So my aunt gave me the splendid idea to dedicate certain days of the week to specific things in order to help me post more consistently. Here's what I've decided to do.
Every Monday I'll make a list of how much I plan to read and write during the week. Every second and fourth Wednesday of each month, I'll discuss Ulysses which should start in January when my book club begins again. Every Non-Ulysses Wednesday I'll talk about interesting books. Every Friday I'll discuss what I've been reading lately. Finally every Saturday I'll discuss what I've written so far for the week.
Well, that's the plan for this coming year. Since I'm a little behind this week I just lay out my plans for the rest of the week and leave the book discussions for next Wednesday.
1. Finish Part 2 of Anna Karenia
2. Read a chapter of The Hobbit
3. Sew 5 squares
Those seem to be possible accomplishments for the rest of the week.
Until next time, happy readings!
P.S. Post 1 for the year accomplished! :)
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
New Year's Resolutions
So it's about that time of year to make resolutions for the next year. I've never actually done it before. At least not seriously. So this year I decided why not? Maybe it'll challenge me to actually to make posts on my blog. lol. I know some of you are probably snorting and rolling your eyes. (I know I did.) Well, now that I've made my attempt known to more than just myself I have to actually do it. Little bit of a pride thing I guess. In this case though it's not necessarily a bad thing because it means that I'll actually accomplish somethings this year!
All right so here is the list!
1. Post 26 times
2. Write a Novel
3. Finish half-read books
----Jane Eyre
----House of Leaves
----Life of Pi
----The Historian
----Ulysses
----Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
----others
4. Read 12 books
5. Finish second quilt
6. Reread The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings (outside 12 novels)
Not a lot of stuff I know but I got to make them achievable right? well, mostly achievable #2 might be a bit of a problem. Guess we'll just have to wait until next year to see how much I've accomplished!
Until next time, happy readings!
All right so here is the list!
1. Post 26 times
2. Write a Novel
3. Finish half-read books
----Jane Eyre
----House of Leaves
----Life of Pi
----The Historian
----Ulysses
----Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
----others
4. Read 12 books
5. Finish second quilt
6. Reread The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings (outside 12 novels)
Not a lot of stuff I know but I got to make them achievable right? well, mostly achievable #2 might be a bit of a problem. Guess we'll just have to wait until next year to see how much I've accomplished!
Until next time, happy readings!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Live and Learn
Dearest blog readers,
I’m so sorry it’s taken me so long to write again. You’d think with summer that I’d have all this wonderful free time. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case.
Anyway, I know I am new to blogging but I’ve already learned something this summer about it: never ever start a blog if you are about to start at a REU program and plunge into the depths of a book club. It just doesn’t bode well for consistent updates. I shall try to do better though, but if you don’t hear from me before another month is out now you know why. Once this REU program is finished though, I definitely hope to be more consistent and I shall strive harder to be so.
Okay. So I’ve read two books since the last post. The first I mentioned in my last post. Or at least I said I’d talk about it in my next post, this post. So here I am talking about it. The book was A Confederacy of Dunces. It’s by…(searches crowded bookshelf…Ah ha!) John Kennedy Toole. Ever heard of it? Well if you haven’t, you’re probably wondering what inspired me to pick it up in the first place. I’m taking an English class in the fall that is based on New Orleans literature. I’m excited because it’s taught by one of my favorite English professors in the department and should be a great deal of fun. The class takes a trip to New Orleans which should be very exciting. I’ve always wanted to visit the city at least once in my life. I’m seriously only going for the food. Have you seen them talking about New Orleans’ food on Food Network? YUMMY!
Okay, anyway, I digress. A Confederacy of Dunces was an interesting book to say the least. I think I have some male friends that liked it more than I did. I’m also read it for the book club I’m in and yes I did have a say in what books we read (all the ones on my book list for the class). I honestly don’t know how to describe it. Apparently it’s supposed to be the bible of the New Orleans people. Or so I’ve been told. The book is definitely filled with some characters. The book deals with a group of characters from New Orleans that are all connected in some fashion. It was always really interesting to see other characters appear in one character’s story. I’m not sure if that makes sense. Let me explain further. The story would talk about one character for some time and that character’s story then it would move onto another character’s story and would eventually makes its way back to all the other characters. It was very well crafted.
The main character was a pompous, lazy, irrational man named Ignatius. I think the name kind of says it all. I mean really, Ignatius? Sounds like obnoxious. Poor guy really didn’t stand a chance. Needless to say, he definitely was not my favorite character. Ignatius is a 30 year old man that lives at home with his mother, writes his version of history, and is constantly at odds with well, I’m not sure how to describe Myrna. She is a character of her own. Anyway, she’s an activist for numerous ideas. There’s practically a new one every time her character’s name is mentioned. So Ignatius also spends his time trying to trump Myrna’s lastest activist movements which constantly get him into trouble. He’s also very creative when it comes to getting out of doing any kind of work you can imagine and not to mention getting out of trouble. I honestly don’t see how he gets out of half the stuff he does. That could be why I don’t like him very much. You definitely wouldn’t be voting him “most likely to own up to his mistakes.” According to the back of the book, Ignatius is suppose to be a Don Quixote of sorts. At least one critic believes him to be so. I guess this could be true. I don’t know. I love Don Quixote but I just can’t like Ignatius. I would consider them both crazy and on a crusade for their ideals. They both do some pretty outrageous things but I still like Don Quixote more than I like Ignatius. I’m going to have to ponder the reason behind this some more.
All right, well I don’t want to give the plot away or anything. It was actually pretty good. I mean, you will definitely be laughing and Ignatius will probably make you angry at some point but the other characters are rather likeable. I personally like Patrolman Manusco. Poor guy, nothing ever seemed to work out for him. It was really just interesting to see what would happen to him next. Then of course you have Jones. He was pretty funny. Most of the people in the book club liked Jones the best. I will warn those of you out there that might consider reading the book that there is some use of vulgar language, especially by Jones’ character. Then you have the Levys, a husband and wife who make you wonder why they married at all. There’s the school dropout, George. Lana, the bar owner and her employee, Darlene. Ignatius’s mother and her friend Santa who happens to be Patrolman Manusco’s aunt. The web that connects these characters is truly fantastic. As I said before, you’re definitely in for a laugh when their respective paths cross.
Overall, would I suggest reading it? Well, on a scale from one to ten I definitely would not give it a 10 but I do know some people that might. I would have to say, either a seven or an eight. Just for the humor and how well crafted it was.
I think I’ll end the blog post here for now. I have some more books to talk about but I’m hoping that will give me the incentive to update sooner. Right… lol.
One last thing, you should be proud of me, reader. I entered a book store twice in the past month and somehow refrained from buying anything! Okay, okay. I admit that the first time I was broke thus no books could really go home with me, but they did call to me. Poor books. The second time I was only inside the bookstore for 5 minutes tops before I was dragged away (kicking and screaming) to talk about the book I’m going to discuss next post. Even though I have these excuses for not buying anything, you have to start somewhere right? So why not broke and hardly given time to browse? I have to work my way up slowly to the “I have money but I’m just not going to buy” stage. It should be a long road, but I hope to persevere in my recovery from OBBD (Obsessive Book Buying Disorder).
Until next time (hopefully before July 15), happy readings!
I’m so sorry it’s taken me so long to write again. You’d think with summer that I’d have all this wonderful free time. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case.
Anyway, I know I am new to blogging but I’ve already learned something this summer about it: never ever start a blog if you are about to start at a REU program and plunge into the depths of a book club. It just doesn’t bode well for consistent updates. I shall try to do better though, but if you don’t hear from me before another month is out now you know why. Once this REU program is finished though, I definitely hope to be more consistent and I shall strive harder to be so.
Okay. So I’ve read two books since the last post. The first I mentioned in my last post. Or at least I said I’d talk about it in my next post, this post. So here I am talking about it. The book was A Confederacy of Dunces. It’s by…(searches crowded bookshelf…Ah ha!) John Kennedy Toole. Ever heard of it? Well if you haven’t, you’re probably wondering what inspired me to pick it up in the first place. I’m taking an English class in the fall that is based on New Orleans literature. I’m excited because it’s taught by one of my favorite English professors in the department and should be a great deal of fun. The class takes a trip to New Orleans which should be very exciting. I’ve always wanted to visit the city at least once in my life. I’m seriously only going for the food. Have you seen them talking about New Orleans’ food on Food Network? YUMMY!
Okay, anyway, I digress. A Confederacy of Dunces was an interesting book to say the least. I think I have some male friends that liked it more than I did. I’m also read it for the book club I’m in and yes I did have a say in what books we read (all the ones on my book list for the class). I honestly don’t know how to describe it. Apparently it’s supposed to be the bible of the New Orleans people. Or so I’ve been told. The book is definitely filled with some characters. The book deals with a group of characters from New Orleans that are all connected in some fashion. It was always really interesting to see other characters appear in one character’s story. I’m not sure if that makes sense. Let me explain further. The story would talk about one character for some time and that character’s story then it would move onto another character’s story and would eventually makes its way back to all the other characters. It was very well crafted.
The main character was a pompous, lazy, irrational man named Ignatius. I think the name kind of says it all. I mean really, Ignatius? Sounds like obnoxious. Poor guy really didn’t stand a chance. Needless to say, he definitely was not my favorite character. Ignatius is a 30 year old man that lives at home with his mother, writes his version of history, and is constantly at odds with well, I’m not sure how to describe Myrna. She is a character of her own. Anyway, she’s an activist for numerous ideas. There’s practically a new one every time her character’s name is mentioned. So Ignatius also spends his time trying to trump Myrna’s lastest activist movements which constantly get him into trouble. He’s also very creative when it comes to getting out of doing any kind of work you can imagine and not to mention getting out of trouble. I honestly don’t see how he gets out of half the stuff he does. That could be why I don’t like him very much. You definitely wouldn’t be voting him “most likely to own up to his mistakes.” According to the back of the book, Ignatius is suppose to be a Don Quixote of sorts. At least one critic believes him to be so. I guess this could be true. I don’t know. I love Don Quixote but I just can’t like Ignatius. I would consider them both crazy and on a crusade for their ideals. They both do some pretty outrageous things but I still like Don Quixote more than I like Ignatius. I’m going to have to ponder the reason behind this some more.
All right, well I don’t want to give the plot away or anything. It was actually pretty good. I mean, you will definitely be laughing and Ignatius will probably make you angry at some point but the other characters are rather likeable. I personally like Patrolman Manusco. Poor guy, nothing ever seemed to work out for him. It was really just interesting to see what would happen to him next. Then of course you have Jones. He was pretty funny. Most of the people in the book club liked Jones the best. I will warn those of you out there that might consider reading the book that there is some use of vulgar language, especially by Jones’ character. Then you have the Levys, a husband and wife who make you wonder why they married at all. There’s the school dropout, George. Lana, the bar owner and her employee, Darlene. Ignatius’s mother and her friend Santa who happens to be Patrolman Manusco’s aunt. The web that connects these characters is truly fantastic. As I said before, you’re definitely in for a laugh when their respective paths cross.
Overall, would I suggest reading it? Well, on a scale from one to ten I definitely would not give it a 10 but I do know some people that might. I would have to say, either a seven or an eight. Just for the humor and how well crafted it was.
I think I’ll end the blog post here for now. I have some more books to talk about but I’m hoping that will give me the incentive to update sooner. Right… lol.
One last thing, you should be proud of me, reader. I entered a book store twice in the past month and somehow refrained from buying anything! Okay, okay. I admit that the first time I was broke thus no books could really go home with me, but they did call to me. Poor books. The second time I was only inside the bookstore for 5 minutes tops before I was dragged away (kicking and screaming) to talk about the book I’m going to discuss next post. Even though I have these excuses for not buying anything, you have to start somewhere right? So why not broke and hardly given time to browse? I have to work my way up slowly to the “I have money but I’m just not going to buy” stage. It should be a long road, but I hope to persevere in my recovery from OBBD (Obsessive Book Buying Disorder).
Until next time (hopefully before July 15), happy readings!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
It's All Greek to Me!
Currently, I’m reading two books. It’s not as hard as it might seem. You just pick up whichever book strikes your fancy at that moment. Of course, I usually end up picking one and finishing it before I pick up the other again, but that doesn’t happen all the time. Sometimes I don’t return to the other book for another year or more. It’s really rather sad. I don’t know why I leave books half read. I know it’s weird but I usually always get back to my half-read books at some point. Right now I think I’ve started maybe five books that I haven’t completed yet, not including the two I’m currently reading. It really doesn’t bother me to go back to them after a year or so either. Hmm… this sounds like a problem. Does anyone else do this? Or is it just me? I’m sure there has to be someone else out there who does it too.
Anyway, it does help that these two books are rather different. The first one I started reading was Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, but unfortunately I think this one may be put to the side until I finish the other book. Don’t get me wrong it’s a pretty good book. Definitely geared for those who missed the Harry Potter phase. I’m talking middle school kids. But I’m really enjoying it. As you can probably tell from the title it has a lot to do with Greek mythology. I absolutely love Greek mythology. Any kind of mythology really. Recently I found two books on Irish and Norse mythology. I’m pretty excited about that but I digress. I’ve been in love with Greek mythology since 5th grade. I remember the book that truly got me into it. Well, at least what the cover looked like. Anyway, I’ve pretty much been drawn to anything Greek ever since. So of course I’d pick up the Percy Jackson books at some point. In this case, it took my little sister annoying me to death. Honestly the kid has no concept of “no time.” Anyway, I saw the movie before any of us had read the books. Not something I usually do, but I don’t usually argue against a free trip to the movies. So far the book is way better than the movie but then again when is the book worse? If anyone knows of any, please share!
So let me give a basic plot summary: it’s about a 12 years old boy who finds out that he’s the son of a god and a mortal and is also being accused of stealing a very important magical artifact. Is it just me or does everything happen when a kid is 12 years old? Why do authors do this? I mean, most kids are going through puberty at that age and you want to stick them in life-and-death situations? Really, I mean, they already overly emotional. Let’s give them even more reason to be overemotional! But then again, I guess this is so that the middle school readers can say “While I do have to deal with acne and body odor, at least I don’t have scary monsters plotting to kill me.” At least these things don’t have to be fought off with weapons and the like. It’s just deodorant and acne medicine. I use to work with middle school kids and I honestly don’t know if I like the idea of middle schoolers running around with swords and other weapons no matter if they are just fictional. And these kids are suppose to be saving the world! Where do authors get these ideas? I’m curious as to whether they remember middle school at all?
All right, so now back to what I like about Percy Jackson. I love guessing how all the details in the books relate back to Greek mythology. It was great when my sister read the book. She doesn’t know much about Greek mythology but the basics so she’d usually ask me if I know who or what certain things were in the book. It was funny because I could usually tell by just a few details. What’s great now is that I get to pick up on the vague details that she wouldn’t have known when back to Greek mythology. I think Riordan did a wonderful job incorporating the Greek myths that I love into this modern story. And I really can’t wait to finish it. But that will have to wait until after I finish my other book which I’ll talk about in my next post because I didn’t realize how long this post was going to be! Lol.
Anyway, as of yet, I would suggest Percy Jackson to anyone who grew up reading Greek mythology. But I’ll give a better review once I’ve finished. I’m only halfway right now. Besides it’s really fairly short and a very easy read. So give it a try if you’re in between books right now.
Okay, so that’s it for this post and please don't hold any typos against me! I’ll talk about the second book I’m reading currently in the next post and maybe discuss my bad behavior: another book as been added to the mountain… :) Until then happy readings!
Anyway, it does help that these two books are rather different. The first one I started reading was Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, but unfortunately I think this one may be put to the side until I finish the other book. Don’t get me wrong it’s a pretty good book. Definitely geared for those who missed the Harry Potter phase. I’m talking middle school kids. But I’m really enjoying it. As you can probably tell from the title it has a lot to do with Greek mythology. I absolutely love Greek mythology. Any kind of mythology really. Recently I found two books on Irish and Norse mythology. I’m pretty excited about that but I digress. I’ve been in love with Greek mythology since 5th grade. I remember the book that truly got me into it. Well, at least what the cover looked like. Anyway, I’ve pretty much been drawn to anything Greek ever since. So of course I’d pick up the Percy Jackson books at some point. In this case, it took my little sister annoying me to death. Honestly the kid has no concept of “no time.” Anyway, I saw the movie before any of us had read the books. Not something I usually do, but I don’t usually argue against a free trip to the movies. So far the book is way better than the movie but then again when is the book worse? If anyone knows of any, please share!
So let me give a basic plot summary: it’s about a 12 years old boy who finds out that he’s the son of a god and a mortal and is also being accused of stealing a very important magical artifact. Is it just me or does everything happen when a kid is 12 years old? Why do authors do this? I mean, most kids are going through puberty at that age and you want to stick them in life-and-death situations? Really, I mean, they already overly emotional. Let’s give them even more reason to be overemotional! But then again, I guess this is so that the middle school readers can say “While I do have to deal with acne and body odor, at least I don’t have scary monsters plotting to kill me.” At least these things don’t have to be fought off with weapons and the like. It’s just deodorant and acne medicine. I use to work with middle school kids and I honestly don’t know if I like the idea of middle schoolers running around with swords and other weapons no matter if they are just fictional. And these kids are suppose to be saving the world! Where do authors get these ideas? I’m curious as to whether they remember middle school at all?
All right, so now back to what I like about Percy Jackson. I love guessing how all the details in the books relate back to Greek mythology. It was great when my sister read the book. She doesn’t know much about Greek mythology but the basics so she’d usually ask me if I know who or what certain things were in the book. It was funny because I could usually tell by just a few details. What’s great now is that I get to pick up on the vague details that she wouldn’t have known when back to Greek mythology. I think Riordan did a wonderful job incorporating the Greek myths that I love into this modern story. And I really can’t wait to finish it. But that will have to wait until after I finish my other book which I’ll talk about in my next post because I didn’t realize how long this post was going to be! Lol.
Anyway, as of yet, I would suggest Percy Jackson to anyone who grew up reading Greek mythology. But I’ll give a better review once I’ve finished. I’m only halfway right now. Besides it’s really fairly short and a very easy read. So give it a try if you’re in between books right now.
Okay, so that’s it for this post and please don't hold any typos against me! I’ll talk about the second book I’m reading currently in the next post and maybe discuss my bad behavior: another book as been added to the mountain… :) Until then happy readings!
Monday, May 10, 2010
The Name Says It All
I recently decided it would be fun to blog. I love writing so why not? I'm really hoping it will help with said love of writing. You know, keep the fingers and thoughts in motion.
Anyway, this blog will basically be me sharing my thoughts as I make my way through an ever-growing stack of books. This pile resembles a spring because I am incapable of controlling myself when I walk passed a bookstore. Scratch that. I usually have to be dragged away from a bookstore. To be completely honest, I believe that it would be physically impossible for me to leave a bookstore without buying at least one book. Hence we have the lovely mountain of books I affectionately call Mt. Ton-of-Books. To get some concept of just how bad my obsession with books is think of the film\book Inkheart. You know the character Elinor? The character played by Helen Mirren in the movie. Yes, well, her house is just a preview of my house 20 to 30 years from now. For those of you who have not read the book or seen the movie, think of a house in which every room’s wallpaper is actually bookshelves filled with books and I mean EVERY room. That is my dream house.
Okay so enough talk about my dream house. Beyond just discussing these books, I’ll probably make suggestions of good books that I’ve already read. This will be at least once a week. Maybe more. Who knows? I’m really just playing this by ear. Also, if anyone out there has any suggestions at all, I’m completely open. Well, open to tasteful suggestions. Nothing perverted please. But frankly I do love when people suggest new books because they usually suggest books that I would never have picked up to begin with and I usually find these books quite interesting. So bring on the suggestions folks!
All right, finally I’ll probably discuss the many joys of being a college student because we all know that there are oh so many: tests, quizzes, finals, lectures, running late, staying up late to study, etc. While this may not appear to be very amazing to some of you, I promise that I’ve had some very hysterical experiences thus far and knowing me those are only the tip of the iceberg for what is to come. I must inform whoever might be reading this that I lean toward being rather melodramatic, (Of course, you’ve probably noticed that by now.) and I “enjoy” doing things the hard way. So apparently when these two traits are combined it leads to very funny stories or so I’m told, but I’ll let you be the judge of that.
But for now that’s it for the first post. Hope you return for the second! Until then, happy readings!
Anyway, this blog will basically be me sharing my thoughts as I make my way through an ever-growing stack of books. This pile resembles a spring because I am incapable of controlling myself when I walk passed a bookstore. Scratch that. I usually have to be dragged away from a bookstore. To be completely honest, I believe that it would be physically impossible for me to leave a bookstore without buying at least one book. Hence we have the lovely mountain of books I affectionately call Mt. Ton-of-Books. To get some concept of just how bad my obsession with books is think of the film\book Inkheart. You know the character Elinor? The character played by Helen Mirren in the movie. Yes, well, her house is just a preview of my house 20 to 30 years from now. For those of you who have not read the book or seen the movie, think of a house in which every room’s wallpaper is actually bookshelves filled with books and I mean EVERY room. That is my dream house.
Okay so enough talk about my dream house. Beyond just discussing these books, I’ll probably make suggestions of good books that I’ve already read. This will be at least once a week. Maybe more. Who knows? I’m really just playing this by ear. Also, if anyone out there has any suggestions at all, I’m completely open. Well, open to tasteful suggestions. Nothing perverted please. But frankly I do love when people suggest new books because they usually suggest books that I would never have picked up to begin with and I usually find these books quite interesting. So bring on the suggestions folks!
All right, finally I’ll probably discuss the many joys of being a college student because we all know that there are oh so many: tests, quizzes, finals, lectures, running late, staying up late to study, etc. While this may not appear to be very amazing to some of you, I promise that I’ve had some very hysterical experiences thus far and knowing me those are only the tip of the iceberg for what is to come. I must inform whoever might be reading this that I lean toward being rather melodramatic, (Of course, you’ve probably noticed that by now.) and I “enjoy” doing things the hard way. So apparently when these two traits are combined it leads to very funny stories or so I’m told, but I’ll let you be the judge of that.
But for now that’s it for the first post. Hope you return for the second! Until then, happy readings!
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