magic!

NEXT!!! and prly my final review, for the summer ne how :-)

Live Life To Its Fullest.

THE LAST LECTURE

RANDY PAUSCH with JEFFERY ZASLOW

ISBN-13: 978-1401323257

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #99 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

#1 in	Books > Entertainment > Humor > Self-Help & Psychology
#1 in	Books > Entertainment > Humor > Computers & Internet
#2 in	Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Scientists

"live life to its fullest"

This Memoir novel by Randy Pausch with Jeffery Zaslow was one I was sure I would not enjoy; however, it was a quick read and was enlightening.

Also, yeah the title is cliche' BUT Randy Pausch was an advocate of chiche's and believe that students should utilize them (too bad he cannot tell that to my professors!)

Let me start off by saying that Randy had cancer and was already dying when he wrote this novel, he did not change his life whatsoever when he found out the “bad” news. With that said, (the fact that he was near death) makes people sympathetic and can give inspiration to many - on the flip side though, it is just a story of another man who has been lucky his whole life. Reading through his story I realized that he got everything he has always wanted, he talked about his childhood dreams and well, he somehow fulfilled them all. He was placed on the waiting list to brown, and got in, he was rejected from Carnegie Mellon and had connections to get his application reevaluated and then he was accepted; allowing him to become a professor that specialized in Virtual Reality. He worked at Disney and make other places once he received tenure and went on sabbaticals.

Many people can look up to him and hope for just the same luck, although most people aren’t so lucky. The novel is called the Last Lecture because he was asked to give a lecture which would, ironically, be his last major lecture. He did it to be remembered, so his kids can watch it back, so he can pretty much leave the world doing something he enjoyed, or in his words “an injured lion wants to know if he can still roar.” The video is actually on YouTube and I would like to watch it one day, but being over an hour long, I am not too sure (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo). All jealously aside though, Randy was a well accomplished man that had everything going for him, he was just sadly diagnosed with a terminal disease.

One major thing I would applaud him for is being so strong and not complaining about his death. Instead, his wife, Jai, and himself moved their family closer to hers so that Jai would have help. He had such a strong nature about himself, and to be able to say that about someone from just their writing is powerful.

There are many quotes throughout his Memoir that I took the liberty to write down and remember. If I could have the same mentality he did, I know I’d be a better person. There are many things that he lists that I would encourage readers to remember, take note, and to apply to their lives. For instance he talked about the quote, “We just have to decide how we’ll respond. We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we place the hand,” and that is pretty much how he lived his life. Other things that Pausch stressed were that people are more important than things, complaining does not work (especially if we applied ourselves to fix things rather then complain we’d save time [and of course, we may all know that but what do we do about it?]). Lastly, I would like to stress his quote, “Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted,” which kind of explains many summer jobs for students. It made me think of myself, and my volunteering internship this summer, yeah its not what I want to do in the future, but its experience and may help me land something one day. Karma. Maybe I will be lucky Like Mr. Pausch…

Despite his way with words, Randy was a professor at the University of Virginia, and what I would like to point out is that he received tenure a year earlier then most and that his school has an honor code which he appreciated and valued, something my school also values.

All in all, Randy Pausch was a lucky individual…however he had a Cancer. Ergo, I do not know how to take it all…it is a wake up call to live life to its fullest. Never give up. Chase after the one you Love. Death does not equate the end of our lives, just another step, we might not all have that mentality, but we have to be happy. That may be the theme of it all, be delighted. You're not living until your on cloud 9.

We love in the language we are most comfortable with

HOW THE GARCIA GIRLS LOST THEIR ACCENTS

JULIA ALVAREZ

1991,1992,2005

ISBN-13: 978-0452268067

• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (154 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,998 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Well, I finally finished this novel. And I'm quite upset by how long it took me! I could have read 2 books maybe even 3 in this time, ha-ha.

So, it took me so long because I couldn't get into it. I finally started liking the book about 100 pages in. But, by then 2 week have already gone by. (the fact that I started my internship in July contributed too I suppose.)

This, novel though, hasn’t been my favorite this summer, but it kept me intrigued. It confused me a whole lot though. The author Julia Alvarez wrote the book in reverse chronological order, but that was not what confused me. It just seems like every chapters was a different story. The whole book is based on 4 girls, Carla, Yolanda, Sandra, Sofia, and their parents, however sometimes it was hard to tell whose point of view we were reading from or who was speaking or which sister it was that did this or that. Then the next chapter would be about, the housemaid or something which didn’t make it quite the easy read.

With that said though, Julia Alvarez did tackle a lot of serious issues. Alvarez spoke of the girls’ struggles growing up in America. They grew up in the Dominican Republic until their parents left the rule of Trujillo for NYC. These young girls faced racism in school more then they would nowadays, at least that is what I would like to hope for; even though the mother decided to take them to Catholic school so they do not lose their religion, but that didn’t stop the boys.

I cannot really relate to the name calling and such seeing as I grew up in the U.S and went to a school with a majority of Hispanics (Grammar school anyway), but I can feel her pain not being accepted. It was very heart-warming. But, you see, events like this in the novel did not happen until the middle of the book already. The first half of the book was about the girls now that they’ve aged, married, divorced, had kids, and Yolanda’s visit back to the homeland (like I said a lot happened in 90 pages or so). What I can relate to though, is being one of the only minorities in a classroom. At my school I typically am the only minority, if (and that’s about a 50-60% IF) there is another the student is 99% not Hispanic, so I know how it is, to feel out of place or like maybe people won’t take you seriously. However, I’m grateful that people are more, a lot more, opened now a days then they were in the times that the book was written (60’s-80’s). Which brings me to another thing, one of the girls talked about how she made friends with people by going to lunch with them and that lunch turned into dinner; that is the story, or was as a freshmen in college, at school. So many times we go to dinner and stay there till we are kicked out, or go to brunch and leave hours later, it is the best place to catch up!

One of the girls faced perverted-ness, a man driving up to her naked asking her to get in, broken bones, tears, or a man who wanted to have sex with one of them in college, meet up five years later and he still wants to (pig), and all the stories later in the novel explained why each of the daughters were who they were in present time, which helps…but only makes sense towards the end. For instance, one of the daughters kind of ran away and in a way forced a man to marry her that lived in Europe; or another daughter having a divorce or two, and one of them was a really good writer, but then things stopped...why? The daughters had to witness hardships, back home they were a well-respected wealthy family, not so much in NYC, so one can imagine the changes they had to face. Their father was a Doctor back home but in the U.S was having a hard time obtaining his Doctor’s license, but the girls were eventually sent to prep school and college.

College. Now you know by the time they got here these Dominican Republicans were becoming Americanized. That is why while they were in prep school their mother took them back to their homeland every summer, for the full summer, so that they would never forget their accent, roots, etc. This was one of the main issue the book tackled, becoming Americanized. The girls were always told though, they would fall in love in the language that they feel most comfortable in, and this idea was reinforced a few times. For instance, the reason why one of the girls left her husband was because they no longer spoke the same language; it is a pretty deep concept if you ponder on it.

All in all, an OKAY book, I’d recommend it if you enjoyed the kinds of topics I wrote about. Basically, the parents were scared to lose their daughters to America, they feared the girls would marry an American, meaning and American baby, signifying the child would only know English. They did not want their daughters to think of their homeland as a place to go get a tan. Over time though, I do not think they lost the concept their parents wanted them to treasure. No matter how much we say we hate our parents, or even our culture, it is how we are raised and something never go away. I for one, even if I marry an American, will definitely teach my child Spanish, times do change though. While I never been to my “homeland” it’ll always be a great experience I am sure, it’s important to know where we came from, and not just learn about the stereotypical customs that Americans give Latin American Countries. The four girls kind of grew up back home they know more then what an American may assume, that cannot be forgotten. Memories, rather good or bad, from childhood can be remembered. Hey, their parents took them back every summer how could they forget. So they lost their accents, it happens. As long as they are happy, with themselves despite the hardships, that is all that matters.

An Iraqi's unique Mission & fulfilling his destiny.

THE LUCKY ONE

NICHOLAS SPARKS

2008

ISBN: 978-0446579933

Currently:

#5 in

Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( S ) > Sparks, Nicholas on amazon!!

Let me start of by saying I think this is the first true romance novel I’ve read and I didn’t think I would like it, but I did. I mean why spend an entire summer reading books that I know I’m going to like? So Nicholas Sparks will probably be getting a visit from me again soon – considering someone gave me a list of other books to read by him.

One of the most confusing things about this novel, but it was also one of my favorite parts too, is that towards the beginning it seems as if there are three different stories going on at once. It is not until the middle and end that everything comes together. For instance, at one point there are a few paragraphs with these two women, and then a break in the paragraphs and it would go to a police officer. Of course, all the “mini” stories come together at the end. Throughout the whole novel too there are certain details that are missing out of some of the characters’ stories, which get answered eventually. The best part is just when everything starts to come together, and from that moment on this becomes quite an action packed, love story!

So, I must say, I kind of like drama and this novel is filled with it. I’m going to try to sum up most of the events here...

Ah, which reminds me, one thing I didn’t like about this book. Sparks gives the characters their full names, like Logan Thibault, and calls him Logan for a few pages and sometimes Thibault; I know he rather be called Thibault but he does it with another character too.

..okay back on track. Thibault is an ex marine that served three tours in Iraq. One day he found this photograph, like a kind man he posted it up on a bulletin board for the owner to grab it. Ten days pass and no one has touched it, so he grabs it and puts it in his pocket. From this moment on, he becomes lucky. He wins back ALL the money he lost in cards and then some. Many times out in battle soldiers around him die, and he lives, why? In his course in Iraq he’s hit (I think it was) eleven bombs, and is still walking fine. His best friend Victor tells him that the photograph is good luck and one day he has to repay the women in the photo, of course Thibault is like “whatever,” yet he keeps the photo and lives, him and his friend Victor, who never left his side (he was superstitious like that). There is a missing detail here that we don’t find out until the end, I don’t want to say too much but let me say something bad happens and it makes Logan (yeah, you don’t like the switch of name either do you? Haha) want to find the women in the picture to somehow “pay her back.”

So one day Thibault is in his home state of Colorado when he decides his friend is right, he needs to find her (he finally believed that it was good luck). So he does some research with the information he does know, like the sign in the picture, a Davidson College shirt someone else is wearing, and he concludes that she’s in Hamptons, North Carolina and he walks all the way there, with his dog, Zeus. Then the other stories come in. He meets a cop spying on girls naked at this beach taking pictures, the cop is startled by the female kind of catching him and Thibault takes the camera. Of course they meet again. This cop turns out to be the ex-husband of the women in the photograph! He ends up finding the girl, Elizabeth, and notices that the family needs help in their Dog training place, and he applies and gets the job (he figures this is how he could pay back). All in all, the “honorable” cop isn’t that honorable now is he? Will he be able to keep Thibault away from Elizabeth?

The Cop, Clayton, is freaked when he realized that Thibault is around “his woman.” Clayton does try to drive him away, like he to all of her other ex boyfriends, but Thibault is smart. So he is working at the dog place, being friendly with the godmother and Elizabeth’s son. He doesn’t really plan any of this, taking the job was an impulse. Elizabeth doesn’t even really talk to him much at first, but of course they do eventually, I mean he is there almost all the time. He went to North Carolina, by way of his friends advice, he went to fulfil his bargin of luck, to find his destiny. Destiny. A major concept, I mean we all do crazy thing for love right? Creepy? I’ll let a quote explain things:

“In another place and time, he wouldn’t have thought twice about it. He was attracted to Elizabeth, certainty but nothing was normal about any of this. He carried her picture for more than five years. He’d searched the country for her. He’d come to Hampton and taken a job that kept him close to her. He’d befriended her grandmother, her son, and then her. Now they were minutes away from their first date.”

Was it possible to believe that anyone would latch on to something he believed would keep him safe? Do they fall in love? Does Clayton scare Thibault away? What about Elizabeth’s son? Does Thibault's Dog have anything to do with this...? Hint to the ending: it’s not one you’re going to want to miss. Of course it’s not quite a “and they fell in love and lived happily ever after,” I did say I liked drama didn’t I? :)

"Good Lucky You Studied"

THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET 25TH YEAR EDITION

SANDRA CISNEROS

VINTAGE BOOKS
1984, 2009

VINTAGE ISBN 978-0-679-73477-2

The House on Mango Street is a novel I’ve wanted to read for the longest time, mostly because it is set in my hometown, Chicago, and is about a Latina women growing up। The other day when I went to the library they had a good 15-20 copies so I was like whoa…I think it’s time, I no longer have an excuse! I'll admit...I did go a little overboard on this post, but this book was pretty touching and inspiring to me.

It was a real easy read, the chapters ranged from half a page to three pages long. Each chapter was like another glimpse into her life, it is as if Cisneros was telling many stories in one. At first I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it because it’s not like other books I’ve read, but I feel like I was taught a lesson; reading a book about a Latina growing up years ago in a neighborhood nearby, gives me hope, even more being that it’s the 21st century.

An interesting thing about this novel is that there is no dialogue. It’s all written from her point of view, telling us what her mother or sister said, so we are getting a firsthand look at what she was feeling at each moment – good or bad. However, I think it worked in this novel. I feel like her point wasn’t what happened, or the details, but the emotion and life experiences.

One thing she talked about was the fact that her parents moved a lot, and I can relate on that issue. I can remember living in about 8 different apartments, not houses. I know how she feels when she talks about her parents going to look at nicer houses and she didn’t like going, because she felt ashamed. She disliked staring at what she can’t have and couldn’t wait to have her own house, and well she has her own place today, and I’m glad it worked out for her. I hope to follow in her steps. Like her parents, I’m positive my parents want to own a home, but sometimes life doesn’t just work that way.

“Those who don’t know any better come into our neighborhood scared” (28). Cisneros tackles a lot of issues towards racism, but in a way I appreciate. Yeah, she states how some people drive into her neighborhood scared, may lock the doors, but when the tables are turned her or other people from her neighborhood do the same thing. I don’t know about other places, but in Chicago, every neighborhood is predominately one race, and it changes from time to time. I just wish more people can agree to get along, yeah we may get scared, but hey it’s a commonality, right? I know that doesn’t make anything better but, the families, say Hispanic families, who move into neighborhoods, say an African-American or white one, and realize they are the only Hispanics and try and move out – what is the point in that?

Another way she makes this book relatable to me is when she talks about winter in Chicago and how we have two types of snow, clean and dirty; that was so funny to me because it’s so true! Also, “back in the day” I remember my mom use to sell Avon to help out around the house; which is the same thing people she knows did. A thing that really got to me is the concept of overprotection. Hispanic families are pretty protective, but I didn’t realize how strict they were, and hopefully aren’t still. But there is a girl in the novel who’s dad didn’t really let her do anything, and one day he saw her with boys and had a fit, we are to assume she is abused and that idea is, sadly, clarified. Not only does the main character, Esperanza, witness abuse first hand from one of her friends, she witnesses a great deal of death. As a young lady she has to grow through many things I still can’t imagine, but that makes her the strong woman she is today.

Esperanza did not want to be like the other girls, and what for? Why stop having fun when it is something she likes to do to be happy. She always wrote at a young age, even shared her poems with a neighbor and told stories to her postman – so it is true, they start young. Some girls her age, would marry to “escape” (and we are talking before 8th grade here), like one of her friends did. Her friend, Sally, and her husband had to go to another state where it is legal to marry before the 8th grade, but was it really an escape? She couldn’t talk on the phone, or leave the house. It’s like another woman Esperanza knew, she would give Esperanza and her friends a dollar to even go to the store to buy her juice. Why want a life like that?

The introduction is one of my favorite parts about the whole book. It goes through how her father feels about her once she finally decides she wants her own places; his reaction was that the white people and college ruined her. But, ruin? Some immigrants who come to America just don’t assimilate, especially if they aren’t born here, so I think when there is a borderline between parents and kids like that, times can get difficult. The mother understands here her daughter is coming from, you see, her mom had a dream, to sing, and had to give that up, what mother wants her daughter to give up too? I feel for her mother. My mother had me at 18. Didn’t go to college. Began her life anew. Does she blame me? No. Did Esperanza’s mother blame her? No. Mothers like that just want their kids to be better; I know Sandra is probably now happy. I know I am now happy. I go to a great college and see every day that my mother is proud. My mother is also like Esperanza’s father, he always asks her when she is coming home, and I know my mom would love for me to come home after college, but the world is waiting for me.

In the introduction I feel like Cisneros pushes education and pushes not to be ashamed. Between her words I can feel she was ashamed of her life growing up in Chicago, but constantly found herself back here. But at the end, she shows her mother everything she has earned, and her mother is happy. Content. “Good lucky you studied,” she says. At the end of the day, life to her, and life to me, is making our family proud. Leaving Chicago was her dream, getting her own house was her dream, writing a novel was her dream, all things she accomplished. But she still finds herself coming back. Her heart is here. She may leave but will find herself back sometimes. And when you leave, when and if I leave Chicago, another important lesson, come back for those that were here for you.

Aya's BIG BIG story!

EXTRAS

SCOTT WESTERFELD

2007

SIMON PULSE PUBLISHING

The cover of this book is a little misleading. It states that this is “the thrilling fourth book in the UGLIES series,” but on his own blog (at http://scottwesterfeld.com/blog/) he clearly states that this is a separate novel from the previous three. This novel is a lot bigger…

This book is centered around a 15 year old Japanese girl named Aya Fuse. Westerfeld has this book taking place after the mind-meld, that is after Tally Youngblood, in the previous trilogy cured the world (see previous posts).

The city that Aya lives in is run a little differently than before. You see..It’s all about who you are and reputation. One of my favorite things about this book is the technology; everyone in this city has a hover cam (a flying camera) that follows them anywhere. Like any camera today, it records, because that is how people gain a reputation – stories. They are called kickers and people like Aya’s brother Hiro, kick really well storied that get people talking about him. The more then the city talks about you the better, because the city interface keeps track of everyone’s “place.” It is almost a popularity contest, you see at the beginning of the novel Aya is number 451,369 and dreams of being up higher, then she’d be famous. This craving to be on top has people on wits ends, they love to surge themselves (make themselves differently); for instance, you have people whose skin is pixilated and it is moving so fast they are practically invisible , people with monkey hands for legs..and even anime looking individuals (of course the ones I mentioned are important in the novel, so heads up!)

She finally has the lead on a BIG story and has to go undercover. This 15 year old goes through so much after she kicks the story she’s been working on, I mean it is a really big deal – her reputation goes up rapidly. I don’t want to give the story away, just know it’s huge. Let’s just say be the end of the novel she earns the right into a party that is reserved for individuals in the top 1000. Can you even guess who number 1 is? Tally of course! I love that she came back in this book to do what she knows best, cause or fix trouble, and kick some butt.
This novel is quite action packed I was kept satisfied. From the descriptions of the characters after Aya’s big story goes out and all the challenges they face, is quite…in their “language…” bubbly making! They go from city, to riding trains, to finding a “mine,” all leading to her BIG STORY that lands her and her friends (including Tally who comes to save Aya after the launch of her story) in a tropical jungle. Some other new friends kind of appear as well.

This book links an old story to a present one, bringing the old world to the new world and you notice that Tally doesn’t like what is becoming of the newly expanding world – then again it is her job to save humanity whenever it needs her.

The points of view and descriptions and things of that nature haven’t changed from the 1st three books either, so it’s a nice balance, with little adjusting necessary. I didn’t find anything that I did not like in this novel; the description of the technology and buildings makes me think how realistic this novel can really be. Maybe one day we’ll get to have moving buildings, and be lucky like Aya (since she gets a high reputation from her story) just walk into a mansion and claim it yours! I would LOVE to live in these times. BUT GREAT NEWS, if you are a fan you might not have to wait too long – a possible movie for UGLIES is in the works: D a company bought the rights to make it a movie, now they just have to decide if they want to or not!

So does the novel end in happiness? Does Westerfeld leave room for another novel? Come see for yourself in, my opinion, the most action packed of the previous bunch I’ve read from him.

they're created 2 prevent war, but they go to war..

SPECIALS

SCOTT WESTERFELD

SIMON PULSE PUBLISHING

2006

“One faces the future with one’s past” – Pearl S. Buck

Okay I’m sure I say this each time, but, this was my favorite book so far. It was jam-packed with so much action, I never wanted to put it down and it upset me I couldn’t finish this book as fast as the others (no time). This book is credited being the final volume in the UGLIES trilogy, however, the author must have felt something was missing because saga is the new trilogy, yes; there is another book after this one that I cannot wait to start on either.

The narrative is the same as the other books, mainly third person omniscient mainly from our old friend Tally’s perspective. Since we get to be in her head, there were moments in this novel that I didn’t like her. I thought this book would be about redemption right from the back, Tally saving the WORLD once again, while that may have been the case, Westerfeld kind of portrays her as a “bad” person, well she is a special so she can’t help it so it is justified, because Shay has to push her and order her and well let’s just say I like Shay again.

One of the most interesting strategies that Westerfeld emplaces in this novel are twists, but this time not involving Tally – making It more interesting. It was Tally in UGLIES who went to the smoke so that she could betray them and be pretty, but we wouldn’t have expected she’d actually like it out there n find her first boyfriend. It was Tally in PRETTIES who went back to her city to be a pretty so that the Smokies had someone to test out the cure on, Tally gave consent. In SPECIALS it wasn’t Tally who started the mass incoming of the cure for thousands of Pretties; she didn’t have to betray anyone; however she does feel like she could have done more for Zane.

There are a lot of times when Tally is talking to people, like Dr. Cable, and they say things that make you think again. It’s like at times Westerfeld wants you to consider why they have the operations and not to totally think that Dr. Cable is insane for making them – but she is – but a lot of it can be justified. Tally city does have a long history of dangerous practices, other cities have butted out to prevent war, but you know Tally had to do something…a war did start all because of two people – Shay and Tally, and what you might predict happens to them, doesn’t. That’s what makes this such an interesting read!

Another city does come into the picture, called Diego. This new city accepts the runaways, in an essence it is the New Smoke – they are helping the runaways from cities like Tally’s because what they do is inappropriate. Dr. Cable doesn’t like this one bit, so she waits for something bad to happen to blame it on Diego and tries to rule – and that has to come to a stop, does Tally live up to her new Special name? Does she get cured? What about the rest of the SPECIALS? Ah, I forgot to mention, Tally and her group of SPECIALS are called, Cutters, yea CUT, as in Knife, what happens? Does the love last between Tally and Zane, I mean…It’s the whole reason why she is going through with this, so Zane can be special and they can be happy again [although Zane does it so she can become normal and happy again].