Norton Juster

First Lines Fridays: October 25, 2019

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First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

First Lines:

There was once a boy named Milo who didn’t know what to do with himself — not just sometimes, but always.
When he was in school he longed to be out, and when he was out he longed to be in. On the way he thought about coming home, and coming home he thought about going. Wherever he was he wished he were somewhere else, and when he got there he wondered why he’d bothered. Nothing really interested him — least of all the things that should have.

Did the quote pique your interest? View this book on Goodreads!

First Lines Fridays: March 29, 2019

LeeLeave a comment

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

First Lines:

Nanna and Poppy live in a big house in the middle of town. There’s a brick path that goes to the back porch, but before you get there you pass right by the kitchen window. That’s the Hello, Goodbye Window.

Did the quote pique your interest? View this book on Goodreads!

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“Have you ever heard the wonderful silence just before the dawn?” she inquired. “Or the quiet and calm just as a storm ends? Or perhaps you know the silence when you haven’t the answer to a question you’ve been asked, or the hush of a country road at night, or the expectant pause in a roomful of people when someone is just about to speak, or, most beautiful of all, the moment after the door closes and you’re all alone in the whole house? Each one is different, you know, and all very beautiful, if you listen carefully.”

– Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth

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“How can you see something that isn’t there?” yawned the Humbug, who wasn’t fully awake yet.
“Sometimes it’s much simpler than seeing things that are,” he said. “For instance, if something is there, you can only see it with your eyes open, but if it isn’t there, you can see it just as well with your eyes closed. That’s why imaginary things are often easier to see than real ones.”

– Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth

June 2018 Reading Wrap-Up

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Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour
Rating:  ★★★★☆ – really liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  May 24 – June 14
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  The descriptions of the set design. This book has made me look at movies and tv shows with a whole new eye, sometimes pausing to take it all in, because the character’s love just shines through in a contagious way.
Least Favorite Thing:  I mean… I kinda hate the cover art on this version…

Honestly, everyone should read a book by Nina LaCour, she’s really becoming a real favorite of mine.

My Posts About Everything Leads to You

The Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster
Rating:  ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  June 14
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Biracial family in a picture book!
Least Favorite Thing:  No one has managed to bottle the smell of a picture book for me yet so I had to pause after every page to sniff the book.

I don’t know what inspired me to read a picture book, of all things, but I really enjoyed this cute little book. If you are looking for children’s books this would be a great one.

My Posts About The Hello, Goodbye Window

That Summer by Sarah Dessen
Rating:  ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review:  No
Format:  eBook
Reading Dates:  June 13 – 26
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  The descriptions of all the tall girls in the book.
Least Favorite Thing:  The use of the r-slur that one time.

I am working on a Sarah Dessen reread and I prefer to read them in published order, so obviously this one is first. I liked it a little less this time around, but I’m not sure if that’s due to my outgrowing the books or something else. I suppose I’ll figure it out soon enough.

My Posts About That Summer

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Rating:  ★★★★★ – loved it
Review:  Yes
Format:  eBook
Reading Dates:  May 16 – June 28
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  SO PUNNY
Least Favorite Thing:  The Humbug annoys me, but only vaguely.

I haven’t read this since I was a kid and I remembered loving it, so I read it again. And I loved it again! Honestly, I know I’ve said this over and over, but everyone should read this book.

My Posts About The Phantom Tollbooth

QuoteLeeLeave a comment
“That was all many years ago,” she continued; “but they never appointed a new Which, and that explains why today people use as many words as they can and think themselves very wise for doing so. For always remember that while it is wrong to use too few, it is often far worse to use too many.”

– Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth

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Milo nibbled carefully at the letter and discovered that it was quite sweet and delicious — just the way you’d expect an A to taste.
“I knew you’d like it,” laughed the letter man, popping two G’s and an R into his mouth and letting the juice drip down his chin. “A’s are one of our most popular letters. All of them aren’t that good,” he confided in a low voice. “Take the Z, for instance — very dry and sawdusty. And the X? Why, it tastes like a trunkful of stale air. That’s why people hardly ever use them. But most of the others are quite tasty. Try some more.”
He gave Milo an I, which was icy and refreshing, and Tock a crisp, crunchy C.

– Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth