Month: January 2012

book reviews
15 Jan 2012

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

Do you like to do research before you read a book? Do you browse reviews, check out the author’s website, look it up on Goodreads to see what your friends thought about it?

About a year ago, I stopped doing all of that because I am reading for school. There is no negotiation – Jessica, you will read this book whether you like it or not – so I stopped even reading the back of the book. Who cares if anyone likes it, who blurbed it… who cares what the book is even about?

Suprisingly, I have come to enjoy reading books blind. It’s a bit more suspenseful, first of all – when you jump into the first chapter of a book, it’s fun to feel disoriented for those first few chapters and have to slowly make your way to what the book is about. But more notably, I’ve found that I do end up enjoying books that would otherwise scare me off.

See: Maureen Johnson’s The Name of the Star.

  • Set in London (I’m not much of an Anglophile… and those that are tend to to leave me feel alienated? I have issues)
  • Serial killer plotline (Gross. I’m a delicate flower.)
  • First in a series (Standalone fiction is not yet dead, right? Anyone? Anyone!?)
  • Maureen Johnson (I like her books but for some reason I always wish I liked them more… I don’t know)

 

So no, I would not have wanted to read this book. In fact, I was aware of its publication and after seeing the G-word, decided not to seek it out.

But the syllabus strikes again. I opened this book last week without knowing much else other than GHOSTS, but I was surprised how quickly the plot swept me up, how much I liked the characters and the setting, and how the GHOSTS didn’t bother me as much as I assumed they would.

One thing Johnson really does excel at is the kind of understated but complex female heroines that you don’t necessarily feel a great affinity towards, but you like them. You want to be friends with them. You think they are sincerely interesting and cool people. Rory Devereaux is one such heroine. The child of two Louisana professors, Rory is excited to spend a year with her parents on sabbatical in Bristol, England. She chooses to apply to a selective boarding school in London because she can – why not live out the true “England” experience while abroad? – but her arrival to Wexford coincides with a serial killer’s first strike. The killer seems to be recreating the Jack the Ripper killings that took place in the same neighborhood as Rory’s school, but nobody can figure out how the crimes are committed, much less by whom. While Rory tries to make friends, find a little romance, and succeed at school, she also becomes a pseudo-witness to one of these crimes, which eventually pulls her into a web of paranormal crimefighters.

One additional point of praise I might offer this novel before I end this overview: the ending. So how is the ending of a series book supposed to end? It is supposed to entice you into reading the next volume of the series. These overblown cliffhanger endings are why I have grown suspicious of most series titles. I’m sorry, but I get annoyed when a book ends and NONE of the central plot conflicts have been resolved, when the only thing encouraging me to read more is that YOU HAVE LEFT EVERYTHING DELIBERATELY HALF-WRITTEN. That is manipulative. The Name of the Star has a perfectly independent structure that does not require you to keep reading. The book ends not on a “what will happen next?!?!!!!” cliffhanger, but a well-played combination of  a subtle “where will Rory go next?” feeling of honest curiosity combined with a last-page paranormal moment so bizarre and unexplainable that you can’t help but wondering “what COULD happen next?”

So kudos to you, Johnson. You have written a ghost book that this skeptic can get behind with a likeable, complex heroine, complete with a completely commendable ending. Kudos!

grad school
14 Jan 2012

dear roommate

I am sad that you had to leave, and that I hope I didn’t make it too hard for you to go. Or too easy. I was aiming for something in the middle.

Anyway, I could really sit here and think about the reasons I will miss you all day, but here are just a few examples, to help you visualize how much you will be missed:

1. If I accidentally eat too many eggs and run out before I can buy more? No breakfast for me.

2. Never again will the words “So, there’s this lady whose blog I read…” leave my mouth. Really. Never! Who would I say that to, other than you?

3. I am back in the eating-brunch minority. My brunch intake will decrease dramatically. (Side note: why are 2/3 of my first examples breakfast-related? I have issues)

4. Bad things that will probably happen over the next 6 months: my library books will go overdue, I will lock myself out of the apartment more than once, Peach will meow sadly by her food dish during the day, I will have to go to bars with boys by myself.

5. Nobody will call the cops on the downstairs neighbors! Their late-night domestic disputes will go unpunished. Also, with fewer people around the house to eavesdrop, I will surely miss out on some of their choicier dialog, as will you! A highlight from last night’s discussion? “I can’t BELIEVE that I have allowed myself to be manipulated like this… BY A WOMAN!” And from today, “No, YOU’RE A FART-FACE!”

6. Additionally, nobody will believe that these quotes are real, other than you.

 

There are plus sides, too, I suppose. Peach now has her own room. She is currently sleeping in it – laying on a blanket, of course. And I’ve entered a phase of existence that feels much like what I do when I have a break-up: I suddenly realize how much time there is in a day. All the time spent hanging out and telling “so there’s this lady whose blog I read” stories has to go somewhere, I suppose, so I’ve been doing such things as A) going to bed even earlier (didn’t think it was possible, but hey!) B) forcing my boyfriend to have really long discussions about such comfortable topics such as religion (lucky Lance!), and C) going to the gym a lot. Yes, I realize you’ve been gone for like, 2 days, but believe me that all of those things have happened in 48 hours. If I can keep it up, maybe my life/relationship/waistline will be better, once I recover from my loss.

Maybe.

Probably not, but maybe.

But despite all of my bullshit, I hope that your move brings you joy and prosperity, I really do. Please move somewhere awesome so A) you will have a subsequently awesome life B) I can visit you all the time for vacations or C) I can force you to hire me at your library and move in with you against your will.

I really just wanted to tell you, though, how much fun I had these past few years, and that I am deeply worried I will never find another friend quite as awesome as you.

You will be a hard act to follow, so let’s just be friends forever, mkay?

Sincerely yours,

Your Roommate

P.S. Shout out to Faryle who, almost 3 years ago now, made this post possible. Forever grateful that you passed this lady off to me.

life maintenance
09 Jan 2012

2012: week one

January 1 – January 7

  • First week back from Michigan. Jumped right from vacation to working, but feel a little mentally unprepared for the upcoming semester. I feel about three steps behind never quite ready for what’s going to happen next week, tomorrow, later this afternoon. Stuff like “laundry” and “grocery shopping” and “cleaning up” seems incredibly challenging. Hopefully I will snap out of it.
  • A bit on edge. Catch myself clenching my jaw unconsciously. Headaches. A migraine on Thursday.
  • Watching: How I Met Your Mother, season 5
  • Reading:
  • Thinking about:
    • My resume
    • How to slice some $$$ from our grocery budget.
    • My sister and her sick gall bladder/subsequent surgery.
    • How much I will miss my roommate and how and when we will be reunited in the future.
    • Exciting upcoming mail deliveries.
  • Major accomplishments:
    • Beating Zelda Twilight Princess.
    • Going to the gym 3 days in a row.
book lists
06 Jan 2012

The Unread Library

Let me tell you a sad story about a girl who has too many books and not enough place to put them all.

I call it The Story of My Life.

Despite the large percentage of my books that currently live in my parent’s basement in Michigan, I have recently reached capacity for my 3 sizable Boston bookshelves. I didn’t even ask for any books for Christmas this year because I knew I wouldn’t have anywhere to put them, and I wouldn’t have any time to read them.

I told you! This is a SAD story, don’t you think?

A year and a half ago, my pal Jules over at Pancakes & French Fries challenged herself to finishing what she calls The Unread Library that takes up shelf space in her own home. I found this project intriguing, but I’m not sure I could ever make the commitment she has made – to not buy a single book before finishing off those abandoned titles. First of all, I have so many unread books, it would probably take me over a year to complete this task. Being that I only buy 3-4 books a year anyway, I would consider the exercise somewhat masochistic – why torture myself when my input is so low anyway?  I think a more effective tactic would be for me to freeze my library card in a hunk of ice until I finish them all… but watching Jules make steady progress on her stack of books is motivating, nonetheless. I’d like to at least document my own Unread Library here, so in July when I am packing up my life into cardboard boxes, I will at least be aware of what books I’ve decided to take with me onto my next life-destination.

Also: please pity my poor, can’t-stand-upright, sway-shelved bookshelf.

  1. Achatz, Grant & Nick Kokonas Life, On the Line
  2. Anderson, M.T. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, vol 2: The Kingdom on the Waves
  3. Atwood, Margaret Negotiating with the Dead
  4. Betancourt, Ingrid Even Silence Has An End
  5. Bowe, John Us: Americans Talk About Love
  6. Brown, Renni & Dave King Self-Editing for Fiction Writers
  7. Burnett, Frances Hodgson The Secret Garden
  8. The Chronicles of Harris Burdick
  9. Dahl, Roald Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
  10. DiCamillo The Magician’s Elephant
  11. Donnelly, Jennifer Revolution
  12. Eggers, Dave ed. The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2007
  13. Friedman, Thomas L. The World is Flat
  14. Gantos, Jack Dead End in Norvelt
  15. Goldberg, Natalie Writing Down the Bones
  16. Holloway, Kris Monique and the Mango Rains
  17. Jarzab, Anna All Unquiet Things
  18. Jewett, Sarah Orne A Country Doctor
  19. Johnson, Marilyn This Book is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians can save us all
  20. Karr, Mary The Liar’s Club
  21. Kipling, Rudyard The Jungle Books: Vol 1
  22. Kipling, Rudyard The Jungle Books: Vol 2
  23. Krauss, Nicole The History of Love
  24. Levithan, David The Lover’s Dictionary
  25. Meloy, Colin Wildwood
  26. Miller, Sarah The Other Girl
  27. Moriarty, Jaclyn The Spell Book of Listen Taylor
  28. O’Brien, Caragh Birthmarked
  29. Oliver, Lauren Delirium
  30. Pessl, Marisha Special Topics in Calamity Physics
  31. Phelan, Matt The Storm in the Barn
  32. Riggs, Ransom Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
  33. Robbins, Tom Still Life With Woodpecker
  34. Scofield, Sandra The Scene Book
  35. Setterfield, Diane The Thirteenth Tale
  36. Skloot, Rebecca The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
  37. Smiley, Jane 13 Ways of Looking at the Novel
  38. Suma, Nova Ren Imaginary Girls
  39. Tough, Paul Whatever It Takes
  40. Troost, J. Maarten The Sex Lives of Cannibals
  41. Turner, Nancy These Is My Words
  42. Twain, Mark Autobiography of Mark Twain, vol. 1
  43. Wallace, David Foster Brief Interviews With Hideous Men
  44. Wallace, David Foster Infinite Jest

P.S. I am fairly sure than when Jules posted her list, I laughed at it’s dainty nature. However, now that I have compiled this list fully, I see that we are exactly evenly matched. Although I am willing to place bets that my own Book to Square Foot of Real Estate ratio is much, much higher. I can’t escape them. They are everywhere.

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books
05 Jan 2012

perfect chemistry?

My reading year is off to a rocky start. Already.


I am really not a book hater. I can usually find something redeemable in any book. I get irritated in class when the Debbie Downers pipe up and point out the flaws in Every.Single.Book.We.Read.

But I just hated this book. It was full of product name drops, forced dialogue, stock characters, weird pseudo-racism, and teen movie plot cliches. Supposedly, it is a romance, but it was kind of an Edward+Bella romance, as in “We are meant to be, but we have no real character depth or personalities, so just please believe us when we fall madly, inexplicably in love and enjoy our lurid descriptions of each other’s perfect bodies.”

Maybe I just have higher standards for romance? This wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been accused of being “unromantic,” but that is an entirely different conversation…

This class is getting me nervous. I am going to be that Debbie Downer. I can feel it already.

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goals
04 Jan 2012

2012 resolutions

Start first-thing-in-the-morning writing

Look, guys. I used to feel really good about myself in terms of writing. I wasn’t the kind of writer who skipped meals or hobbies or sleep because of the pull-to-the-page, but I got it done. I was good at showing up, at sitting down.

I feel like if I ever want to write anything again, I need to recapture that. Thanks to my new-found coffee skills, last semester I did a good job of getting up early enough to be productive. This year, I will redirect my morning attentions to writing something. Writing anything. Even for just fifteen minutes.

Read 12 new YA releases this year

I hate feeling so behind the loop all the time, but it’s hard for me to keep up with new books when I’m beholden to the syllabus. This year, my syllabus consists of ALL!BRAND!NEW!BOOKS!, I might be able to get my hands on ARCs at my internship, and I will be out of school in May (gag), so this year I will try to read a new release every month. I will consider a book “new” if it was published in either 2012 or Fall/Winter 2011.

Immediately looking forward to…


Continue to pursue a mostly sugar & grain-free lifestyle

In 2011, I started experimenting with a Paleo-ish diet. I won’t bore you with the details of my eating habits – if that interests you, I post about it occasionally on my food blog – but in September I dove in all the way and was pleased with my results. Over three months, I lost about 10 pounds, enjoyed steadier energy levels across the day, less feeling-sick, less food cravings/moments of extreme starvation, and I think an improved mood.

Seriously on that last one. I fell of the wagon around the holidays and started indulging in all sorts of cookies and sweets and such, and at the same time started feeling really grumpy about life, the world, other people, my boyfriend, my family etc. I think I would be stupid not to assume a relationship between the two. It’s hard for me to stay motivated, positive, and productive when I’m in a bad mood, so this one was a big realization.

This year, I hope to continue to cultivate this sugar & grain & junk food free life. It’s really not half as bad as you are imagining, and I think 95% of people will seriously enjoy the benefits.


Run two 5Ks

In 2010, I taught myself how to run short distances regularly. In 2011, I increased my distances somewhat, but more importantly, I crossed the line from feeling like “I hate this I hate this I hate this I’m so glad it’s over” to “Hey, that wasn’t so bad! Look how far you ran! How far can you run tomorrow?”

However, I’m still running less than 3 miles. I’d like to be able to run a 5K by the end of the year, but I felt like that was a semi-lame goal since it would probably only take me a month or so of dedicated running to actually achieve that goal. So I’ll run two.

This goal probably makes me the most nervous. But I think I can do it. I will focus on increasing my distance (which, in the winter, may involve dedicating more time to visit the gym), and once I can run 3 miles without excessive walking-breaks, I will sign up for a race.

Writing that made me feel like puking. Why does this scare me so much!!??


Be ballsy.

Even without a New Year’s Resolution, this year I will have a lot going on, career-wise. I graduate in May. I have a fairly detailed Job Hunt Schedule that starts… oh… right now. I am not concerned about following through with my job-searching-goals. They will happen, no resolution needed.

But I am concerned with being bold. I want to make sure that I am not making decisions based on fear. I want to make sure I take any opportunities that come my way, even if they are goofy. I want to apply for jobs I don’t think I’m qualified for, in places I never thought I’d want to live. I don’t want to let my introverted nature keep me from networking opportunities. I don’t want to ignore an opportunity because I’m being deliberately short-sighted.

I want to keep “Be Ballsy” as a manifesto while I job-hunt this year, to remind me to look around, to consider my own career and personal trajectories instead of focusing on “the job,” and to aim high.


Work on a cleaning schedule

I realize that this might be a futile endeavor, what with the inevitable Moving & Packing and the accompanying Assessment Of All The Shit I Have Accumulated In My Life, but I would like to focus on shifting my cleaning strategy. Right now, I have more of a Clean When You Can’t Go A Second Longer thing going on. In 2011, I did make some subtle changes to my daily habits that keep things a little more under control (putting clothes in the hamper, unloading the dishwasher while I make breakfast, etc), but I’d like to set up a schedule to keep the rest of it under control.

 

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life maintenance
03 Jan 2012

hello, 2012

I decided that today was a good day to restart my life, so I went back to work.

Five days in Michigan, two days driving, and two major holidays can take a toll on a person. My early sleeping/early rising pattern is shot. No exercise + unlimited cookies has left my body feeling a bit abused. My laundry isn’t done, I haven’t completely unpacked, and I’m not sure what’s for dinner tonight.

But last night, I decided not to delay 2012 any further. It has arrived. I’m terrified/excited/in denial about a lot of what is in store for me this year.

  • I start an internship next week.
  • I turn 27 in March.
  • I finish graduate school in May.
  • I become unemployed in May.
  • I will job hunt.
  • I will, with any luck, find my first career-job.
  • I will move.
  • I will say goodbye to friends.
  • I will likely begin 2013 in an entirely different place than where I am right now.

I’m trying to stay upbeat. This is my life and I am doing a lot of fun things and meeting all sorts of great people and look forward to lots of cool opportunities. I have not always been able to say that. I am happy I can say that. Yes, I’m going to obsess and over-prepare and probably cry a lot in 2012, but there will be fun things, too. The things I’ve been waiting for for a long time.

So hello, 2012. Hello to you.