Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Top Ten Tuesday [4]


This Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's top ten is something near and dear to me: quotes.  I have a great love for the written and spoken word and collect these words as often as I can.  Most of the quotes below are from a specific book, but others are simply from the authors.

Top Ten Favorite Quotes

  1. "When you're struggling with something, look at all the people around you and realize that every single person you see is struggling with something, and to them, it's just as hard as what you're going through." - Nicholas Sparks, in Dear John
       
  2. "Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent." - Victor Hugo
       
  3. "Basically, I have two speeds.... Hostile or smart-aleck.  Your choice." - James Patterson, in Saving the World and Other extreme Sports
       
  4. "Once you had put the pieces back together, even though you may look intact, you were never quite the same as you'd been before the fall." - Jodi Picoult
       
  5. "Forget regret, or life is yours to miss." - Jonathan Larson, in RENT
       
  6. "In three worlds I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on." - Robert Frost
       
  7. "The worst thing you can do is be a liar.... Okay, fine, yes, the worst thing you can be is a Nazi, but then number two is a liar.  Nazi one, liar two." - Justin Halpern, in Shit my Dad Says
       
  8. "I wish I were a girl again, half-savage and hardy, and free." - Emily Brontë, in Wuthering Heights
       
  9. "I think literature is best when it's voicing what we would prefer not to talk about." - Rick Moody
       
  10. "It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation." - Herman Melville
   
A lot of these quotes speak to me on a personal level, but sometimes you just need a little fun thrown in too.  What are your favorite quotes?

Monday, October 21, 2013

Review: Humans of New York

Title:  Humans of New York
Author:  Brandon Stanton
Rating:  5/5

Summary:

Based on the blog with more than a million loyal fans, a beautiful, heartfelt, funny, and inspiring collection of photographs capturing the spirit of a city  

In the summer of 2010, photographer Brandon Stanton set out on an ambitious project: to single-handedly create a photographic census of New York City.  Armed with his camera, he began crisscrossing the city, covering thousands of miles on foot, all in an attempt to capture New Yorkers and their stories.  The result of these efforts was a vibrant blog he called "Humans of New York," in which his photos were featured alongside quotes and anecdotes. 

The blog has steadily grown, now boasting more than a million devoted followers.  Humans of New York is the book inspired by the blog.  With four hundred color photos, including exclusive portraits and all-new stories, Humans of New York is a stunning collection of images that showcases the outsized personalities of New York.

Surprising and moving, printed in a beautiful full-color, hardbound edition, Humans of New York is a celebration of individuality and a tribute to the spirit of the city.

With 400 full-color photos and a distinctive vellum jacket


Review:

This is one of the best books I've "read" in a long time.  The pictures are so raw even though they're posed.  I can't describe the emotions I felt while flipping through the pictures and reading through the quotes.  I guess overall I felt longing.  Longing to make something great and artistic and follow a dream like this author did.


The most random pictures were inspiring to me because these were people going about their everyday lives.  It's hard to remember how unique the rest of the world can be when you've lived in one suburb of a small city all your life.

I recommend this to the world.  I think everyone should see these people and celebrate the lives they've chose to live.