Opium

I forgot to mention, a couple weeks ago I settled down to Confessions of an English Opium Eater. It was uneccessarily formal and confusing to me, as many 19th century books seem to be (Think Jules Verne and Charles Dickens) but I found it very interesting because I could relate a lot of things in the book to concepts I'm studying in my psychology class, like drug usage obviously, dreams, personality, etc. I kind of expected it to be way cooler though because I went through a phase were I was really interested in opium usage in that time period. Actually I still am. It was cool that it was a true story though, and autobiographical at that. So yeah, I just did a count, and I pretty much need to read 14 books in the next month to meet my goal. That's a book every other day. At least school finishes next week. Otherwise I would say impossible. And actually, I'm probably going to end up saying better luck next year.

Sorry,

It's been a long time. I haven't posted since school started, because I have been very busy. No excuse. Um..At the end of summer, I read Memoirs of a Geisha. I loved it a lot. In comparison the movie was not amazing. It just didn't explain a lot of things. I feel like I learned a lot about the culture, and it was just. yeah. really good. I can't really remember...I guess I never wrote about the Book of Lost Things. I started that at the beginning of the term. It was like, messed up fairy tales and such. A good fantasy read. Again, I enjoyed it. I also read this big kids book about the Ancient World. It was so good, I just need more! I guess I should take an anthropologie class or something. Who knows. But one of the things I really liked about the book were the illustrations of the buildings that were cut in half so you could see the insides. It was just really amazing. So yeah, some good September/October reads. November I mainly read textbooks and worked, but every night I've been going back to a mythology textbook from last year and reading up on folktales from around the world. And I'm working on White Fang. When I'm done I'll let you know how much I love it.

2 Books

Gosh. A couple weeks, maybe even a month ago, I read A Midsummer Nights Dream. Obviously because it was midsummer. I enjoyed it. It was nice, funny, pretty, etc. I'm sure I could get more out of it if I took a course in Shakespeare or something but at my school those are unfortunately only offered on the internet. So I am stuck with a slightly surface level interpretation of the whole mess. Anyways,
I joined a book club started by some friends, and so I had to read Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. It was alright. I'm just not that into Sci-fi. Um..The first part was a lot like Harry Potter. It just had too many computers and stuff. Not really my thing. My friends compared it to Lord of the Flies, I just don't see it. There are kids working together, sure, but there certainly is no serrrvivin. Anyways, I don't know why this spot I'm sitting in smells weird all the time...And....I'm having difficulty choosing which book to read next. Meaning I'm a couple chapters into a couple books. So we'll see.

Wah

Really pathetic, but the most recent book took more than a month. In my defense I've been having fun, it was thick, not that engaging, and I was kind of reading 2 books. But anyways, on the point that it was thick, really annoying, I hated lugging it around with me anywhere where I might read it. Only reading tiny books from now on. The book was Labyrinth by Kate Mosse. I got it at Costco, probably before a trip or something, a long time ago. It just looked kind of cool. But I mean..it was kind of cool in a way, but unfortunately it was one of those books that focuses on like 20 different stories at once, and only one of them was interesting- the one about the medieval French girl who makes potions and rides ponies and swordfights and lives in a castle and stuff. Stuff I like. The others were just, a lot were irellevant to the plot. They were well researched and historically accurate but they took a lot away from the main story which had the potential to be good. It was just kind of poorly written, with bad similes or something. Kind of idealistic. Bad editing too, I found some really obvious typos and grammar mistakes. And normally when they sell British books in America, don't they change some of the words- like 'boot' of a car? Well they didn't. Anyways, I learned my lesson, no buying books at Costco. I get it! I'm definitely in a classic literature mood after that mess, so I expect that for the rest of the summer. Later.

Yao

I guess I am a little bit behind. Only because I have been having a very busy and very fun summer. So. I shall start from where I left off.
After I finished that book, must have been where I started Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh. Forgive me if I am spelling it wrong, I'm just too lazy to look it up. Anyways, it has the best description ever on Barnes and Noble, but it's actually way more boring than that. Or long or something. In any case, I got fed up with it after trying to stay interested for a month, and only got halfway through. I think the last day I read it was the day of the thunderstorm.
So anyways, after that fail, I started English Passengers by Matthew Kneale. I borrowed it from Jordan last August and just never got around to it. It was good interesting entertaining educational fun. I really did enjoy it. Then I let my dad borrow it. He enjoyed it too. All was well.
Thennnn, I did more B&N browsing, and found The Birth Of Venus by Sarah Dunant. I really really liked it. I still don't know how I feel about graphic sex scenes in books, but whatever. I mean, it's just kind of unnecessary. You get the picture, that's all. And it's better to use your imagination I'd say. It isn't a matter of conservatism at all. Anyways, I think I liked this one because I could relate to it more. An artist, falling for an artist. Sounds familiar. In fact, I didn't even realize it was a pattern in my life until I finished this book. Anyways, I think I also really like the Italian rennaisance. It IS after all my favorite period in art. So I found it really interesting. Sadly, though I finished it 2 or 3 weeks ago, I haven't really read too much since then. But also it isn't sad, because I'm having a really great summer. But I better start up another book. Cheers.

Hurrah.

Back in step. I read The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff this time. I really really enjoyed it. It was recommended as outside reading for my eastern religions class, and the teacher said Taoism would be difficult to understand, so I thought I'd make things a little bit easier by reading it. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that it's actually a good book with some good ideas. Now I'm really excited to learn about Taoism because it seems like the most rational religion thus far. That will be next week though. I also liked the whole Winnie the Pooh stuff. Now I understand why people like him so much. It's so cute! I ought to read those books. But yeahhhh. Thumbs up for finishing a book so fast. Even though it was short. Whatever.

Again, LAME

I've pretty much only read during math class this month. No, I HAVE only read during math class. In between school and stuff, really I have no excuse I guess. If it's anything I was sick last week and pretty much just did nothing. To be honest, I've been hanging out with friends and playing the Sims. But anyways, I just finished Me Talk Pretty One Day, another David Sedaris book. Again, it was silly to the max. Again, I set myself up for embarrassment by reading it at school. Especially the story, oh I don't remember. But anyways, I'm going to do some reading this weekend so hopefully I can catch up. Lalala.

Lame

I wish I could say I've read more than one book since my last post, but alas, I have not. I kept it real with one book in five days this month. I want to blame it on school, but that would be unfair, because school is my daytime activity, and reading happens at night (and in between classes). So I must blame my laziness, and staying out past my bedtime. But I've reinstated the bedtime rules so hopefully I can get more done this term.
So the book I read this time I've been meaning to read for four-ish years, since I read a good review of it in the school newspaper. But all it took was a weekend at a beach house with people I don't know too well to finally get to it. Because hey- the owner of the beach house had a shelf full of books that I've either read or been meaning to read. It was pretty cool.
So anyways, the book was Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut. I want to say it rearranged the chemicals and caused me to become depressed, but I'm sure that's not the case. It did make me throw a fit one night about free will. It was entertaining though. Weird. I'd never read Vonnegut before, it was interesting to see what all the hipster hubbub was about. But yeah, I actually don't know what else to say about the book. I have to go take a test. So until next time.

A Very Long Wait

A couple years ago. No, maybe 4 years ago, my mom and I went to see the movie A Very Long Engagement, which was really good and urged me to buy the book immediately afterwards. I was going through this really weird WWI phase where everything about it interested me. Why? I have no idea. It's not any different than other wars (interest wise) and normally I'm bored out of my wits hearing about senseless killing and battle strategies.
I guess buying the book marked the end of my phase, because soon WWI had been replaced by Tetris or crocheting or some other fancy. My phases don't last very long, and after their over, the subjects comletely disinterest me. It was kind of inconvenient when I was little, and every year I would get cat themed things for my birthday and when my parents traveled they got me Hard Rock Cafe t-shirts. No one understood my fleeting attention to passions.
Anyways, I picked up the book from time to time, but never got past the first chapter. I decided now would be a good time to finish it, and recommended it for the book club.
I forced myself to finish it in 2 weeks, but the reading plan wasn't much help. I just wasn't that interested, or did homework instead. (Good news: I finished all my homework for this term early, so now I'm just being a lazy ass.)
Finally, I was just like, "I don't have school tomorrow, might as well get it over with." I stayed up until 3 last night finishing it. It was the forcing myself to stay up the entire night that inspired me. I used to do it all the time last term, staying up incredibly late on school nights. It works, for some reason.
So about the book. It would help if I were from France, or had more knowledge of the country, because a lot of it seemed to depend on knowing geography and all that. Also, I often lost track of names of characters and became confused.
A lot of the book was just stepping out from the details and not really focusing, so that I could get the general idea of what was going on. Sure, it was romantic, I shed a couple of tears when the lovers are reunited, but it's very inconclusive.
Also, nothing really is revealed until towards the end, and then all of this information is smashed on you. It just wasn't really interesting until then. But I'm a person who doesn't have patience for question after question, and then sudden revelations (LOST?!)
So yeah, I wouldn't recommend it for an American with no interest in the war, but I would reccomend the movie, which is easier to follow and has a more direct path and is more interesting. Gosh, I've got to rewatch that. Until next time.

Still Laughing

I just finished Dress Your Family In Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris, and my belly still aches from giggling. Really, that last story was just too much.
I hate to be a giggler of books, I've always teased those nerds who carried around their manga's chuckling at some stupid joke only a 9 year old would get. In 6th grade, any time we caught someone laughing at what they were reading, we would say "A ha ha ha, the hobbit said...". Even though I love the Hobbit. So to read a silly book was painful for me. I had to try so hard in math class to turn my laughs into coughs. And my smirks into pained grimaces.
I'm just not used to this much fun in reading. Books for me are for drama and adventure, not laughing. That's what movies are for. But really, I liked this a lot, and I hope to read more by this author in the future.

Back in England

I just finished Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, really, just seconds ago. Like Emma, it was hard to get into, and met with some resistance, but after some discipline I was able to settle my brain down and enjoy it. See, I joined a book club, and this book was chosen due to it being a cliche book club choice. RIGHT? But yes, it just reminded me of Emma. A good character study, a mild plot, and a nice observation of 19th century England. Nothing really extraordinary about it.
But holy crap, when I was halfway through, I watched the movie The Duchess, and my goodness how her life was so much crappier than Elizabeth's. I seriously sobbed the entire movie, it just kept getting more and more sorrowful. And when I got back to reading the book, I was just like, "LAME" at every mildly upsetting thing that happened. Austen just doesn't know drama. So I'm excited to watch the movie for P&P and compare the two distressed Kiera Knightly's.
Who knows what book I'll read next, but hopefully I'll finish it soon. I came up with a reading schedule thing that helps me be on track and stay motivated. So until then.

One a month?

It took me an entire month to finish a book I could have read in 4 hours. I feel like such a chump. I've just been caught balancing schoolwork and a life. I joined a book club with some friends, and I need to read a novel you will hear about in 2 weeks, so I've devised a reading schedule to help discipline myself. I also have a weekly routine keeping me occupied every night of the week except for Friday and Saturday. And an 11 o' clock bedtime. I'm actually really fed up with my inability to live life in the moment, but hopefully this will clear up by the end of the term. So I'll go 5 more weeks with this strict lifestyle. Lame.
So the book I read this month is A Clockwork Orange. I saw the movie 4 years ago, but fell asleep halfway through, and bought the book 2 years later. So I'm actually getting down to business, and finishing things that need to be done.
I liked it. It was difficult to get into at first, but then difficult to get out of once I caught on to the dialect. It was something to think about. Just the title is something to think about.
Unfortunately all the "ultra-violence" was something I was having difficulty comprehending. I don't get criminals. I don't understand kids like Alex. They don't really explain his motivations. Boredom? But he's really driven to cause as much mayhem as possible. Maybe it was mentioned, but I can't remember. Oh well. Until next time.