2. You begin to collect books, and that collection is ever growing.
3. Because of this growing collection, you quickly run out of shelf space on your bookshelf and have resorted to stacking books on the floor and storing books in every location where a book can fit.
4. When you go to library you may realize that picking just one book to read is actually quite difficult.
5. You try to avoid going to the library entirely because of the amount of books in your collection you have yet to read is only getting bigger.
6. But of course you go to the library anyway.
7. And you end up checking out 10 books.
8. You wish the characters you read about in books were real.
9. Sometimes you forget that they aren't real, but then you realize...
10. And finally, whatever you read stays with you forever.
Esther Earl was and still is an amazing human being, and every time I think of her I am saddened by the realization I was never able to meet her in person. However, after attending her book release party in Massachusetts, I was able to make the realization that I actually did know her.
As I had mentioned in my previous blog post, for those of you who have no idea who I am talking about, Esther was a girl who sadly passed away a few years ago from cancer and now is a published author. At her book release party last weekend I was lucky enough to celebrate her life through book readings, and video showings, and live wizard rock performances alongside many other individuals who knew Esther the way I knew Esther.
We knew her from online. She wasn’t just the girl with cancer; she was the funny, witty presence who posted video blogs on YouTube. She was the inspiration for John Green’s creation of Esther Day (August 3rd), a day to celebrate love and to tell the people in your life how much you care about them. Esther Earl truly touched the hearts of many, and with the publication of This Star Won’t Go Out I am certain that she will touch the hearts of many more.
During the book release party Esther’s sisters read an excerpt of an email Esther had sent to her future self which really stuck with me. She asked herself many questions such as “are you still a nerdfighter?”, “still a fan of harry potter?”, and “how are your cats?”. But what truly stuck with me is the following quote:
"Just be happy. And if you can’t be happy,
do things that make you happy.
Or do nothing with people that make you happy."
I believe that those are words to live by, and that Esther was a girl who truly understood how to achieve happiness. I look forward to reading the rest of her book.
When most people hear the name "Frankenstein" I would assume that they would probably conjure up thoughts of a “dark and stormy night” in a laboratory of a mad scientist who, with the help of his assistant “Igor”, would be able to tame the power of lightning to bring life to a formerly undead creature, who would then eventually go on to be chased by villagers carrying pitchforks and torches – right?
Well, although Hollywood has made that tale infamous, that is nowhere even close to the true story of Frankenstein which was written by Mary Shelley in the year 1818. The real story is very, very different.
The real story of Frankenstein is the story of a man who played God. Mary Shelley decided to call her novel “the Modern Prometheus” because Victor went against nature by creating a new kind of being – a monster. And like Prometheus was punished for creating the humans and giving them fire, Victor was punished for his acts against nature by losing the people who were dear to him.
Frankenstein is a classic. It is not a horror story about a zombie-like monster and an evil mad scientist like Hollywood has brainwashed us to believe, but it is a masterpiece which I highly recommend to anyone with a love for mystery and allusions.
