Top Ten Tuesday – Books Published in the Last Ten Years

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday topic by thatartsyreadergirl is books published in the last ten years, I’ve decided to do one book for every year so here they are:

2008: The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

This is one of my favourite books ever so I’m glad it could make this list. It’s set in England and Australia from the early 20th century to the 1980s to 2000s. Cassandra’s grandmother Nell has recently passed away. Nell has left all of her property to Cassandra, including a cottage in rural England. Cassandra is confused, they live in Australia and as far as she knew Nell never had any interest in England or it’s countryside. She goes to investigate why her grandmother would have brought the rundown cottage. She follows in Nell’s footsteps. We also meet Eliza, a young poor child living in London with her brother, their parents are dead and they have to work all hours of the day to afford food and shelter.

2009: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Set in 1960s America, this book follows the stories of three black women and how they come together to fight the injustice they face everyday. As well as being moving and poignant, this book has a lot of humour in it. I really enjoyed reading it even though it made me incredibly angry to read about how black people were treated like they were nothing.

2010: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

The last book in the Hunger Games trilogy. We follow Katniss and her friends as they discover the underground Distirct 13 and take on the Capital one last time. It’s a gripping and intense book. I was sobbing by the end (I’m not good at saying goodbye to characters!)

2011: A Dance With Dragons by George R.R. Martin

This book! I read it in two parts as it was published like that in paperback here. The fifth novel in A Song of Ice and Fire and it has the most different point of view characters in it which is great. In the start we’re with Danerys and Tyrion on their seperate journeys in the South of the world and then we head North and join Jon and his brothers of the Night Watch. In the second half of the book we rejoin our other characters in King’s Landing and all over Westeros. As always it’s filled with twists and turns and genius storytelling.

2012: The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton

Another Kate Morton book! During a summer party at her family farm in the English countryside, sixteen-year-old Laurel Nicolson has escaped to her childhood tree house and is happily dreaming of the future. She spies a stranger coming up the long road to the farm and watches as her mother speaks to him. Before the afternoon is over, Laurel will witness a shocking crime. A crime that challenges everything she knows about her family and especially her mother, Dorothy her loving, nearly perfect mother. The book also flashes back through Dorothy’s story as we discover all the secrets she is holding.

2013: Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

This book is so incredible it’s kind of my dream book, it’s set in the 1920’s-40’s and it all about the possibilities of life and the decisions we make affecting our lives. We follow the Todd family, specifically Ursuala through their lives. It’s another one of my all time favourites. We follow Ursula down different paths and some of the possible lives she could have led during WWII. I can’t tell you how much I love this book and how beautiful it is.

2014: The One Plus One by Jojo Moyes

The One Plus One follows the story of Jess, her children Tanzie and Nicky and Ed, a stranger to them until they take a week long road trip to Scotland. Jess, Tanzie and Nicky are a lovely family but struggles with money and intimidating neighbors have taken their toll on them. Their journey is chaotic but brilliant. Ed only knows Jess because she cleans his holiday home which he had never used until that week. At first they barely speak but Jess’ endless optimism, positivity and her homemade sandwiches eventually breaks down Ed’s walls. Ed helps Nicky put down his bullies and grows to care for all of them. The characters are so well written, they’re likeable, real and so lovely you just want to protect them from all the rubbish thrown their way. The story flows so well, there wasn’t a moment when I was bored or distracted. A really lovely, heartwarming book. Not your usual romance story, it has much more depth than that which I really enjoyed.

2015: Children In Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

This book is so good. Humanity are branching out into the stars, a project has identified different planets to terraform and make suitable for human life. But it’s also an evolutionary experiment, they send down insects and animals and some of our primate ancestors. But there are people back on Earth who believe this is wrong, we are meant to live and die on Earth. They sabotage one of the spaceships. The captain sends the monkeys off towards the planet along with the evolutionary accelerator. Then she is trapped in a tiny escape pod, orbiting her planet, transmitting a distress signal. 100 years later survivors of Earth find the planet and attempt to make it their home, but something has gone wrong. There are no monkeys here, instead the world is covered in webs.

2016: The Power by Naomi Alderman

This book is AMAZING! Teenage girls now have immense physical power – they can cause agonising pain and even death. And, with this small twist of nature, the world changes utterly. They have the power to channel electricity through their hands. When I first came across the book I was all: “Hell yeah women have the power, woop!” But half way through the book we see that it doesn’t matter who has the power male or female, all humans are capable of horrendous things and we will always use power to destroy one another. It’s written from the points of view of different women around the world and one man. It’s a work of genius, I absolutely loved it.

2017: The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye by David Lagercrantz

I love the Millennium series, Lisbeth Salander is one of my favourite characters ever, she’s so complex and badass. This is the fifth book in the series and at the beginning we find Lisbeth in prison (only for a couple of months) but she’s using her time there to read up on a complicated maths problem. Until her old guardian Holger comes to see her and tells her about a visit he received from someone in Lisbeth’s past. Lisbeth and her sister Camilla were almost part of an experiment carried out on twins. Mikael and Lisbeth start looking into the experiment and uncovering the shady people behind it. Lisbeth is under threat, she’s on a high security ward which has been corrupted by an influential inmate. We also delve into the stories of a pair of identical twins whose lives were ruined by the scientists who ran the twins experiment. The book is gripping and mysterious as always with this series. The author constantly keeps us guessing. I still found myself thinking about the story and how it was going to pan out even when I wasn’t reading it. The story is all woven together so seamlessly, it’s fantastic writing.

2018: Fire and Blood by George R.R. Martin

This is part one of two about the history of the Targaryen dynasty in Westeros. Until recent events I’ve been fascinated by the Targaryens and I did really enjoy the book. It’s written like a history book (only more interesting), George R.R Martin is so clever. It starts with Aegon the Conqueror and his sisters Visenya and Rhaenys. These badass dragon riders turned the Seven Kindoms into one, they were fierce, clever and beautiful. I’m really jealous of their purple eyes! All the battles, betrayls, births and deaths are covered in this book. I really enjoyed it, especially the first half. I got quite upset when it came to the Targaryen civil war, the Dance of the Dragons, because so many of the dragons die, it breaks my heart.

What are some of your favourites from the past ten years?

Top Five Tuesday – Summer Reads

A new Top Five Tuesday, the prompts are created by Bionic Book Worm. It’s nearly summer so here are my top five summer reads:

1. The Lake House by Kate Morton

I’m a huge fan of Kate Morton and I find all of her books make lovely summer reads but this one in particular. It’s set in the Summer of 1933 and in 2003. In 1933 the Edevane family are preparing for their midsummer party but by the end of the night something horrible happens which sends them away from their home forever. Seventy years later Sadie is sent on compulsory leave from the Metropolitan Police after a tough case. She goes to stay with her grandfather in Cornwall and comes across a beautiful abandoned house full of secrets.

2. The Legacy by Katherine Webb

As children Erica and Beth Calcott spent their summers at Storton Manor, following their grandmother’s death they have returned to the manor to sort out all her belongings. Erica can’t help but think back to the summer that her cousin Henry disappeared, the sisters decide to try and find out what happened to him. They find more family secrets than they bargained for. This book is a similar style to Kate Morton’s and it’s beautifully written. It definately feels like summer when you read this, the sisters memories of their holidays at the manor make you want to drive out to the countryside and have an adventure.

3. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

I absolutely loved this book, I read it last summer! It’s set in South Carolina, USA in 1964. The story is about Lily who lost her mother when she was very young, since then she’s been raised mainly by her ‘stand-in mother’ Rosaleen, a woman of colour, which was dangerous at that time in America. On a walk into town on a blisteringly hot day, Rosaleen gets into an argument with some racists and she is arrested. Lily is beside herself and decides to break Rosaleen out of prison. They escape to a small town in South Carolina that held significance for Lily’s mother. They are taken in by an eccentric trio of sisters who keep bees and sell their honey to make a living. This book is so powerful and uplifting, it filled me with warmth and hope.

4. Atonement by Ian McEwan

The story begins and ends in the summer in a big country house in England. It’s set from 1930s-40’s and then jumps to the early 2000s. Briony Tallis is a curious, over-confident child, she likes to write and perform plays and this summer is no different. Except she winesses something and doesn’t understand it’s innocence. An accusation is made and lives are changed forever. The start of the book definately has that lovely summer setting.

5. Beneath the Skin by Nicci French

This has a very different feel from the others on my list, it’s set in London during a very hot summer. Three different women are being stalked by a sadistic killer. Is it someone they know or a complete stranger? This book is quite scary but it’s got that summer setting so I thought I would add it into the mix. It’s so well written and I remember feeling realy jumpy/edgy when I read it.

What are some of your favourite summer reads?

Quotes of the Week

I’ve had a nice peaceful week (after the GoT finale aired) it’s been lovely weather here and here are my favourite quotes this week:

“There is no point in delaying crying. Sadness is like having a vicious alligator around. You can ignore it only for so long before it begins devouring things and you have to pay attention.” – Why Is This Night Different From Every Other Night? by Lemony Snicket

This is so true, bottling up any emotion is terrible for you. This description makes so much sense!

“If we wrapped up against the cold, we wouldn’t feel other things, like the bright tingle of the stars, or the music of the Aurora, or best of all the silky feeling of moonlight on our skin. It’s worth being cold for that.” – Seraphina Pekkala, Northern Lights

This part made me smile imagining what it’s like to feel the moonlight on my skin, it almost made me cry, it’s so beautiful.

Top Five Tuesday – Unputdownable Reads

A new Top Five Tuesday, the prompts are created by Bionic Book Worm. I’m not usually one to rush a book, I’ve never read a book in one sitting. I prefer taking a step back and thinking about the story and what’s going on with the characters. But there are books that I’m always itching to pick back up even if I’ve just put them down!

1. The Millennium series by Stieg Larsson & David Lagercrantz

I couldn’t choose just one of these books, they are all addictive. Each book has a mystery to be solved, quite often it’s connected to Lisbeth Salander our resident badass. The journalists at Millennium magazine are usually hunting down a story as well. There’s always a lot going on and they’re just fantastic.

2. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

One of my favourite books of all time, it’s set in the early 2000s, the 80s and early 1900s. Cassandra’s grandmother Nell has recently passed away. Nell has left all of her property to Cassandra, including a cottage in rural England. Cassandra is confused, they live in Australia and as far as she knew Nell never had any interest in England or it’s countryside. She goes to investigate why her grandmother would have brought the rundown cottage. She follows in Nell’s footsteps. We also meet Eliza, a young poor child living in London with her brother, their parents are dead and they have to work all hours of the day to afford food and shelter. I remember when I first read this I just desperately wanted to know what happened to Eliza and how Nell and Cassandra were connected to her. It’s such a beautiful book and all Kate Morton’s have the same gripping nature.

3. A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

Will a week go by when I don’t mention this series in one of my posts?! No because I love it that much! With all the twists and turns in this story, the shady characters and unexpected deaths, I never want to step away from these books. Ever…you’ll have to pry them out of my cold, dead hands! (I’m feeling very dramatic today) Also the way George writes it from different points of view, if you get to the end of a character’s chapter and want to find out what happens next, you’ve got to read another few chapters to get back to them, genius if not slightly cruel.

4. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

This is my favourite Hunger Games book and it is so intense. It’s split in two the first half is Katniss and Peeta on their victory tour of Panem and training for the Quarter Quell. The second half is in the Capital, the tributes training, fighting, making allies and finally entering the arena. The arena part is so fast paced, I could hardly tear myself away.

5. The Girl in the Photograph by Kate Riordan

This book is set in England and split between the 1890s and the early 1930s. In the 30s the house hasn’t been lived in properly for years, there’s still a housekeeper and gardener in case the owners need it but they hardly ever return. Alice has fallen pregnant after having an affair with a married man. Her mother is appalled and sends her to Fiercombe Manor where she used to work and still knows the housekeeper who works there. Alice soon discovers the foundations of another house in the grounds but no one will tell her why it was destroyed. She finds diaries dated from 1890, a young woman, pregnant like her, but married. We see glimpses into Elizabeth’s life as well. I couldn’t stop thinking about this book while I was reading it and wondering what could have happened to Elizabeth. It’s clever and a really emotional read.

What are some of your favourite unputdownable reads?

Saturday Requiem by Nicci French Review

This book is the sixth in the Frieda Klein series. Frieda is a psychotherapist who sometimes consults with the police on cases. Or at least she used to, in the last book she was framed for murder and only just managed to prove her innocence. A strange and powerful man helped her and now she owes him a favour.

Thirteen years ago, eighteen year old Hannah Docherty was convicted of killing her entire family. She has been in a psychiatric hospital ever since, often sent into solitary confinement and beaten by other patients. The arresting police officer is under investigation as are some of his old cases. Frieda believes that Hannah is innocent and wants to prove it.

Hannah’s story is so sad, I can’t believe people are treated that way. Frieda is as brilliant and blunt as ever in this book and she’s so incredible at her job. I love seeing her piece all the clues together. The story is gripping and tense, I also believed Hannah was innocent and was outraged at the way she has been treated in the ‘hospital’ where she’s been kept. A fantastic read as always from Nicci French.

Top Ten Tuesday – Page to Screen Freebie

I personally don’t mind watching films/tv shows before I read the books, although most of the time I do it by accident! Some of the books on my list were made into great films, others not so much.

1. The Hunger Games series

These are first because I think the films stayed really true to the books, Suzanne Collins worked with the directors and writers closely and it shows. Her vision for the book has transferred wonderfully to the screen. I saw the first film of the series before I read the books but after I found out it was a book, I got hold of it as soon as I could! Catching Fire is my favourite book and film of the series, it tranfers so well to the screen.

2. Atonement

I saw this film first as well and I fell in love with it. It’s a stunning film and when I read the book I could see why, the many descriptive passages were so detailed it really transports you to 1940s Britain and France. The endings are the main difference to the film/book, the same thing happens, we’re just told in very different ways. I think the film and book rank equally great.

3. Harry Potter

I read the Harry Potter books first long before I saw the films. The books are so important to me, I absolutely love them. The films are good, I really enjoy them, just not as much as the books, they’re quite a few differences, especially in the later films but it still works. Books definitely win here!

4. A Song of Ice and Fire vs Game of Thrones

Again I started watching the show before I knew about the books, but I caught up pretty quickly. ASOIAF is one of my favourite books series’ ever, George R.R. Martin is a genius! I have a love/hate relationship with GoT. The first two seasons are incredibly close to the books, however the show writers make gradual changes over the course of the show, season five was a complete let down, they diverted so much from some characters stories, I almost gave up. GoT also shows the writers’ true misogynistic natures by having more sexual violence against women in it than any of the ASOIAF books. They cut out some key characters later on and changed some great characters (the Sand Snakes) into vengeful two-dimensional versions. Visually of course GoT is stunning and the actors are incredible but it still looses out to ASOIAF because the writers suck!

5. The Chronicles Of Narnia

I really like the Narnia books, but I actually think I prefer the films! They’re so pretty and magical, I could watch them forever. They haven’t made the whole series into books though which is slightly disappointing, but all of the Pevensie’s adventures have been transferred onto screen.

6. Persuasion

I love this book and I love period dramas so the TV adaptation I watched is right up my street. Sometimes I struggle to follow classics when I read them, Persuasion wasn’t like that but I still really enjoyed seeing it brought to life by actors.

7. A Series of Unfortunate Events

I love these books, they’re so strange and quirky and clever, Lemony Snicket is brilliant! The series has been made into a film and a tv series. The film covered the first three books and just wasn’t good at all. It didn’t cature Snicket’s quirkiness, the whole film came off as odd and bleak. The tv series is much better, not as good as the books, but closer! There is a narrator in the show and the characters talk in the same way that Snicket wrote for them.

8. The Other Boleyn Girl

This book is so good! It’s set in Tudor times and it’s about Anne Boleyn and her sister Mary who had an affair with Henry VIII before Anne married him. The film is good, but some bits from the book are missing and I’m pretty sure there’s more violence in it than the books which is why it’s so far down on the list.

9. Before I Go To Sleep

This book is so gripping and scary. I could hardly put the book down when I read it and years later they made it into a film. Despite the brilliant cast it didn’t really have the same effect as the book, there was tension but it was more confusing. I had forgotten the ending as well so that wasn’t the reason I didn’t like it as much.

10. The Girl on the Train

Amazing book, so cleverly written, all the layers of deceit and drunken confusion from the main character Rachel. The film was ok but again I didn’t feel as much tension or urgency to find out what was going on. Most of the time it felt like we were just watching Rachel have a breakdown. I did remember the dramatic end to the story though for this one so that might be why I wasn’t as invested.

So basically books rule! They’re always going to be better, probably because there’s more detail and we can let our imaginations run wild!

Top Five Tuesday – Magical Creatures

A new Top Five Tuesday, the prompts are created by Bionic Book Worm. This week we get to choose our top five magical creatures! I’ve had lots of fun looking in to these creatures, here they are:

1. Unicorns

Traditionally we think of unicorns as pure white, beautiful creatures, similar to horses but with a long horn protruding from their heads and white or silver manes and tails.

Unicorns can be seen in mythology and stories throughout the world for hundreds of years. In fact they used to be written of as if they were real, perhaps there used to be such a creature, but like so many other species we hunted them all down. Unicorn’s horns were said to contain incredible healing properties, they could protect the owner and cure all poisons. In Europe it was believed that unicorns couldn’t be caught be men, they would only be drawn to virgin women.

I remember unicorns as they were described to us in Harry Potter:

“The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price. You have slain something so pure and defenceless to save yourself, you will have but a half-life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips.” – Rubeus Hagrid, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

They are powerful magical creatures who live away from humanity. As foals they are gold and turn white when they reach adulthood. Unicorn hair is used as wand cores and in some potions.

2. Dragons

Huge scaled creatures who can fly, breath fire and roar. In most stories dragons are hoarders, they hoard treasure in caves and sleep amongst it. They can burn whole cities to the ground, but they’ll keep to themselves if left alone.

Dragon mythology has existed almost as long as humans have. From all over the world we have myths and legends about dragons and their destruction.

A few of my favourite books have dragons in them; Harry Potter, The Hobbit and A Song of Ice and Fire.

“My armor is like tenfold shields, my teeth are swords, my claws spears, the shock of my tail a thunderbolt, my wings a hurricane, and my breath death!” – Smaug, The Hobbit

Smaug is the evil dragon in the Hobbit who took the home of the dwarves and hoarded all of the gold for himself. Bilbo, Thorin and their companions attempt to slay the dragon and take back their home.

“For the first time in hundreds of years, the night came alive with the music of dragons.” – A Game of Thrones

We see the dragons in ASOIAF since their birth, they’re not yet threatening any of our favourite characters in Westeros so for me they don’t seem horrible at all. Although George R.R. Martin once compared using a dragon as a weapon to the use of an atomic bomb in our time, so…not so great.

3. Mermaids

Mermaids have the torso and head of a human but the bottom half of a fish. I love the sea and swimming and I’ve always wanted to be a mermaid! In modern day we think of mermaids as beautiful creatures who live peacefully in their underwater kingdoms. But historically mermaids and sirens would lure sailors to their deaths by singing to them.

“The merpeople had greyish skins and long, wild, dark green hair. Their eyes were yellow, as were their broken teeth, and they wore thick ropes of pebbles around their necks. They leered at Harry as he swam past; one or two of them emerged from their caves to watch him better, their powerful, silver fishtails beating the water, spears clutched in their hands.” – Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

In Harry Potter the mermaids are depicted far more realistically than Disney’s films! They have gills for breathing underwater, dark green hair and they are fierce protective creatures. They have their own language which sounds beautiful under the water but above it sounds like screeches. I still want to be them!

4. Fairies

Tiny winged creatures, with the bodies of humans but as small as insects. I love fairies, I used to believe in them and look for them in my garden. Again I’d love to be one, especially the fairies I know the best, Flower Fairies.

By the peaceful stream or the shady pool

I dip my leaves in the water cool.

Over the water I lean all day,

Where the sticklebacks and the minnows play.

I dance, I dance, when the breezes blow,

And dip my toes in the stream below. – Willow Fairy

The Willow Fairy is my favourite, me and my sisters shared a big book of the Flower Fairies. It had the beautiful pictures and the poems of all the fairies. They all look so happy and peaceful living in their plants, I wanted to join them (and still do).

5. Phoenix

Large beautiful birds with crimson feathers, when they die they’re reborn from the ashes.

“Phoenixes burst into flame when it is time for them to die and are reborn from the ashes.” – Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

The only phoenix I know of is Fawkes from Harry Potter. He’s loyal to Albus Dumbledore and he saves Harry’s life in The Chamber of Secrets with his healing tears. When Dumbledore died he sang a heartbreaking song whilst circling the castle before flying away forever. Sounds like a great companion to have and will probably live longer than you!

I have loved making this list, what are your favourite magical creatures?

Top Five Tuesday – Books I want to reread

A new Top Five Tuesday, the prompts are created by Bionic Book Worm. I love rereading books, whether it’s one of my favourites or just a story that I’ve forgotten the plot to! These are my next/top rereads:

1. A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

ASOIAF has a lot to take in, every time I read them I connect something else in the story or see things from a different point of view. I could reread these books forever. Because of how they’re written, every chapter we’re with a different character in a different part of their mad world so it’s always interesting. I can’t get enough of this series so I’ll be rereading them forever!

2. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

This book is so incredible but I’ve only read it once so I can’t wait to enjoy it all over again. This is kind of my dream book, it’s set in the 1920’s-40’s and it all about the possibilities of life and the decisions we make affecting our lives.

3. Atonement by Ian McEwan

I haven’t read this book in so long and it’s one of my favourites. The film is also one of my favourites. I clearly have a thing about WWII Britain.

4. The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins

I haven’t read these books since the last film came out, it’s definitely time I reread them again. This is another series that I will always come back to because of the emotional connection I have to it and how brilliant it is!

5. His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman

I loved this series when I was younger and Pullman has written a book that’s set twenty years after the events in the last book, it’s out later this year. I am so excited and I thought I’d better read the series again just to remind myself of all the details! The series is aimed at children but it’s so complex and clever that I think any age would enjoy it.

Harry Potter should really be on the list as it’s another series that I will never not want to read but I only read them all last year so they’ll have to wait!

Quotes of the Week

I hope you’ve all had a good week, here are my favourite quotes from this week:

“Inside every sane person there’s a madman struggling to get out. No-one goes mad quicker than a totally sane person.” -Terry Pratchett, The Light Fantastic

This quote really shook me!

“It’s meaningless. It’s just dread. As if my time of reckoning has come.” – Nicci French, Saturday Requiem

The woman is talking about her anxiety and the whole passage resonated with me but especially this part.

Top Ten Tuesday – Inspirational Book Quotes

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday topic by thatartsyreadergirl is inspirational quotes. I love quotes, so this was a really fun topic for me.

“Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.” – Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

“Life wasn’t about becoming, was it? It was about being.” – Ursula Todd, Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

“Laughter is poison to fear.” – Catelyn Stark, A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

“But you know, happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” – Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J K Rowling

“Old stories are like old friends, you have to visit them from time to time.” – Old Nan, A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin

“But people themselves alter so much, that there is something new to be observed in them for ever.” – Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

“A story was a form of telepathy. By means of inking symbols onto a page, she was able to send thoughts and feelings from her mind to her reader’s. It was a magical process, so commonplace that no one stopped to wonder at it.” – Briony Tallis, Atonement by Ian McEwan

“It does not do well to dwell on dreams and forget to live.” – Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Philospher’s Stone by J K Rowling

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, the man who never reads lives only one.” – Jojen Reed, A Dance With Dragons by George R.R. Martin

“I wanted to tell the book thief many things, about beauty and brutality. But what could I tell her about those things that she didn’t already know? I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race-that rarely do I ever simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant.” – Death, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

What are some of your favourite inspirational quotes?