Mr. Darcy's Diary

Earlier this week my sister was reading a book and she happened to leave it on the table that I ate breakfast on. I of course was intrigued by the title and so I picked it up and started reading it. I had the whole book read before lunch. It was very good! I loved it! I liked how she (the author) used parts from Pride and Prejudice in it!  

My family is currently watching the movie, we've been at it for a week or so, and after having just read this book, I'm thinking things that were in the book. It actually changed a few things that I would think when I read the book (Pride and Prejudice) or watched the movie! All in all I would recommend it to basically anyone who has read P&P, and to those who haven't.... read P&P first, then read Mr. Darcy's Diary! :D 

What I'm Reading

I am so sorry I haven't posted anything for a long time!!!! I was traveling and then life got busy.... but anyway, here I am posting to you again!!! :) (Because I know you all love reading my posts.... right?)

Anyway, I'm not currently reading this book right now, I read it on the airplane on the way home, but I decided to blog about it anyway!

This is a book that mom read to us when we were kids and we eventually read it on our own. I love this book!!! (Do I use to many exclamation points?) It's about a young man who joins the Civil War for the Union and then eventually ends up accidently joining the Confederates. He goes through many spine tingling adventures and even falls in love! It's like a Henty but not... I don't really know how to describe it without giving everything away!!! You all need to read this book, just saying. (I own it, so if you want to borrow it let me know!) I'll just give you my favorite quote! "He had lain ill several months in a rebel home, narrowly escaped a rebel firing squad, had nearly starved to death, been trailed one hundred miles by a bloodhound and fallen head over heels in love. Few men in either army had lived the war so fully."

So that's that! I hope to blog more soon!! 

What I'm Reading

I am reading a big thick book!!! It's Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell!!! 

We got this movie a long time ago and loved it so much we got the book! It's such an interesting book! One can learn so much about the society and the way they lived back then. I've read it once already and I recently decided to read it again. I'll probably be reading it for quite some time, as I don't have a lot of time to read at the present, and it's kind of a hard read... I get through about four pages during breakfast. (At that pace, I might be reading it for a year!!! It's such a long book!) However, I'm finding the reading is going faster the more I get into the book.  One thing I've found interesting as I'm reading it the second time, is that Molly is the same age as I am at the beginning of the book! It's so strange to think about! My favorite quote from the book so far is:

"And I do love Miss Gibson very much, sir, who could help it?"

"Mr. Wynne I hope!" 

Haha!!! Anyway, here is some music for you to listen to, it's from the BBC film!!

The Phantom of the Opera

I don't even know where to begin with this post.  I could start with when I first remember Michael getting the music book from the library, or the first time I remember listening to the  first time.  Or when we bought the book for Michael, and playing and singing it with him.  According to Michael, it all started when I had to sing a solo song in a Christmas play that we did. We borrowed a cd that had the song that I was singing on it, but it also had a Phantom of the Opera song on it there. Because we heard the song on there we got the cd and the music book from the library.  However, this is one amazing musical written by Andrew Lloyd Weber.  Listening to it when you are home alone is just a recipe for singing as loudly and beautifully as you can!!  (and of course I sound just wonderful when I sing it!!!! :)) I don't even know what is my favorite song from the musical!!! They are all so good!!!  I'll just mention a few of my favorites.... ;)

"Think of me"
I love this song! It's so sweet and simple!! I love it when Michael plays it on the piano and Melissa and I can sing with him!!! So many good memories!!! :)  "Think of me, please say you'll think of me, whatever else you choose to do, there will never be a day when I won't think of you!!!" 

"Notes/Prima Donna"
I like the beginning, when everyone is confused about who is writing all the notes!!! (Firmin "...and what is it that we're meant to have wrote...  written."  But the best part of this song is when Prima Donna starts. It's such a flowing melody, and the way the parts are written on top of each other is just ingenious!!! 

"All I Ask Of You"
This song speaks for itself... just go listen to it! :)

"Masquerade" 
The coolest part in this song is in the middle when the orchestra has a part. It's like the Sibelius Violin concerto 1st movement!!! So amazing!

"Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again"
This is the most heartbreaking song in the musical!!! I could never sing this in the musical without crying!! I can hardly listen to it without crying!!!!  

Well, that's all for now! I could say a lot more, but I'm tired and I should be getting off the computer now!!! :) I hope you enjoy!!!

And I'll leave you with the wonderful Entr'act!!! 

What I'm Reading

I didn't do this on Saturday, so I might as well do it now! :) I'm reading a series, and I read the books too fast to do a separate post for each book. (I'd have to do a different post every other day!) I'm reading The Anne of Green Gables books! I just finished "Anne of Avonlea" today! L. M. Montgomery is such a good author!!!  I love her style, and Anne is such a relatable character to me!!! I'm going to share a few of my favorite quotes from "Anne of Avonlea" with you today! :)

"...but when all's said and done, Miss Shirley, ma'am, there's many a worse thing than a husband."
Charlotta the Fourth

"I'm sure it would be perfectly impossible to keep house with only thirty-six doilies,"
Anne Shirley

"Courting's all right in it's place, Miss Shirley, ma'am, but if you try to mix it up with cooking and scouring everything's spoiled."
Charlotta the Fourth

Well, I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week!!! :) And since it's snowy out, I'll leave you with a Christmas song!!! ;)

"Real Men Read Austen"

So, you should know who Jane Austen is, and if you don't, you need to Google her right now. Just for times sake, I'll tell you, because I know that you won't look her up. I'm just that smart!! :) Ok, so she's the wonderful lady, who wrote all these amazing books! Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, and many others!  I have read them many, many times and will read them many, many more times!!!! However, I've noticed through the years, that males tend to avoid these wonderful books! I can't help but wonder why? I have an amazing brother who loves them just as much as I do, but I can't see why so many boys act like it would ruin their manliness to read Austen? Well, someone named Peter J. Leithart wrote a book. It's called Miniatures and Morals, and it is a study guide book. (I'm not really sure how to describe it.) Anyway, it's an exceptional book, you should read it, after your read Jane Austen's books! 

However, today, I'm going to tell you that you need to go and read it! Just the first chapter! It's such a well written book! It explains things in a very precise, black and white, manner. I find it very interesting and educational!!!  :) I was going to share a few quotes from the chapter, but I found myself just quoting the whole chapter!!!! :) 

What I'm Reading

Today I'm going to share with you the book that I'm reading currently. I bet you can't guess what it is. ;) 

You guessed it!!! I'm reading The Return of the King!!!! It is a very good book!!! I love the whole series!!! I probably read this book the fastest of all three, because of how the end of The Two Towers is. I finish The Two Towers  and then I race to get The Return of the King  and start reading it, only to remember that it doesn't start with Frodo and Sam!!! Oh well, I read the first half very quickly!!! Anyway, I hope you all have a great rest of your weekend!!!!

What Book I'm Reading

It's kind of a no brainer to figure out what book I'm reading, since I finished The Fellowship of the Ring.  Of course I'm reading The Two Towers!!!! :)

I love this book so much!!! The 4th book in the series (the second half of The Two Towers) is one of the most intense books I've ever read! The ending is so tense and you want to go straight to the next book but when you pick up The Return of the King it starts with Pippin and Gandalf and not Frodo and Sam like the last one left off with! I love this book so much, I love the whole trilogy!!! The Two Towers is the shortest book in the trilogy.  I picked it up, and it felt so thin!!! Of course, I haven't been reading slim books lately!!! (The Hobbit, A Tale of Two Cities, The Fellowship of the Ring, etc.) Anyway, everyone should read this book, I highly recommend it! :) Have a great weekend!!!

What I'm Reading

Can you make a guess as to what I'm reading??? Here, I'll give you a hint:

You would never have guessed that I've been reading The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R Tolkien, right???  I'm actually planning on re-reading the entire series over the next few weeks. I try to read the Lord of the Rings trilogy every year around Christmas time, but this year I started with The Hobbit (because the movie was coming out) and so I didn't start them as early as I usually do.  However, after having read The Hobbit, and most of The Fellowship of the Ring I am beginning to realize how great of an author J. R. R. Tolkien was! He wrote such a complex story, with many different 'main' characters with a variety of different conflicts, but under all of that there is the main conflict that all the characters are connected with in some way or another.  All of that adds together to make a very interesting and exciting book/series!  I highly recommend you read this book if you haven't already, and if you have, you should definitely read it again!