First Day of Classes Recap + Awesome New Business French Program

Just because.  My twin sister is across the Atlantic in France and phone calls are mad expensive.  And I need to share my day with someone, so blog world, it is you.

Yesterday began semester 1 of senior year at Buffalo State College.  It was an interesting day.  My friend got home the night before from a month away in Kenya (yes, Africa!  How cool is that??  She was doing an Anthropological field school).  So she didn't have a parking pass or anything yet, so we carpooled.  She was so jetlagged and exhausted from the 14 hour flight from Africa to JFK.  Poor thing!

I started my school day with a new class being offered at BSC, French for Business.  It is going to be AWESOME!!!!  I got to buy a Business French-English dictionary, which also has Canadian French terms in it!!  The school is trying to get a whole new French Business program started, and I'm kind of really jealous.  This is the first class of it, and in Spring 2012, they are hoping to start a new phase of it, semester-long internships (worth 12 to 15 credit hours!!) in French-speaking Canada!  And eventually they'd like to get internships going in French-speaking Africa!!  I will no longer be a student by then :(  But for anyone who's interested in something like this, I say apply to Buff State!  It's going to be so awesome!  The class itself teaches us all about the French/French Canadian business world.  We will be learning tons of new vocab, how to open a bank account in French speaking countries (which I already know, from my stay in France..), and how to write an acceptable resume and business letter in French-speaking countries.  This is so cool!!!!!!

I then had my German 201 class.  It's small, which is awesome.  It means more one on one with the teacher.  All my French classes at Buff. State have been small too, some with just 5 students, and it has helped SO much! 

Then was Introduction to the Old Testament.  I'm not the least bit religious.  I was raised Catholic, but never connected with the religion.  I feel closest to the "higher powers" when I'm out in nature, so I don't do the whole "church and religion thing", but I need to take a Humanities class to graduate.  And I know this teacher.  Plus, a lot of books I read have allusions to parts of the Bible, so this might help.  I am a firm believer in being a well-rounded person, which includes knowing all about different religions.  I think being educated on different religious beliefs makes a person less likely to hate others for whatever religion they practice..

Then I had the dreaded Folklore class.  I'm not looking forward to it.  The teacher is pretty much evil.  Everyone I know who's taken this class, my sister and a friend from French Club included, have hated it.  Not because of the work load.  The teacher is just all over the place and never properly describes assignments and papers.  And this is a writing intensive class (I need two to graduate, and this was the only one I could get into this semester..), so we'll be writing a lot.  I love writing though, and I can always ask my sister and friend for help if need be.

Today I have another French class, but I have no idea what it's about.  Grammar, perhaps??  I'll let you know after class I guess. 

I have tons of vocab to study (which is awesome,  because I haven't had to study vocab in about two years!), but I'm not taking any Lit. classes (which sort of sucks because I LOVE French lit. classes!!), so I've had lots of time to read.  Expect some reviews this week :)

Weekend Reads

Back when I first turned my "Life in France" blog into a book blog, I used to do a weekly feature I called Weekend Reads, where I basically talk about what I've read that week, what I'm planning on reading the next week, and what's been happening in my life in general.  I liked this feature a lot and have decided to get it going again :)

So this past week I read a lot, but I was also really busy getting ready for school to start back up and with work.  I am almost finished with The Jungle, which is SO depressing but really good.  I finished The Gendarme, a new book that will be out this coming Thursday.  It was fantastic and I highly recommend it.  I'll be posting a review on Thursday!  And I lost my copy of The Time Traveler's Wife!  How, you might ask?  Beats me!  The only thing I can think of is that I put the book down somewhere in the big mess that was made when my sister was packing for her semester abroad, and after she left and we were cleaning up, my mom or little sis put the book somewhere.  I need to find it asap though.  I hate getting halfway through a book and then losing it.  (because yes, this has happened before!) 

This week my mom and I rented The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo movie!  The Swedish one, with subtitles.  It of course didn't live up to the book, and they had to change some things, and (obviously) shorten the story a bit.  And I was *quite* disappointed by the lack of SAABs in the movie.  There's one part in particular in the book where a SAAB plays a pretty big part (in my SAAB-obsessed opinion, anyway), and they totally changed that part in the movie to include NO SAAB at all!  But I did spy a few on the road throughout the movie ;)

This week, classes start at Buffalo State College.  I'm excited but also sad, because I won't be able to read nearly as much.  I also won't be able to work as much, which is nice, but also sucky, because I do need the money.  I do plan on finishing a few books next week, though.  And my knitting challenge starts on Wednesday, yay!

So that's it for this week.  I discovered some really awesome new blogs on the Book Blogger Hop this week and added them to my Google Reader :)  Hope everyone has a really great week, and OMG first week of September!!

Book Blogger Hop

So I wanted to post this hop yesterday but Blogger was giving me issues and I could not for the life of me get anything typed and posted :(  So here it is today!

The Book Blogger Hop is a weekly hop hosted by Crazy-for-Books and is a way for bloggers to find other great blogs to read and make new friends in the blogging world.

This week's question:
Do you use a rating system for your reviews and if so, what is it and why?

My answer:
I do not use a rating system.  I find it really hard to categorize how much I liked a book by numbers.  Instead, I prefer to lay my opinion out.  I like to state exactly what I liked about a book and exactly what I didn't like about a book.  That way, no one is swayed by a book right away by seeing a number rating.  Plus, everyone has different opinions about different books, so I think it's good that readers can see exactly what I liked/didn't like because what I didn't like, they might like, and vice versa.  I just think it's easier for both me and the person reading my review.  I do add my recommendation at the end if I really loved the book though, and sometimes I try to tell readers what kind of people might like the book more than me, etc.

However, I do also love reading blogs that do use rating systems.  If I'm in a hurry but see that a blogger has reviewed a book I'm interested in, I will often just scroll down to their rating to see how they liked it. 

What are your thoughts on ratings?? 

I can't wait to hop on over to other blogs to catch up on both blogs that I'm alreading loving and following from the hop, and to find new blogs :)  I'll be doing that later today and tomorrow though because right now I'm on my way out for Buffalo's Elmwood Art Festival!

The Reading List Controversy

Yesterday morning I was sitting down with my morning cup of coffee when an article in The Buffalo News caught my eye.  It was titled "Reading List Limbo" and I was compelled to check it out.  The article (I've posted the link below), talks about school reading lists and the books kids have to read for English classes.  There is the question of whether children should be forced to keep reading the classics, like Catcher in the Rye, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, etc., or if teachers should start assigning newer books like the Hunger Games or Twilight.  A lot of people were torn on the issue and I just wanted to put in my 2 cents.

I think the classics are a staple in classrooms.  There are some especially that should continue to be taught because they're a part of our culture and it's important for kids to read them.  I personally loved reading The Great Gatsby and Cuckoo's Nest, along with a few others (including Dracula and Frankenstein, which I got to read in a Fright Fiction class in high school!).  There were some I didn't like so much, but I understood why we were reading them.

I also think it's important that English classes start reading newer classics.  A lot of kids don't like reading because they think all books are stuffy and old.  If teachers introduced newer books that give a good message or have affected society, such as Harry Potter or something (I would LOVE some Cornelia Funke, but I don't think many people here know about her..), I think kids would want to read for class more.  These books are more modern and they use modern language.

As for books like Twilight being added onto summer reading lists, I'm not too fond of that.  What are kids really going to get out of reading those books??  On the other hand, at least they are reading. 

What are your thoughts on this??  I could have written a lot more but don't have the time to organize all my thoughts this morning :)  Do you think we should stop teaching the classics and replace them with new books, or are you with me on the half and half idea??

Here is the link to the Buffalo News article:
http://www.buffalonews.com/incoming/article170168.ece

French Reads Wishlisting + Other Frenchness

As Fall draws near, I'm starting to get my wishlist of French books sorted out. When I was in France last year, I promised myself that to always stay up to date on my French and keep practicing the language, I'd set aside a budget each year so that as the year drew to a close, I'd be able to buy (and import of course) a nice stack of books by French authors (and in French!) to keep me busy and enthralled until the next year. The past 7 or 8 months, I've been reading French book blogs to get some ideas, as well as visiting sites like Fnac.com, and reading book reviews and synopses. I've got a large list, but I'd like to narrow it down to what will fit in my budget (plus shipping!). By the end of September or October I'd like to have my list complete so I can send in my order :) I'm pretty psyched about this and I'll be sharing some of my picks with you over the next few months as I narrow things down!

And keeping with the French theme of this post, classes at Buff State start on Monday!  Tomorrow, I have the pleasure of visiting the French department during Freshman orientation to speak with incoming language students about my "language experiences".  I am super psyched to do this!  I also need to run some school related errands while on campus, like get my parking permit and book deferment.  Then I get to give my best friend since 6th grade a tour of the campus (she's a transfer student and we'll finally be in the same school again for the first time since high school!!).  So tomorrow will be fun :)  Now to just make work go by quickly today!

A Knitting Challenge: 6 Socks in September!

Yes call me a little crazy. But I'm doing it! As some of you may know, as well as being an avid reader, I also spend a lot of time knitting. Socks are just about my most favorite thing to knit, and I found the other day on Ravelry.com (the ultimate knit/crochet community with loads of free patterns!) a challenge that I just had to sign up for. The 6 Socks in September Challenge! That's 3 pairs of socks, in one month. I am crazy to think I can do this. School starts the day before this challenge begins, and the first month of school is always the worst because you have to get used to your classes, and you never know how much homework your new professors are going to give. But I'm determined to give this a try. I need a new pair of socks for those cold and snowy Buffalo winters Goshdarnit! So I found a great pattern that uses nice thick warm yarn for that. I found two more patterns that will be perfect for gifting to my mom and little sis for Christmas. One has a neat zigzaggy design, the other has hearts. I'll be starting on September 1st, and (hopefully!) finishing on September 30th. I'll be posting weekly updates with photos of my progress on this blog! So wish me luck and let the knitting begin! If you are interested in signing up for the challenge, then head on over to http://www.ravelry.com/groups/six-sock-september !

Review: House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday

How can you not love a book that starts with this passage:
"Dypaloh.  There was a house made of dawn.  It was made of pollen and of rain, and the land was very old and everlasting.  There were many colors on the hills, and the plain was bright with different-colored clays and sands.  Red and blue and spotted horses grazed in the plain, and there was a dark wilderness on the mountains beyond.  The land was still and strong.  It was beautiful all around."

or a book filled with this much imagery:
"The valley was gray with rain, and snow lay out upon the dunes.  It was dawn.  The first light had been deep and vague in the mist, and then the sun flashed and a great yellow glare fell under the cloud."

It took me a few days to get this review written because I just loved this book SO MUCH!!  I highly recommend it.

House Made of Dawn is a short novel written in 1968 by Native American author N. Scott Momaday.  I've been interested in his work since taking a Native American Literature class last semester, where we read one of his short stories.  This novel is a winner of the Pulitzer Prize and changed the way the world views Native American Literature.  It was pretty much the book that got Native American Lit noticed by "everyone else".  It is the story of Abel, a young man living on a reservation during World War II.  He goes off and fights in the war, and when he comes back, he feels like an outsider, both on the res and off.  Abel then starts acting very recklessly and ends up sinking himself into a deep hole.  This is a wonderful story about a young man who is trying to fit in with 2 different societies and struggling in both.

N. Scott Momaday is an extremely talented author.  I found myself underlining and taking notes in so many passages of this book!  I love the way Momaday was able to describe the isolation that Abel was feeling throughout this book.  It was such a common thing for Native Americans to feel at the time the book was written, and even still today.  Now that a lot of younger people are leaving reservation life and moving to cities, they are struggling with an identity crisis.  When you've experienced life off of the reservation, it's easy to understand why many people would feel a bit strange coming back, yet when they grew up surrounded by people of their own cultures, moving to a big city and off of a reservation can also feel strange. 

Page 21 has a great quote that deals Abel's struggle with identity after returning to the res after the war: "And suddenly he had the sense of being all alone, as if he were already miles and months away, gone long ago from the town and the valley and the hills, from everything he knew and had always known."

As does page 53: "He had tried in the days that followed to speak to his grandfather, but he could not say the things he wanted; he had tried to pray, to sing, to enter into the old rhythm of the tongue, but he was no longer attuned to it."

Momaday himself knew what this identity struggle was like because he grew up both on and off of reservations.  His mother's family was mixed European and Native American blood and both of his parents were teachers who were always moving to different states and reservations for their jobs. 

As I stated above somewhere, this book comes highly recommended from me, and I really can't put into words just how beautiful and well-written it really is.  Read it for yourself and fall in love like I did with Native American Lit.

And here is one more awesome passage (because there were sooooo many great ones and I need to share at least a few with you!):
Pg. 63: "The specter of rain in August is a distillation of light upon the land, a harder efflorescence upon the rocks and a sterile, uncommon shine upon the river and the leaves.  An element of darkness, however vague and tentative on the midsummer sky, implies a thin and colorless luster upon the sand and the cliffs and the dusty boughs of cedar and pine, and there is a quality like vain resistance in the air."

Isn't that just about the most beautiful description of rain you've ever read?!

I seriously cannot wait to read the next N. Scott Momaday book on my list, The Way to Rainy Mountain.

Title: House Made of Dawn
Author: N. Scott Momaday
Date of Publication: 1968
Number of Pages: 185
Genre: Fiction
Source: personal copy

Book Blogger Hop

The Book Blogger Hop is a weekly hop hosted by Crazy-for-Books and is a way for bloggers to find other great blogs to read and make new friends in the blogging world.

This week's question:
How many blogs do you follow?

My answer:
I currently have over 50 in my Google Reader and I'm always adding more.  I skim through all the blogs pretty much daily and stop and read whenever I think a book/post looks interesting.  There are a few blogs I read without fail every day, and others I just like to have around because they post pretty interesting reviews but I'm not always interested in each book. 

Thank you Jennifer at Crazy-For-Books for hosting this hop once again :)

What a crazy week it's been.  I know I'm always seem really surprised when my week is busy and filled with non-blogging things to do..and I really shouldn't be so surprised because these busy, busy weeks keep on happening!  I have a review I want to get up later today or tomorrow (which I wanted to post much earlier in the week..).  It's all written..I just have to type it up on my computer.  We'll see if today is the day.

Today I go with Boyfriend to the Erie County Fair!  Tomorrow is the last day of it and I haven't gone yet!  I've gone every single year since I can remember.  The food is just to die for.  Typical fatty, greasy, deep fried Buffalo food :)  And kettle corn.  I can't forget that kettle corn!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Review: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo + My Love of SAABs

I'm just gonna jump right onto the bandwagon here and say "OHMYGOSHYOUNEEDTOREADTHIS!!!!" It definitely lives up to all the hype.

This first book tells the story of Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist who is now in trouble with the law for libel, after publishing an article of "false" claims made against major corporation Wennerstrom. To save the magazine he's worked hard to create with friend Erika Berger, Blomkvist decides to take a break from journalism and move out to the country, where another big-business owner is paying him to find out what happened to a family member who's been missing for 40 years. Along the way, he is joined by the genius hacker and troubled young woman named Lisbeth Salander. Together, they must piece together the Vanger family mystery and hope that they don't get caught in the middle of something violent.

I adored this book and read it SO quickly! It's the kind of story that keeps you on the edge of your seat and prevents you from sleeping because you just. Cant. Put. It. Down. I loved how Blomkvist and Salander are trying to solve a mystery, and I found myself making my own guesses throughout their investigation. I also loved the mystery surrounding Salander and her past. Slowly in the next book, we start finding more info on her ;) The relationship between Salander and Blomkvist is also interesting. Salander is so antisocial, but there's something about her partner's personality that brings out her good side and gets her talking. I LOVE their chemistry.

There are some darker scenes in the book that were extremely well written, in my opinion. I'm sure a lot of authors would have shied away from these types of scenes because they are hard to read (and I'm sure even harder to write), but author Stieg Larsson didn't sugar-coat anything and told it how it was.

I LOVED the setting (of course the author was Swedish, so it only makes sense that this series takes place there)-it's a place I've never been to and never thought much of (except, of course, the fact that my beautiful little SAAB, whom I've named Henrik, is Swedish-and there are a few SAAB mentions in the book!!). And I, being a huge lover of travel and languages, have decided that someday I simply MUST visit Sweden and at least attempt to learn the language. And I'll probably be in bliss because of all the SAABs I'll see (assuming that they really are as popular in Sweden as I've been imagining all these years since falling in love with my own adorable Henrik).

One little cautionary note on this book for people thinking about reading it. The first chapter or so are kind of slow (or were for me anyway) because the book starts off with the background for the rest of the story (as it should, of course). Blomkvist is a financial journalist so there is a lot of technical information, along with a rundown of some financial things and economic things and whatnot. I obviously did not understand it, which is why I can't properly explain what it talked about. But I feel it was necessary because there were parts where I was like "Oh, this makes sense….I think….from what I read in the beginning.."

One thing of note that I loved and have to mention: Blomkvist is a big reader and is always reading/buying books/seeing what others are reading. It makes me happy!

So now that I've freaked my readers (and myself) out by my weird SAAB obsession, I would like to say on a more serious note that I truly wish Stieg Larsson was still here today to witness the HUGE success of his work, and to continue bringing us these fascinating and well-developed stories.

I'm in the middle of The Girl Who Played With Fire, and officially obsessed.

And now for good measure, some SAAB quotes from The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (you totally saw this coming, didn't you?!):
Pg. 215: "As she set her rucksack on the ground to put on the bike lock, a dark red Saab began reversing out. She had her back turned but heard the cracking sound from her rucksack. The driver didn't notice and thing and, unwitting, drove off up the exit ramp."

Pg. 452: "At 19:42 the Saab that belonged to Ostergarden drove towards Hedestad."
I heart SAABs and I hope you do too! And I really hope you pick up this book if you haven't already!

Title: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Author: Stieg Larsson
Date of Publication: 2009
Number of Pages: 600
Genre: Fiction
Source: personal copy

Read Your Own Books Read-A-Thon Wrap-Up Post

The Read Your Own Books Read-A-Thon created by The Bibliophilic Book Blog has come to an end, and I'm a bit embarrassed to report that I only got one book read, and am halfway through a second.  Of course I knew getting a ton of reading in this weekend would be hard because of all the family stuff I had this weekend (because of my twin sis leaving for France, which she did yesterday, and is now safely landed in beautiful Montpellier, in Southern France right by the Mediteranean [jealous!]). 

The other culprit was the fact that I decided I wanted to read Upton Sinclair's The Jungle for this read-a-thon.  I bought the book years ago (like....5 years ago....) and never picked it up because at first I didn't feel like reading something that "heavy" and then I just forgot about it. 

But let me say that I am so happy I did the read-a-thon!  I probably would have never ever picked up The Jungle for a few more years otherwise.  And I really love it.  Sure, it's depressing and long, but the writing is really good (and totally reminds me of Emile Zola.....certain parts especially are quite similar to L'Assommoir [wedding reception *cough cough*]).  I'm halfway through it and will with any luck be finished within a day or two. 

The other book I finished was N. Scott Momaday's House Made of Dawn, which I love more and more every time I reflect on it.  I definitely want to reread this one in the future because I could probably write a whole dissertation on it.  It is that good.  Review will be coming later in the week.

So what's in store for Kelly's France Blog this week?  I'm going to start The Gendarme soon and will post a review on it's release date (September 2nd!).  I really hope I like it.  It looks like it'll be fabulous.  I also have some other review books I want to get started.  In terms of posting, I'll soon have up my review of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (complete with gushes about my favorite car ever, the SAAB).  I'll also have a post this week featuring some new releases I'm looking foward to, and as I stated above, my review of House Made of Dawn will also be posted.

If you participated, how was the read-a-thon for you??  And if you didn't, any good books you plan on starting this week?

In My Mailbox (3) + Read-A-Thon Update

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme started by Kristi at The Story Siren and inspired by Alea from Pop Culture Junkie. Every Sunday bloggers post the books they've acquired over the past week: bought/borrowed/won. For more info please visit The Story Siren's IMM page.

I'm trying to save money and get through the books I own but haven't yet read, so this week brings me just one new book.

It is a review book that I won from LibraryThing.com:

The Gendarme by Mark T. Mustian, in stores September 2nd.  Review will be posted soon :)

The Bibliophilic Book Blog read-a-thon is going pretty good, but quite slowly.  I had to postpone my reading yesterday evening and this morning because my twin sis left for France this morning!!  And last night was dedicated to hanging out with her. 

 

I got through House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday and have been reading Upton Sinclair's The Jungle.  I was a bit scared of it before I picked it up,  but it's actually a really good read and I am hearting it.

 

Final update tomorrow :)

Book Blogger Hop + Read-A-Thon!

The Book Blogger Hop is a weekly hop hosted by Crazy-for-Books and is a way for bloggers to find other great blogs to read and make new friends in the blogging world.
This week's question:
How many books do you have on your "To Be Read Shelf"?

My answer:
This is a good question..I've got way too many to count them all, but in terms of short term reading, I've got 10.  Some are for challenges, some are for the read-a-thon I'm doing this weekend, and some are review books. 

Which now leads me to the other part of this post :) 


The Bibliophilic Book Blog is hosting a read-a-thon this weekend!  I posted about it earlier in the week and it officially started this morning at 9.  I'll be starting my reading very shortly and updating both on here and on Twitter (my name there is tomgirl571).  The books I have lined up to read are:
Flight by Sherman Alexie
House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday
The Singing (The Fourth Book of Pellinor) by Alison Croggon
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

If I get through all those I do have some other books I'll pick up.

Now let the reading begin :)

Author Spotlight: George Bishop

Today I felt like "putting the spotlight" on an author I came to truly love this past Spring when I read his debut novel, Letter to My Daughter.  (My review can be found here).  It was such a beautiful story and I was brought to tears quite a few times.  Author George Bishop has an impressive resume teaching overseas and has written quite a bit of short stories and essays.  And surprisingly, he does not have a daughter (and of course he did not attend an all girls Catholic high school).  How did he come to write a book that seems like a real letter from a mother to her teen daughter??  He explains that on his website.  There's also a lot of other neat stuff to check out. 

The site is: http://www.georgebishopjr.com/  Check it out!

Stealing Music: Don't Do It!

Yes, this is a rant. No, it is not about books. But it's about something else that is very near and dear to my heart: stealing/illegally downloading music. Especially from independent artists who depend on record sales to continue making the music we all love and adore.

Last night there was an epic Twitter argument brought about by one of my favorite musicians. He asked "why are people who illegally downloaded my album telling me they didn't pay for it?!" Some "fans" replied with really snotty remarks, pretty much along the lines of "well, you're rich and I'm not and only rich people can afford to buy music anymore." WTF? The reason this musician is so upset about illegal downloads of his new album is because he is, in fact, an independent artist. It took him 5 (FIVE!) years to get this solo album out, and he ended up leaving his major label and buying back his album, which cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars of his own money. Since then, he has invested all of his money, time, energy, blood, sweat, and tears into releasing this album as an independent artist. And now people are stealing it. It's basically like walking into a record store and stealing a CD from off of a shelf. The same thing people! Stealing is stealing.

What people don't realize or just don't think about is this: if you illegally download an indie artist's music (or god forbid put an indie artist's album up on the internet for people to freely download! [shame on you!]), you are taking away a profit that they really, really need! If these indie artists you love so much don't have money coming in from the albums they worked so hard to make for you, they will not have the means to keep creating music or releasing albums or touring! Doesn't anyone understand?!

Take a few minutes to think about it. Your favorite musician just sinking into obscurity because he/she can no longer afford to bring you the music that you rely on to get you through both the good and bad days. Not at all a pretty future, now is it??

I never illegally download music, not even bigger acts that always have radio airplay. With the music industry falling apart like it is, even bigger names may start needing album sales to keep doing what they love. But I do ask this: if you are going to illegally download/share music, PLEASE don't do it from independent artists! Even if this means checking out musicians' websites to see if they are indie or not, I beg you to do something so that we can keep listening to the music we love.

And don't tell me you can't afford it. If you want a CD bad enough, you'll find a way to get it legally. Get a job. Do some odd jobs for a neighbor. Or do what I did all through middle school and high school. Keep a list of all the CDs you want throughout the year and then give it to your parents/grandparents/friends/relatives when Christmas or your birthday comes around and have them get the CDs for you. Yeah, you'll have to wait. But life's not fair so suck it up. You'll feel prouder about yourself and love listening to the music more when you know it got to you in a legal manner and that you are really and truly supporting what you love.

Join me in the pledge to no longer steal music from the artists who need album sales to make a living. Start buying your favorite indie albums!

Review: Gouverneurs de la rosée by Jacques Roumain

Gouverneurs de la rosée (or Masters of the Dew in English) is a beautiful and haunting story about life in a small village in Haiti.  It is a story about Manuel and his family.  It's a story about his love for beautiful Annaïse.  And most of all, it's a story of his small town's struggle to survive through hard and desperate times.  Written in 1944 by Haitian-French writer Jacques Roumain, this novel brings the reader straight into poverty-stricken Haiti.  Here's a photo of Roumain:

I read this book a few years ago for a class I took at Buff State on Haitian-French literature.  I plan on reading it again soon.  If anyone else wants to read it too, maybe we could do a read-a-long.  The book can be found in English too (as Masters of the Dew).  It's easiest to find (in both French and English) through Amazon Canada.

This is one of those books that changed my life and changed the way I think about foreign literature.  It also opened my eyes to Haiti.  Before reading this book in class, we spent half a semester just learning about the history of Haiti!  We learned about the natives that used to live there, about the first colonists, the Haitian revolution and Toussant L'Ouverture, and what led to the poverty of Haiti found in this novel.  At first this book can seem a little bit frustrating because Roumain uses many Haitian words in the dialogue that are not in French dictionaries.  My teacher was awesome and gave us a list of some of the most common ones used, along with a list of the native plants that are often referred to throughout the story.

Religion plays a big role in this novel too, and there are some scenes of vodou ceremonies.  Because of this, my teacher gave us a week's lesson on the basics of Haitian vodou and how it's intertwined with Christianity.  If you don't know anything about this topic, the ceremonies and prayers in this book could be confusing.

I say all of this because if anyone decides they want to read the book, I'll willing to do the read-a-long to help peeps out.  Of if you want to brave it on your own, let me know if you want some of the resources my professor gave me.

I can promise that you won't regret reading Gouverneurs de la rosée (Masters of the Dew).  It is filled with so much beautiful imagery and there's symbolism in nature, in the colors Roumain uses to describe settings, everything.  There is also the beautiful connection and love between Manuel and his family.  This novel is a tearjerker and a masterpiece, and it deserves to be more well-known in the United States.

Title: Gouverneurs de la rosée
Author: Jacques Roumain
Date of Publication: 1944
Number of Pages: 245
Genre: Fiction
Source: personal copy

Read Your Own Books Read-A-Thon

 Monica at The Bibliophilic Book Blog is hosting a Read Your Own Books Read-A-Thon!  As the title of the read-a-thon states, you read only books you own/have bought (that means no review copies, gifts, loaners, etc!).  I've decided to participate in my first read-a-thon as a blogger (I've done my own little read-a-thons with my sister, just never through this blog).  The read-a-thon is set to start at 9am on Friday the 13th and end at 9am on Monday the 16th of August.  If you would like to sign up for the read-a-thon, please visit Monica's read-a-thon page at her blog.

I probably won't be reading the entire weekend, as that's the weekend my twin sister leaves for her 5 months abroad in France.  But I will DEFINITELY be reading all day and night after she leaves, as a way to distance myself from the reality of her departure!  I know I shouldn't be so sad over her leaving, as I left her last year to study in France....but it's different when you're the one staying at home! 

I've been going through my books, coming up with a list of books to keep with me for the read-a-thon.  Here's what I've decided on:

The Singing by Alison Croggon, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair (which I've had one my shelf for years but haven't picked up to read!), the two books I bought this past week: Flight by Sherman Alexie and House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday, and then if I feel like reading in French: Compère général Soleil by Jacques Stephen Alexie.

I'll be updating throughout the read-a-thon through Twitter (my name is tomgirl571 on there) and through this blog.

In My Mailbox (2)

 In My Mailbox is a weekly meme started by Kristi at The Story Siren and inspired by Alea from Pop Culture Junkie. Every Sunday bloggers post the books they've acquired over the past week: bought/borrowed/won. For more info please visit The Story Siren's IMM page.

3 new books came to my house this week!  Two of them I bought:

Flight by Sherman Alexie is for my Native American Lit. Challenge.  It looks pretty awesome and is about a teenage boy who runs away from his 20th foster family.

House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday is also for my Native American Lit. Challenge.  I've been wanting to read it for a long time now so I'm pretty excited!  Here is the description:
A young Native American, Abel has come home from a foreign war to find himself caught between two worlds. The first is the world of his father's, wedding him to the rhythm of the seasons, the harsh beauty of the land, and the ancient rites and traditions of his people. But the other world -- modern, industrial America -- pulls at Abel, demanding his loyalty, claiming his soul, goading him into a destructive, compulsive cycle of dissipation and disgust. And the young man, torn in two, descends into hell.

Book 3 is called Keep the Change and it's by Steve Dublanica.  It is a review copy I received from the publisher.  I'm looking foward to reading it because I always get extremely nervous about leaving tips when I pay for dates with the BF.I always feel like I tip too much or too little.  I hope this helps.

So I spent a bit too much money on the 2 books I bought (they were like $14 each!!), but I was getting frustrated because my library doesn't have either of them (seriously?!). 

Also have a little story about an audiobook I got out a while ago.  I returned it a few weeks ago and yesterday was going through CD cases.  I opened my radio in my bedroom and guess what was inside?!  One of the audiobook discs.  Doh!  I felt so stupid that I couldn't even return it myself to the library!  I made my little sister and her BF do it.  The librarian didn't even know it was missing because no one checked the audiobook case when I returned it!  Ha!  So: lesson learned.  Always make sure you double check that all discs are inside before returning audiobooks!

Review: The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett

What compells a man to steal rare books worth thousands of dollars, even after he's served jail time for that specific crime?  It's that question that author Allison Hoover Bartlett asks herself repeatedly throughout this book.

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much chronicles the years Bartlett spent researching rare book thefts and interviewing a man who stole many, many rare books from dealers across the country.  His name: John Gilkey.  Bartlett, a journalist whose writing has appeared in The Washington Post and The New York Times, first meets Gilkey when he is behind prison bars.  Over the next few years, they will continue to meet.  Gilkey will slowly tell Bartlett about his book thieving: how he chooses books, how he gets credit card information, how he goes about acquiring the books.  Bartlett grows to realize just how much Gilkey really loves rare books-but is it really because he loves to read them?  It seems as though Gilkey wants to collect because he wants to impress.

This book brings the reader along on a journey into Gilkey's world.  Bartlett is a great writer.  I thought she did a really fantastic job of painting us a portrait of John Gilkey, from his physical description, "At the time of our first meeting Gilkey was thirty-seven.  He is of average stature, about five-foot-nine.  His eyes are hazel-brown......The cadence of his quiet, calm voice reminded me of the children's television host Mr. Rogers" (pg. 44), to his personality, "Gilkey had hidden much of himself behind gilt.  Polite, curious, ambitious-or greedy, selfish, criminal" (pg. 252).  What I found the most interesting was what Bartlett often said of Gilkey's take on his crimes.  He never put the blame on himself (even though he stole the books).  Instead, he blamed the dealers of the rare books, saying they priced the books too high for him to afford, or how they often stole books.  Page 50 goes like this:

"Gilkey said that he didn't like to spend his 'own money' on books, and that it wasn't fair that he didn't have enough money to afford all the rare books he wanted.  For Gilkey, 'fairness' seemed to be a synonym for 'satisfaction'". 

Two thumbs up to Allison Hoover Bartlett!  This book was fabulous, and her honesty throughout (like when she realizes how much Gilkey's appearance had made her think of him as almost a friend, not a greedy book thief and self-centric person) added to her story.  I, like Bartlett, found myself almost pitying Gilkey at times.  Then I'd remember his greedy ways and think, "I have to pay for my books and the expensive dolls I collect, so you can get yourself a job and start saving too!"  This was a great, quick read and it comes highly recommended from me.

A favorite passage:
Pg. 253: "Hunting down treasures for a collection brings it own rewards, but, ultimately even more satisfying, building it is a way of creating a narrative."


Title: The Man Who Loved Books Too Much
Author: Allison Hoover Bartlett
Date of Publication: 2009
Number of Pages: 259
Genre: Nonfiction
Source: library copy

Mark Your Calendars! Cornelia Funke's New Release: Reckless

You know you're excited! 

With it's release just over a month away, I am super psyched to post about Cornelia Funke's latest novel, Reckless.  Those of you who know me well or have been reading my blog know that I am a HUGE Funke fan.  She wrote my 3 favorite books EVER: Inkheart, Inkspell, and Inkdeath (check them out!!).  She also wrote The Thief Lord (which I recently reviewed) and Dragon Rider, two other books that I adore.  I've been waiting for Reckless for over a year! 

Here is a little description of it from one of Cornelia's websites, http://www.get-reckless.com/:

"Beyond the mirror, the darkest fairy tales come alive. Jacob Reckless has enjoyed the Mirrorworld’s secrets and treasures for years. Not any more. His younger brother has followed him. Now dark magic will turn boy to beast - unless Jacob can find a way to save them."

Sounds insanely awesome, doesn't it?!  Not to mention, the main character's name is Jacob, which just so happens to be the name of my BF of 3 and half years <3. 

You can watch a little trailer of the book at the website listed above.  You can also visit http://www.corneliafunke.de/ for Cornelia's blog posts and Q&As! 

Reckless will be released worldwide on SEPTEMBER 14th!  Don't forget to snag your copy!

Book Blogger Hop

This is my very first Book Blogger Hop!  A lot of the blogs I follow do this and I think it's a really great idea. 

 The Book Blogger Hop is a weekly hop hosted by Crazy-for-Books and is a way for bloggers to find other great blogs to read and make new friends in the blogging world.

This week's question:

Do you listen to music when you read? If so, what are your favorite reading tunes?
I rarely listen to music when I read because I get too into the music and start singing along instead of reading!  Once in a while I will put on some nice piano music though.  It's hard for me to read if I have a lot of distractions.

Review: Markus Zusak's The Book Thief

Every so often, I'll stumble upon a book that changes my perspective, that leaves me thinking about the story, the characters, or the circumstances days after I've finished it. The Book Thief was one such book, which is probably why it took me so long to gather my thoughts and write this review!

The Book Thief is a very unique story. It is narrated by Death himself (who happened to have a great sense of humor), and it deals with the home front in Germany during WWII. I loved that aspect of it because I've read so many books that take place in the US and England during the war, but never in Nazi Germany. The story follows a young girl named Liesel Meminger from when she goes to live with her new foster parents in the late 1930s through most of the war. As I said before, Death is narrating, so he tells us how he first got to know about Liesel in the beginning.

"I saw the book thief three times." Says Death in the beginning of the story.

The story then leads us through each of Death's visits to Liesel (or the Book Thief, as we come to know her as).

This story is both insightful and heartbreaking. The fact that a German family takes in and hides a Jewish man was intriguing because the whole time you're like "Oh my gosh. I hope they don't get caught." This is a story about war, love, friendship, and family, and it is sure to win a spot in your heart. The writing was amazing too.

Here are some snippets of my favorite passages:

Pg. 13: "Here is a small fact: You are going to die. /I am in all truthfulness attempting to be cheerful about this whole topic, though most people find themselves hindered in believing me, no matter my protestations. Please, trust me. I most definitely can be cheerful."

How can you NOT love Death as narrator?! He may have been my favorite character, besides from Papa and Rudy of course.

Pg. 16: "White is without question a color, and personally, I don't think you want to argue./ A reassuring annoucement: Please, be calm, despite that previous threat. I am all bluster-I am not violent. I am not malicious. I am a result."

Pg. 80: "A halo surrounded the grim reaper nun, Sister Maria. (By the way-I like this human idea of the grim reaper. I like the scythe. It amuses me.)"

Pg. 259: "'The sky is blue today, Max, and there is a big long cloud, and it's stretched out, like a rope. At the end of it, the sun is like a yellow hole…'/Max, at that moment, knew that only a child could have given him a weather report like that."

I don't usually like to give star ratings, but this book definitely deserves a 5 out of 5. Go read it!


Title: The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Date of Publication: 2005
Number of Pages: 554
Source: Gift from Friend

Note: I am an Amazon Associate and will receive an eensy weensy tiny bit of money for each purchase you make at Amazon.com through the links on this site.

In My Mailbox (1)

I meant to post this yesterday, but with a 5 hour drive to see my favorite singer in concert, plus another 5 hour drive back home the same night, I obviously had a hard time finding time :)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme started by Kristi at The Story Siren and inspired by Alea from Pop Culture Junkie. Every Sunday bloggers post the books they've acquired over the past week: bought/borrowed/won. For more info please visit The Story Siren's IMM page.

This week, I received in the mall an ARC of John le Carré's new book Our Kind of Traitor. It is going to be published Oct 12th 2010. Here is the plot from Amazon.com:

"Perry and Gail are idealistic and very much in love when they splurge on a tennis vacation at a posh beach resort in Antigua. But the charm begins to pall when a big-time Russian money launderer enlists their help to defect. In exchange for amnesty, Dima is ready to rat out his vory (Russian criminal brotherhood) compatriots and expose corruption throughout the so-called legitimate financial and political worlds. Soon, the guileless couple find themselves pawns in a deadly endgame whose outcome will be determined by the victor of the British Secret Service's ruthless internecine battles."

It looks like it'll be a good read.  Although I put The Constant Gardener on the back burner for a while, I'm eager to give this author another shot.

From the library this week, I also got The World According to Garp, by John Irving. I've been hearing rave reviews about Irving's writing for ages now, so I decided to take the plunge and give him a try. My library didn't have either of the two I was looking for (Last Night in Twisted River and A Prayer for Owen Meany), so I decided on Garp.

I also checked out The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett, which I've been wanting to read since I first read about it last year sometime. It's also on one of my 2010 challenges. I'm excited to start reading it!