Kindle Book: Jasper Jones

Jasper Jones

by Craig Silvey

Length: 313

Format: eBook
Price: Free via the Overdrive app

How I heard about it: It's on my list.

Basic Premise: Charlie Butkin is just a regular guy...until the town outcast, Jasper Jones, shows up at his window one night. Jasper urgently needs Charlie's help to help clear his name. A murder has been committed, and Jasper swears it wasn't him.

My Take: 8.5 out of 10 (scale here)
This book was GRIPPING. From the moment Jasper shows Charlie what he shows Charlie, it was hard to put down. Jasper Jones was very "Huck Finn"-like; indeed it was obvious the author was highly influenced by Mark Twain. About halfway through, I felt like I had it all figured out, but I was wrong (not shocking...I do not have good crime-solving instincts). I loved the pace and the easy grace of the writing. The content was dark, but it was well-handled and intriguing. In parts there was a little too much boy dialogue (talk about superheroes and sports), and being someone who reads every word on the page, this got a bit tedious. But near the end, I started skimming, even though it felt wrong. I observed no consequence, so I may employ this method in the future. I wish the ending had given me more, but I always wish the ends of books had given me more.

Unfortunately, there was too much profanity for me to comfortably have this on my shelf. :( But it was still a GREAT read.

List Progress:

1. I Am Malala by Christina Lamb and Malala Yousafzai review here
2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky review here
   
3. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood review here
4. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher review here
5. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
6. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving review here
7. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver review here
8.  Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah review here
9. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon review here
10. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (read before I started blogging)
11. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
12. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie review here
13. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (read before I started blogging)
14. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
15. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer review here
16. Bossypants by Tina Fey review here
    
17. Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
18. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (read before I started blogging)
19. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (read before I started blogging)
20. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen *abandoned*
21. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell review here
22. She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb
23. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling - can we have a moment for whoever created this list? "Harry Potter" is not a book. It's a series of books. Sheesh.
24. Looking for Alaska by John Green review here
25. The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak review here
26. The Kite Runner by Khaled Housseini review here

Kindle Book: Death Wears a Beauty Mask

Death Wears a Beauty Mask and Other Stories

by Mary Higgins Clark

Length: 368

Format: Ebook
Price: Free via the library via the Overdrive app

How I heard about it: My book club decided to read it.

Basic Premise: There were eight stories, all with varying degrees of creepiness...

My Take: 7 out of 10 (scale here)
I am not a murder-mystery-creepy-stories sort of girl, nor, I discovered, am I a short stories sort of girl. The first story, "Death Wears a Beauty Mask" was very good and the longest of all the stories. It didn't feel rushed (although the ending did feel a bit abrupt) and I really was left wondering who did it. It felt sort of like The Cukoo's Calling because the victim was famous and dead and it was the sibling who was pulling back the shards. The other stories went to quickly for me. I had hardly any time to connect with the characters, which made it hard for me to care what happened to them because I am the worst.

I did really enjoy the writing style. I loved the lack of swear words, blood and gore, and sexual violence. I loved that the stories took place before computers and cell phones took over the world. It was very refreshing!

Spring Break 2016!

What an amazing Spring Break we have had over here!

We started the week with a bang - a trip to Omaha! We left right after church on Sunday and spent the evening swimming at the waterpark at our hotel. Monday the weather was perfect so we headed to the good ol' Henry Doorly for some zoo fun.

We had great fun cruising the desert and the cat corner, but my favorite was the IMAX documentary about humpback whales narrated by Obi-Wan Kanobi (Ewan McGreggor). We went to dinner and colored:

And then back to the hotel for more swims. We departed Tuesday after more swimming, and, since it was free ice cream day, we had to stop at the DQ just before we got back to town!

We spent the rest of the week with cousins, seeing movies, and eating peeps:

Counting all of Daddy's change and unanimously voting to deposit the total in our beach fund ($27.79!):

Dressing up for St. Patrick's Day:

And, of course, watching KU win its 12 straight regular season title and its first two games of the NCAA tournament!

We also took a quick trip out to Mommy's work:

And then we ended the week with our traditional Sunday Night Movie Night:

We had an absolutely GREAT spring break. It was such a nice preview for summer! Incidentally, I counted and we have 45 days of school left, with 9 more Mondays. We can do it!

Kindle Book: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

by Mark Haddon

Length: 240

Format: eBook
Price: Free via the Overdrive app

How I heard about it: It's on my list.

Basic Premise: 15-year-old Christopher Boone is "a mathematician with behavioural difficulties" whose discovery of the murder of the neighbor's dog sends him on a quest for the murderer. What he finds is more than he bargained for.

My Take: 6 out of 10 (scale here)
This was an interesting book. It was a lot like Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close because the narrator was a young boy who was brilliant but had "behavioural difficulties." (I left the "u" in keeping with the British culture...another interesting thing about this book.) Both were trying to solve a mystery, but in this book, the mystery deals with the neighbor's dog, who has been killed with a pitchfork. Christopher obsesses over the death and decides to "detect" the murderer, but his detecting uncovers way more than just the death of the dog. I loved the plot twist, and that it happened mid-way through the novel instead of at the very end, so I had plenty of time to gain information. I can't say that it was terribly satisfactory (his parents - and mother in particular - are not great), but it was definitely different and entertaining!

List Progress:

1. I Am Malala by Christina Lamb and Malala Yousafzai review here
2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky review here
   
3. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood review here
4. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher review here
5. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
6. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving review here
7. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver review here
8.  Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah review here
9. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
10. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (read before I started blogging)
11. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
12. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie review here
13. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (read before I started blogging)
14. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
15. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer review here
16. Bossypants by Tina Fey review here
    
17. Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
18. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (read before I started blogging)
19. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (read before I started blogging)
20. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen *abandoned*
21. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell review here
22. She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb
23. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling - can we have a moment for whoever created this list? "Harry Potter" is not a book. It's a series of books. Sheesh.
24. Looking for Alaska by John Green review here
25. The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak review here
26. The Kite Runner by Khaled Housseini review here

Kindle Book: Bossypants

Bossypants

by Tina Fey

Length: 304

Format: eBook
Price: Free via the Overdrive app

How I heard about it: It's on my list.

Basic Premise: This hilarious memoir tells the story of comedienne and writer Tina Fey and her rise to stardom.

My Take: 9 out of 10 (scale here)
This was the funniest book I have read in a long time. Maybe ever. I pulled a few favorite quotes, just to give you an idea.

On the female reproductive parts:
"To this day, all I know is there are between two and four openings down there and that the set up inside looks vaguely like the Texas Longhorns logo." - this made me laugh so hard I woke Husband up

On being called a troll by a Tweeter:
"To say I am an overrated troll, when you have never even seen me guard a bridge, is patently unfair."

Praying for her daughter:
“First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches. May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the Beauty. When the Crystal Meth is offered, May she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half And stick with Beer."

On mean girls:
“Obviously, as an adult I realize this girl-on-girl sabotage is the third worst kind of female behavior, right behind saying "like" all the time and leaving your baby in a dumpster.” 

On pets:
“I have no affinity for animals. I don’t hate animals and I would never hurt an animal; I just don’t actively care about them. When a coworker shows me cute pictures of her dog, I struggle to respond correctly, like an autistic person who has been taught to recognize human emotions from flash cards. In short, I am the worst.”  (same here)

In general:
“Lesson learned? When people say, "You really, really must" do something, it means you don't really have to. No one ever says, "You really, really must deliver the baby during labor." When it's true, it doesn't need to be said.” 

Another thing I appreciated about this book was that profanity was few and far between...which made it very effective when it was used. (Also, I wish this R-rated movie Husband is watching right now would take this tack.)

Out of all the books I've read on my list so far, this has definitely been the most enjoyable!

List Progress:

1. I Am Malala by Christina Lamb and Malala Yousafzai review here
2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky review here
   
3. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood review here
4. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher review here
5. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
6. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving review here
7. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver review here
8.  Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah review here
9. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Timeby Mark Haddon
10. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (read before I started blogging)
11. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
12. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie review here
13. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (read before I started blogging)
14. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
15. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer review here
16. Bossypants by Tina Fey
17. Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
18. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (read before I started blogging)
19. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (read before I started blogging)
20. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen *abandoned*
21. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell review here
22. She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb
23. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling - can we have a moment for whoever created this list? "Harry Potter" is not a book. It's a series of books. Sheesh.
24. Looking for Alaska by John Green review here
25. The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak review here
26. The Kite Runner by Khaled Housseini review here

Book: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

by Stephen Chobsky

Length: 224

Format: Paperback
Price: Borrowed from a friend

How I heard about it: It's on my list.

Basic Premise: Fifteen-year-old Charlie navigates family issues, making new friends, and the complicated social waters of high school.

My Take: 5 out of 10 (scale here)

Ehhh.

That's pretty much what I thought of this book. See that mind-blowing premise I wrote? Yeah...that's because I have read this same story fifteen times, just with different details. It was strongly reminiscent of Looking for Alaska and Speak (although, I have to say, I did love Speak). I liked the epistolary structure and I really really liked Charlie. I also loved his English teacher, and how, from the very beginning of the school year, he noticed something different in Charlie and gave him books - good, perfect books that weren't necessarily reflective of things the boy was going through, but things to which he could make personal connections.

I was trying to figure out how to word what I didn't like, but it turns out I already did that when I wrote my review of Looking for Alaska:

I hate the seemingly incessant conviction among the young in books like this that life is about sex and drinking.  I am always surprised at the depth of this belief and the lengths young people will go to get it.  Perhaps it is because the boys I surrounded myself with when I was this age were Ricks and Jeffs and Sams and Jacobs and Tylers - they were just so good.  They loved me and cared about me, not what I could do for them or get for them.  I avoided the boys like the ones in this book like the plague and pray to GOD that my daughter does the same.  Perhaps my boys were naive, or perhaps I am naive.  Whatever the reason, it always leaves a very sour taste in my mouth.

^Same.

List Progress:

1. I Am Malala by Christina Lamb and Malala Yousafzai review here
2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
3. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood review here
   
4. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher review here
5. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
6. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving review here
7. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver review here
8.  Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah review here
9. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Timeby Mark Haddon
10. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (read before I started blogging)
11. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
12. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie review here
13. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (read before I started blogging)
14. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
15. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer review here
16. Bossypants by Tina Fey
17. Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
18. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (read before I started blogging)
19. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (read before I started blogging)
20. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen *abandoned*
21. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell review here
22. She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb
23. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling - can we have a moment for whoever created this list? "Harry Potter" is not a book. It's a series of books. Sheesh.
24. Looking for Alaska by John Green review here
25. The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak review here
26. The Kite Runner by Khaled Housseini review here

One Left...

I am so excited to announce that WE PAID OFF BIG BLUE! We took the kids with us to the bank and officially paid our second-to-last loan. It was wonderful!

1. Establish an emergency fund of $1000 CHECK
2. Pay off Loan #1 - car. GOAL: Paid off by September 2013. CHECK
3. Pay off Loan #2 - credit card. GOAL: Paid off by Christmas 2013 CHECK
4. Pay off Loan #3 - other car. GOAL: Paid off by end of school year, 2014 by end of summer, 2014 by February 2015 CHECK
5. Pay off renovation - GOAL: Paid off by end of summer, 2015 CHECK
6. Pay off Big Blue - GOAL: February 2016
7. Pay off LAST LOAN - Undergrad. GOAL: Paid off by August 2016 May 2016 October 2016

AND (some more great news), we thought we knew what we owed on the rest of our student loan, but it was actually about $1000 LESS than what we thought! We are still keeping our goal at October 2016 to help build space for things that spring up.

In addition, we have three trips to take between now and the end of summer. The first is a quick spring break trip to Omaha, the second is our family vaycay to Alabama (which I am SO excited about), and the third is a business trip of Husband's that I get to tag along for. We have been saving for all of these, so we are hopeful we won't have to dip into debt-money much for these.

Book: Uprising

Uprising

by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Length: 352

Format: Paperback
Price: $6.99, Amazon Prime

How I heard about it: Our students will read an excerpt of it in the coming unit, so I decided to read it.

Basic Premise: A historical fiction set in the early 1900s, this story follows two immigrant Triangle Factory workers and one high-society debutante as they navigate their way through the strike and Triangle factory fire of 1911 in New York City.

My Take: 8.5 out of 10 (scale here)

The only reason I didn't give this book a higher rating was because of its slow start. It didn't pick up until around page 100. Once I got there, I finished in a day and a half. (One night I stayed up till 12:30 reading...ooops). I remember studying this fire in 8th grade and watching a documentary, but otherwise I knew nothing about this event. It was beautiful artistic and heart-wrenching read. I purchased instead of checking it out from the library because I wanted to have a copy on my shelf for kids. I think they will get caught up in the story and want to read the whole thing!

Dealing with Dragons & Searching for Dragons

Dealing with Dragons

& 

Searching for Dragons

by Patricia C. Wrede

Length: 240, 272

Format: Hardback
Price: Checked out from library

How I heard about it: Rereads - I read them as a kid.

Basic Premise: Princess Cimorene HATES being a princess. She has always been more interested in fencing, politics, and cooking to have time for dancing, drawing, and singing. When she runs away from home to work for a dragon and helps save the dragon kingdom from ruin at the hands of the wizards, she catches the eye of the King of the Enchanted Forest.

My Take: 9 out of 10 (scale here)

I LOVED these books as a kid, so when my niece (in whom I am doing my very best to encourage a love of reading) said she was reading some book about a dragon and a princess with a weird name that started with a C, I knew exactly what she was talking about. I headed straight for the library and checked out the first one, which I re-read in a matter of days, and then I headed back and got the 2nd one. It was the perfect break I needed from all the super heavy reading I've been doing lately! I love the strong protagonist, and how she values hard work and common sense over stereotypes and expectations. I also loved reliving some of my childhood glory days. Can't wait to read these with my kids!