â...she began to cry not because she was afraid of human remains but because it was just too much, the last strawâ (16).
Why did that hit me to my core?
âA couple of kittens and a mangy cat scattered as the taxi halted at the curbâ (16).
I saw some kittens when I came home today. They were so cute! Itâs such a coincidence that the chapter I read today mentioned Alexandra seeing kittens.
âShe looked at him harder, too, because he was so close to her. In that moment, she saw him for the first time not in his commercial function, her ride to a hostel, but as a person, a man not much older than sheâmaybe twenty-nine, or at most in his early thirties. She saw again that he had a square pale face and that his light hair fell forward to obscure it when he bent over. His eyes were indeed blue, true blue, not blue-green. He was not large, and there was a grace to his movements, his thin handsâ (17).
Omg I imagined a romance with these two because he was so close to her.
âShe felt tears prick againâ (17).
âIn the midst of her misery, she liked the way his thin, nicely shaped lips found the wordsâ (18).
âOne of them was pouring hot water from an electric kettle into a cupâ (32).
Omg I was just doing that a few moments ago lol
âLater that night, in the second bedroom in my motherâs apartment, I drew a kitchen knife slowly over the inside of my upper left arm, hard enough to give the skin a deep furrow of red. The pain Iâd longed for brought me no relief, except that it jolted me to my senses: the ugliness, the clichĂ©. It took time to clean up the blood, and the thought that I might have to call for help made me light-headed with shame. But I managed to stop the flow, binding my arm tightly for a night. I didnât do it again, and I always wore sleeves after that; even my parents never saw. Light as it was, the scar weighed and tingled on my arm. Strangely, it also made me stop writing, as if the stories and poems Iâd tried my hand at for years had trickled out and been lostâ (36).
I wonder why she chose her upper arm of all the places on her body.
* 8/16/21: Chapter 11, 1:33:29 (7 minutes)
* 8/18/21: Chapter 15, 2:28:53 (55 minutes)
âIn the taxiâs side mirror, she got a glimpse of her familiar self, the freckled pale oval of her face, the serious green gaze and thin mouth, her fatherâs rusty eyelashes and eyebrows, her fierce obsidian earrings. It was like encountering an old friend in an unexpected settingâ (51).
âHer most recent lifeâfour years at a good college, and then a few years of shelving booksâhad given her a vague sense of freedom with no disorder attached, apart from her inner miseryâ (61).
* 8/23/21: Chapter 20, 3:33:11 (65 minutes)
* 8/24/21: Chapter 24, 4:48:07 (75 minutes)
âShe knew she should feel relieved of a burden, but there was an empty place in her chest that the sunlight couldnât reachâ (130).
* 8/25/21: Chapter 27, 6:26:18 (86 minutes)
âShe gestured with long bent hands, drawing the hairs. âBut you are quite right. Most of us could not travel. I knew people who dreamed all the time about going somewhere else, and they let that ruin their lives. When you are not allowed to do something, it often becomes very importantââ (154).
âI do not have a gift for you better than the one I will give you now, although it is not bought with money and it is not something to wear or keep in your pocket. I hope you will keep it in your heartâ (161).
* 8/27/21: Chapter 31, 7:41:23 (75 minutes)
I was thinking of reading 2 chapters a day so it wonât be too intimidating and so I can have more time for the rest of the things that I have to do on my âDaily To Do Listâ. If I do read 2 chapters a day instead of 4 I can hopefully renew my loan for the Eaudiobook. And if I have time, I can read more than 2 chapters a day.
* 8/31/21: Chapter 34, 8:28:49 (47 minutes)
This is the first day that I am reading 2 chapters a day. It seems that reading 2 chapters a day takes more than 30 minutes. Hopefully, itâs like that for every time I read 2 chapters.
âMaybe he was one of those people who just canât bear a mess, or a job not finished. Besides, there are things you have to do for yourself, even if everyone else thinks youâre crazyâ (208).
âBefore she could wander down the path of this new anxiety, she grew warmer and sleep took her awayâ (219).
* 9/5/21: Chapter 35, 9:07:29 (39 minutes)
* 9/6/21: Chapter 37, 9:51:33 (44 minutes)
I read two chapters for this session, but I read the first chapter last night like I said I wanted to under my reading light. It was a short chapter. The last part of the second chapter I read was quite sad. That old manâs voice was strangely comforting to me. Iâm almost at the half-way point in the book!
* 9/7/21: Book 3: Chapter 41, 10:28:45 (37 minutes)
I might read more today. So there are 478 pages in the book and I thought that half of 478 was 278, but I put 478Ă·2 in my phone calculator and it gave me 239. The last page I read was 268, so that means that I am more than halfway done with the book! I just have to read 10 more pages to get to 278. The next chapter goes over that and thatâs so cool. The story is nice and itâs getting quite interesting so far. I really like Bobby and Alexandraâs relationship. Theyâre cool characters.
* 9/7/21 - 9/8/21: Book 3: Chapter 41, 11:04:56 (36 minutes)
I read over the period of two days because yesterday I was reading but then I had to go pick up Ale. Then I didnât read again until this morning. But I finally made it to page 283. I am now absolutely more than halfway done with the book. And I just checked my goodreads page to update my progress and I just realized that this will be the 12th book that Iâve read this year and I will have met my goal! I was gonna read 2 more chapters, but I have other stuff to do today. So until next time.
* 9/8/21: Chapter 43, 11:35:06 (31 minutes)
I read these 2 chapters last night under my reading light.
âA huge desire to weep rose in my chest and throatâ (293).
* 9/9/21: Chapter 47, 12:33:20 (58 minutes)
I am going to start reading 4 chapters again because the chapters are starting to be shorter again. I might even read 4 chapters at night on the same day. We shall see.
âThen, as if to change the subject for a minute, she asked Alexandra where she came from in the United States and whether there were discos in her town. Alexandra, who spent most of her time at the library or in the mountains, had to think hard. âYes, there is one. Iâm not sure what itâs likeââ (314).
lol thatâs me right there, Alexandra.
* 9/10/21: Chapter 52, 13:24:11 (51 minutes)
I have to say that this book and the music of Tchaikovsky really remind me of the show called âMaigretâ that starred Rowan Atkinson. It has that French detective vibe to me. I also want to note that it saddens me to read of Stoyanâs time in the prison camp. It almost brings tears to my eyes. I can imagine everything as Kostova writes it. It reminds me of the Jew camps from the Holocaust, although the Holocaust was far more brutal. What Stoyan describes has that similar experience from history.
* 9/11/21: Chapter 56, 14:05:13 (41 minutes)
I found that the way Stoyan lived in his head while he worked was what I did when I worked at Amazon.
* 9/11/21: Chapter 59, 14:57:41 (52 minutes)
I read 4 chapters last night under my reading light. I did it! Finally! I love reading this book.
âShe was thinking about something else, too: a young brother and littler sister, lying under the dining room table at the farmhouse, their parentsâ LP of The Four Seasons revolving on an already dated stereo with a diamond needle.
âŠ
Alexandra liked to listen to âSpring,â which made her think of fountains and gazelles. Jack preferred âAutumn,â which he said sounded like tornadoes, and she, too, could see the red leaves caught up in a whirlwindâ (379).
I was listening to âSpringâ and âAutumnâ and I can agree with what the music made them think of. âSpringâ is that one song the movies use in the fancy scenes. I did hear the one part of âAutumnâ that sounded like tornadoes.
âShe sat looking at him, feeling her cheeks stiff with salt, her eyes gumming shut. Then she slowly rolled up the sleeve of her cotton blouse. The long scar was pale now, not the pink it had been for months after, although there was still a jagged place where sheâd lost courage for a moment. Without comment, she held her arm up under his gaze. He bent down suddenly and kissed the scar, and her eyes spilled over.
âWhat does that make us?â Her voice felt thick.
Bobby took her wrist and lowered the arm gently, as if it were broken. âBlood brothers,â he said.
Leaning forward, she hugged her taxi driver fiercely. Then she rubbed her other sleeve over her face. There was something she must do now, even if she could never save Jack. It had been at the edge of her mind before sheâd fainted.
âVivaldiâwe didnât find any,â she said.
âWhat?â He turned back to the music and looked around, but absently, as if still gripped by her pain. âThatâs right. No Vivaldiââ (380-381).
I loved this scene when Bobby kissed Alexandraâs scar. Even though theyâve known each other for only six days, it seems as though they are really good friends. I also wanted to add that I wasnât expecting Bobby to be gay. It just wasnât on my radar. But Iâm just so glad that Alexandra found Bobby because he is such a great guy.
* 9/12/21: Chapter 64, 15:36:03 (39 minutes)
* 9/13/21: Chapter 68, 15:56:21 (20 minutes)
âI considered praying to Sveta Bogoroditsa that I would not wake up in the morning, not survive after all, and then I asked the angel to forgive me for this thoughtâ (405-406).
* 9/14/21: Chapter 72, 16:14:36 (18 minutes)
I read these four chapters really late last night. They were very short.
* 9/14/21: Chapter 76, 16:47:35 (33 minutes)
I read this morning after I woke up. I read it in the hour before I had to go pick up Ale from school.
âWithout looking at her, he said, âMy English is not very good.â
âItâs fine,â she told him quickly.
âNot fine. It is rough. Notâorganized. I am ashamed to sayâI wanted to go to English-language high school, but they would not let me in. Because of my father. I studied a lot with my friends who went to there, and a lot of the movies. And music.â He frowned down at her, dissatisfied with his own efforts.
âI donât mind,â Alexandra said. âAnd we can ask Bobby for help if we need it.â For the first time since shaking his hand in the cafĂ©, she did touch him, surreptitiouslyâthe cuff of his warm smooth shirtsleeveâ (428).
- I was thinking as I read this passage that Alexandra could teach Neven English, if things turn out smoothly in the end! That would be so romantic! Lol XD <3
- I like that underlined quote within the passage. Thatâs how I feel when I try to talk to anybody in Spanish. I am not even 100% fluent in Spanish! English is my first language and Spanish would be considered my second language.
- Surreptitiously = secretively
âHe leaned forward, as if listening to the river, and then pulled a blade of grass expertly from its sheath. âSometimesâsometimes we know a person who is a very bad man but who thinks he is a good man. Maybe that is even more bad. Even worse. Worse, because the bad man who thinks he is good thinks that he can do anything to anybody. But sometimes a man who is very good thinks, I am very bad, and itâdestructs his life, everything. Because he does not believe that he has any right to do something, so he does less and less. This has happened with my father. He was always thinking, Je nâai pas le droitââ (429).
â„ïž
- I love this quote because this is how I feel about myself and can understand why Nevenâs father, Stoyan Lazarov, feels this way. I wonder why Neven spoke that last sentence in French.
- Je nâai pas le droit = I do not have the right
- I also want to note that the way that Neven speaks is how I write. In simple English.
âNeven turned his head away. He reminded her of the way male lions look sad, as if their nobility is a terrible weightâ (429).
Nobility = honor
âTheir fingers lay entwined on the warm grass. She wondered if Bobby would disapprove; when she looked up, she saw him watchingâlistening hard, she knew, but tactful, ready at any minute to translate for her, or to rescue herâ (431).
I thought this was so sweet! Bobby ready to help and protect his new friend, Alexandra.
* 9/15/21: Chapter 80, 17:59:28 (72 minutes)
I donât want Bobby to die! No! :â(
* 9/16/21: Authorâs Note, 18:36:23 (38 minutes)
& Chapter 83
âThen she understood that Stoycho was really gone, and whyâ (464).
I feel like this was right because Stoycho killed Stoyanâs devil, Momo. I understand why too, Alexandra.
âNeven nodded. âMy parents canât travel so far,â he said softly. âThey know that they cannot manage this. But I am thinking about itâI mean to say, I could go. If you would not mind to come with meââ (467).
OMG So sweet! So romantic! Alexandra and Neven going to Venice together! Agh! I thought it was so nice that Alexandra would offer a trip to Venice to fulfill Stoyanâs dying wish.
ââNothing in particular.â The young manâs eyes gleamâ (468).
I have to say that this narratorâs voice, Fred Berman, sounds like the actor who played Aladdin, the original cartoon Disney movie. Plus, he sounds handsome. A little twinge of Alan Palomo in his voice too. <3 *heart eyes*
Iâve heard his Bulgarian accent this whole time hoping to hear his regular voice and here it is! I love his Bulgarian accent and I could hear a hard American ârâ in there when he spoke. <3
But regarding the quote, I thought that Fred, the narrator, sounded like Alan and a 90âs cartoon!! XD LOL!!
âShe wore Bobbyâs necklace of brass and carnelian over her blouse, worrying it with one hand from time to time; it would be years, and several repairsâand a whole future life of writing and motherhood and teachingâbefore she stopped wearing it every dayâ (472).
City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
