Guest Post: Top 5 Ways to Kill Your Love of Reading

This is a guest post by Emlyn Chand, author of Farsighted

Did you resolve to read more this year?  Maybe you've dubbed this year as the year you finally start your own book club.  To be successful with either of these goals, you'll need to keep that all-consuming passion for reading alive.  Here are five examples of what NOT to do.

I have been guilty of each and every one of these bibliophile misdeeds. To avoid making these mistakes, it helps to be cognizant of what they are and how they may put-off your love of reading. My list is, of course, not exhaustive. Please feel free to add other ways in which your enthusiasm for the written word has been destroyed or derailed.

1. By taking too long to finish reading a particular book - many a decent book have been utterly destroyed for me simply because I took too long to get through them. Sometimes this is because of a busy work or personal life that interferes with my time that is generally allotted to reading; others it is because I am reading the wrong book.

2. Because of reading the wrong book—what makes a book wrong? Some people say that if a book does not grab you in the first 50 pages that you should give up reading it. I don’t know if I, however, subscribe to an exact number of pages that must be read before giving up. Sometimes books get started a bit late. Jonathan Safran Foer’s “Everything is Illuminated” for example takes a while to get heated up, but once it’s there, this is one of the most incredible books.

3. Through turning your leisure activity into a chore—if reading as a hobby is very important to you, it’s best not to subject yourself to reading materials that can be deemed more as work than pleasure. A classic example of this phenomenon is graduate school. I am not suggesting that you forego higher education to maintain your zeal for the written word; rather i’d like you to understand that you may undergo a 2-, 3- or even 5- year hiatus in this instance.

4. In choosing to miss out on other activities to sit at home and read—so you’re a book-worm that probably means you, like many others who share your passion, are an introvert. That’s great, but don’t use reading as an excuse to miss out on some of the other things life has to offer, like a social life. Don’t get too caught up in the fictional realm that you forget that life exists outside of the pages of a novel!

5. Upon assigning too much meaning to fictional characters—Loved ‘Twilight’ and now find yourself pining for a boyfriend just like Edward Cullen? No man even comes close? Surprise, surprise. Never measure real people up to invented ones, everybody loses. Similarly, if you find a glimmer of someone you know in a villainous character, you may start subconsciously assigning some of the fictional player’s deeds to your real-life loved one. Don’t do it!

Blog Tour Notes

THE BOOK:  Alex Kosmitoras may be blind, but he can still “see” things others can’t.  When his unwanted visions of the future begin to suggest that the girl he likes could be in danger, he has no choice but to take on destiny and demand it reconsider. Get your copy today by visiting Amazon.com’s Kindle store or the eBook retailer of your choice. The paperback edition will be available on November 24 (for the author’s birthday).

THE AUTHOR:  Emlyn Chand has always loved to hear and tell stories, having emerged from the womb with a fountain pen grasped firmly in her left hand (true story). When she’s not writing, she runs a large book club in Ann Arbor and is the president of author PR firm, Novel Publicity. Emlyn loves to connect with readers and is available throughout the social media interweb. Visit http://www.emlynchand.com/ for more info. Don’t forget to say “hi” to her sun conure Ducky!

MORE FUN: There's more fun below. Watch the live action Farsighted book trailer and take the quiz to find out which character is most like you!

A Lazy Last Day of Break

Today's the last day of my winter break.  On one hand, break seems to have flown by, and on the other, it feels like forever since school ended.  I'm a little excited to go back and see people again.  I'm even excited for some of the classes I'm starting this semester.  On the other hand, I still have an essay I have to finish writing for AP U.S. history, and I'm not too excited about homework.

I'm spending my last day of break being lazy.  My brother and sister went to the movies with my grandma, and I decided to stay home and do nothing.  I had a lot of trouble sleeping last night, which led to me sleeping in way too late this morning.  I just hope I can fall asleep at a somewhat decent time tonight, so I can wake up tomorrow feeling at least kind of awake.

I did manage to film a book review earlier that will be edited, uploaded, and posted here later today.  I want to watch an episode of Naruto later today, so I can review the story arc soon.  And, of course, I have to finish that essay for school.  So, I'm accomplishing some things today, but overall, it'll be lazy.

Tomorrow is the first day of my last semester of high school!  I can't believe I have less than five months of school left.  That's just insane.

Oh, and it snowed today and actually stuck to the ground!  That's the first time this year!  It's very light and melted quickly, but I still got to see it.  It might still be snowing actually.  I'd have to look outside and see.

Books Everywhere

You know how in shows and stuff when they show a kid stuffing everything in their closet when they're told to clean their room?  I can completely relate to that.  It's not really that I stuff everything in there when told to clean my room, it's just that I tend to throw things in there without thinking about it.

My room isn't the cleanest place.  My desk, dresser, and night stand are all stack with things (mostly books), and there's not really any clear space on them.  I also have books, board games, and varous other things on my floor.  My floor isn't completely covered.  There's still plenty of room to walk and all of the stuff is pushed up against a wall, in a corner, etc.  The problem is my lack of book shelves.  I have no where to put my books, so they end up everywhere.  My mom always tells me to move them, but there's no place for them to go.

She used to tell me to put them in my closet, since I have shelves in there, but that doesn't really work anymore.  All the shelves in my closet are full (not just with books, other things too), and I can't really step into it because of boxes on the floor.  My mom gets aggravated, but I don't know what else she expects me to do.  There's no room for all of my books.  I can't bear to get rid of any of them, since I often re-read almost all of them.

When I get a house years from now, I need a library.  That would be my dream come true.  That is the one thing I want most in any house I own in the future.  I've seen pictures of houses with shelves everywhere.  I need one of those houses.  That would make me so happy.  It would be like living in a library.  (Not that I ever expect to buy enough books to feel a whole house of shelves.  It's just fun to dream about that.)

Books I Own and Can't Wait to Read

I'm writing this post early and setting it to post automatically.  When this posts, I'll probably still be at my aunt and uncle's celebrating Christmas Eve with my family.

I have a several stacks of books in my room just waiting to be read.  Christmas is tomorrow, and guess what I asked for even more of:  books!  Since my to-read pile is sure to grow even more tomorrow, I decided to post some of the books in my to-read pile right now.  This is by no means all of them.  These are just the ones I'm most anxious to read.

Living Abroad in Spain by Nikki Weinstein

Imagine yourself living in Spain. You head home after a fiesta, eating churros and chocolate and celebrating with your neighbors. You know the locals and speak Spanish with ease. You show visiting friends around with the confidence of one who belongs. Author Nikki Weinstein shows you how to make your dream take shape. She left her life as a magazine writer in New York to make a home abroad in Spain. While some give up—daunted by the financial, bureaucratic, and decision-making issues that accompany a move so extraordinary—you'll be led step-by-step through the information you need on visas, money, jobs, housing, safety, language, culture, and history. Nikki has done the research and made the mistakes—so you don't have to. There's a place that matches your budget, needs, and dreams: perhaps it's an apartment in the vibrant city of Barcelona, a villa in sun-drenched Andalusia, or a beach house on the dramatic Galician coast. You can make it happen. With Living Abroad in Spain, it's easier than you think.

I'm not planning to go to Spain anytime soon, but I'll definitely be day-dreaming about it while I'm reading this.

Guys Are Waffles, Girls Are Spaghetti by  Chad Eastham, Bill Farrel, and Pam Farrel

Boy meets Girl; Boy wonders what in the world Girl is talking about and how he will ever keep up. Girl wonders what is wrong with Boy. Enter, Waffles and Spaghetti-every teen's guide to figuring out the opposite sex and understanding and valuing our unique differences.

In a pivotal time of their development and social lives, teens are left to try and understand one another without much guidance. The purpose of this book is to help better understand themselves as well those from the "alien gender".
Guys' brains are like waffles-they keep their lives compartmentalized in boxes. Girls' brains are like spaghetti-everything in their life is connected to everything else. This book for teens includes brain development, social habits, differences in emotions, and relationship building skills for teens to develop early in their life. Loaded with humor and fun examples, this is a great way for teens to learn about healthy relationships with the opposite sex.

I just like the title of this one.

Lights! Camera! Fiction!: The Movie Lover's Guide to Writing a Novel by Alfie Thompson

How many times have you watched a popular movie and thought, "I'd like to write something like that," or "Even I can write better dialogue!" Here's your chance to learn how to write a novel...by watching movies like "Speed," "The Sixth Sense," "Clueless," "Die Hard," "While You Were Sleeping," and more! For the first time, a professional writing instructor and movie buff will take you through the steps necessary to craft your own commercial novel using techniques found in your favorite films. What can Hollywood's biggest features teach you about writing? How to watch movies with a writer's eye. Infusing character traits into scenes and plots. Using material goals to show internal motivation. Techniques for making scenes do double duty, including foreshadowing and flashback. What is a credibility gap, and how you should bridge it.

Plus: Three 'tricks' for fixing holes in your plot, characters or anything else in your story. Thompson guides you frame by frame through the ins and outs of writing a hit, in a text that is packed with "Quick Tips" and "Quick Fixes." This is an indispensable reference work that will have you polishing your prose--and preparing it for publication--in no time!

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder -- much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing -- not even a smear of blood -- to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . .
Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.

I've heard so much about this series.  I really need to get around to reading it.

Ouran High School Host Club, Volume 6 by Bisco Hatori

In this sharp-witted romantic comedy about the clash of the classes (of all kinds), a poor girl at a rich kids' school ends up working at the school's toniest club-and gets mistaken for a boy!

In this high anticipated title, a kind of cross between HANA-KIMI and BOYS OVER FLOWERS, Haruhi is a scholarship student at an exclusive private school: Ouran High School, where it turns out the bespectacled, short-haired Haruhi is the only student from a lower-middle class family in attendance!
Then, to make matters worse, one day she breaks an $80,000 vase that belongs to one of the campus clubs-a mysterious outfit called the "Host Club," consisting of six superrich (and gorgeous) guys. Haruhi can't afford to pay back the cost of the vase, of course, so she's forced to work for the Host Club! And it's there that she discovers just how rich all the boys are and how different the rich are from you and me...And meanwhile, the eccentric but good-hearted rich boys are shocked to find out how life is on the other side...

I have several volumes of Ouran that I need to read.

Beastly by Alex Flinn

Now a major motion picture starring Vanessa Hudgens and Alex Pettyfer

I am a beast. A beast. Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog, but a horrible new creature who walks upright – a creature with fangs and claws and hair springing from every pore. I am a monster.
You think I’m talking fairy tales? No way. The place is New York City. The time is now. It’s no deformity, no disease. And I’ll stay this way forever – ruined – unless I can break the spell.
Yes, the spell, the one the witch in my English class cast on me. Why did she turn me into a beast who hides by day and prowls by night? I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you how I used to be Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you wished you were, with money, perfect looks, and a perfect life. And then, I’ll tell you how I became perfectly beastly.

Matched by Ally Condie

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate... until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum's classic tale, we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious Witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil?

Gregory Maguire creates a fantasy world so rich and vivid that we will never look at Oz the same way again. Wicked is about a land where animals talk and strive to be treated like first-class citizens, Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of middle-class stability, and the Tin Man becomes a victim of domestic violence. And then there is the little green-skinned girl named Elphaba, who will grow up to become the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, a smart, prickly, and misunderstood creature who challenges all our preconceived notions about the nature of good and evil. 

Red Riding Hood by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright

The blacksmith would marry her.

The woodcutter would run away with her.
The werewolf would turn her into one of its own.
Valerie's sister was beautiful, kind, and sweet. Now she is dead. Henry, the handsome son of the blacksmith, tries to console Valerie, but her wild heart beats fast for another: the outcast woodcutter, Peter, who offers Valerie another life far from home.
After her sister's violent death, Valerie's world begins to spiral out of control. For generations, the Wolf has been kept at bay with a monthly sacrifice. But now no one is safe. When an expert Wolf hunter arrives, the villagers learn that the creature lives among them--it could be anyone in town.
It soon becomes clear that Valerie is the only one who can hear the voice of the creature. The Wolf says she must surrender herself before the blood moon wanes...or everyone she loves will die.
Based on a screenplay written by David Leslie Johnson. 

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London marks a memorable occasion. For Rory, it's the start of a new life at a London boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper events of more than a century ago.

Soon "Rippermania" takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him. Even her roommate, who was walking with her at the time, didn't notice the mysterious man. So why can only Rory see him? And more urgently, why has Rory become his next target? In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, full of suspense, humor, and romance, Rory will learn the truth about the secret ghost police of London and discover her own shocking abilities. 

Can you believe that this is just part of the stacks of to-be-read books in my room?  I need more time to read!  All of these sound fantastic, so hopefully I get around to them soon.

Favorite Genres

Everyone has a certain genre or two that they enjoy reading more than others.  I don't think I can narrow down one particular genre as being my favorite.  Most of what I read is young adult, but I wouldn't really say that's a genre.  If I look through all of the books I own I find a lot of contemporary romance, historical (usually but not always romance), fantasy, and dystopian.  I think it's safe to say that those are my favorite genres to read.

It's not much different when it comes to writing.  What I'm currently working on is a contemporary (but not a romance).  Most of the ideas I have floating around in my head right now are historical.  I have a couple of fantasy ideas, but they're not on my mind as much.  It's no secret that I write fanfiction.  Once I finish my current project, I plan to work on a series of Hunger Games one-shots.  I guess that counts as writing dystopian, although (SLIGHT SPOILERS) I plan on all of them being post-Mockingjay, which means it won't be very dystopian and I'm not making up the dystopian aspect myself so I don't really count that.

What types of genres are your favorite to read and/or write?

Thank You, Internet

I'm sure every writer has at least one author that they look up to.  I have quite a few.  One thing about the Internet, is it allows you to learn more about people you wouldn't otherwise know.  Before the Internet, people just read books and didn't really know much about the people who wrote them.  (I assume.  This was before my time...)  Thanks to the Internet, I now follow some of my favorite authors on twitter, read their blogs, and even watch their Youtube videos.  I love it.  Before, authors had a lot of anonymity.  They still can if they want to (although maybe not to the same extent), but they can also interact with readers a lot more.

Not only is this great for the authors, it's also great for the readers and those who hope to become published authors some day.  I love that I can learn more about the people who write such great books.  As someone who wants to be an author, I enjoy learning more about what being an author's really like.  If I'd been born twenty or so years ago I wouldn't have that.  I don't even know if I would have wanted to become an author.  It's entirely possible that I would never have paid attention to the fact that someone put a whole lot of work into each book that I pick up.  I may not have considered writing to even be a career possibility.

The Internet is great for many different reasons, but I am incredibly thankful that it has allowed me to interact with amazing authors that never would have been possible before.  I may even have the Internet to thank for bringing the career of writing to my attention.

Favorite Antagonists in Books

Trying to think of my favorite antagonists from all of the books I've ever read is difficult.  I know I'm going to leave some awesome antagonists out of the list, but here are a few of my favorites.  Warning: most of these contain at least slight spoilers.

Voldmort and the Death Eaters from the Harry Potter series.  I couldn't help it.  They had to start off this list.  I would have listed several different Death Eaters seperately, but I didn't want to clog this list up with Harry Potter characters, so I won't list any Death Eaters individually.  I don't think I could ever despise another fictional character as much as I do Voldemort, Bellatrix, and Wormtail (and the next character on this list).  They're so well written and so horrible.  Plus, I love that we get lots of backstory on Voldemort, and we get to kind of understand why he turned out the way he did.

Umbridge from the Harry Potter series.  She's almost worse than the Death Eaters.  I can't stand how she does whatever she's told to by whoever has the most power.  I swear she would have become a Death Eater early on if she'd known Voldemort was out there and would control the Ministry.  Not only does she act like a puppet in order to gain power, she also does horrible things on her own, such as giving a fifteen year old boy a detention where he has to write lines in his own blood.

Coin from The Hunger Games series.  I'm putting her on this list but not Snow.  Ever since reading Mockingjay I've hated Coin more than Snow.  Snow tells Katniss they shouldn't lie to each other in Catching Fire, and he really never does lie.  Everyone (except the Capitol citizens of course) know that Snow's corrupt/evil/etc.  Snow does horrible things, and sure, he puts on an act when he's in public.  Coin, however, goes even farther in my mind.  She tries to act like she's on Katniss' side, even to Katniss, and then, she tries to kill her.  It's not really that different from what Snow's doing, and yet it seems so much worse in my mind.

Dr. Cable from the Uglies trilogy.  She doesn't have that large of a role for most of the books, but the role she does play is very important.  She's interesting because she's not really evil.  As far as she's concerned, she's doing what she needs to do to protect the society they live in.  Plus, she surprises Tally (and me as well) towards the end of Specials.  I think that's when I really realized that she isn't that bad of a person.  I don't think she thought of what she was doing as wrong, and I can see her justification for her actions.  I think she's a very interesting character.

I'd add more to this list, but it's past midnight and I need sleep.  Besides, most of the books I read don't have one clear-cut antagonist.  I actually realized that in most of the books I read the protagonist themself is also the main antagonist.  Still, I hope this list is fun to read, even if it is short.  I feel like it's almost unintelligible because I'm half asleep.  I'm going to bed before I fall alseep while on the computer.

Books That I Was Skeptical About But Loved

For this post, I'm going to go through the books I have listed on Goodreads to find ones that I was skeptical about but really enjoyed.  These are all books that I didn't really think I was going to like when I began reading, but I gave them at least four stars on Gooodreads.  I'll post a link to the book's page on Goodreads, the synopsis from Goodreads, a little on my thoughts on the book, and a link to my review if there is one.

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact and continue their lives apparently unchanged. Most of humanity has succumbed.



When Melanie, one of the few remaining "wild" humans, is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, the too-vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.


Wanderer probes Melanie's thoughts, hoping to discover the whereabouts of the remaining human resistance. Instead, Melanie fills Wanderer's mind with visions of the man Melanie loves - Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she has been tasked with exposing. When outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain search for the man they both love.

Please don't judge The Host based on Twilight.  I know it's the same author, but they're completely different.  I can't really tell it's even the same author, and I know several people hate Twilight but enjoy The Host.  The reason I was skeptical at first is actually because it's about aliens.  I think it's the first (and probably only) book I read about aliens.  They're not your typical aliens though.
 
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Little Women is the heartwarming story of the March family that has thrilled generations of readers. It is the story of four sisters--Jo, Meg, Amy and Beth-- and of the courage, humor and ingenuity they display to survive poverty and the absence of their father during the Civil War.

I really only picked this book up out of boredom.  I have to admit though, I've only ever read the shorter kids version.  I plan on reading the actual one at some point.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Jonas's world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear or pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the Community. When Jonas turns twelve, he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back.

My sixth grade class read this because our teacher was a bog Lois Lowry fan.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.

I only read this book because I'd heard such great things about it from other people.  It didn't sound at all interesting to me.  I'm always interested in WWII stuff, but for some reason I was reluctant to read The Book Thief.  It sounded boring.  I'm so glad I finally gave in and read it!  It's a great story.  The fact that it's narrated by death put me off a little at first, but I really did enjoy The Book Thief.

Plastic Fantastic by Simon Cheshire

Fifteen-year-old Dominic is crazy about the pop group Plastic—especially their attractive lead singer. Lisa Voyd is a style goddess, and her voice makes Dominic’s heart melt. He knows every word and every note of every song, of course, and has sworn his allegiance to all that is Plastic. So what if Dominic’s best friend, Emma, thinks he’s wasting his time? The silly girl likes classical piano music. Anyone who knows anything knows Plastic is the best.



But when Dominic gets trapped in an elevator with none other than Lisa Voyd, she’s nothing like the star he thought he loved. Turns out the life of a pop singer is not all it’s cracked up to be. And the world’s biggest fan might have an even bigger fan of his own.

This is probably the least known book on the list.  I was at a Book Warehouse, and if you bought so many books, they were a certain price.  I needed another book, so I picked up this one.  I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy it.  It really is a nice book though.  It's also a British book, which is always a plus.  I wrote a short little review on it over on Goodreads.

The Light in the Forest by Conrad Richter

When John Cameron Butler was a child, he was captured in a raid on the Pennsylvania frontier and adopted by the great warrrior Cuyloga. Renamed True Son, he came to think of himself as fully Indian. But eleven years later his tribe, the Lenni Lenape, has signed a treaty with the white men and agreed to return their captives, including fifteen-year-old True Son. Now he must go back to the family he has forgotten, whose language is no longer his, and whose ways of dress and behavior are as strange to him as the ways of the forest are to them. A beautifully written, sensitively told story of a white boy brought up by Indians, The Light in the Forest is a beloved American classic.

This is the start of the books I read for school and ended up loving portion of the list.  I've ranted about all of these books numerous times in various places.  I'll just add a link to my review on Goodreads.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

The tragic story of the complex bond between two migrant laborers in Central California. They are George Milton and Lennie Small, itinerant ranch hands who dream of one day owning a small farm. George acts as a father figure to Lennie, who is a very large, simple-minded man, calming him and helping to reign in his immense physical strength.

My review is here.

The Chosen by Chaim Potok

Few stories offer more warmth, wisdom, or generosity than this tale of two boys, their fathers, their friendship, and the chaotic times in which they live. Though on the surface it explores religious faith--the intellectually committed as well as the passionately observant--the struggles addressed in The Chosen are familiar to families of all faiths and in all nations.



In 1940s Brooklyn, New York, an accident throws Reuven Malther and Danny Saunders together. Despite their differences (Reuven is a Modern Orthodox Jew with an intellectual, Zionist father; Danny is the brilliant son and rightful heir to a Hasidic rebbe), the young men form a deep, if unlikely, friendship. Together they negotiate adolescence, family conflicts, the crisis of faith engendered when Holocaust stories begin to emerge in the U.S., loss, love, and the journey to adulthood. The intellectual and spiritual clashes between fathers, between each son and his own father, and between the two young men, provide a unique backdrop for this exploration of fathers, sons, faith, loyalty, and, ultimately, the power of love.

I've ranted about my love for this book so many times.  I thought I would hate it, but it's one of my favorite books of all time.  My review is here.

This list isn't that long really.  I'm usually pretty open minded about books.  I try not to judge whether or not I like it until I read it.

Harry Potter Books vs. Movies

While you'll find lots of people who have watched and enjoyed every Harry Potter movie without ever reading one of the books, I've never found one person who's actually read the series and picked the movies over the books.  How can you when the books are so great?

Don't get me wrong.  I love the Harry Potter movies.  They're some of my favorite movies in the world.  Deathly Hallows Parts I and II were freaking amazing.  But even they don't quite compare to the awesomeness of the books.  This isn't really just a Harry Potter thing.  I love movies, but I would always pick books over movies.  I like being able to imagine things in my head.  It gives you a certain leeway to decide things on your own.  You have descriptions to go by, but overall, what things look like is all up to you.  Get a group of people who've read Harry Potter, and each one of them will have imagined Hogwarts just a little bit differently.  In the movies, you don't have that option because Hogwarts is given to you right on the screen.  That's not really a bad thing.  I love actually getting to see a version of Hogwarts, but it's not the same as the Hogwarts in my head.

Of course, we could also get into the changes that were made in the movies.  The movies could never fit in all of the tiny details we get in the books.  (Or apparently big details like the Marauders' backstory.)  In the movies, we didn't get Archie and his nightgown, Remus rushing to Shell Cottage to announce Teddy's birth, or any of Winky's story.  None of these things a really important to the plot, but they help make the books special.

The Harry Potter movies will always be special to me and some of my favorite movies.  They're wonderfully made, and I love almost every single actor in them.  The books just happen to be a bit more magical.  I like that they give us small little details sometimes, and that they allow us to imagine things on our own.  These things make it seem a bit more real and allow us to make the Harry Potter universe our own in some ways.  None of us experience the books in quite the same way.

Harry Potter Pick Me Up

Do you have books that you constantly find your self picking up whenever you want to feel better?  I do.  Harry Potter.  I can't even tell you the number of times I've picked one of the books up and have instantly felt better.

I think I've mentioned this somewhere online before, but my sister and I used to play this game whenever we had severe weather.  (She's not a Harry Potter fan, but I practically forced her to play with me.)  One of us would open a Harry Potter book to a random page and read a quote, and the other would have to guess which character had said it.  Regina, having never read the books, had a lot harder time with this than I did.  After a while, she'd get frustrated and start giving me one word quotes becuase she didn't want me to guess them.  This game always helped me keep my mind off the severe thunderstorms and tornado warnings/watches.

Harry Potter's cheered me up in a lot of other ways as well.  I always do something related to Harry Potter when I'm feeling down.  It doesn't even have to be one of the books.  I may listen to wizard rock, watch one of the movies, read fanfiction, or anything else that's related to Harry Potter.  When I'm feeling really low, I definitely pick up one of the books because nothing will ever beat them, but there are many other ways Harry Potter helps me at other times as well.

How do you make yourself feel better during scary, sad, etc. times?  Do you have a book (or books) that always makes you feel better?

My Favorite Classics

I'm not someone who's read a lot of books that are considered classics.  (Something I hope to change in the future.)  Most of the "classic" books I've read, I've read because of school.  Still, I've really enjoyed a lot of these books.  Here are three of my favorite "classic" books.

The Chosen by Chaim Potok.  I had never heard of this book until it was one of our summer reading options for AP English.  I'm not even sure if it's technically considered a classic even, but I'm counting it.  I think this is the only book on the list where I actually cried while reading it.  It's a great book about friendship, which is one of my absolute favorite things to read and write about.  It also takes place during World War II, and as a huge history nerd, I love reading historical fiction.  Not only that, but I learned a lot about judaism from this book.  You can read my review here.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.  When I first started reading this book, I was really weirded out by it all.  By the end of the book though, I absolutely loved it.  It's very interesting to think about and analyze.  The author wrote about how he was scared the world would really be, which is kind of a scary thought.  What's even scarier is that we've definitely moved towards the world described in the book.  Huxley's world may be an extreme one, but it's definitely obvious where it all came from.  You can read my review here.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.  I'm not going to lie:  the first time I ever heard of Wuthering Heights was when I was reading Twilight.  After that I heard more about the book, and I was intriqued by it.  We were supposed to find a classic book to read for English 11 Honors, and this was immediately the book I looked for.  It's not a happy book, but it's really interesting to read.  I hate virtually every character in the book, but they're all so interesting.  You can read my review here.

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee.  I had heard of this book before, but I had no clue what it was about when my English 11 Honors class began to read it.  I was really surprised about how much I liked this book.  I've seen some people criticize the book because it's not an acurate representation of the south at that time, but I don't think that really matters.  I think it's a wonderful book.  You can read my review here.

The Light in the Forest by Conrad Richter.  I was having a really hard time coming up with a fifth book, so I was looking through some of the books I've read on Goodreads.  Then, I stumbled across this book that I read over a year ago for English 11 Honors summer reading.  I'd forgotten how much I love this book.  It was about a part of American history that I didn't really know about:  Native Americans capturing white kids and women and making them a part of their society.  Again, I love a lot of historical fiction.  I think it definitely shows the Native American side (and the side of those taken captive) very well.  Unfortunately, I read this book before I started doing book reviews.

Changes in the Harry Potter Movies

It's considered a given that when a book is adapted into a movie, things about it are going to change.  Certain things that work great in books don't work as well in movies and vice versa.  Still, fans are always going to wish that certain things had made it into the movie, even if they think the movie was awesome overall.

I love the Harry Potter movies, but that doesn't mean there aren't things about them I'd change.  For every single movie, there's at least one thing I'd have loved to see be kept in from the book.  In this post, I'm going to choice one thing I wish had been in each movie.

I think Sorcerer's Stone is the hardest for me since I actually saw the movie before I read the book.  Because of this, it's often hard for me to remember things that were in the book but not the movie.  I have a similar problem with Chamber of Secrets.  I was just so young when these movies came out that it's hard for me to distingush between the books and movies no matter how many times a read or watch them.  Plus, there aren't huge differences between those two books and movies I don't think, at least compared to the rest of the books and movies.

I think I'm going to choose Peeves for Sorcerer's Stone.  Technically, Peeves would work for every movie, but they'd actually filmed scenes with Peeves and then decided to cut them.  I would absolutely love to see that footage.  Peeves would have been great.

For Chamber of Secrets, I'd have to say all of the Valentine's Day stuff.  I completely understand why all of that was cut, but it still would have been really amusing to watch.

Prisoner of Azkaban is one of my favorite Harry Potter movies, but I also have the most problems with it (which completely makes sense).  How can they have not talked about the Marauders backstory!?  To me that seems incredibly important.  You have no idea how many times I've had to explain all of that to people who haven't read the books.  It's basically impossible for people who haven't read the books to understand all of that.  They don't have a clue why Harry's patronus is a stag, why Sirius and Wormtail are animagi, or who made the Marauders Map and why Sirius and Remus know all about it.  I don't understand why they thought leaving all of that out was a good idea.  That's the number one thing I'd change in all of the movies.

Goblet of Fire is my least favorite Harry Potter book, and I don't have many complaints about things they changed in the movie.  They only thing I can really think of is Rita Skeeter being an animagus.  That would have been cool to see.  S.P.E.W. would have been cool too.  More houselves is never a bad thing.  In fact, forget the animagus thing.  I just want to see Dobby and Winky.

Order of the Phoenix had a lot cut from it of course, but the one thing I would have loved to see is Snape's Worst Memory in it's entirety (or at least more than they gave us).  We didn't even get to see Lily, and we find out later that she was the whole reason it was his worst  memory.  I really wish they could have given us more.

To just prove to you even more how much I love house elves, the biggest thing I would have liked to see in Half Blood Prince is Dobby and Kreacher interaction.  They basically gave us this when they added Dobby into the Grimauld Place scene with Kreacher, but I still would have loved to see them tailing Draco together in Half Blood Prince.

It's hard to think of something for Deathly Hallows Part 1.  It would have been nice to see Lily's letter and the picture of baby Harry.  (Babies are always awesome.)  There wasn't anything huge that I was upset to see cut out though.  (Unless I'm forgetting something, which wouldn't surprise me.)  They also didn't talk much about all of the Dumbledore stuff.

There were a ton of changes in Deathly Hallows Part 2, but I was perfectly fine with most of them.  I would have loved to see Percy make up with his family, but I can understand that being cut.  One thing that slightly annoyed me was the fact that Teddy was never even mentioned.  That's not entirely true since Harry mentions him when talking to (Resurection Stone) Remus in the Forbidden Forest, but since non-book readers don't know about Teddy, this just seems completely random.  I would have loved to see the scene where Remus shows up at Shell Cottage after Teddy is born.

What are some things you wish had been in the Harry Potter movies?

Ron Weasley

My love for Ron Weasley will come as no surprise to people who watch my Youtube videos.  However, I've never really talked about it on my blog.  When I say love, I don't mean in a romantic way (as all of my friends seem to think), but I think he is an absolutely brilliant Harry Potter character.  He's my favorite male Harry Potter character and is only beaten for overall favorite character by Hermione Granger.

As a random side note about me having a crush on Ron, I'd like to share a conversation I had with two of my (non-Harry Potter fan) friends as we watched Deathly Hallows Part 1.  It was about halfway through the movie, and I was beginning to get frustrated of them constantly making fun of Ron.  After I defended him for the millionth time, Summer begins saying that I obviously want to marry him.  My Response?  "No way!  Ron and Hermione are made for each other!  If anything, I want them to adopt me so I can be a Weasley."  That about sums up my feelings.

I'll be honest.  When I was younger, Ron definitely wasn't my favorite character.  I was pretty neutral towards him.  I think I know what made me change my mind.  In elementary school, my friends and I used to play Harry Potter all of the time.  There were only three of us (except the occasional other person or two), so our games were usually limited to Harry, Ron, and Hermione.  Who do you think I usually played?  As we were all girls, there was often a competition over who would call Hermione first.  After that, my other friend would want to play Harry since he's the main character.  I usually played Ron because the other two would complain if they got him.  Over time, I began to enjoy playing him, and I often found myself defending him.  (I would like to point out that Summer was also one of these two friends.  She's always had it out for Ron, I guess.)

Re-reading the books now that I'm older makes me realize how amazing Ron's character really is.  Yes, he gets jealous, and he makes some huge mistakes.  Still, he manages to prove himself worthy of being Harry's best friend time and time again.  He's flawed, but he's a brilliant person and character.  I think he's easier to relate to than Harry and Hermione.  He's not the hero, and he's not the smartest.  I'm sure everyone reading this feels that way sometimes.  As a kid, I always identified with Hermione, but now I realize how much of Ron I have in me too.  We all make mistakes.  We all get jealous.  We've all said or done things we regret.

I'll always think of Ron as one of my favorite literary characters ever.

Books I Want to Read

I know I did a post kind of like this before, but I decided to do another one today.  I have a huge list of books to read, and no where near enough time to read them all.  I don't even want to know how many books are currently sitting on my shelves, in my closet, or where ever I could find room for them.  That I have yet to read.  I'm going to share a few of the books that I am most dying to read.

Cassandra Clare's books.  I have City of Bones sitting on my desk waiting to be read.  Hopefully I'll get around to it soon, but I'm trying to get through some of the books that I've had longer first.

Ouran High School Host Club by Bisco Hatori.  I've read volumes one through five, and I have volumes six, eight, and nine sitting on my desk.  The rest will be bought sometime in the future.  They're quick reads, so it's hard to convince myself to wait instead of just picking them up now and reading them.

The Darwin Award books.  My AP biology teacher has a couple of these in her classroom, and we've read some of the stories in class.  They were so hilarious that I had to go out and buy one of the books so that I could read it all the way through.  I have yet to get around to it.

The Twilight Saga:  The Official Illustrated Guide.  I'm not even sure if I got the title exactly right, but it's close enough for you guys to know what I'm talking about.  I feel like a bad Twilight fan because I haven't even bought it yet.

I could probably think of more, but I think those are the ones I want to read the most right now.

I'm thinking about doing this same type of post only about DVDs too because I have a bunch of those that I've bought or want to rent that I haven't gotten to watch yet.  I haven't even bought the Deathly Hallows Part 1 DVD yet.  (So, in addition to being a bad Twilight fan, I'm also being a bad Harry Potter fan.  I need to fix that soon.)

What about you guys?  What books do you most want to read right not.