) You all know those days, I'm sure, when you're just…oh, how shall we put it--not exactly feeling the greatest of kinships with Pollyanna?  Days when something that's been going on in your life is just weighing you down and making you weepy and poor-poor-pitiful-me-ish?  I've been having a couple of those days recently.  I've been in a bit of a "funk" off and on, one moment happy and contented, and the next subdued and heartsick ( Well, you're an adolescent girl, Olivia.  Duh ). I don't want this to be a downer post, so I just wanted to share random rambling thoughts that have come to me as I've tried to deal with these sorts of days over the years (wise and learned sage that I am!).   There's a very complicated familial situation going on, and I have to fight to keep resentment and self-pity from having their way with me.  Sometimes it's not...

One--I've decided to try and become a little more active on Goodreads.  My account name is just plain ol' Olivia, and I'd love to start following more of you! *hint hint* I steal pictures/gifs from other bloggers all the time.  Did y'all know that?  'Cause I do.  Aaaaaand that ties into the next point… …I have decided, at long last, to take the plunge, and… … I got a Pinterest.   *fanfare*  So I need to know all of your usernames so I can follow and stalk you!:D  Also, I could use any helpful tips you might have.  I'm a trifle confused on how to navigate it and pin things and such;) This was one of the first things I found and I kind of died.  

It's that time again;  Heidi's  September 2015 Inkling Explorations prompt is in!  This time, it's a funny story opening in literature .  Well, naturally, the thoughts turn to Wodehouse, being the comedic genius that he is, but a few other people have already used him, so I thought I'd go with the opening to the original One Hundred and One Dalmatians .   Not long ago, there lived in London a young married couple of Dalmatian dogs named Pongo and Missis Pongo.  (Missis had added Pongo's name to her own on their marriage, but was still called Missis by most people.)  They were lucky enough to own a young married couple of humans named Mr. and Mrs. Dearly, who were gentle, obedient, and unusually intelligent--almost canine at times.  They understood quite a number of barks:  the barks for "Out, please!" "In, please!" "Hurry up with my dinner!" and "What about a walk?"  And even when they could not understand, they could...

Hello, dearies! (Oh, so this is random, but our Netflix just started to work again! *victory screech* Sorry. Totally unrelated, but it's just very happy for me;D) I have this perpetual problem with my reading schedule. C. S. Lewis said this once, "It is a good rule after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between." Ever since I read that, I've been quasi-committed to following that rule in my leisure and devotional reading--alternating first-timers with re-reads. However, that can get messy as I'm rather indecisive and can never seem to choose which book to read at a given time! So today the thought came to me, Why not just go through your bookcase, shelf by shelf, and read through the books you have on there that you haven't yet read, while choosing your re-reads with more leisure in between? I liked that idea;) I think God sent it, actually:D I'll be reading the ones I haven...

"Join Anne, me, and Phoebe Min-Ju Jayne as our stories plait together--one strand red, one raven black, and one mochachino.  Link arms with us as we find our way to places of belonging, our forever homes.  Settle in with us in this world of 'spirit and fire and dew'.  Here's a story for the orphan in us all."  Wow.  231 short pages of pure beauty.  This book far and away exceeded my expectations.  I wasn't sure whether or not I would like it, given that AoGG, though a wonderful story, isn't one of my top favorites ever .  Also, I just wasn't sure about the genre.  I loved it.  In style, it reminds me of Perfectly Unique , a similar-ish book by Annie F. Downs that is basically a devotional for adolescent girls.  AoGGMDAM is written in much the same way--witty, layered, and warm.   It's apparently a newer genre, the literary memoir.  Basically, Lorilee Craker takes the story of Anne Shirley (focus...

I've been in a major Star Wars mood recently.  I don't know why.  But anyway, I have been, and so lately I've been watching YouTube fan videos (especially of Padmé) and looking at pictures and stuff. I really love Padmé Amidala.  She saves the new movies, for me; the best character (kind of like Han is the best character in the old ones).  She's just really cool to me:)  So I wanted to take a look at her outfits, because they are AMAHZING.  As a queen and later a senator, she's always attired immaculately (well, almost always.  We'll get to that), and she knows how to carry herself.  (Hey, don't be harshing my geeky like of SW! ;D) I love it when a character has a lot of different outfits, and luckily, Padmé is one of those characters;)  In fact, she has so many that I'm sure I'll miss quite a few of them.  I'm just going to focus on some particular ones that I find particularly awesome or particularly heinous, yes? Let's begin! ...