Almost there! August-Literacy 8

August was a light reading month for the Literacy challenge. I was house sitting a majority of that month, and out of town for a large portion of the time I was not house sitting.  This means that I was not often reading, and when I was, I was reading what was at hand.

I got three read in August (but one I had to leave at the house I was sitting, so it did not get to join the photo op).

 

We will start with the book that you do not see.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

This is one of those books that I have heard about for a long time, have intended to read, but never managed to get in my hands. I had always figured that because I have siblings 7 and 9 years younger than myself, I would just be able to snag it whenever they brought it home, but either they did not bring it home, or I was away at college at the time(dang, I never considered what a problem college would be).  Diary of a Wimpy kid is a very easy book to read, as it is a graphic novel. It is somewhat entertaining, watching the character deal with the mishaps of life as they happen to a middle schooler.  It is honest, in that sometimes the main character can be a little bit of a jerk, as we all can be, but rarely admit it to our journals. With all of that said, it is a book written specifically for children.  It did not give me the desire to read the next book.  There are some children's books that are written to be read by everybody, books that can snag anyone's interest.  This book is written just for children.  Good for Jeff Kinney, convincing boys to read more, making them look smarter with a book in their hand. Maybe it will encourage boys to branch out to more challenging material, but knowing my brothers, probably not.  If you have an 8-12 year old who needs something to read, this might be a good one for them(though I think that The Magic Tree House series probably has more literacy value to it).  For the adults out there, it's probably not worth your time, though I did not begrudge it my own time.  I enjoyed it for the silly, brainlessness I needed at the time.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

This book is a vacuum book. When you pick it up, it sucks you in.  You can't stop reading it, even if you want to.  It also has some disturbing scenes in it.  In the beginning, a 9th grader gets raped and murdered, and that scene is written in suggestive detail.  The remainder of the book is spent with the dead 9th grader, watching the world's response to losing her and trying to break the barrier between the two worlds to get her murderer caught.  The book is very interesting, and I might have liked it very much, if the author had not chosen to include the main character in a wild hare of a scene near the end of the book that swung the book into the category of "trying too hard to be teenage smut."  That's right, it threw sex into the story where there was no justification, and where honestly, it would probably be considered a stupid move by anyone but a teenager who has been told by countless books and movies how romantic sex is, and that no love story is complete without it.  That part was just plain weird.  That ploy, really, it ruined the book for me. It went from a "halfway decent book that would be a good read to suggest to people" book to a "don't bother" book for me. Had that one chapter had been completely removed from the book, it would still be a great book. It is not even just because there was sex, but the pure stupidity of that scene, which I can't even explain properly to you without spoiling the book for those of you who still intend to read it.  In conclusion, unfortunately, this book gets no reading suggestion from me, though I am glad I finally read it. In the end, it just was not a great book. It was shallow. I would like to add a little warning for certain parents of teenagers and teenagers: This book really has a lot of sex in it, not just the one scene that ruined the book.  It has a lot of disturbing elements, and a lot of scenes using "bad days" as legitimate excuses for really bad decisions, and it has a tendency to normalize casual sex.  Be careful about trusting books for your teenagers just because they come from the "Young Adult" section of the library. There are many untrustworthy books in that section hiding under the guise of literature.


The American Girl Kaya Series by Janet Beeler Shaw

In all technicality, yes, there are six books, and I would have counted them as such when I was 7-12, but as a 25 year old, it just seems wrong.  I would like to toss in an interesting fact about this series before we get into details: This series was written by the same author who wrote the Kirsten series. That may explain why I appreciated Kaya as much as I did. This series is about a Nez Perce girl during the decade before the declaration of independence was signed, which is also before her specific tribe has any visual contact with Europeans, though there are stories and rumors about the white skinned people, and her grandmother, as a girl, survived a small pox epidemic that raced through the different tribes at the first sound of the Europeans arrival. I really enjoyed this story, and I know that had this series been written when I was still in their target ages, it probably would have been one of my favorite American Girl collections, rivaling with Felicity of course.  Really that is an obvious choice, both girls have horses.  Felicity was a redhead, so of course there was an immediate bond there.  Kaya is Native American.  There are two things I have always known for sure about my heritage: Irish and Native American.  Sure, Kaya is Nez Perce, and my heritage claims Chickasaw and Cherokee, but I am pretty sure I would not have held that against Kaya when I was younger.  I like to keep up on the American girls(at least the historic ones), even though I have long outgrown them.  I have gotten behind on a few series, but Kaya is one I have been wanting to read for a long time and this is why: When I was in their target age range, I remember my constant question was, "Why don't they have a Native American girl?"  It seemed wrong to me to have a genre called "American Girl" and not have a collection about one of the first American girls.  Now, on to the series. I really appreciated these books. The stories were catching enough to make me want to pick up the next book.  True to American Girl, the stories were mainly about Kaya learning to be responsible, caring and patient.  Unlike many of the other American Girl characters, Nez Perce girls were expected to take on many family responsibilities at Kaya's age. I like that, while each book has its own climax and conclusion, there is also a larger story running through the series, with its climax and conclusion in the sixth book.  In book one, pardon me for ruining part of it, Kaya does something irresponsible that earns every child in the village a switching, and Kaya winds up with the disgraceful nickname "Magpie." Through the entire series, you see her trying to outgrow both the incident and the nickname, and eventually she learns to appreciate the lessons she learns through the torment of her nickname. In the second book, Kaya and her blind sister and Kaya's horse get kidnapped by a raiding party from another tribe.  Kaya manages to get away in following books, but the escape could not accommodate her sister's blindness, and they agree it is best so that Kaya can get help. Through the series, there is the constant task of trying to find her sister again.  I really enjoyed the educations tidbits that were slipped into the story, as well as the "Peek into the past" history segment found in the back of every American Girl book.  In conclusion of my opinion of this series, I believe it is the only thing I read that month that I thoroughly enjoyed.  I would recommend it to any adult brave enough to read a children's book, and all little girls who can be convinced to read it.  Yes, I do suggest these books.

And the conclusion of this Literacy blog means that for now, I am finally caught up in my literacy blogs!  Small happy dance moment inserted :::here:::

Thanks for reading.

Wowza, Literacy, 4

So, I have been putting off this update on my literacy challenge for April mainly because I do not want to type this much.  The number looks pretty impressive, until you realize that 3 of the books were books I got for my cousin Keira, who will be 7 this months, and 2 of the books were easy-but interesting- reads from the Young Adult section.  All tallied, I finished 9 books this month, which definitely breaks my record of 3. Of those 9 books, 2 were old favorites, and 6 were new to me, one was... a hover book.

We've got a lot of books to run through, so let's get this party started, in order of being finished, first to last.

Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey- This is a book I found in Costco. I am a fan of Costco's book section, because while the rest of the world is selling this book for $16, I got it for $8.  This book tells the story of two different men, one-Olivier- a young, born and bred French aristocrat, fleeing from yet another revolution in France. The second man-Parrot- an old, seasoned servant, born and English man, but well traveled. Olivier is sent by his mother to America, post Revolutionary war, pre Civil war. Parrot is sent as his manservant to protect Olivier, and to spy on his doings and report back to Olivier's mother.  While it takes a long time for the story to even get both characters in America, the story really seems to be a reflection of what America as a new country means to the two different classes.  For Olivier, raised in a life only below that of royalty, America means stepping down in class.  Because there really is no aristocracy in America yet, suddenly, he finds high-end middle class men (farmers turned bankers and such)approaching him as an equal.  Parrot, on the other hand, being a servant who has managed to get an education, has the opportunity to step from the bottom rung of society to the middle.  The story is told in chapters alternating between the narratives of Parrot and Olivier, which is often entertaining to hear both character's honest and opposite perspectives of the same situations.  The story also starts in each of the men's boyhoods, gradually working up to the "present" story of the men as adults, making us understand the reason the men think and behave as they do, which really makes us close to both characters.  Peter Carey writes in such a style that there were times I could have sworn Parrot and Olivier was written 100-200 years ago. It feels like a classic. The prose is beautiful. I had to stop and look up 5 words I did not know(that's a good number, enough to make me feel like I'm getting educated, but not enough for me to get irritated about having to find the dictionary again).  The place where it veers from its classic vibe is in its sexual references: they are a little more brazen that Charles Dickens might have stated.  Because of this, I would not recommend this book for a teenager. They are not elicit, however, there is enough detail to let one's imagination finish the picture. As far as sexual references are found in adult literature, this is probably as tactful as a non-Christian, modern author gets.  With all of this stated, I truly enjoyed this book, the story was interesting and vivid, the plot twists just enough, and the end is bittersweet.  Would I recommend this book?  For readers older than 20, yes.

Next up!
Out of Ashes by Keith Phillips.  This book is a look at the deeper cause of the LA riots, but even more than that, it is a call to care about our inner cities.  It tells true stories about people who grew up in some of the most dangerous parts of the inner city.  It explains why pulling oneself up by the bootstraps is not often available to the people the expression is applied to. It also gives a few examples of the different perspectives that people have depending on where they live, and why.  Dr. Keith Phillips has been working in LA since the Watts riots. He is the founder of World Impact and in this book he also explains why certain tactics of ministry work and why others fail.  For those of you involved in Compassion International ministries, you may find this book interesting, as they hold many of the same ministry beliefs.  This book is a good combination of stories (I nearly cried during some) and strategies, leaving the reader not only understanding the problem, which many books do, but also offering ideas towards solution (which I find many "call to action" books forget).  This book is well worth the read, and yes, I would recommend it! (And it is a quick read)

Holes by Louis Sachar- This book is a book that was popular when I was "too old" to be reading it, meaning early teens, but the kids 9 years younger than myself where required to read it in 4-6th grade, and were raving about it.  I have always told myself, one day I'll snag it from one of my siblings or their friends, but I never managed to do it.  Lately, I have been searching for it, because I really enjoyed the movie.  When I found it on sale at Borders, I snagged it. It was enjoyable. The movie followed the story pretty closely. For those of you who don't know the story: Young outcast, Stanley Yelnats always seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.  This is so when he is found to be in possession of stolen property.  He is given the option of juvenile hall or Camp Greenlakes. He chooses Camp Greenlakes, where the boys spend their entire stay digging holes.  None of this would have happened it if weren't for Stanley's No-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing great-great-grandfather, who according to family legend, brought down a curse on the heads of all the men in the family. Stanley doesn't really believe in the curse, but its good to have somebody to blame for all the bad luck he has, occasionally.  During his time at Camp Greenlakes, Stanley, often picked on at school, learns to toughen up, builds muscles, builds social skills, and gains friends.  The story is quite an entertaining one, a good read for anybody.  For parents with boys who are reluctant to read, this would be a good book, because it is not really girlie, and it has boy jokes, and even an old western story woven in. Recommended reading(even for adults)? Yes.

Elephant Run by Roland Smith- This book caught my attention in the independent readers section with its black and green cover, followed by an intriguing name.  It is about am adolescent English boy named Nick during WWII, whose mother sends him away from England because of the frequent bombings. She sends him to his father's tea plantation in Burma. When he gets there, it turns out, Burma is not any safer, as almost as soon as he gets there, the Japanese invade. His father's plantation is taken over, and he and his recently made friends are forced into servitude at the plantation, while his father is sent to a Prisoner of War camp, with the threat that if he attempts an escape, harm will come to Nick.  Nick realizes that with his own well being being held hostage against his father, it is up to Nick to escape and rescue his father. With the help of an elephant, and his Burmese friends, a dangerous plan is attempted.  This story was an interesting one. There were very few times where the story slowed too much. It was good read, with just enough sweet romance to make any preteen girl sigh, but only enough to just satisfy the girls, there is not enough to make a boy throw the book away.  The book was contracted, the publisher is Disney, this adult reader found that was evident in the tone of the book the entire time. However, just because it was there does not mean the book was a dud. It is like watching a "made-for-tv-movie" you understand from the beginning that it is of a different caliber.  With that understanding, I still enjoyed it, and I think it would be a good read for teenagers, as it does have quite a few educational tidbits in it, but I do not think this book will ever reach "classic literature" status, as Holes has (they came from the same bookshelf, by the way). Ten years down the road, I don't think I'll ever hear anyone say, "Gasp! You never read Elephant Run?!" However, while it is not necessarily a must read, it passed my time pleasurably, and if someone asked me for a light read, Yes, I would suggest Elephant Run.

Bottled Up by Jaye Murray- This is a Goodwill bookstore find, and not a bad one, I might add. It was well worth the 75 cents that caused it to be mine. Phillip, who prefers to be called Pip, is, at first glance, the typical pot head in high school.  He skips classes constantly, has a defiant and careless attitude, and really, just goes to school to avoid trouble at home.  Pip has a 5 year old brother-Mikey, and while he doesn't want to see Mikey destroyed by their alcoholic father, or start using drugs and alcohol, Pip really resents the fact that because his father is a lunatic, and his nothing of a mother, it falls to "Pip the pothead" to be the most responsible parent available to Mikey. Pip just wants to be left alone, to live in the numbness of marijuana, when a teacher finally loses patience with him and sends him to the principal's office for what turns out to be the last straw.  The principal intends to expel Pip, but as the principal reaches to call Pip's parents, sheer terror seizes Pip at the thought of what his father will do to him.  He works out a deal with the principal. Pip can stay in school, so long as he shows up to all of his classes, does not get sent back to the principal's office, and attends counseling.  When he gets to counseling, he finds out that there is a weekly urine test, and a 3 strike rule, 3 bad tests, and you are out, no more counseling. For Pip, no more counseling means no more school, which means unthinkable trouble at home.  The story is mainly about Pip's gradual returning from his haze to face his life, even though it sucks, and understanding that even though Mikey is not his son, and should not be his responsibility, Mikey is his brother, and Pip should care.  It is really a good story. This story contains some harsh language, as well as some abusive scenes, but I feel that without the language and the scenes, the story would not have been honest.  I am only putting the warning in for any readers looking for something for their teenagers. Honestly, I think, for this book, it really depends on the teenager, however, the language may be a cut off line for most parental guidelines.  Every sentence is not laden with foul language. In fact, it is sparsely used, but it is there. If it were a movie, it would probably be rated PG-13. If I were rating the book, I might rate it at PG-16 or 17.  With all of that said, I really appreciate this book. It is heart wrenching, and good, having a semi-satisfying ending that was definitely not written by Hallmark.  Yes, it was good read.

Whew!  Hang in there, blogfriends, that's 5 books down! If you have made it this far, you deserve a reward. You should buy yourself some chocolate! I am going to leave the next three books(all childrens books): Beezus and Ramona, Good Job, Kanani!, and Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle for a later, and much shorter journal.  As it turns out, I have already written about the 9th book, in this blog post!

So, you are now free to go find yourself some chocolate! Thanks for reading!

Overdue but done: Literacy, 3

Here is the overdue literacy update!  I met my goal in time, however, I just didn't manage to sit down and write the blog about it, until now.

I had hoped I would have more to report for March. I had hoped it would be my first 4 book month of the year, but as it turned out, I am easily distracted. The book I thought would be my fourth got interrupted when I found a copy of Lovely Bones in my friend's house while snowed in. At the time, I thought I would be spending an entire week or more snowed into her house, and so I reasoned that it would be better for me to read Lovely Bones and then go back to my book, so that when it was time to leave, the book that I needed to take with me would be my own...however, we got evacuated 16 chapters into Lovely Bones, and I left it at her house.  So, sometime in the near future, I will be pursuing another copy of Lovely Bones.  Despite this, I did meet both my hard set goal-at least 1 new book a month- and my ideal goal- at least 2 books a month.

Unshaken: Rising from the ruins of Haiti's Hotel Montana by Dan Woolley and Jennifer Schuchmann was the first book to be taken down in March. Dan Woolley was one of the Americans working for Compassion International who got caught in the Haiti earthquake.  He and his photography partner had just walked into their hotel lobby, after an entire day traveling around Haiti, when the earthquake hit, and the 6 story hotel collapsed on them.  Dan found himself alone, and locked in a prison of shambles.  He made the decision to crawl into the open elevator, which very likely saved his life, however, shortly after making it into the elevator, an aftershock hit, and rubble closed him into the elevator, making his safe haven a prison at the same time.  Dan spent 65 hours under the hotel, and the book details his survival, but the majority, and best part of the book details what went through his mind, what battered his soul, and what led him up to this point in his life.  The book flashes between Dan in the elevator, and Dan's young marriage some ten or twelve years before, and dealing with his wife's sudden onset of severe depression.  My Mom posted after reading this book, "Besides being a good read about surviving being trapped in pitch dark for too long under a building it is also a very well written view into the life of depression. I think an especially good read for those who haven't lived it."

Amazingly, as intense and deep as this book can be, it does not feel heavy. There are some books I read that when I finish I am burdened with a lingering heaviness, an after taste of despair, because there was so much deep thought to muddle through.  Unshaken has that deep thought, but it did not leave me despaired, in fact, it left me energized with so many thoughts to think.  Believe it or not, though the book has its heart wrenching, thought provoking, seat gripping story to tell, it also has hope, and well placed humor.  Also, it is a quick read. Its thickness looks somewhat intimidating, but it moves fast.

So, would I recommend Unshaken to you? Most heartily, yes!  It is a great book, and though it is written by a Christian, I believe that even my non-Christian friends would enjoy this book.

After Unshaken, I took on Cane River by Lalita Tademy. I was excited, because I love historical fiction.  Sci-fi, modern day, political fiction, biographies, commentaries, mysteries are all great types of literature, however to me, reading one of those genres is like visiting some one else's house for the first time: it's fun, it's new, it's interesting, but it's not reflexively comfortable.  Reading historical fiction, on the other hand, is like going to Granny's house: a place to walk in, be hugged, kick off your shoes, find a couch with a sunspot warming it, grab a blanket and a bag of potato chips and belong.  Because of this comfort and haven I usually find in historic fiction, you must understand that Cane River disappointed me greatly. It was like being at a party, and realizing that while I had been invited, I wasn't really supposed to show up.  The book was boring and mechanical.  However, I have already written a full blog devoted to my disappointment in this book, and I did give a few positive points, so I will just conclude with this:  Would I recommend this book? Definitely, no.

After trudging through Cane River, I decided I deserved some candy reading, and I also realized that throughout this literacy challenge so far, I had not managed to visit some old favorites. This sent me straight to my parent's entryway bookshelf: the storage of all literature to ever be loved by anyone who has lived in that house.  What better reward for finishing a dull book than a Dahl book? 

The BFG by Roald Dahl has been a favorite of mine for almost as long as I can remember. When we were little, Mom used to pick a book and read them out loud to Jared and I.  I don't know if this was mainly done during the summer, but summer evenings are when I remember these reading times happening.  One of Mom's favorite authors is Roald Dahl, so usually, the book she picked was Roald Dahl.  I think that The BFG quickly became a favorite for Jared and me because it was so funny.  I mean, what kid between the ages of 6-11 would not love a book that has an entire chapter devoted to whizzpoppers? (For those of you who do not know, those are farts, and you need to go read The BFG, because that chapter still cracks me up, and you are being greatly deprived of happiness by not reading it.)  One thing I love about going back to read books from my childhood is that usually there were comments made about politics and life in general that were just plain hilarious, but I completely missed them when I was younger.  I guess perhaps the reason so many of my childhood reads are so enjoyable to the adult me is because often my books were picked/suggested by either my Mom or my Granny, and they like a good chuckle.
For those of you who don't know the plot, young Sophie could not sleep that night at the orphanage, and so she peeked out the window, and saw something she ought not. Soon she was kidnapped by a giant because of this, and the story goes from there, but I refuse to give away any more of the story than I already have!
Should you read The BFG? Yes. If you have never read this book, you need to break all speed limits (as safely and legally as possible) to your nearest book establishment and devour this book.  If you have read this book, but not in the past 5 years, should you reread it? I would suggest it!  In fact, you will likely see more Roald Dahl books popping up on this blog, because I have realized, I miss those books. I have already snagged Danny Champion of The World off my Mom's shelf for nearby future reading.

What is the reading forecast for April?
Well, I am about a hundred pages away from finishing Parrot & Olivier in America by Peter Carey.  I found it in Costco and couldn't resist(I do so love the Costco book section).
I have Danny Champion of the World by Roald Dahl on hand. I also just borrowed Out of the Ashes by Dr. Keith Phillips, which I am hoping to finish before this weekend, but we shall see about that.  Then there are the usual suspects that are hanging around my room, getting picked at, here an there.

That's pretty much it, for me. How is your reading?

The Literacy Challenge

I love to read. More specifically, I love to read non-assigned, good books.  I have  friends who pick up books and read them to the end, whether they like them or not.  I have friends that, during the height of finals in senior year which all textbooks try to kill a soul, still managed to read at least one extra-curricular book a month.  I am a little more fickle than that, I am afraid.  I have a tendency to put a book down and leave it unfinished if it dares to bore me. In fact, up until high school, I devoured books like they were my only source of oxygen. That slowed down a bit when in high school, I found myself bogged down by keeping up with school reading assignments. When I got to college, this sad pattern continued. When I graduated and started working in the ambulance, my available time for reading increased, and so for a moment, my demands for books went up again, and then I got switched to the office, where reading books is generally frowned upon during office hours.  All of this to say, I really have missed reading. So I am trying something new this year, and I know I may not succeed every month, but it's a plan that I like.

Read at least one book a month. 

A majority of my friends just started laughing hysterically at me, because they are closer to reading a book/week, but that's okay, I'm okay with being their comic relief, occasionally.  To be more specific with my plan, I want to read at least two books a month, but I will consider a month a success if at least one book is read.  And by "read" I mean an actual paper book. (Some of you may know, that I love a good audiobook...those I usually do two a month only because my finances limit me from doing more).  The requirements for the monthly books are these: Must be a paper book, at least one book/month must be new to me.  Beyond that, it really doesn't matter what the book is, how thick it is, who it was written for, or the topic. The majority of the books will be selected by my meandering through the Goodwill Book store(A wonderful place where a blender mix of books are available for $0.25-$1.50/each...these books will be denoted by GWB in the future), but I'm also open to gifts, loans, and suggestions.  And so my meandering lit adventure has begun!

So far, I must say that I am into the second month of year with a good starting success rate. For January, I finished When She Was Good by Norma Fox Mazer(GWB), Who Moved My Cheese?: An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life by Spencer Johnson and Kenneth Blanchard (GWB)(Quite a small book, considering it has two authors) suggested to me by my college friend, Peter, and Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry (The author of The Giver.... Thanks, Morgan!).  I'm feeling smarter already.

Now it is February.  I have a bigger task at hand, because I have a variety of books I am reading right now, and I know I need to choose at least one to actually finish this month! I also just received Unshaken: Rising from the Ruins of Haiti's Hotel Montana in the mail.  So many choices!  As my challenge goes forward, I may start giving updates and recommendations on books, but mostly, I'm just using this blog as accountability ;-), thanks for being there for the sake of my intelligence, blogfriends!

So far, this month's range of books are:

• The Adventures and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes(Another hearty thanks to Morgan!)
• A Tale of Two Cities(This is one of my hover books... I've been reading it off and on for years, depending ony my tolerance level for boredom)
• Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier (Technically my car book, which is there for reading when stuck at appointments, but I'm thinking it may be time to end this particular road trip)
• My Friend, Flicka (I've read it multiple times, however, I have not read it since I was 11)
• Unshaken

We shall see which books turn up finished this month!