Of Poseidon

As I was getting started with Evermore, one of my friends gave me a book called Of Poseidon to try and read. So I decided to take a break from Evermore and see how much I like this book...if at all. I am around page 50 so its kinda slow progress (you can blame that on my teachers- with all the homework I've been getting lately). Is it just me or do all the teachers decide to dump 20 tons of homework plus a bunch of tests and quizzes right when there are 2 weeks of school left? jeez man, just take a chill pill.

Before I get too off topic here's my main jist on this book: the characters. I mean you wouldn't expect much of characters to be revealed in like the first 50 pages but authors is throwing stuff at you, barely giving you a chance to take a breather. Hey I mean I'm not complaining because it's keeping me quite interested in this novel so far. My main concern with one of the main characters, Galen, is "wow he's gonna have a hard time getting married." Yes I know that's a little strange but if you saw this character and how much he second guesses himself you'll agree with me that he'll NEVER sack himself a girlfriend but else then even think about marriage. I mean this guy gets an idea and totally thinks about way too much too the point where he gets lost in his own forest of thoughts. My advice for him- DON'T THINK. JUST DO IT. 

Then, there's the other main character Emma whose problem is that she just needs to breathe. I mean one embarrassing thing happens to her and three weeks later she's still thinking about it. And that embarrassing thing? It was her running into a stranger guy she didn't even know, in a state where she doesn't even live in. Supposedly she become "stuck onto him" just for a few seconds but still thats not as bad as some of the things others have done. Like me and my embarrassing moments. But seriously she just needs to forget things and kinda move on with her life. For example after she ran into the guy she kept bringing it back, by saying something along the lines of, "Yeah, I know. Smacked into him remember?" (Banks 16).The more she is going to think about it, the more she is going to fall in her own subconscious thought. So my advice for her- JUST LET IT GO. FORGET THINGS.


Here is a link to Anna Banks blog where she talks about her upcoming reads 

Getting started with Evermore

Alright, so I just started reading this book called Evermore by Alyson Noel and its slow progress. I have gotten through the first 20 or so pages and one word describes it- high school. Yep those four dreaded years of your life where your supposed to find out your "true self" and open up the doors to new and "exciting opportunities". Right like whoever did that.

Please...just give me a break. I've heard this nonsense when I was going to be coming to the high school and I bet you I'll hear on graduation day. Great. More cliched speeches I have to listen to. As if I haven't already had enough of those.

But thats not the point. The author creates a high school setting for this book for a very eccentric character. If you zero in on the character it makes you wonder why high school was chosen for her {Ever Bloom} because she may be a teenage girl, have her crushes and dream but shes a little different. A little different as in she's IMMORTAl. Yep she is gonna be able to live forever. I wish that was me. Anyways I can't say much right now because of where I am but I am going to have to keep reading to figure out what the heck is going on with her and why she is the way she is.

Book Recommendation

So as I finished reading Sing Down the Moon, I was pretty shocked at the fact how great the book ended up being, despite the fact that I had a huge problem with it when I first started it. The book ends up covering a good portion of the main character's life from her teen years all the way till she gets married and even has her first child. Now this book does have some very touchy topics but it's not anything a person can't handle. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone because first off its not that long. And we all know how we feel when we have to read a book thats like a 1000 pages. No of us will EVER like it. Because lets face it- these days most all of us hate reading. We're better off on our phones tweeting and texting.

Anyways, I also loved this book because it's relatable to everyone. Everyone can pick a part and understand what the character is going through because they may have had that experience before. For example, the character has two friends [Running Bird and White Deer] that she does everything with. They're practically her sisters because they have grown up together, learned together... done everything together. And thats relatable because everyone has friends that they love and enjoy spending time with.

The other noticeable thing I loved in the book was the character. Each one has a great personalty that makes it easier to understand the part they play in the book. They all together struggle through something and thats what makes their personality come out. Every character is unique and the way the author put them together really is creates wonders.

Overall this story is one about struggle, perseverance, family, and determination, which makes it a great read for anyone looking for a short book or one that will be a favorite for years to come.



A video summarizing the book:

Main Character in Sing Down the Moon

 I'm about halfway into this book, and I have to say I'm really loving the main character Bright Morning. Being a 14-year old girl Bright Morning has a lot to handle. She has the stress of chores, the pressure from her parents and her older sister, as well as competing with the other kids her age. She's a teen so I bet that a lot of us here are able to relate with her to an extent. However it's not that easy to compare our life with hers and still assume she lives like us. Because she doesn't. Her life is tied to her village. And for this girl, she falls into some major trouble which turns her life into a one she never imagined living. 

Now, we all have bad days but what happened to her reflects a major problem in society that continues to happen everyday all around the world-kidnapping. So Bright Morning does get kidnapped but her experience during that low point in her life is what was able to truly bring out her character. When she goes to her new master's house the first piece of her character that rises is her determination and stubbornness to get out of the place where she felt like she was locked in. Let me tell you it wasn't hard to characterize her because the author very explicity stated how she was. Bright Morning essentially makes a promise to herself saying, "I will never stir the beans nor will I ever smile when I am in this house," (O'Dell 35). This shows her willingness and determination to resist the force upon her. In this type of situation, I feel like it is particularly important to have a strong mental state so that a person is able to stay strong and use all their energy towards finding a way to get out. And or course that quote also shows how stubborn Bright Morning is when she says that she will"never stir the beans". Now normally people think it is a bad quality to have if you are stubborn but for this character her stubbornness was vital for her to conquer her mind and control it so that she doesn't give into the demands of her slavers.

So I truly appreciate her and what she did for herself when she was landed in this mess and believe that it is important for everyone to be determined and passionate in the thing they believe so that they can go through it. And as for Bright Morning her willingness to get out of this experience was a great part of her personality.

Article talking about famous American kidnapping cases

Just when I thought it started to climb

Two girls stand all alone. The wind taps them around and everything seems to shake, as if a warning is being given. An icy, dark, empty alley where even death doesn't come haunts their eyes. They hear shoes rattle, their pulses quicken and slowly turn around, their eyes focusing on the very thing they fear.... the last thing they'll ever see is those two hands....

That's what I think when someone says suspense. Now of course I'm a lot more creative than that but for blogging purposes let’s keep things simple.
Simple.

That’s exactly what the author does to the plot of this book. He keeps its WAY TOO simple. And as I pound away on the keyboard getting a feeling that I am loosening the keys, all I think of is the plot and how much better it could have been. Seriously, I am really starting to wonder how this was an "award-winning" book because I personally don't see the book screaming "hey look at me! I got an award and you losers are stuck with nothing." Just no. And my anger worsens because the plot is such a real creative thought. And it encompasses real world problems so it’s supposed to be great- supposed to be. Clearly I beg to differ. And I think some others do to.

Now don't get me wrong because I don't judge a book by its cover and initially I didn't. And I love everything else about the book including the setting and the supporting characters. What killed me inside was the development of the problem and reaction of the main character. So basically the main character [Bright Morning] is with her friend Running Bird and sees some Spaniards coming near them. Before they can flee, the three men surround them and demand that they come with them to be taken as female slaves, who will then be sold to work in a rich home. See. That's such a great thought the author had and it relates to the past and present times of our society. The conversation between the men and the two girls is the men simply saying, "'We will not harm you. You will like the place you are going. Do not try to flee'"(O'Dell 26). First off, when a person is going to kidnap somebody that’s not all what they should be saying- especially in a book. That was it. That was all the Spaniard said to the girls. Easy to decipher? Yeah. At all effective? NO.

On top of that the reaction of the girls directly after that dialogue goes a little like, "We went south along the mesa" (O'Dell 26). Now, reading this you're probably wondering "what? that's not a reaction. What is she writing about?" And you're right. That wasn't a reaction. Because that was all I could find of a reaction. Literally, the major turning point in the book was finished in about a paragraph. Two girls just got kidnapped and the author provided no reaction of the girls at all. There was nothing explaining the feelings of the girls nor did he provide any description of what was going on. Now that made my blood boil.


The idea was really creative but the fact that the author didn't expand on that scene really made me want to stop reading the book because there could have been so much to indulge in at that part, which could have brought up the book to a whole another level. Plus, all the other events- even those that weren't that important- were described in much length and detail allowing the reader to get a grasp on the emotions of the character and really why those decisions were taken by the character. Yet I'm still going to continue reading the book hoping that other important scenes aren't as short as this one.

**This was my review on this part of the book: Reviews on Goodreads that give more opinons on this book

  

Sing Down the Moon

So I just started a new fiction book called Sing Down the Moon by Scott O'Dell and it's definitely a new concept and I have to say I'm not bored with it yet so it seems like I'll really like it hopefully.  I have only read the first few chapters and I have a hunch that something big is gonna happen and its gonna come at me like I'd never expect it. And because I don't like surprises I have myself prepared for the plot. So far this book talks about a young girl that experiences a typical day in her village and what she has been doing during the summer. She's like your normal teenage girl in the west, a person who has chores to do, loves hanging around with her friends, and of course... has a crush on another boy. Yep... authors can just never forget the romance.

So at the part where I left of, is where the girl named Bright Morning has seen a couple of Spaniards- people she had been taught to stay away from at a very young age. When she sees them, she describes them like, "I saw their shadows before I saw the men..... they were dressed in deerskin, with tall hats and silver spurs,riding horses that had heavy silver bits. They were the Spaniards,"(O'Dell 25). From previous sentences in the book the reader were able to tell that the Spaniards were not the people to trust because they would always take advantage of people living in the villages and exploit them. And at this part in the novel Bright Morning was alone in the field quite far from her home so I have a feeling that the Spaniards are going to kidnap her and take her away. I think this because she was alone far away from her home, with nothing to defend herself with, and the Spaniards have always hated her village and her people from the start. So my predication is that she will be kidnapped and taken away and to get her back, the people will have to pay up something as ransom.

Thoughts on Character

So I just finished reading A Separate Country and boy, did it take me a while. Honestly the only reason why I finished it was because over break I had a 10 hour car ride. And what else can you do besides read cramped up in a car for that long? Let me know if you have any ideas.

Anyways, so throughout this book I found a particular character quite interesting which would be Anne Marie Hood- General Hood's wife. The main reason why I like her so much because the reader could see a change in her as the story progressed. In the beginning, as a teen, she is a very open minded person who is always ready to risk her life for an adventure. For example, one time she treks into the forest and befriends two homeless boys who live like cavemen. Seriously, where do you find girls like that these days? Nevertheless, you could say she is a symbol of noncomformity because she demonsrates that in the early stages of this book. However to her society she is considered as young and immature. And she ends up doing the very thing her mother didn't want her to do- she falls in love. To her family the problem was that she fell in love with a man who experienced countless amounts of failures in his his lifetime as a General. What I especially loved about her was the fact that she didn't care what others thought and only focused on her goals and aspirations. In fact when she met Hood she describes him much differently than other did as they saw him. She says, "I was. But God, his eyes! They were not the blue you see in the eyes of men. They were wet and deep and clear, the blue of the sky reflected in a clear creek. There were clouds in them too. I should be forgiven for looking him in the eye, though it was not proper or demure" (72). She even says that it wasn't proper for ladies to look men directly in the eye and the fact that she did that shows she wasn't afraid of being a little different. however she didn't care about what others thought about Hood- she only cared for what he meant for her. In that sense Anne marie seems like a great role model in the fact that she is so real and should represent the young girls of today's generation who aren't afraid of stepping out.

After her marriage with Hood the audience sees some major changes in her. Mainly because she had so many kids that through all the experiences with them she is growing out of her previous old self. She becomes a lot more involved in her own work minding the little things she used to go after. This may be because there eventually became financial problems in their family. The once rich family who lived their life in comfort went through a phase of difficulties years into their wedded life. Some changes you notice in her are her mental changes. She is a lot more quiet and controlled whereas before she was much open and "out there." Overall she becomes a little dull in her life- she loses all that fun she used to posses when she was younger. Unfortunately nearing the end of the book, she loses her life to yellow fever which at that time was a ranging epidemic. Overall, as I look back to her character I realize that she reflected every person who has acted like Anne somewhere throughout their lives. I think at some point in a person's life they are going to be dull struggling or they are going to step out of their comfort zone and make a difference.

Anyways, I enjoyed this character throughly and hope I find more qualities Anne Marie had in other characters of other books I read.


Link to an article talking about why people change in their life

Good and Bad things about A Separate Country

So I'm getting to the halfway point in this book.... almost halfway there really means that I need some major motivation to get through this book so I don't fall asleep while reading it. Because lets face it historical novels can get really really boring. Not essentially because the concept is bad, rather its the way it has been written. Plus, its really hard to stay awake reading about people who are already dead. I mean sure they've made an impact on our society but  lets be real kids of this generation could care less.

So I've quickly noticed that there are good and bad things to this book. Its strange though because the "good' of this book down the road becomes the "bad." Bet most of you have no clue what I mean so allow me to elaborate. The author is explicitly clear and direct on the ideas he presents in the book. Hick's representation of the era after the war is great and makes total sense which is why I initially was excited to see how the plot would unravel through the book. Everything is detailed and really stretched, torn apart, picked at, and scraped down to the bare bottom when it comes to the text of this book. The author takes a good amount of time just to describe the scene at its important moments. For example, when one of the main characters is talking about his daily routine the author writes, " I'd built a bed a bed and stuffed feed bags full of stolen and scrounged cotton. I'd bought two pairs of blue denim work trousers, two thick white double sided shirts that could be worn inside out, and two pairs of leather boots, of what animal I don't know" (Hicks 83). Okay so I understand that it is important that a author go into detail but in this book is really over done. Almost all the ideas presented are overly detailed and while it helps paint a great picture, it also makes the book drag a little.

That leads to the "bad" part of the book which is the amount of extra time it feels wasted reading those words that cause the plot to really drag. This is more present at the part I am at now so I have to say its making me lose interest in the book. Its as if the car that I was driving while reading this book has really slowed down and everything in this world is moving in slow motion. The plot is getting to the point where I am losing focus on the important parts of the book because the author is stretching out little things like describing the nervousness of Anne Marie when she goes to a ballroom party. It makes me feel like the book isn't getting anywhere and I have been stuck in the same place for a while.

Well, I'll see how the book continues to go and hopefully something will happen to get me back on track with the book so I'm not so lost like right now.

Why I chose A Separate Country

How do most people chose a book? Lets face it- those couch potatoes are just going to look at the length, thickness, and the number of pages in a book and pick whether or not they'll be reading that book. Just try to lie and tell me that this isn't true and we haven't done this in our lives. You can't. Physically not possible. Those types of people are always going to be like, "oh nope this book is 100 pages long... not gonna read it." Then they'll put it down and awkwardly walk away hoping no one saw them. Yeah.. I know you're a little embarssed reading this because a) you've done this before or b) you still do it now. But hey..who's am I to judge?

Then there are those who will pick a book based on the cheesy, annoying, and over dramatic book summary on the back of the book, or possibly on the inside cover. To them it all depends on the how "smart" those words can sound and how captivating those five lines can be. Right, because FIVE lines of words we barely understand  is enough for a person to know if they want to read the book. Okay... that logic makes total sense.

Now, there is a that small percentage of people who will actually do research to see if that book is worth their time after all time is the most valuable thing we have and we can't lost it. So I decided to be that small percentage of people and did a little research to see if I really should read the book and not do an abandon ship kinda thing. After getting the book...yes I know AFTER... I read some of the reviews that I could find online and quickly came to the conclusion that this may be a novel worthwhile reading. Most of the reviews said, "A Separate Country has its moments, and Hood was indeed a rather tragic figure in our nation's history.  It's not that I disliked A Separate Country; I just felt as though there was something I was missing from the story." Most of all the reviews said something similar along the lines things such as something being left out of the book, or the book not meeting the expectations of the author's previous books. Nevertheless, I was intrigued by other reviews that quoted the the book as "elegantly written" or "Very well written; much detail, and keeps you turning the pages."

So I decided why not try it. And here I am almost 100 pages into the book and its not as bad as I thought originally. Right away, I have noticed the complexity of the text because Hicks does a wonderful job describing each scene in great detail allowing the readers to create a picture in their minds while they are reading. Overall so far I have found a liking towards this book and its tie to the Civil War. 

So I was glad I didn't become a couch potato because I would have truly missed out on reading a very new type of book based on its concept and plot. 


A link to an article commenting on the book.

A Separate Country

           Recently, I started reading a novel called A Separate Country by Robert Hicks that can be classified as historical fiction. Set during the time years after the civil war, this novel depicts the shocking life of John Bell Hood, considered as one of the most controversial generals of the Confederate Army. The author quickly grabs the readers attention as he begins to describe the sullen view of New Orleans. The ruthless war may have been over in the country but the shock still runs through the people as they recollect themselves and fight against the effects the catastrophic war brought on them and their families. In the beginning the author describes New Orleans, one of the hardest hit places during the war in the sense that can be compared to a fallen baby who is trying to get up. Scenes of people working day and night trying to bring up the fallen economic status of the city and neighboring areas around them. The atmosphere of the book is sad and distressing as the author continues to describe the plight of the people living in New Orleans all contributing to growth of the US once again. As the book's setting is farther revealed, any reader can conclude that "happy" was not bouncing around at this time. Even with the war over the people are dissatisfied with the results that came about after four year long war ending causing tremendous losses on both sides.
        
            As the main character, general John Bell Hood, is introduced in the novel the readers can see how the war swallowed up the general's life. However, the author vividly describes the place where Hood lives- "I walked under drooping banana trees and between two dwarf date palms bristling with spikes, and then I was in the Hood's years, a green wrestle of vines and swamp grasses twisted up together in an awful fight" (8). That line shows a great deal of diction and figurative language that forms a picture in the readers mind of what the scene is in front of the character. Not just that, but there are many other lines in the book so far where the author talks about the setting in great detail that helps us as the readers get a good understanding of where the book is taking place in.