Brisingr

I finally read the 3rd book in the Inheritance Series by Christopher Paolini. Fantasy has to be my all time favorite genre, and I have enjoyed reading this series. I was too cheap to buy the hardback, and so I was waiting for it to come out in paperback. But my mom was returning it to my nephew Caleb, and I snagged it up before she had a chance. Originally there was only going to be 3 books in the series, but apparently the author had too much to say, so it became 4.

This book was a little like Harry Potter 5 for me, in that it seemed to be a bridge or segway between books. It was kind of anti-climatic. There was a lot explained in the book, but not a lot of action. It was definitely kind of slow in the middle, which is probably why it took me so long to finish. That being said, I really enjoyed it and look forward to the last one coming out. (I'm not going to hold my breath though, because I'm sure it'll be a while).

My favorite fantasy author of this kind is Terry Brooks. I think he's a lot less wordy and does just as good a job as painting a picture for you. Terry Brooks' books have druids and magic, elves and dwarves, just like Christopher Paolini, but I prefer them. If you like fantasy, try the Shannara series.

Now I'm on to another book. I think I might try the classic "Rebecca". We'll see!

The Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur

This book, written by Daoud Hari, was our book club book for this month. It's a really quick read and gives just a little insight into what is happening in Darfur, Sudan. We have heard things on the news and know that there is genocide occuring, but very few of us probably really knows what's going on. This is just one man's experience and what he has seen there.

I'm so glad my friend Keisha suggested this book. I think it's so important that we strive to understand current events that affect the entire world. With all the talk of government bailout and stimulus packages, lost jobs and homes, it's good to get a global perspective of things.

I met a man from Sudan at the Department of Education last summer as I was applying for my reading specialist endorsement. He was applying for a substitute certificate. He earned his bachelor's degree from ASU in political science and is going to school for his MBA. We struck up a really brief conversation and I knew we were going to read a book about Darfur in book club, so I asked him about it. His name is Deng Atem and he runs a non-profit organization to help the Sudanese (see www.s4sf.org). Anyway, I kept in touch with him and invited him to come to our book club discussion last Friday night. He agreed and it was so interesting!

If you know anything about Sudan, you have heard of the Lost Boys. Deng was one of these. His village in Southern Sudan was destroyed when he was 6 years old. He, along with many others, walked to Ethiopia to live in a refugee camp for a few years. Through a series of events, he lived in different refugee camps in different countries and even served in the military until he was 17 years old. He ended up in a camp in Kenya where the U.S. took some of these boys and brought them to America. Deng ended up in Phoenix. His stories were compelling, and although he had a different experience than Daoud, it still helped us see what life in that part of Africa is really like.

Needless to say, it really got me thinking about the blessings we all have. I know many people are losing their homes and their jobs and it's a scary time for our entire country. But we really don't understand what losing our home could be. For these people, entire villages are being burned down, women and children are raped and killed, 10 year olds are joining the army. Deng hasn't seen his family since he was 6. Even if we lose our homes or jobs, we still have our families, friends and people we can turn to. These people have no one. I really had a sense, after talking with Deng, that we still have so much to give! With our budgets tight and people living pay check to pay check, how many of us would be able to find extra money if we just cancelled cable or Netflix; went out to dinner one less time a month; or didn't get a pedicure that month. We live in a land of plenty and perhaps this downturn in the economy will help us see that we're all a bunch of spoiled brats. Maybe we need a piece of humble pie to help us acknowledge all the blessings we've been given.

Now I don't mean to undermine the serious nature of the economy. I know there are many people really struggling, so I don't want to sound insensitive. But 7.6% unemployment is nothing compared to the devestation other countries see for decades. I highly recommend reading this book, not only so you can see how blessed you are, but maybe you'll find a way to help out someone in need!

SELF-MADE MAN

WARNING: CONTROVERSIAL SUBJECT!

This is the book club book I chose for this year. I saw this book in the bargain section at Borders and it reminded me that I had seen the author on a TV show (like Oprah or something like that). It intrigued me, so I bought it. Normally I am not one for non-fiction, in fact, I very seldom read it by choice. But this book was a very interesting non-fiction read and I highly recommend it.

The reason it's controversial is because the author, Norah Vincent, is a lesbian. She disguises herself as a man for 18 months as a social experiment. She wanted to infiltrate the man's world as a man and see what it was like. She makes it very clear in the beginning that she is not a transvestite or a person who desires a sex change. She just wondered what it was like to be a man.

There were many lessons Norah learned through her experience as "Ned" (her alter-ego). So many that there's no way I'll try to expound here. Suffice it to say, I learned a lot about my husband just by reading this book. Norah explains at the end that she still doesn't know what it's really like to be a man because she isn't one. But there are definite ideas that our society and culture have about gender, gender roles and gender expectations. I find this subject especially intriguing after all the hoopla about Prop 102 and 8 recently. The book really doesn't have anything to do with being homosexual, but it does cause one to think about what gender really is. Is gender something you're born with? Is it something you learn because society makes it so?

Personally, I believe gender is something you are born with. (See the Family Proclamation). I have seen this with my niece and nephew (twins that are very much boy and girl individually). That being said, I do not think that gay people simply choose to be gay and are inherant sinners because of it. I don't know why people are gay and I'm not sure we'll ever know. There are probably a thousand different reasons. As Norah discovered, she is very happy being a woman, has no desire to be a man, but for whatever reason is attracted to other women and not men.

I encourage a read of this book, even if you don't agree with it, as a means of opening our eyes to other ideas, thoughts and experiences. She uses very crude language and does talk about what goes on in strip clubs, so if that will offend you, don't read it. I'm just about to go to book club now and can't wait to see what everyone else thought of the book!

The Last Lecture

I just finished reading The Last Lecture from Randy Pausch. If you haven't heard of this book I would wonder if you've been hibernating for the last 6 months. This book is written by a Computer Science professor from Carnegie Mellon who delivered his "last lecture" because he was dying of pancreatic cancer. (He has since passed away after giving the lecture and writing the book).

After hearing about the lecture, I went online and watched the entire thing. I'm sure if you google it, it wouldn't be hard to do. It's a really good lecture, but a lot of it is specific to his profession and industry (which it should be since that's who he was talking to). Anyway, the book describes parts of the lecture, but is more about what life's lessons Randy has learned. By the way, I love how he calls himself Randy Pausch instead of Dr. Randy Pausch. For some reason it just makes him that much more real and easy to relate to.

The book is very short and won't take long to read. I think it was really worthwhile. It just brought to focus the really important things in life and made me wonder what I would do with my time if I knew I had 6 months to live. He's very realistic about his prognosis, but also optimistic, which I just loved. Lately it seems I have really needed help focusing my attention on the things that really matter. This book helped me do just that.

I highly recommend it! And for those of you who have read it, what did you like the most?

One of my favorites was when he talked about painting on the walls of his room as a teenager. I think it is so cool that his mom didn't care and Randy was so proud of his work. It reminded me of my cousin Ben's room in Boston. My sister and I went and visited and stayed in his room and it was COVERED with black and white drawings, writings and miscellaneous things from he and his friends. I love the fact that his parents let him be creative and artistic on his own terms.

That's all I'm going to say because I'm trying to shorten my posts! Merry Christmas!

Keeping The Moon

This book is a young adult fiction by Sarah Dessen. It was our book club book for the month and I have to say I wasn't sure about it. I LOVE young adult books (ask Rusty, he's always bugging me to read more "adult" books), so it wasn't that that I was worried about. I'm just not one for realistic fiction.


Anyway, this story is a kind of coming of age story; growing into your own self kind of story. I think I probably would have really liked it when I was 16, but I'm passed that stage now and have no desire to go back. I was talking to my mom about it and saying "I just couldn't relate to Collie (main character). She was always worried about what people thought of her and I was never like that." My mom corrected me and reminded me that I did care what people thought of me when I was a teenager. I then corrected her and said, "Yeah, maybe, but I was never willing to change myself to fit their expectations". I've always kind of had this attitude of "take me as I am, if you don't like it, that's your problem, not mine." Not exactly conducive to adolescence. It definitely didn't work for flirting with the boys.


I remember once when I was about 14 going into my parent's room. I was depressed, feeling like no guys liked me. (Typical feeling for that age group, especially since all my friends seemed to have boyfriends). Anyway, my dad, of all people, asked me if I flirted with the guys. I didn't know what he really meant by that. He asked, "When they talk to you, do you act interested?" And my reply was, "Only if what they're saying is interesting!". He then said, "Well, that's your problem. You have to act interested, even when your not." That just seemed like the stupidest thing to me.


So yeah, I never had what it took to be a good flirt, or to impress other people. Luckily, I think I turned out ok. I found a guy that wasn't really interested in flirting either! I wouldn't really recommend this book unless you're a teenager feeling like no one understands you or you don't understand yourself.