Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
I laughed, I raged at the world, I marveled at Trevor's adaptability, and I began to believe in something a little bit mystical in this world. I could hear so much of his voice, and I felt like I was getting to know a new side of Trevor. This was so well-written that I felt like we were two friends just chatting, and he was telling stories as we sat somewhere cozy.
Won in a Goodreads Giveaway!
The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters by Balli Jaur Kaswal
I received an ARE of this from a Goodreads Giveaway - thanks!
Would I recommend this: yes!!!
For fans of travel, learning new cultures, exploring family dynamics, and wonderfully written and developed characters. Left me fist pumping and cheering along with them!
OHMYGOD, I loved this! I was so excited to read it, and it was one of those books where within 20 pages you know you were right and you WILL love this book. I love learning about places and cultures through reading, even novels, and this was a new one for me: Sikhism and India. I enjoyed learning about the little bits they mentioned in the book, but as a story it was so strong as well!
The characters are the absolute best. It can be hard to develop strong characters when you have several all taking turns narrating, but they each provided insight into themselves as well as each other when they took their turn in the story. Even the mother, who is dead basically the whole time, feels like a familiar friend by the middle of it. One whose quirks and flaws and passions I know and love.
One great aspect of this novel is the lack of a romance line. It's very firmly based on the sisters and them learning about themselves as individuals as well as a group. The secrets that each sister has throughout their pilgrimage through India are hinted at and built upon, but not in that way where it feels so blunt and tactless; none of those single sentences at the end of chapter just saying "She thought she would be ok... until she remembered what he had said before she left." or some rubbish like that. My god, that gets annoying, right? These were gracefully and naturally woven in, which is key in any story for me.
Is it predictable? In some ways, yes. I had a feeling they would all find their happy endings, reconcile, and all that. But the method of each resolution was hazy enough to keep an air of mystery for me, and I loved it for that. I knew the what, but not the how, and isn't the journey all the fun of it anyway?
Seoul Man by Frank Ahrens
Recommended for: those interested in the automotive world/Hyundai specifically, those interested in life as an expat who can tolerate reading a ton about the automotive industry
This took me forEVER to finally get around to reading, and then to finish once I was consistently reading it. It's really heavy about the details of Hyundai and the automotive world, which could get to be a bit much for me at times. However, it's balanced enough with stories about his personal experiences both in and out of the office that I was able to enjoy getting through this all.
Having lived in Korea, there were a lot of things that I related to very easily, thinking about times when I had also learned one of those cultural differences thanks to an awkward moment, and some were new to me since he was there longer than I was, and resolved some mysteries I still had.
Overall, it's a good book to read on the side with some lighter things interspersed during it. Read a few chapters about the politics and planning of automotive shows, then a few chapters of whatever fiction you want.
Showing posts with label non-fic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label non-fic. Show all posts
Friday, April 5, 2019
Saturday, September 8, 2018
September 2 - September 8, 2018
The Moth by Catherine Burns and many others
So this is, as I say, the only moth I will ever love. Based on The Moth stories hosted by NPR, this is a collection of stories transcribed from the spoken ones they originated as. I have adored these stories since I stumbled upon them and looked beyond the off-putting name to fall in love. Listening to them is a treat, but I also love words. This book also features some stories that are not available in audio due to crazy circumstances of their origins (ex. one salvaged from a war-torn region that had terrible audio quality but was able to be transcribed). So I have been seriously loving these. The moth never lets me down. Even the Steve Osborne story was a good one (which I've now learned is a rarity; more from him later). The way their grouped is great too, categories like "in the trenches" and "shot through the heart," and as always, with their wide range of induced emotions. Happy tears, sad tears, and the stories that make me want to call up my sweetheart.
The Job: True Tales from the Life of a New York City Cop by Steve Osborne
My friend at work had told me about this book, which he loved, probably six months ago or so. I kept putting it off due to my never-ending list of current reads. However, after reading his story "Mug Shot" in The Moth, I decided I'd follow up and read the guy's book.
Oh my god. How much I dislike him. I could forgive that the writing isn't fantastic, since obviously he's a cop not a writer, and considering as well that many of these were originally verbally told or standalone stories, I could move beyond how many times the same joke or phrase is repeated. What I *can't* move beyond is how he treats women. I mean, this guy. He's just gross. And when I said this to my friend, he shrugged and said "That's just how guys are." I told him it still wasn't shit I wanted to hear, and that it's not necessarily how guys SHOULD be, just because the norm perpetuates something negative. So I am having a real hard time with this guy constantly talking about how he's passing time watching ladies in shorts run by, and ranking them with his buddy, and similarly pig-ish and misogynistic things to say. Couple that with aggressive conservatism, and this guy is just NOT for me. His stories might be interesting or moving to read, but when filtered through his brain and voice, I'm honestly forcing myself to continue it. We'll see if I just abandon it. When I start every new paragraph, page, and story, with my eyes narrowed in expectation of reading something that will turn me off... it gets old fast. Reading his stories are kind of making me see why my brother is constantly hating on cops a bit more....
The Last Guardian (Warcraft #3) by Jeff Grubb
WELL HOLY SMOKES. My fourth book in the Warcraft world, and my god every one is just as good as the last in a whole new way. This author is less polished than some of the others I've read, but he also used a lot of really strange archaic words to fit the era. I don't super love that, but I did love learning all these bizarre new words (cantrip, muzzy, eldritch, lapidarium, thaumaturgic... the list goes on!). Also a shoutout to my favorite description of anything: "with the sound of an egg imploding." Fascinating description. Absolutely NO IDEA what that would be.
For the story, absolutely loved it. It's rare that there's a twist or revelation that catches me off guard, but I was VERY unprepared for one of the primary explanations in this! Holy crap! It's so exciting to learn about the characters I've seen briefly, or heard an intriguing mention of. Every time I think, "Wow, I hope I get to hear that story sometime" it tends to be the next one that comes up! Wow. Yes. Love it. If you're into Azeroth at all, this series is so far holding really strong. Bringing much more depth as I play the game, as well.
So this is, as I say, the only moth I will ever love. Based on The Moth stories hosted by NPR, this is a collection of stories transcribed from the spoken ones they originated as. I have adored these stories since I stumbled upon them and looked beyond the off-putting name to fall in love. Listening to them is a treat, but I also love words. This book also features some stories that are not available in audio due to crazy circumstances of their origins (ex. one salvaged from a war-torn region that had terrible audio quality but was able to be transcribed). So I have been seriously loving these. The moth never lets me down. Even the Steve Osborne story was a good one (which I've now learned is a rarity; more from him later). The way their grouped is great too, categories like "in the trenches" and "shot through the heart," and as always, with their wide range of induced emotions. Happy tears, sad tears, and the stories that make me want to call up my sweetheart.
The Job: True Tales from the Life of a New York City Cop by Steve Osborne
My friend at work had told me about this book, which he loved, probably six months ago or so. I kept putting it off due to my never-ending list of current reads. However, after reading his story "Mug Shot" in The Moth, I decided I'd follow up and read the guy's book.
Oh my god. How much I dislike him. I could forgive that the writing isn't fantastic, since obviously he's a cop not a writer, and considering as well that many of these were originally verbally told or standalone stories, I could move beyond how many times the same joke or phrase is repeated. What I *can't* move beyond is how he treats women. I mean, this guy. He's just gross. And when I said this to my friend, he shrugged and said "That's just how guys are." I told him it still wasn't shit I wanted to hear, and that it's not necessarily how guys SHOULD be, just because the norm perpetuates something negative. So I am having a real hard time with this guy constantly talking about how he's passing time watching ladies in shorts run by, and ranking them with his buddy, and similarly pig-ish and misogynistic things to say. Couple that with aggressive conservatism, and this guy is just NOT for me. His stories might be interesting or moving to read, but when filtered through his brain and voice, I'm honestly forcing myself to continue it. We'll see if I just abandon it. When I start every new paragraph, page, and story, with my eyes narrowed in expectation of reading something that will turn me off... it gets old fast. Reading his stories are kind of making me see why my brother is constantly hating on cops a bit more....
The Last Guardian (Warcraft #3) by Jeff Grubb
WELL HOLY SMOKES. My fourth book in the Warcraft world, and my god every one is just as good as the last in a whole new way. This author is less polished than some of the others I've read, but he also used a lot of really strange archaic words to fit the era. I don't super love that, but I did love learning all these bizarre new words (cantrip, muzzy, eldritch, lapidarium, thaumaturgic... the list goes on!). Also a shoutout to my favorite description of anything: "with the sound of an egg imploding." Fascinating description. Absolutely NO IDEA what that would be.
For the story, absolutely loved it. It's rare that there's a twist or revelation that catches me off guard, but I was VERY unprepared for one of the primary explanations in this! Holy crap! It's so exciting to learn about the characters I've seen briefly, or heard an intriguing mention of. Every time I think, "Wow, I hope I get to hear that story sometime" it tends to be the next one that comes up! Wow. Yes. Love it. If you're into Azeroth at all, this series is so far holding really strong. Bringing much more depth as I play the game, as well.
Saturday, December 5, 2015
November 29 - December 5
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.
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.
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 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, 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, April 11, 2015
April 5 - 11
Oh dear...
I haven't done very well with the past month. I'm sure I could blame it on a whole range of things (school projects, Praxis test, being sick...), but this is basically only for me, and I'd be lying to myself, and that's pretty silly. So while I had a bit of a lapse, I feel that it was kind of inevitable, and this wasn't really so bad. I was consistent for about 6 or 7 months, which is pretty good! I *did* have drafts of my last posts, even if they were fairly scant. Anyway, here are my recent reads!!
Without You, There Is No Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea's Elite by Suki Kim
I had put a hold on this book at the end of a long waiting list a while back when I stumbled upon it and it came available recently, so I really had to jump on it even though I was pretty busy. I'm so glad I did! I'm not sure where my recent fascination with the Koreas came from, but this book fed into it pretty well.
Suki Kim managed to score a job at a school run and funded by Christian missionaries in North Korea, despite not being exactly religious herself... and despite being a journalist, and using the time to gather information and experiences for this very book. Reading about the struggles there... well, I don't really know what to say about it. It was certainly an enlightening book, and was even more engaging for me because of the unique perspective of a teacher with her students. What a difficult situation, to be a foreigner teaching students who have been taught their whole lives to fear and hate the two very nationalities that you are! It was touching, and chilling, and funny. It was truly heartbreaking. Really, just read it for yourself, and you will be able to see all that I mean. It was dangerous every day and probably one of the most taxing experiences someone could have, but I appreciate Suki's efforts for what she was able to share with us.
I haven't done very well with the past month. I'm sure I could blame it on a whole range of things (school projects, Praxis test, being sick...), but this is basically only for me, and I'd be lying to myself, and that's pretty silly. So while I had a bit of a lapse, I feel that it was kind of inevitable, and this wasn't really so bad. I was consistent for about 6 or 7 months, which is pretty good! I *did* have drafts of my last posts, even if they were fairly scant. Anyway, here are my recent reads!!
Without You, There Is No Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea's Elite by Suki Kim
I had put a hold on this book at the end of a long waiting list a while back when I stumbled upon it and it came available recently, so I really had to jump on it even though I was pretty busy. I'm so glad I did! I'm not sure where my recent fascination with the Koreas came from, but this book fed into it pretty well.
Suki Kim managed to score a job at a school run and funded by Christian missionaries in North Korea, despite not being exactly religious herself... and despite being a journalist, and using the time to gather information and experiences for this very book. Reading about the struggles there... well, I don't really know what to say about it. It was certainly an enlightening book, and was even more engaging for me because of the unique perspective of a teacher with her students. What a difficult situation, to be a foreigner teaching students who have been taught their whole lives to fear and hate the two very nationalities that you are! It was touching, and chilling, and funny. It was truly heartbreaking. Really, just read it for yourself, and you will be able to see all that I mean. It was dangerous every day and probably one of the most taxing experiences someone could have, but I appreciate Suki's efforts for what she was able to share with us.
Saturday, April 4, 2015
March 29 - April 4
Shakespeare saved my life: ten years in solitary with the Bard by Dr. Laura Bates
I saw this book offered as an eBook through sobering called the global book club. I had no idea what that was, but it sounded like an interesting book anyway! A college professor works with prisoners to study Shakespeare, including most notably one man who had life without the possibility of speak for parole. Larry Newton had been in prisons since he was ten and went to juvi several times. Escape attempts, stabbing officers... It got pretty bad. So he had to go to solitary confinement... For a decade or more.
The story focuses mainly on them working together to create a workbook for other insured who would benefit. They make some pretty amazing insights into Shakespeare's work, and in that way I was even able to learn about some of his works that I wasn't familiar with (such as many of the historical plays that tend to get passed over in traditional education... and in my interests). It was pretty solid. Interesting to see how prisoners view Macbeth and his hallucinations after looking Duncan, his holding onto the daggers... seeing those scenes from the mind of people who have murdered was incredibly revealing. I can't believe no one had acted on that idea before. What a great payout!
Wicked by Gregory Maguire
This book has been sitting on my shelf for SO long, and during this break I finally had some time and got randomly intrigued by it once again. I picked it up and didn't stop reading until I had to stop for family events and returning to school! This is such an interesting take on a pretty well-known tale. I love the imaginative back story for Elphaba, Galinda-turned-Glinda, and Nessarose. I find myself totally drawn in to their world, with the Animals and their compelling push for equal rights! Go Doctor Dillamond! I'm constantly wondering how and IF it will line up with the version of the story I know. When will those worlds collide? When will this rebellious and strong girl colored green turn into the Wicked Witch of the West? Do I really trust Glinda all that much? And really, what the heck happened at the Philosophy Club?! That was such an unexpected scene! So not what I would associate with little Munchinklanders and Animals that are aware! How bizzarre!
The progression in this book is done extremely well. We go back to Elphaba's mother and learn about them, as well as Elphaba as a very colorful (ha!) infant. We meet Glinda, a rich girl, heading off to a ritzy boarding school in the big city. There are adulterers and places of sexual deviancy and thinly veiled insults and blatant insults and sorcery and brain washing and corruption and exploitation and poverty and starvation and bloodthirst and secret rebel societies, and, and, and...! There is SO much going on here, and I love it!! I cannot wait to finish it up, although unfortunately it's going to be a bit on hold for now because I have so many Big Things coming up!
I saw this book offered as an eBook through sobering called the global book club. I had no idea what that was, but it sounded like an interesting book anyway! A college professor works with prisoners to study Shakespeare, including most notably one man who had life without the possibility of speak for parole. Larry Newton had been in prisons since he was ten and went to juvi several times. Escape attempts, stabbing officers... It got pretty bad. So he had to go to solitary confinement... For a decade or more.
The story focuses mainly on them working together to create a workbook for other insured who would benefit. They make some pretty amazing insights into Shakespeare's work, and in that way I was even able to learn about some of his works that I wasn't familiar with (such as many of the historical plays that tend to get passed over in traditional education... and in my interests). It was pretty solid. Interesting to see how prisoners view Macbeth and his hallucinations after looking Duncan, his holding onto the daggers... seeing those scenes from the mind of people who have murdered was incredibly revealing. I can't believe no one had acted on that idea before. What a great payout!
Wicked by Gregory Maguire
This book has been sitting on my shelf for SO long, and during this break I finally had some time and got randomly intrigued by it once again. I picked it up and didn't stop reading until I had to stop for family events and returning to school! This is such an interesting take on a pretty well-known tale. I love the imaginative back story for Elphaba, Galinda-turned-Glinda, and Nessarose. I find myself totally drawn in to their world, with the Animals and their compelling push for equal rights! Go Doctor Dillamond! I'm constantly wondering how and IF it will line up with the version of the story I know. When will those worlds collide? When will this rebellious and strong girl colored green turn into the Wicked Witch of the West? Do I really trust Glinda all that much? And really, what the heck happened at the Philosophy Club?! That was such an unexpected scene! So not what I would associate with little Munchinklanders and Animals that are aware! How bizzarre!
The progression in this book is done extremely well. We go back to Elphaba's mother and learn about them, as well as Elphaba as a very colorful (ha!) infant. We meet Glinda, a rich girl, heading off to a ritzy boarding school in the big city. There are adulterers and places of sexual deviancy and thinly veiled insults and blatant insults and sorcery and brain washing and corruption and exploitation and poverty and starvation and bloodthirst and secret rebel societies, and, and, and...! There is SO much going on here, and I love it!! I cannot wait to finish it up, although unfortunately it's going to be a bit on hold for now because I have so many Big Things coming up!
Friday, January 2, 2015
December 28 - January 3
It's a new year!
And yet, I managed to cram in one last book before it ended. I'm going to tag this only with 2014 because I did read this last book in 2014.
Teaching Will by Mel Ryane
There is a story behind this book. I entered a giveaway contest for it on Goodreads probably sometime in early November 2014. Totally forgot about it. Never heard from it again. Then one day I stopped to pick up the mail and had an unexpected pacakge, containing a signed copy of the book and a letter saying I had won the contest! AWESOME?! So I sat down in read it in two days (although a span of three because one day in the middle I couldn't read because of other obligations). It was absolutely wonderful!
Now to the actual book. I think the fact that I plowed through it in just two days says a lot. It's easy to read, and it keeps you wanting to read. The pacing is done really well, and you get through a year of time in just a couple hundred pages. There's always something new happening, some new issue arising that has you feeling right there with the author, "Oh no, what to do about this?!" Ryane captured the craziness and struggles of teaching very well, and has so many of the same issues as all early teachers do, and also ended up at the same conclusion: it was hell, and there's no way I'd give it up. Despite the struggles, Ryane ends the book mentioning her next year with a new group. This book was insightful and terribly funny, with just the right amount of painful cringing moments. I highly suggest it, especially to any other teachers who will recognize themselves in so many moments of Ryane's early struggles, despite their subject area.
And yet, I managed to cram in one last book before it ended. I'm going to tag this only with 2014 because I did read this last book in 2014.
Teaching Will by Mel Ryane
There is a story behind this book. I entered a giveaway contest for it on Goodreads probably sometime in early November 2014. Totally forgot about it. Never heard from it again. Then one day I stopped to pick up the mail and had an unexpected pacakge, containing a signed copy of the book and a letter saying I had won the contest! AWESOME?! So I sat down in read it in two days (although a span of three because one day in the middle I couldn't read because of other obligations). It was absolutely wonderful!
Now to the actual book. I think the fact that I plowed through it in just two days says a lot. It's easy to read, and it keeps you wanting to read. The pacing is done really well, and you get through a year of time in just a couple hundred pages. There's always something new happening, some new issue arising that has you feeling right there with the author, "Oh no, what to do about this?!" Ryane captured the craziness and struggles of teaching very well, and has so many of the same issues as all early teachers do, and also ended up at the same conclusion: it was hell, and there's no way I'd give it up. Despite the struggles, Ryane ends the book mentioning her next year with a new group. This book was insightful and terribly funny, with just the right amount of painful cringing moments. I highly suggest it, especially to any other teachers who will recognize themselves in so many moments of Ryane's early struggles, despite their subject area.
Sunday, December 14, 2014
December 7 - 13
The Country of Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett
Well, I finally finished this! And... it continued in largely the same vein. We learn about the characters when they tell us stories. The narrator left and then it ended. I wish we had had class to discuss this because I'm still not feeling like I got much from it. Discussing it with a group of intelligent people would have helped.
Cultural Anthropology: A Toolkit for a Global Age by Kenneth J. Guest
Its finals week, and I have re-read several chapters of this in-depth now. I have mentioned it before, and it's still holding up okay...for a textbook.
Victory of Eagles: A Novel of Temeraire (#5) by Naomi Novik
This book is so exciting! I love hearing from Temeraire's perspective. Also, I was totally right: he led a rebellion of epic proportions and became a ranking officer! HA! I guess the joke is on them now! Anyway, it's just fantastic. After trying to kill all the dragons in the world, those officers deserve such an appropriate kind of embarrassment. I'm still suspicious of Iskierka, though she's acting all obedient and such now. I just don't see it lasting. Temeraire and some of the others are headed off to the front to keep Napoleon at bay, so we're getting to the exciting ending, I'm guessing!
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
This was one of the books I found by browsing through books that were available as an e-book through my library at home. What a find! While it wasn't anything insane or totally new, it was enough to draw me in and keep me in until I finished it. I almost let myself be late for a dinner date so that I could finish it! I managed to put it down for a few hours though, and finished it in about a day. So, definitely a solid book. An 18-year-old female assassin of incredible renown is taken from a slave labor camp and entered into the king's competition for royal assassin, basically. There's some magic sprinkled in, and of course a love story with a handsome prince. **SPOILER UPCOMING** LUCKILY, their love story was ended before the end, thank GOODNESS, because I didn't really like that direction. It ended as well as it could, but the prince was all dramatic and "I could never be with someone else now that I know her!" so we'll see how he does with it, I guess. I'm glad she's going for the guard instead. He's more real, and I suspect he has ties to magic somehow...maybe he can see it too? He also has a way cooler name. **END SPOILERS*
Anyway, I'm currently waiting for a copy of the next one in the series. It made for a nice day's light read in a time of turmoil (so much work for finals!!).
Well, I finally finished this! And... it continued in largely the same vein. We learn about the characters when they tell us stories. The narrator left and then it ended. I wish we had had class to discuss this because I'm still not feeling like I got much from it. Discussing it with a group of intelligent people would have helped.
Cultural Anthropology: A Toolkit for a Global Age by Kenneth J. Guest
Its finals week, and I have re-read several chapters of this in-depth now. I have mentioned it before, and it's still holding up okay...for a textbook.
Victory of Eagles: A Novel of Temeraire (#5) by Naomi Novik
This book is so exciting! I love hearing from Temeraire's perspective. Also, I was totally right: he led a rebellion of epic proportions and became a ranking officer! HA! I guess the joke is on them now! Anyway, it's just fantastic. After trying to kill all the dragons in the world, those officers deserve such an appropriate kind of embarrassment. I'm still suspicious of Iskierka, though she's acting all obedient and such now. I just don't see it lasting. Temeraire and some of the others are headed off to the front to keep Napoleon at bay, so we're getting to the exciting ending, I'm guessing!
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
This was one of the books I found by browsing through books that were available as an e-book through my library at home. What a find! While it wasn't anything insane or totally new, it was enough to draw me in and keep me in until I finished it. I almost let myself be late for a dinner date so that I could finish it! I managed to put it down for a few hours though, and finished it in about a day. So, definitely a solid book. An 18-year-old female assassin of incredible renown is taken from a slave labor camp and entered into the king's competition for royal assassin, basically. There's some magic sprinkled in, and of course a love story with a handsome prince. **SPOILER UPCOMING** LUCKILY, their love story was ended before the end, thank GOODNESS, because I didn't really like that direction. It ended as well as it could, but the prince was all dramatic and "I could never be with someone else now that I know her!" so we'll see how he does with it, I guess. I'm glad she's going for the guard instead. He's more real, and I suspect he has ties to magic somehow...maybe he can see it too? He also has a way cooler name. **END SPOILERS*
Anyway, I'm currently waiting for a copy of the next one in the series. It made for a nice day's light read in a time of turmoil (so much work for finals!!).
Saturday, November 1, 2014
October 26 - November 1
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
I have plowed through about half of this, although I still have a few hundred pages to go before class this upcoming week (yikes!). Luckily, it's a wonderful novel, one that I'm enjoying immensely and quite thankful for the required reading. The characters are delightful. Stowe did a great job blurring and simultaneously stressing the lines of race in this book, and I thoroughly enjoy the wit and fervor that appears in unexpected places and people. I must admit, everything about this book is not what I expected---in the best kinds of ways!
Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 1864
This is part of a really cool project for my American Novel class. We were assigned to choose a newspaper from the 1800s and read several copies of it. The one I chose was Frank Leslie's, as mentioned above, and it was based out of New York. The newspapers each had a specific format, which mainly featured a front page story on current civil war developments, followed by a summary of war events by state, as well as some local news and "chit-chat." The rest of each issue was split between submitted stories, poems, and even jokes by readers, and about two pages of ads to end. I developed favorite sections, which I would skip to first (those being "chit-chat," "accidents and offences," "Fun for the Family" jokes, and the ads). There was also a contest winner's story that was in the process of being published serially, about a chapter a week. The illustrated portion of the title was showcased in numerous multi-page sketches and illustrations done by a nameless "special artist" who would recount battle scenes, last week's fair, and decorated war heroes. Apparently they were featured as inserts that were sometimes even carved on wood or thin sheets of metal! How cool! Anyway, it's pretty awesome, and the year that I was reading (1864) can be found here.
I have plowed through about half of this, although I still have a few hundred pages to go before class this upcoming week (yikes!). Luckily, it's a wonderful novel, one that I'm enjoying immensely and quite thankful for the required reading. The characters are delightful. Stowe did a great job blurring and simultaneously stressing the lines of race in this book, and I thoroughly enjoy the wit and fervor that appears in unexpected places and people. I must admit, everything about this book is not what I expected---in the best kinds of ways!
Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 1864
This is part of a really cool project for my American Novel class. We were assigned to choose a newspaper from the 1800s and read several copies of it. The one I chose was Frank Leslie's, as mentioned above, and it was based out of New York. The newspapers each had a specific format, which mainly featured a front page story on current civil war developments, followed by a summary of war events by state, as well as some local news and "chit-chat." The rest of each issue was split between submitted stories, poems, and even jokes by readers, and about two pages of ads to end. I developed favorite sections, which I would skip to first (those being "chit-chat," "accidents and offences," "Fun for the Family" jokes, and the ads). There was also a contest winner's story that was in the process of being published serially, about a chapter a week. The illustrated portion of the title was showcased in numerous multi-page sketches and illustrations done by a nameless "special artist" who would recount battle scenes, last week's fair, and decorated war heroes. Apparently they were featured as inserts that were sometimes even carved on wood or thin sheets of metal! How cool! Anyway, it's pretty awesome, and the year that I was reading (1864) can be found here.
Thursday, October 9, 2014
October 5 - 11
The Blithedale Romance by Nathaniel Hawthorne
This was a book I read for my early American novel class. It was pretty interesting to read something by Hawthorne that wasn't The Scarlet Letter because now I have a better sense of his style. This story features a well-to-do Bostonian poet in 1835 who bands together with some idealists who try to start a Utopian-like farm together. The kind of thing where everyone shares the work and lives off the land, that sort of idea. The romance implied in the title is distantly narrated by the author. A stunning and proud woman nicknamed Zenobia, a determined philanthropist with a focus on rehabilitating criminals, and a wispy young girl who appears without explanation are the key players in the romance. There's spying, sympathy, intrigue, myths, hallucinations, and even a dramatic suicide (!!) with the final line of the novel revealing the biggest secret of all.
(But not really, if you pay attention.)
Bullied: What every parent, teacher, and kid needs to know about ending the cycle of fear by Carrie Goldman
I stumbled by this book when I was idly searching my online e-book library to see what I might read next (since the fourth Temeraire novel is refusing to download properly, for whatever reason). I was intrigued by my educator side, and the synopsis was more interesting than I would usually expect from something about bullying anyway. I've heard so much about it that you'd think I'd be sick to death (terrible, terrible pun...) of it by now. BUT, like I said, the format is different from what bullying pamphlets and lectures I've usually encountered usually take. There are anecdotes! Ones that aren't horribly depressing! It's even funny sometimes, and often hopeful! It also covers an impressive scope of the "who" part of bullying: the usual targets of LGBTQ and students with disabilities, but Goldman also acknowledges that some kids just get flak for being in the wrong place at the wrong time (or wearing the wrong shoes at the wrong time, or whatever). I'm about a third of the way through, and although I don't feel like I've learned any particular strategies as an educator, I do feel like I've grown a bit in how to think about it and approach it. There's a lot of good stuff in here for parents, as well, so I've got some ideas on that part of my future now as well.
This was a book I read for my early American novel class. It was pretty interesting to read something by Hawthorne that wasn't The Scarlet Letter because now I have a better sense of his style. This story features a well-to-do Bostonian poet in 1835 who bands together with some idealists who try to start a Utopian-like farm together. The kind of thing where everyone shares the work and lives off the land, that sort of idea. The romance implied in the title is distantly narrated by the author. A stunning and proud woman nicknamed Zenobia, a determined philanthropist with a focus on rehabilitating criminals, and a wispy young girl who appears without explanation are the key players in the romance. There's spying, sympathy, intrigue, myths, hallucinations, and even a dramatic suicide (!!) with the final line of the novel revealing the biggest secret of all.
(But not really, if you pay attention.)
Bullied: What every parent, teacher, and kid needs to know about ending the cycle of fear by Carrie Goldman
I stumbled by this book when I was idly searching my online e-book library to see what I might read next (since the fourth Temeraire novel is refusing to download properly, for whatever reason). I was intrigued by my educator side, and the synopsis was more interesting than I would usually expect from something about bullying anyway. I've heard so much about it that you'd think I'd be sick to death (terrible, terrible pun...) of it by now. BUT, like I said, the format is different from what bullying pamphlets and lectures I've usually encountered usually take. There are anecdotes! Ones that aren't horribly depressing! It's even funny sometimes, and often hopeful! It also covers an impressive scope of the "who" part of bullying: the usual targets of LGBTQ and students with disabilities, but Goldman also acknowledges that some kids just get flak for being in the wrong place at the wrong time (or wearing the wrong shoes at the wrong time, or whatever). I'm about a third of the way through, and although I don't feel like I've learned any particular strategies as an educator, I do feel like I've grown a bit in how to think about it and approach it. There's a lot of good stuff in here for parents, as well, so I've got some ideas on that part of my future now as well.
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