Book 05
Oh man, I am so behind!
But since book 3, what have I read for school?
As I Lay Dying -William Faulkner
The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao -Juno Diaz
This book was amazing. It was really well-written and really, really interesting. It's definitely one that I'm going to be reading again. I almost gave it its own entry because I enjoyed it so much, but to be fair, I did read it for school, not just on my own.
Benito Cereno -Herman Melville
Evangeline -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Didn't like.)
A Streetcar Named Desire -Tennessee Williams
The Free Flag of Cuba -Lucy Holcombe Pickens
TERRIBLE BOOK. I'm not sure I enjoyed it even a second I was reading it. The professor picked it because it's bad - his rationale was that sometimes it's fun to read bad books. And it does have significance to the time period, but it was just so bad! The logic of the book was totally unsound, and the attitudes it was espousing were prejudiced and just... blahr.
Imagine the Angels of Bread -Martin Espada
Diva -Rafael Campo
Watercolor Women Opaque Men -Ana Castillo
Blake; or, the Huts of America -Martin Delany
Plus short stories, poetry (not in collection form), essays, and comics.
I wish I had decided to count school books, because if that was the case, I'd be much closer to 50 already. Heh.
But this time I read Gathering Blue, by Lois Lowry, which is a companion book to The Giver. I'm going to be honest - that's why I picked it up. I absolutely love The Giver, so I expected to really like this one, as well. Now... I did like it, don't get me wrong. It was an enjoyable read, and I liked the characters. I'm going to be perfectly honest, though, and say that I was a wee bit disappointed it didn't tie in more to The Giver. It's set in the same universe, in the same world (post-apocalyptic or whatever), but in very different places. Kira (the protagonist) lives in a small village, not really like the Community at all. Oh! Well that's not true. People aren't given a career like what happened to Jonas and all the rest of the people there, but the people (like Kira, who's good with embroidery and threading) who show great creative talent are stolen away and kept locked up by the Guardians. There's Kira, Thomas (a carver), and Jo (a singer) - and maybe more? But that's all I remember at the moment. Because the old world was destroyed (in the Ruin), there's no real history - except for this "Song" that's sung at this big celebratory Gathering, and the staff and the robe the singer has. Ahh, yes, the reason they need a weaver and a carver! Oh, yeah, and the singer. But there's more left to be "written" so to speak, so they get the artists young so they can mold them and control them. The style the book is written in is very simple - for younger readers, I'd guess around age 10 or so: oh, well, maybe teens? The back has it listed as a teen book, so maybe for like 12 or 13? I have no idea. It flows really well, though, and if I had to describe it I'd say the writing was smooth. I wish it had gone into things a little bit more deeply - maybe I wasn't paying enough attention or something, but it felt like it gave us all the pieces to the puzzle, but it left the picture still blurry. Something like that. Anyway! I enjoyed it overall, and if I can find it I'll probably read the next companion book Messenger, too.
~~~
My 2010 Books list is here. Feel free to leave me a suggestion or something! :D
But since book 3, what have I read for school?
As I Lay Dying -William Faulkner
The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao -Juno Diaz
This book was amazing. It was really well-written and really, really interesting. It's definitely one that I'm going to be reading again. I almost gave it its own entry because I enjoyed it so much, but to be fair, I did read it for school, not just on my own.
Benito Cereno -Herman Melville
Evangeline -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Didn't like.)
A Streetcar Named Desire -Tennessee Williams
The Free Flag of Cuba -Lucy Holcombe Pickens
TERRIBLE BOOK. I'm not sure I enjoyed it even a second I was reading it. The professor picked it because it's bad - his rationale was that sometimes it's fun to read bad books. And it does have significance to the time period, but it was just so bad! The logic of the book was totally unsound, and the attitudes it was espousing were prejudiced and just... blahr.
Imagine the Angels of Bread -Martin Espada
Diva -Rafael Campo
Watercolor Women Opaque Men -Ana Castillo
Blake; or, the Huts of America -Martin Delany
Plus short stories, poetry (not in collection form), essays, and comics.
I wish I had decided to count school books, because if that was the case, I'd be much closer to 50 already. Heh.
But this time I read Gathering Blue, by Lois Lowry, which is a companion book to The Giver. I'm going to be honest - that's why I picked it up. I absolutely love The Giver, so I expected to really like this one, as well. Now... I did like it, don't get me wrong. It was an enjoyable read, and I liked the characters. I'm going to be perfectly honest, though, and say that I was a wee bit disappointed it didn't tie in more to The Giver. It's set in the same universe, in the same world (post-apocalyptic or whatever), but in very different places. Kira (the protagonist) lives in a small village, not really like the Community at all. Oh! Well that's not true. People aren't given a career like what happened to Jonas and all the rest of the people there, but the people (like Kira, who's good with embroidery and threading) who show great creative talent are stolen away and kept locked up by the Guardians. There's Kira, Thomas (a carver), and Jo (a singer) - and maybe more? But that's all I remember at the moment. Because the old world was destroyed (in the Ruin), there's no real history - except for this "Song" that's sung at this big celebratory Gathering, and the staff and the robe the singer has. Ahh, yes, the reason they need a weaver and a carver! Oh, yeah, and the singer. But there's more left to be "written" so to speak, so they get the artists young so they can mold them and control them. The style the book is written in is very simple - for younger readers, I'd guess around age 10 or so: oh, well, maybe teens? The back has it listed as a teen book, so maybe for like 12 or 13? I have no idea. It flows really well, though, and if I had to describe it I'd say the writing was smooth. I wish it had gone into things a little bit more deeply - maybe I wasn't paying enough attention or something, but it felt like it gave us all the pieces to the puzzle, but it left the picture still blurry. Something like that. Anyway! I enjoyed it overall, and if I can find it I'll probably read the next companion book Messenger, too.
~~~
My 2010 Books list is here. Feel free to leave me a suggestion or something! :D