Definitely Dead, by Charlaine Harris
I finally got back to the Sookie Stackhouse books! Loved this one, and LOVED the face that Sookie's new love interest is a tiger! Only beef with it: Sookie keeps talking about her cousin dying, her cousin WHO WAS A VAMPIRE. That's not mentioned in the last book. Or the book before that. I got on wiki to see if I was trying to read the books out of order again, but nope, I was on track. The cousin dies in a short story that was published between books! I found this out by reading some dude's Amazon.com review of this book, and HE thought it was retarded as well. Harris should have either put that short story IN this book, or at least had a preface explaining the events that we missed.
Lawn Boy, by Gary Paulsen
This is a short and snappy book about a kid with a mower. I recommend it for all ages, but specifically boys 10-12.
The Adoration of Jenna Fox, by Mary E. Pearson
I liked it, but not as much as I thought I would. When I read Still Alice, I got on the internet IMMEDIATELY. I had a need to gush about that book for days! Jenna Fox is good, but it's not that WOW. I like that it makes you ask yourself questions about the afterlife, what makes you human, what constitutes a soul.
The Boy Who Dared, by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Historical fiction based on the true story of a German boy who was not a Nazi. I think Bartoletti spent too much time making Helmuth, the main character, into such a hero. I would have liked this book to be more nonfiction than fiction. She idolized him, and it was distracting. I love that I have found so many books this past year set from the German point of view, though. In school when you learn about WWII, Nazis and Germans are one and the same, but I'm finding these books, all these supposedly true accounts, of Germans who did NOT hate Jews, but who either trusted their government too much, or, in some cases, knew that speaking out would end in torture and execution.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Talk Before Sleep, by Elizabeth Berg
I read this book. I read it a LONG time ego. So long that I can't quite remember all the end details. It's playing every evening at 5 on Book Radio on Sirius. I can't catch it every day, but I still enjoy the little excerpts I get. I decided to blog about it because of this line I heard yesterday, that I love soooo much, that I think I want on my tombstone:
"I'll come back as a breeze. You will feel me on your face, and you will know that I'm still listening. So you can still talk to me. I want you to talk to me."
I think it's beautiful, and sweet.
I just googled the audiobook so I can put a face to the voice I've been listening to--it's Blythe Danner! I KNEW it! I didn't remember her name, or what movies I'd seen her in, but I was totally seeing her face as I listened.
Today I had another sweet moment while listening, and this may be a bit of a spoiler if you're retarded--Ann get's a call from Ruth's brother, telling her of Ruth's passing. Ann says thank you, and hangs up. She is halfway through dialing another number before she realizes who she is calling. She is calling Ruth. To inform her of her death! The emotion that Blythe puts into that passage makes you want to shake your head in chagrin along with Ann at Ann's mistake, while at the same time you are holding back tears, also like Ann. I sat at the end of my driveway, having just pulled in before the phone call, for a good minute, just caught up in the story and the emotion.
"I'll come back as a breeze. You will feel me on your face, and you will know that I'm still listening. So you can still talk to me. I want you to talk to me."
I think it's beautiful, and sweet.
I just googled the audiobook so I can put a face to the voice I've been listening to--it's Blythe Danner! I KNEW it! I didn't remember her name, or what movies I'd seen her in, but I was totally seeing her face as I listened.
Today I had another sweet moment while listening, and this may be a bit of a spoiler if you're retarded--Ann get's a call from Ruth's brother, telling her of Ruth's passing. Ann says thank you, and hangs up. She is halfway through dialing another number before she realizes who she is calling. She is calling Ruth. To inform her of her death! The emotion that Blythe puts into that passage makes you want to shake your head in chagrin along with Ann at Ann's mistake, while at the same time you are holding back tears, also like Ann. I sat at the end of my driveway, having just pulled in before the phone call, for a good minute, just caught up in the story and the emotion.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Wednesday Wars, by Gary D. Schmidt
“When gods die, they die hard. It’s not like they fade away, or grow old, or fall asleep. They die in fire and pain, and when they come out of you, they leave your guts burned. It hurts more than anything you can talk about. And maybe worst of all is, you’re not sure if there ever will be another god to fill their place. Or if you’d want another god to ever fill their place. You don’t want fire to go out inside you twice.”
That is a passage from “Wednesday Wars”. I have included that passage to show you just how fantastic of a writer Gary Schmidt is.
Holling Hoodhood is a 7th grader, and every Wednesday he is forced to spend his afternoons alone with his teacher while the rest of his classmates have religious training (they are Catholic and Jewish, and he is Presbyterian). It is an arrangement that even his teacher hates. But after Mrs. Baker finally realizes there’s no way out of these afternoons together, she starts to teach him Shakespeare, and from there they form a relationship.
I loved this book—I loved the writing, the story, the town, the characters. I wanted Sage to read it, but I’m not sure how much a 10 year old could connect to these characters, or understand any of the passages of Shakespeare, or even could relate to the time period—it’s set in 1967, during the Vietnam war, and even mentions the assassinations of both MLK Jr. and Bobby Kennedy. I’m actually curious about whether a modern-day 7th grader could connect to this story the way an adult can. (And, I want to point out that even though I was not alive during the 60s, I have seen “Forrest Gump” so I have an idea of how it was. :D)
That is a passage from “Wednesday Wars”. I have included that passage to show you just how fantastic of a writer Gary Schmidt is.
Holling Hoodhood is a 7th grader, and every Wednesday he is forced to spend his afternoons alone with his teacher while the rest of his classmates have religious training (they are Catholic and Jewish, and he is Presbyterian). It is an arrangement that even his teacher hates. But after Mrs. Baker finally realizes there’s no way out of these afternoons together, she starts to teach him Shakespeare, and from there they form a relationship.
I loved this book—I loved the writing, the story, the town, the characters. I wanted Sage to read it, but I’m not sure how much a 10 year old could connect to these characters, or understand any of the passages of Shakespeare, or even could relate to the time period—it’s set in 1967, during the Vietnam war, and even mentions the assassinations of both MLK Jr. and Bobby Kennedy. I’m actually curious about whether a modern-day 7th grader could connect to this story the way an adult can. (And, I want to point out that even though I was not alive during the 60s, I have seen “Forrest Gump” so I have an idea of how it was. :D)
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