the book of lost things. john connolly. (293)

i don't know how the book of lost things, got on my to-read list.  i thought it was new book, but it has been out since 2006.  i read it on some list as a retelling of fairy tales, which is why i check it out, this type of work is part of my book riot read harder challenge.

before i have start, i have to say that i wish i had discovered this work earlier because then i could have shared it with my grandma.  this is totally something she would have loved.  it actually reminded me of the abc show, once upon the time.  i mean i feel that conolly could have been a writer for a series, especially since the villain, the crooked man, turned out to be rumplstiltskin, just like the series.  also, the whole ripping pit the heart to take one's soul and lifetime was just like once as well.

the novel opened with a young boy, david, losing his mother.  he was a lover of books and they begin talking to him.  his father remarried a woman named rose and they have a child, george.  david and his father move into rose's home.  he stayed in a room that previously belonged to her uncle, a fellow book lover that disappeared one day with his adopted sister.

david began to see a crooked man and have nightmares and one day ended up traveling to another world through a hole in a tree (kind of like, once).  

on the other side, he befriended a woodcutter that saved his life and suggested that he go to the king to help

him return home.  the king had a book, the book of lost things (the title) that should help him!

along the way, david encountered different characters and hears tales similar to the fairy tales that he loves.  he meets half wolf/half human creatures that are offspring of little red riding hood who decided to lie with wolves instead of kill them.  he met a crazy woman that combined the bodies of humans and animals so that she had new creatures to hunt.  he heard the story of hansel and gretel but in this version, gretel saved the day but instead of living happily ever after with gretel, hansel went looking for his mother and ened up disappearing after entering the home of an old woman.  he met a knight that turned out to be gay and searching for his lover who had gone out looking for briar rose aka sleeping beauty. he also shared a morbid tale bad on the prince and pauper.  

in the end, david escaped death a handful of times and ended up at the king's castle.  however, he discovered that the king was in cahoots with the crooked man.  it turned out the crooked man took the hearts of children which then added years to his life.  he sought out children who hated their siblings and convinced them to bring their siblings to the other world so he could steal the siblings' hearts and years and then make the jealous child the king or queen.  this is what happen to david's stepmother's uncle.  the crooked man wanted the name of george and would make david king.  however, david resist and the king and crooked men were destroyed by the wolf/man hybrids.  and david returned home.

i have to add this novel went on to share the rest of david's life which felt excessive, but in the end, david ended up back in the magical land.  minus all the evil, of course.

an enjoyable read.  i, of course, loved all the retellings of the fairy tales, so thanks book riot for this challenge.

brown girl dreaming. jacqueline woodson. (260)

i checked out jacqueline woodson's brown girl dreaming after i read that it won the national book award for young people's literature.  i remember seeing articles about someone making an offensive joke at the awards ceremony but regardless was still excited for

it's win and couldn't wait to read it.

this book was truly amazing.  it is a collection of poems which made me weary, because i am not good with poetry. however, it was free verse and read more like prose then poetry.  as a whole, the poems are a memoir, sharing woodson's life growing up in both the north and south during the civil rights era.  the poems also share woodson's childhood dream of becomig a writer.

i initially considered getting this book as a gift for my friend tiffany but figured i should read a book first before i gift it.  i really wish i had just given it to her.  the beginning of the book reminded me of her parents.  her father grew up in the south and her mother in california and just like jacqueline's parents, their experiences with discrimation and racism in america differed.  papa gibson is always telling us stories about how it was in the south and mama gibson shares how she never experienced any of that.  woodson's father's family in the north lived in a very different america then her mother's family in the south. it was inspiring to see how woodson's family from the north had a long string of professionals in their family which fueled a desire for success for the younger generations.  yet at the same time it was frustrating to see her mother's family still suffering from discrimination due to jim crow laws. 

brown girl dreaming is more then just a memoir because through her poems woodson tells a part of america's history that normally goes untold or unstudied.  her poems covered the meetings held by marchers, the training necessary for lunch counter sit-ins, the rise of the black panther movement, choosing to wear one's hair natural, there was even a poem about angela davis.  woodson gave voice to the black experience in america. 

her poems also shared woodson's personal history, her time as a baby in ohio, then in the south when her parents divorce and finally in new york.  due to this i connected to the poems personally. since woodson was raised by her grandparents in the south, i related to the poems about them.  some of her poems reminded me of my grandma bea and grandpa jimmy.  "the blanket" woodson shared how when her mom first left for new york, they were not sad because:

. . . the weight 

of our grandparents' love like a blanket

with us beneath it

safe and warm.

though my mother was a single mom, i never felt at a disadvantage because my grandparents' love was greater than i would have had from my father.

"two gods, two worlds" reminded me of my grandpa jimmy.  he was a muslim and i was raised mormon.  as i have shared before, i didn't understand why we would be separated in heaven simply because of our faiths shouldn't our love for each other be more important?  in this poem, woodson who is jehovah wondered what will happen to her grandfather based in lessons she learned about armageddon.  the poem ended with

but i want the world where my daddy is

and don't know why

anybody's God would make me

have to choose.

"bubble-gum cigarettes"

this is exactly how i felt when i realized that my grandfather and i could never be sealed together as the lds church believes is the way for families to stay together in heaven.  i couldn't believe god could be so heartless in dividing up families when we have no choice in who we are sent to and then develop love for each other only to be split up in heaven based on faith.

and since jill was technically my grandpa's favorite all of the poems woodson shared about her grandpa reminded me of my sister and my grandpa.  

the other poems i enjoyed were:

"south carolina at war" in which her grandfather explained to woodson and her siblings why the protesting was going on in the south.  it closes with 

Because you're colored, my grandfather says.

And just as good and bright and beautiful and free as anybody.

and nobody colored in the South is stopping,

my grandfather says,

until everybody knows what's true.

"ghosts" which shared how "whites only" signs were painted over in greenvills except for the bathrooms when a lot of paint wasn't used so the words were "like a ghost standing in front still keeping you out."

"lessons" about how woodson's mom never learned to cook because instead of learning, she wanted to play outside like the boys.  mama realized it wasn't fair that the boys played while the girls were inside, a step forward for feminism though a step back for mom (because know she doesn't know how to cook.)

"stevie and me" in which at the library, woodson discovered stevie which featured characters that looked like her.  she shared:

I'd never believed 

that someone who looked like me

could be in the pages of the book

that someone who looked like me

had a story.

"learning from langston" in which woodson demonstrated how she mimicked hughes' poems to learn how to write.

"music" which shared how woodson's mom didn't let them listen to songs that had the word funk, so they listened to white radio stations.

how too listen #8 

do you remember . . .?

someone's always asking

and someone else, always does.

"the revolution" which likens the revolution to a merry-go-round.

"every wish, one dream" in which woodson wishes on everything to be a writer. (which we all know comes true!)

reading this book was a wonderful experience and i learned so much from it, i can only imagine what young adults will gain.  i highly recommend this book and hope you enjoy it as i much as i did.

can't we talk about something more pleasant?: a memoir. roz chast. (250)

i had seen roz chast's memoir, can we talk about something more pleasant? on a handful of must read list.  however, i didn't start paying attention until i saw it included on best of 2014 lists and since i realized i hadn't read many of the books listed on the best of 2014 lists (though i have read books that came out in 2014), i decided to check it out.

prior to this memoir, i was not familiar with chast work.  she is a cartoonist for the new yorker.  i also was not familiar with the premise for the book.  based on the title and the cover, i thought it was going to be a fun stories of how parents get senile as they grow older and the odd conversations we have with them.  however, it is actually about her dealing with her parents aging and their deaths.  whenever chast tried to have a conversation about death, "can we talk about something more pleasant?" would be her parents' response.  i have to admit that i was a little bit worried about reading this because it has been a year since my grandmother death.  i was worried about it bringing up painful memories or that i might just randomly burst into tears.  it didn't.  though it reminded me how grateful i was to be with my grandma in her final years of life.  i always claimed that it was good for me to be back home for her to keep an eye on me but in reality, it was better to have her taking care of me.

being a graphic memoir, i actually finished the book in a day, probably closer to an afternoon.  it was an enjoyable read though it did remind me that i have a rough time ahead of me as my mom starts to grow older.  in fact, my aunt tracey and my uncle bob too.  but i don't want to think about that now.

the memoir is completely honest.  it covers all of the anxiety and stress that comes with dealing with aging parents.  and chast is a little neurotic and i was often shocked by how she reacted to some events.  for example, when chast's mother had her fall and went to the er, chast did not go to the hospital until a couple of hours after she got the phone call.  i understand that each person deals with emergencies in their own way, but i don't know how she didn't immediately rush to the hospital.  another time i was shocked was when her mother was released and instead of spending the night with her parents, she went back home.  again some people are different.  and i hate to be judgy, because it is tough and i have no idea what i would do if i was in that situation, i mean she is an only child and when i go through this i will have my siblings as support.  i hate to be so mean, but it was still shocking to read. 

and i know that its easier to said then done, but i can honestly say that i have done.  i'm not saying that i am better than chast and i hate to seem so judgy. but i am extremely squeamish when it comes to hospitals, like i could never sit through the emergency scenes in "ER" or the surgery scenes of "nip/tuck", however, i was always fine with staying overnight in the hospital room with my grandma.  in fact, my sister and i stayed with her in icu, one of the nights we were warned could be one of her last (thankfully we had her for a couple more weeks).  

and please don't take the examples as what time person chast.  she was actually very dedicated to making sure her parents were taken care of and comforted.  those were just two incidents that stuck out to me as i read.  there is alot more beauty to this book.  there is of course some humor, and i plan on reading more of her works.  it s a beautiful work in which she pays tribute to her parents and gives a very honest view of how tough it is to deal with death.

a heartbreaking work of staggering genius. dave eggers. (208)

i have discussed this before but i do have hipster tendencies.  so when the huffington post listed the most hipster books of all time, and i had only read a handful of them, i decided to check them out.  i started with dave eggers' a heartbreaking work of staggering genius.

i feel horrible for saying this, especially considering it's premise, a memoir about raising a younger sibling after both parents passing away, but i hated this book.  it took everything i had to actually finish it.  ironically, i should have listened to the rules and suggestions for enjoyment of this book (which is listed at the beginning) it suggested that "the first three or four chapters are all some of you might want to bother with.  that gets you to page 109 or so, which is a nice length, a nice novella sort of length."  i thought eggers was being cheeky when in fact he was just being honest, he knew the second half wasnt' worth it. 

 

a heartbreaking work of staggering genius covers eggers' early twenties and what he encountered raising his little brother, tophe, after having lost both their parents within three months of each other.  they lost their mother to stomach cancer, and the father to what i am assumed was a heart condition  (i feel eggers really didn't share what happen to him, other than his sister finding him kneeling in the driveway one night), since he was a heavy drinker and smoker.  due to the title and the premise, i imagined myself having an emotional connection to the book having just lost my grandmother.  i was actually very hesitant about reading, worried that it would stir up too many memories and thoughts that i was not ready to revisit.  i will admit that reading about their mother is icu was difficult to read, i did cry, reminded of being in icu with my grandmother. and later in the book when eggers discussed his speaking at this mother's memorial service (their parents donated their bodies to science so there wasn't a formal burial), i understood what he went through.  i do recall when my grandmother first entered icu, i thought about what i would say at her funeral.  one feels bad for thinking such thoughts but its something that needs to be considered.  i also identified with egger's uncertainity when it came to speaking at the service.  i was the same way, wanting to share but not wanting too.  though i will add, i didn't want pity like he did but to honor my grandmother.  but that was as far as my identification and enjoyment of the book went.

my enjoyment, seriously only went up until page 109, because that is the only part that truly discussed tophe.  the rest was pretty much about the magazine, he and his friends started, which i did not find interesting at all.  to be completely honest, the only real take away i had from the remainder of the book, was that eggers wasn't casted on mtv's real world: san francisco and that puck came to do a photo shoot for them.  well not for a feature on puck but he was a model, they needed nude models for a piece about humans being the same.  but yeah that is all i really remember.  oh and i would have appreciated the innovativeness of the real world "interview" being a means of eggers discussing his childhood, but then when he had to let the cat out of the bag, recognizing that it was a made up interview to allow for this exploration, so i started to lose interest.

i really hated it.  it was seriously just about the magazine.  it could have been a work of staggering genius if he focused on the issues that he confronted while raising his brother more than whether or not he could still get laid. 

i also think that i may have missed the mark on this book.  had i read it 2000 (though i was in high school, i maybe have been to young) this would have been revolutionary.  maybe if i read it fresh out of college, i would have enjoyed it more.  i don't know what its right, i just know that it bored me.

i also want to add that i see how the book is hipstery.  i mean this is the publishing page!

its very tongue-in-cheek and clever and i would have praised it if i loved the book.  but since i did not enjoy it, i find it excessive and annoying. 

furthermore, there is the "rules" for enjoying the book that i mentioned earlier.  in addition to that there is a preface, contents page, acknowledgements (which runs for like 10 pages and includes diagrams and a random drawing of  a stapler, seriously?!?!?!) all of which i did not read because i did not want to give this book, any more time in my life.  though i will add that in the acknowledgement section, eggers says that the first 200 people that take a picture of a book and your receipt can receive a $5 check from him.  i wonder if people really did that, i would have done that and still felt robbed because the book was horrible.  you can also send it for a fictionalized version of the book on floppy disk, i might look into purchasing that if i still can.  but yeah, i can see the coolness in this, but like anything hipster, if it sucks, one does become annoyed but it.

if a heartbreaking work of staggering genius is on your to-read list, just read up to page 109.  i can tell you the story about real world and puck so you don't have to read the rest.

island of the blue dolphins. scott o'dell. (197)

i decided to finally read island of the blue dolphins because the 4th grade class i was subbing for had read it and their lesson plans included watching the movie and an compare and contrast essay.  since i never read it as a kid, (though grandma bea always tried to get me to read it.  she loved it.  she also wanted me to see the movie, which i never saw), i decided now was the perfect time. plus it helped with my newbery medal mission.

as you can see in the picture, i read an ebook version, but not just any ebook, but one that i checked out via the library!  i went out of town friday, so i didn't have time to go to the library to check it out on saturday.  i considered buying it for my kindle but didn't want to spend $4 when i know i could find a used paperback for $1 (what can i say, i'm cheap.) so i looked for it on overdrive (the app the library uses) and they had it!  so the island of the blue dolphins is the first ebook i checked out from the library.  exciting, i know!  i will always love a physical book but its nice to have ebooks as an option.

island of the blue dolphins is the incredible story of a young girl, karana, that survived on a island by herself for about 18 years.  it is based on an actual person.  prior to my reading, i learned from my friend julianna via her goodreads that the woman this story is based on his buried at the santa barbara mission.  i also learned from my friend thomas that the island of the blue dolphins is one of the channel island.  i am hoping i can take a books and landmarks picture for the island of the dolphins.

karana, was left on the island by herself after a group of aleuts lead by a russian explorer, killed her father and majority of the men from her tribe, after a dispute over payment.  the explorer and aleuts came for otter pellets and then tried to cheat the tribe out of their payment for the hunting.  karana's father was the chief, after his death, the new chief decided to sail to another island for the tribe to migrate too.  he sent ships and the tribe left, but after karana discovered her brother was not on the boat, she went back for him.  i love my little brother, but i don't know if i would be this brave.  she found her brother and they were left stranded together.  then sadly her brother was killed by wild dogs, which left her completely alone.

before i go on, i will add, that i felt there was a lack of emotion in this book.  there was no display of sadness when her father or brother died.  i mean there was big expression of her emotions due to these  these events, everything was stated very matter of fact.  karana, moved on with life rather quickly.  she did want to get revenge on the dogs but i just found it interesting that o'dell did not dwell on these events though they completed changed her life.

karana was extremely resourceful.  though it was forbidden, she had enough common sense to ignore the teachings of the tribe and created her own weapons.  i was also impressed with her ability to hunt and gather for herself.  if  was left on the island i would have died after a few days.  i actually would have probably drowned myself.  it was amazing to see what she endured and how she survived.  its even crazier when one realizes that this was based on an actual person and that woman lived off the land like she did for almost 20 years.  granted it wasn't that much of a change of life for her, unlike if it happened to someone today, but i mean the fact that she didn't go crazy from being by herself is what amazed me.

in the end, she is discovered by a priest and taken to live at the santa barbara mission.  if i was child, i would have been happy for her, but as an adult, i know what mission life entailed.  sadly, i learned via wikipedia that the real woman died after only seven weeks on the mainland.  

still an incredible story and a must read for all kids.

the movie on the other hand was a poor adaption.  i am actually shocked hollywood hasn't done a remake.  i mean that girl from that whale movie a while back would have been perfect. the movie cut out a lot of interesting parts like the elephant seals and devilfish.  i am assuming they were missing because they didn't have trained animals or the technology to fake it.   but yes a remake should happen that is truer to the book.  i am shocked after the success of "castaway", this wasn't made for an kid audience.  hmmm.  i wish i knew someone in hollywood to pitch this too.

all in all, read the book and avoid the movie.  the 4th grade class i subbed for voted this way as well.

birds of america. lorrie moore. (188)

after reading lorrie moore's self-help earlier this year, i decided to read the rest of her works.  i then saw that bj novak mentioned birds of america in an interview, so decided to start there for my next read.  and yes bj novak aka @picturesoftext totally liked my picture on instagram (he follows me!)

i must admit that birds of america did not wow me right off the bat like i had expected.  i was really wow-ed by self-help, and though the writing is great but spoke to me.  

i valued the mother-daughter dynamic of which is more than i can say about some people, i allowed me to step back and see my mother as a person versus an annoyance.  that sounds harsh but it is true, we are often overwhelmed by our parents that we forget that they are human too with fears and needs.  we, children are so selfish assuming that they are their simply to provide for us since that is the role they have had since birth, we never think of their life before their title as mother.  

i enjoyed the raccoon story of dance in america:

"we have raccoons sometimes in our chimney," explains simone . . . "and once we tried to smoke them out.  we lit a fire, knowing they were there, but we hoped that the smoke would cause them to scurry out the top and never come back.  instead, they caught on fire and came crashing down into our living room, all charred and in flames and running madly around until they dropped dead." simone swallows some wine. "love affairs are like that," she says.  "they are all like that."

so true about love affairs, sometimes people tell us they don't want us and yet we go crashing full head into heartache and rejection.  i am usually the raccoon, professing my love that someone doesn't want, but still tries to pursue them and ending up killing my heart.

i adored the introduction to community life because up until high school, i would mispronounce library.

"when olena was a little girl, she had called them lie-berries--a fibbing fruit, a story store--and now she had a job in one."  and how cute, a story store!  i also enjoyed the tom swifties (which i had never heard of prior to this story) that olena and her co-workers came up with:

"i have to go to the hardware store, he said wrenchingly."

"would you like a soda? he asked spritely."

"this hot dog's awful, she said frankly."

"she's a real dog, he said cattily."

"i like a good sled dog, she said huskily."

so clever!

real estate was an odd little story but i did love that one of the characters sang "you are my lucky star" from singin' in the rain which is my favorite songs from that musical!

great writing but nothing that truly wow'd me . . . until i read people like that are the only people here.  a tragic yet beautiful story of a mother and father dealing with their infant son's cancer.  throughout the story the father tells the mother that she should take notes since she is a writer.  due to this, i googled to see if this was based on moore's actual life (i know, i know, all novels and stories are semi-autobiographical) and it was based on her life.  after i learned this, i recognized that the beauty of this piece is due to its honesty.  the mother, father and baby are called just that which makes the story relatable and less specific to moore though it is a story straight from her life.  she captured the confusion, pain, stress, and emotions of having a loved one in the hospital.  i had flashbacks to when my grandma bea was in the heart hospital as i read.  it really makes you wonder why we suffer so much as humans, how god can put anyone through any of this.  not only the person that is ill but their family members as well.  it seemed insensitive when the surgeon's explained that the mother would suffer more than the baby during this time, but it is true.  i am not a mother but was able to empathizes with the mother in the story since moore did not shy away from all the thoughts that a mother in this situation, good and bad.  thankfully the baby comes out of this story well.  though i did feel as though moore sold her soul a bit with the ending, in which the story closes with "there are the notes.  now where is the money?"  which i mean if moore was being completely honest, let her sell this story for money for her son, i would contribute.  and though it is difficult for anyone to be completely honest, i am glad that moore shared this story.

all in all, an enjoyable collection and look forward to reading more from moore.   

esperanza rising. pam muñoz ryan.

i had seen esperanza rising while skimming the book racks in the kids section of the library but never thought of checking it out.  one day, mary, a teacher i sub for, recommended that i read it.  the next week while on campus subbing, the whole third grade team was shocked i hadn't read it, so gina lent me her class copy.

and what can i say other than, i am so happy they got me to read it because it is a great book.  it reminded me of one of my favorite books as a kid, a little princess (which i know plan on rereading.) it was also great to see the region that i grew up in featured.  it reminded me of grapes of wrath as well.

the book is about a young girl named, esperanza.  she is the only daughter of a wealthy ranchero in mexico.  she lived a life of luxury and privilege and was fully aware of class distinction.  she told her playmate and son of workers on her parents ranch, miguel, that they could never marry because they were on two sides of a river.  she could not marry someone beneath her.

one day, all of this changed, when her father was murdered by bandits. my theory is that her uncle's were behind it because they showed up with his belt buckle before miguel and his father appeared with his body.  in her father's will, esperanza's mother was left the house but since a woman can not land, the land was given to her tio.  this tio's planned to run for governor and proposed to esperanza's mother, because he needed a respectable wife.  esperanza's mother was insulted by the offer and refused, as a result, the tio burned down their home!  furthermore, the tio owned the bank, and esperanza's mother was unable to access her money. to avoid marriage, esperanza's mother decided to immigrate to america with miguel's parents (her servants but also friends).  since abuelita was injured in the fire, they leave her with her sisters in a nunnery until she recovered.

they immigrated to america, luckily with papers from the nuns.  esperanza experienced a culture shock, having to adjust to life as a peasant.  she looked down upon those traveling on the train not realizing that she was now their equal.  i have to admit that i was just as judgmental as esperanza was about the peasant girl wanting to play with her doll. i would have reacted the same way now as an adult.  it was the last gift her father gave her, she should preserve it.  i was even sad when she gave it away at the end of the story, though it was framed as a nobel action.

life in america was hard since they are farm workers, though it was harder for esperanza because she was not used to working, being part of the gentry.  thanks to miguel's father's brother they had work and a camp to live in (as i learned in grapes of wrath that they had the best living conditions.) esperanza helped out at the camp, but had to learn simple things likes how to sweep.  she also took care of the babies at home.  everything was going well until one day her mom got valley fever (which i swear i had gotten two years ago because i was bed ridden for a week) due to a dust storm.  to help pay for her mother's hospital bills, esperanza began to work in the fields.  

in the fields, esperanza encountered the socioeconomic issues of the field work, which was also demonstrated in grapes of wrath and which i also encountered first hand growing up in delano.  though they help feed america, farmer worker do have the worse working conditions.  they are paid almost nothing and the living conditions (outside of camps) were often inhabitable.  esperanza encountered a girl, marta, who had first mocked esperanza for her previous wealth and was at the forefront of the protestors' movement.  she wanted the workers to strike for better living conditions and pay.  marta is a complex character, on the one hand she is a foil to esperanza, the rebellious, illegal lower class immigrant that attempts to stir up trouble for her own people, but from a humane point-of-view, you can't help but sympathize with her, she simply wanted a better life for the workers.  though they are working for betterment, protestors often put the collective group at risk of job lost and deportation, so it some ways the protestors have a positive effect and/or a negative effect.  this paradox is something that esperanza faced.  she decided that it is better for her to work, she needs to provide for her mother, but towards the end of the story she is overwhelmed by the racism and discrimination she and those close to her encounter.  it's interesting because i recently had a discussion with my cousin erin about our grandfather encountering this in real life.  my grandfather was a foreman during the times of cesar chavez, but he was not active in the movement.  i assume because he saw that it was better that he worked and provide for his family.  when i interviewed him about it once for school, he did mention that they did ask him to join the movement but left him alone because he had a large family (he had 8 kids to support in addition to my grandma's brother's being in the household as well.)  though my grandfather knew it was unfair, he worked because his main priority was providing for his family.  my mother told me that though he was not active in the movement, he was grateful for the changes that was brought about by cesar chavez.  

as mentioned before, esperanza became overwhelmed by the discrimination that she and others encountered.  this combined with her mother not getting better and her abuelita's absence, esperanza gave up hope.  however, miguel saved the day!  he took esperanza's money she had saved (she at first thought he stole it) and went to bring her abuelita to america!  i was so happy reading this part that i started crying, imaging what relieve and comfort her abuelita brought to esperanza  (i also still miss my grandma bea terribly).  from that point on, things began to improve for her mother and for eserpanza.

and let's go back to miguel for a minute.  what a sweet sweet boy!  i had a total book crush on him.  he was so cute with his addressing esperanza as his reina.  he was also brave and courageous, i didn't mention it but earlier, he saved abuelita in the fire too!  he was caring and patient, he taught esperanza how to sweep!  seriously the sweetest character in this book! i really hope that he and espernza marry one day and live happily ever after!

in the author's note, ryan shared with us that esperanza was based on her grandmother, esperanza ortega.  her grandmother told her about her wealthy life in mexico and then her struggle in america.  some of the points in the story parallel her grandmother's real life, but she decided to create a fictional story of why her grandmother immigrated and what occurred to her here in america.  i thought it was great how she based this novel on her family history.  i also appreciated the setting of the story for it took place in the region that i grew up (as mentioned before) and the story is not one that i know first hand but is a story that many in this area can identify with.  and if you are from delano, please take the time to pick up this book!

little failure. gary schteyngart. (171)

when i read the flavorpill post recommending little failure as a must read for january, i hadn't read anything by gary shteynart, (i still haven't read anything by him other than this, my plan to read super sad true love story prior to this was spoiled because this book was due last tuesday.  yup, it cost me about $3.50 to read this book!) but with that cute cover and clever title, i decided to check it out.

even with my lack of familiarity with shteyngart's works, i was still able to enjoy his memoir.  plus it still revealed to me the not so shocking truth that shteyngart's fiction is primarily made up of his life (like all authors). since i have read a couple chapters of super sad true love story, i have to admit i did become confused between what i had read about lenny's parents and shteyngart's actual parents, which make sense because they are one and the same.  it was interesting to see that eunice was based on the korean school girls of his youth, prior to learning this i found her an odd character.  and now with this new background knowledge, i do look forward to reading the rest of shteynart's work, knowing who some of the characters are based on. 

the book was entertaining, it might be as flavorpill claimed, the best memoir i read this year but mostly because i might not read any other memoirs this year.  shteyngart is a great storyteller, very funny and witty.  for those of you that are unfamiliar with his background, shteynart is russian and jewish and immigrated to america with his family at a young age.  his memoir shares: his family history, his memories of russia, his education (from jewish grade school to a prestigious math and science academy to oberlin college), his works, how he became an writer and a family trip back to russia.  i enjoyed the stories of his youth more than i did his tales from college and breaking into the literary world.  i have to admit that he truly was horrible during his return to saturn phrase (but than again who isn't) but i can not believe how one-sided his relationship with his best friend john was, i mean to be honest, i guess i can because i have been the gary in friendships, but imagine my contributions being worth more than my demands.

but back to his childhood, i loved the story of his grandma galya motivating him to write a novel as a child, giving him a piece of cheese for every page written.  i also loved his teacher ms. s who had him read his novel to his class.  it was adorable how excited his class about his novel.  also the subject matter, sci-fi story on one level but a discussion of race relations on another, was quite advance for a child.  also it was interesting to see how his stories as an adult are not that different from his stories as a child.

i also enjoyed seeing the world filtered through his russian immigrant mindset especially pop culture.  for example wondering about "the origins of the white slave alice" on the brady bunch or "is it really possible that a country as powerful as the united states would not be able to locate two of its best citizens lost at sea" in gilligan's island.  the book is filled with gems like this not only of pop culture but american life in general.

and maybe it's because i miss my grandma so much, but i loved reading about his grandmas.  my grandma bea always encouraged me to write and draw pictures like his grandma galya.  my grandma was just like his grandma polya provided my sister and i with the best desserts and snacks.  however, her providing must have came with limits for her.  but two amazing grandmas that reminded me of my one exceptional one!

i also enjoyed reading about his family's trip back home to russia.  his father opening up to him about his time in a psychiatric ward.  in that light, i read his father's comment about his wish that shteyngart was gay instead of seeing a psychoanalyst, as him worried that his son would be mistreated as he was in russia.  also partially because his father must have partly blamed his genetics for his son needing help.  it was crazy to hear how cruel his parents were to him but it was a tough love, something they did to help him survive.  also anger was an expression of love from his parents which shteyngart learned to deal with thanks to his psychoanalysis.

oh and one last thing, that story about his ex that stabbed her ex with a hammer!! that was insane!

all in all, it was an enjoyable read. i wouldn't call it a must read but it's good book to check out, if you like his work.  it has inspired to read the all of shteygnart.  it also inspired me to read nils and the wild geese and the boy from ufo, two books he loved as a child.  i also look forward to reading chang-rae lee's book, native speaker, because he aided shteyngart in getting his book deal (also because his new book has been mentioned everywhere.) and last but not least i have been inspired to one day visit the chesme church, which was a focal point of this memoir and thus shteyngart's life.  it's a truly lovely building:

the giving tree. shel silverstein.

as i mentioned in my previous blog from today, brother bear has started a summer reading program.  the first book on his read list was "the giving tree" by shel silverstein.  

i love love love love love love "the giving tree".  it is my favorite book of all time.  ok, so it might be tied with "where the wild things are" but i do get more emotional when i read "the giving tree". it makes me cry every time i read it. it's a wonderful story of the greatest love of all (even greater than whitney's).  the tree gives all she has to the boy simply because she loves him.  i also admired the trees innovative thinking because she might not have what the boy needs but finds a way to help him.

"the giving tree" is beautiful metaphor for parental love.  the tree loves the boy and helps him through all stages of his life.   furthermore, the tree expects nothing in return for her help.  due to this, one may think the boy is selfish but he is a child and as children, we are so focused on our own needs that we tend to neglect our parents and may not always express gratitude.  however, this lack does not mean a lack of love.  we just we get caught up in our lives but will always love our parents in return just like the boy returned to the tree.

this interpretation of "the giving tree" is why i get emotional because it reminds me of my grandma.  grandma bea is my giving tree.  her love is selfless and all she wants is for her kids and grandchildren to be happy.  she may not always have the means to aid her family but she will make do with what she has and provide what she can.  and in the end, regardless just knowing that she loves you is enough to get you through your low points in life.  my grandma has given me so much, just like the tree does for the boy  that i will never be able to repay her but i know she knows how much i love her and that is payment enough.  also as selfish as it may sound, i know the happiness of her kids and grandkids is enough payment for her as well.  and that is why she is so amazing.

delano library's summer reading program.

reading is delicious!!  

before i go on this picture reminded me of book it! i really wish that pizza hut would bring this program back!  when i was a kid, the highlight of my week was eating my personal pan pizza thanks to book it!  pizza is a great motivational tool for reading, i mean maybe it's why i am a bookworm now.  lol

today i took brother bear to join the summer reading program at the delano library.  just like my grandma took me as a kid and my mom when she was a kid.  keeping the tradition alive!  oh and it's a full family tradition, found out today my cousin bria also signed up for summer reading!

the program requires kids to read 10 books and at the end of the summer they get a paperback book at the ice cream social.  however, in addition to this i have challenged my brother to read more books than me!  if he does, he gets a 

lego.  if i read more, he buys me a pizza! (this deal was made before i saw the picture of the summer reading log, lol). but i think he's excited for that challenge because he read two books today! hopefully he keeps it up. i am excited for him because i have great memories of the summer reading program.  i mean this blog is proof of that!

oh and if you are reading this and have kids, so sign them up!!

the family that reads together, stays together

today is my grandpa jimmy's birthday and while looking for photos of him to post on facebook came across this newspaper clipping in my grandma's binders. it's from the delano record and was printed on tuesday, august 13, 1968.

the description of the photo reads:

avid readers- these youngsters were among the top award winners in the summer reading club at delano branch library. shown are, from left, zack squires, who gave a talk on rock hunting at the awards programs; walter youngest "pirate" in the club; the salim youngsters, bobby, john, annette, and tracy, who represented the most members from one family; and librarian mrs. jane randolph. delano record photo.

the four kids on the right are my uncle bobby, uncle john, my mom, and auntie
tracey! plus the library they are pictured in is the very same library that i use today and used as a kid! this clipping reminded me how amazing grandma bea is, she took two generation of kids to participate in the library's summer reading programs. it's great to know that before my grandma bea took my sister and i to the library every summer, she took my uncles, aunts, and mom. i know these visits made me a lifelong reader and of the previous generation, my uncle john and auntie kathy are the most avid readers. i am trying to continue this tradition with my little brother, i signed him up this summer for the reading program. and hopefully one day i will have my future kids participate as well.

cover girl.

in sandra cisneros' "caramelo", i learned that rita hayworth was mexican!?!?! thanks to madonna, all i knew of hayworth was that she "gave good face". so i wikipedia-ed it and sadly discovered she isn't mexican, her father was spanish and her mother was irish-english. the mexican rumors started because she worked in mexico, according to this website . so sad that her mexicanness was a bust, however, while reading her wikipedia article, discovered she starred in a number of movies with fred astaire and one with gene kelly. this inspired me to check out "you were never lovelier" and "cover girl" from the library.

growing up, i watched a lot of musicals with grandma bea, especially gene kelly and fred astaire movies, however i don't recall rita hayworth being in any of them. i know grandma bea had me watch "cover girl" when i was little but i didn't remember hayworth or even the movie. as i watched "cover girl", bits and pieces started to come back to me. i remembered gene kelly's "alter ego" dance (though it could have been featured in one of those "that's entertainment" specials). and as much as this makes me sound like a lush, i remember her drunken part . . . i also remembered the oysters tradition. but other than that it was a "new" movie to me.

rita hayworth was lovely and entertaining. i had no idea she could sing and dance! she also had the most amazing costume and outfits. that is one thing that i hate/love about old movies, the fashion! i love it all but am sad that i can't find it at the mall or in a boutique. though i will be on the lookout for a coat like this at my local goodwill:

it was also great to see how things have come back around. in the broadway number, cover girls are featured on different magazines and i was surprised there were so many flower headpieces that would have been right at home at coachella. there was also a huge brimmed hat (think samantha in "sex and the city: the movie") that i would give my left kidney for.

but back to the movie. so a quick synopsis, hayworth played a dancer named rusty that worked a club owned by (she was also his girlfriend). she entered a magazine contest to be a cover girl and won because she looked like the long-lost lover of the magazine owner (turned out he was in love with rusty's grandmother). so after the contest, rusty gets bigger and better opportunity and sadly leaves gene kelly. i would tell you what happens but you should check it out for yourself. the ending is very cute.

i will say that i for one would never leave gene kelly. maybe it's because i have grown up watching him as a leading man but he is like the ideal man (he might be the reason why i have a thing for boys with brown hair over blondes). he can sing, he can dance, and when his character is in love, gets a look on his face like there is no other girl in the world for him but her! swoon!!! he is so dreamy and i fall in love with him every time i watch one of his movies. and of course the same goes for "cover girl", i would love to spend my nights with him, shucking oysters for pearls!

the whole time i was watching, i was bothered because rita hayworth reminded me of someone. in the end i decided it was geena davis in "a league of their own."

also the whole time i was watching i couldn't help thinking to myself how much phil silvers looked like
stephen colbert:

am i right or am i right?

but all in all, a very sweet film and if you have't seen it, you should!

ps this DVD was available thanks to measure b!

caramelo. sandra cisneros.

since i planned on attending sandra cisneros' talk at csub, i figured i should read more than just one book so i picked up her second novel "caramelo" (and for a dollar!). though i did not finish it before her talk, it helped me understand her talk and life a little more.

to be perfectly honest, i didn't like "caramelo" at first. i kept thinking to myself, this is no "house on mango street" but i realized it shouldn't be. that is always the challenge with the sophomore novel (and also the sophomore album for bands). i once read an article about the yeah yeah yeah's sophomore album in rolling stone, which discussed the challenge of the sophomore album, especially when the first is a huge success. the audience wants the band to replicate their first work but then it can't sound completely the same or they will be upset by that as well. i think it's the same with books, the sophomore novel needs to replicate the first but not be the same. and to me it felt that cisneros at first was trying to replicate "the house on mango street" but then it transform into something completely different but still very cisneros.

i always think of "house on mango street" as a collection of poems however i would describe "caramelo" as an epic. this is cisneros' "one hundred years of solitude" (which i was reminded of as i read, in addition to being one of my favorite books of all time).  "caramelo" is the tale of three generations of the reyes family, grounded in cisneros' actual family history with a hint of mythical magic like garcia marquez' work.  as i discovered at her talk, cisneros' life served as the basis for this novel, she grew up in chicago, the youngest of seven brothers and her father was a upholsterer, just like celaya in the novel.  but like her wig analogy, the novel is real life stories mixed in with fiction so it is non-fictional fiction or fictional non-fiction.

i guess it is the historian in me but i love sagas.  i always have.  i hate to admit this but as a tween (though this term was not invented back then) my favorite sweet valley high books were the sagas because i loved discovering the family histories.  i loved seeing the sequence of events that caused life to follow a certain path; how moment a lead to moment b which explains how c ever came into occurrence.  and this is what i loved about "caramelo", reading how the stars aligned to form the life that celaya led.   for me, "carmaelo" did not become an interesting read until we traveled back into time to learn her families' history so we could understand celaya as a person.  and that was the lesson of the novel, to understand oneself the best and who one is, s/he need to understand her/his ancestors.

 cisneros' emphasis on the importance of knowing the past is not limited to personal histories but extended to capital h-history.  my favorite part of the book was the historical tidbits that cisneros included.  her characters randomly interacted with important cultural figures.  thanks to her i learned about josephine baker*, maria sabina , senor wences, tongolele, and cri cri.  i also learned that some famous hollywood starlets were mexican (see:  rita hayworth).  another fact that surprised me was the story of emperor maximiliano and empress carlota, i didn't know that they were puppet monarchs nor did i know that bette davis played her in the movie.  i also finally discovered the title of the song "cielito lindo".  as i read the lyrics to "cielito lindo", i oddly knew the melody from years of hearing it growing up though  i never knew it was called "cielito lindo".  the tidbits were great because aside from being an entertaining novel, it was also educational.

the novel was also filled with cultural observations.  for example, how taquerias smell like pine-sol.   or introducing the updated version of the aged old question, which came first real life or the telenovla?  there were also sad and harsh observations like how chicanos treat mexicans who claim their spanish roots.  another sad observation is how the INS treats veterans like illegal immigrants especially when those individuals gained their citizenships by serving in a war.  and lastly how mexican mothers can be overbearing and strict but that is really because they are lonely.  there was a handful of times i had ah-ha moments because cisneros shed light on mexican and mexican-american cultures or explanation to certain stereotypes.

in addition to sharing truths, "caramelo" was filled with cisneros' poetic flair, which i have come to love. my favorite were:

"a person of independence, who does not need nor want us, inspires our admiration, and admiration is love portion.  a person who needs us too much, who is weak with neediness, inspires pity.  and pity, the other side of admiration, is antidote to love."

" a dream is a poem the body writes.  even if we lie to ourselves in the day, the body is compelled to speak its truth at night."

"for a long time after, i'd just burst into tears, if anyone even touched me. [ . . .] anybody touched me, by accident or on purpose, i cried.  i was like a piece of bread sopped with gravy.  so when something squeezed me, i started to cry and couldn't stop.  have you ever been that sad?  like a donut dunked in coffee?  like a book left in the rain."

lastly, two of my favorite images included food; feet as tamales and mentions of clean towels that fresh tortillas are kept in.  both of which all made me extremely hungry every time i read about them.  also does anyone know where i can get a tamal sandwich?!?!?!

imagery aside, the most important aspect of "caramelo" is that it shares an experience that is not always told. during my last year at ucla, i took a seminar about the american immigrant experience and we read autobiographies. the class focused on autobiographies not only as a counter to the dominant history (or white male american history) but stories that need to be integrated into the dominant history so that it can be complete. america is not america without the immigrant experience. furthermore, since so much land of present america was once a part of mexico and with mexicans going back and forth across the border; the american experience would be incomplete without the mexican/mexican-american experience being told. and though things can be labelled as a specific racial, cultural or religious experience, at the heart of it all, it is simply a human experience. this is true of "caramelo", it can not be reduce to just mexican lit, chicano it or womens lit because it holds a valuable lesson for everyone regardless of how one labels oneself. that lesson being the importance of everyone knowing their family history and roots. though "caramelo" was filled with a very specific cultural experience, it still possessed universal truths.

like cisneros i will add una pilón.

i loved this part because it reminded me of my grandmother, not so much because we have had the same conversation.  but because my grandma bea, like ceyala's little grandmother, keeps it real.

when discussing her running away with ernesto, ceyala explained:

"-but i saw god when we made love."

to which the little grandmother responded:

"-of course you did.  you think that's a miracle?  smell a flower and you'll see god too.  god's everywhere. and yes, he's in the act of love too.  and so?  that boy's not the only one who can love you like that.  there'll be others, there ought to others, you must have others."

*josephine baker is amazing.  i googled her and read her wikipedia entry (click and read it!).  and she is simply amazing.  she started off dancing on the streets then became this international sensation.  then became an international spy during world war II!!!! and was the first angelina jolie and adopted 12 children from different racial/national background.  amazing right?!?!?

the witches. roald dahl. (69)

in honor of halloween, i decided that brother bear and i would read roald dahl's "the witches" together. but sadly with my work schedule, we didn't get to read together. also he checked out books from his school library and lost interest. but i still read it.

as a kid, i was scared of the book because the movie dramatized me. i never watched scary movies growing up, but saw "the witches" at the afterschool program i attended. i remember being freaked out when angelica houston peeled off her fake face and revealed her grotesque witch one. that scene alone may be the sole reason i never read it as a kid. come
to think of it, i'm not sure if i saw the ending of the movie, i was that scared.

i know this may sound odd but i may have owned a copy or maybe my sister did because grandma bea definitely read the book. so maybe i got older and tried to brave it but never read it. until now.

and what a delightful book. i regret not reading it as a kid and being such a chicken. but i know that elementary school version of me would have loved it especially since the grandma played such a important role in the book. grandma bea will always be my most favorite person in the world and in elementary school she definitely was. if i read this back then i would have been reminded of how fortunate i am to have such a great grandma (because i was reminded now). and though it may seem morbid, as i was reading i worried about the fact that his grandmamma would probably die when he was still young and then he would be all alone in the world. i also thought it was just me being a worrywart but dahl did address this issue. i was so relieved when dahl turned him into a mouse so his life expectancy shorten so he wouldn't end up alone. it sounds crazy as an adult to want to shorten your life so you won't be alone but to kids this would be comforting.

worrying about your grandparent's death might seem heavy for a kids book but it is something that kids do (i know i did). and that is what is great about dahl's books, he writes for kids but doesn't treat them as children. dahl discussed "adult realm" things with subtlety in terms that kids could/can understand. what i love best (and this is something that dahl does in all of his books) is when he gives philosophical insight on society via his characters. like when the boy turned into a mouse and realized that it's not all that bad because "when mice grow up, they don't ever have to go to war and fight against other mice. mice, [he] felt pretty certain, all like each other. people don't." most kids probably never viewed war in this light before. i think it's important to give kids this other perspective considering that war is never demonstrated as being something negative in grade school but is usually taken up as a display of patriotism. yet by showing how silly a war with mice would be, it ultimately shows how silly war is for humans.

i think another important lesson in this book is unconditional love and that hopefully all kids have it. it was gruesome to think of bruno being offed by his parents simply because he was a mouse. but in contrast it was wonderful how his grandmamma loved him regardless. for as the boy told his grandmamma in response when asked if he was sad about being a mouse, "it doesn't matter who or what you look like as long as somebody loved you." the boy would always be okay because he would always have his grandmother's love.

this all seems deep for a kids book. but the great thing about dahl is that his stories are so creative and enjoyable that these little life lessons are dropped in your lap versus forced in your face. it's like pixar movies in which the adult and kid experience are completely different. in my "old" age, i may have focused on parts that would have meant nothing to me as a kid. but that is the beauty of a good book you can go back and find new things.

(ps after reading this i think next year i might dress up as a roald dahl witch. if i was a school teacher i would read this to my class and then on halloween, wear a wig and claws and show my no-toes feet to my class. lol.)

the magicians. lev grossman. (65)

like i mentioned before, i also check out books for grandma bea. grandma bea was running low on books by her favorite authors so i googled "if you liked harry potter, you should check out" to find books for her. (grandma bea is a huge potter fan, she got me into the series) i came across "the magicians" and decided to check it out. my friend saba had read it before and said it was supposed to be harry potter for grown ups. in fact that is what is says on the back cover.

i gave to grandma bea but she didn't like it. i think she read the first 50 pages or so and stopped because she couldn't get into it. even though it lacked her endorsement i decided to give it a chance.

unsurprisingly, i couldn't get into it as well. after 100 pages i wanted to give up. i didn't like quentin, he was too negative and an unlikely hero but not in charming endearing way but in a wow-this-kid-is-a-real-asshole way. he was and is no harry potter. i didn't want to read because i didn't care about him. but i couldn't give up for the following reasons: a) the junto diaz endorsement on the back, i loved "oscar wao" so i respected his opinion and thought that maybe i should wait it out, b) this blog, if i didn't finish it would i be able to blog about it (i decided i could, because occasionally i'll check out a stinker), c) i don't like giving up on books, even if i don't like it, i figure i should finish it so my hatred is at least founded. so i texted my friend juliana (who i saw had read it on good reads) for her opinion on my quitting. she said she loved it. but i should stop. since she loved it, i decided to continue. plus quentin was entering his fourth year and what occurred was cool so i thought it was on the up and up.

i was wrong. due to my already judgy-ness about this book, reading it was like pulling teeth. i wasn't interest in the plot, especially with their post-brakebills lives. don't get me wrong, i would have love to live their bohemian lives but as a magicians they could do so much more. (this was a huge subplot so maybe my restlessness with their lives was what grossman was trying to create?) i absolutely loved the story plot that penny introduced and was excited for what was to come but even that was a letdown. what it boiled down to is that i thought all of the characters were assholes, in addition to being useless. the only character i liked was alice and would have preferred the story from her perspective because she was the only one with integrity. and i get it. grossman was trying to be realistic. the teens and twentysomethings of this generation (and i guess any generation) are jaded, selfish, unmoral, and cowardly. it was hard to become invested in them when i thought they were all pieces of shit. i wish he had characters of better substance, like harry potter, i mean grown up harry potter probably had heart, these kids had nothing. in addition to having bad personalities they were also bad magicians. i admit that if i had to encounter all that they did in their adventure, i would have be unable to utilize my magic skills but these kids sucked. they couldn't do anything, which made their schooling seem pointless. and who wants to read a book about bad magicians? or bad teens? this book is a fantasy, but i still want heroes i can believe it.

but i guess the real problem was that grossman is a bad storyteller. i didn't get lost in his book like i did in the harry potter series. and i know that the first two potters were not all that and since this was the first of the magicians books there was a lot of set up, so i can't have too high of expectations. but those excuses aside it was still bad writing. i felt like i was just reading words on a paper instead of being transported to a different world. even the fighting scenes were a snoozefest. it was kinda like when someone tells a funny story but then they and you realize in order for it to be funny you had to be there. i felt like that while reading "the magicians", i had to be there cos grossman was not a strong enough writer for me get it via his words. i mean chatwin stories in the book seemed a lot more interesting and i kept wish i was reading those instead.

also i hated that this wasn't a book within a book. it would have been better if it was.

i mean with the right director this could be a great movie. the premise was good it was just the writing that was bad and a screenplay adapter can fix that right up. if they do make a movie, i would go see it but read the second book? probably not.

ps though i am an alcoholic, i thought their drinking was excessive. i mean i did my fair share of drinking in college but it was always fun and adventurous. their drinking was boring and sad.

a tree grows in delano. an introduction.

i have always been a bookworm.  i blame grandma bea.  blame is a harsh word but really, she is the reason why i love books.  grandma bea was a preschool teacher and later a preschool director which meant i had my very own in-home educational entertainment growing up.  grandma bea was like pbs, sprout, and nick jr rolled into one. we sang songs, watched puppets shows, did arts and crafts and most importantly read books.

i wasn't a young super reader, like matilda or scout in "to kill a mockingbird", kids who learned how to read before entering school.  i learned at school.  while subbing for a first grade class i was reunited with the first book i ever read.  (don't judge, i didn't learn how to read until first grade) the book was "sally wore a red dress and henry wore green sneakers."  looking back, i didn't technically read but memorized the sequence of the story, using the pictures as a hint for what character and clothing was next.  in further analysis (using my SCORE! educational centers background), i learned how to read based on sight not phonetics (to this day, i still suck at sounding out words).  i believe this was the school of thought back in the late 80s for reading education.  but back to me the bookworm.

once i started reading, there was no stopping me.  like ray bradbury once wrote, "i ate them like salad, books were my sandwich for lunch, my tiffin and dinner and my midnight munch."  my family always made sure that i never went hungry.  my auntie tracey always supplied me with blank checks for the elementary school book fair, so that i could buy whatever my heart desired and our mall visits always included a crawling through the kid tunnel at waldenbooks.  grandma bea took me to the library to check out books and of course, signed me up every summer for the reading club.  the photo above was taken one of those summers.  i don't recall the theme  but i'm going to assume that it was something ghoulish.  and yes i know.  that outfit is killer, i wish i still had it though my muffin top would not look sexy in those biker shorts.

as a kid, the library was one of my favorite places to go.  so much that i used to force my sister jill to play library with me.  i made her a card and laid out my books in a square in front of the couch and had her check out books from me.  thinking back i hope this only occupied like 15 minutes of our playtime, if not poor jill.  as i grew up, the library stopped being a place i went to, i have no memories of going there while a tween or a teen.  at ucla, i would find myself in powell for the occasional nap or last minute reading before class; the only time actual studying went on was during midterms or finals.  (side random trivia note:  ray bradbury wrote "fahrenheit 451" in the basement of powell.)  the santa monica library became a destination after i discovered their friends of library bookstore, but book checking out was never an activity i engaged in.  also as clarification, i didn't stop reading books, i just stopped checking them out.

then in september 2011,  i decided to visit my old stomping ground aka the delano library.  i had a personal mission to read all the classics and felt it was better to check them out from the library at no cost and then invest in the ones that i really loved.  i would read all the books i should have in high school and determine whether or not they were really worth it.  as a side bonus, i would also save money, i realized what limited my reading was whether or not i wanted to spend a certain amount on a book, my reading was based on what bargain books i could find.  (sorry but i'm cheap, i'm a good jewish wife in the making.) and the wonderful thing i discovered is even though delano is a small town, i have access to all the books in the san joaquin valley and can request them without a fee!  (people in delano reading this, please take advantage of this.)  since than i have checked out and read about 58 books, classics and also some contemporary reads (based on recommendations from flavorpill).  (58 sounds impressive but grandma bea has read like 3 times that, i also check out books for her.)  i toyed with the idea of starting a blog about it.  and am now doing it.  58 books later.  better late than never.  so please know that while i get caught up it will be a mixed of things i just finished reading and have read before.  i will make sure that my first post is the first book i read but be prepared for chaos after that.  i do not consider myself a good reviewer but think i think good thoughts, well interesting thoughts so that is what this blog will be.  just my musings on what i have read.

and yes, the blog is a betty smith reference.  i, like little francie nolan love reading and love the library.  though she vowed to read every book in her library, i vow only to read as many as i can.