‘Life as We Knew It’, by Susan Beth Pfeffer
I don’t know about you, but I’m not a particular fan of “Ann Frank” like books. Books where it’s not only written in 1st person perspective, but where it’s letters, our journals. I have to admit, it doesn’t really draw me in like it would if it were written in another way.
This book is one of those books. It’s written from the point of view of a 16 year old girl, writing in her journal over the course a year of natural disasters that result from a meteor hitting the moon. The tides change devastating the coasts of the world, inactive volcanoes erupt and the air is filled with ash. The United states is devastated, but the journal is a record of Miranda’s family and what they go through as they fight to survive.
Mostly these books just make me think of how unprepared we are for disasters like that. What would we do if we had no electricity for a year, no heating or natural gas to heat the water. No fuel for our cars. No food in the stores.
The pioneers and those that went before us brought us to the point that we are at today, but we could not live like they the way we are set up. Or at least, we would have a very hard time doing it. That’s what the book points out. How utterly unprepared we are and how devastated we would be if something similar were to ever happen. We like to think of ourselves as pretty tough. But we are vulnerable in our dependence on everything but ourselves.
It gives you something to think about.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Book Review: The Underland Chronicles
The Underland Chronicles
Sound odd? I know, I know, I thought so too. Book 1, Gregor the Overlander was one that I didn’t think I would love, but a couple chapters in, I was hooked.
I found the Underland books through a book you may have heard of. The Hunger Games?
I thought so. Of course, the waiting list for ‘The Hunger Games’ was a bit long, but I thought, I wonder if Suzanne Collins has written anything else? And she had! Wonder why these books have been so under the rug? Because they came out at the height of the Harry Potter Mania. But if you like books with that feel of a world that can exist just around the corner and just out of your perception. These books are it.
Gregor is an 11 year old boy who lives in the lower economic apartments of New York City. He lives with his mom, his grandma who’s suffering with Dementia and arthritis, his 7 year old sister Lizzie and his 2 year old sister Boots. Gregor’s life changed about 2 and half years earlier when his dad disappeared one night and he waits every day for his dad to come home. His life changes again when he chases Boots through a vent in the community laundry room and ends up in a world miles below the earth’s service.
The Underland is home to a pale skinned, violet eyed people who have lived down there for several generations. But humans are not the only life in the Underland. Their world is filled with gigantic cockroaches, rats, mice and bats. Their world is also filled with devastating war that drives the different creatures of the Underland to extreme measures. One of those measures if believing in the prophecies of their founding father, Bartholomew of Sandwhich made and wrote on the walls of his room. A series of those prophecies are about an Overland Warrior and ‘the Princess’. Immediately, Boots
is designated the ‘Princess’ by the gigantic cockroaches and Gregor is shoved into the role of the Warrior, with whom the fate of all the Underland rests.
The series includes five books and four prophecies that totally grabbed my attention and made me want to learn echolocation! (ask my roommate, she thinks I’m crazy. But I’m taking up archery after “The Hunger Games” so why not other life important skills?)
The books are geared toward a little bit younger age than “The Hunger Games” but still involve some hefty issues like warfare (including biological) and holocaust like themes woven through the lives of the different creatures. I’m 25 and I loved them, they were a quick and easy read and could even be enjoyed as a family.
Sound odd? I know, I know, I thought so too. Book 1, Gregor the Overlander was one that I didn’t think I would love, but a couple chapters in, I was hooked.
I found the Underland books through a book you may have heard of. The Hunger Games?
I thought so. Of course, the waiting list for ‘The Hunger Games’ was a bit long, but I thought, I wonder if Suzanne Collins has written anything else? And she had! Wonder why these books have been so under the rug? Because they came out at the height of the Harry Potter Mania. But if you like books with that feel of a world that can exist just around the corner and just out of your perception. These books are it.
Gregor is an 11 year old boy who lives in the lower economic apartments of New York City. He lives with his mom, his grandma who’s suffering with Dementia and arthritis, his 7 year old sister Lizzie and his 2 year old sister Boots. Gregor’s life changed about 2 and half years earlier when his dad disappeared one night and he waits every day for his dad to come home. His life changes again when he chases Boots through a vent in the community laundry room and ends up in a world miles below the earth’s service.
The Underland is home to a pale skinned, violet eyed people who have lived down there for several generations. But humans are not the only life in the Underland. Their world is filled with gigantic cockroaches, rats, mice and bats. Their world is also filled with devastating war that drives the different creatures of the Underland to extreme measures. One of those measures if believing in the prophecies of their founding father, Bartholomew of Sandwhich made and wrote on the walls of his room. A series of those prophecies are about an Overland Warrior and ‘the Princess’. Immediately, Boots
is designated the ‘Princess’ by the gigantic cockroaches and Gregor is shoved into the role of the Warrior, with whom the fate of all the Underland rests.
The series includes five books and four prophecies that totally grabbed my attention and made me want to learn echolocation! (ask my roommate, she thinks I’m crazy. But I’m taking up archery after “The Hunger Games” so why not other life important skills?)
The books are geared toward a little bit younger age than “The Hunger Games” but still involve some hefty issues like warfare (including biological) and holocaust like themes woven through the lives of the different creatures. I’m 25 and I loved them, they were a quick and easy read and could even be enjoyed as a family.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Book Reviews
Do you love to read?
Well, I do.
I love to read good books. Not just books that catch you and grab your attention, but good clean books that you feel safe having your little 12 and 13 year old nieces and nephews read too. Cause they will read anything I suggest to them, or anything they see me read, and do I really want them reading some of the stuff out there?
Also, I have a lot of time to read. I make the time because I love it that much. One thing I found is that I’m not big on listening to music endlessly, so I use my ipod more for books. At first it was checking books on CD out from the library, loading them onto itunes and then onto my ipod, but I found a much easier way. I just use the Digital Media Library and it’s awesome! You should ask your library if they have access to it, all you need is a library card!
There are several thousand books available and you download them onto your computer and from there to your ipod. The books are available on your hard drive for a designated check-out period (7,14,21 days) and then removed from your hard drive. It’s an awesome way to read!
So, I will try to put some periodic reviews of books that I’ve liked and maybe someone will gain something from it!
Well, I do.
I love to read good books. Not just books that catch you and grab your attention, but good clean books that you feel safe having your little 12 and 13 year old nieces and nephews read too. Cause they will read anything I suggest to them, or anything they see me read, and do I really want them reading some of the stuff out there?
Also, I have a lot of time to read. I make the time because I love it that much. One thing I found is that I’m not big on listening to music endlessly, so I use my ipod more for books. At first it was checking books on CD out from the library, loading them onto itunes and then onto my ipod, but I found a much easier way. I just use the Digital Media Library and it’s awesome! You should ask your library if they have access to it, all you need is a library card!
There are several thousand books available and you download them onto your computer and from there to your ipod. The books are available on your hard drive for a designated check-out period (7,14,21 days) and then removed from your hard drive. It’s an awesome way to read!
So, I will try to put some periodic reviews of books that I’ve liked and maybe someone will gain something from it!
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Quote of the Day:
I guess I've always loved quotes, well, maybe not always, but since I was about 14, which feels like always. I remember my parents had taken me and my nephew Jari and my niece Shalyn to one of those little Utah town my mom loves. It was the year of the bi-centinal I think and my mom had a Utah Passport book where you were supposed to get a stamp from each county you visited in Utah.
Anyway, while we were waiting for them to check into the hotel, we were of course scoping out the gift shop and there was a magnet that said, "Some come into our lives and leave quietly, others leave footprints in our hearts and we are never the same" It struck me because at the time, I was going though those Jr. High friendship challenges where you really learn that. There are the friends who come and go, and there are the friends that make a difference in your life forever.
Well, after that quote, I just started collecting them. From anywhere, anyone. Friends laugh at the quotes that I write down from movies and tv shows. Then they regret it when I've shown them the quotes I've written down from them. I'm quite well known for that! :)
Anyway, my quotes define me. Maybe there are a few people who get that, but I'd be willing to bet that there are alot of people that don't.
Recently I found one that said, "I wish that someone would read my favoite book, just to understand me." And since I send out a "Quote of the Day" to my friends and post it on facebook, I have hesitated at sending this one out. I want people to know that I'm not accusing anyone, but it's so profound at the same time. When was the last time you asked your friend what their favorite book was? Favorite song or tv show? You don't have to love it too, but think how it would make you feel if someone were to ask you what your favorite book was, go home and read it and come back and talk to you about it. I think it would mean a lot to you because it's something that simply is you.
So...this ended up being a really random post, but just thoughts on my mind.
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