Confession

So, I guess I have to edit my goal.  Instead of reading 5 books a month, I'm going to read on AVERAGE 5 books a month.  I got a little behind in March.  Hopefully I can make it up in the coming months.  


My goal is still 60 books this year.


Just not 5 a month.  


I guess I have another confession to make.  I'm writing this in September.  So I am a tad behind by blogging.  Okay ... really behind.  I promise I did read the last 5 months.  Maybe not all the books I needed to make up my lack, but I have made some good head way.  


So as my third confession ... I did not write these posts in the months I said I wrote them.  It is just organizationally more appealing to me to do it this way.  So ... onto my back-log of posts.

The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

So ... let's start this story back a little bit.  How I heard about Hunger Games is kind of funny.  A few of my friends started writing book blogs a couple of years ago, and this was one that kept popping up.  I was intrigued because it is a youth book, but dealing with adult themes.  So move forward a couple of months.  My mother comes to me with a coupon for this book, saying that she had heard me talking about it.  So I bought it ... on sale.  And I read it ... in a day.  It isn't a deep book language wise, so it was a fairly easy read.

So when the end of March came around for my reading goal, and I had only read 2 books, I picked up an easy read.  The Hunger Games.  I'm glad I read it again because I found I like the story even more after reading it again.  It was an original interpretation of the distopia civilization.  I'm excited for the movie to come out, though slightly worried about the violence.  Because in the book it is written in such a way that it isn't overly violent, but I fear it will not translate well to the movie.

It reminds me a lot about Lord of the Flies, and the lowest common denominator in a population.  I do not know if I agree with the Hobbian idea that if you strip everything away, man is naturally evil.  In many of the creative manifestations of this idea, the artist uses the individual to negate the idea.  There are a lot of examples of this ... including the movie I just watched last night - Contagion.

My final feelings about the book - I liked it, a unique story and I am excited to see it as a movie and hope that it stands up to my expectation.

Final Score: 5 out of 5 stars

Emma - Jane Austen

I finally finished it. I have had this book on my self for years, and I have always wanted to read it because Emma and Mr. Knightley are my favorite literary couple. I have started reading it multiple times, but got stuck half way through it, put it down and then don't pick it up for a year and start all over again. [I have a habit of doing this]

I really enjoyed the book. I don't know why, but ever since I was a little girl, I have wanted to find my Mr. Knightley. Someone that was always there, and someone that I always had feelings for, but those feelings you don't quite understand until something happens. I don't know how to describe it. But I love the relationship between Emma and Mr. Knightley, because it isn't one of "love at first sight" but it isn't one like Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. Emma and Mr. Knightley are simply friends who have always cared for one another, and that feeling grows and matures into love. It seems to me that that kind of love is strongest. Neither Mr. Knightley or Emma are perfect, and in the novel those faults and mistakes are amplified, but still even after their arguments and shortcomings, because that love came from genuine friendship, it can survive. Now I am not bashing the Mr. Darcy/Elizabeth way of doing things, because to tell you the truth my other favorite literary couple is Benedick and Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing which follows the same pattern.

There are parts of me that yearn for Emma's time. I think I would have enjoyed a society where woman are encouraged to study drawing, music, language, writing, and were able to go to parties and balls. On the other hand, I quite enjoy the freedom of choice that I now have that would not have existed back then. It's a mixed bag to say the least.

Final Score: 4 out of 5 stars

The Giver - Lois Lowry

This book is such an amazing story. I remember reading this book in high school. It is a short book, but when you read it, the Distopia that it creates almost seems real. I also remember that for a master's class, my mother wrote a play off of this book. We went to the reading of it. It is amazing the feeling that those words carry.

Sometimes I feel as if I am in such a world like Jonas. Where everything has to be the same - especially in the way my life is "supposed" to turn out. [ie - go to BYU, get married, and have a kid before the age of 21] But my life is not like that, and so sometimes [meaning- all the time] I feel outside looking in. I can relate to that feeling of Jonas' when he cannot understand the choices he sees around him because he knows something more. And when he has to save Gabe, it is a touching moment when Jonas sacrifices himself and all that he knows for a better world - one that he isn't even sure exists. I love this book because it is a book of hope.

Though this time, I read more than just the story. In my copy of the book there is a "bonus" section, with some questions you can ask at a book club. One of the questions asks at the end of the book, if Jonas and Gabe are dying or not. It is a hard question to answer, and it made me look at the end of the book a couple of times. I hope that they aren't dying, but are truly reaching a home full of love. But on the other hand, another part of me can see this as an end to their journey and that the home that they might be going to can only be achieved through death. Either way though I still find it an ending full of hope - either way Jonas and Gabe are going to a place full of love, and are finding peace at the end of their journey. I don't think you have to decide whether or not they are dying at the end of the book. Because I think in either scenario, they are at peace and that is what matters.

This is one of my favorite books, and is one that I probably read frequently. It's short so it doesn't take long to read, nor is it dense. But it brings to mind a lot of questions - something that is always a plus for me.

Final Score: 5 out of 5 stars

Into the Woods - Stephen Sondheim & James Lapine

This is one of the last plays I saw in Stratford. Therefore this is one of the plays I remember best. Other than watching Shakespeare, one of our favorite things to see were musicals. And this one is a good one. I love plays/stories where they take something that I (or we) all know and love, and either provide the "back story" or another prospective. Another way to see the worlds and characters we know and love. (Examples: Wicked - the Musical not the book, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead)

This play is just that. It takes all these fairy tales and bedtime stories that everyone knows so well, and creates this other world. The other side of the "Happily Ever After" that we as children don't see or as adults we don't want to see. The play is a little hard to read because so much of it is placed to music which is not provided in the book. But I still have some recollection of the melodies so it is like seeing the play all over again.

This story really touched me when I saw it. I was about to go off to college the next year, and so the shelter of home was no longer a constant for me. I was about to leave all that I knew to be safe. In the play there is a witch of course (what good fairy tale doesn't have one?) - who, in this play's light is only a mother trying to protect her daughter from all the evil in the world. After this play my mother looked at me and bemoaned the fact that she was my "wicked witch". That she had tried so hard to protect me from the world, that she feared my 'entering' it. I called her (lovingly of course) my "wicked witch" from then on. Luckily I did not end up like the Rapunzel in the play, so it's okay.

I just really enjoyed this play because, now in this stage of my life, I'm wishing for a lot of things. And sometimes we don't always see the consequences of those wishes. This play, to me is a reminder of that. That I should be grateful for what I have and not wishing for a castle in the clouds - because it will always cost more than you bargain for, and it will never be as beautiful when you're staring right at it.

So if you can SEE this play first, before reading it ... or somehow listen to the music first ... then read the play, I think you will enjoy it too.

Final Score: 4 out of 5 stars

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead - Tom Stoppard

Where to begin with this play? I watched this play ... I don't know when. I think in a literature class in high school. I loved it! I don't know how else to put it. I absolutely loved it. It had Richard Dreyfuss (he's in What About Bob? & Jaws) and Gary Oldman (he's in Harry Potter & Batman Begins). It was witty, it was hilarious. It was all my favorite things in one. I really don't know how to describe how much I like this movie. Because when I did finally buy it and watched it with my mom, she looked at me and said, "I don't get it." It made me laugh, because I thought everyone would love this movie. This is my guilty pleasure/no one understands why I enjoy it movie.

I thought this movie was a deep existential journey. It is the story of two characters - Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Anyone who has read Hamlet should recognize their names. That is where they are from. They have very limited screen time in the play - essentially they show up out of no where, have one or two scenes, and then at the end of the play it is announced that they are dead.

This play uses that as a starting point. It is the story of Hamlet from their point of view. It is hauntingly real to me. The feelings that these men feel are ones that I feel. Where things seem to happen to them, out of their control and out of the reach of their understanding. They are victims to the ebb and flow of other people's choices. Or is it fate? There is a part of the play (well, it actually happens a couple of times), when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are trying to think back to how they got involved in this mess. They remember a man knocking on their window, on the saddle of his horse, saying that they have been royally summoned. At one point in the play, the two characters reminisce and contemplate that they must have had the choice to say no.

I don't know why I keep choosing books/topics on which it is so hard to explain. But this is one play that I love reading over and over again. The movie has some interesting additions to the plot that add to its enjoyment. In particular I love the scene when the "play" questions. So if anyone does indeed read this blog (or find it for that matter) I would HIGHLY recommend this play, and the movie. And for those who have read/watched/have some kind of knowledge about Hamlet, I think you will enjoy all the illusions to events in that play as well.

Final Score: 5 out of 5 stars

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare [Abriaged] - Adam Long, Daniel Singer, & Jess Winfield

To begin this post ... I guess I should admit my overly ambitious nature. I was entirely planning to read all 6 Jane Austen novels for the month of February. And I had a good start when I read Sense & Sensibility and Northanger Abbey in essentially a weekend. Then I got tired of reading after that. I didn't pick up a book until two weeks latter. I am in the middle of Emma but I soon realized that I was not going to finish 3 more books, let alone 4 books in a matter of days when most days I had previous engagements already planned.

So I went to plan B.

I read 3 plays. I love these plays so it was good. Theater is one of my true loves. I remember for 10 years we would go to the Shakespearean Festival in Stratford, Canada. Usually it was for weekend trips, but some years we only went to one play. But I loved it. I was 8 when we first started. I can still see in my minds eye the beautiful sets of The King and I, the costumes of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and the cast of A Much Ado About Nothing. And those are just the first ones that come to my mind. I grew up on theater. It helped that my mom got her Master's in Theater while I was in middle school. Me and my sister use to go with her to Eastern Michigan University to her classes. We played theater games for FHE. It's in my blood.

And this play ... well, I don't know how I first got introduced to it. I think it was a conversation once that I had with an aunt maybe. Where they mentioned that there was a group who did something like a shortened Shakespeare play. That was the first I heard of it. And then I think one of my high schools did it as a school play. Anyway ... flash forward to when I am at school. For some reason, this play comes back to my mind and I buy it on a whim.

I love this book - because it is more of a diving board of ideas than anything else. It is one example of how to have fun with Shakespeare. At times it gets a little raunchy, a little gory - but what Shakespeare play isn't?!?! The first time I read it I thought how funny it would be to do it at BYU ... with a Mormon twist. I love this play just because it is the beginning step to a whole lot of ideas. It's an inspiration. It's a really quick read (one of the reasons I chose to read it. I got it out in a baby sitting appointment).

Final Score: 4 out of 5 stars

Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen

I guess I am going to date myself a little bit, but what the heck. I remember growing up and watching Wishbone, a TV show with an adorable beagle who would explore literature that corresponded to his 'real' life. I used to love that show -- that probably explains a lot about me. Every week we would watch this show and learn about literary geniuses and their extraordinary works of art. This (now) guilty pleasure of mine is what introduced me to Northanger Abbey when I was growing up.

I remember that this was one of the episodes. I do not remember much beyond that.

Anyway, that is beside the point. When I made this resolution to read all these books this month, I had no idea that I would be snowed in for 6 days. So today I decided that I would use this to my advantage and just get another book done and out of the way. Of course, one of the shorter books was more desirable than my intended next read (Pride & Prejudice). So, I snuggled with two dogs on my belly and finished it in one read.

It was good. However, you could tell that it was Jane Austen's first. A lot of the story plots/characters/problems with love that show up in this novel, come back in her later novels. But it had one set back, at least in my eyes. Austen constantly talks of her heroine, Cathrine. Yet, many times throughout the novel thought the story was more about the other characters.

Either way, it was a good book. I'm happy that true friends lead once again to true love. [As I will mention in my post about Emma - Mr. Knightly & Emma comprise one of my favorite couples in literature]

Final Score: 4 out of 5 stars

Sense & Sensibility - Jane Austen

For the month of February, I thought it would be appropriate to read the quintessential 'chick flick' books. Jane Austen came to mind ... love, marriage, and all the problems that come from dating/flirting/miscommunication. I started with Sense & Sensibility because I have always felt a connection to Elinor. Her temperament is very similar to mine -- the silent suffering type. I'm not a very open person when it comes to feelings of love or even attraction. I've been fooled enough times now to know not to open my mouth in order not to get burned.

Jane Austen is a very interesting writer. It takes her a long time to say something. Her story not only includes her main plot, but about 4 other tangents off of that main story. All the parts are interconnected and affect the main heroine of the story. But at times I feel as if the story is more about the events on the sides, rather than the main attraction.

** SPOILER **

I was also shocked to find that Willoughby comes to Elinor. I mean, the most interaction I have had with Sense & Sensibility is the Ang Lee adaptation with Emma Thompson. I thoroughly enjoy that movie, so it lead me to read the book. However, for thematic reasons the scene when Willoughby comes to explain himself was left out. I have mixed feelings for the scene, but I still feel it was an important event in the story line. It finishes the Willoughby/Marianne conflict a little more completely. Because of that scene, I hate Willoughby even more because he is such a [donkey], knowingly committing wrong to a dear sister. On the other hand, I feel and sympathize with him a little more knowing why he acted the way he did.

I guess it is always good to read the book and not just rely on the movie.

Final Score: 4 out of 5 stars

Elegant Universe - Brian Greene

The Ultimate Geek book for me this week. How did I first hear about Elegant Universe? It takes me all the way back to the first time I was in Texas, during my Junior year of high school. My mom mentioned, as we were walking through Barnes & Noble one day, that this book The Elegant Universe was getting a lot of attention. It was sitting on a table, so I picked it up and bought it. I was a geek in high school, and was missing my math/science/computer program that I had left in Michigan when we moved to Texas. So I thought this would make me feel better. Well, soon after we found out/must have found on TV the NOVA program that they made about the book. I was mesmerized by the theoretical possibilities of string theory, and the pictures that it created of our universe.

As the years have gone by, I have watched that NOVA program [and even bought it at one point] over and over again. Usually during the times when I have been sick on the couch. Brian Greene actually came to BYU one year to do a forum. My room mate didn't tell me until after that he was in the Bookstore signing books. I will forever kick myself for not getting my book signed. But I never read the book, which I had carried around for years, from one apartment to the next -- always meaning to read it one day.

Well, that day has come. I picked it up, and decided that 6 years was enough time for me to finally read this darn book. So I did. I was surprised on two accounts. First of all, I was surprised how dense the book was. Brian Greene is an amazingly intelligent man, and yet tries to write about theoretical physics in such a way that an "ordinary" person could read it. [And by ordinary, I mean a person who has a serious science background, and can understand quantum mechanics] He doesn't dumb it down too much, but uses enough analogies and metaphors to help paint the picture. It still was pretty intense, even without a majority of the math. The second way the book surprised me was how much I actually understood it. I got maybe 75-85% of the stuff, even after not taking a real science class since high school. [I will never count Physical Science 100 as a real science class. Never.]

I really enjoy Brian Greene, who has tried hard to explain a field that many would deem "too smart for the average person". He has two books, one that just came out that continue to explore string theory and the implications of this theory on the universe. Hopefully it won't take 6 years for me to read them, now that I've got one under my belt.

Final Score: 5 out of 5 stars

The Audacity to Win - David Plouffe

I was not kind to myself, was I? All these books for the month of January speak to an innately geeky side of me. I don't remember how I heard about this book -- probably the same election class. But I got geeked that Obama's campaign manager was writing a book about how they won the election. It was a momentous election season, so I was really excited about this book. Then I heard what he wanted to call it - The Audacity to Win. A BRILLIANT title! I laughed openly when I read the title. A real hit to those who thought this election was a joke.

I really enjoyed this book. It was interesting to read the i
inside thoughts of a winning election, let alone one that had to defy so many obstacles. It wasn't like the Race to 270 book where they looked at it from a strategic nature. But it did explain a few of the ways in which Obama's staff ran a different campaign.

It doesn't air a lot of dirty laundry, which is nice. But I also get the feeling that it is similar to a history book - the winner gets to write it. Maybe it is a sense of cynicism, or what I hope is a sense of realism, is that it wasn't all fine and dandy as it was written in the book. The decisions I doubt were as clean as they were, or that the team was as confident/sure of themselves/or at times as humble. I take this book with a grain of salt, but it still is an excellent book.

Final Score: 5 out of 5 stars

The Race to 270 - Daron Shaw

In that Fall Semester that I took Campaign and Elections, I found my love of electoral strategy. The American electoral process is a unique thing. Our national leader is not elected by a popular vote of the people - the Founding Father took it one step away from them by implementing the Electoral College. So in reality, you don't simply focus on getting 51% of the vote in the country. Instead, you focus on 50 separate contests where you want to get 51% of the vote. And each of those different contests look just ever so different from the next.

This book is the final piece to my completely balanced election reading. This one was written by one of Bush's advisers for his 2000 & 2004 elections. But this book was an academic view point. It felt like being in school again, reading articles and chapters. I actually *was supposed to* read a chapter of this book for my class, and used it again on a paper the next semester. It is interesting to read because for the first time, a campaign strategist actually laid out the campaign's electoral strategy. Not just the basic, 'we're going after the Latino vote'. But it actually laid out their state thinking, what states were Red, slightly Red, Battleground, slightly Blue, and Blue.

Strategy is what interests me, so actually getting an insider's view of what it actually looked like was really interesting. It was an academic book, so it was dense and full of jargon/statistics. I had to pull out my PLSC 321 knowledge, which I had forever banished to the completely useless part of my brain.

Final Score: 4 out of 5 stars

Game Change - John Heilemann & Mark Halperin

I am a Political Science major. I love politics, I really do. There is something about it. Now, that does not mean I will become a politician, or really do anything with politics in my future -- but I still love reading about it. And in particular, presidential elections.

During the 2008 primary season, I commandeered the television in my apartment every night to watch the news. My room mates were understanding enough not to invite people over for the first hour that I was home because I was usually talking to myself during the broadcast - whether or not I agreed with the commentary, etc. Then during the actual election, I took a Campaign and Election class. I planned my schedule accordingly to take it that Fall. If I did do anything with politics, it would be elections.

So when this book, Game Change came out I know I would sooner or later have to read it. I chose the 'latter' option, because I heard this was more of a 'tell all' kind of coverage of the election. And personally I am not a fan of reading about other people's dirty laundry. I like the strategy, not the muck. But after finding a really good deal on a copy, I picked it up and decided to finally read it.

2/3 of the book was about the Clinton/Obama slug fest. The remainder of the book was about Palin. It was interesting to read about the election from a 'non-biased' view point. One of the other books that I own on the subject is written by Obama's camp, so it was nice to round out the discussion.

It was exactly how I thought it would be. The airing of other people's laundry. Very little strategy.

However it was interesting to get a different spin on the Obama camp, to get some of the picture of the fight which is just ever so slightly different from outside of the winner's circle.

Final Score: 3 out of 5 stars

The Elements - Theodore Gray

The first book of the month. And already I have to admit my total geekiness.

There once was an iPad commercial.

I used to love this commercial. Okay ... I still love it.

But the part of the commercial I would like to draw your attention to is the "scientific" portion. The part where for a second you are looking at the Element app. I WANT that app ... badly.

But once again, I digress.

That app is based on a book that just came out. For those geniuses out there, you probably figured out the title of the book ... The Elements. I found in, after Christmas for an insanely good price, so I used my Christmas gift cards from my students to buy it.

And I love it.

It is a good book. Simply put this author has collected over the years a collection of an example [or more accurately, examples] of almost every known element.

I am a geek - so the science of matter, the chemistry, and such of the elements totally excites me. [I was in an accelerated math/science/computer program during my Freshman and Sophomore years. If I had continued in the program (i.e. not moved), I would most likely have gone on to study Chemistry in college] However, the pictures and quality of the book are breath taking enough to excite anyone. The book is printed on black, glossy paper, so every picture is crisp and free floating. It is a beautiful book. A good coffee table book if you have geeks in the house.

It's a quick read, only 150 pages or so. But lots of information, and lots of pictures.

Final Score: 4 out of 5 stars

Explanation

When I finished school last April, I was excited. The old school adage comes to mind ...

No more pencils
No more books
No more teacher's dirty looks

No more 30 page papers, no more agonizing exams, no more late night writing sessions, no more early morning cramming study sessions.


I was done.


Then I went to work. And I have come to realize something.

I don't like work.

I like school.

I always have, even when I was bored ... I liked school. Now I don't like the drama or the politics of school. But I like the discussion, the learning, the expounding my limited knowledge to something a little less limited.

Any way. So after "going back to school" [i.e. teaching preschool] I realized I had to do something or my mind was going to turn to mush. I realized that if I ever wanted to go back to school, and not lose a beat in trying to reacquaint myself with reading intense material or even thinking on a higher playing field, I would have to do something to keep my mind sharp.

Therefore when January rolled around, and it was time to make new resolutions, I added this little beauty to my list.

Read 5 books a month.

60 books in 2011.

I like a variety of books, and have always been a lover of books. There may have been times that I even used to sleep with books/say good night to particular books. I get it from my mother, who in our last move demanded a library - and it is bursting at the seams with all the books she has collected over the years. I love that library. It makes me feel happy. It doesn't just have novels -- it is full with a variety of subjects: academics, gospel related topics, the Classics, children books, everything!

But I digress.

I have made it my goal this year to read 5 books. And it will be a variety - books I love, books I have wanted to read, books I should read, and everything in between. They will also cover a variety of subjects and genres, just because I am that weird.

Why am I explaining my thinking on this blog? An excellent question.

I'm going to document every book I read on this blog. My thoughts, my review. The basics. They won't be literary analyzes of the texts, but they will be my honest thoughts about them.

So ... let's begin.