Long live the plumpplecots!

Going green?

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 23:26:14 GMT

So, when I was at camp, we had one counselor who was really environmentally conscious - she was majoring in something to do with it at Univ. of Vermont, and everything. So we had one day when the weather was just gross, and we couldn't do what we had planned, so instead we went into this building and talked about the environment; it was a little like being in class.
Most of it was stuff you hear every time you hear about ways you can help - reduce, reuse, recycle, switch lightbulbs, etc. But there was one thing fact I found really interesting, and it's one that I promised myself to remember because it seemed like something I could do easily. I just remembered it today (not so great at the whole memory thing am I?) and it's that eating vegetarian one day a week (or maybe it was three, not sure which) for a year is the equivalent of taking your car off the road for a year.
This is due to the whole meat thing - it takes however so much gas to bring food to the animals, and then to ship them later, etc. So I think I'm going to try this, and maybe try to get my family to too.
(also, plugged in appliances do actually suck power, which I'd heard, but wasn't sure if it was a myth or a fact, so those are getting unplugged when not in use.)

An update

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 02:03:09 GMT

I really am so bad at keeping up with journals and things like that. I mean, really, really, really bad. I can't say how many times I've started something like this, mainly because I've recently read some author talking about how writing every day helped them learn to write, or how they kept a journal when they were younger.
I'm going to try to be better at this. It can't take more than half an hour a day; I can manage that, right? Maybe.

I just got back from Camp Echo, the camp that I've gone to every summer since the summer before fifth grade - since the summer before we moved to Minnesota, in short. It was originally a way to stay connected with old friends from Evanston, but now I just go because I love it. It was great this year, as always, though I'm happy to be home, with clean clothes.

Before we left, I got to see Phantom of the Opera with the same friend I saw Rent with. It was amazing. Really. I liked it as a musical a lot more than as a movie - mainly because I feel like in the movie, there's more of a sense that Christine truly loves the phantom, whereas in the musical I got more of the sense she pitied him. I think this mainly had to do with the fact that in the musical, Raoul was much more masculine than the phantom - he was taller, larger in general, where the phantom looked wimpy in comparison. Meanwhile, in the movie, Raoul was the wimpy one. And at the end in the musical, the phantom really just looks old and pathetic. So, since the main thing that really bugged me about the movie was that Christine could never make up her mind about who she liked better, the musical satisfied me on that point.
Besides, the musical had FIRE. Or something that looked like it, and was very very bright, and it was AWESOME.

(This reminds me of something from camp: they have "Olympics" every year, in which the camp is randomly divided into four teams that compete in the things like cheer-offs, and basketball, and water polo. Usually cheers are the deciding factor in who wins - the most creative, the loudest, the most coherent, etc. But that's besides the point. What I wanted to talk about was how the Olympics always have a theme, and this year/session's was rock/music. The concept was supposed to be a rock band needed an opening band - so the four teams were different genres of music. Anyway, they always have an opening ceremony/show to introduce the theme, and so for this they had a "concert". It was awesome. They set up the drummer on the barge, with fake drums, and the other three were on the span with fake guitars (painted cardboard) and lip-synced to music. But the best part was the sparklers and the WALL OF FIRE they had - literally. They put a trench in the sand on the beach, and had some sort of oil or fire starter or something, and they lit it on fire, and it was amazing. And there were people on a boat going behind who just STARED at us.)

Anyway. That's what's been going on in my life. Oh, and I got swine flu. It's not that bad people! It's just like normal flu, only more easily spread!

Also, I'm addicted to Lost now.

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 01:48:48 GMT

An update on the Rent situation: We saw it, in the end, and it was amazing, and I was fine and happy, and all was well again in the kingdom of my mind. And then I was so excited, because a week later, I saw URINETOWN put on by a nearby college, and I still absolutely love that show, even though Little Sally didn't say one of her lines and they changed the lyrics to a couple, one of which was an ENTIRE STANZA missing from Don't Be the Bunny. And also I was right in front of two people who LAUGHED SO SO LOUDLY at EVERYTHING. But a musical is a musical, and this was pretty amazing.

Alas, spring break is now over, and I cannot wait until SUMMEEEEEEEEEEEEEER YAY! My goal is to read a TON over the summer. And maybe take driver's ed.

MEANWHILE the lifeguarding class that I've been taking has been going well, though they've recently started putting a dummy in the water to see if we'lll notice and save it...it's making me paranoid. Really, it is.

Rent

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 01:40:01 GMT

Tonight, my friend, my mom and I were supposed to see Rent. I was super excited and everything - I mean, this is the Broadway tour (I believe? At the very least it has Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal) and it was a Saturday and spring break is starting, and everything was just perfect. Except the tickets I bought were for yesterday.
I don't know what went wrong. Maybe I clicked the wrong day on accident, who knows. But either way, we went to see what we could do about it, and thankfully, there is a semi-solution - we could try back the next day, 10 minutes before the show started, and if there were any extra tickets we could exchange them.
Since tomorrow is Sunday, and there's two showings (one at 1, the other at 6:30) we'll more than likely get to see it. This is Minneapolis, after all - there aren't THAT many people who're going to go to it. But while I know we'll get to watch it, there's still a large part of me that wants to cry right now.
I was so excited. Really. Going to a musical, with a friend, on a Saturday - I could almost imagine I was living in New York already, seeing it on Broadway, in college or not, just...free, i guess. And then there was the realization, that we wouldn't see it - and, I don't know, I just...don't want to have to go on Sunday. And since we'll try for both times, just in case the first is sold out, we'll probably end up seeing the 1:00 show - because it more than likely won't be sold out. There's somehting about Sunday shows I hate - I think it's the finality of it all, that this is ending, and it's over. It's even worse though that this is a matinee Sunday show before an evening Sunday show - it's not quite final, but it's close, and added to that, it's in the middle of the day, and when we get out the sun'll still be out, and then there's the knowledge that the real last show is still to come, but you're too lame to go to it, and it makes me feel like I'm an old woman already. I don't want to go on Sunday.
I'm not sure if my friend feels the same way. Maybe it's just that I was the one who bought the tickets, I was the one to screw up - but I think I'd feel this way even if I hadn't, even if it wasn't my fault.

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 15:56:04 GMT

...byyyyyy FREDERICK DOUGLAS *le gasp*

Aaaaanyway, another English book. MUCH easier than Ze Scarlett Letter, and much more interesting. I really don't want to summarize it though. I mean, we already have to do that in English class...but I guess I will. *sigh* The things I do for this...
So. We have Frederick Douglas. He's born a slave. He describes life as a slave. In detail. Sort of. (we'll just say it's graphic). He gets moved from master to master a lot, contrasts city slaves with plantation slaves, contrasts different masters, etc.
(That's a summary, right? Well, even if it's not, it's as much as I'll say right now.)
I enjoyed the book, like I said. It was interesting and ACTION-PACKED! (like, fast-paced, you know? I don't mean that in a bad way...), not P L O D D I N G and descriptive and sloooow like Hawthorne's (not that that's necessarily bad! I did say I liked it! It's just...kinda boring. A lot). Frederick Douglas can describe in a very vivid way, which is good.

So that's that. I do have one more little note however: I've recently discovered that LibraryThing, which I am a member of, has groups, and there's one called 75 books for 2009, which I am a part of, and in which I can keep track of books. It's really easy, since I don't have to write much, like do for this (I mean, I don't have to write a lot for this, but I feel like I should), which means it goes a lot faster...these entries always take me so long, by the time I'm done, I've read three more books. So, this'll just be a journal from now on, as it was intended, and I can count my books over there. (I'm fredanria, fyi, same as here)

Sammy Keyes and the Cold, Hard Cash by Wendelin Van Draanen

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 03:05:19 GMT

So, I really like Sammy Keyes. In fact, a couple days ago, I bought the first book, since I decided it was worth it (my sister's started reading). I really like Sammy as a narrator; she's funny, and her ways of describing things are fun to read.
It is true that some of the mystery parts of the books are a little bs; for example, I remember thinking the psycho kitty queen one was a little dumb.And it wasn't hard at all to figure out what was going on in this one. But others were either interesting or unexpected (including recent ones, so it's not just that she's running out of ideas).
I think I tend to enjoy the ones with more real danger than the ones with fake or silly danger. Like, I really enjoyed Sammy Keyes and the Wild Things. I mean, it was creeepy. And Sammy Keyes and the Search for Snake Eyes? Or Sammy Keyes and the Curse of Moustache Mary? Same.
Not that the mystery's the only part of it! Definitely not. Reading about Sammy and Heather is always a ton of fun (mainly only when Sammy is getting revenge), and I was really happy when Casey was introduced. I definitely tried to read these books out of order too, and while it can be done, it's better chronologically. Some of the sub-plots make a lot more sense, and are a lot more interesting.
So. In this particular Sammy Keyes, Sammy runs into an old guy on her fire escape, and basically scares him to death; that is, he has a heart attack. He's carrying tons of cash on him too, and the final thing he asks her is to get rid of it. Suspicious yet?
Well, Sammy's always been broke, so she of course persuades herself into thinking that the old man just wanted her to get rid of the money, and she can do that by spending it right? It's a win-win situation.
Sammy can now buy Hudson a gift to thank him, treat Marissa to a smoothie instead of the other way around, etc., and she does, all the while doing some sleuthing to figure out who that old guy was, and why he had so much cash on him...

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 03:57:16 GMT

I have desperately been trying to avoid it, but it has come to this: I have begun almost stock-piling my list of finished books, to be done in one big post (it is true, however, that a few of them were read while I was in a place without an Internet connection, but that doesn't excuse the rest.)
So. Be prepared, because here they come:
(Oh, and by the way, though previously I've tried to keep these posts spoiler free, this one will probably contain many SPOILERS so I'll warn you now)
**SPOILERS** **SPOILERS** **SPOILERS** **ALERT** **ALERT** **ALERT**

Crown Duel and Court Duel* by Sherwood Smith: I have now tried to summarize this book four times without success, so you know what? I give up. Here's a review courtesy of Amazon:
Young Countess Meliara swears to her dying father that she and her brother will defend their people from the growing greed of the king. That promise leads them into a war for which they are ill-prepared, which threatens the very people they are trying to protect. But war is simple compared to what follows in peacetime. Meliara is summoned to live at the royal palace, where friends and enemies look alike, and intrigue fills the dance halls and the drawing rooms. If she is to survive, Meliara must learn a whole new way of fighting-with wits and words and secret alliances.
In war, at least, she knew in whom she could trust. Now she can trust no one.

A little dramatic perhaps, but fairly true. I first got Crown/Court Duel after reading the short story that was in Firebirds (an anthology) called Beauty. It was about Meliara's daughter, and it got me interested. This was my first re-reading of Crown/Court Duel since then, and I still love it.
The courtship via letters is one of my favorite things about the books; in fact, I love the entire romance aspect. Not that that's the only reason I read the books; but it's probably the reason I like them as much as I do.
I also really like the various extra scenes you can find at Sherwood Smith's website; they're at The Long Project. I really enjoy reading the same scenes from alternate viewpoints, and some of the extras are fairly funny as well.

Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley: A retelling of Beauty and the Beast; for those of you unfamiliar with the this one is similar to her previous retelling in some details, but in general is quite different. This is the first version I've read of the story in which the Beast doesn't return to human form after the curse is broken. Instead Beauty decides to keep the Beast in his animal form after discovering that a return to human form would bring their names to be spoken all over, but in fear and loathing.
I liked that ending. I've always thought that the Beast should stay a Beast, and this is the first story I've ever come across that ends this way. I'd love to find more books like this, if anyone has suggestions.

Belle by Cameron Dokey: Another retelling of Beauty and the Beast, and also a part of the Once Upon a Time... series. I enjoyed it, but like many of the Once Upon a Time... series books, I would've preferred it a little longer; perhaps a little more focus on Belle's time with the Beast? Over half of the book was of Belle with her family, and only about a fourth or a third of her and the Beast. Other then that, it was a fairly well done retelling of Beauty and the Beast; it did remind me of Robin McKinley's Beauty, but maybe that's just because I read it recently.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman: A boy named Tristan Thorn loved a woman, so he went across the Wall that separated his world from the world of Faerie to bring her back a fallen star. Stardust is about the things that happened as he tried to complete this quest.
I must confess that I watched the movie Stardust before I read the book, and I liked it enough that I now own it. I still love it, even after reading the book, mainly because my favorite parts of each are very different.
The movie had the flying pirate ship in more detail, as well as a happier ending, IMO. However, I did like the entire story of the book a little better, and that there was no humongous end battle between Tristan and the witches. So they each have their pros and cons.

Wizard Heir by Cinda Chima: The sequel to Warrior Heir, I enjoyed this book. Another fast-paced, action-y novel. This one is about Seth, who is, obviously, the "Wizard Heir" - by which I assume it is meant that he is a very good wizard, since there isn't any kind of prophecy in these books.
Again, I can't wait to read the third one.

The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley: A retelling of Robin Hood.
Something about this book was lacking I felt...maybe it was the ending, or the characters, but there was definitely something missing. I felt like I didn't get to know some of the characters as much as I would like, such as Robin Hood himself, or Maid Marian (just Marian in this book). I did like Cecil and Little John though; those were two characters I felt like I did get to know.
Like I said, I found the ending lacking. I'm sorry, but being sent off to war - that's not my version of a happy ending, even if they are together.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart: There was...something about this book. I've noticed this with most of E. Lockhart's books; they never leave me feeling like things were resolved. Obviously the Ruby Oliver books were intended to be that way, and I found Fly on the Wall to have a fairly clean ending, but Dramarama and Disreputable History both have the sense that there's more to come. Neither have really happy endings necessarily either, though in both, the main character does "find herself" or learn and grow or whatever. Which I guess a lot of books have, but usually there's something else as well...the problem I'm probably having is that by the end of both Dramarama and Disreputable History, neither main character ends up with anyone but themselves. They don't really have new (or old) good friends who understand them, much less a love interest.
This book also made me angry in more than a couple places. Particularly when Frankie comes clean. It was hard, not being able to yell at everyone she talked to; at the people who called her "psycho". I wanted to reach into the book and shake them.
In fact, I felt quite a few extremes when I was reading Disreputable History. There was the anger side; but then there were also times when I wanted to laugh out loud.
In the end, Disreputable is definitely worth the read.

The Eternals by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by John Romita Jr.: I enjoyed this...book. Technically, it's a "graphic novel" or a comic, but it had enough words to be considered a book, so I'll list it here.
From what I gathered from the interviews at the back of the book, this was based on a Jack Kirby comic of the same name. This book takes place later however, with all the Eternals having forgotten who/what they once were, with the exception of a couple. The Eternals enemies, called the Deviants, have no such problems; this first book is about one Eternal figuring out who he is, and how to stop the Deviants from potentially destroying the earth.
The series (or whatever you call it) isn't over, so I look forward to finishing it.

It is also now officially 2009, which means that this will begin my book count! I've been wanting to do this for years, but never been able to since I always forget half-way through and lose count. Bu this year, with the help of lj, I shall prevail!
To start right off:
1. The Narrative of Frederick Douglas by Frederick Douglas
2. Sammy Keyes and the Cold, Hard Cash by Wendelin Van Draanen
I'm also going to try doing seperate reviews and summaries, since I don't like cramming this many books in one post (read: I don't like having to write this much at once, and now I'm feeling lazy, so this way I can just post these two later.)

ETA: After this entry, my reviews actually become more like reviews, and I start doing books in seperate entries, to makes finding things easier.

*The funny thing about Court and Crown Duel is that I got them both for Christmas, and I ended up with the new version of Crown Duel that has BOTH stories, AND the stand-alone Court Duel book! I would be a little upset that I got duplicates instead of a different book, but the new Crown Duel(/Court Duel) book has a special extra scene, and I absolutely love the cover art for the old Court Duel. (Plus, it's an old library book since they don't make them in print anymore, so it has little notes in the front about how good it is, which made me smile). So I guess everything turned out okay in the end.

I feel BLARGish

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 02:51:33 GMT

So I had a swim meet today. First one with my YWCA team in over...half a year. First meet in general in a month and a half. And I died.
I don't know what it was; a combination of the pool and the fact that I haven't swam in forever more than likely. But either way, it was pretty bad.
In fact, this entire week has been pretty bad. I mean, in some ways, it was good; there was holiday cheer and good food, and we didn't suck at our band concert, and I finished quite a few books. But everything that happened up until...3:30 every day of the week sucked. I have been perpetually tired, and therefore grumpy, and there've been tests, including an oral one in French that involved skits which I failed at because I was so frickin' nervous, and while we've read some cool stuff in English (Poe), our teacher hasn't been in the greatest mood this week (we haven't been analyzing very well).
And to top everything off, I accidentally got locked outside our house, resulting in a 45 minute wait on our steps while I waited for my mom to get home. And no, it was not nice out. It was cold, and my boots weren't very warm, so I ended up freezing. And then I had to go to the bathroom, so I used the porta-potty my neighbors had set up for the people who were doing work on their house. It was pretty bad.

In other news, I have finished three books: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Warrior Heir by Cinda Chima, and Rogue's Home by Hilari Bell.
The Scarlet Letter was read for English, and it was okay. Not horrible, actually, but a book you really have to concentrate on to understand. It wasn't too long, and I did enjoy the story a little; Hawthorne is an amazingly descriptive writer. However, it is true it's a little slow sometimes, and pretty hard to understand.

The Warrior Heir was a good book; nothing too special, but definitely a fine fantasy to read. I'd already read it once, so there weren't too many surprises this time, but it was still satisfying (that looks like the wrong spelling...even though it's not). I was in need of some fantasy after reading so much of Madeleine L'engle. I'm looking forward to The Wizard Heir and The Dragon Heir as well.

Finally, Rogue's Home. I really love Hilari Bell as a writer. I first read her book The Goblin Wood, and I loved it completely, which led me to read ever other book she had out at the time, and to read ever new book that came out as well. I enjoyed The Last Knight, though I don't know if I would buy it, and Rogue's Home was the same way. A pretty good plot, and I really like the characters, but I'm unsure about the reread.

Minnesota with its Minnesota-ness

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 21:05:37 GMT

I need to live somewhere else.
Because right now, the Minnesota-ness of Minnesota is killing me. Physically and mentally. And kinda emotionally too.
1. Physical. It's cold outside and I think my feet are frozen, even though I'm indoors. And the only shoes you can wear in the winter in Minnesota are boots. :P
2. Mental. I am really craving musicals right now. I don't know why, but whatever the reason, Minnesota is not helping because there are only ever one musical going on at a time that's professional, and right now it's a weird one based on some Minnesotan guy and I WANT TO SEE JERSEY BOYS WAAAAAAHHH!!!!
So you see, this has crushed me mentally. I am depressed. :(
3. All the guys in Minnesota are very...Minnesotan. I mean, it's hard not to be. So some of the things I'd want in a boyfriend are kinda scarce around here. This is making me depressed emotionally. Because I am seriously beginning to doubt if there's any guy out there who'd be good for me. Which actually isn't a problem that's specifically Minnesotan. But oh well. :'(

God I'm so pathetic.

But I really do want to go to a musical. Which, I mean, I am tonight (Grease), but it doesn't count as much because it's a school musical.

ETA: GREASE WAS AMAZING.
(Even though Sandy was super quiet and they had to mike her, and neither her, nor Danny, nor Kenicke could be heard in the songs they had that weren't solos, and there was something going on with the mikes, so that kind of ruined It's Raining on Prom Night, and Sandy always looked really awkward, which she's supposed to, but still, this Sandy just looked a little disproportionate, *gasp* which I don't think is what they were going for and there were a lot of problems. But the T-Birds and The Pink Ladies were so funny, and some of the songs were wonderful.)

Madeleine L'engle and some good old-fashioned fantasy

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 21:25:05 GMT

So, two books have been finished: The Arm of the Starfish, and Beauty.

The Arm of the Starfish is by Madeleine L'engle, and I enjoyed it. I did have a little bit of a problem finishing it however...
See, in Starfish, there are a couple places where the book lulls, and unfortunately I got stuck in one of those places. I had just gotten to the part when Adam's getting off the plane with Joshua and they're having a conversation, and I put the book down. Big no-no. I did that with An Acceptable Time too, and I didn't end up finishing it for months. Luckily, it wasn't as long this time (probably because AoS is a library book and had to be returned), but I still had to force myself to go back.

I feel like that's a common problem I tend to have with Madeleine L'engle's books. I'll be reading them, and I'll put them down, intending to come back to finish them, but...I won't want to. Sometimes, I have to read a couple other books before I can return, and sometimes I just have to have something else I want to put off (as in the case of Starfish, where I just wanted to put off doing math homework). Other times, I have to buckle down and make myself read it.

Anyway, moving on. Other than that problem, I enjoyed Starfish. It was fairly fast-paced, and a little creepy in some parts, which I liked. However, I did have some issues with Meg and Calvin. While I semi-enjoyed seeing them all grown up, I didn't like that suddenly it seemed like they didn't have much character...I felt they were too similar to the Austin parents. I mean, yes, they grew up and everything, but even in A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Meg still had her Meg-ness, and I didn't feel that that much in this book. As I've said, I love it when authors have overlapping characters, but not when those characters change their personality for no apparent reason.

(and by the way, can someone tell me if Charles Wallace makes an appearance in any of the books outside of the Time Quartet, because I'm just wondering...it feels like he vanished off the face of the earth.)

Beauty is by Robin McKinley, and I really enjoyed it. Of course, I enjoy most retellings of fairy tales. Something about them makes me all happy inside :)
I don't think McKinley did too much that was really out there or anything...I think the sisters are supposed to be mean or something, but other than that it was fairly straightforward. A good one for fairy tale lovers.

Moving past the books for now, and on to the more important things: Christmas and the holidays.
I think that Christmas time has always been my favorite time of year. It used to be because of the presents, but in the past few years it's become more because I love the festivity. I love the preparations: the lights, the tree, the ornaments, and, most importantly, the snow. I love watching Christmas movies and while part of me knows that miracles don't happen like that, Santa's not real, etc., there's something about those movies that makes me believe in the whole thing.
Last night we decorated our tree and watched Eloise at the Plaza and Eloise at Christmas, and it was nice. I'm hoping we have many more nights like that to come.

Twilight, and Chicago

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 02:50:30 GMT

So, I saw Twilight. And it was so much better than the book.
Yes, it's true that the effects were bad (Edward's sparkling looked more like sweating). And that some of the lines were horrible. However, in general, it was better. Edward gained some semblance of a personality that he lacked in the books, as did Bella. In fact, most of the characters gained something...extra. Maybe that happens with all books-turned-movies, but in most cases, I don't notice simply because I like the books better. Who knows? In any case, I don't know if I'll ever be able to read the books again - I'd rather just rewatch the movie.

I went to Chicago for five days and have come back convinced that I am going to have to live either there or New York to be happy when I'm old. I also bought myself new clothes and a book- City of Bones. Can I just say right now that I think Valentine is Clary's dad? (I'm at the part where Hodge has JUST told Clary when Valentine "died", so this is only a prediction based on the fact that he "died" when Clary was born.)

(Oh, I know what it is about Twilight! I don't have to hear everything through Bella's whiny, waaaay too descriptive voice. I don't have to listen to her inner dialogue with herself - I mean, she doesn't actually SAY much. She just thinks it.)

Let It Snow, 21 Proms

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 03:37:11 GMT

So. Went to the library for the second time in a week. I now have over 20 books to keep me going; I'm hoping to get through 3-5 this weekend while I'm in Chicago.
Newest books finished: two multiple-story books, Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle, and 21 Proms by a variety of authors.
First: Let It Snow, a three-story holiday romance-y book. I liked all three stories, and I loved how they tied in together. I always like books where the main characters interact with each other, but don't necessarily know each other. It's a little more like real life, and it makes me happy. Mainly because I can go, "Oh I know her!" , and it's like that feeling you get when you someone's talking about a person you know.
So all in all, I think Let It Snow was a nice holiday book. I don't know how much I'll read it at other times, but if you're looking for a book to read with hot chocolate when it's snowing outside, this is it.

As for 21 Proms, it was an antholgy of - what else? - prom stories. I enjoyed some stories, I didn't like others, and a couple I didn't understand. I'm glad I bought it, in the end though, so it's fine.

New book finished!

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:33:21 GMT

Title: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Author: Sherman Alexie

I liked this book; it was a fairly quick read, in equal parts funny and serious. Not necessarily the type of book that will change your life forever, but definitely worth reading.

ETA: So a better review: I liked TATDoaPTI (how's that for a really long title?), but I don't know how much I'd reread it. It's funny, and it's a good story, but not one I'd reread for the feeling it gives me. You know how some books are like that? They just give you a feeling...be it happy or sad, or maybe it's the feeling and essence of summer, or winter, or being cozy and at home. Part-Time Indian didn't give me a feeling like that, so I don't know if I'd read it again anytime soon (probably won't read until I've forgotten parts of the plot in fact...)

Twilight, I give you my soul.

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 21:13:06 GMT

I recently (okay, like two weeks ago) found out that November is Write A Novel month. In honor of this, I'm going to attempt to write a novel (oooo, shocking!). I've come up with what I'd like to be the premise; now I just need to figure out what I want the main plot to be. Yes, I know. Kind of hard to write a story with only the beginning, so that's what I'll mainly be working on while writing this. That, and keeping it from being solipsistic (new vocabulary word courtesy of Cleolinda Jones).

So, I'll get to work on that - eventually. Right now, I'm kind of focused on Twilight. No, I am not one of those people who believes that Stephenie Meyer is the new Jane Austen. Twilight is a guilty pleasure that sends me into gleeful happiness while at the same time filling me with disgust.
So I've been watching and reading interviews with the cast, reading Cleolinda's commentary and links, watching and RE-watching the trailers (over and over and over...). I can't help it. It makes my inner rabid fan come out. (Sort of.)
And guess what? I've decided I actually like most of the actors in the movie. For example: Jackson Rathbone, who not only sounds smart in his interviews, he also looks decent - when his hair isn't dyed and styled oddly, and he doesn't have white face powder on. Kellan Lutz is pretty much the same, and while I still think Rob Pattinson looks funny, I also think he's got a very accurate idea of what Twilight's really about - I mean, have you heard some of his comments? (No? Okay, well: "And I realized that it's just Bella saying he's so beautiful and she's just in love with him and obsessed with him so he could be like a piece of cheese and she would think the same thing." and "I'd go with Jacob," Pattinson said. "Jacob is way more interesting...If you have a girlfriend that's like Edward...yeah, you're hot and everything, but just shut up." Isn't it wonderful?
ETA: And then he told Kristen Stewart her cat was going to die and I cracked up.)

A New Attempted Project

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 02:35:37 GMT

It's been a long time goal of mine to have a way of keeping track of all the books I've read, as a way to make sure I don't end up rereading something without realizing I'm rereading...I've done that a couple times, and it's a weird feeling. I've also had a couple times when I think I've read something, but I can't remember.
So, in with this goal in mind, I'm going to try to start blogging about the different books I read. I'll try to summarize, and review.

First book: Papertowns by John Green
I was anxiously awaiting Papertowns release after not only reading Looking for Alaska and An Abundance for Katherines, but also following John Green and his brother Hank on YouTube as they did their vlogging project, Brotherhood 2.0. Recently, John has not only been on a Papertowns release tour, but also a Nerdfighter tour (I personally am a Nerdfighter, and I was really excited to see us mentioned in the Acknowledgments in Papertowns), and I went to hear him read and talk.
It had been mentioned that there would be "unspeakable surprises", and it turned out it was Papertowns, out early! I bought not only that but also a copy of Let It Snow, a book with three short stories by John Green, Lauren Myracle, and Maureen Johnson (yet to finish). I must admit, I already had (and still have) multiple library and books borrowed from friends, so I put off reading Papertowns until my pile of books had diminished slightly. I didn't get around to reading it for three weeks or so.

Papertowns was worth the wait. It's about Quentin, or Q., and a girl named Margo Roth Spiegelmann. Three weeks before the end of their high school careers, Margo enlists Q. to help her pull a series of pranks, then disappears the next day, leaving Q. a series of clues. Q., along with three friends, follows them, and along the way learns a lot about himself, and his misconceptions, not only of Margo, but of others as well.
I loved Papertowns. It's a great book, equal parts funny and reflective. I loved the treasure hunt element to it - going from clue to clue. You get to see Q. transform from seeing Margo as an almost mythical figure and idealizing her, to realizing that Margo is a person. Q. and his friends are hilarious, and there are some really funny, random details in the book, much like all of John Green's books.