Breakathon Readathon Review: The Fault in our Stars

I have been waiting for this book for MONTHS - ever since John Green announced on his youtube channel when it was going to be released - and I have to say... it's been well worth the wait. Going in, I knew that this story would be a tough one to read. I had been staying away from spoilers on the internet (because there are plenty more people in this world who read faster than I do, and I began reading it two days after its release), but the one "spoiler" I had seen seemed to be quite universal: people cried when they read this book. I also knew that it had to do with people who had cancer... but that was it. I have only good things to say about this book, really, but the most important thing is that I cried, too. John comes to town next weekend, and I can't WAIT to hear him talk!

Likelihood I'll reread: 100% (after I've recovered a little, of course)
Likelihood I'll recommend: 100%

-----

Total Pages: 4481

In defense of eBooks

Being that I am an avid reader of books and lover of books, some people are a little surprised to find that I support eBooks. It's true - there is nothing better than holding a book in my hands. The weight of the book, the smell of it, the way the pages gently glow under the light of my bedside table, fanning the corner of the pages with my finger while I read; those are things that cannot be recreated in eBook format. (Although I wouldn't put it past someone to give my Kindle a book scent!) And, I will report, I have happily threatened many every spine on my shelf: I will break you.

I have some 82 books my kindle right now. Some of them are books that I love so dearly I have paid for twice, to ensure that I have a digital copy of the book wherever I go (such as The Lord of the Rings, Pride and Prejudice, and, more recently The Hunger Games). Just in case I need to read it at a moment's notice. Some of them are books that I really don't care to have copies of taking up space on my bookshelves in my room. Because I have hundreds of books here with me, and as soon as I have more space for more bookshelves, I'm absolutely going to town but until then... I don't need hard copies of some books.  Some of the books are books that I've read in my English classes, and were free because they're classics. A number of times, I've forgotten some of my books at home, and hastily purchased digital copies of them so I have textual references for class. I have Shakespeare's complete works in there - and my light-as-air Kindle weighs a heckuvalot less than my textbook of his complete works. It makes a lot of sense.

The size and weight of books is a huge issue for travel. Last summer when I went to Oxford, I was required to bring along seven big, rather heavy editions of the books I needed for my classes. Although I didn't have much time to read other things, I did manage to squeeze in a but of extracurricular reading while I was there, and all of it I did on my kindle. Not having those extra books with me was an absolute blessing. And in a few days when I board a plane to Maryland, guess what I'll be leaving behind? Heavy books. Notice how fast I read? My kindle has literally gotten lost in my purse before.

Aside from the size, what I will say about Kindles, Nooks and other ereaders (such as those on iPads and other tablets) is that they make people want to read. eReaders challenge the format that books have been restricted to for hundreds of years, and they make reading and the reading experience a wholly different one. The novelty (haha, novelty) of reading a book in this way is enough to entice anyone to read. Kids love them, because they're a fun gadget. Guess how much I care that they're using another gadget? They're reading. And if they're totally engrossed in a book, that is a wonderful thing. They absolutely should be. For me, the medium which I use to enjoy a book is irrelevant: Am I reading? Am I enjoying a great book? Excellent. Read on.

Nothing can replace the feel of a good book in my hands, but in my opinion, the experience of reading a great story that is totally engrossing is a universal experience. Even as someone who wants to go into the publishing business, I care that people are reading, not how they are doing so.

Breakathon Readathon Review: Uglies

You might have noticed that I have taken a little break from reading for the last week... combined with the return of a few of my friends to Austin, I took a few days off to give my brain a little break. Something I was not able to anticipate was my desire to remain somewhere within a genre or type of book, because the shock of jumping so frequently was really wearing on me. When I finish a good book, I want to read something similar - a book with a similar theme, or by the same author, or about the same length, etc. Thinking of what my next read should be, I struggled, wondering what book could possibly link Leviathan to where I wanted to take my brain next. Eventually, however, I found the perfect bridge: 

This book was one that my friend Brandlyn told me to read when we were in high school. I held out - only because if someone tells me I have to read something enough I am that much more unlikely to read it. This book was the perfect bridge between where my mind was left from the Hunger Games - dystopia, man v man, man v nature - and where my mind might want to go next. I chose Uglies because it was also written by Scott Westerfeld (who wrote Leviathan) and thus provided an excellent mental bridge. The premise of the novel is that at age 16, intense plastic surgery is required to turn everyone from "Uglies" to "Pretties". Due to some unusual circumstances, the main character of the novel finds herself tossed out into the wilderness by the authorities of her city with the ultimatum: "Do this or you'll remain ugly forever." I really enjoyed the pace of the novel (I read 80% of the novel more or less in one sitting), and the book ends on a really great cliffhanger. If it weren't 1am when I finished, I would have immediately launched into reading the sequel: Pretties. Be sure I'll be reading the rest of the series sometime soon - but perhaps not during the Readathon.

Likelihood I'll reread: 60% (Strong, but I'm more interested in finishing the series)
Likelihood I'll recommend: 75%

-----

Total page count: 4145

Only a week or so to go left in the Readathon! I'll be posting my roommate's total as soon as we compare notes!

Meet Lily

Emma's mom invited me over this morning to meet Lily, Emma's little sister. 

The blanket I made is keeping her warm! (Even though it was like 70 degrees today)

Lily looks just like Emma!

She slept on me for half an hour. What is better in this world?

Emma was at daycare, but I'm going back next week to visit with both of them... I can't wait!

Also, let it be known... I gave back Emma's baby seat. So if anyone wants to ride in that seat now, it's open. I need to vacuum the crums, though. (Emma is a messy girl!)

And while I'm on the topic, Emma turns THREE on Sunday. Which is shocking, because just yesterday she looked like this:

This was actually one of the first days I looked after Emma in May of 2009. Ah, memories....

Memories of 2011 - a photographic representation

In no particular order... Here are some of my favorite memories of 2011.

I visited many famous graves - JRR Tolkien, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Douglas Adams,  Karl Marx, William Shakespeare... the list goes on!

The Texas Snowpocalypse occurred in the middle of the night - and Ally and I went running around campus and to the capitol building in our pajamas!

We went to visit my Gramma, who I hadn't seen in many years. Duncan and I took some lovely photos of her backyard!

At the beginning of the summer, a friend of mine took some fun photos of me, which I have used for many a facebook profile picture.

I hung curtains in my room, which has really made a difference. I love the blue and green filtered light, especially when I wake up in the morning.

I saw Siobhan! :D

I ate at the Texas Embassy in London and drank the most expensive Lone Star I'll ever drink! £4.

I studied at Wadham College in Oxford for five weeks. No big deal!

I ran the flag with APO at every home football game... and one away!

Emma swung all by herself for the first time! (She was unsure about it at first, but quickly warmed up to the idea!)

I got my UT class ring. Hook 'em Horns!

I found the world's COOLEST roommate ever!  (This is the Whole Foods parking for family of employees!)

I acquired some fancy prescription sunglasses.

 I knitted my first baby blanket.

I got to read Harry Potter for school. (For my Children's literature class!)

I got a fancy-schmancy new laptop (which I LOVE.) 

I read a bunch of classics, and LOVED them all. 

I got Toms shoes, and boy are they COMFY. Great close-toed option when flip flops aren't viable. (i.e. in December)

I played Lord of the Rings Monopoly with my family (and witnessed a showdown between Katie and Duncan that will go into the history books!)

I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 in 3D IMAX, in London, at midnight of the opening day. My friends brought wands!

I saw a play at Shakespeare's Globe Theater for the first time.

I visited the Roman baths in Bath, England.

I played on a piano in Jane Austen's house. (No big deal or anything, of course!)

I visited the Stourhead Gardens, where a scene from the more recent Pride and Prejudice movie was  filmed.

I got to see Annie and meet Sean while in London. (They are two of my favorite people!)

I got to see another of my favorite people (Kerry-Lynn) get married.

I posed with Hook 'Em on the field before a flag run.

I participated in APO history, and ran one of four flags in the pregame at the Texas Tech game.

I played with Miss Emma a lot.

I baked delicious French Bread for the first time.

I ran the flag at the Holiday Bowl.

I fell in love with little Emma even more. (Sorry, I can't help it.)

I wrote a lot.

Sometimes when Emma is eating, she asks to hold my hand. Who could resist that?  (Gratuitous photos of Emma are unceasing!)

I got Maureen Johnson to revenge sign my copy of Paper Towns by John Green, and achieved temporary internet fame on Tumblr when John reblogged me.

Finally had a class at Starbucks!

2011 was extraordinary. Here's to 2012 and all the changes it brings.

New Years Resolutions - 2012 Edition

Welcome, 2012! It's about time you got here.

I've been toying around with my new year's resolutions for a couple days. I'm never one to think about them before around 10pm on new year's eve, and only when, inevitably, someone turns to me and asks, "So, what are your resolutions?" It's an innocent enough question, but I always feel a little put on the spot.  What are my resolutions? I totally forgot we even made resolutions! Crap!

Being that this year is a lot like 2008 for me, I decided to look at my resolutions from that year. Let me explain - You might remember that in 2008, I graduated from high school. Things that really scared me about that was that I didn't know what my life would be like in college, what my schedule would be, I wasn't sure what I would be doing, what classes I would be taking, who I would remain friends with... so my resolutions reflected that. They included: 1) Be not afraid of venturing out by myself. 2) Turn in my college apps. 3) Exude confidence. (My favorite one was #2... because I remember I achieved that one within 24 hours of the new year!)

Numbers 1 and 3 are things that I still struggle with. While they aren't exactly worded like that in my resolutions this year, I think they're still in there in spirit.

So, without further ado, my 2012 New Year's Resolutions:

1) Don't freak out so much.
2) Drink more smoothies.
3) Get a job.

Everyone laughs when I tell them my first resolution. But seriously, it's a pretty important one. Every few weeks I have a regularly scheduled mental breakdown of some kind; they can be little (I didn't read for class, I am running late, I have three exams on Friday and I'm going to fail all of them, etc.), they can be big (I'm going to be single forever, my degree is totally useless, etc.) Usually I allow myself some good, self-pitying, wallowing time (an hour or two) during which I watch terrible tv or read some kind of trashy novel and then I get up, dust myself off, and move onto tackling the problem. I can't say that I won't have these moments (there are a lot of stressful times ahead while I look for and apply for jobs) but I don't think it's healthy to freak out so much. My roommate says that she has a similar resolution, and we'll be helping each other!

My second resolution is a thinly veiled "lose weight" resolution. My resolution isn't exactly to lose weight - it's to be healthy. Smoothies are delicious, and I have found my new favorite one: Bananas, blueberries, and almond butter. Don't question it - just drink it. DELICIOUS. (In this resolution should be something like "Less macaroni and cheese", but I don't think I'm strong enough for that. It's an excellent fallback for dinner when I haven't gone grocery shopping.)

My last resolution is to get a job. Topical, to the point. Something that is acceptable for a college graduate. I'll leave that up to the universe's interpretation.

Another thing I've been thinking about are things I'd like to do in 2012. Stuff that isn't necessarily resolution-worthy, but more like a bit of a bucket list.

1) Write book reviews. I've enjoyed writing them for my Breakathon Readathon. Often I finish a book and am not entirely sure how I feel about it (other than "I loved it!" or "I want to run this book over with my car and kill it dead!") but I feel like I could explore my reading material more.
2) Spend twenty or thirty minutes reading books for pleasure every day. Even though my reading list for school is pretty hardcore this semester, I know I spend more than thirty minutes on facebook every day. It's entirely possible to replace that time with books I want to read.
3) Be more proactive with editing and edit more thoroughly. I am always looking to improve my editing skills. I love to do it, but sometimes it feels like a bit of a chore.
4) Along similar lines, be more proactive with my writing. I love to write, and I am very proud of it... I have stories I want to start and stories I want to finish. My creative writing class taught me a lot about writing and reading my own stuff with an audience in mind - I'd like to apply it.
5) Cook from cookbooks more often and be more adventurous with recipes and food. I have a little collection of cookbooks and more often than not I surf the web for my recipes.
6) Knock a few more books off of the BBC Booklist. I have it saved to my phone and consult it every once and a while if I'm looking for a read. They propose that most people have only read 6. Well, I've read 22 of them. It's not that it's a list of the greatest 100 books, but it seems to be a list of good books that many people know and often make reference to.

-----

At the end of this post, I'd like to wish a very happy birthday to little Lily Grace, Miss Emma's little sister. She was born yesterday, January 2nd, and everyone is happy and healthy. From what I hear, Emma is thrilled to be a big sister, and I can't wait to meet Lily!

Breakathon Readathon Review: Leviathan

This was not a book I planned to read, but after all several of the books I have read in the last few weeks haven't been. Honestly, I was surprised at how much I was sucked into the story. It's not a book that I typically read, being that it is a steampunk book and that it takes place during a sort of pseudo-WWI. (My favorite historical novels are generally the pre-19th century kind. If there are swords involved? Extra bonus.) So I didn't expect all that much from this book, and even having heard of Scott Westerfeld's success with his other books and having heard him speak a few weeks ago at the Austin Teen Book Festival, I was dubious. (A theme I am recognizing is that I seem to be very dubious toward books I am unfamiliar with... This must change!) At the end, I was pleasantly surprised, not by the plot, but by the imagination of the book. The fascinating twist on the history in the book was that the Allied powers were called Darwinists and the Central powers, Clankers. The Darwinists flew bulbous creatures that were entire ecosystems put together (i.e. give yourself a skin and then stick bacteria that emit hydrogen as a byproduct - and then use the hydrogen as lift to fly) and the Clankers used more "traditional" machinery (though it was very advanced - the main character's mode of transportation was a futuristic Walker, with mechanical legs operated in the body). Extremely helpful to all of this were the illustrations - "A book with pictures?" you all shout; I know, I know. But it is a YA novel. They were very helpful, as illustrations generally are. Most surprising of all to me was that, at the end, I wanted to read the next one! Well, we shall see.

Likelihood I'll reread: 30% (But that doesn't mean I won't get the sequel!)
Likelihood I'll recommend: 60%

-----

Total Pages: 3718