Posts Tagged With: reading

An Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner’s Semester at America’s Holiest University by Kevin Roose

This book was recommended by Miss Anderson over at The Librarian Who Doesn’t  Say Shh…, in fact she listed it as her favorite read of 2011…and she had me intrigued.

A must read for everyone!

This book is about Kevin Roose a journalism student that attends the ultra-liberal Brown University who decides to spend a semester “studying abroad” at ultra-conservative Liberty University (the home of Jerry Falwell). Very multiple reasons I wanted to read this book. 1) Most people consider me ultra liberal 2) I have a few ultra conservative friends so I thought I could probably relate to this 3) Religion fascinates me  and 4) Liberty University is all of 90 minutes away from me and I have a few friends who went there.

Mr. Roose transfers to Liberty and entirely submerses himself in the “Liberty Way.” He follows their rules, lives in their dorms and even attends prayer circles and as  a result he truly finds himself becoming friends with many of his classmates. His writing is honest, and for that he should truly be commended because I’m sure that as a college student (he was a senior when the book was published) there were somethings he confesses to that he probably wouldn’t want everyone knowing (can only imagine what this did for his love life). His candor, however, is what makes him so likable. He truly tries to experience Liberty and to understand the people that go there. As a result he discovers that even though religion and politics may divide them, Liberty students are very much just college students trying to find their way…and deep down, we all have quite a bit in common.

I truly adored this book, and can see why it made Miss Anderson’s top read. This is one of those books that I think should be required reading for everyone. And, I think all college students should have the privilege of going to another school for a semester that is completely different than theirs. What a better world would we live in if everyone learned compassion for those who believe differently than us.

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Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv

The basis for this book is that children today aren’t getting enough nature and it’s effected every aspect of their lives and may be responsible for the high increase of ADHD….so that’s basically this book summed up in a nutshell. And well…you should probably just save yourself the time and not read the book after that little review. Why? ’cause it’s boring, thats why.

Don’t get me wrong…I wanted to like this book, I REALLY, REALLY did. It’s been recommended to me by about 150 different people and I love the concept, I love the theme…so I figured I’d love the book. And well, there are a few parts I did…a few sprinklings of fun stories about building tree houses and what childhoods use to look like. Unfortunately the other 95% of the book was basically sighting studies and research that’s been done, which unless you’ve lived under a rock for the last 5 years should be nothing new.

I am not going to say that this book isn’t useful, it would be if writing a research paper or trying to convince your local school board to not cut out recess time, but it’s definitely not an enjoyable reading kinda book (and this is from the girl who reads Darwin for fun).

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Swamplandia! by Karen Russell

A relatively new book Swamplandia! was published about a year ago (March 2011) and from the cover I kind of assumed it was  a young adult book. Turns out, it’s actually an adult book. Most of the book though reads as a young adult book, but a few adult themes do present themselves…but I’m getting ahead of myself.

The book is about Ossie and her sister Ava and brother Kiwi and their father Chief Bigtree and their adventures running a theme park the revolves around alligators (or as they call them Seths). The matron of the tribe, their mother Hilola Bigtree dies, before the book begins, of cancer.  Of course the passing of their mother effects all the children and they all go in search of their own paths. Kiwi gets a job at the new rival amusement park to try and save money to save Swamplandia. Ava starts dating ghost and well, poor Ossie is just trying to keep the family together at Swamplandia. Through a roller coaster of events the separated family does eventually find their way back together.

The writing to this story makes for a great, easy read…and the basis of the story is truly an original. I’d give it 3 stars. Why only 3? Mainly because I feel like the book is written toward an audience of teens, except for a scene or two that are very much adult (for those who have read it…that scene on the island with the “bird man,” for example). The main character is supposedly the same age as a freshman in high school, and as much as I realize that she’s been raised on an island relatively remote from the world her voice (and her character) is so VERY nieve…kind of like it’s being written for a young audience. I just think this book is too juvenile for adults and too adult for juveniles.

I won’t say that I’m sad I read this book, however, I don’t think I would have missed out if I hadn’t of read it. So in other words, if you need an easy read and happen to see this at the library, pick it up. But save your money and don’t bother buying it.

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Night Comes to the Cumberlands: A Biography of a Depressed Area by Harry M. Caudill

This was an explosive book of it’s day that many have likened to The Jungle. It was written back in the early 1960s and talks about remote parts of Kentucky where the poorest of our country lived. It was said to have spurred the president (Kennedy) to come visit the area and promise help to get it out of the extreme poverty…sadly in over 50 years, little has changed.

I wasn’t really sure how good this book would be, or if it’d truly hold my attention, but…the stories of personal struggles and even of the “good times” were gripping and just made me want to keep going. Toward the end it does get a little dry, but that’s mainly the subject matter and not the writing.

Caudill’s honesty and non-judgmental writing is truly a treat. Considering there are probably more jokes about Kentuckians than any other state in our union (with the possible exception of West Virginia- which it also touches on) I was worried about getting an honest, unbiased portrayal…this book was that and then some. It talks about the early days where the Kentuckians were feuding, it explains where the term “between a rock and a hard place” came from; I had no idea it was Kentucky or had to do with coal mining…kinda makes sense now that I think about it. It explains why incest was so very common, and to an extent encouraged. The whole book makes you grieve for these people.

Only about the last 1/4-1/3 of the book is about the environmental problems faced by the area which include strip mining and logging. My heart was truly breaking by the end of this book when Caudill is discussing the strip mining and how generations later would never forgive them and how unthinkable it is, how it needs to stop. All I could do is think, holy christ, this was more than 50 years ago and yet people like Larry Gibson, Nathan Joseph, Dave Cooper and so many others are donating their lives to stop this injustice. Why? Why have we not learned after 50 years?

And if that’s not bad enough, then I’m reading about how they are trying to fight to save the virgin forest that use to cover the eastern united states, ironic considering here in my own backyard we’re fighting to save Stadium Woods (located on Virginia Tech’s campus) from being bulldozed for an indoor athletic training facility. Mr. Caudill is probably turning over in his grave right now.

To say I recommend this book is a true understatement…it should be required reading for everyone.

Categories: Books, Environmentalism, Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Girls Who Looked Under Rocks: The Lives of Six Pioneering Naturalists by Jeannine Atkins

This  book is definitely a different book for me, as a general rule I stick to adult books and on occasion if there’s a really great book (Harry Potter, Hunger Games, lookin’ at you) will find myself in the teen or YA section. This book, even though it’s technically rated as a young adult is probably aimed toward a much younger crowd. Not saying it wasn’t good though, quite the contrary, I truly very much enjoyed it! And…I actually learned some things…but I’m getting a head of myself.

This book is about six female naturalist who were ground breakers in their fields. It looks at Maria Merian (b.1647), Anna Comstock (b.1854), Frances Hamerstrom (b.1907), Rachel Carson (b.1907), Miriam Rothschild (b.1908) and Jane Goodall (b.1934). Jane Goodall and Rachel Carson I think most people are familiar with, but the other four I don’t think most main stream people know them…but let me tell you, they were true ground breakers!

How incredibly awesome are these illustrations??

Maria Merian made elaborate detailed paintings of insects, at a time when women weren’t truly allowed to paint and when they did were told to focus on things of beauty…like flowers. Maria, however, was fascinated by bugs…something most daughter’s parents cringe at today, much less 350+ years ago. But thanks to this hobby of hers incredible strides were made in the field of  entomology.

Jane Goodall, of course, is the lady who spent her life with the gorillas. One thing I didn’t know though is that her mother was actually a very active naturalist too. I learned in the book that when Jane first set out to study the gorillas, her mom actually went with her as well…what a cool mom?? It was also very awesome to see the impact that mothers have on their children…years later, and many years after there mothers have already passed. The picture below is of Jane brushing her hair “out in public” which her mother said a lady should never do. This event actually occurs at the end of the chapter on Jane, so her age is quite up there. I found it quite funny.

Note: In the write up I posted that this was Jane, it was actually Frances Hamerstrom.

I don’t want to tell you all about the ladies, because I’m really hoping you’ll pick this book up! It truly was an incredible little book to read, and can easily be read by an adult in half an hour or so. I found my copy through paperbackswap, although it does look like a few people are waiting on there, but hey, go ahead…add your name! (Or visit your local library, you won’t be sorry!)

Note: I recently found out that the author Jeannine Atkins has a blog as well, it’s called Views From a Window Seat . Be sure to go check it out!

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Lime Creek by Joe Henry

This is one of those strange books that I absolutely loved the writing, loved the story yet, can’t rate it higher than maybe 3 stars. Why you ask? Well…this book is rather short, only about 150 pages and tells the story of life on Lime Creek through the eyes of a small family. It reads almost like a family album rather than a novel, a charm I find endearing, however, it’s not a good novel. Bear with me on this. Almost a third of the book is devoted to an incident where the two young sons still their mothers tomatoes (a prized possession as they live somewhere tomatoes can’t grow and they’re rather expensive) and hurl them at the clean white bed sheets hanging from the clothes line. It’s rather comical as you can see most young brothers doing this kind of thing together, and then dad steps in to teach them a lesson of consequences and takes them to the creek to make them wash the sheets. It’s a sweet story in that dad punishes them but not harshly and he’s even gentle in his manner of doing it. Sweet…but, not much of a novel. I enjoyed reading this but when I put it down it felt like I had missed something. I got small snippets of their lives but nothing that showed true depth to the story…which I guess is kind of hard in 150 pages. Overall it is a good book, worth the read if you find it at the library, just don’t expect too much out of it.

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Top Ten Favorite Quotes From Books

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the bloggers over at the Broke and the Bookish. Book bloggers from all around create lists based on the chosen topics, and post links to the host blog to share our love of books. This week the topic is Top Ten Favorite Quotes From Books…now this was seriously a hard topic…I mean come on…from one good book I can probably give you 10 favorite quotes…so this was very hard to narrow down…so these probably aren’t my exactly top 10, but most recently read and/or that I actually remembered. So…in no specific order….

1. “Only difference between a traitor and a patriot is your perspective” ―Jeanette Walls (I think this was from Half Broke Horses)

2. “When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes

3. “I hadn’t been paying much attention to things like the sunrise, but that old sun had been coming up anyway. It didn’t really care how I felt, it was going to rise and set regardless of whether I noticed it, and if I was going to enjoy it, that was up to me.”
― Jeannette Walls (Another one from Half Broke Horses)

4. “We still hadn’t learned, though, that growing up is all about getting hurt. And then getting over it. You hurt. You recover. You move on. Odds are pretty good you’re just going to get hurt again. But each time, you learn something.

Each time, you come out of it a little stronger, and at some point you realize that there are more flavors of pain than coffee. There’s the little empty pain of leaving something behind – gradutaing, taking the next step forward, walking out of something familiar and safe into the unknown. There’s the big, whirling pain of life upending all of your plans and expecations. There’s the sharp little pains of failure, and the more obscure aches of successes that didn’t give you what you thought they would. There are the vicious, stabbing pains of hopes being torn up. The sweet little pains of finding others, giving them your love, and taking joy in their life they grow and learn. There’s the steady pain of empathy that you shrug off so you can stand beside a wounded friend and help them bear their burdens.

And if you’re very, very lucky, there are a very few blazing hot little pains you feel when you realized that you are standing in a moment of utter perfection, an instant of triumph, or happiness, or mirth which at the same time cannot possibly last – and yet will remain with you for life.

Everyone is down on pain, because they forget something important about it: Pain is for the living. Only the dead don’t feel it.

Pain is a part of life. Sometimes it’s a big part, and sometimes it isn’t, but either way, it’s a part of the big puzzle, the deep music, the great game. Pain does two things: It teaches you, tells you that you’re alive. Then it passes away and leaves you changed. It leaves you wiser, sometimes. Sometimes it leaves you stronger. Either way, pain leaves its mark, and everything important that will ever happen to you in life is going to involve it in one degree or another.”
― Jim Butcher (one of the Dresden File books, I don’t remember which one)

5. “Most young dealers of the Silicon Chip Era regard a reference library as merely a waste of space. Old Timers on the West Coast seem to retain a fondness for reference books that goes beyond the practical. Everything there is to know about a given volume may be only a click away, but there are still a few of us who’d rather have the book than the click. A bookman’s love of books is a love of books, not merely of the information in them.” ― Larry McMurtry, Books

6. “As the dozers moved into a section of black bear dens, Ed saw two young black bears dart out of their homes, only to be crushed and buried alive by debris falling from the bulldozers above. ‘I wonder how many other bears didn’t even make it out of their den,’ Ed said.” -Tree Spiker by Mike Roselle This is by no means a good quote, but it was so very powerful…that’s why I included it.

7.“Join the mob or go what you want. Give yourself plenty of quiet time alone in order to get in touch with who you are….Focus power of thought. Remind yourself that the world is yours for the asking. The non-risker does not grow, you just get older. When you have decided which ideas, beliefs, relationships, and situations no longer work for you, it is time to release them. Let go of negative thoughts—view them as a flight of birds crossing your path. See them fly into view and continue on their way.” -Wildflower by Mark Seal

8. “Responsibility is a position. An attitude towards events. You can either take responsibility or you can feel victimized by the world. Your choice of whether to play the victim or take responsibility will determine who power grows—yours or someone else’s. If you take the position of victim, you lose power. If you choose responsibility, you have power then, to do something about what’s happening—to choose your next step. It’s all about attitude.” -Wildflower by Mark Seal

9. “So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.” ―Christopher Reeve

10. “Other people’s houses were always fascinating. As soon as you went through the door for the first time, you got the feel of the atmosphere, and so discovered something about the personalities of the people who lived there.”
― Rosamunde Pilcher, Coming Home

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Top Ten All Time Favorite Characters In Books

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the bloggers over at the Broke and the Bookish. Book bloggers from all around create lists based on the chosen topics, and post links to the host blog to share our love of books. This week the topic is Top Ten All Time Favorite Characters In Books. As an avid reader of books I find myself “falling” for characters quite often, but when it came to sitting down and picking my favorites, I found that there weren’t as many that actually stuck with me…so I guess these are the ones that have truly made an impression on me. P.S. These are in no specific order…just the order they popped into my head.

The only book that I've liked the movie just as much as the book.

1) Matilda.  This one probably is my all time favorite but it’s also the one I fell in love with first. I use to stay up late at night hiding under the covers with a flash light to read and re-read this book, and it was mainly because of Matilda. As the black sheep of my family I could relate to her out-cast status and sympathize with her struggles. I also could relate to her avid love for books and admired her strength in not stooping to the level of the immature adults that play such a prominent role in this book…and plus let’s face it, what young girl doesn’t want to have magical powers? I can’t say for certain, but Matilda could have totally been the inspiration for the character of Hermoine…which leads me too…

2) Hermoine. I love how strong her character is…and how no matter how much people call her a know-it-all she still strives to better herself and learn as much as she can. I wish I’d had that kind of self esteem as a teen…hell, I wish I had that kind of self esteem now!

3) Nancy Drew. Who wouldn’t have loved to be a teen sleuth? I admire her tenacity and overcoming odds to find out the information she wants…not the kinda girl you want to mess with! I also like that she’s real…she has faults…she doesn’t always say the right things or make the right choices and that just makes her all the more likable.

4) Severus Snape. For some reason I liked him from the very beginning of the series…maybe I just like to root for the underdog, but there was just something about him that made me think he couldn’t possibly be as evil as the students thought. (Looking back now on some of my old teachers, I wonder if maybe they were quite as bad as I thought?) My heart broke for him in book 7 when he passes away and to know how much he loved Harry’s mother yet knew that nothing would ever come of it. And even with his broken heart he still looked after Harry…how hard would it be to look out for your lost-loves child when he looks exactly like the guy who won over the girl and stole her from you?

5) The Giving Tree. I’m not sure if a true can really be considered a character, but, it’s my list so, I’m counting it :p I know everyone cites the Lorax as their first call to the environmental movement, but for me it was the Giving Tree. I know trees don’t really get a choice in real life…if humans want to chop them down, we do…nothing the tree can do, but I loved the idea of the tree willingly giving herself to this little boy…kind of reminded me of the loyalty of dog. In all reality, without the trees, our race would cease to exist. We owe so much to these giant beauties and yet after we reach an age were we stop reading Shel Silverstein and Dr. Seuss we seem to forget that. We seem to forget how miraculous and amazing those trees really are.

Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden (P.S. Jeff S. I still hate you for getting me addicted to this series...and no, you're not getting off the hook anytime soon.)

6) Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden (from the book serious by Jim Butcher). For those not familiar with this series Dresden is a first class wizard working as a private investigator in Chicago. He’s rude, arrogant, demanding and cranky…all the good qualities of a favorite book character, right? No matter how much you want to not like him, deep down Dresden is just a good ol’ boy. He’s a gentleman and no matter how much he doesn’t want to, he always makes the right choice…and he can also shoot fire out of his staff, so that’s definitely points in his favor.

7) Death (The Book Thief-P.S. I’ll be reviewing this book soon…and have another fun post coming up about this book, be sure to check back.) I feel in love with this book from the first sentence where Death introduces himself. I loved the concept of death as a character…especially as a narrator of a story. He uses color to interpret the souls of people he’s carrying off and I loved his dry, cynical nature.

8) Tia and Tony (Escape to Witch Mountain) I use to watch this movie with my younger brother when we were kids…and recently read the book. I loved the book as much as the movie, and it took me right back to those childhood days snuggled up on the couch. Secretly I always wished my brother and I were really aliens stranded here from a distance planet and that any day we’d discover our magical powers…sadly, that never happened.

Couldn't help but relating to Francesca.

9) Francesca (Bridges of Madison County) I know, adulteress…yeah, yeah. I read this book recently after I got divorced and well…I could really relate to Francesca. Having just left a bad marriage I could understand what she was reaching out for…what she needed to feel. This little book made me feel like maybe someone else understood what it felt like to be in a loveless marriage…like I wasn’t completely alone.

10) Judith Dunbar (Coming Home by Rosemunde Pilcher) Another romance novel, and yet I don’t like romance novels…but I really think this book is more than just the flowery cover. It’s a coming of age novel that follows Judith from being abandon (okay, at a boarding school and with an aunt) by her parents and rediscovering her baby sister after many years have passed to her first crush and finally finding her love. The book isn’t based on the romance though…and in fact it only really occupies one chapter, but it’s about human relationships and dynamics. I admired her independent spirit and related to her when she felt alone, overwhelmed and like she didn’t have a place in this world. Yet, she continues on and becomes an amazing woman…the kind of woman we all strive to become.

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Still Me by Christopher Reeve (Flashback Fridays)

I really can’t say enough great things about this book. I had very high hopes for this book, having read Nothing Is Impossible by Christopher Reeve some years ago I was ready for another compelling read…fortunatly this did not disappoint. Reeve has an incredible knack of easily flowing from past to present to medical research to politics all the while keeping the read spell-bound. I was glued to his story from the moment I opened page one.

Written shortly after the accident that left him a quadriplegic, he doesn’t try to make some heroic stance, he never claims to have accepted his position and he defiantly has moments of self pity…which is what makes him human and so likeable. I, for one, am not a big fan of celebrities…especially when they pull that fake crap and try to say how great everything is even when clearly life sucks…Christopher Reeve never does that. He admits to the bad days, and also encourages with the fact that he’s learned how to deal with them and face them. Do they still suck? yeah. Do they control his life? No.

A wonderfully inspiring read that is going to leave you in tears and have you cheering him on, even when we know the tragic fate of his life. (And how refreshing to read of a true love story involving a celeb? And he NEVER bashes his ex…which is even more refreshing.)

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Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (Flashback Fridays)

LOVED this book! I just really can’t say enough about this series. There are so many themes and topics like government control and right vs. wrong and does anything really go in war? We really find the main character, Katniss coming into her own in this book…and by the end she knows exactly who she is and what she wants…and yes, she gets the boy…which boy, I’m not telling. ;)

The writing is incredible in this book and characters are each dynamic and fascinating in their own ways…as I finished this book there was the whole uproar about whether or not YA literature is too dark. So, I’m kind of intrigued as to what you think…is YA too dark? I, personally, don’t think books should EVER be banned. I don’t care what kind of book it is there is a reason for its existance and something to be gained from it. I do, however, believe parents should monitor their child’s reading. A fellow blogger did a great blog article on the difference between parent monitoring and banning a book, so I won’t go there, but…I will say that when I was a teen/young adult I discovered and feel in love with Stephen King books…you wanna talk about dark?!? I think I’ve turned out pretty okay…but I’m still curious to hear what everyone else thinks.

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