And Joseph's brother sold him down the river for a song.

Long time no bloggg D:

Before I go into rants about other things, books will come first, I guess. (and I have my spell check back this time. Woo!)

So when finding out my love of reading, Eric insisted that I read a couple of his books so we could see if our taste in books relate. He gave me a copy of The Hammer of Eden by Ken Follett (who I only recently learned that he is a famous and well known author thats written like, a billion books), and London Bridges by James Patterson. I actually haven't gotten around to reading the James Patterson yet, but I DID read the Ken Follett and....uh, wow. He writes an intriguing story line, but his writing itself is nothing to applaud. I can see him doing better as a filmwriter...that'd actually be pretty cool, I think o_o.
The Hammer of Eden was told from two different point of views. First, we have Priest. Leader of a commune of hippies. Priest and a few followers decide to place a threat to the government that they will cause earthquakes unless they stop building power plants...which they can really do, thanks to seismologist-turned-hippie, Melanie. Then we have Judy Maddox, FBI agent placed in charge of tracking down the group before an earthquake strikes. Ok, sounds stupid. In a way, it kinda was. But I'm not saying it's the great American novel. But when I took the time to read it, it was better than I thought it'd be. So, Follett gets credit for that. Nevertheless, I saw Follett's book The Man From St. Petersburg at the Friends of the Library and bought it for a quarter in preparation for the next rainy day.



I also read Love, Rosie (Previously published as Rosie Dunne) by Ceceila Ahern, same lady who wrote book-into-movie, PS, I Love You. I'm not gonna bother to elaborate. Chick lit that you could finish over a boring rainy weekend. Not a waste of time, but I'd only read it if you have time to waste...that didn't make much sense...nevermind.



And now, I'm reading two different books (...yeah >_>):

The Color Purple, by Alice Walker. Brittany has always been telling me I need to watch the movie, and since I had the book sitting around, I thought I'd give it a try. Should be finished with it any day now, if I'd just sit down and finish it already. It's not bad, and I like how it's written in letters to both God and Nettie but at the same time a journal. I was thinking Celie was a lesbien at first, but then I decided that she wasn't. Kinda crazy how in the whole book guys keep cheating on their wives and no one really cares...haha...haaa...ha?
Im also interested to see what the musical's like. I'm sure it's good, but I can't really picture it as a musical, so it's something I'll need to check out. When I get around to it.



Finally, we have The Green Mile! Yeah...I had never planned to read a Stephen King book, but here I am. I bought two copies of it at the Benecia Friends of the Library after Eric and I watched the movie the night before and decided that we needed to read it. Then we're gonna discuss if the book was as awesome as the movie. So far I like it, but I'm only on chapter six. For some reason I thought it would be one of those hard reads, but it's actually pretty simple...aside from the few names I can't really pronounce. Better review when I finish it.



Travis had his 21st birthday this weekend. And now he is old. Muahaha. But happy birthday (again) to Tavi :) Lots and lots of people came, and Eric surprised me by showing up even though he was supposed to be gone the whole weekend doing manly army training junk on Mair (Mayer? Mare? Don't care.) Island. And I got to meet Tavi's new special lady friend ;D Tehehehehe.

Getting my wisdom (teeth) taken out this Friday. Yay, druuuugs! I hope I don't turn into a chipmunk, but with my luck, I probably will.

Recent peeeectures just for the heck of it that will cause your interweb to lag because I didn't resize them!:

At Tavi's birthday (sorry, tilt your head) In order, top row- Mom, Paul, Eric, Adam, Katie, Kon, Thai. Front- Me/Natalie, Rachel, Marcus, Curtis, Henry, and Jesse:


Dad and I aren't very fond of cameras (from our recent camping trip, a few weeks ago)


What Katie, Rachel and I did on Halloween =P


And look, it's Raptor Jesus!

Although we can't jitterbug as we did then

The title has nothing to do with this post. It's just a line from this song I've been listening to nonstop. I've been listening to a lot of Yellowcard lately. Probably one of the only awesome rock bands that uses a violin.
I should also mention that I'm on a different computer today. A computer that doesn't use Firefox. This means my spelling probably won't be as good, since Internet Explorer is stupid and doesn't have one of those built in spell-check thingies.

I have two books, an Andy Warhol art exhibit, and a Journey, Heart and Cheap Trick concert to talk about today. It's 11:58, and I need to be at the library by 3:30. I think I can get it all out in time :P

Books first, I guess.

If you remember, in my last post I wrote about a book called A Million Little Pieces. It wasn't a bad book, but his constant throwing up did get annoying. (Speaking of throwing up, I threw up my breakfast this morning. Not fun.) Recently, I read James Frey's second book that follows along after A Million Little Pieces. It is called My Friend Leonard, and it was a billion gajillion times better than it's older brother. There was no throwing up, and there was more about someone I had been wating to learn more about - Leonard.
Instead of reading about James trying to clean himself up, we read about his life after jail as he tries to start over.
Spoiler: I really, really hate it when someone doesn't read the first book in a series, and then makes stupid comments about the second or third or whatever book, jut making themselves look stupid. The other day, I was looking at some discussions online about My Friend Leonard, and there's this chick, going "OMG IT WAS SOOO STUPID TO START THE BOOK WITH A FREAKIN DEAD GIRLFRIEND! WE DIDN'T EVEN GET TO KNOW HER OR ANYTHING!!!!111!!111!!!!" Said dead girlfriend, is Lilly. And you know, Stupid Person Making Stupid Comments, if you read the first book, you would have known quite a lot about Lilly, and you would have known even before starting the second book, that Lilly was going to be dead the day James got out of jail. So for us smarty pants that read them in order, we may have gotten a bit teary-eyed, but we didn't go off on stupid rants about something we already knew was going to happen :)




The next book is called A Long Way Down, by one of my favorite authors, Nick Hornby. To sum this book up in one sentance, you could say it's the funniest book about suicide you'll ever find. I cheered and rooted for the characters along the way, and had to laugh at how they couldn't stand each other, but somehow could never manage to stay apart. It has four protagonists and told from four different point of views; Martin, a well known TV talk show host, Jess, an angsty teenage girl, Maureen, mother of a "vegetable," and JJ, a musician. All four meet on New Year's Eve at Toppers House, which is really a well known rooftop in London for people ready to end their lives.
It sounds like a sad story, but really, it's anything but. I was in a bit of a slump myself when I started reading it, but I loved it and couldn't be in bad mood while reading :)




Andy Warhol can be next.
Andy Warhol is one of my favorite artists, so I was pretty excited when I found out we were going to be seeing a mini-exhibit of his at The Crocker Art Museum. There was ten silk screened paintings (so by the end my feet weren't dying). All the pieces went together, and were part of Andy Warhol's Athletes Series. Each painting had a different athlete. Altogether, we saw paintings of Dorothy Hamill, Muhammad Ali, Pele, Jack Nicklaus, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Chris Evert, Willie Shoemaker, Tom Seaver, OJ Simpson and Rod Gilbert.

And now, the Journey concert!
In case you didn't know, I lovelovelovelovelove Journey. When a friend asked if I wanted to go with him to a Journey, Heart, and Cheap Trick concert, I was pretty excited. Jumping up and down excited. The concert, itself, was amazing. At first I was a little scared that Arnel Pineda wouldn't live up to the awesomeness that is Steve Perry, but after the first song, my worries were completely gone. It was more crowded than any place I'd ever been, so that was annoying. Our seats were far, but we could stil hear perfectly. Drunk people stumbled around me, but I came out safe. Oh, and then there was the issue with the person that I went along with, but I won't get into that. But anyways, Journey now replaces any band I've seen as the greatest band to see live.

I had to cut everything short today. I still need time to eat lunch and watch a Discovery Project Earth thingy.

Bye bye :)

Because my Mommy told me to write something.

*Bleeeeep* The following post is experiencing a few technical difficulties. Because of this, I am unable to take italicized lettering OFF for more than one letter. I am sorry for this mishap and hope you enjoy it nonetheless. *Bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep*

Soundtrack to this post is Stomp. As in the one with trash cans and broomsticks. The version I have on now is Stomp Out Loud, on DVD. Listening to it has no effect whatsoever on the way this post is read, but it might be fun :)

Because I was reminded a few days ago that this was initially a book blog, I'll go ahead and list all the books I've read since last bloggage post.

Because the awfulness of it still saddens me and has yet to leave my mind, we'll start with the recently released fourth book in the bestselling Twilight series, Breaking Dawn.
The first thing that comes to mind, as I reminisce the last book in the Bella's an Annoying Brat/Edward Should Just Eat Her/Jacob Deserves to Like Someone Better Saga, is that I wasted my time reading a seven hundred and fifty page book that was even WORSE than the books before it. I mean, woahhh. And I thought Eclipse (book three) was horrible! I really didn't think it was even possible for Stephenie Meyer to write the final book in the series and have it WORSE than Eclipse. The storyline I'm not going to even bother writing about, because...
A) No one that reads this stupid blog cares a butt about Twilight, and
B) None of it is worth remembering. Just that it shouldn't be read.
Plus, some awful brainwashed Twilight fan is going to go and name their baby girl Renesmee now, I just know it.

Moving on to a few books that I actually enjoyed.

A Million Little Pieces, by James Frey.
A Million Little Pieces is about a twenty-three year old man and his strange and vomit filled path to being free of his alcohol and drug addiction. He's wanted in a number of states and ran away from each one without bail. The book begins as he wakes up on an airplane. He doesn't know why he's on it, where he's going, or how he got there. What he does know is that he's covered in blood, vomit, spit, snot, and lots of other icky substances that no one really wants to be covered in. His face is mangled and he's missing four front teeth. And no, he doesn't know how any of that happened, either.
As he lands and leaves the plane, he finds his parents waiting for him. (Uh oh.) Shortly after, he's checked into a famous Minnesota drug treatment center where the doctors tell him with one more drink or drug usage, he'll be dead in just a few days.
This is his memoir of the whole thing. It wasn't a bad book, I finished it quick enough, and I didn't regret my time doing so once finished [coughBREAKINGDAWNcough]. Parts of it do get redundant, and I admit to skimming over a few of the one million vomiting scenes. Big events in the book take forever to go over, so I kinda skimmed those too. To fix those four missing front teeth he lost, he gets a root canal surgery without the assistance of painkillers or anesthesia. The fact that it hurt (a lot) gets through our midns quite clearly, as he spends ten pages describing the mind-blowing waves of "bayonet" pain by digging his fingers into two old tennis balls until his nails crack. [After this point is when the spoiler alert alarm goes off in warning. Be awares!]
Another thing I didn't especially like, is that even though he spends half the book vomiting and craving and being angry; he actually makes the whole "getting better" process seem...easy. Easy, she says?! That's insane! Well, he did. He's at the most famous get-better-center, where even then the success rate was lower than twenty percent (I think it was fourteen...or seven...only thing I remember for sure is that it was under twenty), he won't listen to a single thing anyone tells him to do, and what? He gets better! He won't follow the program, he won't always take his pills, bla bla bla. In the end, he gets better because he "wanted to." Which, doesn't make sense. To me, at least. He had WANTED to get better multiple times before that, and obviously, he hadn't. Loads of peoples have WANTED to get better, but did they? Nosireee. So why, this one time, for this one man, does simply WANTING something make it happen? Oh well.
Oh, and heard about the whole faking the whole story controversy? Click me!
It's a six page long article, though. I personally skimmed most of it :P (You'll realize I do a lot of skimming.)
If the whole book is a lie or not, I don't really care. He lied, which I kinda care about, but we all lie. The book probably would have sold even if it was published as fiction (Although Oprah helped a lot in the book sales for it, hahaha). In the end, I had a not half book to read, fiction or not.


And now, another book! :O
The Memory of Running, by Ron McLarty.
A book that sat, dusty and lonely, as it waited on my bookshelf for me to pick up and read. I finally did. Begining was slow, but a fourth of the way though I got into it.
Our hero is Smity Ide; forty-three year old, two hundred seventy-nine pound, smoking and drinking, self proclaimed "loser."
The book flips from past to present. While narrating the past, we learn about Smithy's sister, Bethany. Beautiful, throws off her clothes at random, hold impossible poses for long periods of time as if she were a statue, runs away frequenly to who knows where, and responds to the command of a voice in her head, be it to make a salad or murder a dog.
Back in the present, Bethany had ran away for the umpteenth time, and this time couldn't be found, and never came home. By the time she's fifty one, the Ide family gets a letter that she's now in the LA Morgue West.
On a half drunken whim, Smithy hops onto his old Raleigh bycicle and rides, eventually, accross America, all the way to Bethany. Along the road he meets a number of people of all sorts and see's the world and the people in it in a way he never had before.
I don't have much to say about this book, because I didn't exactly love it, but I don't have much to complain or rant about either.
The only thing that bugged me was that I wanted to know exactly what was up with Bethany that made her do the things she did...as in a classified name for it? They never tell us, and it seems as if they don't know, either. She'd see a doctor frequently, but they never told me the reader what exactly was going on. I'm probably the only one that bothered to overthink that part, but whatever.


I'm pretty sure I've read more books than that, but I don't really feel like writing about them. So I won't :D

Currently I'm readind About a Boy by Nick Hornby. I'll tell about it once finished. Just by hearing the storlines of the books he writes, I wouldn't usually be interested. But I really like Nick Hornby as an author, so he makes them worth it.

In other news that has nothing to do with the books I read, I got new glasses. They are huge and purple. See below. I lowered the picture size so my face wouldn't kill your computer moniter. Hopefully.


In more news that has nothing to do with books, I went to another concert this month. Wooooo. And, I didn't even have to get to Sacramento or somewhere further than I'd like to go. It was in FAIRFIELD! I saw the flyer, and was like, WOAH! Three awesomtastic bands that I love and in most cases would have to travel at least an hour to see, are playing together in FAIRFIELD! Ahhhh!
Bands being, Hazel and Vine, Daphne Loves Derby, and BIDWELL :D Two other bands were there, too...Fight Fair and Hannah something or other, but yeah. Took lotsa picturesss.
I found it awkward/weird/really cool that the guys in Bidwell still remembered me, when they saw me after the concert. I mean of course it was fun, they're really awesome and nice guys; but at the same time I wasn't sure how I should behave or whatever, seeing as I met them through getting in their show for free with You-Know-Who. But it went totally fine, and they gave me a t-shirt because I went ahead and bought their CD once they told me they needed gas money,. and had to push their van a bit of the way there (it's happened before, so I believed it, haha).

In one more thing that has nothing to do with books, we went to a Frida Kahlo art exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco. It was crowded with annoying people that made really stupid comments, but it wasn't too bad. We took the BART because my mommy hates driving and trying to park in San Francisco. Parts of our day shown below -

(We became fast friends with the smiling dudes. It was hard not to when they were so happy to see us.)






And we also found these little guys.


The End.

The other day I got two new bookcases (:

This made me extremely happy. You know, the day I find another living human that would be as happy and enthusiastic about bookcases as myself, I think I'll be in love.

Why does this make me happy? Well, I'm sure many readers like myself have this problem at one point or another. See, books aren't exactly big, but as they accumulate over time they tend to get...unwieldy? I think that word works. And you begin to have trouble finding places to PUT THEM ALL. One way to work around this is to have filled bookcases and then random book piles laying all over the place. It works. But isn't much fun. OR you could go buy a new bookcase! Once you find somewhere to fit it, that is. Some old ugly furniture had to leave this weekend in order to make room for my books (:

I also (sadly) pulled out some books that I'll be donating to the library. Because the library has a lot more bookshelves than I do.

Fanime, and some study questionions I've been meaning to post.

I'm still laughing at this picture =P

Got back from Fanime...two weeks ago? I had a very, very fun time :D Only way it could have been better was if I could have stayed longer. It was soooo fun to finally see some of my friends again...rather than talking to them through the computer >_<. I mean, even the four hour line for concert tickets was fun! But, yeah, Roy and I were really waiting for four hours -_-. The others had their tickets already, but he waited to get his with me. Everyone else kept popping up randomly throughout the four hours to mingle and bring us food. And the concert, which was on the second day...was massively worth the wait. Sucks they had to replace Bou with that Takuya guy, but hey, he's good too. As long as they never replace Kanon I will be mooore than happy. They were so cute when they were trying to speak English to the audience. Hahahahaaaa...

Lol at Miku who sounds like he has peanut butter in his mouth.

The Fanime dealers hall is pretty small, so we were only in there for an hour or so on the first day. Not too bad, though. I bought the cutest panda hat >__<. That night a few of us went to the raveee too. What raves have to do with anime, I don't rightly know, but they sure are fun. I fail at glow sticking, though.

My competition. There were other people there that were better. Haha.

Elevators extremely suck, too...when it takes forever to get one. I mean, when we DID manage to get one, we were squished like sardines. And if it took just waaaaaaay too long to get one, that's whent he stairs come in. Sucks for you if you're all the way on the top floor. I ended up going up the stairs from floor 2 to 16 twice. It would have been three times, but during one of the trips we decided halfway through that we were just too lazy.

Right before I left, Albert and Ann plopped a giant box of panda cookies in my hands. Because, "Albert forgot your adobo!" I'm eating some right nowww (panda cookies, not adobo). They are...the cutest things ever. I can't bear to throw away the little baggies. Maybe I'll save them all and make an Andy Worhol-esque picture. Hahaha.

So, it was really great to be able to see some of my friends again. That was honestly the best part. Made me feel good with how excited they were to see me, too ^__^. I felt real shy and nervous for a little while, but I got out of it pretty quickly...haha.





Now those book questions I've been meaning to post...

I am the Messenger Discussion Questions:

1. What does Ed learn about his friends and how does this change how he relates to them. Do you see a correlation in how you see your friends?
Ed learns that his friends are more thoughtful than he realizes. He learns that they too have their own problems that they just chose not to share with the others, thinking the same things about them as Ed used to. In the end, they all learn that their friends are more than just a bunch of card players drinking beer.

2. How do Ed’s family relationships evolve?
Ed and his mother become closer, in a way. The rest of his family weren't really in the book much. He confronts his mother about her cold behavior towards him, and when she tells him, he can't really deny that it's true. But after learning how the other feels, they both get a kick in the head for a reality check and decide it's time to do something about it, rather than just screaming at each other all the time.

3. Do you think the Doorman is an important element to the story? Why?

I think the Doorman is Ed's greatest friend...even if he is a dog. He tells the Doorman anything he's thinking, and in his head, the Doorman responds words Ed does and doesn't want to hear. Plus Ed makes the Doorman coffee! And when he goes out to eat, he doesn't just save his leftovers, but he buys something especially for the Doorman. Hahahahaha. The Doorman is my favorite character :D

4. What is the role of the thugs? What is their message?
Which thugs? Ed really does get beat up a lot in the book. But I'm going to assume you mean he time the six guys pummeled him after Ed beat that Rose boy.
I think Ed was SUPPOSED to get beaten up, to show that he completed his task. By having Gavin Rose's brother care enough to send all those other guys to find Ed showed that the two brothers could care and take care of each other, which is exactly what he was supposed to do.

5. Of all of Ed’s assignments which one did you enjoy most? Which one troubled you the most?
I think I enjoyed the one with Ritchie and Marv the most. Because they were people Ed had known for so long, but realized that there was so much to his two best friends that he could never even have imagined to be true, and in the end brought them closer together now that they had a better understanding of the other.

6. What do you think is in store for Ed’s future?
I think he'll try and do more with his life, now that he knows he's capable of so much more than he thought he was.

What book are you reading now?
The Sweet Far Thing, Wasteland, Love in the Present Tense, I Am the Messenger, and...FREEDOM FROM FEAR >=O

What are your favorite books? [You can put specific books or genres or both.]
Tuck Everlasting, anything by John Green, The Bears Famous Invasion of Sicily.

How did you learn to read?
BOB BOOKS FTW!

What foreign languages do you read?
None :(

What 's the funniest book you ever read?
It's Kind of a Funny Story, by Ned Vizzini.

What books have changed the way you look at the world or the way you live your life?
Hmmm ... I'll get back to you on that one >_>

What books have affirmed what you believe about life or the way you look at things?
Uhhh ... Harry Potter.
Just kidding.

What books have you changed your mind about?
What do you mean?

What are some of the scariest books you've ever read?
Winkie probably wouldn't count. Soooo ... Lord of the Flies. I try to not read anything too scary.
Everyone says that book Crank was one of the scariest books they've read, but I don't see how. Yes, it's a very dark and unhappy story, but come on, the storyline itself was extremely typical.

About how many books do you think you have you read in your life?
....alot @__@

About how many books do you own?
Not enough (:

How many books per month do you usually borrow from the library?
Maybe about five or so, but I never get around to reading them all.

How much would you say you've paid in library fines in your life?
Oh don't EVEN get me thinking about library fines -_-

Do you read in bed?
Yuppo.

Do you ever read while walking or driving?
Uhhh ... walking, yes. But reading while driving should probably be illegal, haha. Unless of course it's that brand new Twilight book and you absolutely musttttt knows what happens next O_O

OK, let's get real. Where is the strangest place you've read a book?
A public restroom, and under my bed :P

Do you listen to audio books?
Yes.
But I hate them.
A lot.

Has anyone ever read aloud to you or you to them? Tell us more.
Yes and yes. I don't really know what there is to elaborate on here.

What book was the most difficult to read?
Wicked is proving itself to be a little difficult. So was Phantom of the Opera, Jane Eyre and ... which Jane Austen book did I try reading?

Do you read every word of a book, or skip parts that don't hold your interest?
Depends on the book. I try not to skip parts, though.

What books do you keep intending to read but put off?
Wicked, and the last two Harry Potter's.

Do you buy new or used books, paperbacks or hardbacks, leather or collector's items?
All of the above, minus the leather and collectors items. A good majority of my books have come used from library book shelves, and my own findings from when I get to withdraw their books =D

How do you feel about writing in books, dog earing, etc
Dog earing...? Hold on, let me look that up.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhh. Hahaha. Thanks, Urbandictionary.com.
Ok, well, I don't like either one of those habits. *Evil glare towards mother*

What is the first book you remember reading?
Uhhhhhh ...

Do you lend your books? Ever had to hire Large Louis to get it back for you?
Large Louis? Let me pull out Urban dictionary again.
Ok, nevermind, can't find it.
I only lend my books when I'm certain they'll be taken care of. Because in general I'm a little O.C.D. about that.

What were your favorite books when you were a child?
Akiko! Oh wait ... I still read those. Hmmm...Junie B. Jones? I never likes those Beverly Clearly books like the other kids :(

What children's books do you most enjoy as an adult?
I don't think I'm an adult yet, haha. But I still read the Akiko's =D
Sadly, I've decided to move on from Junie B. Jones, though.

What books would you especially recommend to young people?
The Tale of Desperoux!

Do you ever read the ending first?
No way dudeee.

Did you ever agree to read the book somebody was pushing on you
if they would read one for you in exchange? What were the books?
Not exactly. I didn't read the Twilight books until after EVERYONE started pushing me to, though... same with Crank. And I tell my friends books to read all the time.

Have you ever read a book more than once?
Tuck Everlasting, Surviving the Applewhites, and the Twilight books.
Tuck Everlasting because I just find it a really nice book (:
Surviving the Applewhites...probably because I wish I could homeschool like that and still be smart.
Twilight because I love me some Edward goodness. Kidding. I honestly don't know why. They're just addicting.

What frequently recommended books have you been unable to finish?
If it's frequently recommended and I start it, I'll finish it. That way I can actually talk with someone about books, whether it was good or bad. I like thrashing other peoples opinions on what they consider great books.

Which of these world classics did you actually plow through at one time or another in your life?
[ ]The Iliad
[ ]The Odyssey
[ ]The Aeneid
[ ]Dante's Inferno
[ ]Paradise Lost
[ ]Goethe's Faust
[ ]War and Peace
[ ]Ulysses
[Musical's enough for me, thanks]Les Miserables
[ ]Atlas Shrugged
[ ]Moby Dick
[ ]Gone with the Wind
[ ]Remembrance of Things
[ ]Past
[ ]Churchill's History of England
[ ]Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

The End.



I actually came to write about a book, not fill out a survey. But since I stumbled upon it, I thought why not.
Yesterday I finished 84, Charing Cross Road, by Helene Hanff. It's a story told through letters, mostly from the poor and witty New York writer, Helen Hanff, and an old used bookseller in London, Frank Doel. Their first correspondence occurs when Helene writes to Frank's store, Marks & Co. Booksellers, looking for a few books she had been unable to find elsewhere. From then on, they continue to keep in touch, with their equal love of books binding them together (Books? Binding? Get it? Muahahaha I'm so lame!). Helen insists on sending the company gifts to show her appreciation. Over time, other employees at Marks & Co. decide that they want to write to Helen too, so they do so behind Franks back. Soon enough, Helen even begins writing to Frank's wife and daughters.
One of the things I liked about this book was the contrast between Helen and Frank, with her humor and his proper Bristishness. I also enjoyed reading along as two people that had never met could become the greatest of friends.

There's a sequel as well, but I don't think I'm going to read it, due to reasons I can't say right here without spoiling the first book. But maybe I'll read it someday ... when I have more time. I might read Q's Legacy, though...mayyyybe. Again, when I have more time. Oh! And there's also an 84, Charing Cross Road MOVIE!!! Which I have yet to see, but I'm hoping to see that one too (as in BEFORE I have more time).

In other news, it is extremely hot here, as I sit on Jesse's bed typing this utterly boring blog post. I don't like heat. In fact, I HATE heat. And yes, hate is a very strong word.

And now I feel like
continuing to write words
of post in poem.

Haiku, yes it is~!
Why do I write in haiku?
I don't rightly know.

Perhaps it is due
from utterly immense of
ABSOLUTE BOREDOM.

Across the hallway
I can hear them taking turns
mother and father

...as they continue
to snore as loud as Bigfoot.
It is slightly strange.

Now I will go to
lay down and read my book
and fall asleep...yay!

ybgfr

HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I’M A CARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
GAS-O-LINE-MAKES-ME-RUN!

(I decided to make my entrance Dane Cook style)

Well, since I have last posted…um…
I’ve read a lot? =/

Chasing Windmills by Catherine Ryan Hyde;
That was pretty cool. My mom checked out the book for herself but I stole it instead, to see if Mrs. Hyde’s books are as good as I’ve heard. The story kept me reading and I thought the writing was very gooooood. Poor Sebastian though geeeezeeeeeeee. Now I’m reading another book by her called Love, in the Present Tense. So far, I still like her writing, but I’m having a bit of trouble getting into the story this time. I’m not giving up though! GOGOGOGOGOGOGONATIGO.

Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli was completed as well. It’s the sequel to Stargirl. This one was written more as a journal, taking place from Stargirl’s point of view, after she’s moved away from Arizona (or..I think that’s where they used to be). But to be exact, what Stargirl was writing was a massively long letter to her darling that jilted her, Leo.
I liked the first book better.
I love Stargirl as a character, but having her tell the story didn’t fit well for me. The first was from Leo’s point of view, where he would tell us what he saw of Stargirl. What was really going on in her head was supposed to be a mystery to us. Having her tell us her thoughts in this new book was just weird and slightly annoying at times.
But it was still a nice read. It was nice to have the characters return after so long.

I also finished (in about a day, if you add up the reading hours), more of a..chick-lit novel. Because I heard and read from fifty bajillion sources that Sarah Dessen is like the epitome of bittersweet chick novels that’ll make you cry. Which isn’t really my thing…but I wanted to see what she was like anyway. So I read Dreamland. It was about..as good as I expected it to be. I expected a story that wasn’t at its best, not the great american novel; but a good light read. Although the reading was light, the story was not. That girl got into a lot of sticky stuff o__o. I guess I can see why other girls my age would like her books so much, though. I mean they’re not bad…they’re just not anything special. I’ll probably read a few more of her books if I find one that catches my attention. During the summer, though. When I’ll have more time to read books that don’t matter (haha).

Speaking of Sara Dessen…on my recent trip to Copperfield’s Books, it came to my attention that on May 22, E. Lockhart, Lauren Myracle, and yes, Sarah Dessen would all be in attendance. I’m hoping to go, but we’ll see. Although I also wanted to see Carl Hiassen this month too…

…and the Powerman 5000 concert is the day before Sara Dessen too!!! I’m so demanding grahhh. I’d actually rather see Powerman more than Sarah Desson…but I don’t think I’ll be able to find a way to get there…so that one might be out of the question, hahahaaa.

Currently reading: I Am the Messenger (Markus Zusak), Love, in the Present Tense (Cathering Ryan Hyde), and The Sweet Far Thing (STILL)((Libba Bray)).

In other news, I’m thinking of doing a play! Acting or tech, I can’t decide. I’ll probably end up trying to do tech, though. But acting is still a itty bitty option. Itty. Bitty. The production is Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew!

I've also been getting into Les Miserables. I've had that Les Miserables in concert tape thing that I bought at the thrift store (three bucks woo!) for awhile now, but never watched it until Megan and Margy came over, and Margy wanted to watch it. Mom cried. Hahahahaha. Since then, I've downloaded all the different songs they had off Limewire (lucky my computer survived it), and attempted reading Spark Notes in hopes to get a better grasp on the story. Brittany's also studying it for school; but she's not doing the musical. She's reading the 1,400 page book. We try and understand it better together. Without much luck...but hey, we're trying. I'm listening to those Limewire-downloaded songs as I type! =O

AND I’M GOING TO FANIME DURING MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Oh, and take a look at what I made the other day! Hahahahaha. I'm an alien!

Book review (:

The Dead Father's Club - written by Matt Haig

Compared to what I’ve been reading lately, this book was a nice change of pace…because it was good. The Dead Father’s Club is a new take on Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Set in modern time England, and through the eyes on an eleven year old boy named Phillip.

Phillip’s (AKA Hamlet's) father was killed in a car accident, and no more than a few weeks later, his father’s brother, Alan (Claudius), moves into their home set on marrying Phillip’s mother (Gertrude). Who doesn’t hesitate to sleep with him (ewww). Throughout the story, his father’s ghost appears to Phillip. He says he was murdered by Alan, and the only way for him to die in peace is for Phillip to get his father’s revenge and kill the murderer; his own Uncle Alan.

Revenge and murder turn out to be a bit more difficult than Phillip planned. Especially with so many distractions. Mainly caused by his own self doubt on what to do next.

Oh, and we know any version of Hamlet retold cannot be done without an Ophelia. In The Dead Father's Club, she goes by the name of Leah. She somehow becomes Phillip's girlfriend just for the heck of it (ahhh, young love). But of course, these being young children, they have their differences from the original Hamlet and Ophelia.

I felt sorry for Phillip in this book >_<. I mainly had anger towards his father, though. I mean, Phillip is ELEVEN YEARS OLD! And he is put through his mother getting re-married to his uncle in less than two months after his fathers death, and then dads ghost comes along and says he has to kill him?! I MEAN COME ON. WHAT THE HECK. In the beginning Phillip goes along with everything his father’s ghost tells him. He doesn’t realize until later (after his father’s wrong accusations have gotten him into more problems), that maybe he shouldn't be listening to a ghost, and it may be better to just trust the living. So pretty much throughout this whole book, little Phillip is making decisions that even adults wouldn’t be able to handle gracefully.

At book club (being the reason why I read this book), we discussed what we would each do if we were Phillip. Beforehand, we had each said Phillip wasn’t making the best decisions by floating around in la la land doing whatever daddy told him. But then thinking about it as if it were us, we started to re-think what we said about Phillip =/ So if my dad died and his ghost came back and said in order for him to rest in peace, I had to kill…sayyyy…my uncle Efren, who was meanwhile making moves on my mom…what would I do? Even if my dad was getting me into more problems, he’s still my dad, so you feel kinda obligated to listen. Even then, I don’t think I would go through with any killing, no matter how much I wanted to listen to daddy-o. I don’t have enough guts to murder anyone. So, final verdict...very good book, if you can get past it's "original" way if storytelling. Once you're into it, you won't be putting it down (:

Todays finds~

Ahhhh. I love book shopping. Especially when I don’t have to sell my organs to have enough dough to pay for them (I think the retail prices for books have been going up--has anyone else noticed, or is it just me getting poorer? ><). Used and old bookstores are always so much more fun for me, anyways! Never know what you’ll find ^__^. Browsing through the shelves…and oh, what’s this! That out of print version of Pride and Prejudice in French for $5.00 that you could only find online for $78.99! Woooooooooooo!

Well, I didn’t exactly go on an adventure yesterday, I only spent ten minutes in the library bookstore after my shift was over. I didn’t find an out of print copy of Pride and Prejudice in French, either. I simply picked up four books to add onto my bookshelf of books I have yet to read (I’m running out of book space). I don’t get more books just to get them, honest…I just acquire them at a much faster pace than I can read them. I would say that I’d be catching up on my reading this summer, but I don’t really know if I actually will or not. I had lots of reading time last summer, but at that time I wasn’t doing nearly as much as I do now.

Sighsssssssssssssssssss. Looking at the “In Hopes of Reading Sometime Soon” shelf…I’m starting to wonder if I really will or not. I mean someday I’m sure I’ll get to reading them, but some of the books there I’d really love to, but kinda doubt that I will. A few examples of this are the intriguing-looking, but also big and intimidating looking hardcovers of Beloved, The Hundred Secret Senses (Gahhh but come on! It‘s Amy Tan!), White Oleander, and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Well, here’s to hoping…*cheers*.

Anyways, back to the topic of the books I bough yesterday…before I was sidetracked by my overwhelming shelf. I picked up -

The Almost Moon, Alice Seybold --- It’s autographed and a pre-release edition!!!

The Memory of Running, Ron McLarry

The Ha-Ha, Dave King - This and above are also pre-releases. I collect those, in case you couldn’t tell =P)

Snow Falling on Ceders, David Guterson - Just a regular copy. I’ve been haring a lot about it, and it looks good, so yeah.

If anyone gets to reading these books before me, let me know how they are. But no spoilers, please :)

Pictures!

Lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala. I'm sitting here listening to, THE BELLA CULLEN PROJECT. A band from Arlington, Texas that Brittany showed me. Interesting stuff. I guess it's ok, seeing as I'm listening to it, but it's not really my type. It's very...peaceful o_O. Which is exactly why the lyrics for this Sexy Vampire song don't work well at all with the way these chicks are singing. If the band name didn't give it away, they sings songs based and inspired from the Twilight series books. Which is what makes them weird. Anyways, I felt like posting some pictures my friend and I took while at Lake Solano (:





( I loved that mural, under the bridge!)




(Ducks)


All taken with the tiny Lumix DC Vario~

I posted them small, so I wouldn't kill internet browsers as they try to load this page.

Test test test

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I deleted all my old posts.

(:

Here we go again.