Trainspotting

I guess the novel isn't so bad. It is an extreamly graphic novel, with lots of cursing. I don't think anyone under 18 should pick up this book. It is explicit content on drug use, but it is very true to life. Welsh didn't clean it up one bit, so I think that is kind of good to give us a glimpse into that sort of culture.

Sick!

You might have the flu too. I didn't know what to do for my flu symptoms so I looked it up on Webmd for some help.
I wish that I could be at home doing these home remedies and reading a book but it's the last week of classes so I'm at school, uncomfortable and all kinds of germy!

More

So these two characters are going to apply for jobs, but they don't want to get them because they want to keep recieving welfare. So they go on interviews to keep the welfare people happy and they botch them so that they won't have to work. This is an interesting tactic. So maybe even if we did require the people on welfare to look for jobs or go to school or do something they wouldn't they would just make it look like they were.

Trainspotting

Thus far this book has offended my sesitive senses and I'm not quite happy with it. It's confusing, it is several drug addicts lives or points of view and it is really weird. I am still plugging away and hoping to finish this by tomorrow. I'm not liking it though and honestly the swearing has really turned me off completly. I don't like cursing and I don't think some of these words should ever be used.

Sunset Song the end

So Chris has been through so much. She makes love to another man that isn't her husband. Her husband dies a trator in France. She's in love again and then he dies too and she is just learning a lot all at once.
I kind of found it sweet that Ewan died because he wanted to get back to her and appologize. All in all I really liked this book and I believe I will be looking at the rest of the trilogy soon.

I'm not too interested in politics. I believe that politicians are the worst kind a sales people in the world and they are only out to serve their own means, if they happen to help a few people along the way oh well. I do wish that this country would branch out a little more and wake up on some very important issues. Soon the Government will be the only ones who can afford gas and milk and cheese. Things that are good for the body just keep getting more expensive. If I could buy 12 oranges for the same price as 12 poptarts I would, but I can't, so do we wonder why we are all fat. I believe it's because we make everything too expensive and it's only available to those with a lot of money. So what politician is going to address these issues?

Sunset Song- the war is on

The Scottish are getting involved in the war. It's time for the World War, the war to end all wars. So the young men around Chris are off to war. Ewan doesn't sound interested at all in going off to war and Chea who is back already seems quite upset with the matter. Chea has changed but so has the land and the people in the town since he left. So it's a dificult deal for everyone, lets see if Ewan has to go to war.

Sunset Song IV

Chris gave birth to a healthy baby boy! She knew a little too well what to do for being a first time mom who had no female help. The nurse and doctor showed up and helped her along though and she did very well. They named the boy Ewan, not very creative but that's OK.

Sunset Song III

OMG! Chris is pregnant! Isn't that wonderful!?! I'm excited for her. So then the town finds out and the biggest busy-bodies have to start a rumor that she was pregnat when they married and she called the cops on him to make him marry her so that her baby wouldn't be a bastard! I'd be mad if I heard that rumor and Ewan was but Chris calmed him down. So now lets see how the birth goes!

Sunset Song II

This story is so very exciting! Chris is a strong girl and she's a great girl. She did love her father, it was a realization when she cleaned and polished her memory after he was dead. She could stay by herself and take care of herself. She could have gone with her Uncle and Aunt and stayed with them and let them marry her off so that she would never have to think for herself but she wants to live her life and be happy.
I'll let you know the ending next. She has met a nice boy and married him for all the worng reasons just like everyone else does.

My biggest weakness

Charmed is my favorite show and I love to watch it and it distracts me from all the work that I'm supposed to be doing! I just can't get enough of that show! It's so wonderful, women kicking but and still doing all the things in life that make us women!

Sunset Song

I've started a book that I'm really enjoying. I was quite confused because the introduction has a totally different voice from the rest of the novel. The story seems to be of one girls experiance living in this farm country in Scotland. It's so very good.

Dane Cook

Linky Love

We have here a library talking about Inspirational books.
Books we love to hate
I like a little culture in my day and I love a good read

These are the links I have chosen. I hope you read some and enjoy them as much as I did.

Sweetness & Light

So The blogger website keeps me typing these over and over again. This was already supposed to be posted.

Well Culture and Anarchy is a book for the argument of one side vs. another. There must be some kind of purpose. He want's us to understand in the first chapter how being good is so important, and that it's better to be good. People need good poeple to keep the world going.

OK well I'll be reading and rereading the book to understand it.

I'm Done!

I finished reading Kidnapped! It was just the exciting coming of age story that I promised. David and Alen make it back finally to David's Uncle's house and they trick him and get rid of him and now David has his father's inheritance again! Yay David! And Yay being done with this book. David has grown up he has friends and money and morals and what more could anyone ask for. So that is done with!
Now I'm begining Culture and Anarchy by Matthew Arnold... I'm not too excited but we shall see how it goes.

We Haven't heard about this in a while...

So I'm done with Heart of Mid-Lothian! It was a sappy end. The two girls marry their boys. They are happy and finally the bad boy dies fighting for a good cause and is wept over by dear Effie! How romantic. it is romantic, everything works out too well for it to seem quite real. In real life this would never happen and there is no happily ever! it just doesn't work that way but yay being done with that book. I'm starting to regret taking this class, I am not enjoying the readings... Oh well again life is nothing like the book that I just read.

My Head Hurts!

So the book Kidnapped looks small but it is taking forever to read! I don't think the title is well chosen at all. I believe it would better be titled The Adventures of David or something like that becuase he was Kidnapped for one chapter and now he's just been on the run.
So Alen and David have been running, it's really boring. He has met a new character who didn't like him. he was sick and recovered twice and now they are still running. I had to put it down though because my bunny was throwing a fit to come out and be petted so he came first over this silly book that is making my head hurt.
I do think it may be good for children though because they are just learning to read and understand and it's a slow book that talks about the same concepts over and over again so a child may enjoy it.

You Guessed it!

More about Kidnapped!
So David is on the run with Alen! They are suspect of murdering Red Fox and they have spoken with a friend of Alen's and now they are getting out of Scotland. They are in big trouble if they get caught and I just don't trust these friends of Alen's they seem like they are ready to betray them and not even care.
Well I'll keep reading, and you do the same to find out what happens next!

More about Kidnapped

So our poor little David who was last seen stranded on the island, has been helped. The poor thing spent about 4 days on an island that can be left during low tide, twice a day! How silly! A fisherman had to tell him that. I found that funny. Thus far he has met 2 very bad people who have fleeced him and then he met a nice minister who helped him out. Now he has seen the Red Fox, who is the enemy of Alen, get shot in the street while David was talking to him. Alen just happened to be in the bushes and saved David because the police thought David to be an accomplice! But now David thinks Alen shot the man but Alen convinces him otherwise and they are together at this point in the story.
David has a lot of growing up to do and I am pretty sure he'll be doing that soon. And this Alen character seems pretty shady to me so we'll have to see what happens.

Kidnapped the More

Now our poor lad who has been through all of the troubles before mentioned, as brave as he could be. David was part of a fight. The boat ran over another boat and saved one man, who had lots of gold and wished to go to France. The captain who is David's captor, has promised this man a ride to France for 60 dollars. But they are planning a double cross and David being a good lad and in his coming of age story, tells the rich man, Alen of his peril. So David and Alen stand off to the men on the ship from in the round house! It's quite impressive. But they killed the navigator and they have no maps so they are now in a bad way. Amidst this peril of the ship David is thrown over board and he is washed up on dry land! How lucky for him, at least I hope that this is good luck to him. He is in Scotland again and that must be better. I can't wait to see what next befalls our young man.

Kidnapped

Kidnapped by R. L. Stevenson is the book that I'm reading for my Scottish Literature class now. I got sick of Heart of Mid-Lothian and I'm not even done with it but I'll finish it some day.

Kidnapped so far is about a boy who is on his way to becoming a man. It really feels like a coming of age story anyway. I'm 1/4 of the way into the book and he has visited a very nasty uncle who sold him to the owner of a ship who is going to sell him into slavery in England. So this little scottish lad has lost his father, discoverd that his uncle is a murderer, then realized that his uncle is in posetion of his own inheritance and with the help a of a lawyer he'd be rich by the next day. But then he's put on a boat, or tricked on to this boat and now he is in company with a rough crowd but he's being treated OK. But the end of his journy is slavary.

So far it is very good and after I read the next 50 pages I will up date you on my progress.

SPRING BREAK!

Well I have not been reading anything at all, not the text books for school not my required readings, I have not been reading. So I'm truely looking forward to spending my spring break reading a book of poetry. I'm also going to read a novel for enjoyment! I'm not too sure which one yet, I'm really looking forward to having a little time to sit down and read something.
I do hope that all of my loyal readers are finding their days a little less stressful and that they are able to read.

I Have No Time!!!

I have not lately had any time to read anything that I'm even generally interested in! I'm not happy about it myself and I wish that I had more time to relax and enjoy and good book. What are some of the things that we can do to relax and have less stuff in the way that has to get done all the time.

1. Throw the TV out the window, or at least shut it off, maybe put a blanket over it.
2. Don't let the house cleaning keep you away for too many hours at a time.
3. Don't bother cooking real meals, eat something from a can or box.
4. Tell your significant other that they are on their own, you are not cleaning up after them, cooking for them, nothing!
5. Be sure that you are only getting between 6 and 8 hours of sleep each night, don't over sleep!

These 5 tips seem like that would help me to have more time to read an enjoyable book and relax. I don't know about you all but I'm going to apply them to my life immediatly!

The Heart of Mid-Lothian II

The book is begun by a riot which involves kidnapping a priest, breaking into a jail and hanging a man that has been pardoned by the King. Jeanie Deans is the main character. Her sister Effie has been put in jail for infantacide, she was in the jail that was liberated but instead of running away she stayed. When her trial starts she is a little unsure that this was a good choice, she knows she didn't kill her child, but she can't prove it.

One white lie from Jeanie Deans and this trial would be over and Effie would be free of all the charges. But she will not lie, not even to a currupt court for the sake of her sisters life. So Effie is convicted of infanticide, and she is sentenced to be hanged by the neck until dead in six weeks time.

Jeanie is going to go off to the Queen and beg her pardon. So she gets some advice from the ex theif who is now the turnkey for the jail that she should go to someone a little lower down then the Queen first and try to get their help and then go with them to the Queen. She is getting ready to set out on this quest at the place that I have read up to. I can't wait to know how things pan out for poor, beautiful young Effie Deans.

The Heart of Mid-Lothian

The Heart of Mid-Lothian by Sir Walter Scott is a wonderful Scottish Novel that I am reading in my Scottish Literature class at this time.

I find some of the novel primitive but as he is kind of starting the modern concept of an English novel all by himself I'll have to give him a break.

The story flows well, he seems to use the first chapter, which has nothing to do with the story, to slow the reader down to the pace that he intends to write at. I'm sure even back when Scott was writing there was a bit of a hubbub in England and in the cities. So Scott wants the reader to relax and start to enjoy his book. As he gets into the story he really tells it quick as a shot but there are so many things going on and the narrator is keeping them straight for you but the reader hasn't got all the pieces yet. So there is some sort of mystery to each character as their lives unfold in the story.

I'm enjoying the reading thus far and hopefully I will be finished with the book over the weekend and I'll let you know what I thought of it in it's entirety.

The Secret Garden

Ever since I was a kid The Secret Garden has been my favorite book. It is facinating that there is an ugly girl who no one even remembers. She is left in an empty house and totally forgotten. It kind of makes you want to mind your manners and make a few more friends.

Then she is taken in by an uncle she doesn't know and she does not meet him for some time. Then she is allowed to have a patch of land that was once dearly loved by someone but now has been forgotten, just like Mary Lennox, the main caracter.

The boy that slowly becomes her companion is sickly just as Mary once was. he can not get out of bed and he is a miserable boy.

But Mary, the garden and the boy all slowly come to life and learn to be beautiful and to love and be happy as children and gardens should be.

The Upset Comes Out Now

I read The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown a few years back. It was all the rage. Literally, rage! People were all up in arms about this book. I had never heard of Dan Brown. How everyone talked about the book I would have thought he was a Theologian or a detective. He's a fiction writer!

So big suprise! This book causing all this hubub is actually simply a fiction novel. It was a good novel and it was interesting. A real page turner.

I am sure that Dan Brown put a lot of time into the research for this novel. But it was definatly not telling us that the son of God has relatives living in the USA right now. People don't even seem to pay attention to what they know any more.

So I would recommend reading the book if you enjoy thrilling novels. It is not Gospel truth.

It was fun saucy and exciting to read just like all the critics said. It wasn't a religious experiance.

Top 5 Fave Books

Any Rand Atlas Shrugged

This is a timeless book, I loved reading! Though I'm sure i didn't understand all of it I am facinated with her view explained here.

Any Rand Anthem

This book really sparked my interest in the self. I was a high school student when I picked this novel up and I just couldn't imagine life like this. The narrator of the story doesn't seperate himself from everyone else. He does a job that he was told to do, not what he wants to do. I couldn't have lived like that with that kind of lack of freedom.

Anita Shreve The Pilot's Wife

This was a tremendous book of bravery and enlightenment. I fell in love with the whole story and how it came about that this was going on. This was my first book that I read of her's.

Anita Shreve Sea Glass

This book, with the big gloomy old house, really reminded me of me. I used to collect sea glass on the beach with my aunt. That is what drew me to read this novel. Once I had picked it up I just couldn't put it down again. It was entirely facinating and I was in love with it from the first moment.

Stephen King The Stand

This was a long but facinating book. I like his novels because they take place in the North East, where I'm from. Also they are all page turners, you won't be bored, and probably you won't be able to sleep. This novel is about the apocolypse and I find it facinating how King is able to write this but it's also beautiful and one of his best in my opinion.

Scottish Literature

I am currently enrolled in a class with which I am studying Scottish Literature. I really enjoyed some of the folk tales.

My favorite Folk Tale was Death in a Nut, I really enjoyed the humor in it and the lesson. Death is fought and stuffed inside a nut by this kid who doesn't want his mother to die, and now she can't because death is gone, but now nothing can die.

If nothing can die they can't eat, the whole town can't eat. So these people can be in pain and suffer, but they cannot die. So the boy learns that Death is an important part of life. Everything must eventually die and this boy must accept that Death is not something to fight with but to use it and be thankful for it.

The stroy was wonderful, it was a life lesson learned. It is my favorite story that we have discussed so far because it really shows how the Scottish lived. It has much to do with how they are precieved.

The Guardian

In rereading Nicholas Sparks The Guardian I found that I am more amazed at how he has written something outside of his genre so well. Nicholas Sparks is famous for his romance novels and yet this novel is a mystery.

It is a novel that gets your heart rate up and makes you want to flip to the next page. I couldn't seem to get enough of the story, I was up until 4am just reading. This novel is written with passion.

Yes there are a few mistakes, but how many of us are going to even try stepping out side of our commfort zones? Sparks has done something that most people won't consider doing and I feel that he should be praized more then criticized.

Top 3 All Time Favorite Books

Nicholas Sparks The Guardian

Barbara Kingsolver The Bean Tree

Nocholas Sparks A Bend in the Road

What I'm reading this week

This week I've been rereading one of my old favorites, Barbara Kingsolver's Pigs In Heaven. I am facinated by her poetic use of words and her nonfeminist views.

The beginning of the story links back to the previous novel that begins Taylor and Turtle's adventure and as they continue forward their lives become rocky again.

Taylor has never formally adopted Turtle, so when Turtle saves Lucky Buster, who fell down a hole at the Hoover Dam, she is a hero. She lands a spot on a talk show, doing an expose about child hero's this is where Annawake Fourkiller learns about Turtle and the possible illegal adoption.

The story is the connection of many lives. Taylor and Turtle are not the only one's affected in the situation of Turtle being taken from the reservation, Turtle has a grandfather and an aunt and many other distant family members who feel the loss of this child.

If the problem was simply about Turtle and Taylor then the issue would be a simple one, the reader would want Turtle to stay with Taylor, but as a good writer and as a woman of the world Kingsolver has added in all the other people affected by the decision.

Taylor does her best with Turtle but the novel does show the importance of Turtle knowing her past. She does not like milk and Annawake knows this before even meeting Turtle. It's a trait that Annawake knows about and Taylor doesn't know how to deal with this problem, and that is just one example of the problems of raising this Cherokee child away from her people.

But it seems to me that Kingsolver wants us to decide how we feel for ourselves.