A Review of 'Bud, Not Buddy' by Christopher Paul Curtis

"It's 1936 in Flint, Michigan.  Times may be hard, and ten-year-old Bud may be a motherless boy on the run, but Bud's got a few things going for him:

1. He has his own suitcase full of special things.
2. He's the author of Bud Caldwell's Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself.
3. His momma never told him who his father was, but she left a clue: flyers advertising Herman E. Calloway and his famous band, the Dusky Devastators of the Depression!!!!!!

Bud's got an idea that those flyers will lead him to his father.  Once he decides to hit the road and find this mystery man, nothing can stop him-- not hunger, not fear, not vampires, not even Herman E. Calloway himself."

I first read this book sometime between fourth and seventh grade.  We read it as a group and it was the most miserable time ever.  I couldn't get into it at all and I just didn't care.  Now I've read it as an adult.  While it's still not my favorite book in the world, I see the value in it and I realize that it's not such a bad book.  If I teach middle school and I decide to teach some historical fiction (more than likely) this would be a good candidate.  I haven't read too many books about kids that take place during the Great Depression.

I thought Bud was a great character.  He was vulnerable, he was amusing, and he did change by the end of the book.  He even had future prospects, after receiving his first saxophone!  I also loved how grateful and polite he was throughout the book.  He was dealt such a crummy hand in life that it would be really easy to be a total brat and complain all the time.  But he didn't.  Maybe it was just the time period and he realized that he needed to cope like everyone else who was struggling during this time.

I had a problem with the rest of the characters though.  No one stuck around long enough for me to really and truly care about them.  There was no mention of them at the end.  Bugs was a charming fellow and he's whisked off to Chicago when he jumps a train.  Deza was really cute, but the police rounded up her Hooverville family and we never hear from her again.  We never hear from Lefty and his family again (I liked him the most).  We don't even really get to know a lot about who his mother was or even a lot about Herman E. Calloway (although, he's an actual historical figure, so we can do research on him, unlike most of the other characters).  Had these characters been a stronger presence throughout the book, whether they were physically with Bud or not, I think the book would have been much richer.  But even though we only get glimpses of these characters, I feel like it helped lay a groundwork for who was living during this time and how they lived.  They painted a picture of what it was like.

This is definitely a book for younger readers, but if you're planning to use this book to expose your student/child to what the Great Depression was like, this is a book start and you won't be bored.

I give 'Bud, Not Buddy':

Thanks for Reading!

--Jude

An Unequal Marriage: A Pride and Prejudice Research Paper

I won't say too much about this, only that I'm proud of the work I put into this paper.  I just really wanted to share it.  Enjoy!

Thanks for Reading!

--Jude

A Review of 'My Life as a Book' by Janet Tashjian

"Summer's finally here, and Derek Fallon is looking forward to pelting the UPS truck with water balloons, climbing onto the garage roof, and conducting investigations.  But when his parents decide to send Derek to Learning Camp, his dreams of fun come to an end.  Ever since he's been labeled a 'reluctant reader,' his mom has pushed him to read real books-- something other than Calvin and Hobbes.  

As Derek forges unexpected friendships and uncovers a family secret involving himself (in diapers, no less!), he realizes that surprising discoveries and adventures are around the corner, complete with curve balls."

A teacher that I helped in January let me borrow this book.  She's a fifth grade teacher and a lot of her kids really liked it, so I thought I'd read it.

As a twenty-something reading a book intended for middle school students, perhaps this isn't a fair review.  But I'll try my best.

One thing that I look for in a book is really good character development.  Great characters tend to make me fall in love with the book itself.  I also look for an interesting plot.  This book had about 1/4 of those things.  I thought that the plot involving Susan James was interesting.  If this particular subplot wasn't present, I think that I'd lose interest entirely.  As an avid reader (one who has been this way since she could read on her own), I hate reading books about people who don't like reading.  For me, it's very frustrating to have Derek say that he'd rather go sit outside and stare up at the clouds than read a book somewhere, especially when I know that my personal choice would just be the opposite.

As far as characters go, they lack any kind of depth.  Or rather, there is pseudo-depth to the characters.  While Derek is a little different from the beginning to the end of the book, his change in character seems really sudden to me.  Suddenly, he figures out what really happens with Susan James in Martha's Vineyard and suddenly he's this changed man.  His parents act the same and are quite predictable, even to Derek.  His mom says no a lot and then gets angry really quickly and oftentimes over stupid things.  His dad talks about how important it is that Derek invest in his future now, at twelve years old.  All the time.  These characters didn't do anything for me, really.

While there are some redeeming features to this book, this is not one I will be picking up again.

I give 'My Life as a Book':

Thanks for Reading!

--Jude

A Review of 'Mockingjay' by Suzanne Collins

"Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed.  Gale has escaped.  Katniss's family is safe.  Peeta has been captured by the Capitol.  District 13 really does exist.  There are rebels.  There are new leaders.  A revolution is unfolding.

It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it.  District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol.  Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans-- except Katniss.  

The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem.  To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust.  She must become the rebels' Mockingjay-- no matter what the personal cost."

'Mockingjay' came as a total surprise to me.  Ever since this book hit the shelves, I have heard a couple good things and a billion complaints.  I have started this book at least three times since the book came out, but this time when I sat down to read it, I was hooked.  It took a couple of days (life happens, you know?), but I have finally emerged to take a breath.

I was telling my partner, as we were texting before bed one night, how with this book I need to come up for air every 2-3 chapters or so.  When I take a moment to come back to my messy room in my college apartment on the edge of St. Paul, MN, my head is still stuck in Panem.  It's hard to leave.  Even when I emerge and enter my own reality, I still feel stressed from a battle that just occurred or sad because of someone's death or maybe I feel a course of adrenaline because something needs to be evacuated.  This book is immersing.

What stopped me from liking, much less finishing, this book before was how militaristic it is.  I hate that the whole book is one giant, complicated battle.  I hate that everyone is called 'Soldier' once they reach a certain age.  I hate that District 13 seems to have forgotten how to live, just by being underground for so many years.  The setting is sad, stressful, and extinguishing.  I hated the cameras being around all the time on top of this.  I felt that they were acknowledged way too much.

But the way everything is executed is just so fascinating.  The organization, the planning...

What saved this book for me was hearing Katniss's thoughts.  Something about this book made me feel like I was reading a different Katniss.  That's how it should be.  After being in the Hunger Games twice, the second time nearly killing her, Katniss should change.  It's a natural reaction to such trauma, especially after losing so many that she cares about.  Even more fascinating and frightening is how you continue to see change in Katniss as things become more dire, more and more people die, more and more is risked.

Peeta's situation sort of hit home for me.  When he was rescued from the Capitol, he wasn't himself at all.  He had experienced such horrible trauma that he was a different person, even if he was still presenting in the same body.  It reminded me of my Uncle before he died.  He experienced a series of strokes and heart attacks.  While he managed to live through them for a while, he was not the same Uncle to me for the rest of his life.  I think Katniss told someone that she would have no problem parting with Peeta because he was already gone.  I understand that feeling completely.  It's really eerie to read about this now, because it's about a year after my Uncle's death (I wrote this post on 17 January, but I've scheduled it for today).  So that's an interesting personal connection.

The ending.

I don't know how I feel about the ending.  On the one hand, I was expecting this very long and elaborate battle.  While there is a lot of violence throughout this book, there really isn't a final battle to speak of.  Katniss kills the new and the old President (I never thought that she would kill Coin, even though everyone knows that Katniss is not fond of her).  She gets away with murder on that grounds that she is mentally unstable due to trauma.  I never thought, despite everything that has happened in this series, that Prim would die.  That is life smacking Katniss in the face right there.  I never thought Katniss's mother would leave her.  That's life backhanding Katniss in the face.  This is a really dire time for Katniss.  She should have the luxury of having her mother near her, even if she is perfectly capable of functioning without her mother, as she has proved time and time again throughout the series.

What I admire about the ending of this book is how Suzanne Collins shows her characters coping and moving on.  The nightmares will never go away and yes, oftentimes nights will be rough.  But a new family emerges.  Love happens.  Life goes on.

I can't help but feel so somber after finishing this book though.  This book is going to haunt me for a long time.

I give 'Mockingjay':

Thanks for Reading!

--Jude

A Review of 'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly' by Jean-Dominique Bauby

"In December 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby, the 43-year-old editor of French Elle, suffered a massive stroke that left him completely and permanently paralyzed, a victim of 'locked in syndrome.'  Once known for his gregariousness and wit, Bauby now finds himself imprisoned in an inert body, able to communicate only by blinking his left eye.  The miracle is that in doing so he was able to compose this stunningly eloquent memoir.

In a voice that is by turns wistful and mischievous, angry and sardonic, Bauby gives us a celebration of the liberating power of consciousness: what is is like to spend a day with his children, to imagine lying in bed beside his wife, to conjure up the flavor of delectable meals even as he is fed through a tube.  Most of all, this triumphant book lets us witness an indomitable spirit and share in the pure joy of its own survival."

I hope that I never have to experience what it would be like to be locked inside my own body.  At times, Bauby described the experience in such a freeing way.  You're an observer, you have your thoughts to keep you company-- memories of really good food you had that one time you traveled to New York or somewhere else around the world.  In a way, you get to travel and experience every day.  But then you return to the starkness of the situation.  You can't move your limbs, you can't speak any more, your communication skills are severely compromised and a new code needs to be made up so that you can still interact with others.  You need help with everything that keeps you alive.

While Bauby does seem to become distressed by the fact that he is not how he used to be, he doesn't let it bother him all the time.  Speech therapy is like being in the Olympics-- a great new accomplishment every time you go through it.  He finds enjoyment in some of the physical therapy and getting sponge baths.

Despite the terrible situation that Bauby finds himself in, it makes me really happy that even in dire conditions like the life he's living, he still manages to find reasons to stay alive and keep himself busy throughout the day.  It kind of puts our own lives in perspective.  If there's a day that we're not sure we can make it through for one reason or another, we can know that it's possible.  We have active imaginations, air in our lungs, and a brand new day ahead of us.  Isn't that enough sometimes?

This was a very eye-opening read.  I'm very happy that I picked it up.  Perhaps I'll have to check out the movie soon (somehow... I'm not sure where to find it right now).

I give 'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly':

Thanks for Reading!

--Jude

A Review of 'The Invention of Hugo Cabret' by Brian Selznick

"Orphan, clock keeper, and thief, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity.  But when his world suddenly interlocks-- like the gears of the clocks he keeps-- with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the train station, Hugo's undercover life and his most precious secret are put in jeopardy.  A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from Hugo's dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.

With 284 pages of original drawings, and combining elements of picture book, graphic novel, and film, Brian Selznick breaks open the novel form to create an entirely new reading experience.  Here is a stunning, cinematic tour de force from a boldly innovative storyteller, artist, and bookmaker."

I've been eyeing this book for quite some time, but the size sort of intimidated me for a while.  Since I'm currently a full-time student, I kept thinking, "When am I ever going to get the time to read this whole thing?"  Fear not, the size of this book is incredibly deceiving.  I sat down and read this book in about three hours-- all 530ish pages of it.

Hugo Cabret is not what I thought it was going to be.  About half of this book is made up of illustrations.  Not only are they absolutely beautiful, but they function differently than the illustrations in your average graphic novel.  Whereas graphic novels like V For Vendetta and Watchmen work hand-in-hand supporting each other to tell the story through the dialogue and limited narration, the illustrations in this book put the phrase "a picture is worth a thousand words" into action literally, moving the story forward without saying anything.  In between pictures, the book reads like the average novel with paragraphs complete with dialogue, narration, and filler phrases such as "...said Isabelle."  On top of that, the whole experience is like a silent film.  You have pictures but then the "film" cuts to frames with words of dialogue and description.  To top it off, the edges of all the pages are black and the end of the book ends with a fade-out.  This is so cool and completely different to me!  I prefer this experience to my other graphic novel experiences (so far).

I love the setting: Paris in the 1930s.  The pictures make me nostalgic for the city.  I kept thinking, did I enter Paris through Hugo's train station?  Did I pass through that Metro station?  If you've traveled to Paris, you'll want to go back, and if you haven't been there, you'll definitely want to go there by the end of this book, story aside.

I was also surprised that this is historical fiction.  Georges in this book was a real filmmaker, even if Hugo wasn't a real character.  He created automatons and one of them was found in the attic of a museum, damaged by a fire that had occurred.  I didn't see that one coming, that's for sure.

My understanding is that this is another book for younger readers-- I originally found a copy in the fifth grade classroom I volunteer in, so that's what makes me think this.  One more book for younger readers under my belt!  But this is also a book that older audiences will also enjoy.  I certainly enjoyed it.

I give The Invention of Hugo Cabret:

Thanks for Reading!

--Jude

A Review of 'Holes' by Louis Sachar

"Stanley Yelnats is under a curse.  A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather and has since followed generations of Yelnats.  Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys' detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the boys build character by spending all day, every day, digging holes exactly five feet wide and five feet deep.  There is no lake at Camp Green Lake.  But there are an awful lot of holes.

It doesn't take long for Stanley to realize there's more than character improvement going on at Camp Green Lake.  The boys are digging holes because the warden is looking for something.  But what could be buried under a dried-up lake?  Stanley tried to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment-- and redemption."

I had only ever seen the movie (about a billion times) before reading Holes that I was sick to death of this story.  I thought that I knew everything about it, but I stand corrected.  One again, the book proves to be better than the film adaptation.

Compared to Stanley in the movie (played by Shia LaBeouf), I liked book Stanley a lot better.  In the movie, Stanley was insecure, but in the book, Stanley was more insecure.  He was overweight, his family wasn't very financially well-off, and no one at school bothered to be friends with him.  He was clearly in a dark place, which, according to my memory of the movie, Stanley was just awkward with no friends.

Zero was my favorite character in the movie and I liked him better than the Zero in the book.  Maybe it's because we hear from Zero more often in the movie.  You know that he's not a dumb stump.  You can see that he's thinking whereas he's incredibly quiet in the book (no surprise) but he doesn't look like he has anything going on in his head.  This is according to Stanley's perspective, of course, but I'd still like Zero to have more credit than he gets.

I really liked that there are three story lines going on here-- one with Stanley at Camp Green Lake, one with Kate Barlow and Sam, and another with Stanley's distant relative and Madame Zeroni.  The only issue that I had with Kate and Sam's story was that I was really confused about when this was occurring.  One of the people Kate knew (and hated) had a boat with a motor on it, but it sounds like coaches were still used to get around as well as carts pulled by animals.  Maybe this was a western area turning to technology, or this town was not up to speed with the technology used in other towns, but there wasn't really an indication of any of these things... I wish that I had been given more information.

This year, while this isn't a goal of mine indicated on the challenges post I made at the beginning of this year, I want to read more books intended for middle school readers.  I'd consider this to be a middle school book.  It's possible that in my future, I will teach at the middle school level and I want to prepare myself for anything.  I'm excited for this!

If you're looking for a relatively quick and engaging read, Holes would be a good choice.

I give Holes:

Thanks for Reading!

--Jude

A Review of 'A Year in the Merde' by Stephen Clarke

"An urban antidote to A Year in Provence, Stephen Clarke's book is a laugh-out-loud account of a year in the life of an expat in Paris-- for Francophiles and Francophobes alike.

A Year in the Merde tells the story of Paul West, a twenty-seven-year-old Brit brought to Paris by a French company to open a chain of British 'tea rooms.'  Soon enough, he finds himself juggling a group of grumbling French employees, a treacherous Parisian boss, and a succession of lusty girlfriends (one of whom happens to be the boss's morally challenged daughter).  He soon becomes immersed in the contradictions of French culture: the French are not all cheese-eating surrender monkeys, though they do eat a lot of smelly cheese, and they are still in shock at having been stupid enough to sell Louisiana, thus losing the chance to make French the global language.  the book also reveals the secrets of how to get the best out of the grumpiest Parisian waiter, how to survive a French business meeting, and how not to buy a house in the French countryside.

This book is for everyone who can never quite decide whether they love-- or love to hate-- the French."

I had serious issues with the narrator of this book... the way he treated and talked about women was despicable and a little distracting from the rest of the book.

Hello everyone, and welcome to my rant.  Your regularly scheduled book review will continue after these angsty words.

Maybe it's my ignorance at play and this is how a lot of Englishman are, but it took this narrator the entire book to begin making proper connections with women.  Not just physical connections made by spending the night and having sex (not making love), but an actual "let's be friends" connection.  I would cringe and feel my blood boil a little more when he'd look at a woman on the street and think about what she would look like in lingerie or about how much of a "love machine" he was and how he'd blow her mind in the bedroom.  I know that Paris is the city of love, but does this fact really illicit the number of sex references and jokes that it does?  The narrator is pathetic...  He wonders why he has trouble getting women to stick with him.  He's not very nice to them.  It very much feels like all he wants is sex.  Not only that, but there are only a few things that seem to occupy his mind: sex, tea rooms (his job), and hating France.  It's exhausting when the entire book is taken up by these three things.  He constantly tries to woo the women around him, he's in Paris for business reasons, but doesn't seem to appreciate the fact that he is living in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.  He is constantly comparing England to France and it feels like he doesn't give the country a chance.

Even though I hate the narrator with a fire-y passion, there are still one or two things that I did like about this book.  I really loved mentally revisiting the places that I saw two years ago-- the Champs-Elysees, the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral, Shakespeare and Company... this book desperately makes me want to visit each of these places again.  Hopefully I will in under a year.

Another thing that I liked was how many French words and phrases were included this book.  I got to bask in my French-snobbiness and pronounce the words as I've learned how and even get a little giddy over the fact that I could still understand most of the French words used (a few were new).  This really added to the atmosphere of the book, making you feel like you were in Paris.  French is such a beautiful language...

I also appreciate the transition that the narrator had when he returned to England and realized that he didn't feel like he really belonged in England anymore, that he had taken on so many French characteristics that there was almost no going back for him.  That's when everything clicked and everything seemed to make sense in his life, even if he was in a low place.

Despite the narrator, I really enjoyed the book.  I give 'A Year in the Merde':

Thanks for Reading!

--Jude

A Review of 'The Help' by Kathryn Stockett

"Three ordinary women are about to take on extraordinary step...

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss.  She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger.  Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child.  Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way.  She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi.  She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job.  Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation.  But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk.  And why?  Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times.  And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women-- mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends-- view one another.  A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't."

I'm inspired to read more about the Southern U.S. during the Civil Rights movement.  This is an amazing book, but it has only whet my appetite.

No character is like the other.  They each have their own individual voices.  They are charming, they are strong, smart women.  They each have skills that another character doesn't have.  Aibileen is one of the help that is more nurturing to the white children of the house than anyone else.  Minny is an amazing cook-- no one tops her pies and cakes!  But she also has an awful mouth on her sometimes...  Of the society ladies, Hilly Holbrook is the powerhouse of the group, telling everyone what to do (including firing maids that she didn't hire and getting husbands to fire family members of their maids) and still managing to keep up a somewhat high-class and genteel facade.  That's what scares me.  She's a bomb waiting to go off.  Elizabeth never knows what to do-- she doesn't know how to connect with or take care of her children, she doesn't know

It was really great to read about sort of the other side of what was going on during this time.  There are mentions of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech, sit-ins, Kennedy's assassination, but these events aren't the center of the book.  Kathryn Stockett is more focused on the interactions between the Help and the society ladies they work for.  It was wonderful to hear positive stories.  Some of the ladies were generous enough to help the maids send their children to college, help them get a car, and some just made a connection with the children or the society ladies that some couldn't make.  But of course there are issues that this part of the time period dealt with.  Unfair pay, the fear of losing a job forever if they screw up and tick off the lady they work for enough, the fear of not being able to take care of the family for the reason mentioned before... there is this fear, and that's the scariest part of this time.  No one knows what the "other side" is capable of.  The maids have more power than they think they do but the society ladies have too much power and they know how to effectively use it, especially if you're Hilly Holbrook.

This book gives a really powerful insight into what life was like for those who lived during the Civil Rights movement, whether they were black or white.  I really appreciate that the book emphasizes that there is an imaginary difference between everyone.  There are lines that we draw for ourselves, but they only exist as long as we tell them they exist.

This is a book I would love to teach someday.

I give 'The Help':

Thanks for Reading!  Happy New Year!

--Jude

Reading, Blogging, and Life Goals for 2014!

Well folks, we have made it to 2014.  This means that there are more resolutions to be made and goals to be accomplished!  I thought I'd list my goals for my own life, this blog, and goals for reading.  Feel free to tell me your own down below!

Reading Goals

1. Read 50 books in a year.  For the past couple of years, I have come really close, but I haven't reached 50 yet.  I'm determined to find time to do a lot of reading this year (which will be a challenge, being an English major who is assigned books all the time).  As I read, I will list these books below so that I can easily keep track of my progress.

1. The Help by Kathryn Stockett

2. A Year in the Merde by Stephen Clarke

3. Holes by Louis Sachar

4. The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

5. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby

6. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

7. My Life As A Book by Janet Tashjian

8. Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
9. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
10. Frindle by Andrew Clements
11. Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
12. She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders by Jennifer Finney Boylan
13. The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls by Julie Schumacher
14. Small Acts of Amazing Courage by Gloria Whelan
15. Thumped by Megan McCafferty
16. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
17. Anne Frank: The Anne Frank House Authorized Graphic Biography by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon
18. Witches!  The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem by Rosalyn Schanzer
19. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
20. Love's Labour's Lost by William Shakespeare
21. Dear Diary, I'm Pregnant by Anrenee Englander
22. Witches! by Rosalyn Schanzer
23. The Paris Wedding by Kimberley Petyt
24. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
25. Radio Shangri-La by Lisa Napoli
26. The Lost Boy by Greg Ruth
27. The Wolves in the Walls by Neil Gaiman
28. The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
29. Macbeth by William Shakespeare
30. This Star Won't Go Out by Esther Earl
31. Wonder by R.J. Palacio

2. Read more Sci-Fi.  My partner is a physics/astrophysics major, so it really bums him out that I don't really appreciate science fiction more.  My goal is to read at least five books from the science fiction genre.  Again, these titles will be listed below to keep track of my progress.

3. Read more Graphic Novels.  I achieved this goal last year, but now I want to do better.  My goal is to read 10 graphic novels in 2014.

1. The Lost Boy by Greg Ruth

4. Listen to more audio books.  My goal is to listen to 15 audio books.

5. Read more of the books that I already own.  I aim to read 10 of these books this year.

1. A Year in the Merde by Stephen Clarke

2. Holes by Louis Sachar

3. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Blogging Goals

1. Post one review a week.

2. Post more about the things going on in my life (outside of reading).

3. Chronicle my study abroad experience (before, during, and after).  In August, I will be leaving for a four month stint in the Netherlands.  I created a different blog about this, but I think it'll be much simpler to use this blog to keep my friends and family updated and still keep talking about what I'm reading.

4. Review more movies.  My goal is to review at least 15 movies this year.  They will be listed and linked to below.

Life Goals

1. Do more Yoga.  This is one exercise that I truly enjoy.  But I'm really bad at finding a consistent time to do this.  So I'm going to put more of an effort into making this my routine exercise.  Maybe I'll talk about this on this blog.

2.  Learn basic Dutch.  Read children's books, practice in and out of a classroom setting, practice pronunciation whenever you can.  Throw in Dutch words into English conversation and confuse people, it'll be great.

3. Take more photos.  Document life as it's happening.

What are your goals for 2014?

Thanks for Reading and Happy New Year!

--Jude

A Review of 'The Second Coming' by Walker Percy

"Will Barrett, a lonely widower, suffers from a depression so strange and severe that he decides he doesn't want to continue living.  But then he meets Allison, a mental hospital escapee making a new life for herself, living along in a greenhouse.  What follows is by turns touching and zany, tragic and comic, as Will goes in search of proof of God and winds up finding much more."

This was one of my favorites that we read in Philosophic Themes in Literature class.  Once more, we are dealing with attitudes towards life, but if you've read The Plague and/or Nausea, this view of the world is somewhere in between.  We are randomly given life and we're pretty insignificant, but that doesn't mean that we can't matter or make others feel like they matter to us.  It's a nice happy-medium view of the world and that makes me feel very comfortable.

As my class and I read this, we all agreed that Ally's chapters were better than Will's.  Not that we could relate directly to her, but we were right there with her as she rediscovers the world around her after experiencing several rounds of electroshock therapy.  It was also really nice because she lived so simply, getting only the necessities (food, water, heat), and simply joys to pass the time when needed (books).  I loved reading about this, especially since Will was busy surrounding himself with things that he thought he needed and they didn't even turn out to be needs of his, much less wants.

For class, we also read articles about Walker Percy and I found the writing that appears in his novels to be much more accessible than those articles.  Reading books and learning lessons is a lot easier when reading about them in novel form rather than in article form.

I definitely want to try reading more Walker Percy novels.

I give 'The Second Coming':

Thanks for Reading!

--Jude

A Review of 'The Colossus and Other Poems' by Sylvia Plath

"With this startling, exhilarating book of poems, which was first published in 1960, Sylvia Plath burst into literature with spectacular force.  In such classics as 'The Beekeeper's Daughter,' 'The Disquieting Muses,' 'I Want, I Want,' and 'Full Fathom Five,' she writes about sows and skeletons, fathers and suicides, about the noisy imperatives of life and the chilly hunger for death.  Graceful in their craftsmanship, wonderfully original in their imagery, and presenting layer after layer of meaning, the forty poems in The Colossus are early artifacts of genius that still possess the power to move, delight, and shock."

I'm not the greatest when it comes to reading or even understanding poetry, but I know that I love Sylvia Plath (or what I've read of her work so far) and so I decided to give her poetry a try.

I found that it was best to read Sylvia's work in chunks as opposed to one sitting.  I felt like I could put in a decent effort to gain meaning for myself and also try and figure out what the words she used meant for her own life if I waited between a handful of poems.  I would definitely recommend this approach.

The image that best sticks with me is the heart beat, I Am, I Am, I am as well as the tips of waves looking like knives.  I don't know how she does it (well, how she did it) but the images she evokes are just so striking and you can't help but be taken in by what Sylvia is saying.

Someday I'll have to go through this book of poems again.  I'd like to get a physical copy of my own so that I can write in it.  This time, I was using my Nook (e-reader) and I was highlighting and typing in notes, but it's just not the same.  I'll try books with my e-reader, but ultimately, I'd like them in my hand, if they're good.

I give 'The Colossus':

Thanks for Reading!

--Jude

A Review of 'The Plague' by Albert Camus

"A gripping tale of human unrelieved horror, of survival and resilience, and of the ways in which humankind confronts death, The Plague is at once a masterfully crafted novel, eloquently understated and epic in scope, and a parable of ageless moral resonance, profoundly relevant to our times.  In Oran, a coastal town in North African, the plague begins as a series of portents, unheeded by the people.  It gradually becomes a omnipresent reality, obliterating all traces of the past and driving its victims to almost unearthly extremes of suffering, madness, and compassion."

This was one of the books that I had to read for my Philosophy of Literature class this semester.  Incidentally, I wrote a paper about one of the characters, Tarrou.  Just thought I'd mention that.  I'm just very happy with the paper that I cranked out (Note from after the fact: I got a B+ on that paper).

Two things that we talk about a lot in philosophy are Death and Suffering.  This book is chock full of each of these things.

Oran is a fairly average town filled with people going about their business and normal routines.  Suddenly hundreds of thousands of rats start dropping dead for seemingly no reason.  Then it spreads to the people of the town and they start dying in a similar fashion.  This is a novel all about facing hardship and figuring out what makes life worth living, despite the hardships that befall us.

Even though this is a book about suffering, I adore the relatively positive philosophy that comes out of this novel: we're all going to die, so find meaning in where you are and live your life while you can.  This is a message I find a lot more appealing for the New Year, as bleak of a reminder as this is.  But maybe that's just the kick in the pants that some of us need to get out there and actually DO the things that we resolve to do every New Year.

This book takes a while to get into, but once you're in, you're not going to want to let go.

I give 'The Plague':

Thanks for Reading!

--Jude