Thoughts on a Classic-Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

Beware, there are spoilers ahead!

I decided to re-read Tuck Everlasting because the story held a special sort of magic for me when I was young. As I read it as an adult, I was able to appreciate the story more. I was also able to better understand the messages that the author was trying to convey to the reader.

One of the big questions in the story is whether or not having eternal life would be desirable or undesirable. I feel that the type of eternal life presented in the book (one where a person would live forever, lose the ability to change and be stuck at a certain age) would not be desirable, at least not for me. I think that aging is a privilege and that the author was trying to convey that life loses it’s meaning without it. We only have a short amount of time to live our lives and although it may sound cliche, I ascribe to the idea that life’s moments are more precious because they are limited. However, I do feel that being stuck in one’s twenties or early teens might be exciting at first, but would probably grow boring over hundreds of years.

One of the questions that I had while reading the story was about whether or not the Tucks were able to learn or were their brains stuck as well. This isn’t addressed directly in the story, but by judging by the behavior of Jesse, it would seem that at least the maturity level of a person who drinks from the spring, is arrested as well. I think that not being able to learn anymore would be a horrible fate for anyone.

I thought that the author did an excellent job of explaining why the type of eternal life that she describes would not be desirable. She speaks about how individuals would feel if they had eternal life and the societal implications as well. She makes it clear that once people knew about the spring, they would find a way to monetize it.

I really enjoyed re-reading this story. I especially liked the dialogue, the poignancy of the novel, and the idea that making the right choices in life is often difficult. I also liked the relationship that Winnie developed with the Tucks. I thought it was interesting that she didn’t spend a great deal of time with them and yet she was able to develop a deep love for them. Overall, this book was an excellent read.

WWW Wednesday (April 12th)

Hi Everyone,

This is my first time joining WWW Wednesday, which is a weekly event hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words. Simply answer the three questions and leave a comment (with the link to your WWW Wednesday post) on Sam’s post. Here are the questions:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you plan to read next?

Currently Reading:

Eager by Helen Fox

This is a wonderful book so far! I have about 100 pages left.

Illusionarium by Heather Dixon

Illusionarium is action-packed and fun to read. I have about thirty pages left. I’m reading this for the book club that I run.

Dark Water by Laura McNeal

Dark Water is an interesting read so far. I like the author’s writing style and I have about 150 pages left.

Just finished:

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

Salt to the Sea is a very poignant novel that I enjoyed a great deal. This was last month’s pick for my book club.

Planning to Read:

Humans, Bow Down by James Patterson and Emily Raymond

Running Out of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix

I’m very interested in Humans, Bow Down because I love to read anything that involves robots or AI. Running Out of Time looks great too and I’m very excited to read it. I will be picking up both of these at my library today.

New Poetry Book!

Hi Everyone,

I’ve been working on a poetry book for the past several months and I wanted to share some information about it. The book will contain fifty poems that deal with different topics. I categorized the book into five different sections that include the following subjects: nature, mankind, music, dismal thoughts and the metaphysical. This is my first poetry book and I hope to have it published in about two weeks.  The book will be available on CreateSpace and Amazon.

Here is a brief summary from the back cover:

Ephemeral Thoughts is Avery Griffin’s first poetry book and second published work. Griffin has imbued her passion for nature, fantasy, science fiction, and many more subjects into the poetry found in this book. Readers will be taken on a journey of Griffin’s thoughts as they delve into the poems, such as “Creatures of the Night,” “Silent Forest,” and “To Mankind.” Readers are sure to enjoy the photography and digital images that accompany a number of the poems in this collection. The images are meant to enhance the reader’s experience; these visual components were designed to complement the writing itself. Readers of all ages will be delighted by this thoughtful collection of poems.

-Avery

Feature & Follow 20: Books that were Emotionally Moving

 

Feature and Follow is a blog hop hosted by Rachel from Parajunkie and Alison from AlisonCanRead. I really enjoy the Feature and Follow blog hop. If you decide to follow my blog, I would prefer that you follow it by email.

-Avery

Here is the prompt: What was the first book that moved you? Scared you, made you cry, disturbed your view of the world?

My Response:

The first book that really moved me was Night by Elie Wiesel. I read this book in high school and it was so poignant. The tragedies in the story were hard to believe which made them all the more heartbreaking. I think that this was the first book that changed my view of the world. The story made me think about the atrocities that man can commit against his brother. I wondered how anyone could commit such crimes against a fellow human being.

Two books by Mitch Albom that really moved me were Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven. I read both of these stories in college and they made me cry. The stories helped me to appreciate life in a new way.

Feature & Follow 19: Rereading Books

Feature and Follow is a blog hop hosted by Rachel from Parajunkie and Alison from AlisonCanRead. I really enjoy the Feature and Follow blog hop. If you decide to follow my blog, I would prefer that you follow it by email.

-Avery

Here is the prompt: What book do you reread the most? (For people who don’t reread, what books have you considered rereading?)

My Response:

A few months ago I read A Wrinkle in Time for the second time. I really loved this book the first time that I read it and I enjoyed it even more the second time around. Another book that I like to reread is The Distance Between Us by Kasie West. I really love the characters and plot in this book. This is one of my favorite romances of all time!

 

 

Feature & Follow 18: Book Recommendations

Feature and Follow is a blog hop hosted by Rachel from Parajunkie and Alison from AlisonCanRead. I really enjoy the Feature and Follow blog hop. If you decide to follow my blog, I would prefer that you follow it by email.

-Avery

Here is the prompt: Best and worst reads for 2016. Which would you recommend, which would you not?

My Response:

These are my best reads for 2016.

A Wrinkle in Time By Madeleine L’Engle- A classic book that I loved re-reading in 2016.

The Radiant Road by Katherine Catmull- An interesting fantasy read that was very unique.

This Monstrous Thing by Mackenzi Lee- I loved this book! If you enjoyed Frankenstein and like retellings, then this is the book for you.

The Apple Tart of Hope by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald- An important story that has many good lessons about life in it.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness- A very poignant story about grief that I enjoyed a great deal.

Books that I read in 2016 that I thought were okay.

The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi-This story has beautiful imagery and language, but is a little slow at times.

The Keeper of the Mist by Rachel Neumeier- An interesting story that was slow at times.

Where Futures End by Parker Peevyhouse- I thought that the  premise of this story could have been executed better.

 

Feature & Follow 17: Anticipated book releases for 2017

Feature and Follow is a blog hop hosted by Rachel from Parajunkie and Alison from AlisonCanRead. I really enjoy the Feature and Follow blog hop. If you decide to follow my blog, I would prefer that you follow it by email.

-Avery

Here is the prompt: What is your most anticipated book of 2017?

My Response:

Currently, I’m looking forward to the release of the following titles:

Summary from Goodreads:

Strange the Dreamer is the story of:

the aftermath of a war between gods and men
a mysterious city stripped of its name
a mythic hero with blood on his hands
a young librarian with a singular dream
a girl every bit as perilous as she is imperiled
alchemy and blood candy, nightmares and godspawn, moths and monsters, friendship and treachery, love and carnage.

Welcome to Weep.

Summary from Goodreads:

When Earth intercepts a message from a long-extinct alien race, it seems like the solution the planet has been waiting for. The Undying’s advanced technology has the potential to undo environmental damage and turn lives around, and Gaia, their former home planet, is a treasure trove waiting to be uncovered.

For Jules Addison and his fellow scholars, the discovery of an alien culture offers unprecedented opportunity for study… as long as scavengers like Amelia Radcliffe don’t loot everything first. Mia and Jules’ different reasons for smuggling themselves onto Gaia put them immediately at odds, but after escaping a dangerous confrontation with other scavvers, they form a fragile alliance.

In order to penetrate the Undying temple and reach the tech and information hidden within, the two must decode the ancient race’s secrets and survive their traps. But the more they learn about the Undying, the more their presence in the temple seems to be part of a grand design that could spell the end of the human race…

Feature & Follow 16

Feature and Follow is a blog hop hosted by Rachel from Parajunkie and Alison from AlisonCanRead. I really enjoy the Feature and Follow blog hop. If you decide to follow my blog, I would prefer that you follow it by email.

-Avery

Here is the prompt: Show us your holiday reads!

My Response:

Currently, I’m reading A Wrinkle in Time and Mirror in the Sky. These aren’t holiday stories, but I am reading them for the holidays. I read A Wrinkle in Time in high school, but I’m reading it again for my book club. Please leave a comment if you have read this book before and enjoyed reading it.

Summary from Goodreads:

It was a dark and stormy night; Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace, and her mother had come down to the kitchen for a midnight snack when they were upset by the arrival of a most disturbing stranger.

“Wild nights are my glory,” the unearthly stranger told them. “I just got caught in a downdraft and blown off course. Let me be on my way. Speaking of way, by the way, there is such a thing as a tesseract”.

Meg’s father had been experimenting with this fifth dimension of time travel when he mysteriously disappeared. Now the time has come for Meg, her friend Calvin, and Charles Wallace to rescue him. But can they outwit the forces of evil they will encounter on their heart-stopping journey through space?

Summary from Amazon:

For Tara Krishnan, navigating Brierly, the academically rigorous prep school she attends on scholarship, feels overwhelming and impossible. Her junior year begins in the wake of a startling discovery: A message from an alternate Earth, light years away, is intercepted by NASA. This means that on another planet, there is another version of Tara, a Tara who could be living better, burning brighter, because of tiny differences in her choices.

The world lights up with the knowledge of Terra Nova, the mirror planet, and Tara’s life on Earth begins to change. At first, small shifts happen, like attention from Nick Osterman, the most popular guy at Brierly, and her mother playing hooky from work to watch the news all day. But eventually those small shifts swell, the discovery of Terra Nova like a black hole, bending all the light around it.

As a new era of scientific history dawns and Tara’s life at Brierly continues its orbit, only one thing is clear: Nothing on Earth–or for Tara–will ever be the same again.?

 

 

First Chapter First Paragraph: The Keeper of the Mist

Hi Everyone,

First Chapter First Paragraph Intros is a weekly link-up is hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea. If you would like to join, just share the first paragraph or a few paragraphs from the first chapter of the book that you’re currently reading or that you’re planning on reading. Today’s pick is Heir to the Sky by Amanda Sun.

-Avery

First Paragraph of Chapter 1:

‘They say Lord Dorric is dying,’ Tassel told Keri, swinging without ceremony into the bakery kitchen. She let the door slam shut behind her. It banged hard because its frame had warped in the wet spring weather, an event as predictable as the blooming of crocuses and daffodils. The bell chimed, once and again and a third time, as the door bounced against the frame. The chime was a bright, cheerful sound, meant to turn away ill wishes and evil sorcery while allowing good luck to enter along with any visitor. But this spring, the sound only reminded Keri that she needed to hire someone to fix the warped frame.

Summary from Amazon:

Keri has been struggling to run her family bakery since her mother passed away. Now the father she barely knew—the Lord of Nimmira—has died, and ancient magic has decreed that she will take his place as the new Lady. The position has never been so dangerous: the mists that hide Nimmira from its vicious, land-hungry neighbors have failed, and Keri’s people are visible to strangers for the first time since the mists were put in place generations ago.

At the same time, three half-brothers will their own eyes on the crown make life within the House just as dangerous as the world outside. But Keri has three people to guide her: her mysterious Timekeeper, clever Bookkeeper, and steadfast Doorkeeper. Together they must find a way to repair the boundary before her neighbors realize just how vulnerable Nimmira is.

What does everyone think? Would you keep reading this book?

Feature & Follow: 15

Feature and Follow is a blog hop hosted by Rachel from Parajunkie and Alison from AlisonCanRead. I really enjoy the Feature and Follow blog hop. If you decide to follow my blog, I would prefer that you follow it by email. I’m a little late this week!

-Avery

Here is the prompt:What is your take on DNF books. Do you review them? Choose not to review them?

My Response:

I think that it’s always OK to stop reading a book if you don’t like it for some reason. I used to feel guilty about not finishing books and felt for some reason that I had an obligation to finish them. Then I realized that a person always has the right to stop reading something that they don’t like. I don’t usually review books that I don’t finish reading.