I didn't read anything this week. Sorry. I mean, I read some more Fruits Basket, but that's just too many Fruits Basket quotes.

Here are the main 4 characters:

Shigure, Yuki, Tohru, and Kyo


Here are my favorite characters:

Hatori


Hatsuharu


Hanajima and Arisa


Kyoko


Yay for pictures!

I didn't really read much this week. I guess I read some more of that manga series Fruits Basket by: Naksuki Takaya. I don't really have anything new to report on that.



In the storyline, one of the classes has to perform the play Cinderella for their cultural festival, but when they decide the cast, it turns out all wrong (for example, the super nice girl has to play the evil stepsister and the girl who wears only black is cast as Cinderella), so the class rewrites the play to suit who's casted as the characters. They call it "Sorta Cinderella." It was cute.


(supposed to be evil step sister ^)


(supposed to be cinderella^)

I'm really liking the series. It's strange how well you get to know the characters and how deeply you empathize with them and their problems. It's sort of like a little mini-vacation. I also like how Takaya portrays this one guy out to be a complete jerk (He's the guy on the cover). Then, he introduces himself as God. It was kind of cynical. I liked it.

Hatsuharu ^ is one of my favorite characters because he's really sweet and funny and misunderstood. He reminds me of one of my friends a lot.

I guess that's all for this week. Sorry for not reading more.

Nikki Giovanni

I'm currently reading a collection of poetry by Nikki Giovanni.



Right now I'm reading a section about black power. I really like a lot of it, and it's very powerful. Giovanni writes poetry that is the very opposite of formal. It's all over the place, which, if not done well can be really bad, but Giovanni makes it feel like a punch in the gut (the good kind). She makes you feel what she was feeling, she makes you think what she was thinking, and she makes you take a long hard look at yourself.

Like I said, I've only read the black power section so far, which is mostly very angry. I don't mind the anger, though, because I think that there should be anger. We should be angry. We should be appalled, we should be furious that racism even exists today. Yes, Obama being elected was a huge step forward, but racism hasn't been eliminated or even substantially reduced. Giovanni was writing in a period of time where black people were realizing that discrimination and being treated as an inferior person is not OK, so while her poetry may be angry and may be for a mature audience, she has every right in the world to be angry.

I would recomend Nikki Giovanni's poetry only to people who enjoy poetry and are ready to read something pretty heavy. Also, while the school found a nice quote of her's about libraries to hang in the IMC, she does cover some explicit, sometimes violent topics. That's my disclaimer.


One last thing: while we were reading Romeo and Juliet, I heard the line "Peace? I hate the word, as I hate hell, all Montagues," and I realized that that is the first line of a song called "Whatever (I Had a Dream)" by: The Butthole Surfers. They don't have a music video for it, but here's the link to a video I found on Youtube of the song with random footage two teenage girls shot. **note: there are swear words (among other non-school-appropriate things)**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dckuzv-NcOY
Here's a link to the lyrics:
http://www.plyrics.com/lyrics/buttholesurfers/whateverihadadream.html

The Burn Journals By: Brent Runyon

I am currently reading The Burn Journals by: Brent Runyon.



This book is the nonfiction story of a 7th grade Runyon who tries to kill himself by dousing his bathrobe in gasoline and lighting it on fire while wearing it. Now, you may be thinking that this book is about one of those wierd emo kids who's always wearing black and being over dramatic, but that's not how this book is. Runyon writes in a very matter-of-fact and logical way that is somehow so endearing.

While you may not agree with his logic, and while you may not ever feel that same logic, you do come to understand his logic. This book is actually not dark and twisty, which some of you may expect. There is, obviously, suicide, so I would only recomend this book to people who are looking for a very serious read. I'm only about 1/4 of the way done, so I don't know the ending yet, but I will let you know as soon as I finish.

Update: I'm on number 13 of Fruits Basket now. Another thing I wanted to say about the series, but forgot to mention last time, is that Takaya weaves in these "moral of the story"s that, if not properly written could be really, really cheesy. There were a few that I had to cringe at, but most were actually really inspiring. It seems like the main theme is to be thankful for what you have, and even when things are looking down, you should try your best.

Fruits Bastket By: Natsuki Takaya

I have started reading the manga series Fruits Basket. I've read 1-8 and am currently reading 9 (there are 23, by the way).



I don't know if I'd really consider it well-written or intelligent, but it sure is addicting. Maybe I'm just becoming a manga nerd. Anyway, the books were hard to read at first because it will randomly flashback and it can be hard to tell who's saying what, but once you get used to reading it, it's very easy and quick. There are about 20 characters, and they are all very unique and funny.

Right now I'm at a point where the main character has two very cute (is it bad that I think manga characters are cute?) guys that she could date and has to choose. The guys hate each other, but live together, and she lives with them, which is very strange, I guess. Other than the living sitaution, though, the Yuki vs. Kyo arangement is very similar to the Edward vs. Jacob, and the debates are as heated between Fruits Basket fans. I personally like Yuki, because he's smarter and calmer. Kyo gets into rages too easily. Either way, I think it's time for Tohru to choose already (Extra special blah blah blah (as Takaya would say): team Jacob for me).

I also think Yuki and Kyo's pasts need to be revealed already! I mean, she told us about Arisa and Saki (which I did not expect), so now It's time to hear about the boys. Anyway, I'm excited to keep reading, and would recomend this to anyone interested in manga.

Poe Poetry

Last Chirstmas I got an anthology of Edgar Allan Poe.



I was reading some poems of his, just flipping through the poetry section in the thick, 842-paged book, when I came accross one entitled "Dream-Land" on page 794. I was interested immediately in this poem, because I've been having a lot of weird dreams lately. I suppose Freud would be a better source to read about that (yes, I do own his dream interpretation book. It's in my "To-Read" stack.), but I think poetry can give us a view that is, while less scientific, more accurate. Anyway, I really enjoyed the poem. It spent a lot of time talking about setting:

"Mountains toppling evermore
Into seas without a shore;
Seas that restlessly aspire,
Surging, unto skies of fire;
Lakes that endlessly outspread
Their lone waters--lone and dead,--
Their still waters--still and chilly
With the snows of the lolling lily."

It created a dreadful, lonely, sometimes frightening place that was somehow almost peaceful. It captured what a dream feels like, at least to me. I mean, bad things may happen in a dream, but my reactions in that dream are so nominal, very passive, that it almost just seems calmly strange. I think the poem captures that well. Furthermore, can't you just picture this land of crumbling moutains and endless lakes and burning skies?

It also brought up the dead by saying:

"There the traveler meets aghast
Sheeted Memories of the Past--
Shrouded forms that start and sigh
As they pass the wanderer by--
White-robed forms of friends long given,
In agony, to the Earth--and Heaven."

If you've ever dreamed of a dead loved one, that's how it feels: obscure, scary, but calm. It's also interesting to pick out just the capitalized words: There Sheeted Memories Past Shrouded As White In Earth Heaven. Creepy but interesting, no?

Anyway, I loved this poem and all of the Poe poems I've read and would recomend them to anyone. Many of them aren't as...insane as his short stories, though they can be somewhat dark. One last connection: the lines "Seas that restlessly aspire, Surging unto skies of fire;" reminded me of one of my favorite songs "Lake of Fire" by The Meat Puppets (also, covered by Nirvana).

...Scattered

To be completely honest, I haven't done much reading this week. I've been very, very busy. I read a little from The Year of Living Biblically by: A.J. Jacobs, but I really don't want to write another blog about that book since it would be my third. I mean, how many times can you say you like a book before you've even finished it?

At my speech meet last weekend, I read an adorable speech about a dim-witted dog and a pompous cat who "plot" to get rid of their new housemate "Fluffy." It mad me laugh with lines like:
Cat: Listen to me, Roofus! Our lives have been irreversably damaged! Now, what can we do to fix it?
Dog: Um...(pause)...let me think. Well, if it's been irreversably damaged, doesn't that mean we can't do anything?

It was cute, even if its literary merit wasn't particularly high.

Speaking of low literary merit, I (by definition) read a lot of text messages this week. I don't know if the poorly punctuated, melodramatic, angst-filled stories really count toward independent reading, though.

Oh, yesterday I read the unpublished book/really long short story my friend is writing. Well, I read 5 pages of it. It was great, funny and sad all at the same time, which makes sense considering it was about a drunk half-demon (which I think means half cat) girl hitting on the brother (I think) of her dead boyfriend. The story is really hard to follow (because I've only read bits and pieces of it in the wrong order), but what I have read has been elequent and captures well the mood of the setting.

I read my math book. It was rather dry, if you ask me.

I also read two fitness articles for my make-up work for gym. I found out that a University of Washington study concluded that even if you only lift a 20 pound weight 3-6 times, your sleeping metabolic rate increases 8%. Other than that, the articles were about as much fun as gym itself.

I read the nutrition facts of my Sobe Lizard Lava. 75 grams of sugar in one bottle!! That is absolutely ridiculous but delicious.

I read my ticket to a concert that was so loud the bass reverberated (that's a vocab. word) in my chest and made my pant legs vibrate like a Brittany's Boston Terrier, Mojo.

I guess, in retrospect, I read a lot. Well, maybe not, but I tried. I'm hoping to finish The Year of Living Biblically by next week, so it should be a bit less...scattered.

Feed

I finished reading the book Feed by M.T. Anderson last night. I really, really liked it. In the beginning, it was kind of hard to follow, because Anderson used a lot of slang words of his creation as well as technology that doesn't exist yet. Also, it was written in first person, and the main character's thoughts didn't yet have the maturity level that he had gained by the end. However, by the end of this book I was in tears.



Anderson builds you into a world that is vastly more advanced, but that has some major problems. He emphasizes the problems of the main character, while continually but subtly reminding you of just how messed up the world had become. He critiques modern society's flaws figuratively as he critiques the fantasy future. One of his characters, who is viewed by the protagonist as a tad crazy, speaks in long sectences with a large vocabulary, because he feels that through advancing slang and standard American laziness, the English language had lost much of its beauty.

Anderson also criticizes modern American corporations and their contributions to pollution. He creates a world controlled by companies that are very literally destroying the Earth (ahem, global warming much?). My republican father would say that Anderson is simply another liberal trying to cram global warming in wherever he can, but regardless of whether you believe in global warming or not, there are major pollution problems on the planet today.

Anderson also does a fantastic job of showing how one copes when faced with a difficult situation. He does not shy away from the truth. The main character does not always do the noble thing-he runs away, avoids the problem-but that is what really happens to people. People are not always brave, ecspecially under pressure, and we tend to justify our actions. Anderson shows the character's justifications and the character's guilt elequently, without ever saying, "I feel guilty."

In the end, Feed left me with a powerful sense of the characters' feelings, as well as a disturbing and very possible fortelling of the future. I enjoyed reading Feed and sing praise to M.T. Anderson's work.

PS. Please forgive any spelling errors. I have a trip I need to pack for and it's getting late, so I don't really have the time to check spelling. I tried my best, however, to write a well-written review, but I'm terrible at spelling. Thanks!

The Year of Living Biblically

I've been so busy lately, I've hardly had time to read. When I have a minute, though, I pick up my non-fiction book this quarter, The Year of Living Biblically by: A.J. Jacobs. I really like this book for a number of reasons. I like the author. He has a great sense of humor, which I appreciate, considering the content. Jacobs can make "bible talk" over dinner with a Jahovah's witness funny. However, his humor and jokes are very respectful. He understands that the bible is an important book to a lot of people, that people have died because of their beliefs, and the jokes are respectful.

Past the jokes, though, there are many deep revelations. This book really makes you think. On any given page, you can find a message from the bible or one in Jacobs' discoveries that makes you rethink something you do everyday. Personally, I'm not very religious. It just doesn't suit me, but The Year of Living Biblically has raised questions for me about how much we really know. One thing that was written really stuck in my mind.

Near the beginning of the book, Jacobs tackled the rules that perplexed him most. One of those rules was that you should not wear clothes with mixed fibers. To make sure his clothes were kosher, he called a man referred to as Mr. Berkowitz, whose profession is to check that clothing is made of all one fiber. Jacobs and Berkowitz begin to discuss some of the rules in the bible, and, when Jacobs asks "Why?" Berkowitz replies:

This is a law that God gave us. We have to trust Him. He is all-powerful. We're like children. Sometimes parents have laws that children don't understand. Like when you tell a child not to touch fire, he doesn't understand why, but it is good for him.

I think Mr. Berkowitz's trust in the bible is astonishing. His faith, his belief without proof, is powerful and beyond anything I feel. I can relate to Jacobs' feeling about religion and am excited to finish this book and learn his revelations.

I Am Officially Reading Too Many Books at Once

Let's make a list of all the books that I am currently reading!

#1 - The Year of Living Biblically-A.J. Jacobs (my non-fiction book of the quarter)

This book is about a man who read several versions of the bible and wrote down all of the rules he found. Then, he tried to follow them to the best of his ability for a year.

I like this book a lot more than I thought I would. I was afraid that it would be a really dry, boring retelling from some religious fanactic, but it totally isn't. This is a normal, not-really-religious guy living in secular New York City. He actually reminds me of myself a little, and I really like the layout and writing styles. I recomend it to anyone who wants to think a little bit. It's not particularly difficult, but it does ask serious philisophical and moral questions.

#2 - Feed-M.T. Anderson

Feed is a sci-fi book about a society where everyone has chips in their heads that tell them information about things, advertise, allow them to chat with people, and listen to music. It asks ethical questions about how far we should go with technology.

So far I like this book. It's a pretty easy read, but there are a lot of invented slang words sometimes make it hard to follow. I'm not very far into it (I just started it this weekend), so I can't really say for sure, but so far I'm liking it.

#3 - The Bell Jar- Sylvia Plath



I've read this book before and absolutely love it. It's definitely different, ecspecially considering when it was written, but I adore it. There are certain metaphors and views that make me laugh and certainly make me think. This book is autobiographical, which explains how Plath captured what it was like to lose your mind so perfectly.

#4 - Fruits Basket-Natsuki Takaya

My first manga book!


I always thought that graphic novels were just a way to get out of having to use adjectives in your writing, but one of my friends, who is an elequent writer, loves manga, so I asked for suggestions and this is what I got.

I'm borrowing this from her, and I haven't really started it yet. I read a few pages, and it's a lot harder than I thought it would be. It's cute, though, and I can't wait to learn the "manga code," if you will, which is sort of like puncuation. Some pictures have certain meanings (example: flowers floating around a character means they're crushing on someone).


I'm reading a couple more, but I don't have time to write about them now. More later!

Paper Towns

For my fiction book this quarter I chose Paper Towns by John Greene. It's a coming of age book (oh my!), but I really loved it. It was about a boy living in Florida who has a crush on his neighbor. The nieghbor girl does some crazy things and eventually runs away. He tries to find her, in the literal sense, and discovers who she really is beneath what he had built her up to be. In the process, he also finds himself.

I really loved this book for a number of reasons: 1. It was written by John Greene, who I love, and who taught me how to write sentences with numbered lists in them, 2. There was no TRADEGY, but there wasn't really SUCCESS either, at least, not in the coming of age archetype cycle sense. I guess, there was a little of both, but not in the traditional ways, 3. One of the two main characters was a nerdy guy, while the other was an uber popular girl, yet he exposed who they really were behind who they were stereotyped to be.

I have to admit, though, that there was one part I didn't really like. That was the searching-for-clues-murder-mystery part. I like things to be a tad more realistic, and I just think clues are too Nancy Drew. But, overall, I liked it and would recomend it to anyone.