MUST READ!

Okay, so it's Christmas break now (yay! We all survived another round of finals!), and you're looking for a good book to read. You absolutely MUST read Gilead by Marilynne something-or-other. I absolutely loved it!! We read it as the last book in my American Novel class, so that we could end on something more uplifting. And it was definitely an uplifting book.

It's written as a letter from a 76 year-old preacher to his 7 year-old son. It's part advice on living, part memoir, and part journal as the preacher reflects on what happened in his life and what's happening right now in his life.

I don't know why, but it just touched me in a way no book has in awhile. Except maybe The Secret Life of Bees that I read this summer. I think that it's because neither book focuses on what's going wrong in society, but rather how people have created beauty in a hard situation. Throughout my American Novel class we discussed the question of why American literature (or any literature really) is so hard on society. And it's true that most "good" literature does point out the problems of society, but these two books made me aware of problems in society, while still making me filling good about life. They're not "light" reading, but it's so good.

Kenneth Branagh

Okay, so this isn't about a book. It's about my love affair with Kenneth Branagh. The only reason I like my Shakespeare class is that I get to watch a LOT of movies with him in it. I love all his different interpretations of Shakespeare's movies. If you haven't seen it yet, you MUST watch the version of Love's Labour's Lost that he did. It's a 1930's style musical. You can't get much better than that (aka, I rented on a Friday night and made Andy watch it with me).

So the next time you're looking for a good movie, go get a Branagh Shakespeare production. But Bonnie, don't rent Henry V because the war scene at the end is very bloody and awful and I know that you'll hate it. It's a great movie, just very bloody and violent.

My Antonia and Moby-Dick

It's amazing how sludging through one book can make you so grateful for another book. I distinctly remember HATING My Antonia when I read it in high school. We just read it in my American Novel class though, and I loved it. I don't know if I've just matured enough to enjoy it and understand it or what, but I think it might have something to do with the fact that I had to sludge through Moby-Dick right before that.


After reading chapters upon chapters of descriptions of whales and the anatomy of whales, the pages of description about the prairie seemed like a breeze.

However, I did come up with some interesting thoughts for both books. Since My Antonia is freshest in my mind I'll do that one right now. For all the bad things about Willa Cather, she brings me back home. Her story is set in a small town in Nebraska at the end of the 19th century. I think part of the reason I liked it this time, is that I identify with the narrator. He's left Nebraska and is living in New York and suddenly he's very fond of Nebraska. That's how I am with Kansas. I wasn't necessarily a huge fan of it while I lived there, but since moving to Utah I've started to realize all of the absolutely amazing things about Kansas. At the same time, much like the narrator, I'm scared to go back. Because every time I go back, it's not the same Kansas that I've remembered.

On Saturday I was cleaning my room and found my English Portfolio from high school (a really big folder with every English paper/project I did through all four years) and was reading the paper I wrote for My Antonia. I'm not surprised that I got a B on it because I wrote about how Cather is writing about the inability of marriage to provide a meaningful relationship. When you look at most of the marriages that Jim sees in his childhood and youth that might be true, but his grandparents have an excellent marriage and so does Antonia at the end of the book. So basically my entire point was false. I don't know how on earth I even managed to get a B on that... oh well. I'm almost tempted to completely revise it and turn it in for a paper I need to write for my American Novel class.

To all my friends in the real world

I dearly miss each and every one of you. I miss running with Bonnie and Elizabeth (somehow it's easier to push myself when I'm with you guys). I miss talking to Ruth on-line while we're at work. I miss having any sort of a social life whatsoever. Actually, that's not true... I have a fun social life, it's just with a whole different set of people. Somehow in the last month I feel like all my friends from the first two years of college have disappeared. I'm now embarking on a new trek through the next two years (or hopefully year and a half)

I blame my English classes for part of this. And the fact that most my friends are in the Accounting program for the rest of it. Although that is really no excuse because I see John Callister almost every day in the library. But... in case you're wondering why I'm writing about this on my book blog I'll tell you. I have been doing an enormous amount of reading. In the last 3 weeks I have read The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Martin Dressler: A Tale of an American Dreamer, and chapters of countless textbooks. Oh... and I'm now in the middle of Moby Dick. I really do not care for Melville's style of writing. I wish he would've decided to leave the writing of "The Great American Novel" to someone else... someone who would be much less verbose and use one style of writing. Let me tell you... that blog is forthcoming and it will be quite the blog.

Anyways... I'm now starting 3 papers for classes, and I have 2 midterms and 1 quiz next week. Which means that I have a lot to do for every single one of my classes... don't you love it when the semester really starts? So my 3 papers. One is for History of the English Language. I'm writing about English as a universal lingua franca and the problems that come through technology (namely the fact that people can now learn English without ever speaking face-t0-face with a native English speaker). For my Shakespeare class I'm writing my paper on adaptations of Shakespeare for children and the pros and cons of adapting Shakespeare for a younger audience than it was intended for (namely the fact that I found a book in the HBLL titled Romeow and Drooliet). My third paper is an analysis of one passage from Moby Dick. Unfortunately I can't use the passage that I was planning on using because my professor decided to discuss it at length today in class. Maybe I can talk him into letting me use it still??

So that's what I'm up to right now. I haven't stopped reading by any means, but last night I looked longingly at my complete collection of the Wizard of OZ books and wished that I had time to read it.

The most important book you'll ever read...

... is the one you read to a child. So I lied, I haven't actually quit reading for the summer. I've been reading a book called The Read-Aloud Handbook. I think it should be required reading for all new parents or expectant couples or teachers. The most important thing I've learned so far from this book (I'm only on page 34, but I had to share my thoughts with you in case I don't finish the book before school starts) is that the difference between high achievers and middle level students is their love of reading. Especially with the way schools are "supposed" to teach reading (through phoenetics... thank you No Child Left Behind for yet another dumb idea), children are being turned off to reading. So it's important for parents to read to children from a very early age (the author suggests beginning to read to your child in the last trimester of your pregnancy so that the baby already associates certain books with comfort) so that the child associates reading with pleasure and not with worksheets, etc.

This book has me thinking about changing my Master's degree from Youth Librarianship (for a public library) to School Librarianship. Parents need to encourage their children's teachers (throughout all of elementary school) to read out-loud to their children (with no reading quizzes at the end) and have SSR (Sustained Silent Reading). One principal in an at-risk Boston elementary school turned his school's reputation and testing scores around in two years by having 10 minutes of read aloud time each morning and 10 minutes of SSR each afternoon. If 20 minutes a day can make that much of a difference once the child is already in school, imagine what a difference it could make if you start reading to your child from infancy.

The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester

Here it is folks. The last of Becca's summer reading. With only a week left until school starts I've decided that I'm don't want to get immersed in a book that I can't finish before school starts and the reading piles up. But this book was a great way to end my summer reading and get geared up for school. The title of the book pretty much sums it up. One of the biggest contributors to the OED (which is commonly considered to be THE authority on all matters of english definitions) lived in an insane asylum the entire time that he was helping to define words and find illustrative quotes.


I really don't know what else to say about this book. It was a good read for a non-fiction book, but since it is a true story it doesn't have quite the drive that fiction does. It's harder to bring in symbols and foreshadowing and all those things that make fiction really fun. There's less "coming full circle." That's not to say that I don't recommend it. It was a great book. You just need to know that it's not fiction and therefore not going to be quite as fun.

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Overpowering. That's the only word I can think of that describes this book. It knocks you down with it's perspectives and descriptions of life. I don't know how an American could write so convincingly about life in a completely different culture. It's one of those books that makes you want to find some poor child and just hug him and give him everything he needs.

What I really took from this book is how much luxury I have in my life. Sure I'm a "struggling" college student, but I have never looked at bare cupboards and wondered whether or not I'd be able to buy food. I've never had to subsist on ramen noodles and bread for a month because I don't have money for anything else. Sure I can't buy everything I would like, but I'm definitely not starving or suffering from malnutrition.

I think the reason that the talk of food struck me is that I've really been focusing on that lately. I've been trying to read a lot of articles on nutrition and how eat healthy on a college budget. I'm trying to start "dieting" in a way that I can just get myself into good, healthy habits for life. I've read so many articles it's ridiculous. Everyone has a different opinion about the best way to eat, but there are a few things I've found.
1) Get as natural as you can. Whole grains are great. Stay away from cans and boxes as much as possible.
2)Don't limit yourself. Don't completely cut out sweets or salty foods, just find healthy ways to eat them. Try all sorts of different things from the produce section to see what you like.
3) Don't force yourself to eat something you don't like. I heard someone say that you should try all the foods that you don't like at least once a year because your tastebuds may change, but if you've tried it recently and you don't like it, then don't force yourself to eat it. My prime example... salads. I like salads when other people prepare them, but if I buy stuff to make salads then it'll just rot because I don't like them enough to make them. I will however, eat just about any kind of cooked vegetable.
4) Beans are a great substitute for meat in most cases. I'm contemplating buying lots of beans and seeing if I really can cut meat out of my life (or at least cut down on how much I eat it). I'm not necessarily becoming a vegetarian, because I'll still eat meat, but beans are a lot cheaper than meat and just as good of a source of protein without all the fat and with a lot more fiber.

Okay, that's a long tangent, but it's what I've been thinking about all day... actually all week.

The Kite Runner

On a random note before I say anything else I just have to pause to notice that a lot of books start with the word "The." When I type in the title on my post it brings up a list of all other titles that start with the same thing and there's a lot that start with "the." I could probably write a whole post on what that signifies for the book and the sybolism between the title of a book and the content of the book, but I'll save that for a time when I haven't read any good books.

This book absolutely rocked. I can understand why it was an international best seller. The author created such a believable anti-hero that I had a hard time believing that he wasn't projecting himself onto his character. His character was flawed enough to have major need of redemption but he also had so much goodness in him that I was rooting for him all along. However, as much as I loved the character and thought that he was believable, there were some plot twists that I felt made this book a definite work of fiction. There were too many coincidences (although since I'm not a Middle Eastern political refugee I don't really have a sense of what kind of events happen in their lives). These coincidences however did create some beautiful symbolism in his life and made the book come full circle.

I almost don't want to discuss it too much because it is such an amazing book that I want everyone to be intrigued and read it for themselves. But I have to say that the thing that amazed me about this book is that how although it is about someone who lives a completely different life from me, it made me think quite a bit about who I am and why I act the way I do. While the protagonist was exploring his character flaws I explored myself to see if I would act the same way as him and how I felt about the way he acted. Would I have done the same thing in his shoes? That's what make me think that this protagonist was so well developed... I didn't see myself in him, but he made me think about who I was.

The Giver

So my boyfriend went back to EFY and I started reading again. The summer is almost at an end and I barely made a dent in my reading list (which is currently 86 books long, but I haven't updated it recently); however, Andy does still have a couple summer trips so maybe I'll make a little bit more of a dent in it. We'll see. Once school starts though... this blog is definitely turning into a place for me to vent about books I'm reading in class (if only you could've experienced Wuthering Heights with me) and work out some ideas for papers. But back on track...

I read The Giver for the first time in my life last week. It brought me back to the question I partially addressed in my research paper on the His Dark Materials trilogy. Why do authors choose children's literature as a forum for adult ideas? I found a great quote while I was doing my research that said that children's literature is just adult literature with smaller words and more explanations (or something like that). My big question is how much do these children understand? I remember reading books like His Dark Materials as a child (before all the hype caused by the movies) and I loved them! I still love them! I never thought about the storyline as anything that had application to my life, I just read them to read them. When I read them again this last semester for my research project I started noticing all the little things that I had missed when I read them as a child... mostly allusions to other great works of literature. Anyways... back to the book at hand.

I found The Giver to be an interesting look at the only feasible way to have people be happy in such a utilarian society... take away their ability to think past the parameters set by the authorities. It's almost a 1984 for children. Take away someone's ability to give a name to a feeling and they'll stop feeling it (or at least acting on that feeling). By taking away people's ability to see color the authorities made it so that people couldn't discriminate based on those things. A red shirt wouldn't be better than a blue shirt... they were both just shirts. By taking away memories of the past and putting them all on one person, the general populace could have no word for oppression or tyrany because they knew of no other form of living.

But why is this a children's book? Why is it touted as one of the best children's books? Why is it that we as a society constantly hand our children these books that many adults may not understand the implications of? I guess that's the question that lies at the bottom of every other question I have about literature. What makes something adult literature vs. children or young adult? Obviously there are some thing such as blatant sexuality that set something off at adult literature, but there's always the grey area between childrens and young adult and young adult and adult. I guess if I could pick a question that summarizes my scholastic endevours and my contribution to the academic world that would be it. The question of what designates something as childrens/young adult/adult literature.

A Much Needed Rest

No... that's not the name of a book I read. It's what I just took. I love reading, but the last couple weeks I've taken a break from it. I went home for my sister's wedding--and some much needed family time--so rather than spending all week holed up in my room I reading, I decided to shut the books and go spend time with my family. It was amazing!! The one thing I miss living 1,038 miles from home (yes that is an accurate distance) is getting to see my younger siblings grow up, so I love going home and watching the "little girls" (who are in reality 11 and 14 and taller than me almost) make up dances and perform them for us. That's just one of the things I love, but it's one of the small things that I took for granted when I lived at home.

Since coming home I've been spending every spare minute with my wonderful boyfriend. He is such an amazing guy! He's been spending all summer as a counselor for EFY (a church camp for youth 14-18) and doing such a good job. Since we only met and started dating this summer it's been interesting to get to know him through this job of his. I've seen him at his low points and at his high points and tried to talk him through a lot of his frustrations. This last week was his first week off all summer, so I stole him away from his parents and enjoyed getting to see him for 7 whole hours every day. We went and watched movies and met each other's friends and family. We stayed up ridiculously late talking and getting to know each other better (and not in the Biblical sense). I got a taste of what life after this summer is going to be like (well except for the whole part where we spend all our time together studying) and it made me very excited. My boyfriend is one of the most amazing people I have ever met. I'm honestly shocked that he wants to date me... and the best part is... we both feel that way.

So what's the point in all this? Besides giving an excuse/reason for why there have been no posts, it's to say that sometimes, you need to get away from something you love like reading and really enjoy life. Sure reading is enjoyable, but it doesn't give you the same joy that playing with your sisters or your first kiss with someone special gives you. So sure, read a lot, but then go out and make experiences for your book of life.

Memoirs of a Geisha

So I was just looking at my list of posts and I realized that I never finished writing and publishing this one. Which is a tragedy because it is an amazing book and definitely one that I want to recommend to you all to read.

I've mean wanting to read this book since I saw the first of half of the movie. Both the movie and the book are such an amazing slice of a culture completely different from mine. I was constantly amazed by the poetry of the language used by the narrator. She spoke with such majesty and grace about her life. I could not believe that a man from Western culture was the one writing this.

My biggest question throughout the whole novel was, "Where on earth are these men's wives?" Why are they out with these geisha's every night instead of being at home? As much as I felt for the geisha's and the hard work they must put in to move up the ladder of their profession, I felt even more for the silent characters in the book... the wives of these men. They were barely mentioned, but I had to wonder how they dealt with the situation. I guess they just turned a blind eye to their husband's activities since they couldn't do much else. But did they feel betrayed that their husband was off with these other women? I know I would.

The whole book got me thinking about women's rights. Should it be an inherent right that every person can demand fidelity from their significant other? If one party is expected by societal norms to be faithful, shouldn't both parties be held to the same standard? Especially where children are involved. Shouldn't a married woman with children be able to expect her children to grow up knowing that their father loves their mother and respects her? Maybe that's just my 21st century, Western thinking, but it seems reasonable to me.

The Time Traveler's Wife

This book fascinated me! The author did such an amazing job of turning what could've been a cheesy science-fiction book into beautiful, heart-breaking romance. I felt torn between loyalty to Clare and loyalty to Henry. Luckily they never got in a fight, so I didn't have to pick sides.

The story was told from Clare's chronological perspective, which is nice, since she is the one who remains in one time. I loved how even though it was from her chronological perspective we were able to see points of the story from his perspective. Like any true story, there isn't only one side, and one person can't remember all the significant events.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life

This book was AMAZING!! There are no other words to describe it, but it changed my life. I grew up in a house with a garden and where we cook at home a lot rather than go out to eat, but we've never taken it to this extreme. It opened my eyes to a lot of things though... especially the fact that maybe it would be worth it to pay slightly more to go to a farmer's market and buy food that would have more flavor and more nutrients.

Unfortunately, a lot of it I can't really take to heart while I'm in college. I don't have the land space to grow a garden, and I don't have the freezer space to buy a bunch of food from the farmer's market and freeze it. Let me tell you though, this book got me started thinking about the garden I want when I do have the space for it. I want a big garden with lots of fruit and vegetables in it so that I can freeze and can a bunch of food. I want to have my kids spend their summer mornings outside weeding and really learn the value of hard work and food. I want them to reach for the healthy stuff when they want to snack. Growing up I would always grab an apple or make up an all fruit smoothie if I wanted something to eat in the afternoon... I wouldn't grab chips or cookies (mostly because we didn't have a lot of that stuff in the house).

It made me grateful to grow up in a house where we did grow our own stuff and make our own food a lot of the time. It's something I hope to start doing more, cooking my own food.

The Blind Assassin

I told you I had been reading. This book is the last of my books by Margaret Atwood that I'm going to read for awhile. I need a break from her style of writing. She's an amazing authoress, but her books are rather depressing. I was talking to one of my high school English teachers about this briefly and I came to the conclusion that Margaret Atwood either suffers from age-related depression herself or she is very close to someone who does. It seems like a lot of her novels talk about the degeneration of society as we age. Her protagonists all have a secret that plagues them... usually something of a sexual nature.

After I finished this book yesterday it made me think about what my secret plague is going to be as I age. Will it be something that's already happened in my life? Will it be something that happens between now and when I get married? What is this secret plague going to be? Or will even have one. I'm sure every adult has mistake that they feel has changed their life a lot, but as a Christian and a strong believer in the power of repentance will I feel the same despair as the people in Atwood's novels? None of them seem to be particularly religious, so that might be a big difference between me and them.

The Secret Life of Bees

I promise I've been reading this whole time since I last blogged. I just needed a break from blogging to collect my thoughts and figure out what exactly I thought about The Secret Life of Bees. Mostly I just don't like what I've done thus far in my blog... which is to give little more than a book summary. What I want this blog to be is a collection of short personal essays about how a book makes me feel. Sure I might include some thoughts about different things that I liked or disliked stylistically (mostly so I can use them for papers later on), but really I want this to be a journal of what I learn and how I grow while I'm reading. It probably won't include as much personal detail as my journal does because I don't know who--if anyone--reads this. (Sidenote: if there is anyone out there in cyberland who reads this, PLEASE comment! Let me know you're out there!) So on to the book.

I loved this book. It took me a little while to figure out why but I finally did. This book is a gorgeous book about looking outside yourself for answers. They may not be the most pleasant answers, and the trip to find them may not be the funnest, but this book taught me the importance of having the truth. The main character in the book goes through an intense emotional and spiritual journey as she learns the truth about her mother who had died when she was four years old. She confronts racial barriers without becoming bitter about society or consumed with the problem.

One thing I'm still trying to figure out is the connection between the quotations at the beginning of each chapter and the content of each chapter. Sometimes I wish that the author would repeat the quotation at the end of the chapter so that you can read the quote at the beginning so that as you read you can think about it and then read it again at the end and have your "aha" moment.

The Inheritance

This is a fun little novel by Louisa May Alcott. It's her first novel and was never published during her lifetime. It was a quick, fun read and didn't really raise any though provoking issues. Which is kind of nice sometimes.

Cat's Eye

This book made me think about two different things. Margaret Atwood is a master at telling stories simultaneously in the past and the present. Her books weave an event in the main character's present with the story of their life in the past. Her ability to do this has always made me wonder, when it comes time for the "critical" event in my life, what things from my past am I going to remember? What events have had the most influence on me? Obviously there's no way that I can remember everything about my life, so what events am I going to remember when I'm in my thirties, in my forties, etc? I guess that's why the Church is so adament about writing in journals and writing a personal history. Journaling is something I've always tried to be good at, but sometimes I wonder if I'm recording the right things. The important events usually get into my journal, but one day am I going to look back and wish I had recorded more of the mundane things? I just don't have the time though. If I had a couple hours to write in my journal every day I probably could record everything that I want to, but as it stands, I just don't have that kind of time.

The other thing this book really made me think about is past relationships. During the story Elaine (the main character) sleeps with her ex-husband. She's been happily re-married to someone else for several years, but she doesn't feel guilty about cheating on her husband. She says that she's not being unloyal to him, she's just being loyal to something that came before him. That really struck a chord with me, because it's something that I've really been trying to figure out lately. At what point can you be friends with an ex and really enjoy their company without reverting back to romantic tendencies.

My ex-boyfriend and I have started talking a lot lately, and I haven't quite decided how I feel about it. Sure I love talking to him, but whenever we start talking again I start to like him again. Our friendship since the break-up has been pretty on/off. We'll be friends for awhile, I'll start to like him, and then I'll tell him that I need some time. I don't really know how he feels about it... I don't really know how I'd feel if someone said something like that to me. In high school when this happened I'd just start a fight that the guy couldn't win so that I could hate him until I quit liking him. I figure that being honest is probably a lot more emotionally healthy for both of us, but I wonder how he feels about it.

Oryx and Crake

I think I stand in fairly good company when I say that I have a strange fascination with dystopian novels. 1984, Brave New World, The Handmaid's Tale... nothing could've prepared me for this one. Oryx and Crake is by Margaret Atwood, the same person who wrote The Handmaid's Tale, so it's interesting to see such a completely different view of what life could be like in the future. Although I guess this isn't really a dystopian novel. It's more of an anihilism of mankind followed immediately by an attempt to return to Eden and start over.

I was completely caught up in the story from page 1. Margaret Atwood is a very good story teller and loves to start out in the middle of the story and then give you just enough details about the past so that you understand then present. Unlike The Handmaid's Tale which tells about what society would be like if religious fanatics took over, Oryx and Crake tells the story of what would happen if science took over. What if we suddenly started achieving everything we were working for?

The scariest realization for me was when Crake tells Snowman (who's real name is Jimmy) that the drug companies are making the viruses that are killing so many people... and then when people are starting to get scared of an epedimic they release the vaccine which they created at the same time as the virus. What would happen if we suddenly did cure HIV/AIDS and cancer? What if we did cure the common cold and the flu? What if we had vaccines for everything that is currently plaguing the world? I don't think the drug companies would be okay with that. Unlike The Handmaid's Tale which I can think of as much more of a fantasy, Oryx and Crake hits home in a scary way. The world is a lot more likely to turn into one big science fair competition than a religious battle.

I think one of my favorite quotes from the book talks about how all war and violence and social disturbance is actually just caused by sexual frustration. No one can ever be happy sexually either because they're deprived, they're over indulging, or they're worried about their partner leaving them. Everyone wants to be younger not because they're afraid of dying, but because they're looking for that edge that will get them more sex.

So what is the solution? In this novel the solution is to create a new species which is based on homo sapiens but that is wired differently. They don't understand jealousy or hate, the women have a time when they're "in heat" (they're bottoms and abdomens turn blue to signal to men that they can mate) so that there is no sexual frustration. There are no families because no one knows who the father is (4 men have sex with one woman until her body signals that she's pregnant) so there is no inheritance. They don't need to farm or hunt because they just live off of grass and leaves and a berry or two. Basically, is a human mind with animal instincts. They are back in the Garden of Eden before Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. These people walk around naked and are not ashamed of their nakedness because they don't know what clothing is or to be ashamed of their body.

I definitely don't agree with how the novel progresses, but Atwood brings up some points that are very well made. 1) If it sounds too good to be true it probably is. A world without disease cannot exist economically. 2) Don't put all your trust in the arm of the flesh. Don't worry about aging so much. 3) MONOGOMY! Don't lust after everyone in sight. Develop relationships with other people that are based on more than sex and that don't involve sex at all. I know it seems hard, but reach out to that cute guy/girl that you meet and only develop frienship with them... don't even think about dating them, kissing them, or having sex with them. Maybe we can avoid what she sees as the future.

Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass

After 2 weeks of slogging through Vanity Fair it's nice to be able to have a quick read again. Reading these two books made me realize something though... Disney has severly changed this children's classic. It's one thing to know that they slightly changed the story of Pocahontas to make it more child friendly, but they COMPLETELY changed the story of Alice in Wonderland so that they could make it into one movie.

Despite my shock and horror as I realized that Disney had totally altered this children's classic I loved theset two books. In the preface it says that Alice in Wonderland marks a turning point in children'd literature because it's the first children's book that is written purely for entertainment purposes and not for any instructional purpose. I could feel that as I read it. I tried hard to make parallels between what I was reading and real like, and I just couldn't. I'm sure if I tried hard enough I could, but come on... it's summer... why would I do that?

So the moral of the story... make your children READ books before you let them watch the movie. Read the book for yourself before you watch the movie. And since ratings are starting to mean less and less... watch the movie yourself before you let your children watch it.

Vanity Fair

Where do I even begin? This book is 804 pages and narrates the lives of 2 women over a span of 15 years. It is HUGE!! It is not for the lighthearted because it is a very hard book to stay focused on. However, all that being said... I liked the book. I didn't love it, but I did like it.

I think the thing I noticed the most while reading ths book is how much I tend to identify with the main characters. Now Becky Sharpe is definitely not a respectable person by any means. She will sell anyone out just for a chance at their money or to raise her own social standing. I unfortunately found myself somewhat scheming about how best to meet the boys who would take me to the "ideal" position in society--at least in my view. I wouldn't say that I was anywhere near her level though. She would tear any marriage apart to advance her own standing in the world... I just reconnected with friends who I hadn't talked to in awhile.

Another thing I noticed was the play on values in this book. Amelia is set up to be the perfect woman... she is demure, well-bred, and she ends up marrying a man who is tremendously wealthy and loves her to death. Becky on the other hand has a hard life, she is always plotting and scheming how to get ahead only to be found out and cast from that society. No one ever knows how she feels about something because she will tell people very different things so she can achieve her desired ends. However... there is one thing that Becky has over Amelia--she can survive in any situation. Although they are both fairly destitute, Becky knows how to take advantage of a situation so that it works out in her best interest. While Amelia is half starving and selling everything she has (since she has no useful skills to employ herself with), Becky is taking the same amount of money and living in a grand house and has fine gown, and is even presented at Court. At the end of the story Amelia gets the amazing huband, the country house, and the genteel lifestyle, but unlike the Jane Austen story which would leave Becky destitute or in an unhappy marriage, Becky continues to live the life she wants. She fashions herself a Lady and lives in Europe with a footman and doing works of charity for the church as any other proper Lady would do.

So what is the moral of the story? Sometimes bad people thrive, but that doesn't mean that they win or that they're happy. Amelia has a clear consciounce and doesn't have to worry about making amends for anything, while Becky is always running from her past.

Persuasion and Lady Susan

So I went on a Jane Austen kick this weekend. There's just something about Jane Austen that is so comforting when I'm upset about boys. Her novels are really the origin of all chick flicks. Everyone ends up just how you think they ought to. The sweet, traditional girl gets to marry a nice boy with a fortune; the spunky girl gets to marry a boy with an even bigger fortune; and the nasty, horrible girls either don't get married or get married to horrible fortune-seekers.

I like to think that I'm the sweet, traditional girl who is slightly misunderstood by everyone. In Pride and Prejudice she's Jane, and in Persuasion it's Anne. I admire the spirit of the other girls, but really, I'm not out to change the world. I just want a nice boy who is going to make a decent amount of money so that we can live in a nice house in the suburbs and never feel strapped for cash. I want the Mr. Bingley (although maybe slightly less ridiculous) or the Captian Wentworth... actually I really like the Captain the most. He's a man who is completely honor driven, has strong attachments to people, and works hard for what he gets.

I think I like Captain Wentworth so much because he is the first military man who end up good in one of Jane Austen's novels. I've always had a sneaking suspicion that she got jilted by a military man at some point in her life, and while doing some research on her life for a paper I found out that I was right (if you watch the movie Becoming Jane it highlights this relationship I think). Unlike all the other military men in Austen's novel, Wentworth doesn't run off with a girl or cause her to do anything stupid. Although he is in love with Anne throughout the novel, he pays attentions to another young lady in an effort to try to forget Anne (she was persuaded not to marry him eight years prior to when the novel takes place); when he finds out that other people believe him to be practically engaged to the other girl he resigns himself to her honour and would have married him had she not fell in love with his friend. Since he is such a wonderful man, Jane had the decency to give him a fortune. During the war he gained a fortune of about 20,000 pounds; Anne had been forbidden to marry him due to his lack of fortune when he first paid his regards to her, but now no one could say he was unworthy of her.

That's what I love most about Jane Austen novels. Everything works out. Everyone gets exactly what they deserve, whether that be a wonderful fortune and marriage, or spinsterhood and poverty. Which makes me wonder... if my life was a Jane Austen novel, how would I end up?

The Secret Garden

The Secret Garden is one of those children's classics that everyone has to read at least once in their life. The movie is great (at least the version I grew up with), but you still have to read the book. I started reading it for a paper that I was planning on writing on why children's authors choose to put so much social commentary in their literature (I definitely did not pick any of it up as a child), but the paper got narrowed down a lot so I didn't have time to finish it until just now.

When I started reading it, all I could think about was India and how this book talked about the social/political attitude towards colonialism. I read A Little Princess over the break and that book had a lot of the same commentary. Both books feature a little girl who is brought back to England from India because of war/death, and this little girl has to learn to adapt to English society.

As I continued to read this book, I started to pick up on the values it's teaching. 1) The importance of being outdoors and exercise. 2) The need for opposition in all things. 3) The power of our thoughts.

I think the one about the power of our thoughts struck me the most. There's a boy, Colin, who decides that he wants to learn to walk and be a normal boy (his whole life he's been told that he's a cripple and that he's going to be a hunchback or die at a young age), so every day he goes out into the secret garden with Mary and Dickon and he calls upon the Magic of the place to help him become well. Once he stops thinking of himself as a cripple and he starts to believe that he will be able to grow bigger and stronger, he does.

Mary is also influenced by this positive thinking. Once she decides that she wants to be agreeable, she starts to see the good in other people rather than looking for their bad qualities. She decides that she wants to be productive rather than just listlessly waiting for other people to entertain her. I think that's what I identified with the most.

I'm back to working full-time in this little office where nothing ever happens. I spend hours a day on Facebook or talking to friends on Google chat or playing Minesweeper. I get bored beyond belief; there are little projects that I could do around the office, but no one's going to notice if I do them or not, because they're just things to make my life easier. So I've decided that rather than spend hours doing nothing I'm going to try to focus at least an hour or two a day to these little projects, and I'm going to make my mind up to be productive.

I'm also going to try to focus on the good qualities of the boys I go out with. Ruth and Jordan can attest to the fact that lately my life has been a string of first dates that I'm not really interested in following up on. Maybe if I look for the good qualities in these boys and try to be interested in them it'll happen. That's not to say that I'm desperate to be in a relationship. I'm pretty happy with where my life is right now, but it couldn't hurt to show more interest in the boys I go out with.

Hello World!

Books have defined me as a person for as long as I can remember. During the summer my mom wouldn't tell me that I had to read half an hour a day before I could go play outside--she'd tell me that I had to go outside without a book for at least a half hour a day. I guess I can blame my grandma for this. She was an elementary school librarian when I was a young child, so for as long as I can remember tripst to Grandma's house meant delving into her library. Although I've grown a lot (both physically and mentally) since those days, books still define me.

Every book I've read in my life has played a formative role in making me the person I am today. Some though, have played a bigger role than others. Little Women is one. I don't know how many times I've read this book, but I always love it. At different times in my life I've identified with each of the sisters. At times I feel like the tom-boyish Jo who barrels through life and through books; at other times I feel like the shy Beth who lives to make home a more pleasant place for everyone.

Right now though, I feel like Meg. I'm the oldest of five children, and I feel a responsibility to be an example to the others. I'm trying to balance becoming my own person, with still functioning as a member of a family that's 1,038 miles away (and yes that's an accurate number). I love the nice things in life, but I'm living on a student's budget and trying to save money for my future. Most of all, I'm waiting for my John Brooke...

I made a goal that this summer I would try to read at least one new book a week. Fiction, non-fiction, religious, classics, juvenile, adult... I want to read it all. This blog is my contribution, as small as it may be, to the world of literary studies. I'm not setting out to bore the world with a literary analysis of every book I read, but rather to tell about how each book that I read this summer touches me, and maybe, just maybe, you'll fall in love with reading too.