I am taking a Shakespeare and Classical Myth class and it is great. I really love it. [no sarcasm]
We've read A Midsummer Night's Dream (AMND) and today we wrapped up discussion of Romeo and Juliet.
AMND was typical. I've read it three times now and seen the movie the same. So I'm not really going to write a review for it. Sorry. If you're curious about AMND, watch the movie with Michelle Pfeiffer and Christian Bale. It's pretty good and the screenplay is Shakespeare's work.
So, without further ado...
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Started: February 12, 2014
Finished: February 15, 2015
Stars: 4/5
I was supposed to read this book freshman year of high school and I got to Act 3. In retrospect, I am proud of myself. I read this at a time when I did not like reading. I was lazy and thought reading was sooo not cool. And I also really hated the parts I did read. I thought Juliet was a ridiculous young girl who was an idiot for keeping everything a secret. I thought Romeo was equally as ridiculous. He was temperamental and a pervert for wooing Juliet in such cheesy ways.
Now that I have an addiction to reading, an astounding obsession with Shakespeare, a more mature mind, and less of an inclination to act cool around other people (because let's face it, reading is cool and those bitches are all missing out), I have a different perspective on Romeo and Juliet.
First of all, Romeo is still kind of ridiculous. He falls in and out of love so quickly. But his "melancholy" as we called in it class, almost like a depression is the cause of that. I won't get English-y on you and go into a character analysis for Romeo and turn this post into a analytical paper. So I'll just leave Romeo's character there.
But I will go in depth about Juliet. BECAUSE HOLY MOLY JULIET IS MY NEW FAVE EVER.
Yes she is 14. Yes she is under her father's authority. Yes her nurse takes the place of the mother-figure in the play.
Now that the background is clear, she is one strong character. She completely contrasts any of the other female characters/personas from this time period. And her character trope probably wasn't common until the mid to late-1900's. Anyway. Ignoring the fact that she was influenced by young love where things don't really make sense and the character is influenced by their feelings instead of logic, Juliet is defiant and independent.
First instance we see of this, is when her mom asks of her thoughts on marriage and Juliet responds "It is an honor I dream not of." WHAT??? She just said she doesn't want to get married to. her. mother. Her parental figure whom holds all control over Juliet unless Juliet's father is present. Her mother who plans her future marriages. Her mother who IS BASICALLY THE RULER OF THE FAMILY. Oh Juliet you defiant girl you.
Later, before her wedding night (her "special night" with Romeo) she starts her soliloquy and the whole thing is of how eager she is for the event. This is completely atypical of female characters from this period of time. It wasn't until the late 1900's, when female sexuality stopped being a taboo topic. If no one talked about it then it didn't exist. This is because it gave women some sort of power and equalized men and women (sorry for the slight feminism moment). But anyway, here's Juliet talking about sex and she has no fears, and she then takes the man's duty in their relationship by being the discusser of sex. In a Renaissance play, the female character is the one talking about sex, not Romeo the male character. Wow.
It gets better. Romeo is soooo distressed that he finds Juliet's "dead" body in the Capulet tomb and he is just smitten with the idea of death because he will meet Juliet in heaven and they can be reunited. *Swoon* [not] So he kills himself (without any inhibitions I may add) with a poison that he drinks. Dead. Then, Juliet wakes up from her not-death and she is heartbroken at seeing Romeo dead and then she has this long eloquent speech and then takes Romeo's dagger and stabs herself. SHE STABS HERSELF AND DOESN'T EVEN THINK TWICE. JULIET YOU STRONG CREATURE YOU. Wow. Like what. No hesitation no second thoughts, plunges a very sharp and deadly weapon into her chest.
I could go on and on and on and on and on about Juliet and even Shakespeare for his pre-feminism era ideas, but you're probably hoping I'll shut up and I'm still praying my professor will assign a character analysis essay prompt so I can in depth fully appreciate and analyze Juliet.
So now because I'm basically obsessed with Juliet, I'm referring to the classic play of Romeo and Juliet to Juliet and Romeo. Because she's basically the best thing to happy to me this year and she's a much better character than Romeo. Duh.
Okay sorry: for the rant, the nerdiness, the total irrelevance to you, and for the spoilers. I'm done.
Thank you William Shakespeare for Juliet Capulet.
SOP: Juliet by Joel Crouse
Hey Juliet by LMNT
Love Story by Taylor Swift
{sorry I couldn't decide which one to put because they are all relevant and all soooooo goood.}
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Friday, February 13, 2015
Let me get you caught up on my reading spree...
The Ruby Red Series by Kerstin Gier
Ruby Red: Started- January 26, 2015.
Finished- February 6, 2015
Stars- 3.5/5
Sapphire Blue: Started-February 7, 2015
Finished- February 8, 2015
Stars- 4/5
Emerald Green: Started- February 8, 2015
Finished- February 11, 2015
Stars- 4/5
The first book took me a while to get into the first book. But when I hit maybe page 100 I was sucked in to the plot and the characters and just the fantastical idea of it all. This series was originally written in German and translated into English Anthea Bell.
I really loved Gwyneth as the main character. I felt like her friendship with Leslie was realistic and it felt natural. Often, a lot of the fantasy or sci-fi friendships feel like they are based off of the mission that is the plot or the conversation just doesn't feel natural. This one definitely did. They talked about normal things like movies or books or other people and Leslie was completely supportive and understand of Gwyneth's situation and what Gwyneth was doing.
Gideon and Gwyneth's relationship and banter was interesting and amusing to read. It seemed realistic and they way the two of them handled some of the situations were immature, but I think that was the point and really helped highlight that they were supposed to be immature and not know all the facts.
Charlotte. Well, during the first half of the first book, I didn't feel a whole lot of feeling towards her. I thought that Gwen was just dramatizing how mean Charlotte was, but then I found myself rolling my eyes along with Gwen at Charlotte and things Charlotte did and said. She was extremely well written.
Ever single character was so dynamic and diverse and that is something that is so difficult to do and Gier really hit the nail on the head. This plot was so well developed as well. There was so much research and history that went into this book and it was really impressive and interesting to read.
The only real issue with this book was that it left a lot of loose ends hanging up in the air. I still have so many questions that I feel the characters didn't solve or the author didn't mention. I won't mention them because I don't want to spoil anything for any future readers.
This book could totally have a fourth book or maybe a novella just so I could know what happens in the end and so everything could come full circle. I don't know. I might just be hung up on the characters and plot from this series and may just need to find a new world to immerse myself in to distract myself from real life and the fact that this world is finished.
Seriously. If you're skeptical of reading this book. Go read it.
[This book satisfied my "trilogy" check on my 2015 Reading Challenge.]
Yes Please by Amy Poehler
Started: January 14, 2015
Finished: January 29, 2015
Stars: 3/5
This book was hard for me to get through. I couldn't sit down and binge read the whole thing. Which is, honestly, what I expected from a memoir. I'm not a big memoir person. It's hard for me to be immersed in a book of only essays.
With that in mind, Amy Poehler is still funny in her writing. She's sarcastic and cracks jokes and I was impressed by her writing skills. I liked what she had to say about careers and divorce and marriage and raising kids. I think the publicity looks over the tougher parts of life, even for an actress. I enjoyed reading about her childhood and what she experienced. I think it really has a lot to say about the person she is now.
Based on her writing, she seems like a very level-headed person.
There was one essay that really bothered me though. I won't say which essay it was because I don't really remember what the title was and I don't have my book with me at the moment. But I know that it really unsettled me. After I finished it, I put the book down and questioned whether I wanted to continue reading it or not. I was really close to calling it quits right there.
But then I thought about my reading challenge books and how I really needed to check memoir off sooner or later. And one of my best friends swears by this book so I'd feel guilty if I didn't read it. (And my mom read it in a shorter amount of time than I did and I was feeling competitive. So please don't share that because I am very proud person.)
Overall I laughed right along with her as she told her experiences. I really laughed when Seth Meyers wrote a small portion.
[This book satisfied my memoir book on my 2015 reading challenge]
SOP: Something I need by Ben Haenow
(caution: the video is really... cheesy and I'm sorry in advance)
Ruby Red: Started- January 26, 2015.
Finished- February 6, 2015
Stars- 3.5/5
Sapphire Blue: Started-February 7, 2015
Finished- February 8, 2015
Stars- 4/5
Emerald Green: Started- February 8, 2015
Finished- February 11, 2015
Stars- 4/5
The first book took me a while to get into the first book. But when I hit maybe page 100 I was sucked in to the plot and the characters and just the fantastical idea of it all. This series was originally written in German and translated into English Anthea Bell.
I really loved Gwyneth as the main character. I felt like her friendship with Leslie was realistic and it felt natural. Often, a lot of the fantasy or sci-fi friendships feel like they are based off of the mission that is the plot or the conversation just doesn't feel natural. This one definitely did. They talked about normal things like movies or books or other people and Leslie was completely supportive and understand of Gwyneth's situation and what Gwyneth was doing.
Gideon and Gwyneth's relationship and banter was interesting and amusing to read. It seemed realistic and they way the two of them handled some of the situations were immature, but I think that was the point and really helped highlight that they were supposed to be immature and not know all the facts.
Charlotte. Well, during the first half of the first book, I didn't feel a whole lot of feeling towards her. I thought that Gwen was just dramatizing how mean Charlotte was, but then I found myself rolling my eyes along with Gwen at Charlotte and things Charlotte did and said. She was extremely well written.
Ever single character was so dynamic and diverse and that is something that is so difficult to do and Gier really hit the nail on the head. This plot was so well developed as well. There was so much research and history that went into this book and it was really impressive and interesting to read.
The only real issue with this book was that it left a lot of loose ends hanging up in the air. I still have so many questions that I feel the characters didn't solve or the author didn't mention. I won't mention them because I don't want to spoil anything for any future readers.
This book could totally have a fourth book or maybe a novella just so I could know what happens in the end and so everything could come full circle. I don't know. I might just be hung up on the characters and plot from this series and may just need to find a new world to immerse myself in to distract myself from real life and the fact that this world is finished.
Seriously. If you're skeptical of reading this book. Go read it.
[This book satisfied my "trilogy" check on my 2015 Reading Challenge.]
Yes Please by Amy Poehler
Started: January 14, 2015
Finished: January 29, 2015
Stars: 3/5
This book was hard for me to get through. I couldn't sit down and binge read the whole thing. Which is, honestly, what I expected from a memoir. I'm not a big memoir person. It's hard for me to be immersed in a book of only essays.
With that in mind, Amy Poehler is still funny in her writing. She's sarcastic and cracks jokes and I was impressed by her writing skills. I liked what she had to say about careers and divorce and marriage and raising kids. I think the publicity looks over the tougher parts of life, even for an actress. I enjoyed reading about her childhood and what she experienced. I think it really has a lot to say about the person she is now.
Based on her writing, she seems like a very level-headed person.
There was one essay that really bothered me though. I won't say which essay it was because I don't really remember what the title was and I don't have my book with me at the moment. But I know that it really unsettled me. After I finished it, I put the book down and questioned whether I wanted to continue reading it or not. I was really close to calling it quits right there.
But then I thought about my reading challenge books and how I really needed to check memoir off sooner or later. And one of my best friends swears by this book so I'd feel guilty if I didn't read it. (And my mom read it in a shorter amount of time than I did and I was feeling competitive. So please don't share that because I am very proud person.)
Overall I laughed right along with her as she told her experiences. I really laughed when Seth Meyers wrote a small portion.
[This book satisfied my memoir book on my 2015 reading challenge]
SOP: Something I need by Ben Haenow
(caution: the video is really... cheesy and I'm sorry in advance)
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Book Reviews
I started writing book reviews on a page of my blog, but I don't know. It's all on one document and it's slightly annoying me to format it like that. And it just isn't very efficient and it's bugging the crap out of me.
So what I'm going to do, is I'm going to post the book reviews I've written so far in this post. I'll still keep the page so I can keep them all in the same place for reference and because I like consistency and being organized. (Wuhoo for organization and order!)
I'll post the book reviews individually on the main page and I'll just update the page.
Here we go:
The Edge of Never by J.A. Redmerksi
Started: February 1st at 12:20 AM
Finished: February 1st at 5:28 AM
Stars: 2.8/5
So I first saw this book on a friend's goodreads feed and I thought hey, that book sounds pretty good. So I clicked that little "want to read" button and it stayed on my "to-read" list for a while. Well, I've been in need of a major distraction. I've been having a hard time getting through Amy Poehler's book because it just doesn't suck my attention in like a good fiction novel does, you know? [You don't have to answer. That question was rhetorical.]
So I was wasting time and perusing through my to-read list and I say this book again and I thought, I'll read that as my distraction! Sold.
I started it last night and my roommate and I were listening to our record player (yes we are very cool) and she was researching the different benefits to organic deodorant and then we started discussing animal rights (cuz that's a thing of mine) and we were just discussing major life issues and I started this book because I have a terrible time actually going to sleep every night.
Through most of the book, I loved it. I loved the characters, the tragic backstories, the casual banter between the two, the plot was well planned and it really grabbed my attention
Then the characters finally realized their love for each other and I felt like I was reading different characters and point of views altogether. They had the same tragic backstories as Protagonists 1.0, but their conversations totally changed their voice and I get that sex changes stuff, whatever. But the male character just completely changed. He started out as a brutally honest guy who was rough around the edges and cracked jokes a lot and teased the female character even more. It was just irritating to read the thoughts of Protagonists 2.0 and how they weren't consistent with Protagonists 1.0.
(It also got really lovey-dovey and cheesy real quick and I really hate the word "baby." Babe is fine. Buy baby? Ugh... I won't go into that because it will turn out to be a totally irrelevant rant and I'm not in the mood to nurse the aftermath of such strong emotions today. I did go to sleep at 5:30 last night.)
The language of the book was contemporary and realistic. But for the age of the main characters, some of the things that were said were juvenile and really immature. I understand that some of it was naive on the female's part and that was the point in her circumstances in the book, but the rest of it seemed underdeveloped and way too young for a 20 and 25 year old character to be saying and thinking. (At least, I'm almost 20 and I was like are you kidding me at some of the lines she said.)
It was a good read though, don't get me wrong. For 4/5 of it, I loved and it was captivated. For maybe, 1/5 of, I was irritated and rolled my eyes a couple of times. I loved the plot though. I thought the book as a whole could've done without the HUGE plot twist near the end, but it was a good read.
This book satisfied the "read a book in a day" category on my 2015 challenge and that's kind of what motivated me to stay up so damn early finishing it.
[I also had a really hard time rating it. I don't know. The rating is speculative.]
The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski
Finished January 10
Stars: 4/5
When I first saw this book, just waiting on the bookshelves of Barnes and Noble, I had to pick it up and flip through it. The cover just... wow. It lured me in like a siren and I was dumbstruck. Then I felt the pages and how they just felt old and the pages were uneven and those kind of details really make an impression on you.
So naturally, I had to buy it. Even though I was at Barnes and Noble buying a gift for my friend.
I really couldn't put this book down. It's a fantasy novel and has a messed up society and a strong independent heroine, who despite the popular fad right now of having warrior heroines, wants nothing to do with the military. And it was all very refreshing. Then cue the brooding hero with his sarcasm and wow he was just great. And then put the two of them together and it really created a real life relationship that started as friends and even though this book was a fantasy book, I think it really portrayed realistic relationships and conversations well. Even the minor characters were well developed. And their relationship with the main character were just believable.
The plot really wasn't very predictable which is awesome. Thank you Marie Rutkoski. This book was full suspense, so many different emotions like anger, love, despair, vengeance, sacrifice, it was intelligent and I loved reading every second of it.
[one could even say how it's a comment on society today but I won't go there and bring my English major into my blog. I don't intend on writing a analytical paper on this book yet, but if I did, I would probably leap for joy and run around campus just waving the book at everyone.]
I finished this book in 3 days. I really wanted to read it while I was staying at my friend's house before school started, but I forced myself to socialize. I ended up finishing it before classes started on a Saturday at midnight and I couldn't sleep because all I was doing was just reliving the best parts of this book and imagining what the next one has in store! (The next day when I had meetings all day was brutal. I was exhausted but still exhilarated by the high this book gave me.)
The second book to this series comes out March 3, 2015 and you better bet your bottom dollar I will be visiting Barnes and Noble that day to get myself a copy of The Winner's Crime. It's written down in my planner, I have read the synopsis for this next book countless number of times, and I was really tempted to look at the fanfic for it, but I really want to read what is canon, despite how much I'd enjoy reading Arin and Kestrel living happily together.
If you haven't read this book yet, you should. CUZ WOWZA WAS IT GOOD.
This book satisfied my "pretty cover" book on my Reading Challenge of 2015.
January 14, 2014-
Avatar The Last Airbender: The Promise
Finished: January 8
Stars: 0/5
Personally, I do not like graphic novels. It's too easy for me to get distracted and not pay attention to what I'm reading.
I don't know if it was because this particular graphic novel was horrible because it was based off of a Nickelodeon show, but it was bad. The two main characters (who are young, like they can't be older than 16) uses "sweetie" to address one another and I almost gagged. Not even normal couples my age call each other that. It's slightly creepy and way too mature for these two characters. Hell, it's to mature for me to use.
I really don't like to talk about this book because I just get aggravated again.
Anyway, I only read this book because it satisfied the "graphic novel" check on my 2015 reading challenge.
Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh
Finished: January 10, 2015
Stars: 3.5/5
This book was hilarious. It was an easy read and I was laughing out loud in probably every chapter. Honestly, the cover looks kind of weird but it was one of the funniest books I've read.
You know the meme that says "eat all the food" or "clean all the things" ? Well that came from this book. Holy moly it was hilarious. Just look at this book's content. My favorite parts of the book were when she talked about her dogs. She thinks one of her dogs is mentally challenge so she calls him simple dog. And then she gets another dog in the hopes that it will help her simple dog, so then she calls him helper dog. It's hilarious. I was crying tears of laughter.
Here are just a couple pictures of the book.
This book was used as my "funny book" category on my challenge.
January 9, 2014— The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (1963)
Finished: January 2, 2015
Stars: 5/5
[possible spoilers ahead]
The way I read this book is a real attribution to what I like to do in my free time. I read this for fun, because it's been on my to-read list for ages and here I am just now getting around to it. I may have also read it with a pen and highlighter in hand... The margins of almost all of the pages are filled with black annotations. I underlined, highlighted, bracketed, starred different lines and paragraphs that I just thought wow.
The Bell Jar tells the story of Esther, a nineteen year old girl with her future ahead of her. Except, her future overwhelms her and she doesn't know what she wants. She slowly slips into rock bottom of her life as she faces depression and anxiety. This book describes her descent from the assurance her life once gave her, as she faces failure, indifference, and lack of being understood.
Plath writes Esther's story as a first person narration and uses flashbacks to develop characters and Esther's background. The characters in this novel are dynamic and interesting and all play a different part in Esther's downfall. Esther can almost be described as an anti-hero.
Esther begins the novel by sounding like the typical 19 year old in the 1960s. Yes, she is cynical and uses a plethora of dark humor, but you can't help but laugh along with her! I am almost concerned with myself by being able to identify with a lot of the things she said in the novel (the parts that qualified as her thoughts). She has difficulty relating to other people because she doesn't feel good enough about herself and expresses this need for being able to control aspects of her life.
This novel really shows you the inside to mental illness and its treatment in the 1960s. It was almost infuriating how underdeveloped and uncared for mental illness facilities were— how they most likely still are!
I loved Esther as a narrator. The "wow" factor of this book is off the charts! Plath's writing is phenomenal: her descriptive language, her use of imagery and symbolism were incredible to analyze. Several times while I was reading this book, I had to close it and just pause. Look off to space and think about what I had just read. The words Plath uses in this novel are so powerful. The images are almost too powerful where they leave a furrow in your eyebrow and a "what the hell" spinning through your mind.
Favorite Quote (there are so many but I'll pick just one): "I wanted to crawl in between those black lines of print, the way you crawl through a fence, and go to sleep under that beautiful big green fig-tree."
To sum up this book in one sentence: WOW *heart*
[this book is considered my "banned book" for my reading challenge of 2015]
SOP:
I Don't Wanna Know by Fleetwood Mac
[WOW MY FAVE SONG BY THEM LUCKY YOU]
So what I'm going to do, is I'm going to post the book reviews I've written so far in this post. I'll still keep the page so I can keep them all in the same place for reference and because I like consistency and being organized. (Wuhoo for organization and order!)
I'll post the book reviews individually on the main page and I'll just update the page.
Here we go:
The Edge of Never by J.A. Redmerksi
Started: February 1st at 12:20 AM
Finished: February 1st at 5:28 AM
Stars: 2.8/5
So I first saw this book on a friend's goodreads feed and I thought hey, that book sounds pretty good. So I clicked that little "want to read" button and it stayed on my "to-read" list for a while. Well, I've been in need of a major distraction. I've been having a hard time getting through Amy Poehler's book because it just doesn't suck my attention in like a good fiction novel does, you know? [You don't have to answer. That question was rhetorical.]
So I was wasting time and perusing through my to-read list and I say this book again and I thought, I'll read that as my distraction! Sold.
I started it last night and my roommate and I were listening to our record player (yes we are very cool) and she was researching the different benefits to organic deodorant and then we started discussing animal rights (cuz that's a thing of mine) and we were just discussing major life issues and I started this book because I have a terrible time actually going to sleep every night.
Through most of the book, I loved it. I loved the characters, the tragic backstories, the casual banter between the two, the plot was well planned and it really grabbed my attention
Then the characters finally realized their love for each other and I felt like I was reading different characters and point of views altogether. They had the same tragic backstories as Protagonists 1.0, but their conversations totally changed their voice and I get that sex changes stuff, whatever. But the male character just completely changed. He started out as a brutally honest guy who was rough around the edges and cracked jokes a lot and teased the female character even more. It was just irritating to read the thoughts of Protagonists 2.0 and how they weren't consistent with Protagonists 1.0.
(It also got really lovey-dovey and cheesy real quick and I really hate the word "baby." Babe is fine. Buy baby? Ugh... I won't go into that because it will turn out to be a totally irrelevant rant and I'm not in the mood to nurse the aftermath of such strong emotions today. I did go to sleep at 5:30 last night.)
The language of the book was contemporary and realistic. But for the age of the main characters, some of the things that were said were juvenile and really immature. I understand that some of it was naive on the female's part and that was the point in her circumstances in the book, but the rest of it seemed underdeveloped and way too young for a 20 and 25 year old character to be saying and thinking. (At least, I'm almost 20 and I was like are you kidding me at some of the lines she said.)
It was a good read though, don't get me wrong. For 4/5 of it, I loved and it was captivated. For maybe, 1/5 of, I was irritated and rolled my eyes a couple of times. I loved the plot though. I thought the book as a whole could've done without the HUGE plot twist near the end, but it was a good read.
This book satisfied the "read a book in a day" category on my 2015 challenge and that's kind of what motivated me to stay up so damn early finishing it.
[I also had a really hard time rating it. I don't know. The rating is speculative.]
The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski
Finished January 10
Stars: 4/5
When I first saw this book, just waiting on the bookshelves of Barnes and Noble, I had to pick it up and flip through it. The cover just... wow. It lured me in like a siren and I was dumbstruck. Then I felt the pages and how they just felt old and the pages were uneven and those kind of details really make an impression on you.
So naturally, I had to buy it. Even though I was at Barnes and Noble buying a gift for my friend.
I really couldn't put this book down. It's a fantasy novel and has a messed up society and a strong independent heroine, who despite the popular fad right now of having warrior heroines, wants nothing to do with the military. And it was all very refreshing. Then cue the brooding hero with his sarcasm and wow he was just great. And then put the two of them together and it really created a real life relationship that started as friends and even though this book was a fantasy book, I think it really portrayed realistic relationships and conversations well. Even the minor characters were well developed. And their relationship with the main character were just believable.
The plot really wasn't very predictable which is awesome. Thank you Marie Rutkoski. This book was full suspense, so many different emotions like anger, love, despair, vengeance, sacrifice, it was intelligent and I loved reading every second of it.
[one could even say how it's a comment on society today but I won't go there and bring my English major into my blog. I don't intend on writing a analytical paper on this book yet, but if I did, I would probably leap for joy and run around campus just waving the book at everyone.]
I finished this book in 3 days. I really wanted to read it while I was staying at my friend's house before school started, but I forced myself to socialize. I ended up finishing it before classes started on a Saturday at midnight and I couldn't sleep because all I was doing was just reliving the best parts of this book and imagining what the next one has in store! (The next day when I had meetings all day was brutal. I was exhausted but still exhilarated by the high this book gave me.)
The second book to this series comes out March 3, 2015 and you better bet your bottom dollar I will be visiting Barnes and Noble that day to get myself a copy of The Winner's Crime. It's written down in my planner, I have read the synopsis for this next book countless number of times, and I was really tempted to look at the fanfic for it, but I really want to read what is canon, despite how much I'd enjoy reading Arin and Kestrel living happily together.
If you haven't read this book yet, you should. CUZ WOWZA WAS IT GOOD.
This book satisfied my "pretty cover" book on my Reading Challenge of 2015.
January 14, 2014-
Avatar The Last Airbender: The Promise
Finished: January 8
Stars: 0/5
Personally, I do not like graphic novels. It's too easy for me to get distracted and not pay attention to what I'm reading.
I don't know if it was because this particular graphic novel was horrible because it was based off of a Nickelodeon show, but it was bad. The two main characters (who are young, like they can't be older than 16) uses "sweetie" to address one another and I almost gagged. Not even normal couples my age call each other that. It's slightly creepy and way too mature for these two characters. Hell, it's to mature for me to use.
I really don't like to talk about this book because I just get aggravated again.
Anyway, I only read this book because it satisfied the "graphic novel" check on my 2015 reading challenge.
Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh
Finished: January 10, 2015
Stars: 3.5/5
This book was hilarious. It was an easy read and I was laughing out loud in probably every chapter. Honestly, the cover looks kind of weird but it was one of the funniest books I've read.
You know the meme that says "eat all the food" or "clean all the things" ? Well that came from this book. Holy moly it was hilarious. Just look at this book's content. My favorite parts of the book were when she talked about her dogs. She thinks one of her dogs is mentally challenge so she calls him simple dog. And then she gets another dog in the hopes that it will help her simple dog, so then she calls him helper dog. It's hilarious. I was crying tears of laughter.
Here are just a couple pictures of the book.
This book was used as my "funny book" category on my challenge.
January 9, 2014— The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (1963)
Finished: January 2, 2015
Stars: 5/5
[possible spoilers ahead]
The way I read this book is a real attribution to what I like to do in my free time. I read this for fun, because it's been on my to-read list for ages and here I am just now getting around to it. I may have also read it with a pen and highlighter in hand... The margins of almost all of the pages are filled with black annotations. I underlined, highlighted, bracketed, starred different lines and paragraphs that I just thought wow.
The Bell Jar tells the story of Esther, a nineteen year old girl with her future ahead of her. Except, her future overwhelms her and she doesn't know what she wants. She slowly slips into rock bottom of her life as she faces depression and anxiety. This book describes her descent from the assurance her life once gave her, as she faces failure, indifference, and lack of being understood.
Plath writes Esther's story as a first person narration and uses flashbacks to develop characters and Esther's background. The characters in this novel are dynamic and interesting and all play a different part in Esther's downfall. Esther can almost be described as an anti-hero.
Esther begins the novel by sounding like the typical 19 year old in the 1960s. Yes, she is cynical and uses a plethora of dark humor, but you can't help but laugh along with her! I am almost concerned with myself by being able to identify with a lot of the things she said in the novel (the parts that qualified as her thoughts). She has difficulty relating to other people because she doesn't feel good enough about herself and expresses this need for being able to control aspects of her life.
This novel really shows you the inside to mental illness and its treatment in the 1960s. It was almost infuriating how underdeveloped and uncared for mental illness facilities were— how they most likely still are!
I loved Esther as a narrator. The "wow" factor of this book is off the charts! Plath's writing is phenomenal: her descriptive language, her use of imagery and symbolism were incredible to analyze. Several times while I was reading this book, I had to close it and just pause. Look off to space and think about what I had just read. The words Plath uses in this novel are so powerful. The images are almost too powerful where they leave a furrow in your eyebrow and a "what the hell" spinning through your mind.
Favorite Quote (there are so many but I'll pick just one): "I wanted to crawl in between those black lines of print, the way you crawl through a fence, and go to sleep under that beautiful big green fig-tree."
To sum up this book in one sentence: WOW *heart*
[this book is considered my "banned book" for my reading challenge of 2015]
SOP:
I Don't Wanna Know by Fleetwood Mac
[WOW MY FAVE SONG BY THEM LUCKY YOU]
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