to kindle, or not to kindle.... that is the question

first of all let me tell you that i have been very anti-e-reader. i don't believe that books are dead, and i don't want to bury mine only to hear stifled screams from the coffin. i love books, the paper, the smell, the words, the texture. the covers that look way better in person than the online images do. i will never give up books, because they represent my soul and my awakening as a child. i am a book personified. i live eat and breathe reading and writing.

and then there is this: i have many unread books in my room that i'm making my way through, and i have many beloved books i'd like to read over and over. if i wanted them on an e-reader, i'd have to buy them again. and if i don't, then i'd still be carrying books around.

there really should be a way to get books that you already own onto the e-reader without paying the price of the book. i know that an i-phone has a book scanning system used to compare pricing. if only something like that could be put into effect on an e-reader where one can scan their books that they already own onto their e-reader via that little box on the back with the upc and coding. but alas, the problem is that everyone would be scanning books that they didn't really own.

so now i am not sure. the prices are at an all time low. if i wait, will they bounce back up? or will they continue to drop, or stay the same?

i don't want an e-reader that much. it's just that 1)books are more portable on there. i can carry essentially hundreds of books and magazines, etc at a time. 2)books are cheaper in e-book form.
HOWEVER, if i have a copy of a book vs an e-reader, the e-reader is more likely to be stolen. and i'd lose a lot of money on that.

there's a lot to consider. anyone have thoughts?

ode to sarra manning

i was fifteen when i read my first sarra manning book; it was Guitar Girl, and it was given to me by my boyfriend at the time for christmas. i kindof looked at it and thought to myself, it looks ok... we'll see. i devoured it. at this point i was very into all things british/and french [still am...] and so it was the perfect book. i still have it sitting on my shelf, but now it is joined by 2 of her others, Pretty Things and Lets Get Lost.

side note: i just found out that guitar girl came out on my birthday in 2004. kismet.

what i love about sarra is, she writes about teen angst like she lives it. she isn't condescending, she doesn't preach at all. she just tells it like it is. i've read many many books in my short life, some very memorable, some not so much. but i could tell you what every single one of her books is about out of the ones i've read so far. she uses music to guide much of her writing, even giving her books a playlist [yes many authors do this but she's one of the first authors i ever saw doing this actively and posting her playlists in the back of the books... she was doing this way before stephenie meyer popularized it.] 

i recommend sarra's books to anyone who is,was, or ever will be a teenager with a restless heart. 

read guitar girl if you like music and want to imagine what it would be like to be thrust into musical fame.

read pretty things if you are a gay boy or a straight girl or something in between and you like theatre camp.

read let's get lost if you hate your life and your parent[s] and need some new music to listen to.

and read nobody's girl if you hate mean girls, love paris, and cute american boys.

the particular sadness of lemon cake...

\\

was a strange book,
an extraordinary book,
a book that gave me heavy boots,
a book that made me sad but
i'm glad to have read it.

check it out.
there is a girl who can taste people's feelings in the food that they cook for her.
there is a mysterious brother, and a love that cannot be.
a mother and father with secrets of their own.
it pulls on your heart.



i wrote a found poem using aimee bender's words:

with such elongated emphasis

he whispered to me that the chair was his favorite.

he ate the whole meal with his eyes closed.

he said

my eyelids are my own private cave

you know you can’t remove your mouth,

everybody loves you and wants to take you home.

i wanted to erase them all;

dignity is no detail.

the house smelled of roasted pine nuts

it was probably eight o’clock

congratulations, I said.

joe’s missing.

i read the most recent wicked lovely book, radiant shadows, this week. melissa marr is such a wonderful writer who uses fairy lore to weave such magical stories. i love reading the wicked lovely series, and i'm so sad that it only has one book left. i can't believe i almost didn't read this books. although, this one definitely wasn't my favorite. i think in order my favorites are: ink exchange, wicked lovely, radiant shadows, fragile eternity. i really enjoyed the addition of rae, as well as the dive deeper into devlin's character and more of the mystery around bananach and sorcha was revealed.

i started sloane crosley's how did you get this number? and i like it so far. it's more essays in the vein of i was told there'd be cake. sometimes she goes on too long but i think she has an interesting point of view and i like to see into her mind.

i've given up on capital letters. i've given up on trying to be ready for school because it's not going to hit me until the night before when i can't fall asleep, and the morning of when my alarm goes off and i have to get ready and meet the bus. it won't hit me until the homework starts and i'm running from school to work to bed and trying to do my work and read and have a life and get all a's and b's.
a junior in college [sort of.] a second year sophomore. a junimore if you please.

at least i will have emily with me at ncc, for at least the fall. i can;t believe how long this summer was and i'm actually grateful for it to end. so bring on the smell of new textbooks and teachers to love and hate and a new planner and long sleeved shirts.

thursday wursday

remember how i had to put down my copy of The Girl Who Played with Fire to read some other novels? well, i finished "Best Friends Forever" [not my favorite JW novel, but pretty good], and "Heart of the Matter," and then went back to it. and i am so glad that i did. the end was so action packed, i got to see what happened to Salander, and learned some shocking secrets. I learned who her father is, why she is considered "special needs," etc. i suggest that you read this if you have read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo!

i'm currently reading the third, and sadly last, book in the Millenium Series, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. my 9 year old brother says the title is "stupid." but if you could look past his disparaging review [and judgement of a book by its cover!], i think it would be a worthy read. i'm so sad that this is the last book. I believe Stieg Larsson intended to put out ten novels in the Millenium Series. i sincerely hope that this book doesn't end in a cliff hanger. i can't decide if i'd like that or not. it would remind me of My So Called life. do they or don't they?

the world may never know.

heart of the matter- emily giffin

"In the popular Giffin's latest, Nick Russo is a pediatric plastic surgeon; his wife, Tessa (sister of Dex, from Something Borrowed), is a professor turned stay-at-home mom living a cushy life in Boston. Nick is called in to care for a six-year-old burn victim, and Nick's devotion to his work is soon tangled up in his attraction to the boy's mother, Valerie, a single attorney. Narrated in turn by Tessa and Valerie, the action centers around—will they or won't they, and, if they do, will Tessa forgive him? While unclear what Nick finds so unsatisfying in his marriage, adultery is always tempting and Tessa and Valerie both have their charms. Longtime fans will enjoy the cameos, but for the best of Giffin, don't miss her earlier works"- amazon.com


i read, like, a LOT. like a lot. people who don't know my name refer to me as the girl who always is carrying a different book. i read fantasy, fiction, non fiction, poetry, ya novels, novels in verse... the list goes on and on. i love male authors and female authors, i can't pick a favorite. but sometimes, just sometimes... i start to feel like i'm "too good" for chick lit. and i start justifying why i'm reading a chick lit book. oh, its not really chick lit, blah blah blah.


but you know what? what is wrong with chick lit? nothing. nothing at all. not only are many chick lit books an emotional journey, they have a lot to offer. the characters are like the best friends you've never had. you start to identify with them. and many of the chick lit authors [such as jennifer weiner, or emily giffin], really, REALLY can write.


i read devoured emily giffin's Heart of the Matter in 2 days. it was heartfelt, and i loved her subtleness in how she brought Dex and Rachel back from Something borrowed/Something Blue [if you haven't read these, go to your local library.... nOW =)]. i loved BOTH tessa and valerie. i felt sympathetic towards each woman, and wanted them both to wind up with nick, as weird as that sounds. i really fell for charlie, valerie's son. i definitely plan on reading giffin's other two novels, Baby Proof and Love the One You're With.

tuesday wuesday

had to put down my copy of "the girl who played with fire." i'm enjoying it, and not at the same time. andrea gave me the perfect way to explain it. you know how in The Deathly Hallows there was a lot of... erm, camping? and to me, at least, that was frustrating. because it was boring. and i wanted the good part. and reading the girl who played with fire goes like this: good stuff, lottttsssssss of camping, good stuff, mooooooore camping, alittlebitofgoodstuff, camping. and i should have finished it ages ago, i just cant get through it. so me and the book are taking a break from eachother, and i went  to the library today and picked up:

heart of the matter by emily giffin
best friends forever by jennifer weiner.
i've read every single book she's had published, so i am excited to read this [fly away home has a huge waiting list at the library, and i am literally the 152nd person in line for it!]
ariel  by sylvia plath
stephen king's 'on writing'... i liked maeve binchy's writers guide even though i usually dont like to be told how to write. but maybe king can also give me some insight.

and lastly, for research for my dream catcher story,
every day life among the american indians by candy moulton

the girl with the dragon tattoo

at first i was skeptical of Stieg Larsson's Millenium Trilogy. i was like "best seller? so what? it cant be that amazing. it looks dumb."
then... "ok i'll put it on the reading list, mayyyyybe i'll get to it. eventually."
then..."hmm..."
and then my girl less suggested it for book club and here we go, i was borrowing the book from a friends mom and... all i can say is wow.

Larsson has written an intense, disturbing, sexual, crazy ass motherfucker of a book. and it was so. fucking. good. the first chapter was ehh. so i skipped it. the second chapter until about page 200, i was thinking it was an ok read. by page 300, i was hooked.

i love larsson's obvious feminist outlook. i love his character of lisbeth salander. i love the twists, and the references, and almost EVERYTHING about this book was just captivating. i will be recommending this to everyone and anyone who asks me what book i think they should read next. i think everyone should read this marvelous piece of lit. even at its most disturbing moment, i could not look away.

i will be getting my hands on a copy of The Girl Who Played with Fire very soon... it is so sad that he only got to publish/finish 3 books out of the supposed ten he meant to write in this series. when he died, the literature world lost a great author. especially one with compassion for the human spirit, and a gift for mystery.

next up, i'll be reading "Cum Laude" by Cecily von Ziegesar

dog days are over

i used to have nightmares, every single night. for months straight.
i'd wake up every night at a crazy hour, crying, whimpering, or yelling.
so i decided to transfer that into a novel. which became a short story. which is growing into a novel.
but now the nightmares are gone. and i only remember clips of them, like a movie i know i saw long ago but can't quite recall.

so i'm sitting here listening to the florence and the machine album, which is the unofficial soundtrack for my story. and wishing my local library had a larger selection of books on the history of native americans. anyone know of a good NA history book i should read? i am taking a class on their history next semester but i dont want to wait that long.

books books books!

p.s-

a year ago when i worked at friendly's, i was an asshole and i spent ALL of my money on books and food. the food, i obviously ate. the books, well.... half of them are still on my shelves because i have been on a library binge [which is what i SHOULD have been doing the whole time]

so except for the few books that i have already requested from the library, i will try to only read all of these.

and when i'm done i'll donate or give away the ones i dont *need* to keep.

also not shown is a huge pile of marilyn monroe books, not all read, that i've been meaning to tackle. 

i have my work cut out for me!

pss- "what is a jew?" is a book about judaism because i am extremely interested in the different religions around the world, especially judaism. its nothing mean.

any suggestions for which of these books i should read after i finish The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo?

miscellaneous ramblings

happy friday! it's my day off from work [as was yesterday], and i am oh so very happy. [don't hate me, pretty soon i will be watching my 8&9 year old brothers, and 14 year old sister 3+ days a week. and working still.] but anywho...

yesterday i finished the last PRETTY LITTLE LIARS novel by sara shepard. i was tres disappointed. it's not that it wasn't good... it was. it's just that she used a technique that i find to be a cop out in writing. it was comparable to if JK Rowling ended Harry Potter with "and then he woke up. it was all a dream."

but i started I Was Told There'd be Cake by Sloane Crosley. I need to go back to the library and grab Water for Elephants. i keep forgetting! and i still didn't start The Glass Castle. apparently, HBO is making Cake into a tv show?! so i'm glad i'm reading it now, and i'll have to check out the show when it's on dvd.
speaking of HBO dvd's, i am now on the fourth episode of season one of TrueBlood. i like it, but the main reason i'm pushing forward with it is because it seems like the second season was really good and i can't watch that without the first.

however i might skip to the office's second season. i tried watching the first, and hated it. but then i was watching it on tv [idk what season] and laughing my ass off. so even though i hate skipping and starting in the middle of things, i'd rather skip the non funny parts.

i had a really thoughtful post i wanted to share, and it flew out the window. the same window where dreams go- you know when you wake up sometimes and you KNOW you had a crazy dream and all you see is a flicker of a random object or event and can't put the whole dream together? it went out THAT window.

i think i want to have a contest/give away soon. i just don't know what the prize shall be. but i'll figure it out.

ALSO thank you to chelsea at TRIUMPHS AND BLUNDERS OF A KOOKY GAL and chantalle at CHAI, CINNAMON, AND COUTURE for their lovely comments and reading my musings. their blogs are so wonderful, so go check them out!! i love them just as much as i love the other blogs i've mentioned in the past. at chelsea's blog, you can read about all the lovely things she bakes and cooks, and your mouth will water. i want to make it all! and at chantalle's, you will see beautiful pictures and gorgeous fashion. i love all of her posts!

Inside the Mind of Gideon Rayburn

a few years ago while i was on a book shopping spree [sidenote: i did of course go to the library but i also thought it was a wonderful idea to spend all of my money on books like there was no way i'd ever run out of money. i have nothing left over from my first job. nothing to show for that money but books. now, the library is my best friend. my bank account will thank me later.] i picked up Inside the Mind of Gideon Rayburn, by Sarah Miller. why? because it looked fascinating. because YA can be smart and sexy. because the cover was pretty.
but it turned out to be an amazing book. there was this girl, and she was actually INSIDE the mind of a boy that she [at first] didn't even know. she saw what he saw, felt what he felt, and knew what he was thinking. and the best part was, the reader didn't know which girl was inside his mind! was it molly? pilar benitez-jones? someone else?
before the ending [but not too much before] i figured out that it was molly. and i was correct.

so a few weeks ago when i was perusing borders to see whats new, i happen upon this book called The Other Girl. and guess what? it was a sequel to ITMOGR. so i requested it from the library. and thank goodness i didn't buy it. sarah miller, what happened? Molly was no longer interesting. she was whiny and stupid. at first, she was slightly identifiable to me, but after a few chapters [which i struggled to get through, hoping it would get better], i hated her. and pilar, i just lusted after her the whole time. and i should have invented a drinking game for every time you mentioned "pot." you just made me want to smoke some, instead of reading this book. unfortunately this was the only book i had with me when i babysat last night from 9pm until 2 am. i needed something to do to keep me awake while the kids were sleeping, and i wasnt able to get onto their internet.

it was not the worst book i've ever read, but it definitely gets a consolation prize. sarah miller, if you do write another sequel, i will check it out. but i hope its akin to the first book.

the books i will be reading this week:
-a memory, a monologue, a rant, and a prayer [edited by eve ensler]
-green chic [christie matheson]
-the glass castle [jeanette walls]

if anyone has any suggestions of books to add to my huge TBR pile [or if you read The Other Girl and want to say your opinion on it, Sarah Miller, or ITMOGR], feel free to tell me in the comments.

true beauty

"i realized that my tears were a gift; at school, the sisters had taught me that the saints wept with ecstasy. i opened my eyes, gazed at the darkness of the heavens, and felt my tears blending in with the raindrops. the earth was alive and the drops from above brought the miracles of heaven with them. we were all a part of that same miracle. how wonderful that God may be a woman... if that's true, then it was certainly God's feminine face that taught us how to love."


Paulo Coehlo, "By the River Piedra I Sat Down & Wept"

"So you can read my heart, Padre. And you know I love him, with a love that is growing every minute. We discovered the world together, and together we remain in it. He has been present every day of my life- whether i wanted him in it or not."

-By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept by Paulo Coelho

books books books!

well, i only have 4 school days left: 3 quizzes, 1 test, 1 class party and thats it! there's not much i can do but relax; i don't have to study much because 1 quiz and the test are for english, and the other 2 quizzes are for psych and the teacher goes over the material right before the quiz. yes, lucky, i know. but i had to drop my math class that i've been working my ass off for this whole semester, because even with 100 on the final, i'd fail the class [my highest grade was a 60, and i got 7/10-10/10's on the projects]. you don't need to make me feel bad, i already do.

today was a great day though because not only did i finally go shopping, and come up with a new budget plan, i got 7 new books from the library:

Perfect Fifths- Megan McCafferty
Love, Stargirl- Jerry Spinelli
Wicked Lovely- Melissa Marr
Nine Stories- JD Salinger
By the River Piedra I Sat and Wept- Paulo Coehlo
Inkspell- Cornelia Flunke
My Fearful Symmetry-Audrey Niffenegger

I'm so excited to read these. I also got the new Bust finally!

But what i really want to talk about is author collaborations. i love author collabs, especially in YA. the first i remember reading was Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. i had already read books by both authors and was curious to see where'd they go with a joint story. i fell in love. it had all of the elements i loved from both authors. the two wrote a second book in conjunction, Naomi and Eli's No Kiss List. another goodie!
another collab i enjoyed was Let it Snow by Maureen Johnson, John Green, and Lauren Myracle. each author wrote a third of the book, it was three separate stories that came together neatly at the end, with a few of the same characters throughout, in a melody of delicious YA-ness.
the last book i read thats a collab is Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan. in WG,WG, the first eponymous character is a straight male with a gay best friend, the ironically nicknamed Tiny. Tiny is writing a musical about his life much to the chagrin of WG. WG2 is a gay male in another town with no friends except for frenemy Maura, a bitter girl with an unrequited crush. Maura plays a terrible trick that leads to the meeting of the two Will Graysons.

What collaborations have you enjoyed?

"humans are the only animal that blushes, laughs, has religion, wages war, and kisses with lips... the more you kiss with lips, the more human you are."


extremely loud& incredibly close
jonathan safran foer
page ninety nine.


this book is my new favorite.

Belong to Me

today i finished the book BELONG TO ME by Marisa de los Santos. it made me laugh, it made me cry, it was a chick-lit roller coaster. at first, i was afraid to start because i realized it was a sequel to her first book, LOVE WALKED IN, but as i read i realized it was more of a companion novel. i already requested LOVE WALKED IN from the library, though :)

her writing was so thoughtful and saturated with emotion. the characters were three dimensional, and i felt like would know them if i saw them walking down the street in my world, the *real* world. the plot centers around Cornelia, and her husband Teo who move to a small town from NYC to start a family and life together; Piper, a rich bitch snob who becomes humbled and learns to free herself; Lake, who also is new to town along with her son, Dev, a little genius... Lake holds a huge secret that will [dun dun dunnnn] shake the foundation of [an]other characters' life; and Clare, a young girl whom Cornelia is very close with from LOVE WALKED IN.

i think even people who aren't necessarily a fan of chick-lit can enjoy this novel; it's 400 pages of pure emotion, love, and heartbreak. if i had time, i would definitely read this over again. but, i have Impulse by Ellen Hopkins, and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer waiting for me.

goodnight

i tried to do you right, why'd you have to go and turn to ice?

there is nothing like the first italian ice of the season [chocolate mousse chip!] , and a good great new read:

BELONG TO ME by Marisa de los Santos

"no, see, that's just it. it's not The Origin of the Species. not 'the species.' just species. all species. it's not about us. we think we're the center of everything because we're smarter than other animals, but that's not even fair because we invented the whole idea of 'smart' and decided that smart means the thing that we are. when you think about it, whales are smarter than we are when it comes to surviving in the deep ocean, right?"
-character: dev tremain, 13 year old boy, page 38

a lot of people will call me stupid, or silly, or misinformed, because i truly and wholeheartedly, completely agree with this. i don't believe humans are the best, the most evolved, the smartest, the most important. who could know such a thing but the one who created us? we have no way of gaging*** which species is best..i do believe that humans are very intelligent, yet somewhere along the way we have lost sight of what's important. like SURVIVAL. and we are ruining our own survival by not caring for the earth. therefore, we will eventually cease to survive because of our own doing. so..... how can we say survival of the fittest/humans are the fittest? we certainly are not if we cant even realize that we need to protect the earth, protect the animals, and protect ourselves. i think that even someone who hates everyone and everything, but loves him or herself, would find it logical to protect the earth if only so that he or she could survive. think about it.

***for the person who commented rather rudely on my formspring, and then proceeded to dis my vocabulary/grammar and the like (all the while not being so hot at it his or herself), GAGING means measuring or determining. so in this case, we have no way of DETERMINING which species is best. it's not a misspelling of "gagging" or a made-up word. next time you decided to go around attacking people, it's a good idea to make sure your own shit doesn't stink. and to me, if your vocabulary is that mediocre, the your shit definitely stinks. have a great day, "anonymous." by the way, i know who you are :) and who you're employing to help you:) get off of my blog and go live the life someone your age is supposed to be living. and by that i mean your real age, the age on your license, not the age you've apparently decided you'd rather be (4).

currently reading:

Revolting Youth by C.D.Payne.
Nylon Magazine February 2010
                           March 2010

the nylons will get cut into collages.
fashion.
music.
don't tell me who to be, but give me the tools to find out on my own
who i am and who i want to be.

As for Revolting Youth, i like it so far.i'm on page 53 out of 276... it's the sequel to Youth in Revolt, a book i read over the summer, and basis for the same-titled movie starring Michael Cera (which i have yet to see :( ) From my point of view, the first book (3 in 1) was better, but since i'm only so much into it, i can't really judge. all i can say is Nick Twisp is still dressed as a girl. and surprisingly, i still see the boy i made up in my head, and not Michael Cera. the cover of the version of the book the library gave me is ugly. it makes the book not look so great like the new cover does. i wish that all books had beautiful covers... i know not to judge books based on looks, but aesthetics don't hurt. although i can't recommend this book quite yet, i definitely recommend its predecessor!!

tonight i had lunch with my dad. it was awesome to have one on one time with him and talk adult to adult, and father to child at the same time. i love my dad, he's always been there for me and i am extremely fortunate to have a wonderful relationship with him. i'm extremely sad that he doesn't live with us anymore, but i've never doubted his love and devotion for us kids for even a moment. i wish everyone could say the same about their own fathers.

to those who are reaching out to me, please don't hesitate to send me a text or message, i'm always here to talk. anytime.

Everything Is Illuminated

"You are the only person who has ever understood even a whisper of me, and i will tell you that i am the only person who has understood even a whisper of you."

Everything is Illuminated, page 218, Jonathan Safran Foer.

this book is incredible.. i can't believe he was only 25 when it was published... i can only hope to be so lucky at 25.. i definitely recommend this book to both "serious" readers as well as people who "only read books worth reading" as in people who only read popular books. it's such a heartbreaking story, so beautiful... i heard that the movie was good in its own way but i do believe one should read the book!!

jonathan safran foever (this isn't an autobiography, but the main character is named after the author) travels to the ukraine to find out about the woman who saved his grandfather from the nazis. this story is told in two voices, Jonathan's, and Alex's, his guide through the Ukraine.  the first few pages were rough, it is hard to get used to Alex's version of the english language, but once you do, it's wonderful. i think anyone 16 and up can appreciate this novel.