Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

This book took me a while to read.  It goes along great with 1984 and actually my husband has these two grouped together for the AP summer reading assignment.  Unlike 1984, where sex and feelings are repressed, Brave New World conditions it's citizens to focus on sex and materialistic things.  It is a little appalling at first to read how these people are conditioned at a young age to play sex games and have no sense of family.  By the end of the book you can understand why they have set up society as they have and they even give a few good arguements that support their reasoning.  All of a sudden it does not seem quite as appalling.

With that being said, I still do not agree with their society, however, have I been conditioned to believe this, or am I really feeling this way?  A major purpose to these two books is pointing out how people are conditioned to believe a certain way.  It may or may not be right, but the citizens do not realize this because in their eyes life is normal and there is nothing wrong with it.  They are happy and content with their life not wanting anything to change.  They have no desire to have anything else.  As the reader, we feel appalled at their thinking and the things they go through.  We would never allow that to happen to us so how can this person really be happy.  It is great to question yourself and try to decide what you really believe and understand that many things you grow up with to believe as truth may in fact just be something you are conditioned to believe.

Heros of Olympus by Rick Riordan books 3 & 4

This post is for books 3, Mark of Athena, and book 4, The House of Hades.  These have been just as good as the Percy Jackson and the Olympian series.  In fact, they seem to have grown as the characters have and the Percy Jackson series almost seems simple compared to the intricate storyline that Rick Riordan has set up for us.  I must admit I was disappointed when Riordan continued on with this story and almost did not continue with this series thinking it was going to be just another similar story.  You won't be disappointed if you continue on.  I am glad I did.

We have the same group of heros, Percy, Annabeth, and Nico that we knew from before along with some breifly mentioned heroes and new ones.  Riordan has a nice assortment of characters that have such different personalities that almost anyone can relate to one of more of them through out the story.  Annabeth and Percy seem to have matured the most out of all of them which in some ways is sad, but very understandable.  They have a deep, almost grown-up relationship.  I am not impressed with Jason and Piper's relationship.  They do not have a very close one, but by the end of The House of Hades we finally see them actually interact with one another.  The same with Hazel and Frank's relationship.  Frank finally grows up a bit in The House of Hades which is nice to see.  Leo, sadly, is the 7th wheel, but he finally finds an unexpected love.  I am sure he will somehow save Calypso from her island.

The fourth book leaves us hanging as Percy and Annabeth escape Tartarus and the reunited group must now go to Athens to comfront the giants and Gaea in order to save the world.  Nico was a surprise and it is nice to see him perhaps learning to interact and cope with others.  I have a feeling his life will not end well.  Here's hoping I am wrong and he can finally find love and a happy future.

The Misanthrope by Moliere

Well, I seem to be having issues uploading pictures lately.  Blake has been buying a lot of plays and other works that are classics/well known.  I have decided to try and catch up with my literary reading so that I have at least read what the AP English students are/have read.  Some are going to be tough to get through and I may not get motivated to read all of them.  However, our summer reading program through our local library is allowing adults to participate this year and be entered into a drawing so this may motivate me a bit more.  No idea what the prize will be, but I tend to have decent luck winning things and enjoy the pleasure of knowing that I am a winner!

To the review...  The Misanthrope is a short play, however, it is not easy to read like some other plays I have recently read, but easier than Dr. Faustus which I tried to start reading today and put it down after the first page.  Too much like Shakespeare, which makes sense since Shakespeare was inspired by Marlowe's writing.  The actual plot and events of the play are simple and not really entertaining.  Just a bunch of discussions between multiple men who are in love with the same woman.  Our main character, Alceste, is so in love with Celimene and very jealous of the other suitors.  He is also very frank and honest with everyone to the point that many are offended and advise him that he should at least keep his mouth shut at times instead of being so brutal.  He actually ends up in court for offending another suitor of Celimene.

I found the interactions between the actors interesting.  Each talks openly about the faults of others, but while in their midst they are dear friends.  They even have a discussion on how a quiet person can be described as a bore or pure of heart depending on how attracted and fond the other person is of them.  Is it better to be completely honest with someone and tell them their poem is horrible, or is it better to come up with some compliment on how the poems rhymes without saying that it really is not that great?  How honest should we be with others?  This is a great conversation to discuss and has so many possibilities.

Paris: The Novel by Edward Rutherford

Sorry this picture is blurry.  I am having a hard time getting the picture to load correctly tonight.  So my latest book is PARIS: The Novel by Edward Rutherford.  It was hard to start this book and continue with it much like Devil in the White City, however I am glad I kept going.  By the end of the book you love characters you did not like at the beginning while at the same time feel bad for and hate other characters you may have enjoyed at the beginning.

Unlike Devil in the White City, this book follows historical events with fictional characters.  There are not a lot of facts about Paris, however, you get a feel for how the French live their lives and are very patriotic.  There are multiple families that we follow through many generations.  Each from a different social class.  You can understand how aristocrats felt and acted compared to poorer people from different parts of the city.  We see daughters get thrown out of their family and disowned for dishonoring their family and see how even family members look down on other relatives who do not live their life in a socially acceptable manner.  Marriages happen based on class, not love.

We are taken through Paris during both World Wars, revolution, the building of the Eiffel Tower, and the reign of different kings.  I enjoyed getting a better understanding of the history of Paris in a very simple way.  My only complaint, especially at the beginning, is keeping track of what year the story is in and what part of Paris due to the unfamiliar names and bouncing from present to past to future and back again.  It gets a little confusing at times but is fun to see how all the characters at some point have interactions with one another.

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

What an interesting short story.  After reading A Doll's House and The Awakening, I imagined this short story would go right along with the same theme and ending.  Mostly it did.  I love how all of these can relate to each other.  If you read one you should read them all.

This story follows a young mother who is married to a doctor and suffers from depression.  As a doctor, the husband does not believe in depression or anything related to that and prescribed the usual treatment of the rest cure.  This meant that the wife was taken to the country to be alone and was supposed to stay in bed resting and doing as little intelectual thinking and conversation as possible.  She was left in an upper nursery room that had bars on the windows and peeling yellow wallpaper.  Slowly the wallpaper drives her crazy and she starts to lose her mind.  It is fun to read as she first is angry at the paper, then her feelings towards the room slowly starts to change.  It is very minimal at first and then you start to see the change as she loses her mind.  She hides it from the maid and her husband until the very last section of the short story when she gives into her insanity.  I found the ending very satisfactory.

These books will definately make you think about your views on feminism and the role of women in the home.  It may even make you think about how you relate to others and how a marriage should be.

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah

Sorry, my computer is not cooperating and allowing me to post a picture of the book.

My huband bought this book and immediately started reading it.  It was interesting watching his reaction to the stories and events that unfolded as he read.  It did not suprise me since I read Half the Sky.  Actually, this book is not near as graphic as Half the Sky.  If put my husband in poor spirits and he felt guilty for the life we have and we even discussed how it could be fair for us to be here with little to worry about instead of living in fear and fighting like many do.

Ismael Beah, the author, tells his story of how he become a boy soldier at the age of 13.  It starts with him getting separated from his family and never seeing them again.  He wanders around for a year with a group of boys part of the time and alone for a while before they are captured and forced to start fighting with the Leonean army.  Many of his friends are killed and we follow Ismael as he spends over 2 years fighting and killing people in villages for supplies.  He gets addicted to drugs and numb to killing.

Later he, along with the other child soldiers are taken to the city for rehabilitation and reintegration.  He ends up living with his uncle and his uncle's family.  He starts to go to school again and even makes a trip to New York to discuss his experience with others from other countries facing similar issues.  Unfortunately the fighting makes it to the city Ismael lives in and Ismael finally decides to flee to Guinea in order to escape the fighting since he was sure he would eventually be forced to fight again or killed for not fighting.  The book ends with him making it to the Leonean Embassy and unfortunately we do not hear how he made it to the US or even his experience trying to adjust to his new life.

All in all a good book.  It is not very graphic, nor is the language bad.  It is a good book to read.

Legend by Marie Lu

I went on a young adult reading slurge recently and am trying to find time to catch up on all my reviews.  I read Legend, Divergent, Uglies, and Matched all at the same time so I started to mix up which story went with each book.  I still need to finish Matched so I will write that review at a later time once the library has them back in.

So Legend by Marie Lu.  Honestly, I have mixed feelings towards this trilogy.  The first book started slow and did not get interesting until the very end.  Yes, it takes a bit to set up the story and characters, but nothing happened.  We follow Day and June as they meet each other and we see how their actions affect one another.  As I got into the second book it got better and I was actually excited with the last book since I believed the author was actually going to kill one of her main characters.  Hardly anyone does that.  They just can't let go.  Well, unfortunately Marie Lu decided she couldn't kill her hero so she just gave him amnesia, but he still gets back together with June 10 years later.  Sorry to throw that info at you, it just made me sad.  It would have been fine to kill Day instead of putting him in a coma for 3 months.

So to the actual storyline so you know what this book is about.  Yet another dystopian book where the world was affected by global warming and started flooding.  In response, everyone went crazy and the United States divided into The Colonies and The Republic.  Alaska is also another section that is technologically advanced.  The Republic built a huge wall around them and it is in this government that Day and June are from.  They are ignorant to how the rest of the world is and are led to believe that The Republic is superior and a main super power in the world.  In reality it is incredibly small, outdated, and not involved with other governments.  They implemented Trials where you go when you come of age and take tests to see what job/school you will be sent to.  If you fail you supposedly go to a work camp when in actuality you are killed.  Otherwise you are whisked away to a military school or sent to work some menial job.  Day was considered a trouble maker so he was intentionally sent with the fail group, but they did not actually kill him and he escaped.  June scored a perfect score and was sent to the military school to become a promising military help.

Day sticks around to make sure his family has enough money to eat and to make sure the 'plague' does not affect any of them.  Of course his youngest brother is infected.  All our drama starts with Day breaking into a hospital to get a cure for his brother since only the rich get vaccines for the plague and in the process he 'kills' June's brother.  June is then sent to track down Day and turn him in since Day causes trouble by blowing up planes and hindering the government effort.  Well, June finds Day, but falls in love with him and finds out that Day did not actually kill her brother but he government did and they also killed her parents.  Day's brother was intentionally infected with the plague and taken for experimentation so Day and June team together to rescue him and save the republic.  Not a bad book and a lot of fun twists.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

This is another one of those dystopian young adult books like Divergent or The Maze Runner.  I have enjoyed the series so far and have just started the second book.  The first book is a little slow moving and honestly there is not a lot of action until the very end and even them not too much drama or anything going on.  Still, I have enjoyed the idea of the book.

Every goes through stages in their life.  They start as Littlies, then go to school and are labeled Uglies waiting until they turn 16 and can finally become a New Pretty.   They later become Middle Pretty, and finally Old Pretty and then die.  Each group is separated from one another and do not associate with the other groups.  Uglies go to school and learn while New Pretties pretty much just party and have fun.  Everyone has a surgery that changes each person into the ideal 'pretty.'  They see pictures of what we deem as pretty and popular for us and they believe they are too skinny and have uneven faces.

We start the first book with Tally Youngblood who is just waiting for her birthday.  Her friends have already turned Pretty and she is the only one left.  She meets up with Shay, another girl with her birthday also waiting to turn 16.  Shay, however, leaves a week before their birthday to go to the Smokies, a place where no one is turned pretty and is able to be themselves.  It is not a widely known place and secret from everyone, but Sally leaves directions for Tally hoping she will come.  Unfortunately for Tally, who has no desire to stay ugly, the special agents get involved and force her to travel to the Smokies and turn in the location.  Of course, by the time she gets there and falls for a boy, she no longer wants to turn them in, however she accidentally triggers the locator and the people are caught and sent back to their respective towns to become pretty.  Tally escapes with her boyfriend and frees everyone from the Special Agents.  Shay by this time has turned pretty, but they take her with them anyway.

The first book ends with Tally leaving with SHay to become pretty so she can test out a pill that is suppose to return your true thoughts and feelings.  Sally does not want to take it since the Pretty transformation makes you pretty and it makes you care free and happy.  You do not care about anyone or anything and just go along with what people tell you to do.  So our second book which I have just started starts with Tally in New Pretty Town as a Pretty.  She vaguely remembers her previous life, but it is fuzzy and she does not really care about it anymore.  By the third book, Shay has taken Tally and mad eher into a Special.  Shay is the leader and they are looking for the New Smoke where everyone is heading too.  By this time the cure is being distributed to a lot of people.

I like how the series ends with Tally not really being cured or changed from being a Special.  She is still herself and able to push past the mental changes that were imposed on her.  She does not fully support the New Smoke rebels and what they have done.  True, everyone is able to think for themselves and make their own decisions, however, this comes with consequences.  The people are now forming clicks and able to get any modification done to their body.  They have to expand the city which means cutting down trees and destroying nature.  People start to get angry and fight.  These are all consequences that Tally and David decide to watch and stay out of.  They warn their friends that if things get out of hand they will become their enemy and put them back in place.  So which type of government is really better?

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Oohhhh, this is a good book and I can't wait to get the rest of the series.  If you liked The Hunger Games and other books like that you will definately like this series.  This is another series about the government trying to keep control of the people in order to 'maintain peace.'  Unfortunately, as in most books, the leaders are corrupt and have an ulterior motive for the people.

Beatrice Prior is our main heroine who part of the Abnegation faction, a peaceful, selfless group who wears gray and does nothing to attract attention or individualness since their main focus is to put others needs about their own.  There are 4 other factions that students choose to join when they are 16.  Whichever faction they choose is their new home and they give up their family if they choose a different faction.  There is Amity, calm farmers; Erudite, seakers of knowledge; Candor, honesty; and Dauntless, brave.  Beatrice unfortunately finds out after her aptitude tests that she does not belong to any of them but is divergent.  This is not good and the tester erases her scores in order to keep her alive.  Beatrice chooses Dauntless since she does not feel she belongs in Abnegation.

Beatrice is put through a tough initiation and must learn to hide her Divergent abilities.  Luckily for her, these abilities save her in the end when leaders take control and start a war.  We are left at the end of book one with Beatrice stopping the fight, but having to flee for her life to get away from the corrupt leaders.  Definately a must read.

Lockwood & Co. by Jonathan Stroud

If you are interested in a slightly creepy, not scared out of your witts book this is great.  I thouroughly enjoy reading Jonathan Stroud's books and hope he continues with this as a series.  His writing is  different than most young adult writers and it makes his books entertaining and refreshing.  He doesn't follow the vampire, young love topics that most tend to do.  Instead he focuses on ghosts and demons for his books.  Awesome!

So this book follows a young girl, Lucey, who is able to Listen and Feel ghosts around her.  She comes from a large family of sisters that have special abilities as well, but nothing near to Lucey's talent.  After being trained and working for a local company a few years she encounters a strong ghost that kills her team.  She leaves home and makes it to the big city in search for a job.  She finds Lockwood & Co., a small company run by two young men, Lockwood and George.  The three of them team up and work together to exterminate problem ghosts.

You see, there is a Problem in Great Britain where an outbreak of ghosts has occurred.  The people have curfews and must be indoors before dark and have their houses protected by ghost lights, iron, and salt.  If you are touched by a ghost you turn blue, swell up, and die.  Only young people have the gift of seeing and hearing ghosts which is why all teams are made up of young kids overseen by adults.  Lockwood & Co. is the exeption.  After burning down a clients house and being sued, they must find a way to make the money in order to keep their business and find clients.  Of course there is a murder mystery behind the ghost from the house that burnt down and the team finds themselves in one of the most dangerous ghost houses ever in order to make enough money to pay their debts.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

I am still trying to figure out what to think about this book.  I finished it a couple days ago and have waited to write a review so I could possibly organize my thoughts about it and decide how I really feel about it.  Well, I still have no clue what to think.

Charlie (on the left in the above picture) is writing letters to someone after the suicide of his friend Mike.  He is trying to cope with this death and get used to high school.  He is incredibly sensitive and it drove me crazy how emotional he was and how he always cried over everything and only thought about doing what others wanted.  We later find out why he is this way and it makes sense so when reading this try to push through the sensitive crying parts.  Charlie becomes friends with a step brother/sister and is deals with high school things such as sex, drugs, drinking, bullies, etc...  It had some hard topics such as rape and abortion, but otherwise you get a feel of maybe another side of high school life that many teens go through.

I can't tell you that I liked the book, nor can I say I did not like it.  It followed a story, but also went off on side notes much like an emotionally sensitive teen boy would do if he wrote letters to someone unable to really get his feelings and thoughts sorted.  I must say that even with the realization of why Charlie acts as he does, I was impressed how Charlie was able to forgive and still love regardless of the tragedy that happened.

It is a quick, easy read and I would love to hear how others feel about this and their thoughts.