Lending Out Books

Everybody has different views on lending out and borrowing books and I thought I'd share mine seeing my latest experience.

Today I got myself into a little bit of a pickle. I was sitting in Geography and to fight the boredom me and my closest neighbours started talking about books. We talked about Eleanor & Park, a bit of John Green, some Harry Potter was touched and last but not least the Divergent Trilogy. A friend of a friend asked me if I have copies of the books, and I answered that yes I did. She immediately jumped on me and asked if she could borrow them from me because her friend wouldn't lend them to her. This made alarm bells ring in my head and I searched the most creative part of my mind for a plausible excuse. It's not the nicest way I know, but honestly I'm kind of anal about my books.

Everybody treats their books differently. Some people like to give their books annotations or they like their books to look well read. While I personally like my books to be read  at  the same time I go out of my way to avoid cracking the spine. I shudder when I read a library book or an assigned book at school and I see a previous reader has given it dog ears, and when I see someone reading with the cover bent it just gives me anxiety. Books aren't cheap so when I spend my money on books I like to take care of them. Lending out books puts this responsibility in others their hands and I am not certain some people can be trusted with this. I asked one of my friends their opinion on lending out books and she reacted in the same way, yay I'm not alone (Private dance party). But if you want to lend out your books to someone here are some tips.

1 Expectations
If your not certain someone will be careful enough with your book subtly tell them to be careful with it.

2 Time frame
Another negative part of lending out books is the uncertainty if you'll get it back or not. Give the person borrowing your book a time frame in which you expect them to return the book to you.

3 Marking Your Territory
To make sure you can always identify your copy mark them. Piss methaphorically all over them. OK maybe not that drastic but putting your name in there shouldn't be an issue. If you don't like marking your books try writing on washi tape it looks cute and it isn't permanent.

And if your still vehemently anti lending out that is fine too, and here are some tips to deal with that.

4 Gently reject 
Tell them to maybe try the library and see if they can lend the book there.

5 Elaborate
When they are still on your case for lending your copies tell them that you don't like lending out your books. Maybe touch on past experiences. Tell them about when someone didn't give you a book back or damaged a copy when you are always very careful with your books.

6 Evade
When all else fails make an excuse, you have tried your best to do it the nice way.
Examples:
- I have already lend my copies out.
- I have them stored away.
- I seem to have misplaced them.


Good luck with your borrowing and lending experiences! Also I am really interested to hear what your borrowing and lending stories are.

Book review: A Passionate Love Affair With a Total Stranger by Lucy Robinson

Author Lucy Robinson

Title A Passionate Love Affair With a Total Stranger

Page Count 434
Published January 31st 2013 by Penguin Books Ltd

Find Amazon | Goodreads

While I was browsing the aisles of a quaint little bookshop, or rather the great world of the internet, I came across this book and eventhough it sounded increadibly cheesy I decided to take the plunge anyway. So confession time, I was extreamly surprised by the book and author.

Charley Lambert has put considerable effort into achieving a perfect life. She has The Job. The Wardrobe. And The Flat. Her womanising, junk food-loving housemate Sam lowers the tone a bit but that aside, things are peachy.

Then she breaks her leg in three places, watches her unrequited love propose to someone else and - worst of all - is forced to hand over her job to her nasty deputy while she recovers. Workaholic Charley fears that she will soon go mad.

Desperate for something to do, she discovers her talent for helping the lovelorn online. And then William arrives in her inbox. Within hours of his first email, her world starts to change. Helpless, she watches herself fall in love with this man and begins to realise that she's not who she thought she was.

But will she be brave enough to turn her back on her old life - all for a total stranger? 

It was the first time I had picked up any of Lucy Robinson's books and I came to really love her writing style. I was snickering along while reading the book, and the breezy but consuming writing kept me turning the pages at lightning speed. I found the pace really enjoyable, very upbeat, if a little fast but with the well-planned plot it worked out great. The plot was more complex than I had initially predicted. A certain plot twist had me gasping outloud.

I really loved the main character Charley, primarily because I could really relate to her. Although I don't have the highbrow job, nor the amazing apartment, granted I have an acceptable wardrobe. Despite all that, what I could really relate to was her perfectionism. The need to have everything go the way you planned, to always be on the straight and narrow. At the end of the novel she learns to let go, this gave great insight into how liberating and freeing that must feel, and it inspired me to maybe let go a bit more.

I really enjoyed the topics this book brought to attention. Such as online dating, I can imagine how terrifying and exhilarating that must be. Also being a ghost-writer how fun would that be. I, too liked the family and friend relationships she has in her life, especially that with her unkempt and slightly scruffy housemate Sam. Although he was a womanizer and not the most conventional housemate, he was very sweet and caring towards Charley when she had her accident and broke her leg. Deep down he truly has a golden heart.

Overall, the book was very enjoyable. It was everything you would expect from a chick lit, it was hilariously funny, adorably romantic, very light and breezy, and slightly quirky. I loved it and read it in one go, also I will be sure to check out other works from Lucy Robinson. A total winner in my books. I would recommend it if you like light and romantic love stories that make you feel all the feels.

Movie Review: Still Alice

Title Still Alice

Release December 5th 2014

Directed by Wash Westmoreland, Richard Glatzer

Duration 101 minutes

Cast Julianne Moore, Kristen Steward, Alec Baldwin, Kate Bosworth, Hunter Parrish

Genre Drama

Find trailer 

My mother is a nurse who works with Alzheimer patients. She really wanted to go see the movie and after seeing the trailer I was really intrigued. I am glad I went to see it because it changed the way I am able to relate to patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Dr. Alice Howland is a highly intelligent woman, she teaches at Colombia, has released several textbooks and lectures all over the world. She is also happily married to her husband Dr. John Howland, and together they have 3 children. Alice has just turned 50 when her memory becomes strained, worried she consults a neurologist who diagnoses her with Early-Onset Familial Alzheimer disease. Fast deteriorating Alice finds her family bonds painstakingly tested. This is a heart wrenching, inspiring and quite frightening story about a woman trying to hold onto who she once was.

The movie was remarkable. It gave great insight into how Alzheimer patients deal with their disease and how we sometimes forget that they to are people who have previously lived a full life. I also found it very frightening to see how each time little bits of who Alice was gets ripped away. The most inspiring part of the movie I found was a speech Alice gave at an Alzheimer’s conference, I thought it gave great insight into how Alzheimer's patients feel, and experience their disease.

I was kind of disappointed about two things. First I found the character Dr. John Howland extremely disappointing. It was heartbreaking that after a great marriage he wasn't able to stand with his wife in her time of need. He kept leaving on trips and burying himself in tons of work. Even though it was disappointing it is probably how more people deal with a loved one having Alzheimer's disease, they can't or don't want to understand. What I also found quite disappointing was the ending, I won't spoil too much about it but I would have liked a more definite ending. But despite my disappointment at the open ending it was still quite beautiful.

Overall I thought it was a great story, incredibly moving. Also brilliantly played by Julianne Moore, you were literally able to see the light slowly fade from her eyes. I would recommend it to anyone who is touched by Alzheimer's personally or if you like a touch of bitter-sweetness to the movies you watch.

Based on the novel: Still Alice by Lisa Genova

Book Review: The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks

Author Nicholas Sparks
Title The Longest Ride 
Page Count 398
Published September 17th 2013 by Grand Central Publishing 

Find: goodreads | amazon 

I was casually browsing YouTube, as you do, when I came across a trailer for the movie The Longest Ride. Since we are all being honest here I clicked on it because I thought the actor was hot, and I certainly didn't regret my decision. As I was watching the trailer I noticed it was based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks and immediately order the book.

The book is about two couples and their pursuit for love. The first is about Ira Levinson, who crashes his car down an embankment. Seriously injured and fighting to stay alive he relives his memories of his beloved late wife Ruth. As he relives the memories of their lives together we get to go along for the ride and see the unique love they had for each other, and experience how they got together and stayed that way through all the hardships life has thrown at them.

The second follows Sophia Danko, a senior at Wake Forrest University, and Luke Collins, a cowboy and professional bull rider, and the story of how they fell in love. A few miles away from Ira, Sophia and Luke meet at a local bull riding competition. Though from different worlds they are both a breath of fresh air for each other, but their exponentially different lives are trying to tear them apart.

They are two couples who have very little in common and are separated by a life time of experience, but their lives will intertwine in some unexpected ways.

I found the book very funny, especially Luke. At first I couldn't really get a good feel of him but I got to appreciate his dry humor after all and laughed out loud a couple of times, which got me some odd looks. At the same time as being funny I found it heart wrenching, I must admit I cried, alright make that sobbed and rather unattractively I must add, a few times. Some of the things both of the couples went through were utterly heartbreaking. It was also very real not some fairytale about how all is well. This all made it a very touching novel.

Out of the characters I particularly loved Ira, he showed that it's the little things in life which are important. Everything you learn about his life with Ruth seems real, not some sugarcoated love story. It showed the hardships they plowed through and the happy memories they shared, it demonstrates that through hard work and irrevocable love their marriage survived.

I love Nicholas Sparks' books because he has the brilliant skill of sucking you into the novel, I find that experiencing the story through different points of view gives you the ability to really relate to it which makes the characters truly come alive.

But even though I loved it I found it took quite a while for the story to actually start, but it was still a very gripping book and it kept me turning the pages. Quite literally actually, I read it in one go it was just that good.

An extremely romantic and touching novel which will leave you sobbing at the end, like all Nicholas Sparks novels do. I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys love stories or who is a hopeless romantic.