I Capture the Castle

From the book cover:
I Capture the Castle tells the story of seventeen-year-old Cassandra and her family, who live in not-so-genteel poverty in a ramshackle old English castle. Here she strives, over six turbulent months, to hone her writing skills. She fills three notebooks with sharply funny yet poignant entries. Her journals candidly chronicle the great changes that take place within the castle's walls, and her own first descent into love. By the time she pens her final entry, she has "captured the castle"— and the heart of the reader— in one of literature's most enchanting entertainments.

Here's another book that I have been meaning to read for ages. I knew I would love it. I did. It's absolutely beautiful and funny and romantic. I found in Cassandra a kindred spirit, a new favorite heroine, like Anne of Green Gables and Elizabeth Bennett. Cassandra has such an entertaining and honest view of the world. I could have read her voice for much longer than the book lasted. And what a story! Such characters! Loved her writer father - loved Stephen (I'm definitely rooting for the underdog on this one), loved them all. I was so shocked by a twist at the end that I feel a little silly for not seeing it coming, but nevertheless I'm really savoring the feeling of getting a surprise in a book I was enjoying reading so much.

Another thing that I really like about this is that Cassandra is seventeen and I won't tell you how it ends, but it ends exactly how I think a seventeen year-old's love story should end. Did you find forever, true love at seventeen? It drives me crazy when I read YA books and they immediately fall in eternal love. Teenagers are supposed to make mistakes, supposed to fall in love a few times. Anyway, I hope I haven't spoiled anything. I just really liked how real this book felt, which is amazing considering how romantic the setting is. I wish I could have grown up in a castle. Despite their poverty, Cassandra still managed to maintain a romantic view of her setting too. Ah I could go on and on about this book, I can tell. Just read it. Love it. It's awesome.

Anyone know anything about the movie? I just realized there was one and am uber-disappointed to discover that it's rated R (for one scene when Cassandra's artsy model step-mother is spotted outside 'communing with nature'). Now what was the point of ruining the movie and making it so people like me who don't watch R movies can't watch a movie based on a favorite book? A clean, delightful, YA book that really should have absolutely no inappropriate content in it? So frustrating.

Ella Minnow Pea

Summary:
Ella Minnow Pea is a girl living happily on the fictional island of Nollop off the coast of South Carolina. Nollop was named after Nevin Nollop, author of the immortal pangram,* “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” Now Ella finds herself acting to save her friends, family, and fellow citizens from the encroaching totalitarianism of the island’s Council, which has banned the use of certain letters of the alphabet as they fall from a memorial statue of Nevin Nollop. As the letters progressively drop from the statue they also disappear from the novel. The result is both a hilarious and moving story of one girl’s fight for freedom of expression, as well as a linguistic tour de force sure to delight word lovers everywhere.

*pangram: a sentence or phrase that includes all the letters of the alphabet

~~complete bliss *sigh* utter contentment~~

That would be my inner word nerd talking. Go ahead, word nerd. Don't be shy. Say hello.

No?

Looks like my inner word nerd has had her say. But if you listen closely, you just might hear purring.

This book made me happy. Hap - hap - happy. I loved everything about it. It is so entertaining and so funny and so ridiculously clever. I wish I could have given it 6 stars on goodreads. It is just my kind of book. But then, I'm obsessed with words. You almost need to read this book with a dictionary and a thesaurus handy. I learned probably 20 new words in the first 2 pages. 

I was thoroughly entertained by both the plot and characters. The whole book is told in letters, which just adds to the hilarity, especially as more and more letters became illegal in Nollop. I've never given any thought to what I would do if I couldn't use a letter of the alphabet. Honestly, Mark Dunn is a genius. It must have taken him forever to write this and get it perfect. As more letters disappeared, grammar became atrocious, new words had to be invented (the new days of the week cracked me up), more random synonyms had to be used, and I just can't tell you anymore without spoiling things. Be prepared, though, to read sections aloud to whoever might be close by as you're reading. And as more letters get dropped off, you almost have to read certain sections aloud to understand them (phonetic spellings abound - particularly in the last fifth or so of the book).

Just know this: if you love words, witty characters, a powerful message against totalitarianism and censure (with plenty of humor to soften the blow), and a delightfully surprising ending, you must read Ella Minnow Pea.

I almost couldn't take it back to the library.

And it's now in the top five of my Christmas book list.