Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Books That Changed My Life: A Trip to the Stars




This is a post that was inspired by the most recent Top Ten TuesdayTop Ten Books I Recommend the 
Most. I want to take a look at the books that have stuck with me and why. I'll be writing about these books from an emotional perspective, rather than trying to review them.


















We all have those books that have affected us LONG after we finished that last page right? Well, I've decided to chronicle a few of those starting with A Trip to the Stars by Nicholas Christopher.

Why This Book?
I read this book at a time I felt COMPLETELY and TOTALLY stuck in my small suburban town. This was high school and university seemed like it would never come. A Trip to the Stars was THE book that opened my horizons. Basically, this book is about a kidnapped child and his aunt who are forced to grow up apart, but always thinking of each other. Life takes them in very different directions and the reader follows along as they try to find each other, themselves and really happiness. It's just this really touching story. The best part? They travel to SO MANY interesting places. This is the book that got me dreaming of running away to well, everywhere.

It's still a go to book for me; the one I pick up when I'm feeling down, like I need to escape my life for an hour. This book takes me to Naxos, Greece (which is still my dream vacation), the Vietnam war and the Arizona desert. I love that they travel to so many places and they meet so many interesting people. Some good , some bad, but I feel like they're all friends.

These are characters who stick with you. They strive to do the right thing and they all have this aching sadness that really resonated with me. They're lost and are just trying to find their way. I felt like that when I first picked up the book and I kind of feel like that now that I'm a year out of university. It's nice to read about people who are feeling the same way (although, their experiences, way more interesting).

This book made my most recommended list on my last Top Ten Tuesday because it's provided me with comfort when I've been down. It's a book that wraps itself around you like a warm blanket. You can get lost in the magical realism and just the words themselves. It's not a fast paced novel by any means, but it engages and distracts and the feelings linger for ages after you've closed the jacket and put it back on your shelf. It opened my mind to a million different places and inspired me to dream that I could do more and visit more places than I had previously imagined. This is a book that left me thinking that I could do more with my life, what more can I say?

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