This is it. A new years resolution turned two-year project is finally done. Yes, I failed to read 12 books in 12 months, but I was not about to give up and have that electronic proof just sitting at [6/12] blog posts of book reviews. So here, at the end of December 2016 I am writing a 12th and final book review, never again will I have to write one of these.

So in Paris, there is this little bookshop called Shakespeare and Company. It's one of the best known English bookshops in the city, sitting in the center of the city on a tiny street across from Notre Dame. When you purchase a book from here they put a little stamp with the shop logo on the first page, so of course, I needed to buy something purely for the stamp. I decided to buy a story that is special to me and very stereotypically "French" to mark my time in the city. There was no better option than The Phantom of the Opera. The story that inspired my favorite musical of all time which is set right here at the Paris Opera house.

I had never read the novel before, so I was expecting it to be the same story that I've seen on stage and screen so many times. To my surprise, the two plots did not align perfectly. The focus shifted in a way I wasn't expecting, it was written from a point of view that was completely separate from the plot, and it was a much more drawn out story than I was expecting. It was interesting to read as a source text for an adaptation. The musical adaptation just pulls a few key concepts from the novel such as the character of the Phantom, the love triangle Christine gets tangled in, and the idea that the opera is gaining new ownership. The adaptation takes these and creates a more appealing story for the stage, something that a viewer would become more emotionally attached to, while the novel is much more descriptive with the events that happen and the character Vicomte de Chagny's journey to save his love.

Overall I think it was a perfect little story to read during my last few weeks in Paris and a great keepsake from my time there. I will always love the story of The Phantom of the Opera, but I think I prefer the adaption that I've watched far too many times.

Julia Carrington

Oh the irony that a majority of this book what read while on a train/metro...

When in a large city you use public trasportation.
When using public trasportaion you have a lot of time to quietly sit in your own bubble.
When quietly sitting in your own bubble you get bored and need to find things to busy yourself.

Some opt to stare at their phones or listen to music. I personally have found this to be the perfect time to get some reading in. I have at least an hour and a half worth of commuting time on the metro every day and then sometimes more in addition to that if I choose to bop around the city a little more. Since I'm not the one driving I just get to read and it's so relaxing.

This was an amazing novel to read during my little commutes. I missed out on reading Gone Girl because I had to see the movie for a class before I had a chance to read that book, so I was not prepared to let that happen again with this suspense novel. I loved this book. It was beautifully written and so much fun to read. It was one of those stories that was just hard to walk away from. I feel like I don't read enough suspense or mystery type books because my go-to is more of a romance or coming-of-age type story. I'm not going to talk about the plot at all because it is a suspense and therefore background shouldn't be shared. Yes, I know the movie just came out recently so it's not that secret, but humor me for a bit.

Also just one more book and I can be done with these silly little book reviews. A one year goal turned into a two year goal, but the 12 book total will be finished nonetheless.

Julia Carrington

Life gets busy. I don't think I know a single person that doesn't use the word "busy" as a word to describe how things are for them. We fill our lives with so many activities and things we feel that we must accomplish. We do this so much so that we feel we have no time to do what we wish to do, but in reality, if we just reorganized our time and prioritized what was really important this constant feeling of busyness would begin to fade away.

Letting the word "busy" take over my life is something I know I have a problem with. Even at times when I have nothing important to do I still have this overwhelming feeling of busyness hanging over me like a cloud, preventing me from doing what I want to be important to me. I tell myself I would blog more if I wasn't so busy, but then in my free hour between work and dinner I watch a television show instead. I say I wish I would take more time to read or do a devotional in my bible every day, but in my free moments at work and before I go to sleep I choose to check my social media for the umpteenth time that day.

For those who are like me and have a problem controlling this busy feeling and let it control you instead, this book is a great reminder of how we must look up to what is really important instead of all the minuscule things in life. It is written from a Christian view talking about how improving a relationship with God and spending time with him can help ease the burden of busyness off of our shoulders.

I read this book during one of the busiest times of my life so far, working 8 hour shifts, often 6 days a week and took the time during the breaks in my shifts to slow down and read for a bit and just doing that helped me put everything going on in my life into a clear perspective. I would really suggest this book to any college student or young adult in the work world just to use as a reminder that sometimes we need to relax and reorganize our lives to help the monstrous feeling of being busy leave us alone more often than not.

Julia Carrington