My Ideal Bookshelf

Here's my Ideal Bookshelf: 

http://crystallizedheart.blogspot.com/2013/12/my-ideal-bookshelf.html

What's yours?

Luka and The Fire of Life by Salman Rushdie

Adventures can change your life forever. No one knows this more than Luka, son of a story teller, and his father's only hope. As Luka helplessly watches his father become ill, he can only wonder why it hasn't been his turn for an adventure. But when his Antifather or Nobodaddy appears, telling him that the only way he can save his father is to journey into the World of Magic, Luka decides to take up the challenge, and together with Bear the dog and Dog the bear, he follows Nobodaddy to the World of Magic and begins his task to steal the fire of life. With numerous foes before him, including the deadliest villians and most viscious deities from his father's stories, Luka the twelve year old journeys through a familar yet strange world and discovers a power he never knew he had. But will he reach his father in time, or is Nobodaddy lying about his motive to pass the time?

This book was an amazing journey, with more cameos from mythology around the world to name. From the creative characters to the powerful folklore, this novel honors the story and what can be created from it. Luka himself is a clever tweleve year old, brave and caring. His love of his father and  every story his father told him is a strong theme in the story, and helps Luka grow to stand alongside his favorite heroes. 

At first glance, this may look like a children's tale, and through the format and the playful tone, I believe it can pass as one. On second glance, this is a philosophical musing of the power stories have over us, and the power that we unknowingly carrry ourselves. With familiar friends and foes from beloved stories around the world, and orignal, new friends from Luka's father's stories, this book is a true escape into the imagination and an enjoyable read. 

I recommend this book to anyone who love stories, mythology, folklore and the imagination. 

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Persuasion by Jane Austen

I first read Persuasion as a bitter seventeen year old. By then, my heart had been broken, and a dull echo of hope barely existed when I thought of romance. It's funny now, as I look back on it, but in many ways I owe my restored faith in true love to this novel. Anne was my spirit animal, living with a similar regret and despair, along with a loneliness based on something she felt she shouldn't have done. Her regret binds her to address the issue, that she is still in love with Fredrick Wentworth, some eight years after she refused him. The boring pattern of her life is interrupted when he returns quite suddenly back into her life, and she is forced to confront her feelings and reflect on them. 

In many ways, this is my favorite of Jane Austen's novels. While Pride and Prejudice is funny and charming, Persuasion is a deep and psychological tale of regret, chances and the random happenings in life. 

Anne herself is an observer, reflecter, thinker and a young woman with a warm heart. As she befriends Captain Benwick, she sees life in a new perspective and discovers that the past can't be changed, but there is always an opportunity to change the future. 

I recommend this book, especially to the heart broken. The story concerns what love really is, and whether it can last over a long absence. This book taught me that my silly Highschool crush was not meant to be, but living in regret doesn't help you change the present. 

Does Anne reconcile with Captain Wentworth? Does he still care for her? How does Anne cope with his sudden presence in her life? All these questions are answered, with human reflections on heartbreak, destiny and true love.