Humans of New York: Stories by Brandon Stanton
I was considering buying this book when I saw it on the New Items shelf at the libary! I love saving money and reading good books, so this was perfect. This book is based on the blog maintained by the author. It's an amazing project, but I'm not going to get into it too much here. Basically, he takes pictures of people in New York and talks to them a bit, if they are willing. He includes some portion of what they say with their photo. It can be really powerful.
My burgeoning interest in photography has me loving this. I've known about this project for a while, but didn't get too into it. I'm bad at tracking things like this that are constantly updated. This book is a collection of some of the photos and interviews from the blog. Since it's largely photos, you can read through it pretty quickly, but the photos are definitely worth giving attention to. It's quite poignant at times and addresses a lot of different topics that can hit home for people.
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
I've seen this as a giveaway book on Goodreads a bunch, but it just didn't seem that appealing to me. I expect it to be okay, but nothing terribly exciting. I'm only two chapters in, and it's interesting, but it really hasn't grabbed me yet. I'm not very far though, so I'm certainly going to keep going. This was also on the New Items shelf at the library, so I figured I'd pick it up for a light read in between all of the obligatory things I've had to read lately.
Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
Man, I haven't read this one since about seventh or eighth grade. I think I missed a lot then, because oh my goodness I do not remember it being so racist! Basic story line: a guy takes out a loan to help his friend get married, then thinks he can't pay it back, then the new wife saves the day by dressing up as a lawyer and stopping the crazy thing that the loaner guy demanded as payment. There is a ton of racism against the loaner, Shylock, because he's a Jew. The hard thing is that as a modern audience, we generally think that's terrible, but back then the audience would be right on board with the Jew hate. Portia, the wife, is also racist because her various suitors come from all over the globe. She makes fun of them as the stereotypes of their land, and at one point dismisses the Prince of Morocco because he's black.
This story is really racist, but it's also not as happy as a comedy usually would be. Antonio is sad at the beginning, resigns himself to death, is saved from death and made super rich, but is also still left alone at the end, and even more so because he now has lost his two best friends to their happy marriages. But even the marriages aren't the happy since the wives start it off by telling the husbands that they had sex with other men while they were gone. These happy-ending marriages are based on uneasy wariness. It's not really a comedy or a tragedy. It's happy and sad. It's a very interesting play in that way; definitely good to discuss with a group.
This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki
This was a required book for my young adult lit class, and I really did not like it. It won some awards, and that's great, but man it did not work for me. It's a graphic novel done in a purply-grayscale color. I didn't love it because it felt like nothing happened. I can see its merit in certain situations or for certain people, but it bored and frustrated me. These two girls around 12 years old are friends at their summer cabin place. One girl's mother has some kind of issue and her parents are obviously fighting about it, which we eventually uncover. There is a local girl, about 17, who gets pregnant and her boyfriend won't help her out. That's essentially it. Part of what started this off on a terrible foot for me is that the boyfriend is presented as the guy one girl has a crush on, which really creeped me out because I had thought that he was about 70 years old and had no teeth. That made everything after it a hard leap for me because that was still how I saw him.
Meh.
Showing posts with label 2015. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2015. Show all posts
Saturday, December 5, 2015
Saturday, November 28, 2015
November 22 - November 28
Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas
This book, the 4th in the Throne of Glass series, successfully holds up to the awesomeness of the other books in the series. I t has been almost a full year now since I last read the previous books, so there were some events referenced and recurring minor characters whose impact was somewhat lost on me because I couldn't remember what context I had last seen them in. It wasn't enough to make me get any less from the story though! I'll probably re-read the whole series when I can though, to get the little details.
This series has gotten progressively more complex and dark as it has continued, which I appreciate. This book had a lot of struggle for the characters between what was right or wrong that gave it a complex moral question that was quite a captivating addition to the already-gripping story. As always, the witch plot didn't grab me so much, but it was still a good addition. Everything seems happily resolved by the end, but it's overshadowed by the knowledge of the impending possible-end-of-the-world thing... I can't wait to read the next one! Basically with this, if you liked the first part of the series then this is a satisfying continuation.
Every Day by David Levithan
If you recall (probably not; I may not have even mentioned it), I read the first chapter of this at the end of Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan, It was an interesting premise, but I didn't feel like I was really too drawn to it. However, I needed a quick read for break and this was a featured available book on the ebook homepage for Overdrive. :)
The premise of this book is that there's an ungendered entity (though it sort of reads from male) that wakes up each new day in a new body. As he ages, he is in older bodies according to his own "age" (and I'm saying he here for easy reference). He wakes up in a mean boy's body and falls in love with his girlfriend. They story is them trying to find a way to be together when he doesn't have his own body. Sometimes he's in boy bodies, other times girls. A transgendered kid even comes in at one point which was nice.
I read and enjoyed this mostly for the interesting concept, but the actual plot didn't really bring me in that much. It was just a love story, albeit with an obstacle to love that was quite unusual. It was worth finishing the book, and I would say this is a good book if you don't have much else going on for your books-to-read list.
I could see this being a really interesting example book for point of view and/or character because it addresses ideas related to both of these. I would probably just choose a few quotes or moments to use with students rather than have them read the whole thing.
Friday, November 20, 2015
November 15 - 21
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
This book made me laugh a LOT, which is awesome to begin with. For a book about cancer, it was hilarious. Actually, though, I think I want to rephrase that: this book is not about cancer, it's about people. One of them happens to have cancer. There is a blurb about this book with a quote that roughly says "This book begs comparison to The Fault in Our Stars, but it's really quite funny!" I really hate that quote. This book is nothing at all similar to The Fault in Our Stars. It's actually funny. It's not all complainy. It's realistic. It's mot trying to be all meta and deep about cancer and life and death. That has it's place, I guess, but jeez, this book was just SO MUCH BETTER. Love story? Nope. No romance. Deep sad ending with death? Nope. Things just happen. For once, a book that has the balls to be... predictable? I don't know that that's quite right. But frankly, right at the beginning it's "She has cancer and will most likely die." At the end, it's "She had cancer, and she died." I feel like this does more justice to the difficulties and pain of cancer than trying to be tricky and sneaky about who might die in a novel. Cancer sucks, and it is often truly just unstoppable.
(In a horrible coincidence, my reading of these two notable books with people who have cancer in it coincided with learning about a cancer diagnosis of someone I grew up with. It looks like she'll be okay, but again, cancer sucks.)
Bomb! by Steve Sheinkin
I'm still plowing through this one. I'm not sure why it's taking so long, since it's very interesting and well-written! It's incredibly interesting to me to see a remarkably unbiased story in these pages. How did Sheinkin manage to write about the KGB in a way that makes me feel sympathetic at times? For spies? That is some incredible disinterest right there. I don't have a lot more to add, other than that this is yet another great example of nonfiction!!
Coriolanus by William Shakespeare
Unexpectedly, I really liked this play. It's all politics and speeches, and yet it feels like the most realistic play of Shakespeare's that I've read so far (especially for a tragedy). I feel for the main character, though I hesitate to say the same for the title character. Coriolanus is in many ways a different man from Caius Martius; the moment Martius receives the title Coriolanus in honor of his victory over the Volscians, he is basically screwed. He knows that he is not going to do well with begging the plebians who are far below his exalted status for their votes for him as their Consul. He repeatedly tells those who plead with him to apologize and beg for forgiveness and lie that there is no way he will be able to do that convincingly because he is so firmly against ever betraying the truth of his heart. I love this play because it raises many difficult questions. Is Coriolanus' tragic flaw that he won't lie? That would be quite a commentary on societal expectations and rules.
We were so close to a happy ending, but of course it couldn't happen. This has to be the least tragic tragedy in Shakespeare's ouevre, though. Only Coriolanus dies. This is unheard of. The ending is so quiet, Coriolanus so truly confused. We were all so close, and in the end, I am not even sure if I am upset with Aufidius or not. The people I am most upset with in this whole play are exactly that: the people. The mobs! They change their minds over and over and ruin everything in their thirst for equality and blood. In this story, it should have been the mob who met their downfall, as they were the ones who seemed to toss around the idea of vengeance like it was nothing.
Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas
Remember this series? I mostly do. I read these books sometime around May this year, and I LOVED them! Unfortunately for me, it was a more recent series, so this last book in the series was only just released this fall. I finally got my hands on it! (Shoutout to Overdrive and Merrimack Valley Library Consortium!) It's almost 700 pages long, which I was quite surprised by, but I'm pleased that this ending will be appropriately convoluted and epic as is fitting for a series like this. I'm about 150 pages in at the moment, and yes, it is appropriately convoluted and epic. Now, I'm going to stop writing and get back to reading!!
This book made me laugh a LOT, which is awesome to begin with. For a book about cancer, it was hilarious. Actually, though, I think I want to rephrase that: this book is not about cancer, it's about people. One of them happens to have cancer. There is a blurb about this book with a quote that roughly says "This book begs comparison to The Fault in Our Stars, but it's really quite funny!" I really hate that quote. This book is nothing at all similar to The Fault in Our Stars. It's actually funny. It's not all complainy. It's realistic. It's mot trying to be all meta and deep about cancer and life and death. That has it's place, I guess, but jeez, this book was just SO MUCH BETTER. Love story? Nope. No romance. Deep sad ending with death? Nope. Things just happen. For once, a book that has the balls to be... predictable? I don't know that that's quite right. But frankly, right at the beginning it's "She has cancer and will most likely die." At the end, it's "She had cancer, and she died." I feel like this does more justice to the difficulties and pain of cancer than trying to be tricky and sneaky about who might die in a novel. Cancer sucks, and it is often truly just unstoppable.
(In a horrible coincidence, my reading of these two notable books with people who have cancer in it coincided with learning about a cancer diagnosis of someone I grew up with. It looks like she'll be okay, but again, cancer sucks.)
Bomb! by Steve Sheinkin
I'm still plowing through this one. I'm not sure why it's taking so long, since it's very interesting and well-written! It's incredibly interesting to me to see a remarkably unbiased story in these pages. How did Sheinkin manage to write about the KGB in a way that makes me feel sympathetic at times? For spies? That is some incredible disinterest right there. I don't have a lot more to add, other than that this is yet another great example of nonfiction!!
Coriolanus by William Shakespeare
Unexpectedly, I really liked this play. It's all politics and speeches, and yet it feels like the most realistic play of Shakespeare's that I've read so far (especially for a tragedy). I feel for the main character, though I hesitate to say the same for the title character. Coriolanus is in many ways a different man from Caius Martius; the moment Martius receives the title Coriolanus in honor of his victory over the Volscians, he is basically screwed. He knows that he is not going to do well with begging the plebians who are far below his exalted status for their votes for him as their Consul. He repeatedly tells those who plead with him to apologize and beg for forgiveness and lie that there is no way he will be able to do that convincingly because he is so firmly against ever betraying the truth of his heart. I love this play because it raises many difficult questions. Is Coriolanus' tragic flaw that he won't lie? That would be quite a commentary on societal expectations and rules.
We were so close to a happy ending, but of course it couldn't happen. This has to be the least tragic tragedy in Shakespeare's ouevre, though. Only Coriolanus dies. This is unheard of. The ending is so quiet, Coriolanus so truly confused. We were all so close, and in the end, I am not even sure if I am upset with Aufidius or not. The people I am most upset with in this whole play are exactly that: the people. The mobs! They change their minds over and over and ruin everything in their thirst for equality and blood. In this story, it should have been the mob who met their downfall, as they were the ones who seemed to toss around the idea of vengeance like it was nothing.
Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas
Remember this series? I mostly do. I read these books sometime around May this year, and I LOVED them! Unfortunately for me, it was a more recent series, so this last book in the series was only just released this fall. I finally got my hands on it! (Shoutout to Overdrive and Merrimack Valley Library Consortium!) It's almost 700 pages long, which I was quite surprised by, but I'm pleased that this ending will be appropriately convoluted and epic as is fitting for a series like this. I'm about 150 pages in at the moment, and yes, it is appropriately convoluted and epic. Now, I'm going to stop writing and get back to reading!!
Sunday, November 8, 2015
November 1 - 7
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Maaaaaan, I have been so unexcited by this book. A cancer book. With a character named "Hazel Grace." PUKE. A character who is 16 and gets into cars with boys who have been checking her out blatantly all evening and who she just met ten seconds ago. Man, that is... stupid. Maybe she doesn't care about death because she expects to die, but ugh. Also, calling the boy character GUS? YUUUUCK. Augustus is good; Gus is horrid.
I like it more than I thought I would, and there have been a few moments that made me chuckle a bit or smile. Still though, ugh. I'm not super feeling this book. I feel like I should read it though, since it is / was so popular with my students. I should try to understand why.
Maaaaaan, I have been so unexcited by this book. A cancer book. With a character named "Hazel Grace." PUKE. A character who is 16 and gets into cars with boys who have been checking her out blatantly all evening and who she just met ten seconds ago. Man, that is... stupid. Maybe she doesn't care about death because she expects to die, but ugh. Also, calling the boy character GUS? YUUUUCK. Augustus is good; Gus is horrid.
I like it more than I thought I would, and there have been a few moments that made me chuckle a bit or smile. Still though, ugh. I'm not super feeling this book. I feel like I should read it though, since it is / was so popular with my students. I should try to understand why.
---
Finished it, and ugh. Personally, I did not like this book. I think I just do not like John Green. He makes me think of Nicholas Sparks, whose books I also tend not to like. The protagonists feel really fake and lofty, and I also just hate their names. The plotline of the jerk author disappointed me in so many ways. It just felt... poorly handled. I'd be fine with him being a jerk, but the reactions of the girl to him later on were so awful, I just did not like it. Not to mention that the snippets from his imagined book grated on me with the feeling that they were trying to be really deep by being really vague and insisting that the reader knows so much less than the author. In a word: hipster.
However. I can see how so many younger readers loved this book. Since they have most likely not read the breadth that I have, this could very well have been the first time they encountered such devices. A book stopping midsentence? A character who actually dies? Unfair life? A brilliant author who's actually a horrible person? WOW! These would probably be quite a change from a lot of other popular Y.A. books that are out there (I know because I read them). I have read a lot in my lifetime, however. And so this does not bring to light new things for me as it does for readers who have not yet read as much, regardless of their age. And so, I can see the value of having this book available for my students, as it can expose them to a somewhat different style for the first time in a very accessible and fairly easy way.
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Well, like I said, I read this again for Shakespeare class and man, I love it! I feel like I missed so much! I'll probably feel like this every time I read one of his plays, but man, I feel like I could just go on and on and ON about all the interesting things in this book! I won't do that here, though. I'll save it for my final project on Shakespearean conspiracies!
Sunday, November 1, 2015
October 25 - 31
Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld
I FINALLY FINISHED THIS! And you know, I'm okay with the ending. I didn't think it was spectacular or anything, to either of the endings, but it was certainly okay. What I really liked best about this book was the interesting duality of getting two books in one. If you got sucked in to the one that "Darcy" wrote for her NaNoWriMo (which is about to start for real!!) you would be disappointed by the next chapter when she's talking with Imogen about writing the ending and what things happen. It's weird to read a book where one character is spoiling the plot of another book for you all the way through. It's not all explicit, but when you hear things like "I killed one of my favorite characters" you're gut wrenches and you're dreading who it will be all the way through the next chapter.
I would be REALLY interested in seeing how people interpreted this book or even just felt about it if they read it differently than just straight through from page 1 to 499. For example, what if they read the Lizzie story first? They would lose the bit of suspense from when Darcy is worried about writing the ending because they'd know what she got. The spoilers would not longer be spoilers. If they read the Darcy story first, then they'd know more or less exactly what to expect when reading the Lizzie story. It's neat to have so many different ways to read this book (these two, or even three?! books).
Also, out of curiosity... how many words is the Lizzie story? If it's supposed to be for NaNoWriMo, then it should be probably 50-60,000 words. I'm curious as to what the count would actually be.
Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner
This book is solidly okay. It's kind of intriguing, but it's nothing that I haven't heard before. Similar to a young adult version of George Orwell's 1984. Many people have made that comparison, but that's because it's pretty accurate. I'm at least happy with the ending because it's open and does not give the reader exactly what might be wanted. I really appreciate that. The language was awesome, and there were lots of lines that I wrote little hearts next too, but I'm still just sort of feeling meh about this one. I don't know that it'll be one I remember forever.
Also, the pictures were gross and seemed unnecessary. Like really? The maggots had to explode out of the dead rat's stomach? No, I didn't need that. It was really distracting from the book itself because I'd keep thinking "Ugh, DON'T LOOK AT IT..." and having to position my hand so that it wasn't touching that part of the page when I was holding the book. YUCK.
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
I've read this before several times, but as I am reading it again I wanted to include it in here. I especially wanted to do so because of how much more I'm picking up in this play than any other time I've read it. In the very first scene, for example, one of the captains raves about how Macbeth scorned Fate as he plowed through a field of enemies and managed to win the day and survive as well. Yet the entire book is a question of Fate and whether Macbeth is subject to Fate or if he made his own Fate. So interesting! Also, fear is a huge thing. The word fear is in here in so many different situations. I love it! Right after they carry out their plot, the randomly exclaim "Hark!" and I only now realize that's them being startled at some small noise, like an owl's hooting or the wind, because of their guilty consciences! Awesome.
Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow
I don't know why I had it in my mind that this is a young adult book, because after reading the first 100 or so pages, I definitely don't think it is anymore. I'm having some trouble with this one, and I'm honestly thinking of just stopping for now. Maybe I'll read it another time, but I don't think right now is that time. It's strange because the writing itself is interesting and beautiful a lot of the time, but the plot the words talk about, the characters... man, I just don't care. And that's not a great feeling to have about a book. I have others waiting right now, and I don't think I'm going to bother with this at the moment. I want my reading to be fun!
Bomb! The race to build--and steal-- the world's most dangerous weapon by Steve Sheinkin
WOW, this book is really blowing me away. Haha! Get it? Anyway. It's amazing that Steven Sheinkin is able to write about the very sciency technical side of splitting atoms and fission and all these very high-level sciency things and not only make it understandable to the average person, but interesting! I found myself sucked right in. I love the different people whose perspectives he writes from because they come from all walks of life. Hearing from the side of the Soviet Union and actual KGB spies in America is super cool. Hearing about how Albert Einstein himself was like "Oh no, this is bad!" and wrote letters to the president is super cool. I'm not very far in yet (maybe about 60 pages) but it's awesome! I love the way it looks too. The chapter headings and font and even just the weight and feel of the book are all excellent. I can see why this won a nonfiction award! I can also totally imagine my kids getting into this book.
I FINALLY FINISHED THIS! And you know, I'm okay with the ending. I didn't think it was spectacular or anything, to either of the endings, but it was certainly okay. What I really liked best about this book was the interesting duality of getting two books in one. If you got sucked in to the one that "Darcy" wrote for her NaNoWriMo (which is about to start for real!!) you would be disappointed by the next chapter when she's talking with Imogen about writing the ending and what things happen. It's weird to read a book where one character is spoiling the plot of another book for you all the way through. It's not all explicit, but when you hear things like "I killed one of my favorite characters" you're gut wrenches and you're dreading who it will be all the way through the next chapter.
I would be REALLY interested in seeing how people interpreted this book or even just felt about it if they read it differently than just straight through from page 1 to 499. For example, what if they read the Lizzie story first? They would lose the bit of suspense from when Darcy is worried about writing the ending because they'd know what she got. The spoilers would not longer be spoilers. If they read the Darcy story first, then they'd know more or less exactly what to expect when reading the Lizzie story. It's neat to have so many different ways to read this book (these two, or even three?! books).
Also, out of curiosity... how many words is the Lizzie story? If it's supposed to be for NaNoWriMo, then it should be probably 50-60,000 words. I'm curious as to what the count would actually be.
Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner
This book is solidly okay. It's kind of intriguing, but it's nothing that I haven't heard before. Similar to a young adult version of George Orwell's 1984. Many people have made that comparison, but that's because it's pretty accurate. I'm at least happy with the ending because it's open and does not give the reader exactly what might be wanted. I really appreciate that. The language was awesome, and there were lots of lines that I wrote little hearts next too, but I'm still just sort of feeling meh about this one. I don't know that it'll be one I remember forever.
Also, the pictures were gross and seemed unnecessary. Like really? The maggots had to explode out of the dead rat's stomach? No, I didn't need that. It was really distracting from the book itself because I'd keep thinking "Ugh, DON'T LOOK AT IT..." and having to position my hand so that it wasn't touching that part of the page when I was holding the book. YUCK.
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
I've read this before several times, but as I am reading it again I wanted to include it in here. I especially wanted to do so because of how much more I'm picking up in this play than any other time I've read it. In the very first scene, for example, one of the captains raves about how Macbeth scorned Fate as he plowed through a field of enemies and managed to win the day and survive as well. Yet the entire book is a question of Fate and whether Macbeth is subject to Fate or if he made his own Fate. So interesting! Also, fear is a huge thing. The word fear is in here in so many different situations. I love it! Right after they carry out their plot, the randomly exclaim "Hark!" and I only now realize that's them being startled at some small noise, like an owl's hooting or the wind, because of their guilty consciences! Awesome.
Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow
I don't know why I had it in my mind that this is a young adult book, because after reading the first 100 or so pages, I definitely don't think it is anymore. I'm having some trouble with this one, and I'm honestly thinking of just stopping for now. Maybe I'll read it another time, but I don't think right now is that time. It's strange because the writing itself is interesting and beautiful a lot of the time, but the plot the words talk about, the characters... man, I just don't care. And that's not a great feeling to have about a book. I have others waiting right now, and I don't think I'm going to bother with this at the moment. I want my reading to be fun!
Bomb! The race to build--and steal-- the world's most dangerous weapon by Steve Sheinkin
WOW, this book is really blowing me away. Haha! Get it? Anyway. It's amazing that Steven Sheinkin is able to write about the very sciency technical side of splitting atoms and fission and all these very high-level sciency things and not only make it understandable to the average person, but interesting! I found myself sucked right in. I love the different people whose perspectives he writes from because they come from all walks of life. Hearing from the side of the Soviet Union and actual KGB spies in America is super cool. Hearing about how Albert Einstein himself was like "Oh no, this is bad!" and wrote letters to the president is super cool. I'm not very far in yet (maybe about 60 pages) but it's awesome! I love the way it looks too. The chapter headings and font and even just the weight and feel of the book are all excellent. I can see why this won a nonfiction award! I can also totally imagine my kids getting into this book.
Friday, October 23, 2015
October 18 - 24
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
I can't believe how much I'm actually enjoying this! My experience in the past with A Room of One's Own had me cursing the name of Virginia Woolf, and when I saw her name on one of my class's reading lists, I groaned and moaned like a... person who doesn't like Virginia Woolf. This second part, Time Passes, was kind of difficult to get through since it's narrating a house changing over years of being empty. It was surprisingly awkward since there was no real narrator and no characters. Just shadows and dust. Apparently, Woolf herself didn't even know what to do with that section and was happy anybody even liked it. Well, I plowed through it. I actually just finished the book, and what has stuck with me most throughout the whole thing is the interaction of characters with isolation, loneliness, and being alone. They are not considered to be all the same thing in this novel, and this is probably what I'm going to focus my thesis on for this year. Last time I had to read Woolf, I wouldn't even write the 5-page paper assigned, which was the first time I had ever refused to do an assignment and something that has never happened since. Now, I'm planning to write a 20+ page paper on her, and feel like I might even blow past that page length. How things have changed.
Teaching Hope by the Freedom Writer Teachers & Erin Gruwell
You know, I finally finished this, and it's a good thing. I was getting really tired of it for some reason. I've read it in sections over the course of a month or so now for my philosophy of education class, and man, it just dragged on for me. I think my issue was that it was organized by category of the story, so I would be bombarded with sixty pages of depressing stories about teaching at once. Then another sixty pages of great moments in teaching. Then another sixty about getting ready to teach. The stories sort of lost their impact when read en masse like that, and I started being unfazed and even annoyed with it by the end. (See this reflection on the final chapter where I'm straight-up annoyed.) Also in that link are my reflections on each section, which is why I hadn't been including it in these; I've already been writing about it.
Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner
I'm only 58 pages in to this book, and yet also 20 chapters! It's one of those books. It's intriguing, though. I'm feeling aspects of other books creeping into it, which is a little unimpressive, but I'm still curious to see where this next dystopian-based book heads. To the moon, apparently. (Also, how is it possible that the Google Chrome dictionary doesn't have dystopian in it?)
King Lear by William Shakespeare
You know, I'm pretty unimpressed with this one. It could be because we're reading it right after Othello which is probably my favorite Shakespeare play, but King Lear is just sort of boring to me. He's a father who makes his kids play the "who loves me most" game until they get what they want, get sick of him, and decide to kill him. Now, I think their decision to kill him is disturbingly extreme and sudden, but he's also been super childish in his dealings with them (not to mention sort of an idiot, as is expected from our tragic figure of the play's title). Oddly enough, I kept feeling like I had read this already and then I realized it's because Mr. Ramsay in To The Lighthouse is just as needy and childish towards Mrs. Ramsay (and basically every other woman in the novel).
I can't believe how much I'm actually enjoying this! My experience in the past with A Room of One's Own had me cursing the name of Virginia Woolf, and when I saw her name on one of my class's reading lists, I groaned and moaned like a... person who doesn't like Virginia Woolf. This second part, Time Passes, was kind of difficult to get through since it's narrating a house changing over years of being empty. It was surprisingly awkward since there was no real narrator and no characters. Just shadows and dust. Apparently, Woolf herself didn't even know what to do with that section and was happy anybody even liked it. Well, I plowed through it. I actually just finished the book, and what has stuck with me most throughout the whole thing is the interaction of characters with isolation, loneliness, and being alone. They are not considered to be all the same thing in this novel, and this is probably what I'm going to focus my thesis on for this year. Last time I had to read Woolf, I wouldn't even write the 5-page paper assigned, which was the first time I had ever refused to do an assignment and something that has never happened since. Now, I'm planning to write a 20+ page paper on her, and feel like I might even blow past that page length. How things have changed.
Teaching Hope by the Freedom Writer Teachers & Erin Gruwell
You know, I finally finished this, and it's a good thing. I was getting really tired of it for some reason. I've read it in sections over the course of a month or so now for my philosophy of education class, and man, it just dragged on for me. I think my issue was that it was organized by category of the story, so I would be bombarded with sixty pages of depressing stories about teaching at once. Then another sixty pages of great moments in teaching. Then another sixty about getting ready to teach. The stories sort of lost their impact when read en masse like that, and I started being unfazed and even annoyed with it by the end. (See this reflection on the final chapter where I'm straight-up annoyed.) Also in that link are my reflections on each section, which is why I hadn't been including it in these; I've already been writing about it.
Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner
I'm only 58 pages in to this book, and yet also 20 chapters! It's one of those books. It's intriguing, though. I'm feeling aspects of other books creeping into it, which is a little unimpressive, but I'm still curious to see where this next dystopian-based book heads. To the moon, apparently. (Also, how is it possible that the Google Chrome dictionary doesn't have dystopian in it?)
King Lear by William Shakespeare
You know, I'm pretty unimpressed with this one. It could be because we're reading it right after Othello which is probably my favorite Shakespeare play, but King Lear is just sort of boring to me. He's a father who makes his kids play the "who loves me most" game until they get what they want, get sick of him, and decide to kill him. Now, I think their decision to kill him is disturbingly extreme and sudden, but he's also been super childish in his dealings with them (not to mention sort of an idiot, as is expected from our tragic figure of the play's title). Oddly enough, I kept feeling like I had read this already and then I realized it's because Mr. Ramsay in To The Lighthouse is just as needy and childish towards Mrs. Ramsay (and basically every other woman in the novel).
Saturday, September 26, 2015
September 20 - 26
Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
Finally finished this up! I wasn't totally impressed with the ending as a story, but the ideas in the novel were intriguing enough. This is like the original young adult dystopian novel that has recently become so popular. Lois Lowry knew what was up before there was even a genre for what she was writing. I see, though, why I was so unimpressed with this when I read it roughly twelve years ago. The story is kind of flat, with interesting things that are seen and then forgotten. The ending was rather abrupt, too. It leaves me with a feeling that it only brushed the surface of these ideas. Usually it would be fine to leave some of the interpretation to the reader, but with so little authorial input to guide, it ended up just sort of trailing off for me. So not amazing, but good enough that I would have it in my class for any interested students.
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
I've only read about 70 pages of this so far because I'm trying to pace myself and save it, but it's already blown me away! It started out pretty harmless, and then looked like it would be a Tom and Huck kind of story mixed with To Kill A Mockingbird (interestingly, both books that are mentioned by the main character), where the main characters focus on this kind of crazy character that the kids all treat as some scary myth. It's a common enough plot line. However, upon entering the secret clearing, it took QUITE a drastic turn with the scraped and abused girl hanging dead from a tree. Well dang.
I was really impressed by how Silvey wrote the character Charlie realistically in this scene. It didn't feel like one of those books where the characters discover a dead person and are totally okay with hiding the body and investigating the murder themselves. Charlie is traumatized. I'm surprised he didn't get physically ill. His description of having to touch the girl to move her feels incredibly relatable and exactly what I would expect to feel in that kind of situation. Both Charlie and Jasper are painfully aware of the legal ramifications they could easily face, unlike the usual ignorant cheery kid who doesn't consider the rules of the real world. It was just very well done.
There was also, amazingly, a moment of absolute hilarity for me after this dead girl has been dropped into a lake by her boyfriend. How is that even possible? While the characters try to drink and smoke their terror and pain away, Charlie makes a comment about how he hates both of these vices that reading promised him he would adore! He cites one character who holds up booze like a housewife in a commercial, and the way Holden Caulfield reaches for cigarettes like an act of faith. He goes on to speculate about what sex might be like if it's as bad as these other vices he was promised he'd love. It's absolutely WONDERFUL, and I'll update this with the actual quote when I have the book on me again.
Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld
This book has been taunting me on my shelf since my first week back at school. Remember when I read We Were Liars? Yeah, well, this has been around just as long as that book. I finally got to it, and HOLY CRAP I LOVED IT FROM THE DEDICATION PAGE. It's dedicated to WRIMOS, also known as the fervent writers who participate in National Novel Writing Month every November with a 50,000 word target. This book is really two books. Two different stories. It's incredibly meta and I adore it already, though fair warning: this book is definitely not for someone who dislikes keeping track of different character story lines (think Game of Thrones but somehow even more complicated since the two characters don't even live in the same universe). One character is a 18-year-old girl who got her NaNoWriMo novel signed to a published and is going to New York after high school to revise it and write a sequel. The other half of the book is the novel that this girl wrote. It has so far been entirely unacknowledged in the WriMo story that it is in fact a story. I'm very curious, knowing Westerfeld, if he's going to turn this on its head at some point....
(Also, the book is visually awesome with the WriMo story designated by dark strips of black at the top and bottom of the pages. B-E-A-Utiful!)
Finally finished this up! I wasn't totally impressed with the ending as a story, but the ideas in the novel were intriguing enough. This is like the original young adult dystopian novel that has recently become so popular. Lois Lowry knew what was up before there was even a genre for what she was writing. I see, though, why I was so unimpressed with this when I read it roughly twelve years ago. The story is kind of flat, with interesting things that are seen and then forgotten. The ending was rather abrupt, too. It leaves me with a feeling that it only brushed the surface of these ideas. Usually it would be fine to leave some of the interpretation to the reader, but with so little authorial input to guide, it ended up just sort of trailing off for me. So not amazing, but good enough that I would have it in my class for any interested students.
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
I've only read about 70 pages of this so far because I'm trying to pace myself and save it, but it's already blown me away! It started out pretty harmless, and then looked like it would be a Tom and Huck kind of story mixed with To Kill A Mockingbird (interestingly, both books that are mentioned by the main character), where the main characters focus on this kind of crazy character that the kids all treat as some scary myth. It's a common enough plot line. However, upon entering the secret clearing, it took QUITE a drastic turn with the scraped and abused girl hanging dead from a tree. Well dang.
I was really impressed by how Silvey wrote the character Charlie realistically in this scene. It didn't feel like one of those books where the characters discover a dead person and are totally okay with hiding the body and investigating the murder themselves. Charlie is traumatized. I'm surprised he didn't get physically ill. His description of having to touch the girl to move her feels incredibly relatable and exactly what I would expect to feel in that kind of situation. Both Charlie and Jasper are painfully aware of the legal ramifications they could easily face, unlike the usual ignorant cheery kid who doesn't consider the rules of the real world. It was just very well done.
There was also, amazingly, a moment of absolute hilarity for me after this dead girl has been dropped into a lake by her boyfriend. How is that even possible? While the characters try to drink and smoke their terror and pain away, Charlie makes a comment about how he hates both of these vices that reading promised him he would adore! He cites one character who holds up booze like a housewife in a commercial, and the way Holden Caulfield reaches for cigarettes like an act of faith. He goes on to speculate about what sex might be like if it's as bad as these other vices he was promised he'd love. It's absolutely WONDERFUL, and I'll update this with the actual quote when I have the book on me again.
Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld
This book has been taunting me on my shelf since my first week back at school. Remember when I read We Were Liars? Yeah, well, this has been around just as long as that book. I finally got to it, and HOLY CRAP I LOVED IT FROM THE DEDICATION PAGE. It's dedicated to WRIMOS, also known as the fervent writers who participate in National Novel Writing Month every November with a 50,000 word target. This book is really two books. Two different stories. It's incredibly meta and I adore it already, though fair warning: this book is definitely not for someone who dislikes keeping track of different character story lines (think Game of Thrones but somehow even more complicated since the two characters don't even live in the same universe). One character is a 18-year-old girl who got her NaNoWriMo novel signed to a published and is going to New York after high school to revise it and write a sequel. The other half of the book is the novel that this girl wrote. It has so far been entirely unacknowledged in the WriMo story that it is in fact a story. I'm very curious, knowing Westerfeld, if he's going to turn this on its head at some point....
(Also, the book is visually awesome with the WriMo story designated by dark strips of black at the top and bottom of the pages. B-E-A-Utiful!)
Saturday, September 19, 2015
September 13 - 19
We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
I have been wanting to read this since my professor read aloud the first few pages in a class in Spring of 2014. It caught my attention immediately with the mindless destruction, and the mysterious character of The Avenger. I needed to know more. I finally got my hands on a copy and devoured it within just a few days. Just a page beyond where my professor had stopped, I was torn from the book into a far darker side of the story than I expected when I learned that not only was the house despoiled, but the youngest daughter of the family as well. Raped and in a coma. I thought that was dark, but then to discover that The Avenger is more properly titled The Murderer was a blow to the head. This book was just remarkably good. I'm going to remember this for a long time, and will definitely have this book in my future classroom if I'm able.
Newspaper Blackout by Austin Kleon
I love the idea of blackout poetry and I always have. It makes me feel like I could make interesting poetry, although reading some of the ones that this guy came up with make me feel inadequate already. They were really funny! I don't know how he manages it. If I ever am able to get newspapers regularly I'll start doing this for sure. I'm about halfway through, mostly because I want to ration them. It feels weird to read poetry straight through. I'll probably buy this book at some point, because I think it would be a very accessible introduction to poetry for students. Plus it's really funny, and I'd love to have access to it for myself as well! Favorite so far: "The Family Jewels."
Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
I'm not very far into this, but I'm still already baffled by how much of this I absolutely did not remember from when I read it probably... twelve years ago? I read The Giver earlier this summer and had largely that same response, so I wanted to see if it would be like that for this not-quite-sequel of the same series. Answer: yes, it absolutely is. I didn't read too much more of this this week because of the other books that really sucked me in, but it's next up on the schedule.
I have been wanting to read this since my professor read aloud the first few pages in a class in Spring of 2014. It caught my attention immediately with the mindless destruction, and the mysterious character of The Avenger. I needed to know more. I finally got my hands on a copy and devoured it within just a few days. Just a page beyond where my professor had stopped, I was torn from the book into a far darker side of the story than I expected when I learned that not only was the house despoiled, but the youngest daughter of the family as well. Raped and in a coma. I thought that was dark, but then to discover that The Avenger is more properly titled The Murderer was a blow to the head. This book was just remarkably good. I'm going to remember this for a long time, and will definitely have this book in my future classroom if I'm able.
Newspaper Blackout by Austin Kleon
I love the idea of blackout poetry and I always have. It makes me feel like I could make interesting poetry, although reading some of the ones that this guy came up with make me feel inadequate already. They were really funny! I don't know how he manages it. If I ever am able to get newspapers regularly I'll start doing this for sure. I'm about halfway through, mostly because I want to ration them. It feels weird to read poetry straight through. I'll probably buy this book at some point, because I think it would be a very accessible introduction to poetry for students. Plus it's really funny, and I'd love to have access to it for myself as well! Favorite so far: "The Family Jewels."
Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
I'm not very far into this, but I'm still already baffled by how much of this I absolutely did not remember from when I read it probably... twelve years ago? I read The Giver earlier this summer and had largely that same response, so I wanted to see if it would be like that for this not-quite-sequel of the same series. Answer: yes, it absolutely is. I didn't read too much more of this this week because of the other books that really sucked me in, but it's next up on the schedule.
Saturday, September 12, 2015
September 6 - 12
Sapphique by Catherine Fisher
(Incarceron #2)
So I actually started this a while ago and then sort of lagged on it for a while once I go back to school. There were so many new and exciting things to read! So I dropped this when I was about 2/3 done, and actually at quite a dramatic moment (a weird habit of mine). The ending was pretty impressive though, and I was certainly fooled by the identity of Sapphique. The mysteries of the realm were finally revealed, although at a certain point in this book they weren't really so much of a secret anymore. This book had an ending that doesn't actually resolve everything prettily. There are some still-bad situations going on, and some things that are left uncertain at best. However, I tend to like those kinds of endings because they often feel more realistic (in a book about a living prison...). Overall: solid. I'm a huge fan of this two-book thing, because it was just long enough. Three books can get tiring, but the end of one book can leave you wanting more.
Okay For Now by Gary D. Schmidt
Though this was assigned reading for my Young Adult Literature class, it really didn't feel like it. It actually wasn't even assigned yet; I just decided to read it because it sounded good. I get why it was assigned though. I was taken by surprise with how this book handles topics like abuse at home, a war-scarred brother, and assumptions made by community members. The view of the student whose teacher's treated him terribly, didn't believe in him, and basically just assumed that he would never amount to anything was especially powerful for me (most likely due to my designs to become a teacher myself). I am able to console myself with the thought that this novel was set in the 1960s (ish), a time when attitudes and standards for teaching were significantly different. Still, the mood of the student when teachers treated him well and as an individual rather than as his brothers before him with bad reputations... it was just stunning. I know this is fiction, but it certainly represents the truth well.
The not-quite-lead-poisoning at the end caught me extremely off guard. I love the way it was handled: never explicitly stated, the reader has to infer what is going on with Lil, meaning you can never be quite sure. All you know are the statistics, which, of course, don't mean anything. (Another love: this character switch from detailing everything and a fascination with statistics to a firm and repeated declaration that statistics do not matter.) As with the other book I finished up this week, the ending leaves so much in the air. I love it. I appreciate an author who refuses to tie everything up for the reader and hold the reader's hand and say, "and then everyone got better and got married and lived happily ever after in a castle made of candy!" This is not some crazy mix of a Shakespearean fairy tale comedy.
This is real.
(She says about fiction.)
(It's still so true.)
(Incarceron #2)
So I actually started this a while ago and then sort of lagged on it for a while once I go back to school. There were so many new and exciting things to read! So I dropped this when I was about 2/3 done, and actually at quite a dramatic moment (a weird habit of mine). The ending was pretty impressive though, and I was certainly fooled by the identity of Sapphique. The mysteries of the realm were finally revealed, although at a certain point in this book they weren't really so much of a secret anymore. This book had an ending that doesn't actually resolve everything prettily. There are some still-bad situations going on, and some things that are left uncertain at best. However, I tend to like those kinds of endings because they often feel more realistic (in a book about a living prison...). Overall: solid. I'm a huge fan of this two-book thing, because it was just long enough. Three books can get tiring, but the end of one book can leave you wanting more.
Okay For Now by Gary D. Schmidt
Though this was assigned reading for my Young Adult Literature class, it really didn't feel like it. It actually wasn't even assigned yet; I just decided to read it because it sounded good. I get why it was assigned though. I was taken by surprise with how this book handles topics like abuse at home, a war-scarred brother, and assumptions made by community members. The view of the student whose teacher's treated him terribly, didn't believe in him, and basically just assumed that he would never amount to anything was especially powerful for me (most likely due to my designs to become a teacher myself). I am able to console myself with the thought that this novel was set in the 1960s (ish), a time when attitudes and standards for teaching were significantly different. Still, the mood of the student when teachers treated him well and as an individual rather than as his brothers before him with bad reputations... it was just stunning. I know this is fiction, but it certainly represents the truth well.
The not-quite-lead-poisoning at the end caught me extremely off guard. I love the way it was handled: never explicitly stated, the reader has to infer what is going on with Lil, meaning you can never be quite sure. All you know are the statistics, which, of course, don't mean anything. (Another love: this character switch from detailing everything and a fascination with statistics to a firm and repeated declaration that statistics do not matter.) As with the other book I finished up this week, the ending leaves so much in the air. I love it. I appreciate an author who refuses to tie everything up for the reader and hold the reader's hand and say, "and then everyone got better and got married and lived happily ever after in a castle made of candy!" This is not some crazy mix of a Shakespearean fairy tale comedy.
This is real.
(She says about fiction.)
(It's still so true.)
Saturday, September 5, 2015
August 30 - September 5
Angelfall by Susan Ee
I realized that the final book in this series had come out, so I decided I would re-read it! I remember liking it a lot a year or so ago when I first stumbled upon it for free on Amazon. Who would have thought a free book would be so good? (Well, know I have several examples as to why that's a wrong though! Remember The Key?) So I re-read this in about a day as I was packing up for school and such. Pretty solid even still! Glad to remember that it held up. It made me laugh aloud several times, too. :)
World After by Susan Ee (book 2)
I remembered the second book less well for whatever reason, and daaaang did it get real! This was way darker than I remembered, complete with demonic baby sisters and flesh sacrifices, and horrific mutilation and disturbing psychological issues all around. Fun times! Not to mention the horrible depressing moments. Basically: a very good follow-up to the first.
End of Days by Susan Ee (book 3)
WHOOOOOOOO FINAL STAND! This book took me to hell and back, through the back of a demon. WELL DAMN. It was heartbreaking and gave some redemption to the bad guy. I love when books force the reader/characters to look at the situation and people from different perspecitves. Why is that guy so evil and miserable? Uh, well, actually, it's because you and all his friends abandoned him to eternity (basically) in hell. So that could really kill someone's kindness and all. I was pretty impressed with the talent show scheme at the end; that was really brilliant (literally, for the characters!) and touching and fun. And horrifying, of course. Susan did not skimp on the horror in the final book at all. In fact, she even set humanity up for the true apocalypse, complete with horrifying hell-monsters that are apparently going to lurk in the depths of the world until they decide to come back. The ties to the romance plot were meh, but that's not really what I cared about with this series. It was a unique dystopian kind of book that was written before this crazy dystopian fad became a thing. And having the monsters be angels? Well, okay, that just is not something I've ever read before. I'm super impressed with this series and admire Susan Ee for contemplating agnostic angels.
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
I've had my eye on this since early this spring and finally got around to picking it up in the few open days I had between moving back up to school and actually starting classes. Basic summary: Cadence is part of this super rich, super white family. They vacation on a private island on the east coast of the US every summer. She hangs with her cousins and a friend that she has a sort-of relationship with and they have a grand old time. But then Cadence learns that this last summer she came to consciousness on one of the small beaches of the island in just her underwear/sleepwear with a vicious head injury that kept her from remembering anything. Her family keeps her away from the island for a summer, and when she gets back no one will tell her anything. Her grandfather destroyed the old house though, and built this sad cold building of glass in its place. She slowly remembers bits and pieces of what happened that summer, like the manipulation of the adults as they tried to each win a piece of their grandfather's estate after the grandmother died a few years back. **HUGE SPOILERS** Highlight to read! Cadence remembers that she and her cousins decided to teach them a lesson about being greedy by burning down her grandfather's house and all of the things that the parents were fighting over possession of. Okay, she's pretty cool with that (which is weird). But then she also realizes that they killed two of the family dogs in that fire because they forgot to let them out of the room they had been locked in when everyone went off the island (a result of their fighting). Cadence is freaking crushed because HOLY SHIT she killed two dogs, their dogs, her dogs, she burned them alive, she's basically a terrible person. She runs through the memory of setting the fire, the plan to each take a floor of the house and douse it with gasoline, light it up, and run like hell. To ditch their gasoline-covered clothes and claim ignorance from a sheltered area of the island. She remembers that she had the first floor, the ground floor. She lit it up too fast, ran out, ditched her clothes, didn't see anyone, ran back in a panic, got badly burnt, trapped her cousins in the house from her fire on the first floor, trapped them in the house with the dogs, they died, the cousins and boyfriend died and she killed them they all burned to death in a fire with their beloved grandmother's memories and their two beloved family dogs.
SHE KILLED HER COUSINS AND BOYFRIEND IN A FIRE.
**END SPOILERS**
Okay, so that was a lot, but I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING!! I thought the dogs and the freaking ARSON were the big twists of whoa-ness not THAT! Wow. So I cried a lot as I realized what had happened. That's some hardcore real writing right there. I LOVED that this did not in any way have a happy ending. She states that she must endure knowing now what she knows, and knowing that her family kind of has an idea of what happened even if they don't want to face it, and knowing that the drinking and grief that has invaded the family is on her. It is.
Wow.
I realized that the final book in this series had come out, so I decided I would re-read it! I remember liking it a lot a year or so ago when I first stumbled upon it for free on Amazon. Who would have thought a free book would be so good? (Well, know I have several examples as to why that's a wrong though! Remember The Key?) So I re-read this in about a day as I was packing up for school and such. Pretty solid even still! Glad to remember that it held up. It made me laugh aloud several times, too. :)
World After by Susan Ee (book 2)
I remembered the second book less well for whatever reason, and daaaang did it get real! This was way darker than I remembered, complete with demonic baby sisters and flesh sacrifices, and horrific mutilation and disturbing psychological issues all around. Fun times! Not to mention the horrible depressing moments. Basically: a very good follow-up to the first.
End of Days by Susan Ee (book 3)
WHOOOOOOOO FINAL STAND! This book took me to hell and back, through the back of a demon. WELL DAMN. It was heartbreaking and gave some redemption to the bad guy. I love when books force the reader/characters to look at the situation and people from different perspecitves. Why is that guy so evil and miserable? Uh, well, actually, it's because you and all his friends abandoned him to eternity (basically) in hell. So that could really kill someone's kindness and all. I was pretty impressed with the talent show scheme at the end; that was really brilliant (literally, for the characters!) and touching and fun. And horrifying, of course. Susan did not skimp on the horror in the final book at all. In fact, she even set humanity up for the true apocalypse, complete with horrifying hell-monsters that are apparently going to lurk in the depths of the world until they decide to come back. The ties to the romance plot were meh, but that's not really what I cared about with this series. It was a unique dystopian kind of book that was written before this crazy dystopian fad became a thing. And having the monsters be angels? Well, okay, that just is not something I've ever read before. I'm super impressed with this series and admire Susan Ee for contemplating agnostic angels.
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
I've had my eye on this since early this spring and finally got around to picking it up in the few open days I had between moving back up to school and actually starting classes. Basic summary: Cadence is part of this super rich, super white family. They vacation on a private island on the east coast of the US every summer. She hangs with her cousins and a friend that she has a sort-of relationship with and they have a grand old time. But then Cadence learns that this last summer she came to consciousness on one of the small beaches of the island in just her underwear/sleepwear with a vicious head injury that kept her from remembering anything. Her family keeps her away from the island for a summer, and when she gets back no one will tell her anything. Her grandfather destroyed the old house though, and built this sad cold building of glass in its place. She slowly remembers bits and pieces of what happened that summer, like the manipulation of the adults as they tried to each win a piece of their grandfather's estate after the grandmother died a few years back. **HUGE SPOILERS** Highlight to read! Cadence remembers that she and her cousins decided to teach them a lesson about being greedy by burning down her grandfather's house and all of the things that the parents were fighting over possession of. Okay, she's pretty cool with that (which is weird). But then she also realizes that they killed two of the family dogs in that fire because they forgot to let them out of the room they had been locked in when everyone went off the island (a result of their fighting). Cadence is freaking crushed because HOLY SHIT she killed two dogs, their dogs, her dogs, she burned them alive, she's basically a terrible person. She runs through the memory of setting the fire, the plan to each take a floor of the house and douse it with gasoline, light it up, and run like hell. To ditch their gasoline-covered clothes and claim ignorance from a sheltered area of the island. She remembers that she had the first floor, the ground floor. She lit it up too fast, ran out, ditched her clothes, didn't see anyone, ran back in a panic, got badly burnt, trapped her cousins in the house from her fire on the first floor, trapped them in the house with the dogs, they died, the cousins and boyfriend died and she killed them they all burned to death in a fire with their beloved grandmother's memories and their two beloved family dogs.
SHE KILLED HER COUSINS AND BOYFRIEND IN A FIRE.
**END SPOILERS**
Okay, so that was a lot, but I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING!! I thought the dogs and the freaking ARSON were the big twists of whoa-ness not THAT! Wow. So I cried a lot as I realized what had happened. That's some hardcore real writing right there. I LOVED that this did not in any way have a happy ending. She states that she must endure knowing now what she knows, and knowing that her family kind of has an idea of what happened even if they don't want to face it, and knowing that the drinking and grief that has invaded the family is on her. It is.
Wow.
Saturday, July 25, 2015
July 19 - 25
The Heir by Kiera Cass
Well, when I found out that there was indeed a fourth book to the series, my previous comment about how it felt like there was more to the story kind of made me laugh. :-) however, when I realized it was set in the future and based about couples daughter, I was still a little like, ah. I read it though, and it was certainly different from the original series. It is largely predictable, but still entertaining enough. I will probably look for the books in the future, but not desperately.
The Key by Jennifer Anne Davis
I picked this book up from Amazon Kindle books for free while ago but never really got around to reading it. Honestly, my expectations of a free Kindle book were pretty low, but this one at least sounded slightly intriguing.
Wow.
I don't even think this book is really that groundbreaking or anything, but I freaking loved it. There were moments that I did not expect to happen, and even the romantic intrigue was different than usual in these kinds of books. And yes, there were parts that were brutally painful and unfair, and there was no consolation for that fact except to keep reading. That, right there, is a bold move for young adult novel.
Probably the most stereotypical aspect of this book is when Darmik at the end suddenly convinces himself she's playing him and gets all cold and stupid. Misunderstandings that almost seem will feel like this? That's pretty much the bread and butter of young adult novels.
However. Ending it with the main character being hung in front of a crowd? Um, yeah, I definitely had to buy the next book.
Red by Jennifer Anne Davis
I loved the first book so much, that I stayed up really late finishing it, and woke up early to buy the second book and start reading it before work. In fact, I was enjoying reading it so much that I asked my mom to drive us into work when I usually drive us there. I crammed as much reading time into that day as I could, and when I got home, I came home and finished it. And then I bought the next book.
War by Jennifer Anne Davis
And wonderful way to wrap everything up. However, I will say that the actual ending felt very abrupt, in like the last big important hurrah was over in about 10 seconds. I suppose that might actually be more realistic, but it was almost a little underwhelming when one of your biggest enemies is just gone within a page of encountering them in the final battle (so to speak).
Holy balls, really, this whole series was just wonderful. I can't believe I now own each book and for only ten dollars total. GO! BUY THEM NOW! THE FIRST ONE IS EVEN FREE!
Well, when I found out that there was indeed a fourth book to the series, my previous comment about how it felt like there was more to the story kind of made me laugh. :-) however, when I realized it was set in the future and based about couples daughter, I was still a little like, ah. I read it though, and it was certainly different from the original series. It is largely predictable, but still entertaining enough. I will probably look for the books in the future, but not desperately.
The Key by Jennifer Anne Davis
I picked this book up from Amazon Kindle books for free while ago but never really got around to reading it. Honestly, my expectations of a free Kindle book were pretty low, but this one at least sounded slightly intriguing.
Wow.
I don't even think this book is really that groundbreaking or anything, but I freaking loved it. There were moments that I did not expect to happen, and even the romantic intrigue was different than usual in these kinds of books. And yes, there were parts that were brutally painful and unfair, and there was no consolation for that fact except to keep reading. That, right there, is a bold move for young adult novel.
Probably the most stereotypical aspect of this book is when Darmik at the end suddenly convinces himself she's playing him and gets all cold and stupid. Misunderstandings that almost seem will feel like this? That's pretty much the bread and butter of young adult novels.
However. Ending it with the main character being hung in front of a crowd? Um, yeah, I definitely had to buy the next book.
Red by Jennifer Anne Davis
I loved the first book so much, that I stayed up really late finishing it, and woke up early to buy the second book and start reading it before work. In fact, I was enjoying reading it so much that I asked my mom to drive us into work when I usually drive us there. I crammed as much reading time into that day as I could, and when I got home, I came home and finished it. And then I bought the next book.
War by Jennifer Anne Davis
And wonderful way to wrap everything up. However, I will say that the actual ending felt very abrupt, in like the last big important hurrah was over in about 10 seconds. I suppose that might actually be more realistic, but it was almost a little underwhelming when one of your biggest enemies is just gone within a page of encountering them in the final battle (so to speak).
Holy balls, really, this whole series was just wonderful. I can't believe I now own each book and for only ten dollars total. GO! BUY THEM NOW! THE FIRST ONE IS EVEN FREE!
Saturday, July 18, 2015
July 12 - 18
The Giver by Lois Lowry
I received a copy of this book for my birthday, and I hadn't read it in yeeears (seem to have a pattern going here lately!). I took it to the beach for my birthday and read it right through. And oh wow, did I miss a lot the first time (again, a pattern...). Re-reading this was well worth the time, and I'm so excited to read Gathering Blue again too now, and read the final book for the first time. Can't wait!
Inheritance (Eragon #4) by Christopher Paolini
And of course, I did jump right into the last Eragon book! Powering through, powering through. Busy week though, so less time for reading than I had hoped!
I received a copy of this book for my birthday, and I hadn't read it in yeeears (seem to have a pattern going here lately!). I took it to the beach for my birthday and read it right through. And oh wow, did I miss a lot the first time (again, a pattern...). Re-reading this was well worth the time, and I'm so excited to read Gathering Blue again too now, and read the final book for the first time. Can't wait!
Inheritance (Eragon #4) by Christopher Paolini
And of course, I did jump right into the last Eragon book! Powering through, powering through. Busy week though, so less time for reading than I had hoped!
Friday, July 10, 2015
July 5 - 11
Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
Okay, so, somewhere in the middle of this book is where I forgot about what happened in the story, to the point where I actually had no idea (mostly) what was going to happen. It made it so exciting! And I was totally sucked into the story all over again! For example, I remembered that the lady made him a sword even though she said she wouldn't. But I totally forgot how she got around that---so clever! And the name for it, and what the name does? I was so caught off guard, you'd think I had been holding it at that moment! Anyway, really solid, and I can't wait to finish off the series (again)!
Okay, so, somewhere in the middle of this book is where I forgot about what happened in the story, to the point where I actually had no idea (mostly) what was going to happen. It made it so exciting! And I was totally sucked into the story all over again! For example, I remembered that the lady made him a sword even though she said she wouldn't. But I totally forgot how she got around that---so clever! And the name for it, and what the name does? I was so caught off guard, you'd think I had been holding it at that moment! Anyway, really solid, and I can't wait to finish off the series (again)!
Friday, July 3, 2015
June 28 - July 4
Eldest by Christopher Paolini
Plowed through this one! I did get to the boring part about The Secret Lives of Ants that made me stop the first time I ever tried to read through this, and realized why I hated it so much: it's SOOO philosophical. Ugh. Pointless questions that can never be answered sometimes just don't need to be asked. Enjoy the mystery. Anyway, got past that and was pretty happy with the rest of the book. There honestly wasn't as much time in the elven forest as I remembered. It did have the political time with the Dwarves right before that though, so I'm sure for ten-year-old me, polotics to philosphy when I was used to magic and escapes was pretty difficult. Much better this time, though probably still not my favorite book of the series.
Plowed through this one! I did get to the boring part about The Secret Lives of Ants that made me stop the first time I ever tried to read through this, and realized why I hated it so much: it's SOOO philosophical. Ugh. Pointless questions that can never be answered sometimes just don't need to be asked. Enjoy the mystery. Anyway, got past that and was pretty happy with the rest of the book. There honestly wasn't as much time in the elven forest as I remembered. It did have the political time with the Dwarves right before that though, so I'm sure for ten-year-old me, polotics to philosphy when I was used to magic and escapes was pretty difficult. Much better this time, though probably still not my favorite book of the series.
Saturday, June 27, 2015
June 21-27
Eragon by Christopher Paolini
WHOA, I forgot how good this was! I did remember most of what happened in the story, but that doesn't make it any less good. I was also impressed by the vocabulary. There were words in there even I have only encountered once or twice, and a few I looked up! But not overdone in an Engfish, I'm-trying-too-hard kind of way either.
WHOA, I forgot how good this was! I did remember most of what happened in the story, but that doesn't make it any less good. I was also impressed by the vocabulary. There were words in there even I have only encountered once or twice, and a few I looked up! But not overdone in an Engfish, I'm-trying-too-hard kind of way either.
Sunday, June 21, 2015
June 14 - 20
Eragon by Christopher Paolini
I've read this before, but it was YEAAARS ago when it first came out. I wanted to give it another go, and it was still really good! I was impressed with the vocabulary too: there were words in there I still don't know! It was pretty awesome, and I'm interested to see how I end up feeling about the second one, Eldest, since I didn't like it very much when I read it first years ago.
I've read this before, but it was YEAAARS ago when it first came out. I wanted to give it another go, and it was still really good! I was impressed with the vocabulary too: there were words in there I still don't know! It was pretty awesome, and I'm interested to see how I end up feeling about the second one, Eldest, since I didn't like it very much when I read it first years ago.
Saturday, June 13, 2015
June 7 - 13
Teach like your hair is on fire by Rafe Esquith
I picked this book up at a goodwill for $3, and I would say it was definitely worth that investment and more. I didn't realize that this teacher was in elementary school, but for once that doesn't actually matter too much. Many of the activities and ideas that he uses with his children I could easily see being used with older students as well. I think that is the mark of something that does well: when it is easily adaptable and interesting for any age. He's going through each subject now as well, and so far I have seen reading, writing, math, and am currently hearing about social studies. Another little thing that I enjoyed is that he explained the story behind the title right away. I wasn't kept in suspense, it was a story that set the frame for the rest of the book well, and introduced him as a teacher. I'd say so far that this book is quite well done.
I picked this book up at a goodwill for $3, and I would say it was definitely worth that investment and more. I didn't realize that this teacher was in elementary school, but for once that doesn't actually matter too much. Many of the activities and ideas that he uses with his children I could easily see being used with older students as well. I think that is the mark of something that does well: when it is easily adaptable and interesting for any age. He's going through each subject now as well, and so far I have seen reading, writing, math, and am currently hearing about social studies. Another little thing that I enjoyed is that he explained the story behind the title right away. I wasn't kept in suspense, it was a story that set the frame for the rest of the book well, and introduced him as a teacher. I'd say so far that this book is quite well done.
I, Lucifer by Glen Duncan
Finally! I have been waiting to read this book since I picked it off a shelf at the used bookstore. The title, of course, caught my attention. It sounded pretty funny too, as Lucifer is given a chance to potentially rejoin God in heaven if he can live sin-free in a human's body for one month. That's not in Lucifer's plan though, and he's basically just screwing around and having fun, which is a delight to watch. The descriptions and language in this novel I feel evoke the image of Lucifer well. They're very fluid and flowery and honestly quite stunningly beautiful at times. The humor is wonderful, as well.
Finally! I have been waiting to read this book since I picked it off a shelf at the used bookstore. The title, of course, caught my attention. It sounded pretty funny too, as Lucifer is given a chance to potentially rejoin God in heaven if he can live sin-free in a human's body for one month. That's not in Lucifer's plan though, and he's basically just screwing around and having fun, which is a delight to watch. The descriptions and language in this novel I feel evoke the image of Lucifer well. They're very fluid and flowery and honestly quite stunningly beautiful at times. The humor is wonderful, as well.
I'm a little less than half way through right now, but I have had a little bit of a problem. For a book about the devil, there sure is a lot of stuff about the Bible and God. While it is an amusing and intriguing take on the whole matter, it still goes into long tangents about biblical things that kind of lose my interest. Not sure how much that will affect the rest of my reading but for now I'm hoping it gets toned down a little bit.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
While I have read this before, it was years ago in seventh grade. I think I missed a lot of it, particularly because I thought it would be more like a children's story with kids who stole books or a young boy Robin Hood or something. Either way, I read it and thought, "Eh." From what I remembered, I didn't think that was a totally fair estimate looking back with my adultish eyes. I decided I would reread it, and so I have. Already, I'm understanding more and seeing things I missed. I'm really glad I thought to do this. The perspective from death is very interesting, and I love the little inserts in the book with definitions and list.
While I have read this before, it was years ago in seventh grade. I think I missed a lot of it, particularly because I thought it would be more like a children's story with kids who stole books or a young boy Robin Hood or something. Either way, I read it and thought, "Eh." From what I remembered, I didn't think that was a totally fair estimate looking back with my adultish eyes. I decided I would reread it, and so I have. Already, I'm understanding more and seeing things I missed. I'm really glad I thought to do this. The perspective from death is very interesting, and I love the little inserts in the book with definitions and list.
The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski
I bought a book for Luke this week, but I kind of nabbed it for myself before I gave it to him and managed to read about 150 pages before I passed it along to him. It's the series by the polish author that the Witcher games are based on. This one was actually written most recently, but it's set up to be an introduction to the characters and world (in fact, it's literally called "An Introduction to the Witcher"). It's set up as a series of short stories to explain the one smaller main story. I'm interested to see where it goes, and what the main storyline will be in the later books.
Thursday, May 28, 2015
May 17 - 23
I knew I'd kick back into high gear!
So I am home from school now and have had some time to regain my wits. I have also had time to visit the library, which I've only been able to visit once before since it was built a few years back. It was terribly exciting! And as you can see, I picked up an entire series that I've been wanting to read. Very nice welcome home!
The Selection by Kiera Cass
I PLOWED through this one! I started it at about 7pm and read until I finished it at 2am. My favorite part? The foreword, where Kiera begins by saying "Okay, in case you're in a hurry or are tired because you stayed up really late to finish this..." Oh, how accurate that was! It wasn't a terribly original plot or anything, but after what I've been reading --(refresher: critical analyses)-- this was a DELICIOUS break for my mind. It had some unexpected moments of intrigue behind the predictable girly backstabbing and drama. Basically, this is a dystopian-ish form of the show The Bachelor.
The Elite by Kiera Cass
It was interesting to get the additional character development here, to actually have few enough girls remaining to have personalities beyond "she's nice" or "she's mean" or "she's manipulative" and whatnot. Quite frankly, I'm having some trouble remembering what was in this one because I read each book in such quick succession. I do have to say though: what's up with the king? I feel like that was a plot line barely established before it was snuffed out.
The One by Kiera Cass
Okay, well, the cover and the title pretty much assure you of what happens at the end. She tries to throw you off in the final hour, but in the final minute she brings you back around to the usual conventions. It was an interesting and bold move though, at least more so than usually seen in the genre. However, it's a good thing this was the final novel because it entered that territory of the boy and the girl just fighting over stupid things and making way to big a deal out of things that would have been barely a speck on the radar if they had just freaking talked to each other! So minus some points for being one of those miscommunication stories, because those are too common and dull. It was really weird as well though because it felt like really interesting things could have come in the next book... If it existed. :/
Wicked by Gregory Maguire
While I am excited to get back into this gripping story, I'm also slogging through it a little bit. The point where I became too busy to read was in the middle of a very political section, complete with protests and detainment camps. It was interesting, but at times got very philosophical and kind of lost me. I haven't gotten too much further, but I am interested in seeing how he pulls everything together, especially since we know the ending is not in Elphaba's favor.
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua
In the midst of all my fiction I finished up my nonfiction, a controversial piece this time. This is the author talks about how she gets her children to be excellent musicians and star students and that kind of thing, as many Asian children are according to her. I can see how the controversy comes in, as she often puts down things that seem kind of weird, like having fun and caring about your child's feelings. Those moments through me off, as did an early scene where she puts her three-year-old out into a snowstorm because she refused to do a musical drill or something like that. That's the moment that made me go, "Oh, I see now". With that said, it was still very interesting, & I think she has valid points. Either way, it's her opinion. As for the experience of it as a book, it was very well done. It was chronologically organized, and there were many funny stories. There are also many touching moments, where I found myself smiling and cheering for the girls as well as the mother. There were moments of pain and failure, but that exist in any life and so it made it feel like a more balanced and fair point of view. The sorry if it is, I enjoyed this book, and kept in mind that different people parent in different ways.
Monday, May 18, 2015
May 10 - 16
Critical Analyses
These have been my life this last week as I raced to find the perfect ideas and quotations to work into my capstone thesis work for my 400-level English class, Terrific Liars (about unreliable narrators, very interesting!). It was a 20-page beast of a paper, and I'm so proud of what I managed! However, this week was nuts and after reading hundred of pages of criticism, I wasn't exactly feeling up to reading when I got home from a flurry of goodbyes and packing and unpacking. BUSY BUSY BUSY! But I have a whole long list of books to read and a few to get back to that had to be interrupted (Hello, Wicked and A Handmaid's Tale!).
UPDATE: I actually managed to get in a little bit of reading for FUN this week!! :D
These have been my life this last week as I raced to find the perfect ideas and quotations to work into my capstone thesis work for my 400-level English class, Terrific Liars (about unreliable narrators, very interesting!). It was a 20-page beast of a paper, and I'm so proud of what I managed! However, this week was nuts and after reading hundred of pages of criticism, I wasn't exactly feeling up to reading when I got home from a flurry of goodbyes and packing and unpacking. BUSY BUSY BUSY! But I have a whole long list of books to read and a few to get back to that had to be interrupted (Hello, Wicked and A Handmaid's Tale!).
UPDATE: I actually managed to get in a little bit of reading for FUN this week!! :D
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua
So I was at the used bookstore today, and I saw this sitting on a shelf. I have to admit, the cover of it is quite beautiful and eye-catching. It was only $7 and for a used copy, it was in really great condition. I've been interested in reading this one for a while now, because I've heard so much about it and the author. For any who don't know, Amy Chua has been accused of many things, and basically she totes a kind of screaming yet affectionate yet focused parental method and puts down the gentle individual-based method that she describes many Americans and Western families as having. I'm not too far and yet, but there has already been a moment that caught me off guard, and made me kind of cringe and cool towards her. She described early on a moment with her 3 year old daughter who refuses to play a simple tune on the piano. Amy decides a pro priate course of action is to put her three-year-old outside into a snowstorm until she will apologize promise to play what her mother wants. The three year old is stubborn, and refuses, staying outside and slowly freezing. It's a really uncomfortable moment for me, because I can't imagine ever being able to validate doing that to a child. Or anyone, really. So after reading that, I kind of knew what sort of person I would be reading about, and adjusted my expectations accordingly. We'll see how this goes. I am intrigued.
Saturday, May 2, 2015
April 26 - May 2
Luckily...
I was able to get back on track this week, and it felt goooood. They were for school unfortunately, so they're not exactly the books I've had waiting for me on my shelf for so long, but I did choose them and they were good reads.
Love That Dog by Sharon Creech
I had to read a novel in verse for a project, and thought of this one immediately. It's a pretty popular one, and I had never read it, so I thought I would give it a try. I picked it up off the shelf at the library that evening and read it in about a half hour. I more or less knew the story, but I still enjoyed it. I think it did a pretty decent job showing the transition and reluctance people often have with poetry, and it did it in a pretty short amount of space. It seems like it would be a pretty good one to read with your kid before bed or something.
Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff
So this is the book I chose for the actual novel-in-verse project I needed to do. I found a list on goodreads and was desperately trying to find something that wasn't 1)depressed teens or 2)love-struck teens or 3)depresssed love-struck teens. Amazingly, I did find it. Even more amazing though is that one of the quotes on the back from a reviewer was actually accurate! They never seem to help much. It more or less says that the book is interesting because it focuses not on a racial culture, but on the culture of poverty, which transcends all racial boundaries. It was an intriguing book for sure. A young girl being raised by her mother is working hard hard hard to be able to have enough money to go to college. She picks up a babysitting job for a seventeen-year-old girl named Jolly who has two young kids, about 5 and 2 years old. The narrator helps out at the home, experiences some really terrible things with this young mother, as well as some really amazing things, she tries to help, fails, succeeds... it's actually a quite well-written and moving story that feels very realistic and honest. The ending is not exactly happy, but again it's honest and realistic. It feels good. It's an optimistic, hopeful ending that made me feel ready to start my day full of an incredible load of work.
I was able to get back on track this week, and it felt goooood. They were for school unfortunately, so they're not exactly the books I've had waiting for me on my shelf for so long, but I did choose them and they were good reads.
Love That Dog by Sharon Creech
I had to read a novel in verse for a project, and thought of this one immediately. It's a pretty popular one, and I had never read it, so I thought I would give it a try. I picked it up off the shelf at the library that evening and read it in about a half hour. I more or less knew the story, but I still enjoyed it. I think it did a pretty decent job showing the transition and reluctance people often have with poetry, and it did it in a pretty short amount of space. It seems like it would be a pretty good one to read with your kid before bed or something.
Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff
So this is the book I chose for the actual novel-in-verse project I needed to do. I found a list on goodreads and was desperately trying to find something that wasn't 1)depressed teens or 2)love-struck teens or 3)depresssed love-struck teens. Amazingly, I did find it. Even more amazing though is that one of the quotes on the back from a reviewer was actually accurate! They never seem to help much. It more or less says that the book is interesting because it focuses not on a racial culture, but on the culture of poverty, which transcends all racial boundaries. It was an intriguing book for sure. A young girl being raised by her mother is working hard hard hard to be able to have enough money to go to college. She picks up a babysitting job for a seventeen-year-old girl named Jolly who has two young kids, about 5 and 2 years old. The narrator helps out at the home, experiences some really terrible things with this young mother, as well as some really amazing things, she tries to help, fails, succeeds... it's actually a quite well-written and moving story that feels very realistic and honest. The ending is not exactly happy, but again it's honest and realistic. It feels good. It's an optimistic, hopeful ending that made me feel ready to start my day full of an incredible load of work.
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