Owlowiscious Girls

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is another book I read for English Lit. in college.  The one thing I remember is that I really liked it but I could also understood why others would not like it.  I wish I remembered more and this would be a great book to revisit.  I also remember it being on the short side because I had originally read it in an anthology book, but I found a nice copy at Goodwill.  I really wish I had more to say on this book, but I am running late on this updates as it is.  I have to wash the dishes and make the kids stop watching TV some time, right? 

Here we are.  I have 3 books on this list for which I feel guilty for not liking...very much....at all.  I refrain from using the word 'hate' though because I feel I should give these three books at least ONE more chance and I have not been able to find the time or the WANT to read these these works again.  This is one of those...... Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.  I read this book for college.  It was painful.  It was boring.  It was not what I expected.  My expectations were great because I had read A Tale of Two Cities and I loved that book (see what I did there?).  But I don't know what happened.  Great Expectations was so drawn out and I didn't understand Pip's love for that girl that I can't remember her name.  And the creepy bride woman?  What even WAS that?  Probably symbolism that I don't get.  I also thought I owned this book but I guess I was too traumatized to keep it.  I picked it up at Goo...

This is kind of a confession: yes, I have seen Game of Thrones .  This is a show with a lot of sex and violence- not something I usually endorse or even take part in.  But I have some influences in my life and it wasn't something I could necessarily avoid.  It is alright though.  I ended up kinda liking it- a guilty pleasure, a VERY guilty pleasure.  So after noticing the book on the list I was a little excited about actually reading it.  I thought a certain someone had all these books but I think they are being put away or borrowed.  In any case I did find the first book at the Goodwill.  Game of Camping Chairs- I mean Thrones because "Summer is Coming" Yup, we even have the wine This is a fun clip but my favorite one is My Favorite

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes is a book everyone has had to have heard of because it is one of the greatest works ever written or so I have been told.  I have never read the whole thing, but we read snippets of it in various college courses so I know about the wind mills and I remember some funny stuff.  It has been a long time though.  Don Quixote was mentioned in two of the books I just finished- The Count of Monte Cristo and The Da Vinci Code .  I had no idea this book was so HUGE.  Not as big as the Count but it is over 900 pages.  I can not give much thoughts on this book because the hour I spent with it I was listening to and reading the introduction and various notes by the translator.  I don't own this book but I definitely should because of the great amount of praise this book gets and how long it might take me to read it. 

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon is a book I have seen people reading in my Popsugar Reading Challenge group for the prompt "a book with an animal in the title" or "a book about mental health".  It is on the short side, takes us to England, and explores a mystery with a boy who is on the autism spectrum.  This is the kind of book I like.  My first impression: puts you in someone else's shoes, gives you perspective, mysterious, easy to follow, and I think I will really like this book.  This is a library book, but it would be a nice book to have.  I thought you should know that since The Great American Read List came out I have checked off five more books of the list:  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (mostly listened to it while I was sick), Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (the first book I checked off the list after the list came out), The Color Purple (I had a great reading day at the park and it wasn't too long), ...

*1. A book made into a movie you've already seen:  The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown- DONE *2. True Crime: Truevine: Truevine: Two Brothers, a Kidnapping, and a Mother's Quest: A True Story of the Jim Crow South by Beth Macy-DONE *3. The next book in a series you started: Emily Climbs by L.M. Montgomery-DONE * 4. A book involving a heist:  The Heist by Janet Evanovich- DONE *5. Nordic noir:  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larson (January Group Read)- DONE  *6. A novel based on a real person: Gods and Kings  by Lynn Austin-DONE *7. A book set in a country that fascinates you: On the Road with Francis of Assisi: A Timeless Journey Through Umbria and Tuscany, and Beyond by Linda Bird Francke- DONE *8. A book with a time of day in the title: Afternoon of the Elves by Janet Taylor Lisle- DONE *9. A book about a villain or antihero: How to be a Villain by Neil Zawacki- DONE 10. A book about death or grief: NOVEMBER GROUP READ *11. A book with a fe...

Here is another book I am not familiar with at all- The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah.  We are back in Brooklyn.  I was just here about 100 years in the past with Francie Nolan ( A Tree Grows in Brooklyn ) and now I am back with a girl named Winter and the year is around the early to mid 1990s.  Could these two girls be any different?  Francie is white, Winter is black.  Francie loves learning, reading, and going to school, Winter barely attends school and would rather be getting her hair and nails done than read a book.  Francis' mother works herself to the bone just to get by and Winter's mom basically does nothing but throw parties and dressed up in designer dresses.  But both these girls are from Brooklyn and have strong, complicated fathers.  Francie's father is an Irish town drunk and Winter's pop is the drug kingpin.  As I didn't know what to expect from The Coldest Winter Ever I was worried about another book that was not m...

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller is a classic and not just a classic but a classic war book.  War books are not my thing, but for this challenge I will give it a try.  I did, surprisingly, like Farewell to Arms and that is technically a war book, I think.  Any way, it was fun reading examples of a Catch-22.  I think the closest thing I have to a catch-22 is when I was pregnant.  To get on a state insurance plan that will cover pregnancy you have to get proof from a medical agency that you are pregnant, but to get seen by said medical agency you have to have insurance.  Do you see what I am getting at?  That is a called a catch-22. So I cracked open this book yesterday and had a little trouble with the flow.  After going for about 20 pages I thought I could greatly benefit from an audio book experience.  Even though I started over I decided audio was the way to go.  I can see why Morgan Freeman (from The Great American Read program ) said, ...

I think I first saw The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz in Entertainment Weekly when we use to get those magazines.  I remember it being hailed as just this great amazing book.  To tell you the truth when I read that about a book this is what my I hear in my head- "There will be a lot of cussing, whining, and sexual awakening because we are enlightened now" in this book.  And, boy, was I ever right.  Add some cultural stereotyping, awkward footnotes, and can't understand in context Spanish words that I had to look up continually and you have this book or at least this book so far.  I only had time to read 25 pages because I had to look up so many words, but I don't see this going in my "loved" or even "liked" it pile .  I will be lucky if I can finish it so I will just stop this post right here and hope for the best.  Two stinky books in a row is not a fun come back from being so sick. This is also a library book and I don...

I guess finally finishing The Count of Monte Cristo tired me out because I have had a nasty cold for the past 4 days so now I have some catching up to do so these posts will be extra short. Beloved by Toni Morrison was a book I read for Minority Lit. class in college.  I feel bad about it, but I don't really like this book.  I probably feel guilty for being white but this book was hard to understand and had at least 3 very shocking scenes described within the pages that I kinda wish were not in my head and I wish I could figure out a way to find the "good".  I don't mind shock but shock without a clear purpose or message is what is throwing me off.  I feel there is a message that I don't get and won't understand because I am white.  I have been reading a few reviews and I almost feel the message but I am not quite there yet. In any case, this book is about slavery, cruelty, dehumanization, ghosts, spirits, mysticism, rape, infanticide, psychological tortu...

In honor of its 200th birthday this year, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, is my book of choice today.  I have read this book at least twice and I have voted for it on The Great American Read at least 3 times so that tells you basically what I think of this book.  I really like this book.  I think I like the story behind the story even better.  Mary Shelley wrote this story as a sort of contest to see who write a scary story.  She was only 19.  I think people generally think this book is suppose to be scary but that isn't exactly the point.  I was first assigned this book in college in an English Lit class.  I remember it was one of the first places I learned about doppelgangers (I wasn't really bright or highly educated before I reached college).  I haven't written a comprehensive review of this book.  What I really enjoyed about this book was the thought process and philosophical questions of creator and creation.  I have a fancy...

 The Little Prince- 93 pages Alice's Adventures in Wonderland- 96 pages + Siddhartha- 152 pages The Picture of Dorian Gray- 165 pages + Charlotte's Web- 184 pages Heart of Darkness- 188 pages + *Ghost- 192 pages The Outsiders- 192 pages A Separate Peace- 196 pages The Alchemist- 197 pages Foundation- 200 pages *The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe- 206 pages *The Giver- 208 pages *Hatchet- 208 pages Things Fall Apart- 209 pages The Call of the Wild- 210 pages Where the Red Fern Grows -212 pages The Catcher in the Rye- 214 pages The Notebook- 214 pages *The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy- 215 pages + The Great Gatsby- 216 pages Their Eyes Were Watching God- 219 pages Looking for Alaska- 221 pages The Sirens of Titan- 224 pages The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time- 226 pages The Adventures of Tom Sawyer- 244 pages The Sun Also Rises- 247 pages The Shack- 252 pages The Intuitionist- 255 pages And then There Were None- 264 pages F...

Well we have reached Russian literature and this is not the only one on the list - Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyvesky.  I barely dipped a toe into this thing.  I had to find a youtube video on a summary for this thing because I was very worried about understanding it or keeping track of all the complicated Russian names.  Honestly not looking forward to this one.  I found a copy of this book in my husband's bookshelf so I have to ask him if he read it.  This book sounds needlessly complicated, but I will try to find the people who love this book and why.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker- I knew this book was going to be dealing with tough stuff- abuse, rape, racism, sexism, toxic relationships, separation, and religion and so much more, but I was willing to open my mind and really tackle the hard issues presented.  Just because books deal with hard things and even especially things I don't like doesn't mean I will dismiss the book.  I wouldn't say it has always been like this.  Some of my biggest struggles and personal preferences have caused me to dismiss and down right dislike books.  I know I won't like all the books I read and maybe I waste a bit of time on a few but this book has surprised me.  It started off completely rough and nasty- rape, incest, and alleged infanticide/murder.  But half way through the book, oh yes, this was a great reading day- I am almost done with this book, Nettie's letters enter the picture and truth comes out and strength and rising above starts to really shine. Took thi...

The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel- never heard of it.  But found out the author, who must be getting along in years, lives in Oregon so that already seems awesome to me.  This is a long book and I was pleasantly surprised to find a copy of it at Goodwill.  I read about the first 20 pages and I think this is a book I would probably like, but too bad that I have so many other books going on right now.....I am SO SO close to finishing The Count of Monte Cristo .  One of my friends said this was a book she was not interested in and another said she read it in her early 20s and loved it- I look forward to my own thoughts.  My first impressions if you need to hear them: sounds like a big adventure, survival, exploring gender roles and maybe?- spiritualism, and nature elements. 

In honor of Father's Day I decided to post on a book that most people agree has the greatest literary father of all time as one of the main characters in it- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.  How I was introduced to this book is a pretty good story.  I had been previously homeschooled and I hadn't been assigned "literature" or any particular books per se.  I was only required to read what  I wanted and do 6 book reports by the end of the school year which was fine but I struggled a bit finding good books.  I would pull things off library shelves at random (as long as they were in the children's section, of course, because everything else seemed really intimidating at the time) and read it and write a report.  So I entered public school for the first time as a 9th grader at Fairmont Jr. High.  I was assigned my first book from my English teacher Mrs. Godfrey.  Mrs. Godfrey was a bit of a crank and looked like she had already been teaching lo...

This is the start of summer break and I am already finding it hard to fit in my regular reading time.  I have a six year old who just wants to play play play but her older sisters are just not that interested.  Poor girl!  Plus she has been making some poor choices lately.  Hopefully this isn't the norm and I can actually finish a couple books on this list.  Here is another book I have only read in the adapted format.  It is not my kind of book.  I am not a survivalist or interested in this type of book.  The Call of the Wild by Jack London is not a favorite book of mine.  I didn't even really get to revisit it today.  What I vaguely remember is sled dogs and cold.  This is a book that will not get its due credit on the list but I am sure it is widely loved by others. 

So here we are on the last day of school and I had to spend it running around looking for end of year teacher gifts so I didn't have much time to write a post- this one will be coming out a little late.  But I wish I could give this book justice.  I chose it for this day because teachers are some of the ultimate givers.  The Giver by Lois Lowry is one of my favorites.  I didn't read this book too long ago either.  I took it to one of those movie nights at school for the kids because I wasn't too interested in seeing Frozen for the hundredth time.  I finished the whole book that night.  This dystopian world drew me in.  I loved the ideas.  I loved the struggles of the character of Jonas.  I just love this book.  I honestly do not have the right words to tell you how much I love this book.  I gave it to my daughter, Hermione to read.  She also read it in a day.  And now she often says, "I accept your apology." in a mo...

I am in summer mode so this post will be short and sweet- the absolute opposite of this book- Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.  I will not get to this book for a long time.  After looking it over I have a feeling this will be the last book I will read on The Great American Read list.  It looks super long (another 1000+pager) and I tried to listen to it for a little bit and just kept getting distracted by trying to make summer plans, but I totally cleaned the kitchen.  All I know about this book is pretty much nothing.  I might have heard that Ayn Rand has an interesting or maybe it was just strange philosophical ideas.  One of my friends gave this book one star on a Goodreads review so that doesn't seem promising but on the other hand I also often have the opposite views of this person so I will not know what to expect exactly.  At any rate I will not worry about this one for a while. After a very long search I found this book at Goodwill

So here goes!  My greatest shame as a reader, a previous homeschooler, and Christian- I have never read all the books in The Chronicles of Narnia series (ducks and hides).  I know I know- it is almost a crime.  I EVEN took a class in college on C.S. Lewis and STILL managed to get out of reading those all those delightful books.  To be fair I was slightly scarred by my first introduction to C.S. Lewis which were the BBC beavers. LOOK!!!  Aren't those things terrifying!?!  I was some what traumatized and never did pick up the books as a child.  We might have had an audio version but my brother was actually into it more than I was at least that is how I remember it.  Fantasy wasn't really my thing either.  I almost feel like I never actually sat down and read the books but I had heard the stories over and over again so that it felt like I read it.  I know for absolute certain I have read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe beca...

In honor of my oldest daughter, Hermione, I will be talking about Ghost by Jason Reynolds.  She had her 5th grade promotion ceremony tonight.  We are so proud!  My oldest daughter is one of the biggest readers around, but she was having trouble with finding a book "involving sports" for our Popsugar reading challenge we have been working together on.  When I saw the book Ghost pop up on The Great American Read list I knew I had also seen it on another list.  As my daughter is such a big reader I sometimes get s few reading suggests from Oregon Battle of the Books and Ghost was on the list for next school year and right in time for my daughter to up her reading level game!  This is how you can find Hermione most of the time, hiding behind a book. All I knew about this book was that it was about a boy who is reluctant to join the Track Team even though he can run really fast (he prefers basketball).  I read about 50 pages and I can be ce...

After the disappointment of yesterday's book it is nice to come to a book I absolutely love.  Charlotte's Web by E.B. White is straight out of my childhood book memories.  I got my copy of this book in the picture from my mom.  She subscribed us to the Weekly Reader Books for a period of time.  I loved this book so much and I wanted Fern to be like me so I drew glasses on her because I of course wore glasses.  If you asked me I honestly couldn't pin point why I love this book.  It might be because it feels like the all American honest place full of every day miracles I wish I could live in.  It might be because this book did something difficult- it made me love a book about animals and not just animals but "talking animals"- that is not usually a big draw for me.  It might be because I listened to someone read to me on my very own cassette tape player while I feel asleep almost every night for weeks on end.  Whatever the case maybe ...

Whoa!  This book had been giving me bad vibes before I even cracked it open- not a good sign.  The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger is a book I have seen on many classics lists and I hadn't really heard negative things about it per se but I had vaguely heard that one usually will not enjoy this book unless you are young- but I would add you wouldn't like this book unless you are self absorbed and a bit of a snob.  I shouldn't be saying this though- I haven't read the whole book.  But so far I can not stand this book.  The only way I think I will get through this book is by rewarding myself with a negative review on Goodreads after every page I get through. My first impressions: this Holden guy is HORRIBLE (I want to call him a douche bag but I am a lady), I rarely say I hate a book but this one might be honored with the first, the language is terrible and full of meaningless cursing, the writing is outrageously repetitive and if the point is to see how lo...

I read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak almost exactly a year ago.  At first I didn't remember being that impressed but after rereading a bit and looking over my old review   (it contains *SPOILERS) this book makes me a little teary eyed. The biggest complaint I have about this book is there was too much foreshadowing so when the sad part came in the book it wasn't as sad as it could have been for me personally.  I almost, kinda liked the movie better than the book which does happen from time to time.  But I highly recommended reading it.  It shows the best and worst of humanity in a fairly new perspective.

Finally, a book I have read!  Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya is a book I read in Minority Lit. class in college many years ago.  I love this book!  I am a little foggy on the details.  I remember a little boy and Ultima, which everyone makes fun of for being a witch but she is an old spiritual healer.  I remember lots of Catholic things.  But the thing I remember most is the Christmas play because it was so funny.  I reread that section today, still funny but a lot more irreverent then I remembered. I think it goes without saying that I own this book though I haven't reread it, but maybe some day it would be fun to revisit especially with the knowledge of Catholicism now.  Since this is a book I actually read I got to spend more time with The Count of Monte Cristo so I am at barely 60%- I was really hoping to be done by now because it has recently become a slog to get through.  I enjoy it but I also want it to be done or to get...

Once upon a time I really wanted to get into reading Agatha Christie.  Someone was getting rid of a small box of them and I jumped at the chance- I usually jump at the chance for free books no matter what- then I read one book and wasn't exactly impressed or I picked the wrong book to start with or I was easily confused.  In any case I promptly re-boxed the books and put them in the garage and forgot about them....until now. I was excited to find a book on The Great American Read that I already owned!  Yes, it was there hidden in this box just waiting for the day I would be ready to come back to her- the "Queen of Mystery".  I was a little wary since my first try at these books was unsuccessful.  So far I really like it but I do have to have a character list while I read.  My first impresses are that this could get real interesting... Happy Chocolate Ice Cream Day!

"Everyone loves a conspiracy."  Yes, I am part of that everyone.  I really do love conspiracies, secret societies, ghost stories, mysterious disappearances, and haunted houses...all that stuff.  I use to have a big series of Raintree books from the 1970s that dealt with all of those things.  I have searched in vain for a picture of these books and the closest I have come is this blog that only has the pictures of the creature books.  Still those books made a big impression on me.  I think about them whenever I want to think about leaving it all behind to go on a crazy adventure to discovery what is the secret of the Bermuda Triangle...and get famous....but honestly it is just a bunch of fun thoughts of a different life that I don't have.  No worries- I still just read about them and stay safe at home.  All that to say I have been reading The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown.  It is fun stuff.  It is a little cheesy writing wise but I am to...

So first things first- I love the look of the cover of Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, but we aren't suppose to judge a book by its cover and that is probably the worst thing I could say about a book very much about race and discovering things about people that we wouldn't know unless we get to know them.  This book is going to take some time to get to know.  It is on the longer side and written about a Nigerian woman who has been living in America but is in the process of moving back home to Nigeria to reunite with an old flame.  This is a modern book and I have heard of the author once.  First impressions:  this is going to be a tough book, it has intricacies in it that I don't understand especially the politics in Nigeria, it started off promising and even had me laughing because I was recently at a party meeting a man from Burkina Faso and I jokingly said "We know nothing about African geography." which as almost the exact same joke made ...

Almost by shear probability it tells me I should have read a James Patterson book, but my goodreads records no such event.  I feel like I have read at least one.  I might have read one and totally forgotten to add it.  In any case, these are not my usual books- the Alex Cross Mysteries, but I do love a good mystery.  Maybe this could be my new thing.  Along Came a Spider by James Patterson My first impressions: this could be my new thing, it is like an old fashioned Criminal Minds and I love that show, and I can see why this would make it on a list of influential reads.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho was a basically unknown book to me.  I might have seen it on a shelf once in awhile and maybe on a list here and there.  I never took the time for it.  It seems short enough.  When I checked it out from the library the librarian said, "I love this!" so that seems promising.  My first impressions: spiritual, a little mystical, feeling like there must be a lot of meaning here that I am not fully aware of or comprehending, it makes me want to dream bigger and realize my Personal Legend.  I think my Personal Legend is book related- right? I tried to listen to this one for a little bit but the reader skipped A LOT so it didn't seem right to continue listening if I was going to miss a bunch of stuff.