and so i read

the woman in black by susan hill

2012-01-25T22:54:00.000-08:00

best. ghost. story. ever.

i've read it three times now.

i wanted to get another reading in before the movie comes out next week (which i cannot wait for!!). from the looks of it, they've gotten a little free with the plot/story, but it's hollywood. what can you expect.

as for the book: it never disappoints. chilling! every single time.

the book is the story of arthur kipps, a young lawyer who is sent to settle the affairs of a recently deceased client. as soon as he arrives in town he begins to sense that there is some horror attached to his client and her house, which he brushes off as simple townsfolk nonsense.

all too soon he is personally acquainted with the reality of those horrors, and pays a price for his meddling.

read it. ideally at night in the fall or winter. you won't be disappointed.

cinderella ate my daughter by peggy orenstein

2012-01-25T16:40:00.000-08:00

i read this for my book club. out of all the books we had to choose from, this was the one book i absolutely did not want to read.

i really enjoyed it.

i don't exactly know how to review this book, or summarize it. it's an exploration of how media, marketing, literature, technology, psychology, etc. affect our perception or understanding of what it is to be female/feminine.

i think i'm pretty safe from devolving into a vacuous barbie zombie; i'm discerning about what i watch on tv, what i read, what i wear and how i present myself to the outside world. i value my intellect more than my appearance; i'm selective about whose opinions i allow to influence my own. all that being said, all precautions being taken: sometimes i still end up being dazzled by the wrong things.

the book gave me a lot to think about and and made me re-evaluate how i look at things, how i judge things, how i perceive things, how i present myself, why i like the things i like, how i react to things. i'm coming away from it determined to be more aware of and more accountable for my interaction with outside influences. i would definitely recommend it (even if you don't have a daughter).

the hobbit by jrr tolkien

2012-01-25T16:07:00.000-08:00

surprisingly, this is my first time reading the hobbit. i think i was turned off of it by that creepy cartoon movie that was perpetually on television when i was a kid. but i loved the lord of the rings series (novels and films) and i wanted to read it before the movie comes out.

i like that the book completes the story in one volume; but at the same time, i often felt like i was being rushed. you're told a long time passes, rather than experiencing the passing of time with the character. you're told there is action rather than having it described to you in detail. i think this book leaves more for your own imagination to fill in than the lord of the rings trilogy.

relatively easy to read, good characters, good messages (be brave, be wise, be fair, be loyal), a lot of story in one book. it left me wanting more . . . in a good way.

i can't wait for december!

the girl with the dragon tattoo by stieg larsson

2012-01-25T15:26:00.000-08:00

i really can't explain what possessed me to pick this book up. a whim.

i really don't see what all the hype is about. i mean, the movie looks pretty exciting, i'll give it that . . .

but the book is just straight up genre fiction. entertaining, but devoid of any real moral substance or inspiration.

i doubt i'll read any of the others.

fall semester 2011 reading

2011-12-09T11:50:00.001-08:00

i only took one class this semester

masterpieces of english literature

given the entire canon of english literature

i was a little dismayed by the three books we read.

these definitely wouldn't make my short list of english masterpieces.

but i'm not in charge.

we read these three books in class to examine the change in public attitude and widespread secularization around the turn of the century (19th to 20th) in great britain.

***

heart of darkness

by joseph conrad

this is my third time reading this book for a class.

this is the first time i can actually remember what happens.

very quotable; has some interesting things to say about human nature.

my professor pointed out a lot of symbolism that i never noticed before

and that none of my other teachers ever pointed out.

i don't really ever want to read it again,

it's not that kind of a book,

but it's one of those books that should be read, at least once,

as far as academia is concerned.

***

the strange case of dr. jekyll and mr. hyde

by robert louis stevenson

more enjoyable than heart of darkness.

i've actually read this book before too, but of my own volition.

the only thing i don't like about jekyll & hyde is that

most of the book is pointless.

you really only need to read the last thirty-ish pages to get the main gist of the story.

i'd say 75% of the book is just stylized build-up

typical of the time period.

***

civilization and its discontents

by sigmund freud

technically i haven't finished this book.

i'm in the last chapter, and i'm probably not going to get any further.

freud is crazy.

i've thought so since my into to psychology class

taken my freshman year.

i'm not going to sum it up.

just know that i disagree with almost everything he asserts.

but it was interesting to read in conjunction with the other two books.

***

we also read a bunch of poetry for this class

(most of which i've read before)

as well as a short story by kipling

the man who would be king

the turn of the screw by henry james

2011-12-09T11:24:00.001-08:00

i decided to read "the turn of the screw" because i've heard it referenced several times as the best ghost story of all time.

i don't get it.

major let down.

the far pavilions by m m kaye

2011-09-09T12:02:00.000-07:00

this book was recommended to me by my visiting teacher in my last ward. her daughter lived in india until just recently and she visited her there several times. we talked about my fascination with india and my desire to travel there sometime. she brought me back some jewelry and showed me her pictures and eventually handed me this book.

what a book it was! very long, 955 pages. but i really enjoyed it. it is a romance and adventure story.

the story takes place primarily in northern india. it tells the story of aston (ash) pelham-martyn, born in india to british parents who are researching languages in the far-off reaches of british india. his earliest years are spent among mostly indian natives, speaking the native tounges. his parents die while he is very young and when his nurse goes to take him to his extended family there is an uprising (sepoy uprising of 1857) of the indian natives in which any and all whites are killed. to protect him she leaves for a more remote part of the empire where the uprisings are not being carried out and raises him as her son (his dark complexion, black hair, and ability to speak like a native make this possible). he is young enough that he forgets his british parentage and believes himself to be hindu.

his parentage is eventually revealed to him and he is returned to england to be educated. after the completion of his education, he returns to india as an officer of the corps of guides. in the course of his service in the guides, he is unexpectedly reunited with people from his past and falls in love.

the tale is epic. i learned a lot about india and its customs, and british history. the book raises questions about imperialism and identity. ashton's childhood living as a hindu and british education leave him in a bit of a no-mans land. he can see and understand both points of view. he often finds himself at odds with superiors and even fellow officers. they often criticize him for being disloyal. yet he is not fully accepted among the indians either, their caste system barring him from acceptance on many levels. he does not feel he belongs completely to either group.

i really enjoyed this book. i kept stopping to reach for maps and look up locations. i wish it came with a visual companion! a good chunk of the end of the book is devoted to a detailed recounting of the fall/massacre of the british mission in kabul (afghanistan) following the second anglo-afghan war. white it was interesting, the main character has almost no part in it, therefore it seems long and unnecessary. the history major in me enjoyed it, but the novel reader in me thought the book ran on for 100-150 pages too long on its account.

anne of green gables by lucy maude montgomery

2011-07-28T16:42:00.000-07:00

amazingly, i have never read any of the anne books. i don't know how this happened. i've seen the movies (in fact, i just added them all to my netflix queue so i can watch them again) and loved them. it's too bad, i would have loved these as a little girl. i loved it now!!

i love anne's wide-eyed wonder and optimism; her passion; and her inherent goodness. i'll definitely be continuing on with the series and i'm sure it will be revisited several times throughout my life.

the lost symbol by dan brown

2011-07-28T16:35:00.000-07:00

i forgot that i read this book, which, i guess, speaks to how much i enjoyed it. i didn't really have a desire to read this book. i left the book i was reading in a hotel room somewhere in the french countryside, so i had to pick a book to read out of the very limited english section in the paris airport. and thus, i came to read the latest dan brown installment.

it wasn't bad . . . it just wasn't as good as his other two books i've read, or maybe i'm just used to his formula now . . . overall i found it mediocre.

there's not much to say . . . there's a lot of history and science that may or may not be true; a big conspiracy; a crazy person who gets carried away in an obsession and involves robert langdon because he's the only person who can solve the riddle . . . . same ol', same ol'.

i finished it because i got so far into it on my SUPER long flight home it seemed like a waste not to. but it was too long, and i think it's safe to say i'm done with dan brown novels.

the swan thieves by elizabeth kostova

2011-07-01T13:32:00.000-07:00

i'm so frustrated that i wasted so much time on this book. it's long. i read about 400 pages before i finally threw in the towel. i skimmed over the rest of it to see what happened in the end . . . definitely not worth it.

it's very disappointing because i loved kostova's the historian so much.

this novel is all about paintings and artists and obsession stemming from mental illness. i didn't like the narrator (boring, didn't care about him in the least); i disliked the pivotal character (oblivious, selfish, self-destrictive); didn't care about the women involved with the pivotal character (insignificant in any way).

boring, tedious, wordy, a lot of pointless back-story . . . and all for an ending you could pull out of a write-your-own-novel workbook.

don't waste your time.

love walked in by marisa de los santos

2011-07-01T13:13:00.000-07:00

i didn't enjoy this book as much as i expected to. it had such great reviews. i didn't find the main character as charming and lovable as i think i was supposed to . . . i mean, she was fine, i guess, and the whole book was nice enough . . . it will make an excellent chick-flick. but, as i discovered earlier this year, i don't like to read my chick-flicks.

i particularly didn't like how much time she spent describing about how great martin was, just for him to turn out to be not great. and the way they hit it off was awkward for me, it rang untrue for some reason.

the book ended well. i think my main problem was that she spent more time constructing then deconstructing martin when there were so many other more interesting and purposeful things in the book to explore.

there is a sequel book, but i don't think i'll bother with it. but it was a nice enough fluffy book to read on the beach at the lake.

summer at tiffany by marjorie hart

2011-07-01T12:55:00.000-07:00

i don't have much to say about this book. it was a fun little read, no big plots or morals or agendas. it tells the story of the summer the author spent living in new york city and working as a page at tiffany in the 1940's. it was fun to hear about her experiences, the glamour of the 1940's and the excitement of new york city.

things fall apart by chinua achebe

2011-07-01T12:49:00.000-07:00

i read this in my african history class. i didn't like it. at all. i disliked the main character. i had no connection to or sympathy for him. the voice of the book was really broken, the narrative didn't flow, which was very distracting and off-putting.

mockingjay by suzanne collins

2011-07-01T12:40:00.000-07:00

i found myself really disappointed with this last book in the hunger games series. the first half of the book was good, on par with the rest of the series. katniss had purpose, drive, something she was working toward, but the end almost negated the entire series for me (much like my reaction to 1984). i didn't like her absence in the aftermath of the fall of the capitol. it's almost like the author didn't know how to make it all come together, so she avoided writing it by removing katniss from the situation. i felt like the final resolutions were untrue to the characters, particularly gale and katniss. i would recommend the series to most anyone, but i'm disappointed with the ending.

the help by kathryn sockett

2011-06-15T16:41:00.000-07:00

oh, the help. this is one of those books that i resisted reading because everyone was reading it and i wanted to be snobby . . . kind of like i was with atonement. you would think i would have learned my lesson by now . . .

i read this on my paris/france trip and it was delightful. i felt angry and desperate and incredulous and joyful and disgusted and sad and i laugh out loud constantly. but more than anything i wanted to give minny a high-five and punch hilly holbrook in the face.

city of bones by cassandra clare

2011-06-15T15:49:00.000-07:00

i picked up this book out of mild curiosity after reading that they were going to be making it into a movie.

it was alright. a little too much going on in the way of the supernatural for me. it got a little too chaotic in my mind trying to keep track of all the weird stuff. i doubt i'll continue on with the series. but i might check out the movie when it comes out.

catching fire by suzanne collins

2011-03-22T15:45:00.001-07:00

the second installation of the hunger games series. i liked it, and i'm excited to read the final book.

a theme that really resonated with me in this book was leadership/responsibility. katniss finds her actions in the first book have inadvertently set her up as the poster child for an underground revolutionary movement. when her family is threatened her first instinct is to run. her only thought is for the safety of herself and those she loves. she does not want to use the influence she finds herself in possession of to lead those who would follow her.

i struggled with this when i was younger. i've always had a strong personality. people often describe me as confident, independent, a leader. i often found myself in leadership positions; in possession of unsought-after influence over my peers. i can't count the times my mother warned me to be careful of my behavior as others would follow suit. i resented it for a long time. teenage years are hard, and awkward, and living them under a microscope of responsibility makes it even more trying. every mistake is amplified and thrown in your face. every experiment is dissected. while you're bumbling around just trying to figure out who you are others are expecting composure, clarity, solidarity. it's terrifying. and lonely.

it took me some time, but i finally realized that wanted or not, leadership and responsibility were mine. i could either resent it and be mad, or accept it and make a difference. i like to think i've chosen the latter. it still get frustrated at times, but when those moments come i try to remember that people often seek in others what they lack in themselves. i'm blessed with confidence, intellect, creativity, courage, the ability to think for myself. i wouldn't trade those for any amount of peaceful anonymity.

something borrowed by emily giffin

2011-02-14T16:09:00.001-08:00

stopped reading because i got bored.

basically a chick-flick in book form.

don't get me wrong. i love myself a chick-flick, but apparently i don't like to read them.

so now i know.

the house at riverton by kate morton

2011-02-14T16:02:00.000-08:00

i got bored, so i stopped reading. too many other books on my list to waste time on books that bore me . . .

wuthering heights by emily bronte

2011-01-25T15:49:00.000-08:00

it's been several years since i read wuthering heights. honestly, i don't know why i like this book, but i do.

the level of dysfunction and ruthlessness are startling. it seems as if no one in the story is capable of making a wise or correct decision. and i always wonder why someone doesn't just shoot heathcliff and save everyone in the story?

also, cathy is maddening. so narcissistic. you wonder how anyone could love her, or heathcliff, for that matter? but i guess that's why they love each other so much.

like i said, i don't know why i like this book, but i do. it's very easy to get swept up in.

(man, i would have liked to have spent some time at the bronte house!)

the forgotten garden by kate morton

2011-01-25T15:14:00.000-08:00

the forgotten garden follows three story lines, all which eventually reveal the story of a young girl found on a dock in australia in 1913. she does not know her name and no one is there to claim her. the dock master takes her home, names her nell, and raises her as his own. he eventually reveals to her the truth about how she came into their family.

the three story lines follow nell as she sets out to discover who and where she came from; her granddaughter, cassandra, who takes up the search upon nells death; and eliza makepeace, an english authoress whose book is one of the only possession found on nell when she arrives in australia.

the book was alright. it had the capacity to wrap you up in it, which is nice while you're reading, but in the end it doesn't really deliver. it's good enough, and if i wasn't such a prolific reader i probably would have found it more fulfilling. the overall tone of the novel is very gothic and haunting; and there is an underlying suggestion of malice and danger throughout that is really anti-climactic when the reason for it is revealed.

but it did make me wish i owned a cottage in cornwall.

sarah's key by tatiana de rosnay

2010-09-02T10:50:00.000-07:00

sarah's key tells two stories:

one is of sarah, a young jewish girl who lives in paris during wwii. on the night of july 16, 1942, the french police come to sarah's house in the middle of the night, arresting her family as part of the vel d'hiv round up. thinking she will be home in a few hours, sarah locks her younger brother in a secret cupboard and keeps the key in her pocket.

the second story follows julia, an american journalist living in paris sixty years later. she receives an assignment to write an article about the vel d'hiv for a magazine. during her investigation she encounters the reluctance of the french to talk about the event and discovers her own families link to sarah's story.

i half-way liked the book. i really liked sarah's story. it was heartbreaking. and i was pleased to learn about an event in history that i hadn't heard much about before.

i didn't care for julia's story line. i didn't mind it as far as it was connected to her uncovering sarah's story, but beyond that it confused me. i didn't see the relevance or importance of her marital problems and pregnancy to the real point of the book, and it became annoying and distracting. and the ending was so abrupt and awkward.

never let me go by kazuo ishiguro

2010-08-31T15:06:00.000-07:00

i picked up this book because the preview for the forthcoming movie gave me chills. the book . . . . not so much.

the most frustrating thing about the book is that it had so much potential but didn't deliver pretty much on any account.

its a story about three friends. they are clones, raised for the sole purpose of organ donations. the story is told in first person by kathy. she meanders through memories of them growing up in a boarding school and later she cares for ruth and tommy as they go through their organ donation procedures.

my problems with the book were these:

- ruth is supposedly kathy's best friend. in fact, it's the relationship she talks about the most in the book. but all of the stories kathy tells about ruth reveal her to be selfish and malicious and manipulative. i couldn't find anything to like about her.

- tommy and kathy's relationship is supposed to be the main relationship in the book, but so much time is spent elsewhere you end up just kind of being told they love each other, you don't really see or feel it happen. it almost feels like they're only in love because ruth tells them to be. there was so much room for that relationship to be expanded and backed up.

- when the book started off i liked kathy. she seemed like a sweet girl. but by then end i was annoyed by her complacency and passiveness. i wanted her to get a spine, to do something, anything!

- the book is supposed to make you think about/question science progression and souls and stuff. i can see where it was headed, but it just got lost in all the mess of the story. there are two or three chapters toward the end where the real point of the book comes through, but then it just drifts off into . . . . well, nothingness. no questions really get answered. nothing is resolved. nothing is changed.

- the whole time i was reading the book i kept thinking, "what is the point of this narrative?" it felt like it was supposed to be directed to someone specific. i expected some kind of thesis or objective to come through in the end, but, again . . . . nothing. after i read the last sentence i thought, "seriously, that's it? . . . "

the book left me feeling frustrated and like i had wasted my time.

**update**

i originally put that i didn't like this book. and i can't say that i enjoyed it; i felt really let down by the ending. but i can say that i haven't stopped thinking about it since i read it a year and a half ago. it haunts you. it makes you think. i makes you question. so i have to acknowledge that it is an accomplished book; an important book. i would like to read this again with a group so i could discuss it with people.

the thirteenth tale by diane setterfield

2010-08-25T12:42:00.000-07:00

this book was pretty good. i loved the references to books i love: jane eyre, sense and sensibility, wuthering heights, the woman in white, etc. i'm always a fan of things that celebrate good literature.

i loved the weaving together of the different lives. the mystery. i kept finding myself torn between liking adeline and being appalled by her (until the end, of course).

i liked the exploration of the absence one feels at the loss of a twin/sibling/child.

i only wish i had read this book in the winter instead of the dead of summer. i kept wishing i could curl up by a fire with some tea or hot chocolate while reading. instead i was sprawled out in front of fan downing ice water.

haunting. engrossing. delicious.

on gold mountain by lisa see

2010-08-17T14:09:00.001-07:00

we picked this book for a book club.

i hated it.

a lot.

how i live now by meg rosoff

2010-08-16T16:37:00.000-07:00

i don't even know how to talk about this book because i love it so much. it's one of my favorite books i've ever read. i limit myself to reading it once a year. gotta keep it special, you know?

the story is about daisy, an american girl, who is sent to live with her relatives in the english countryside since she can't get along with her new step-mother. as soon as she gets there a war breaks out.

at the beginning of the book daisy is stoic and resentful and narcissitic. through the book she finds something to love and life for. she becomes strong and protective.

i love the way this book is written. it's almost like a train of thought. random capitalization. run on sentences. it reads exactly how a teenage girl thinks. it's brilliant. odd, but brilliant.

incarceron by catherine fisher

2010-08-16T16:30:00.000-07:00

incarceron is a prison. the story is about a group of people trying to get out of the prison, and a girl on the outside who is curious about the prison. lots of science and political intrigue. curious ideas.

there's a lot of hype around this novel. i'm still not sure how much i liked it. i didn't not like it. there's still just so many unanswered questions . . . . i'm interested to see how it evolves. i'm not very excited about waiting around for the rest of the books to come out.

wait till the whole series is out, then read it. that's be best policy.

the hunger games by suzanne collins

2010-08-16T14:35:00.001-07:00

i picked this book up on a lark in target. i remember seeing that my cousin had read it and had good things to say about it. i finished it in one night.

it's kind of a dig at the entertainment industry, especially "reality tv." and if you know me at all, you know i despise reality tv.

the book takes place is a dystopian society after the united states has collapsed. there is a capitol with absolute power and twelve remaining districts. katniss, the main character, lives in district twelve which is a coal-mining district. the people in her district are generally poor, hungry, and hopeless. she is the primary provider for her family since the death of her father in a coal-mining accident. she illegally sneaks beyond the fences everyday to hunt and gather food for consuming and trading.

as a constant reminder of their absolute power, every year the capitol hosts the hunger games. every district must send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen. the twenty four participants engage in a televised fight to the death. the last child standing is allowed to return home.

it's a disturbing idea.

katniss' younger sister is selected to go and katniss volunteers to go in her stead.

what i liked:

i think katniss is a great character. through her experience we can learn to question many things. how much of what we see on tv is real? how much is skewed? are we being manipulated?

i can't understand so many of the television shows that are successful. survivor. real housewives of whatever county. jersey shore. bachelor/bachelorette. girls next door. the hills. etc.

we take the worst examples of humanity and set them up on a television show. we reward manipulation and lying and betrayal with a million dollars. we find the most vacuous and immature humans and videotape their lives and call it entertainment. we send out the message that dating 20 different people at the same time while intoxicated is the best way to establish a relationship.

(i do not watch any of these shows)

how many of these people would you actually want to associate with?

(my answer is none. you?)

i also liked the parts in the book where katniss found herself changing her behavior in order to be more appealing to the watching public in order to obtain support. it shows that even the most disinterested and sensible of people are affected by their surroundings. we have to be so careful about what we associate ourselves with. granted, she's trying to stay alive, so you don't hold it against her. but it helps you realize that people in the public eye are rarely behaving the same way they would if no one was watching. we should be careful how much influence we allow them.

i'm looking forward to the rest of this series.

eat, pray, love by elizabeth gilbert

2010-08-16T13:36:00.000-07:00

i mostly liked this book. i found her self-indulgent and narcissistic at times. but i appreciated the general message and i enjoyed the way she phrases things. i took several quotes away from this book that describe exactly how i view things. she phrases it just right. i read this book out of curiosity, not because I needed help finding happiness. but i can see how this might really help someone figure out how to dig themselves out of an emotional hole. i would recommend it to friends who might be trying to find their way.

some of the quotes i loved from the book:

"the best thing we can do, then, in response to our incomprehensible and dangerous world, is to practice holding equilibrium internally – no matter what insanity is transpiring out here."

"flexibility is just as essential for divinity as is discipline."

"imagine cramming yourself into such a puny box of identity when you could experience your infinitude instead."

"the yogis, however, say that human discontentment is a simple case of mistaken identity. we’re miserable because we think that we are mere individuals, alone with our fears and flaws and resentments and mortality. we wrongly believe that our limited little egos constitute our whole entire nature. we have failed to recognize our deeper divine character. we don’t realize that, somewhere within us all, there does exist a supreme self which is eternally at peace. that supreme self is our true identity, universal and divine."

"the search for contentment is, therefore, not merely a self-preserving and self-benefiting act, but also a generous gift to the world. clearing out all your misery gets you out of the way. you cease being an obstacle, not only to yourself but to anyone else. only then are you free to serve and enjoy other people."

"a family in my sister’s neighborhood was recently stricken with a double tragedy, when both the young mother and her three-year-old son were diagnosed with cancer. when Catherine told me about this, i could only say, shocked, “dear God, that family needs grace.” she replied firmly, “that family needs casseroles,” and then proceeded to organize the entire neighborhood into bringing that family dinner, in shifts, every single night, for an entire year. i do not know if my sister fully recognizes that this is grace."

my absolute favorite: " . . . people universally tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will maybe descend upon you like a fine weather if you’re fortunate enough. but that’s not how happiness works. happiness is the consequence of personal effort. you fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. you have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. and once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it, you must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it."

little known facts about well known places: disneyland by david hoffman

2010-08-13T15:47:00.000-07:00

i heard about this book after my friend natalie blogged about it. and since i love disneyland and i'm going back later this year, i decided to check it out for myself.

some of my favorite facts included:

- disney management still refers to opening day as “black sunday.” temperatures were unseasonably hot (well over 100 degrees), drinking fountains were dry (thinks to a plumbers’ strike), toilets clogged, food ran out, there was a gas leak in fantasyland, and woman’s high heels sank into the asphalt on main street. to make it easier for female guests to get around, they were given free pairs of moccasins, because those were the only shoes disneyland sold for adults.

- there is a regulation-size half-court on which employees can play basketball inside the matterhorn.

- walt was afraid of mice.

- although the majority of the officers are dressed in plain clothes and go unnoticed, disneyland’s security force has more members than the city of anaheim has police.

- among the items that have turned up in the disneyland lost and found: false teeth, a prosthetic limb, a glass eye, toupees, a waterbed, and a canary..

- r2-d2 and c-3p0, seen in the waiting area at star tours, are props from the original star wars film. the overlay on c-3p0 is real gold; it was the only substance that gave off the shine that director george lucas wanted, and the only coating guaranteed not to rust during production.

- the water in the jungle cruise is tinted brown, not only to make the river look more real, but so that the bottom – which is only 3 feet deep in parts – cannot be seen.

- when pirates of the caribbean opened in 1967, the fake skeletons available to the disney designers were unconvincing and looked like tacky halloween decorations, so real specimens, which had previously been used for research, were purchased from ucla’s medical center.

little known facts about well know places: new york by david hoffman

2010-08-12T15:33:00.000-07:00

i got this book on accident. i ordered the one for disneyland and received this one. i intended to send it back, but once i started reading it, i changed my mind. all sorts of interesting little tidbits. i look forward to going to new york someday armed with the inside scoop.

some of my favorite facts include:

65,000 - people who work in rockefeller center

175,000 - people who visit rockefeller center daily for business or pleasure

60 - cities in the united states whose population is greater than the daily population (240,000) of rockefeller center

- the tree in rockefeller center comes down two weeks after christmas, and is then recycled. the mulch (all three tons of it) is donated to teh boy scouts to create forest paths and prevent soil erosion while the trun either goes to the u.s. equestrian team to be used as a jump or is cut into lumber for habitat for humanity.

- in 1961, the matisse painting le bateau (the boat) hung upside-down for two months at the museum of modern art. none of the 116,000 visitors seem to have noticed.

8,872,244 - passengers who rode the new york city subway system on the busiest day in its history (december 23, 1946)

100 million - americans (roughly 40 percent of the population) whose relatives entered the u.s. through ellis island.

- when telephone area codes were first assigned, new york, the largest city in the country (and hence the most frequently called), was given 212 because it took the least amount of time to dial on a rotary phone.

- between 1980 and 2000, new tyork city had more than 2,000 inoperative fire hydrants (from 34th street south to battery park) whose only purpose was to generate revenue in parking fines.

- the most expensive real estate in new york city just may be the sidewalk underneath the pushcart on the south side of the front steps of the metropolitan museum of art. given the vendor's yearly license fee of approximately $350,000 for a space that is approximately four by eight feet, that would break down to a cost of over $10,000 a square foot.

widow of the south by robert hicks

2010-08-11T16:24:00.000-07:00

i mostly liked this book. there was a hint of a supernatural element, which kind of threw off my equilibrium, if that makes sense. i didn't know how seriously i was supposed to take it. and i think the way the story was divided up between the different voices interrupted my immersion into the story.

i enjoyed that it was based on a real person and a real place. funny story:

i was sitting in the living room reading my book when my dad walked in:

dad: oh! you're reading my book
me: this is my book. i bought it.
dad: oh. well i bought one too when i was there.
me: where?
dad: the plantation. don't you remember? i brought you back a mug.

fact. there was a mug from carnton plantation sitting on my dresser in my bedroom. funny how things in life connect sometimes.

i liked the recounting of different experiences in the battle. the motivations. the occurrences. the differing views of the same situation. the view of the civil war's effect on civil life.

i liked the juxtaposition of carrie finding something to live for among all the death. she discovered she was strong and able when everyone thought she was broken and crazy.

lovely memory: i finished this book on a cool sunday afternoon on a grassy patch in the plaza across the street from the panathinaiko stadium in athens, greece.

the book thief by markus zusak

2010-08-11T15:15:00.000-07:00

this was a good book. i feel like maybe i didn't get quite as much out of it as i could have because i spread the reading of it out over several months. i began it before a semester started and didn't finish until almost the end of the semester. i think the emotional impact would have been much stronger if i had read it without being absent from the story for weeks at a time.

what i liked:

i liked that it was a story about a german family in nazi germany who didn't agree with what was going on. i think that voice hasn't gotten enough light as far as the wwii story goes.

i loved hans hubermann. so kind and gentle. his attention and instruction to liesel are the making of her. his selflessness and quiet strength are so reassuring.

i learned to really love rosa hubermann too. once you get through her harsh exterior there is this tremendous and fierce love at her center. someone you want on your side. she would go down swinging for you.

i loved the focus on the importance of words. their power and value. the longer i have max's story for liesel in my head the more and more genius it becomes.

ilsa hermann leaving the library window open.

the narration by death. the abstractness was a little distracting at first, but once i got it, it was brilliant. the idea that death was exhausted by the war and is haunted by humans . . . chilling.

i expect i will re-read this book again in the future. i would be interested in reading it with a group and hearing other people's reactions. hear what they pull out of the story.

books for school fall 2009-spring 2010

2010-08-05T14:30:00.000-07:00

during school semesters i have no time for extracurricular reading.

it's tragic.
i've decided to include the books i read for school on the blog.
some i finished, some i didn't.

civil war - fall 2009

i was so excited for this class. i've always found the civil war fascinating.
it probably stems from my love of the movie gone with the wind.
and the dresses.
oh, those dresses!
i was sorely disappointed with the class. it was less about the civil war
and more about the politics before and after the civil war.
i hate politics.
politics just remind me that most people are liars
and men should never be in charge of anything.
we maybe spent 2 weeks talking about battles and stuff.
disappointing.
on the plus side, my dad went on one of his random excursions, this time to tennessee
(i can't remember why)
and brought me back a crusty old used minie bullet from the battle of murfreeboro.
good man.

a lot of politics in this book if i remember correctly.
i guess there's information, so it's useful.
but other than there i don't remember much about this book.

another book mostly about politics.
don't remember much.

this book was kind of interesting.
it included the point of views of the soldiers on both sides.
black and white.
first hand accounts by way of journal entries and personal letters.
much more readable that some of the others we read for the class.

tragically, this book was the first time i heard about "redemption."
we always study the "reconstruction" period after the civil war
(which i hate, by the way)
this describes the period after "reconstruction"
in which the country digressed because we hadn't learned anything.
it's enlightening and enraging.

i was sure to love this book.
it was short, which is always welcome in the middle of a semester.
plus, louisa may alcott wrote one of my favorite books ever
(little women)
so i was likely to enjoy it.
louisa is a kindred spirit.
i'm sure we would get along famously, were we ever to meet.
this tell of her brief experience as a civil war nurse
before she got sick and had to return home.

this book was surprisingly really good.
i really wasn't expecting it.
lots of fun little known california history
and the surprising reason california was a free state.
it wasn't a moral decision at all.
it all boiled down to money.
greed.
the goldpanners didn't want slave owners coming in
with an army of slaves
bogarting space on the rivers.
typical.
i'm trying to convince my dad to read it.

tsarist russia - fall 2009

i was excited to take this class.
i really didn't know anything about russia
except whatever history you can glean from anestasia and that it's cold.

this is what i learned in my class:
russia was, is, and will always be a hot mess.
but they built some cool building in st. petersburg.

the class was a disaster.
my teacher, who seems quite knowledgeable on the subject,
could not lecture to save her life.
i never had any idea what she was talking about.
she would jump from century to century,
topic to topic,
without any indication or explanation.
over 4 weeks of the class were conducted online
in some weirdo experimental format.
the midterm and final were open book.

also, i had to critique 5 fellow students final project before they turned it in.
i do not know who allowed those people out of high school.
they should be shot.
highlights included:
a guy who used the word expunge to describe
the removing of people from a population;
the same guy wrote, "few records persist from this era;"
another guy who compared the defects of an
academic book researching the russian exile system
to harry potter;
and there was one that i quit reading half way through as i had
no idea what she was talking about.

i guess it's okay because i got an "a" in the class.
but at the same time, it's a little depressing, because i got an "a"
but i know nothing about russian history.

this book is an exercise in torture by written word. i didn't finish. it's very academic. i'm sure it would prove quite useful if you were doing a very intense research project on the russian exile system. but i wasn't. apparently this author isn't familiar with the whole idea that if your book isn't readable, people won't read it, no matter how much correct information you have inside.
david mccullough. look him up.

i started crime and punishment before the beginning of the semester in attempt to acquaint myself with russian culture and what not. i didn't finish. the only thing i could think while reading it was, "russians are crazy and their conversations don't make sense." i have no intention of going back to finish it. we had to read fathers and sons for the class. and the whole time i kept thinking, "russians are crazy and their conversations don't make sense." i didn't finish fathers and sons either, which is pretty pathetic because it's insanely short.
i don't think i will ever attempt to read a russian novel again.

Colonial Americas - Spring 2010

i was so excited when i saw we were reading this book.
i've been wanting to read it since i saw amazing grace.
(great movie)
so interesting. what an amazing life!

i actually enjoyed this book, which surprised me.
it's the story of the spanish conquest of the americas from the aztec point of view.
the spanish were pretty brutal. and their colonial policies were insane!
this book intensified my desire to go explore ruins in places like
peru and guatamala.

unwind by neal shusterman

2010-01-19T14:37:00.000-08:00

my lovely cousin mindy told me about this book last year when we were camping. what can i say about it? it is amazing and horrible and thought provoking and tear inducing and a little bit it made me want to throw up. so of course, i love it.

this is not your happy day at the beach read. it's a commentary on abortion. it has an agenda. it has a point. at times, it breaks your heart, which it should.

the story takes place after a long civil war over the issue of abortion. the two sides come up with a compromise. medical technology has made it possible to use all parts of the human body for transplant, so abortion is outlawed. instead, people who do not want their children are allowed to leave them at state homes or on other peoples doorsteps. once any child reaches the age of 14 (i think) there is the option to have them "unwound" or basically parted out for transplants. the argument is that they are not dead because 99% of them is being used elsewhere (the law doesn't require them to use things like the appendix). the book tells the story of three kids who have been designated for unwinding but escape on their way to the harvest camp.

i am very curious to explore mr. shusterman's other work. i was very impressed with this book.

wizard's first rule by terry goodkind

2010-01-16T17:34:00.001-08:00

last year mike and i found legend of the seeker on netflix. the facts were these:

- mike and i are suckers for fantasy stuff;

- mike and i are suckers for sword and knife fighting stuff;

- school was out and we had an abundance of free time;

- netflix conveniently placed the entire series in the instant play category;

- that craig horner is one pretty piece of flesh and the first time you see him in the series he looks like this and he's chopping a huge log with an axe and if you know me at all you know how much that works for me.

we watched the entire series which is based on the sword of truth series by terry goodkind. so naturally i picked up the first one. i started last summer, and i liked it very much, but school got in the way, so i had to wait to finish it when i had spare reading time. i'm finally done, and i have every intention of reading the rest of the series. perhaps not immediately, but it definitely will happen.

happily, season two of legend of the seeker is currently airing on television.

the best christmas pageant ever by barbara robinson

2010-01-16T17:21:00.000-08:00

i remember having this book read to me as a child. we laughed and laughed. i haven't read it again since grade school. this christmas season i read it to my nephew. i think i may have enjoyed it more than he did . . .

it was still quite funny, and a wonderful little story about the power of the christmas story. i didn't remember how touching the story was. i got all teary myself when i read the part where imogene cries during the pageant performance.

my nephew kept interrupting me with interjections and questions, and when i asked him if he knew who mary was, he responded that she was the one who watched sheep (mary had a little lamb . . .). we cleared that up, but it was kind of though explaining to a 5 year old why king herod was intimidated by baby jesus. someone needs to get that kid to church, stat!

an adorable little read for the christmas season, and kid friendly!

bridge to terabithia by katherine paterson

2010-01-16T17:01:00.000-08:00

i remember reading bridge to terabithia in grade school and bawling my eyes out. it was one of the first books to ever make me cry. when the movie came out a few years back i was really excited, but it was so different from what i remembered the book being. good, exciting, but different. i re-read the book for a book club last september, and i just haven't gotten around to posting about it.

things i love about this book:

- leslie's individuality;

- leslie's parents allowing her to be imaginative and supporting her creativity and quirks;

- jess' journey of self discovery;

- jess and leslie's friendship;

- the idea of creating an imaginary kingdom of one's own;

- the message about the importance of imagination;

- jess and leslie's revenge and then compassion toward janice the bully;

- the way jess' grief and reaction are depicted.

honestly, this book is too sad for me to read very often, but i think it is an amazing book. i consider it a must read.

north and south by elizabeth gaskell

2009-08-01T10:38:00.000-07:00

i decided to read this book after a friend recommended i watch the movie.

i am forever in her debt.

i loved this book. it's nestled itself right at the top of my favorites list. and, to be honest, it's mostly because i fancy mr. thornton. I love his character. i love how stern and glowering he is, yet, he has such a tender spot for margaret that he never denies. i love how honest and straightforward he is. i love his composure and self-control. i love his pride in who he is and what he's accomplished, yet his determination to continue improving himself. *sigh* can i please have him? pleeeeeeese?

i also liked margaret. i really identified with her character in the way people always described her as proud or stuck-up because they misunderstood her quietness or reserve. i appreciated her strength and selflessness. i loved her flashes of temper.

such a great book. i will re-read this over and over and over. and over.

i will also watch the movie over and over and over. richard armitage was so perfect as mr. thornton. i don't know that i'll ever recover from my infatuation.

agnes grey by anne bronte

2009-07-22T09:09:00.001-07:00

my love for jane eyre and wuthering heights prompted me to pick up a novel by the third bronte sister.

i liked it well enough. it read really quickly, but it wasn't as good as the others by a long shot.

the whole novel felt rushed, like the teller couldn't wait to get it over with. there were hardly any details. she talks about hardships and degradations, but you never really get a good idea of what they were.

the plot was predictable. i knew how it was going to end long before it happened.

i would be willing to give anne another shot. but i probably wouldn't read this book again.

pride and prejudice and zombies by jane austen and seth grahame-smith

2009-07-17T11:19:00.000-07:00

i decided to read this after it showed up on several national book lists.

completely silly. perfect for summer brain candy reading. i giggled the entire time.

granted, you can't read it if you're going to be a jane austen snob. i think what amuses me most about this book is the idea of the guy who wrote it. i like to picture him as a boy who had a mom and several sisters who loved the original story, and subjected him to hours and hours of pride and prejudice (or other austen stories) throughout his life, and this is his way of fighting back.

and can i saw how wonderful it is for mr. collins to be disposed of (even though it is at the expense of charlotte) and for lydia and wickham to be humiliated in some fashion.

be sure to check out the discussion questions at the end of the book. my favorite: does mrs. bennett have any redeeming qualities?

very amusing.

jane eyre by charlotte bronte

2009-07-10T14:22:00.001-07:00

oh how i love this book. i think this was my fourth time through and it was even better this time!

i think it's amazing how you can read a book over and over throughout your life, and depending on what is going on, or what you've experienced, the book is completely different.

jane eyre is a fantastic love story. it's a story about knowing your own self-worth. it's a story about living the life you choose and not letting others plan it for you. it's a story about following your heart.

definately one of my favorite books.

bbc has done a particularly fantastic movie production of this book. i could watch it over and over. they do such an amazing job at portraying the quiet strength in jane and the goodness in rochester.

the historian by elizabeth kostova

2009-06-18T17:30:00.000-07:00

this is my second time reading the historian. it's a story about a vampire, so of course i love it. but there is also an amazing amount of history in it, which is fascinating.

the book tells the story of three generations of one family and their pursuit of the historical dracula. their journeys begin when they discover an ancient book, which is blank except for a woodcutting of a giant dragon in the center of the book, among their possessions.

i enjoyed this book even more the second time because i just finished writing a research paper on vlad iii dracula, so i understood so much more of the history they were referencing. i thought they were a little harsh on him, but what can i say? i'm a sucker for blood-thirsty tyrants ;)

i would recommend this book to most people. and i hear they're making it into a movie, which i'm excessively excited about, as long as they do it justice!

stargirl by jerry spinelli

2009-06-04T10:21:00.000-07:00

i can not express how much i love this book. it overwhelms me every time.

stargirl is a celebration of individuality. through the character of stargirl we experience the joy of being true to yourself. we learn how interesting and productive life can be when we focus on others. we learn how insecure and discontented we become when we are constantly trying to please others or keep up with the crowd.

after reading stargirl i always feel braver, kinder, more confident, inspired to build others up.

i think every young girl should read this book. probably more than once. but it doesn't have to be limited to girls! i gave my 22 year old brother this book and he loved it too. there's so much for us all to learn.

dracula by bram stoker

2009-06-02T17:33:00.000-07:00

i can't believe i haven't ever read "dracula" before with how much i love vampire stories. it was pretty good. i found dr. van helsing really distracting. i really dislike it when people attempt to write accents into novels. most of the time it makes it incomprehensible so i stop paying attention to that character. and i found a lot of his actions nonsensical. i felt like his actions weren't necessary for the plot or for the well-being of the characters, but just to create drama, which is obnoxious.

i also felt like the characters were overly naive.

but dracula was great. he was terrifying and the whole time i was anxious that they wouldn't be able to overcome him.

definately a must read for vampire fans.

the guernsey literary and potato peel pie society by mary ann shaffer and annie barrows

2009-05-25T10:43:00.000-07:00

i adored this book! it takes place at the end of world war ii and is full of history and human experience. the story is told through correspondence primarily between juliet ashton and the inhabitants of the island guernsey. during wwii guernsey is occupied by the germans. a group of the islanders find themselves in a literary society in order to provide themselves with an alibi after an illegal pig roast. the correspondents tell their stories and how literature and friendship helped them find strength and solace in those uncertain times.

it tells the story of brave individuals to stood up to their enemies and held on to their compassion and humanity to the very end.

we also see how friendship and love help us to move forward and begin to live again after devastating experiences.

cordelia underwood by van reid

2009-04-19T21:54:00.000-07:00

this book was really enjoyable. there is a plot that is mildly introduced in the beginning and quickly tied up at the end, but most of the book is taken up with the random misadventures of the numerous characters. the characters are what make this book so amusing, particularly ephram, eagleton and thump. i found myself giggling constantly.

a good, lighthearted read.

kilmeny of the orchard by l m montgomery

2009-03-17T11:23:00.000-07:00

technically, i listened to this book, but whatever . . . this was definitely not as good as the blue castle, but i did enjoy it. it's a little too sweet/sappy for me at some points, and the plot is a little over simplistic, but sometimes that's just what a girl needs. there's a handsome boy and a beautiful girl and romance and beautiful settings in nature . . . i think i might have enjoyed the book more if i had read it instead of listened to it because i found the reader rather obnoxious, but what can you do?

the wonderful wizard of oz by l. frank baum

2009-02-22T01:05:00.000-08:00

i read this for one of my book clubs. it was alright. i don't think i will ever read it again. i think the thing that bothered me the most was the overly simplistic writing style. i realize it is written for kids, but i've read several other books written for the same age group which don't have the same tone. and it bothered me how much happens, and how much symbolism there is in the book, but it's not developed enough to really make the impact it could. and then dorothy just ends up at home. her character doesn't learn anything, really, or grow . . . through the whole book you're just moved from one event to the next and then you're done.

about 2/3 of the way through i found myself hurrying to finish so i could move on to something else. i just wanted to be done.

the blue castle by l.m. montgomery

2009-02-20T13:06:00.000-08:00

on wednesday night i got into bed and decided to read for a few minutes to wind down. i picked up "the blue castle" because it was the book assigned for february for one of my book clubs.

eight chapters later i forced myself to put the book away and go to sleep. but i probably could have read straight through the night and been content with the consequences.

i have never read anything by lm montgomery before, but i surely will be seeking out her other books! i loved this book. it was perfection. there's a sassy girl and humor and manly men and the great outdoors and romance and love and unabashed happy-ending-ness. delightful. that's what it was . . . delightful! i passed it off to my mom this morning, and if i know her taste at all, which i think i do, she'll have it finished by tomorrow night.

thanks be to becca for picking this book. it will be re-read several times in my life.

pride and prejudice by jane austen

2009-01-28T13:26:00.000-08:00

i must start by publicly acknowledging my shame in not having read pride and prejudice before this, my thirtieth year. how did it happen? i have watched and adored the movie (either version) a million times! i have adored the other jane austen novels i read. why? why, did i procrastinate? there is no answer, my friends. i was just a slacker.

****

what can i say about pride and prejudice that has not already been said by a million readers before me. fantastic. joyous. witty. i wish elizabeth were my best friend. i wish mr. darcy (and his ten thousand per year) were mine all mine. however, i will say i could do with a scene in which wickham is humiliated and lydia is slapped silly! but what can you do?

***

how lovely it is to find an author that unabashedly give us happy endings. sometimes you just need one! jane is absolutely one of my go-to authors. i'm so glad i finally made pride and prejudice a priority. it will most definitely be re-read several times in my life.

1984 by george orwell

2009-01-16T13:08:00.000-08:00

i have officially finished my first book of 2009. (to be perfectly honest, i started reading in in 2008, but really, who's paying that much attention) so what to say about 1984 . . . i decided to read this book because i wanted to read something that had a long history of being banned. at first i picked "the handmaid's tale" by margaret atwood, but i was going to be reading the book with someone else, and i was told that "the handmaid's tale" has a lot of swearing, so we decided to read 1984 instead. i read "animal farm" in high school and i vehemently hated it, so i was a little leery of reading anything else by george orwell, but i enjoyed the first half of the book. i thought it was engaging, and i had respect the main character. about 3/4 of the way through, it took quite a turn and mr. orwell lost me. the entire tone of the novel changed. instead of inspiring it became depressing. i don't know that it would be appropriate to say that i liked the book . . . or that i disliked it. i am very glad i read it. it did make me contemplate on some of the ideas he presented in the beginning . . . but i'm not entirely sure i would recommend it to anyone.