Book club read: The Mysterious Benedict Society

Oh boy, what a fun ride! This book was definitely up my alley since I like puzzles and I like solving puzzles. One of the many reasons that I bought this book (besides the fact that I had a birthday present gift card) was the quiz at the back of the paperback copy. (By the way, Ann, Emily, Kyle, and I took said quiz and I got 10/10. :) I'm not geeky.) The other reason was due to the artwork. I know, I know, you should never judge a book by its cover, but seriously--this art is cool.

I really liked the themes of family, friendship, and belonging. The main characters have lost their parents in some way or another. (Question: how did Constance Contraire was an orphan? I can't remember.) So in some ways, this book explores how the children make connections with each other and how they learn to trust each other on their top-secret mission.

I just loved the many different, zany characters. For some reason I thought that S.Q. was a spy all along. He was a bumbling, kind of spacey character who worked for the bad guys, but he was endearing in a way. And perhaps he do learn about his past in the later books. He just seems too nice of a guy to really be bad. Constance was a riot. Mr. Benedict was weird at first, but I grew to like him. Mr. Curtain was such a great bad guy, driving around in his wheelchair. Milligan was a secret favorite, even though he was depressed for most of the book.

This book is a nice fun read. I'll probably read the other books in the series . . .  when I have time. :)

The Good Earth . . . and other news

 

When I finished listening to The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck, I felt a little bit more knowledgeable about of Chinese culture. This book is a Pulitzer Prize winner for a reason: it is really, really well written. Not having read Pearl S. Buck before now, I went in without having any expectations. And I was surprised how much I liked this book even as it tackled such topics of marriage, culture versus nature, and the role of women. There are other themes, of course, but these struck me the most. This is the kind of book that makes people think and evaluate their own lives. I recommend it.

In other news, I'm doing NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and have written over 15,000 words in 10 days. Boo-yah! And in the meantime of that, I'm also reading a book for my sister's book club (it's one I chose, which makes it even better.) And I'll be helping to write a blog about our experiences as a book club as we discuss the book. This is going to be good. :) If you're interested in checking it out, I'll be promoting it as soon as we create it. My sister and I are interested in hearing other people's opinions about books. You never know what you'll learn. 

And in other, other news, I'm running a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving. Please, oh please, don't let it be freezing!

Till next time!

Melly

Book Club Read: The Wikkeling

This is one strange little story that left a lot of questions unanswered and left me wishing I could know more about the backstory. Focusing on Henrietta and Gary, two children who live in the Addition, this book describes a world filled with plastic and garbage, of regulations and growth.

As my fellow book clubbers (Ann and Emily, at this point) gathered to discuss, we all felt that The Wikkeling had a lot of interesting points:

1) the education system
2) the monster itself
3) the constant barrage of advertisements
4) the overprotectiveness of society
5) the mysterious wild housecats
6) the history of Old Town and the Addition
7) garbage men

I was somewhat dissatisfied because I wanted my questions to be answered about why the monster was the way it was, why the town chose to develop so quickly, and why the Wikkeling affected our heroes the way it did. Those questions are left to a sequel, I suppose. Overall, the book was beautifully designed and the pictures went right along with the story--kinda dark and not overly filled with detail. I give this book 3 stars out of 5.

I Shall Wear Midnight

This may come as a shock to a few of you, but I actually read—rather than listened to—this book.  And I must admit that I got as much pleasure reading it as I did listening to the previous three. It was actually pretty thrilling to see the dialogue of the Wee Free Men and to see the clever puns and comments made by the author. It's another thrilling story where Tiffany grows up a little bit more while yet another something else tries to kill her.

But Tiffany is Tiffany for a reason and nothing seems to really throw her off balance, even if it's her best friend getting married to another girl.

I'm so glad that my friend Ann introduced me to Terry Pratchett and Tiffany Aching. I give this book a thumbs up. Read the whole series. Laugh, and enjoy the Wee Free Men.

"Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?"

I love Anne of Green Gables.

I started reading this book last year because I watched the movie with some friends. The movie inspired me, and I read to chapter 33 and stopped.

And just last week, I finally finished. There are so many good quotes in this book! Here are a few of my favorites:

"There's such a lot of different Annes in me. I sometimes think that is why I'm such a troublesome person. If I was just the one Anne it would be ever so much more comfortable, but then it wouldn't be half so interesting."

"It's so easy to be wicked without knowing it, isn't it?"

"And people laugh at me because I use big words. But if you have big ideas you have to use big words to express them, haven't you?"

"Mrs. Lynde says that sound doctrine in the man and good housekeeping in the woman make an ideal combination for a minister's family."

I could go on, but I think you get the picture. If you haven't read this book, you need to. And if you haven't seen the movie, you need to do that as well. It will change your life. :)

Little Blue Men, Dragons, and Wizards, Oh My!

My, oh my, indeed!
Three more books down. Oh, okay, I listened to two of them, but I finally, finally, finished Brisingr! That alone makes me feel so, so . . . free.  Here are my thoughts on the books:

Wintersmith is the third in the Tiffany Aching series, and was funny and thought-provoking as the other two. Little Tiffany keeps on growing up, and as she hones her magical abilities, her responsibilities keep increasing. I loved listening to this book. The Wee Free Men kept me laughing with their bumbling but earnest ways. And Tiffany learns a few lessons about love and lost, legend and legacy. Good read!

I'm practically tap-dancing to have finished this book! I keep trudging through the series because at parts the story holds my attention and I want to know more. 
But then . . . it becomes boring and dragged out and forever long. Seven hundred–plus pages to basically found out what the title of this book means—that's what I discovered. I'm still not convinced that I really this series. The new book comes out in a month. I don't think I'll stand in line to get it, but I'll borrow it from my roommate . . . a few months down the road.

Oh, Harry Potter. I loved reading you when you first came out. And I really, really loved listening to you. I listened to this book while exercising (a common thing for me to do is to listen to audiobooks while exercising. I get lost in the story and thirty minutes fly by!). By the end, I wished—once again—that there was one more book to this series. I guess the movies fulfilled my wish in a way. Anywho, great book and great series. I can't be disappointed here.





In other unrelated news, I've decided to buy a new camera. I've loved my little Casio Exilim, but I think I want to go up one (or maybe half) level, which means I gotta put down some cash for it. GULP. Yeah, I like to save money, but in this one thing, I want to get something nice that will last for years to come. Suggestions? I've been looking at the Nikon s8200 Coolpix and the Casio Exilim ZR100. I have a couple of months to make the decision.

A Hat Full of Sky audiobook

I finished listening to A Hat Full of Sky, which either means I'm walking/jogging more, or I cheated and listened to the book when I should have been doing something else.

In any case, I loved this book! The characters are so well thought out and the narrator is so good at creating voices, that I wanted to keep listening. The sense of humor is exactly what I like, and the author is rather good at putting in clever little jokes here and there mixed in with an exciting story. I got sucked in every time I turned it on...and believe me, it made my walk go a whole lot faster. I highly recommend reading/listening to this book!

And, as a side note, my diligence in exercising has increased. Which means that I'm exercising more and feeling great about myself. This morning I pushed myself to go farther with my jogging, and it felt awesome!