Want to narrow July down?

May 19, 2008 at 7:40 pm | In Uncategorized | 4 Comments

June’s book will be THE WORTHING SAGA by Orson Scott Card

August’s book will be THE ACCIDENTAL TIME MACHINE by Joe Haldeman

But July is still a mystery to me. I’ve got a few ideas of books I’d like to possibly cover with the group at some point in time. But I don’t have a strong favorite by any means. So while I can’t promise that I’d use any of your suggestions for the month of July, I do promise to keep them in mind and add them to the long list of possibilities at some point in time. Of course, you might very well HAVE the book that I’d be inspired to choose for July.

So here is my list. Please, please, please comment with your own suggestions OR email me privately laney_po AT yahoo DOT com with your suggestions.

Also let me know what you think of this list. If there are any that would be “duds” for you that you have zero interest in ever ever reading…I’d like to know that.

//www.stepheniemeyer.com/img/thehostcover.jpg” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

I loved this book. I read it last week, but I’m already trying to find time to reread it. You can read my review here. The only difficulty would be that it’s not in paperback yet. It just released in May–May 6th–and libraries while they may have a copy (or two or three) might have a long waiting list.

City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

I loved this book. I’ve read it of course. If you’ve already read it too, then there is no need to reread it for the fun of it unless there is a clear majority that want to read this one. One bonus would be that the movie version is coming this October. And if you haven’t read it yet, then it would be good incentive to do it now :)

The Host and City of Ember both would qualify for the End of the World (As WE Know It) challenge I’m hosting.

Rash by Pete Hautman. This is under-appreciated (I feel) novel that I just adore. It’s

set in the future in the United Safer States of America. It’s just a great book. It is available in paperback as well.  But you can’t make someone want to read a book

no matter how much you personally love it.

Surviving Antarctica: Reality TV 2083 by Andrea White is another fabulous book. I don’t have a copy at home–I don’t own it–but the library does have more than a few copies since this one was nominated for a state award. Read my review.

Unwind by Neal Shusterman. This one is quite incredible. Definitely one that makes you think…I called it in my review…dystopian fiction at its best :)

I had mentioned Frankenstein by Mary Shelley earlier. If there is interest in reading it, I’m willing to choose it. But I don’t want to “force” a classic on anybody. For one, some people associate classics with torture. And two, there is a good possibility–although one can never assume–that you’ve had to read it at some point in either high school or college. This is a book that took about three or four readings for me to fall madly in love with. But I don’t want to presume that you would be just as crazy-about-this monster as I am. So if you haven’t read it, you should. And if you want to read it with me, let me know.

So suggest away. Be brutally honest if you must :) But let me know if any of these are deals or duds. :)

Day Eight, Life As We Knew It, Chapters 20-21

May 19, 2008 at 5:01 pm | In Life As We Knew It | 12 Comments

Life As We Knew It
Day 8
Chapters 20-21

Chapter 20
Jon and Miranda keep practicing on the skis.
They feast on fried tulip bulbs.
February 20th. Jonny decides to go to one meal a day too.
February 22nd. Electricity for the first time in months and months and months. It’s on for only three or four minutes.
Radios. There are stations out there broadcasting again. True the news is depressing. But it’s proof that there are other survivors out there.
February 28th. A taste of despair.
March isn’t going well at all.
March 6th. Mom asks Miranda to skip a meal every now and then. To give up her one meal a day every day position so that Jonny and Matt can live longer.
March 12th inventory.
Looking into the mirror.

Definitely chapter 20 is one of the hardest chapters to read.

Chapter 21
“By the time I fell asleep last night, I knew what I was going to have to do today. The only question was would I have the strength.” (327)
Miranda’s trip to the post office. The town looks dead, deserted.
“But then I saw a glimpse of yellow.”
It’s a small spark of hope. But still.
Her walk to City Hall.
Food.
Hope.
Promise of more.

Bags of food. Electricity coming on a little bit each day. Still unpredictable spurts. But they were able to have a luxurious meal prepared in the microwave.

Miranda’s birthday.
I loved the last passage.

“A while ago Jonny asked me why I was still keeping a journal, who I was writing it for. I’ve asked myself that a lot, especially in the really bad times.
Sometimes I’ve thought I was keeping it for people 200 years from now, so they can see what our lives were like.
Sometimes I’ve thought I’m keeping it for that day when people no longer exist but butterflies can read.
But today, when I am 17 and warm and well fed, I’m keeping this journal for myself so I can always remember life as we knew it, life as we know it, for a time when I am no longer in the sunroom.” (337)

So what did everyone think? Like it? Love it? Hate it? How hopeful are you? Has it changed the way you think about the world, about life? What lasting impressions do you have about it? Would you recommend it to others? What about it really stuck out to you? What do you think you’ll take away from this experience of reading it? Are you going to want to read the companion novel The Dead and The Gone?

Also while I’ve got a semi-captive audience, we’ve got THE WORTHING SAGA by Orson Scott Card for June and THE ACCIDENTAL TIME MACHINE by Joe Haldeman for August…July is still open. If you’ve got suggestions I’m open. While they may not make it for July necessarily, they may make it for another month if I decide it’s something I’m going to want to read (or possibly reread).

I’ll make another posting about what I’m thinking…but I’ve got nothing determined determined yet.

Blog at WordPress.com. | Theme: Pool by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds.