Stolen Endings

Hello, friends! So I haven’t written in a while and you probably forgot about me… but here I am and I’m back!  In my last post, I was reading the Magician’s Nephew.  Well, it was a very good book, but for some reason it’s hard for me to commit to the end of some of the Chronicles of Narnia books.  I know, how scandalous!  I didn’t actually finish it, but if you don’t have a problem with finishing these books, then I encourage you to try!  I still love Aslan, so that’s not a problem. 😉

Anyway… I am currently reading a book that is NOT on my list because it was presented to me unexpectedly.  As you might know already, I am a VERY big fan of Gail Carson Levine.  She’s written a couple of my favorite books (Ella Enchanted and Fairest) and I highly recommend that you look her up if you haven’t already.  The book that I am reading now is the recently published sequel to Tale of Two Castles… Stolen Magic.  It follows Elodie, Masteress Meenore, and Count Jonty Um on their new adventure to Dair.  The beginning has me slow going, but I’m getting there and will hopefully be able to tell you more about it soon.

I personally love the dragon Meenore and how mysterious IT is. (IT is an it because nobody knows what gender IT is. Weird, right?) IT is awesome and Elodie is pretty cool too.  So if you have a little extra time, I encourage you to check out Tale of Two Castles and Stolen Magic!  You don’t necessarily have to read the Tale of Two Castles first, I just prefer reading books in order.  That’s all for today, but I hope to see you all real soon!

Until we meet again,
Sierra

P.S. If you’re interested in what I had to say about Ella Enchanted (It was on my list), then you can check out my posts ⇒here⇐ 🙂

For Narnia and for Aslan!

The Magician’s Nephew was written as a prequel to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  It explains some of the backstory of magic, the White Witch, and even includes how Narnia came to be!  If you’re like me, you absolutely LOVE Aslan (Who doesn’t right?!), and let me tell you this, he makes an amazing entrance!

He is amazing for many reasons, but here are just a few of the best:

1.  He is gentle and kind.
2.  He is loving.
3.  He is powerful.
4.  He cares for everyone… The animals, plants, and people.
5.  He rules with justice.

Do these characteristics sound familiar to you?  They do to me. C.S. Lewis has a way of writing one thing and meaning another. Whether you believe in God or not, Aslan is the perfect likeness of Him.  C.S Lewis was able to through theory into his fiction writings without most people knowing it.  Many times has he written scenes that are so alike to stories in the Bible, they jump right out of the page and onto your nose!  Some people can’t see it, but others who believe understand.

The beauty of Aslan and His grace, love, and justice are so unbelievably amazing that you can’t help but love Him.  I love how He arrives into the book for the very first time.  Singing majestically while the darkness is turned into light and the earth is formed and trees sprout from the ground and animals literally pop out from under the ground!  How great is that?!  Aslan created Narnia from darkness.  Nothing. Was. There.  Yet, when He opened His mouth everything came to be.

It’s so amazing and so beautifully written that I could cry.  But the most amazing part of it is that C.S. Lewis was inspired by Truth.  He wrote about what He believed and He wrote God to be such a beautiful character in his story, you’d have to be pretty oblivious to not know who Aslan REALLY was.  How courageous, how remarkable is this collection of stories that are mere fiction, but have so much meaning and truth in them!  This is why I love Narnia so very much.  I don’t want to leave this beautiful place, and I hope I never will!  No matter how old I am, Narnia will always have a special place in my heart, and someday I will get to spend eternity with Aslan in His kingdom.  For Narnia and for Aslan!

“If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.” – C.S. Lewis

Until we meet again,
Sierra

Have no fear! {The Friendship of a Child}

♥ “Hullo,” said Polly. “Hullo,” said the boy.  “What’s your name?” “Polly,” said Polly.  “What’s yours?” “Digory,” said the boy. “I say, what a funny name!” said Polly. “It isn’t half so funny as Polly,” said Digory. “Yes, it is,” …

Loss, Fear, and Pain { A Review of Insurgent}

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

I have not written to you in a very long time, but that is because I have been reading the fast-paced, violent book called Insurgent.  I enjoyed the sequel to Divergent and found that this is partially because I did not let the movie bias my imagination.  I prefer to read books before they are made into movies, but this can be hard since blockbuster productions are made so quickly nowadays.  Never the less, I encourage you to read before you watch.

Now, as I said, Insurgent is a very fast-paced book.  I thought it beautifully displayed the inner feelings of its characters and further developed its relationships.  I am not for the physical scenes in which Tris and Tobias partake in, but nonetheless, Insurgent is a very well written book and I was captivated by it even if it did take me a long while to finish.  I am this post in a different manner because this particular book did not stay on many topics or situations for very long.   It was very hard to know what specific thing to write about!  I will now choose a couple rather emotional topics to write on that really captured the characters in this book.

Tris, a strong-willed girl (or woman, whatever is more convenient), is forced to cope with the deaths of her parents and her friend or other wise compromise her faction.  Although her faction is now separated (half now traitors for Erudite), she is now a ruthless person who does not understand the true meaning of sacrifice.  She struggles with the fact that everyone she loves most is either dead, in danger, or hates her.  She can no longer gather up the courage to hold a gun, yet she still acts bravely even though some of her decisions are not the best.  Veronica Roth dives deeper into Tris’s own thoughts of betrayal, sadness, and self-hate.

Another emotional situation that is perfectly captured is of Tobias and his father, Marcus.  Tobias struggles with the fact that Marcus is with them after all Tobias had done to get away from him.  The Dauntless call him cowardly, but he is braver than all of them to put up with his abusive father.  Nevertheless, he finds a way to kill two birds with one stone, once again accepted by the Dauntless.

The loss of loved ones, the fear of cowardliness, the painful past of a father, all of these things are very hard topics to write on, but I feel that they were all beautifully captured and I give Veronica two thumbs up for this fabulous book!  I’m afraid I can’t say the same for the new movie, but I’ll let you decide that for yourself.  Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you liked my little review/summary of Insurgent by Veronica Roth!

Until we meet again,
Sierra

“Great books help you understand, and they help you feel understood.” –John Green

P.S. I am now reading The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis.  I have the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe on my reading list, but as it is not in my house any longer in my house, I have substituted it for another. 🙂 

You are worthy {Mount Eskel, my lady}

←            ♥            → She’s as lovely as a girl with flowers in her hair The mountain, my lady She’s as bright as spring sun drying rain from the air Mount …

A Lesson Worth Learning

Here I am, one week later, finished with my latest journey through Divergent.  As promised, I would like to write to you about the factions… The factions of the future.  In Divergent, everyone is separated into a faction that displays one virtue.  You must choose one of the following:

~KNOWLEDGE  ~BRAVERY        ~KINDNESS         ~SELFLESSNESS    ~HONESTY

(Are you overwhelmed yet?  How can you choose just one?!  I have no idea.  This is the decision that Tris had to make at the Choosing Ceremony when she was just 16.  Crazy right?  Moving on…)

Kudos to you if you have mastered even one of these virtues!  They are hard to conform to and for them to be second nature to you is a very big accomplishment.  I like to think of myself as a smart and kind person.  I don’t lie intentionally and I’m not so scared of something that it hinders the way I live.  I try to be selfless, but this one seems like the hardest one to master, and I don’t think I will ever fully understand what it’s like to be selfless. (Also, if you think you are selfless, you probably are not because saying you are selfless is, indeed, an act of selfishness… Just saying.)

Can you find just one of these qualities that you would like to master?  Or one that you could even come close to mastering?  If you are like me, I would like to master all of these qualities… Each one has it’s own advantages, and imagine what you could accomplish if you had all of them together!  I think this is when the factions come in handy.  They give you the opportunity to take the time to learn the pros and cons of each virtue and the opportunity to master them separately.

I tend to push myself harder than necessary to become the person that I want to be… Kind, selfless, honest, brave, smart, caring, loving, forgiving… The list goes on.  I tend to strive for all of these qualities at once, and I just end up a hot mess.  But if I slowed down and took the time to look at each one separately, it would be so much easier to learn and improve myself!  Take one step at a time because every lesson worth learning requires focus.

Until we meet again!
Sierra

“I think of life as a good book. The further you get into it, the more it begins to make sense.” –Harold Kushner

I am Divergent

**SPOILER ALERT** Do not read this if you don’t want to know what happens in Divergent by Veronica Roth. Hello, friends!   The past couple of weeks I have given most of my attention to my newest journey… into the future.  I …

There is no one alive who is youer than you

I have learned many things while traveling through the pages of Ella Enchanted.  The one thing that I will share with you today is the one close to my heart.  I have learned ,above all, that no matter your circumstances, nothing and no one should ever get in the way of you being YOU.  Ella was cursed the very day she was born and it held her back from unlocking her true potential.  She wasn’t just Ella.  She was the obedient one, the one who can’t help but do what others tell her to.  She was trapped with no way out.  The one feeling she so desperately wanted was to be free to be whomever she wanted to be.  To break the chains of obedience off her wrists.  She wanted to be herself.

I think of how many times I haven’t been my true self around people because I don’t know if they’ll like me.  It’s hard to be yourself around new people, heck it’s hard to be yourself around people you’ve known forever.  It really hurts to not be understood.  I know.  It hurts when people don’t accept you for the truly beautiful person you are.  Over the past few years, I have been given some great, true friends who love me for who I am on the inside out.  I have been able to break out of my shell and my shyness, and I have been able to unlock some (not all) of my true potential as the strong, loving, and hard working person that I am.  I hope with all of my heart that someday I will be able to unlock all of that potential.  I know it won’t be an easy road to walk, but I am determined to reach the end.  There is light at the end of this tunnel.

I encourage you to look within yourself, and to unlock your true potential.  I can’t promise it will be easy, because it won’t be.  Not everyone will love you or understand you.  But I can tell you this… Once you know exactly who you truly are, there is no greater feeling of acceptance and love because you will have accepted and truly loved yourself.  Ella found her true self.  I dare you to do the same.

“Today you are you, that is truer than true.  There is no one alive who is youer than you!” – Dr. Suess

←                          ♥                            →

Regretfully, I have made my journey back home.  I so loved my trip to Frell.  I have grown to love the Elves and Agulen’s pottery, Apple the Centaur, and Mandy the cook.  I admire Char’s soft, yet firm spirit, his loving personality, and Ella’s steadfast spirit.  I shall miss Frell very much, but this is only the start of my adventures.  I will journey to many more magical and modern places as well as go back in time.  These are the adventures I am looking forward to and I will forever hold them in my memories.  Here’s to the many more adventures I will have to cherish with you!

Goodbye, Frell, until we meet again!
Sierra

“Whenever you read a good book, somewhere in the world a door opens to allow in more light.” –Vera Nazarian

I Command You

Hello, friends!  My first adventure has begun and I find myself in Frell, a land of ogres, fairies, and spells.  As I start my journey, I find that Ella of Frell was cursed at birth to follow every command that she was given.  How horrible to have to live your life obeying everyone’s orders!  Now, this might not seem such a great hassle to you… Perhaps you have lived your life obedient to your parents or spouse.  Perhaps you don’t mind doing what others ask you to do.  This is great, but one thing that you have that Ella doesn’t is the right to choose whether or not you want to follow an order.  

Just think… Would you jump off a cliff if someone told you to?  I would guess your answer to be no, because you would probably die.  Or would you push someone else off the cliff because you were told to?  This time, you wouldn’t die, but the other person most likely would.  We were all born with the right to choose our actions.  Ella was not given that right.  She was cursed as a baby to live a life controlled by those who give her commands.  Her only hope is that someday, she will be able to break the spell herself.  How, you ask?  She doesn’t even know…

Even with such unfortunate circumstances as these, Ella is able to still be herself and find her own way in life.  She is sassy, clumsy, and most of all, disobedient.  How can this be, you may ask?  Despite her curse, Ella fights her obedience to the core.  Even though she can never fight it completely, she does not let the curse determine who she is as a person.  And she is, to me, the most disobedient person I know.

This get’s me thinking… How would I live my life if I had been giving a terrible gift (or curse, in this case) as a baby?  Would I become a rebel, trying to maneuver my way around every request like Ella?  Or would I suck it up and do as I was told?  I sometimes find pleasure in following orders.  Other times, I don’t appreciate the commands.  However, I find myself doing them even though I don’t want to.  That’s just who I am.  But I do know that I will never be able to understand the obedience that Ella has to endure, the obedience that was forced upon her, because I, just like you, have the right to choose my actions.  What will you choose today?

Until we meet again,
Sierra

“Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book.” –Author Unknown

To Read Would be an Awfully Big Adventure

Hello, dear reader, welcome to The Never Chronicles.  If you are reading this, then you and I have something in common: the love of books.  We love to read.  We love to imagine ourselves as the main character.  We love to think of our life as a good book.  This is why I am here, to read and to be inspired by the words on the page.
This summer, I will embark on a journey to explore new worlds, new authors, and most importantly, new stories.  I will be reading 10 books over the course of 4 months.  After I finish each expedition, I will journey back to the real world and give you a taste of what I have learned and the fantastic places I have traveled to.  If you would like, you can travel with me.  Here is a list of the books I will be diving into this summer:

1. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
2. Divergent by Veronica Roth
3. The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge
4. Insurgent by Veronica Roth
5. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
6. The Chimneys of Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston
7. Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
8. Allegiant by Veronica Roth
9. Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
10. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

This list isn’t necessarily in the order that I will read them.  I will read each when the book is available to me.  I have included 5 books that I have already read following the advice of C.S. Lewis…

“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.”

I think that’s a good rule.  I have chosen all different authors except for the Divergent series by Veronica Roth because this is a personal goal of mine.  As it might be fun to read these books along with me, please have an open mind to other books that may not be right in front of your eyes…

“If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.”

–Haruki Murakami

I am looking forward to this summer and I hope you are ready to have some great adventures with me!