BooksAndStuff

Let’s talk about books... and stuff📖🦋

[nyasha-muganiwa]

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i walked down a familiar path, staring up at old trees and at the flowers fading, listening to the birds that sang a sad song. i found it hard to appreciate the beauty i had gotten used to. to me, it all seemed to be fading away. i walked upon a familiar path sighing, but i kept going. the path was all i knew, this path was the limit to my dreams, and deep down, i was sure that i wanted more than just dirt paths and fading flowers. the roads that crissed and crossed around my own made me wonder if it wasn't such a bad idea to wander off and merge into something new. maybe then i could find what my heart desired. even with the conflicts of each day, my mind holds a special thought, the desire to do something beyond the ordinary. but, pray tell, how can i do so if my eyes are fixed on a familiar path. it's warm there, it's comfortable. and so, i find myself walking on it, day in and day out as though without a moment's doubt. i could shift the blame to the universe or sit and blame the stars but first place prize goes to myself. look at me and understand.... i hate the familiar path.

[nyasha-muganiwa]

□^^^□

disappointments are the leaves that descend slowly from a great big tree. rustle, crunch, whisper. oh how will i recover the loss, how will i endure the pain. the truth lies in how there is no true remedy for the heartache that comes from broken anticipation and crushed dreams. life must go on. leaves must fall and winter must come to stay for there to be bigger opportunities in tomorrow. smooth sailing and easy progress exist only in the fairy tales that make our days bearable. they sure do comfort me. disappointments are the leaves that descend slowly from a great big tree. rustle, crunch, whisper. oh how will i recover the loss, how will i endure the pain. look at me and understand...take a deep breath, you'll be alright.

[nyasha-muganiwa]

~☆▪︎☆~

i push the hoodie over my head and it instinctively covers half my face. i've gotten so used to the stares and curious glances. i shove my hands deeper into my pockets, balling them a little too tight. as if ready to start a fight. i've gotten used to the thin-skinned, edgy aura. this girl looks a lot like a version of us all. dark and emo, all that's missing is the thick eyeliner and a few tattoos and she'd be said to be going through her phases. life isn't isn't always unpredictable. sometimes what you see is really what you get. and maybe i am what you think i am. cryptic, mystic, cold. maybe she wasn't always like this. maybe this version of her was made. and maybe somewhere deep inside this hollow heart is a little girl screaming for help. i shove the hoodie on and the ball my fists, adjusting her walls. maybe all she wants is a little hammer. one that could destroy those walls. maybe she doesn't like walls. maybe i'm not a wall person. maybe she wants to be free like everyone else. i push the hoodie over my head again and again, day in and out, i look at myself watching other people look at me. look at me and understand...you might understand and you might not.

[nyasha-muganiwa]

■♡♡♡■

let's just say it started pretty simple. quick side glances, small smiles and the very mention of your name sweet like honey on the tongue. you'd get called out in the crowd and my eyes would instinctively catch the first glimpse of you. searching for you. where are you. who's calling you. why. just the thought of you brought butterflies in the belly. they would be flying so wild i was afraid once that they'd escape if i ever opened my mouth. if i ever talked to you. okay, not a lot of people know this, but i can be pretty shy sometimes. if my cheeks were traitors, which thankfully they are not, you'd see the coloured evidence. but i've tried and tried and nothing seems to be able to stop that sparkle in my eye. it's a small light from the fire within. i wonder. how can one person drive me insane. okay, sure i already was and maybe it's not fully you but seriously and genuinely in the fact that before you, i couldn't feel. numb and cold, really, that's all i knew. but now i'm a big fan of warm. i like this, i like us like this. and maybe one day i'll master up the courage to say, hey. look at me and understand...i think the first days were always my favourite.

[nyasha-muganiwa]

<○■~■○>

the unexpected change in the sky is fascinating. the dark clouds assemble together like troops, and rumble intimidatingly as they grow in numbers. the wide sky now like paper, makes a sort of tearing up sound before the rumble. and the lightning, well it flashes like a torch in a dark forest, a source of relief for the man who's lost his way in the woods. when she was just a girl, she always seemed to fear storms. she found them rude and hostile, an annihilator of peace. at the sound of the rumble and at the flash of lightning, she'd swear her soul would leave her body a few times. yet here she was many little years later. her body looked a little different now, but inside was that same little girl. sure now she wouldn't jump at the sight of flashes but still deep inside she detested storms the same. the new ones too. words especially. they were a bigger rival because they'd swirl and turn around in her mind like a tornado. she didn't have to wait for the sky to alert and scare her this time. it all lived inside her now. look at me and understand...i crave a beautiful blue sky.

[taffyisreading]

What a way to end a collection. Volume 10 made the perfect ending, especially Beau Geste. The entire collection ended with this bomb of a story that had me teary-eyed. Our precious, precious Beau teaches us that we can do anything, anything we set our minds to. Here are the last of the quotes from this precious collection.

TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA BY JULES VERNE

“But hope is so firmly rooted in the heart of man, I doubt we could have killed it if we had wanted to.”

A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN BY BETTY SMITH

“Books became her friends and there was one for every mood.”

RABBIT HILL BY ROBERT LAWSON

“People that read books much seem to be queer-like.”

BEAU GESTE BY PERCIVAL CHRISTOPHER WREN

“Asses, without a doubt; but still with the imagination and soul to be romantic asses, thank God!”

[taffyisreading]

Volume 9. I felt a bit nervous as I took this book from the shelf because I knew I was nearing the end. As beautiful as Wuthering Heights was, my favourite story was The Last of The Mohicans. I just found the Mohicans to be the coolest people ever.

WUTHERING HEIGHTS BY EMILY BRONTË

“If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger, I should not seem a part of it.”

“The entire world is a collection of memoranda that she did exist, and that I have lost her.”

TYPHOON BY JOSEPH CONRAD

“There were matters of duty, of course-orders, and so on; but the past being to his mind done with, and the future not there yet, the more general actualities of the day required no comment- because facts can speak for themselves with overwhelming precision.”

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS BY JAMES FENIMORE COOPER

“Tell them that the Being we all worship, under different names, will be mindful of their charity; and that the time shall not be distant when we may assemble around His throne, without distinction of sex, or rank, or colour.”

THE YEARLING BY MARJORIE KINNAN RAWLINGS

“Well, folks that seem like kinfolks, is kinfolks.”

[taffyisreading]

Volume 8. Oh to be loved... to be loved, to be loved, to be loved and to love, deaf to other people’s words, blind to their looks.

Precious Bane just did that for me. I love such love stories that go against all odds. People that choose each other no matter what others think, and ride on a horse into the sunset.

Anyway, the quotes.

THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE BY STEPHEN CRANE

“But he said, in substance, to himself that if the earth and the moon were about to clash, many persons would doubtless plan to get upon the roofs to witness the collision.”

THE ODYSSEY BY HOMER

“‘Be brave and conquer these fears’, said the dim figure.”

KABLOONA BY GONTRAN de PONOINS

“A man is happy, in sum, when he is leading the life that suits him; and neither warmth nor comfort has anything to do with it.”

PRECIOUS BANE BY MARY WEBB

“‘Who be she?’ He says. And even though it be only a passing thought and three words, I’m a flower that knows the sun.”

“For what is there in this earth like the knowledge that you’ve found favour in the eyes of him that is your dear acquaintance?”

[taffyisreading]

Volume 7. I may be a hopeless romantic, but no, Pride and Prejudice was not my favourite story to read. I loved Green Mansions. It was intriguing and thrilling. For some reason, it had my heart pounding because of its depth. There’s something in there that’s really scary, but probably overlooked. Justified anger. I won’t say too much, just go ahead and read it. Here are some quotes to urge you a bit more.

KIDNAPPED BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

“To be feared of a thing and yet to do it is what makes the prettiest kind of a man.”

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE BY JANE AUSTEN

“Very few have heart enough to be really in love without encouragement.”

“I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.”

WIND, SAND AND STARS BY ANTOINE de SAINT-EXUPÉRY

“Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but looking outward together in the same direction.”

GREEN MANSIONS BY W.H. HUDSON

“To each of us, even to small birds and insects, and to every kind of plant, there is given something peculiar-a fragrance, a melody, a special instinct, an art, a knowledge, which no other has.”

[taffyisreading]

Volume 6. Little Women, Little Women, Little Women. A lot of people like the story, and so do I. It’s fun to read, and it’s empowering.

LITTLE WOMEN BY LOUISA MAY ALCOTT

“Go to God with all your little cares and hopes and sins, as freely and confidingly as you come to your mother.”

TALES OF POE BY EDGAR ALLAN POE

“When I wish to find out how wise, or how stupid, or how good, or how wicked is anyone, or what are his thoughts at the moment, I fashion the expression of my face, as accurately as possible, in accordance with the expression of his, and then wait to see what thoughts or sentiments arise in my mind or heart, as if to match or correspond with the expression.”

MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY BY CHARLES NORDHOFF AND JAMES NORMAN HALL

“For the first time in my life I tasted to the full the bitterness of true misery.”

MESSER MARCO POLO BY DONN BYRNE

“No faith can live that is not beautiful. The beauty God has put in your heart, child, you must always keep.”

[nyasha-muganiwa]

::::¤¤::::

my heart is the beat to the song sung in my mind. the words are wounding and have a sour effect on the listener. the beat is catchy and the lyrics are snappy, so it is easy to sing along, even though it leaves behind that bitter taste. no matter how hard i try to halt it, the song stays on replay, so much that the words and the beat are merged into one and are far engraved into the soul. the words are cruel, shameful, too bad to repeat out loud. but i memorised them well and know them by heart.  each and every beat is a reminder of the foul thoughts that grow from within. i wonder who made the tune. i'm curious as to what inspired the piece. it plays non-stop. i desire for it to end. and with it, all the agony. look at me and understand...that silence would be worth more than gold to me.

[nyasha-muganiwa]

{♡☆♡}

she is a beautiful soul. a strong tree. it's like she was planted in the centre of a dry garden. the hot breeze blows and the dust swirls around. but she grows. the sun pounds down hard and even when the water lessens more and more, but she continues to grow. with every insult and complication, every difficult moment and dry season she grows and matures the more it gets tough. her heart is her power source, so wide and endless that it on its own is the greatest mystery. she pumps her love into the garden, growing more and more with every beat. she allows the little flowers to depen on her. she is all i know. so i'm strong, i'm well, i'm alive because i lean on that heart, that tree. look at me and understand....that heart, that tree, that's my mom.

[nyasha-muganiwa]

●●●

one by one, the drops took turns gliding down from high above. the dark clouded grey, my thoughts, fully dominated the sky overhead, changing the usually bright surroundings to a more dull sombre shade. one by one, the drops gave up, slipping through the weaker parts of the clouds. taking advantage of the parts of me that felt low. those parts had had enough and surely couldn't carry on holding onto a load of tears anymore. surely a few were destined to stain my cheeks a bit. like the tight and heavy feel in my chest that comes only seconds before the downpour, like so the clouds weakened their defenses under the unbearable pain. with their guard down, a deluge took its chance. one by one, the drops landed softly on the pillow, of the ground. the dark clouds thundering, the sky holding its breath, i'm sobbing, breaking down. look at me and understand...the downpour comes after great restraint.

[nyasha-muganiwa]

^^^

what good is it to look around and see the dimmer side of light. she's there right, executing her mission, bringing light, but her light refuses to shine. i don't know, but what good is it to be physically there when really you are not. absent, far off, but in the crowd, smiling and chatting away, but with a heart so far in the distance you can miss it if you don't look close enough. like the thick grey clouds that obstruct her view, so thoughts cloud my judgement of life and seem to push me further and further. off the cliff, i'm falling off, but really i'm right here. the light's still there, out of duty really, i'm here because i have to, not because i want to. the trueness of my shine, the golden of those rays is hidden under clouded thoughts. look at me and understand...even i can't understand me sometimes.

[prokopetz]

If you're lamenting the fact that you used to be able to shoot through a 500-page novel in like a day when you were in middle school and now you can't, it's worth bearing in mind that a big part of that is because when you were in middle school, your reading comprehension sucked. Yes, mental health and the stresses of adult life can definitely be factors, but it's also the case that reading is typically more effortful as an adult because you've learned to Ponder The Implications. The material isn't just skimming over the surface of your brain anymore, and some of the spoons you used to spend on maximising your daily page count are now spent on actually thinking about what you're reading!

[heywriters]

If you want to write a dumb little story with a dumb little plot and ridiculously silly characters. No one's stopping you. Genuinely, no one should be allowed to stop you. Write that dumb story with your whole heart and don't hold back.

[perfectquote]

“If you tell the truth, you won’t have to remember anything.”

— Mark Twain

[taffyisreading]

😮‍💨