Story Time

I love stories. I always have and always will. I love to read them, watch them, write them, and hear them. Now, as I have already said, the best story of all is the story of Jesus Christ, but there are other stories that are pretty cool, and over the years, I have absorbed quite a repertoire of stories that I enjoy. 

When I was little, Mom would read my sisters and I books. We would all sit on the couch in the afternoon for about an hour or so and listen to her read us books like Little House on the Prairie and The Chronicles of Narnia. We called it story time. As I grew older and learned how to read those books myself, story time became more flexible. I was constantly reading. I read American Girl books and countless Nancy Drew books. I read stories about princesses and dragons, spells and fairies.

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During high school, the size of the books I read grew. I read classics, like Homer and Jane Austin, and epics, like Harry Potter. I read fairy tales and adventures, historical and contemporary. I also started watching more movies and TV shows, which also have good stories. It's impossible for me to choose just one favorite book (besides the Bible, which would obviously win), but I will compose a list of a few special books.

Anything Jane Austin. I haven't read all of her books, but I will one day. My favorite is Pride and Prejudice, but I also enjoyed Emma.

Narnia. C.S. Lewis does a phenomenal job telling a story that stays with you for all of the right reasons.

The Hiding Place. This isn't a fiction book, but it is so inspiring.

Anne of Green Gables. I love Anne (spelled with a E)! Her quirky adventures and fiery spirit always make me laugh.

Harry Potter. If I really had to choose my favorite books, I would probably choose the Harry Potter books. They really are that good.

The Goose Girl. I really like any of Shannon Hale's teen books, but The Goose Girl is the best!

The Gallergirl Girls. Ally Carters books are so fun to read! This series was fresh and exciting to read.

There are so many more, but these are some of the top favorites. Another day I shall rant on about movies and television shows, but I'm done for now. After I end with this quote from Samwise that really summarizes why stories are so important to us. 

Frodo: I can't do this, Sam.
Sam: I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.  
Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?
Sam: That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for

Hannah