Mind. Blown. #18, 19, & 20

The title of this post really says it all. I've finished three books in twelve days and  that makes me ecstatic (notice I said "finished" not started and finished). (btw the song I've got on repeat right now is Skinny Love by Bon Iver) I can guarantee that this post will be tinged with a sense of urgency but there's a good reason for that. I've spent the past 2.5 months reading stuff for school and  haven't had any time to read for pleasure. It's been a super hectic and stressful 2.5 months (since school started) what with cross country, school, mountains of homework, etc. This abundance of stress led to my own introverted somewhat depressed state (the fact that we had to read Frankenstein probably didn't help the gloom--I mean the unit of literature that we're in right now for AP Lit is called Death....just pointing that out). Anyway, my point is that I've been juggling a lot and have been unfortunately absent from the world of enjoyable literature. However, in the past twelve days, this has changed. You know it's been a stroke of sheer luck when I get three books for The List of 55 in less than a month. This just doesn't happen. Ever.
Ok, let me recap: last time you heard from me I had 140 pages left in 1984 by George Orwell. I ended up finishing the book the next day. I hated it. Scratch that, I STILL hate it. Present tense hatred. Orwell is a sick bastard that makes his readers essentially watch the main character get hunted down and then tortured...extensively. There were times when I wanted to cry because the torture scenes were so intense and psychological. Also, the ending made me want the hurl the book across the room, hitting every object in its path so as to make a ruckus. This is how strongly I feel about George Orwell. He's a cruel, cruel man. You will never ever again get me to read anything by him ever again unless forced at gunpoint or at the insistence of an English teacher for class (even then, I might rebel and refuse to read it, SparkNoting instead. and if you really knew me, you'd know how strongly i feel about SparkNotes being unacceptable and how people should just read the assigned book and not cop out and cheat. however, i would cop out if forced to ever again read an Orwell piece of "literature." and by literature i really mean to insert a different word. enough said.) Anyway, after two different timed writes in AP Lit over 1984 and several class discussions, our teacher announced that we were done with it and were moving into a different book. My reaction, of course, was "hurrah!" and that wretched book went to the back of my bookshelf (it was our copy of the book, not the school's) and it almost felt wrong to place it on the same shelves that hold great pieces of literature, like the lovely Sarah Dessen or Nicholas Sparks or Ally Carter. At least my Harry Potter Books weren't on that shelf...they get their own display on my bedside table, stacked in order :)
Anyway, I soon after finished a "pleasure reading" book I had been working at for a while, Going Underground by Susan Vaught. I was intrigued at first because the book was told from a high school guy's POV and he worked at a cemetery and was always plugged into his iPod. Also, he had this big, dark secret. So, of course, I found myself getting drawn to this character. However, the reader soon finds out his dark secret and it gets weird from there on out. And kind of awkward to read. Needless to say, I no longer found myself drawn to him. However, the only reason why I continued reading it was because I was curious as to how it would end. The author had enough in there to keep me, however grudgingly, until the end. So, that was not one I would ever suggest, although it did make you think, I suppose.
Then, I would like to go back to what I said about my AP Lit teacher announcing the next book we would be reading. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Possibly the most depressing book of all time. All the main characters die left and right and it's always gloomy and rainy and there's really no hope. It's Gothic literature, so I guess I shouldn't have expected any less. Fear lurks at every corner for Dr. Frankenstein (let me clear this up for all y'all who didn't previously know, due to pop culture: Frankenstein is the last name of the scientist who created a monster. The monster is not called Frankenstein. It's simply called the monster or the wretch or the daemon, but never a real name. So, when your kids go out dressed up as "Frankenstein" for Halloween, they better be wearing a white lab coat, not gobs of green makeup, a bolt in their head, and their hands out in front of them.) and, by extension, the reader. Honestly, there are all of two characters that survive the book and neither of them are really likable characters anyway. One is a little kid that never talks and one is a whiny sailor who constantly complains about his lack of friends. The reader doesn't get emotionally attached to them like the main characters, so we could care less that they live on. So, after a timed write and a formal essay for this book, we moved on. Hallelujah.
During the time that I was reading Frankenstein, we were also required (in AP Lit, the class where one book at a time is never enough) to read an SSR book to be picked off an "Approved AP Book List" which was about 5 pages long. Most of these books I'd never heard of and, therefore, skipped over. I ended up choosing Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë simply because I'd heard of it and I'd been meaning to read it at some point. The version of the book I got from the school library was the Movie Tie-In Edition, meaning the cover featured the two actors in the movie and at the back of the book was a little note about the movie, but that was the only difference from the normal editions of the book. However, I, being a true book snob, chose this version (our library had like 3 different versions to choose between) because I thought the cover was beautiful. I still think that. Simple, yet enchanting. Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure:

This is the Movie Tie-In Edition book that I read and later ordered online.

Also, while looking for Jane Eyre pictures, i found this awesome scarf.


The book version I wish
I had due to the awesome
cover; my favorite
scene in the movie.

I would totally buy and wear this shirt or
love someone if they ever got it for me, simply
because I hate Twilight and am now a
Jane Eyre fan.

Unrelated, seeing as how we're talking
about the Brontë sisters here, but I also
love Jane Austen, so I would love to
buy this shirt at some point :)



Ok, now that I'm done with my Google Image-ing....back to the book! So, I started Jane Eyre and wasn't that impressed from the get-go. It was rather boring and I didn't really care about her childhood and the hardships of her schooling. However, I realize now that they helped develop her character further. Once I got past the initial 116 pages, I loved it. I loved the language and the diction and syntax (yes, I know, lit terms) and the romance. Ahhh...it was just one of those books where you are completely invested emotionally. So, when Ms. Brontë drags the characters around in complicated yet passionate circumstances, the reader is hanging onto the hem of Jane's dress along for the ride and is becoming just as angsty and distraught as Jane and Rochester. It really affected me towads the end and I was getting emotional and teary-eyed and literally could not put the book down. My gaze on the book in front of me made me feel like a wild animal stalking its prey with an unblinking stare. I was, in a way, ravenous to continue reading this book. When I finished it at around 2am one morning, I was filled with peace, yet still rather worn out from the long ride I'd just been on. So, this is why this wonderful, enchanting book makes "The List" and also gets added to my imaginary list of favorite books which is as follows:

1. Pride and Prejudice--Jane Austen
2. Just Listen--Sarah Dessen
3. Jane Eyre--Charlotte Brontë
4. Along For the Ride--Sarah Dessen
5. Paper Covers Rock--Jenny Hubbard
6. The Last Song--Nicholas Sparks
7. A Walk to Remember--Nicholas Sparks
8. The Name of the Star--Maureen Johnson
9. Stay--Deb Caletti
10. The Beginning of After--Jennifer Castle
11. Graffiti Moon--Cath Crowley
12. The Truth About Forever--Sarah Dessen
13. Keeping the Moon--Sarah Dessen
14. This Lullaby--Sarah Dessen

So, you should know that if it's up there with Jane Austen and Sarah Dessen, it's gotta be great! So, everyone go out and read it. Now. Especially you, K :)
After I finished Jane Eyre, I moved on to Girl v. Boy by Yvonne Collins and Sandy Rideout, the book that K had given me at our last book swap, which feels like forever ago. I wanted a quick chick lit book to read before I had to start my next SSR book or "class book" for AP Lit. So, I picked it up and fromt the first page I liked it. The main character is very likable and relatable. I loved it as much as K said I would, thus making it Number 19 on The List of 55. I finished it October 10th.

The next day, I started Stay by Deb Caletti. Now, i've already gone on and on about Deb Caletti and my thoughts on her writing, which you can read again here (scroll down pretty far...it, like this one, is a lengthy post). As mentioned in that same post, I got this book at a book store on sale. On the front cover, there is a review quoted that pretty much sums up my thoughts: "Perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen."--Booklist. Now, I was taking a huge risk buying this book to begin with because Caletti's books are hit or miss with me and I'm not big on buying books before I know for sure if I'm going to like them or not. My policy is normally: check out from library, love, buy. However, I'm glad I bought this one because it saved me a trip to the store :) It was so gripping. I don't believe I've ever used that word to describe a book before, so this is monumental. Clara is haunted by her past, more specifically her past relationship with Christian, the seemingly perfect guy. However, Clara and her father are now living on an island in Washington state to get away from it all. Things I loved about this book:

• the main character
• the fact that both guys were likable at some point, which makes us sympathize with the main character (Clara)
• the emotion-heavy plot
• the entertaining footnotes that the author includes to add more personality to Clara
• the alternating chapters. one chapter is set in the past and the next is set in the present. it's a great way of learning about her background while fitting the pieces together in the present situation until the point where the past and present meet and the reader feels well-informed.
• Clara's dad. he's so likable and the dream dad (writer, sarcastic, laid-back, loving)
• the non-cliché plotline. it could've gone with the cliché, but it didn't, which I love.

This book, much like Jane Eyre got me emotional. I was very invested in Clara and towards the end of the book, the suspense was so much that I was almost crying  in fear and sitting up in my chair erect with the book mere inches from my face as I gobbled down the words in front of me. I can't explain how truly great this book was. That's why it deserved a spot on The List as well as the list of favorite books listed above, if you hadn't noticed. I just finished this book today and was robotic in that when my parents started talking loudly near where I was sitting, I simply got up and walked upstairs, reading as I walked, to read in peace. That same robotic tendency kicked in again when I finished it and walked, almost zombie-like in my determination, to the computer where I knew I had to tell the world about how awesome this book is. I still feel a need to enjoy the characters again and half of my mind is urging me to read it again, but I know I won't.
So, that's the gist of my reading life. In class, we are now starting Othello by William Shakespeare, which is interesting seeing as how the language is very difficult to decipher. Also, for my SSR book, I've chosen Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë seeing as how I loved the work of her sister. My teacher mentioned in class the other day that there was a book about the Brontë sisters that just came out written by Juliet Barker about their lives and I talked to her after class expressing my interest in reading it eventually. So, whenever I read that, I'll talk about it here and then proceed to talk to her about it and just, in general, freak out about books like the bibliophile that I am. Also, K and I are hanging out at the movies on Sunday, so we will swap books then, as it will be near the 13th, the day that we try and do book swaps each month. I won't post again just for that, as this is getting to be brutally long, but I will update the sidebar where we've listed all the Book Swap Books. Well, as I've been typing for a good two hours maybe, I'm off to enjoy my Friday night.
Read to your heart's content,
M

"I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will..."
--Jane Eyre