Books In Real Life
For my daughter's 10th birthday last May I bought her THE HUNGER GAMES. She loved it so much, that's all she talked about.
When she learned there was a sequel, she just had to have it. So we bought it and again, that's all we heard about.
At that point, I figured, I better take a look at this book. So I read the first two books in the series and fell in love.
I talked about it so much my husband had to read them. Then my 12 year old daughter got involved. When MOCKING JAY came out we pretty much fought over who was going to read it first. (I won, since I read the fastest.)
But that's not what my blog post is about. Not really.
It's about the impact of good books in real life.
Ever since we read THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy, we've adopted Katniss Everdeen's "Hollow Days" saying.
Whenever someone in our family is super hungry now, and no amount of food will fill us, it is called a Hollow day.
My children say it often. Very often. (Maybe I ought to think about feeding them more.)
Which got me thinking about the impact of books on our lives.
I noticed recently that the term MUDBLOOD (From the HARRY POTTER series) has been added to the urban dictionary. Has our society felt such a strong need for this term that it's become part of our language?
Or Madeleine L'Engle's famous line, "It was a dark and stormy night..." (A WRINKLE IN TIME) has become the ultimate cliche in the English language (though I'm pretty sure she didn't actually coin the phrase).
And then there's always my favorite, from Lewis Carroll's ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND. “One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. 'Which road do I take?' she asked. 'Where do you want to go?' was his response. 'I don't know,' Alice answered. 'Then, said the cat, it doesn't matter.'”
I LOVE that! Such great advice, from a cat, no less. :)
I'm in constant awe over how books can influence us as individuals, as families, as a society.
So have you ever read a book and adopted a piece of it in your life?
oh - BTW - if you are looking for some books to add to your real life, go visit Taryn's blog for an awesome contest!!
When she learned there was a sequel, she just had to have it. So we bought it and again, that's all we heard about.
At that point, I figured, I better take a look at this book. So I read the first two books in the series and fell in love.
I talked about it so much my husband had to read them. Then my 12 year old daughter got involved. When MOCKING JAY came out we pretty much fought over who was going to read it first. (I won, since I read the fastest.)
But that's not what my blog post is about. Not really.
It's about the impact of good books in real life.
Ever since we read THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy, we've adopted Katniss Everdeen's "Hollow Days" saying.
Whenever someone in our family is super hungry now, and no amount of food will fill us, it is called a Hollow day.
My children say it often. Very often. (Maybe I ought to think about feeding them more.)
Which got me thinking about the impact of books on our lives.
I noticed recently that the term MUDBLOOD (From the HARRY POTTER series) has been added to the urban dictionary. Has our society felt such a strong need for this term that it's become part of our language?
Or Madeleine L'Engle's famous line, "It was a dark and stormy night..." (A WRINKLE IN TIME) has become the ultimate cliche in the English language (though I'm pretty sure she didn't actually coin the phrase).
And then there's always my favorite, from Lewis Carroll's ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND. “One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. 'Which road do I take?' she asked. 'Where do you want to go?' was his response. 'I don't know,' Alice answered. 'Then, said the cat, it doesn't matter.'”
I LOVE that! Such great advice, from a cat, no less. :)
I'm in constant awe over how books can influence us as individuals, as families, as a society.
So have you ever read a book and adopted a piece of it in your life?
oh - BTW - if you are looking for some books to add to your real life, go visit Taryn's blog for an awesome contest!!
Comments
I recently read Across the Universe by Beth Revis and have found myself using the word "Frex" from time to time. Naturally, it just comes out. It was such a part of the world and weaved into their language, that days later, I still use it without realizing it.
I love THAT. ;)
I'm like Kristi--I'll adopt curse words and other jargon from novels. My best friend (an avid reader but not writer) and I are always speaking half in book-speak which bothers everyone around us.
Great post, Amie :) I actually LOLed at a few things.
and angela - yes, my friend! so true!
I think Harry Potter is a great example because people of all ages understand words like muggle, quidditch, etc. It's like they're part of the English language now.
I never really have, just because I don't hang out with people who read. Music and movies however......
"I believe that stories have this power- they enter us, transport us, they change things inside us, so invisibly, so minutely, that sometimes, we’re not even aware that we come out of a great book as a different person from the person we were when we began reading it."
When I was a teenager I was an Anglophile, thanks to reading Brit books and watching Brit shows.
I'm sure there were other instances, but I can't recall.