I'm a big fan of James Dashner, so I decided to begin the year with his series The 13th Reality. The series is four books: The Journal of Curious Letters, The Hunt for Dark Infinity, The Blade of Shattered Hope, and The Void of Mist and Thunder.
Atticus "Tick" Higginbottom is launched on an adventure when he receives a mysterious letter from a stranger in Alaska. This and future letters lead Tick to join a group of scientists called the Realitants whose mission it is to understand quantum physics and the new realities created by our decisions. Reality Prime has other realities branching off it, each of which contain "alterants" of people who live in the main reality. In one of the realities, the 13th, the power behind everything, chi'karda has mutated and is being used by the crazy Mistress Jane, who wants to destroy all realities but her own.
Dashner often breaks the rules of children's fiction, the main one being that you get rid of the adults so the kids can solve the problems. Tick's family is alive and well and often helps him accomplish his mission. Dashner also requires great sacrifice from his heroes, considerably beyond what is typical for a kid's book.
One of the best things about these books is that they make science cool. The Realitants are a group of scientists who must save all the realities from destruction. Tick and his friends (Sofia, Paul, Sato, Master George, Mothball, and Rutger) must use both science and love to save the world. That's a pretty good message.
James Dashner has delivered a story that kids will find fun and entertaining while possibly learning a little something, too.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
My Results from 2012
So I am only 3 months late, but here is my post about the rest of the movies and books I got through in 2012. Overall, I read 41 books and watched 43 movies. I am pretty happy about those results. I honestly didn't think I would make it that far. It was good for me to have a goal, even if I didn't make it.
Here is the list of the rest of the movies I watched:
Children of Heaven
The Woman in Black
The Odd Life of Timothy Green
The Wedding Date
The Backup Plan
View From the Top
The Christmas Clause
Life of Pi
Mirror, Mirror
Mrs. Miracle
Les Miserables
The rest of the books I read:
Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Pattillo
The Christmas List by Richard Paul Evans
Christmas Letters by Debbie Macomber
An Acquaintance with Darkness by Ann Rinaldi
My Loving Vigil Keeping by Carla Kelly
If you want to know my opinion about any of the books or movies, let me know and I will be more than happy to tell you.
Here is the list of the rest of the movies I watched:
Children of Heaven
The Woman in Black
The Odd Life of Timothy Green
The Wedding Date
The Backup Plan
View From the Top
The Christmas Clause
Life of Pi
Mirror, Mirror
Mrs. Miracle
Les Miserables
The rest of the books I read:
Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Pattillo
The Christmas List by Richard Paul Evans
Christmas Letters by Debbie Macomber
An Acquaintance with Darkness by Ann Rinaldi
My Loving Vigil Keeping by Carla Kelly
If you want to know my opinion about any of the books or movies, let me know and I will be more than happy to tell you.
Monday, February 18, 2013
The Winter of Our Discontent
It's been a long time since I've read anything by John Steinbeck, and I think he's great. So I got The Winter of Our Discontent as an audio book and listened to it during my commute. The title of the novel comes from Shakespeare's Richard III, and in that play we see what one man is willing to do to achieve his ends.
I'm really glad I listened to this book. Although, I've spent several days recovering from it. Steinbeck is an amazing writer. His descriptions alone are worth reading. That being said, Steinbeck is tough, and this novel is slow moving. Like many of his books, this one drags the reader through the mud before finally giving a little spark of hope at the end. The happy theme of this is corruption and dishonesty taking over America as seen in the life of one man and his family.
It's written in the first person (except for some random chapters in the middle that are inexplicably and jarringly written in the third person) from the perspective of Ethan Allen Hawley. Hawley considers himself an honest man, and he is. He comes from an old family, who used to have money, but now Ethan works as a grocery clerk in a store he used to own. What starts as a game on Good Friday leads to Ethan's complete moral destruction by the Fourth of July.
A fortune teller, some passing conversations with a bank teller, and Ethan's own dissatisfaction with being a grocery clerk, leads him slowly down a pathway of decisions that destroy the man he used to be. And it happened so easily and organically, that Ethan seems to wonder how it all got that far. He convinces himself that integrity is something that he can put on and take off like a shirt and go about his life as if nothing has changed. Just as killing people in the war didn't make him a killer, taking advantage of someone else, or robbing a bank to get ahead won't make him a thief forever.
But in the end, he figures out that he was wrong. He sees his own moral failings in his dishonest and cheating son. Ethan suddenly can't live with himself.
The female characters are interesting in this novel. Hawley's wife is kind of a thin character; there's not much to her. Her friend Marjorie is described by Ethan as a predator, and she is. She wants to lead him down the morally corrupt path and snare him at the end. It's Ethan's daughter Ellen that ends up being a surprising and interesting character. He mistakes her for just another shallow, selfish, teenage girl. In the end it's her perceptiveness that saves Ethan and gives the reader hope for the Hawleys and for the country.
I'm really glad I listened to this book. Although, I've spent several days recovering from it. Steinbeck is an amazing writer. His descriptions alone are worth reading. That being said, Steinbeck is tough, and this novel is slow moving. Like many of his books, this one drags the reader through the mud before finally giving a little spark of hope at the end. The happy theme of this is corruption and dishonesty taking over America as seen in the life of one man and his family.
It's written in the first person (except for some random chapters in the middle that are inexplicably and jarringly written in the third person) from the perspective of Ethan Allen Hawley. Hawley considers himself an honest man, and he is. He comes from an old family, who used to have money, but now Ethan works as a grocery clerk in a store he used to own. What starts as a game on Good Friday leads to Ethan's complete moral destruction by the Fourth of July.
A fortune teller, some passing conversations with a bank teller, and Ethan's own dissatisfaction with being a grocery clerk, leads him slowly down a pathway of decisions that destroy the man he used to be. And it happened so easily and organically, that Ethan seems to wonder how it all got that far. He convinces himself that integrity is something that he can put on and take off like a shirt and go about his life as if nothing has changed. Just as killing people in the war didn't make him a killer, taking advantage of someone else, or robbing a bank to get ahead won't make him a thief forever.
But in the end, he figures out that he was wrong. He sees his own moral failings in his dishonest and cheating son. Ethan suddenly can't live with himself.
The female characters are interesting in this novel. Hawley's wife is kind of a thin character; there's not much to her. Her friend Marjorie is described by Ethan as a predator, and she is. She wants to lead him down the morally corrupt path and snare him at the end. It's Ethan's daughter Ellen that ends up being a surprising and interesting character. He mistakes her for just another shallow, selfish, teenage girl. In the end it's her perceptiveness that saves Ethan and gives the reader hope for the Hawleys and for the country.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
What the Dog Saw
What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures, by Malcolm Gladwell has been sitting on my shelf for a while waiting for me to pick it up. I've enjoyed Gladwell's work ever since I read The Tipping Point several years ago. He has an easily identifiable style, and I like the way he writes clearly and beautifully lays out the story he's telling.
This book is a collection of essays that he originally wrote for The New Yorker magazine. It's divided into three sections. The first section looks at minor geniuses; the second looks at ways we organize experience; the third section looks at the predictions we make about other people.
Gladwell explores hair dye, the birth control pill, choking versus panicking, the Challenger disaster, job interviews, ketchup, and pit bulls among many other topics. One of my favorites was the essay "Million-Dollar Murray" which looked at solving the problem of homelessness instead of just managing it.
I don't think you have to agree with everything he writes to enjoy Malcolm Gladwell's writing. It will help you look at the world, or at least some small part of it, in a new way.
This book is a collection of essays that he originally wrote for The New Yorker magazine. It's divided into three sections. The first section looks at minor geniuses; the second looks at ways we organize experience; the third section looks at the predictions we make about other people.
Gladwell explores hair dye, the birth control pill, choking versus panicking, the Challenger disaster, job interviews, ketchup, and pit bulls among many other topics. One of my favorites was the essay "Million-Dollar Murray" which looked at solving the problem of homelessness instead of just managing it.
I don't think you have to agree with everything he writes to enjoy Malcolm Gladwell's writing. It will help you look at the world, or at least some small part of it, in a new way.
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Three audio books to begin the year
I've been meaning to read something, anything, by P.G. Wodehouse for a long time. Finally, I picked up the audio version of Carry On, Jeeves. It was read by Martin Jarvis, and he was fabulous. I loved the book so much that I immediately got the audio version of My Man Jeeves. Jeeves is the private valet or gentleman's personal gentleman to Bertie Wooster. Jeeves is where we get the iconic character of the well-educated butler and his amazing ability to solve problems and do just about anything. Bertie is a self-proclaimed "chump" and I don't know how he got along before he met Jeeves. These books consist of short stories in which Bertie or one of Bertie's friends gets into a ridiculous scrape that Jeeves must then get him out of. Carry On, Jeeves also had stories about Bertie's friend Reggie Pepper. I liked those stories, but I liked the Jeeves stories best. I'm not sure why I liked the stories so much or why I found them so funny, but I did. I think I will major in Wodehouse for the 50/50 challenge this year.
Next, I listened to Three Men in a Boat, by Jerome K. Jerome. I enjoyed it, and it was pretty funny. But I didn't find it as friendly or welcoming, if you know what I mean, as the Jeeves books, so I didn't like this as much as I did those. I think I would have enjoyed it more had I not just listed to the Wodehouse books. The scene in which the men try to open a pineapple tin without a can opener is pretty awesome.
Next, I listened to Three Men in a Boat, by Jerome K. Jerome. I enjoyed it, and it was pretty funny. But I didn't find it as friendly or welcoming, if you know what I mean, as the Jeeves books, so I didn't like this as much as I did those. I think I would have enjoyed it more had I not just listed to the Wodehouse books. The scene in which the men try to open a pineapple tin without a can opener is pretty awesome.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Happy new year!
Happy 2013 to all our contributors and readers! Did you complete the 50/50 challenge? Did you at least read a few books and see a few movies you might not otherwise have read or seen?
I made it to just over 50 books. WooHoo! I only made it to 34 movies. Bummer. I'll do better this year.
I plan to repeat the 50/50 challenge in 2013. I hope you'll join me. Even if you don't do the challenge, I hope you'll keep reading the blog and sharing your book and movie recommendations.
I hope you find amazing books and films in 2013!
I made it to just over 50 books. WooHoo! I only made it to 34 movies. Bummer. I'll do better this year.
I plan to repeat the 50/50 challenge in 2013. I hope you'll join me. Even if you don't do the challenge, I hope you'll keep reading the blog and sharing your book and movie recommendations.
I hope you find amazing books and films in 2013!
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
My 50 Flicks
So, I tried at the beginning of this challenge to write a little about each of the movies I watched. Well, that seemed an overwhelming task. The thought of writing about each one seemed to take the enjoyment out of the challenge a little, not sure why. I actually like to write, but it became more challenging than the actual movie watching.
I previously watched a few movies and mentioned them in another post, but what I ended up doing is over the course of the year I just kept a list of all the new movies I watched and here now is the list. It is not in the exact order I watched them, at least not the first ones on the list, but it is the complete list. My attempt at 50 new movies in a year culminated with the Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey this past Saturday.
As far as reading the books, yeah, that didn't happen. I did read seven or eight over the course of the year which is pretty good for me, just ask my sister. Anyway, here is my list of 50 new movies.
1. The Hunger Games
2. Mirror Mirror
3. The Avengers
4. Step Into Liquid
5. The Tale of Despereaux
6. Rango
7. The Zookeeper
8. Scorched
9. Chaos Theory
10. That Thing You Do
11. Man on a Ledge
12. Men in Black 3
13. Burlesque
14. Snow White & the Huntsman
15. The Endless Summer
16. War Horse
17. We Bought A Zoo
18. Tower Heist
19. Rock of Ages
20. Kung Fu Panda 2
21. Hugo
22. Cars 2
23. Brave
24. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
25. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island
26. This Means War
27. The Amazing Spiderman
28. Blue Crush 2
29. 16 Love
30. Ride the Divide
31. Xanadu
32. Highwater
33. The Dark Knight Rises
34. Double Dare
35. The Bourne Legacy
36. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
37. My Fair Lady
38. Footloose 2011
39. A Thousand Words
40. Crazy on the Outside
41. Premium Rush
42. Katy Perry: The Movie
43. From Russia With Love
44. Emma
45. The Fifth Element
46. The Double
47. Pitch Perfect
48. Here Comes The Boom
49. Skyfall
50. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
If you want to know what any of these movies were about let me know and I'll do my best to explain.
Happy New Year!!
I previously watched a few movies and mentioned them in another post, but what I ended up doing is over the course of the year I just kept a list of all the new movies I watched and here now is the list. It is not in the exact order I watched them, at least not the first ones on the list, but it is the complete list. My attempt at 50 new movies in a year culminated with the Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey this past Saturday.
As far as reading the books, yeah, that didn't happen. I did read seven or eight over the course of the year which is pretty good for me, just ask my sister. Anyway, here is my list of 50 new movies.
1. The Hunger Games
2. Mirror Mirror
3. The Avengers
4. Step Into Liquid
5. The Tale of Despereaux
6. Rango
7. The Zookeeper
8. Scorched
9. Chaos Theory
10. That Thing You Do
11. Man on a Ledge
12. Men in Black 3
13. Burlesque
14. Snow White & the Huntsman
15. The Endless Summer
16. War Horse
17. We Bought A Zoo
18. Tower Heist
19. Rock of Ages
20. Kung Fu Panda 2
21. Hugo
22. Cars 2
23. Brave
24. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
25. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island
26. This Means War
27. The Amazing Spiderman
28. Blue Crush 2
29. 16 Love
30. Ride the Divide
31. Xanadu
32. Highwater
33. The Dark Knight Rises
34. Double Dare
35. The Bourne Legacy
36. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
37. My Fair Lady
38. Footloose 2011
39. A Thousand Words
40. Crazy on the Outside
41. Premium Rush
42. Katy Perry: The Movie
43. From Russia With Love
44. Emma
45. The Fifth Element
46. The Double
47. Pitch Perfect
48. Here Comes The Boom
49. Skyfall
50. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
If you want to know what any of these movies were about let me know and I'll do my best to explain.
Happy New Year!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)