writer's blog

Books for 2012

2012-01-02T18:24:00.000-08:00

*Updated 1/31. A bit less ambitious, but a bit less terrifying ;)

I've decided to make a list of all the books I want to read this year. I think this is the first time I've ever done this, surprisingly enough. I'm going to see if I can do 20. I bet I could do more, but I'd rather start low and do better ;)

So here it is, in no particular order:

-The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien (gotta reread it before the movie!)

-Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

-The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

-The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins (that counts for three!)

-Emma by Jane Austen (possibly the only Austen I haven't read)

-One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

-Moby Dick by Herman Melville

-Prodigal God by Tim Keller

-Middlemarch by George Eliot (I loved this book in college, and now can't remember anything about it)

-The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

-A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

-The Shack by William Young

-Dracula by Bram Stoker (it's been on my bookshelf for a couple of years now. Got it at a garage sale for fifty cents. Might as well...)

-Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne

-Travelling Mercies by Anne Lamott

-Atonement by Ian McEwan

-To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (because I've never read it and that's weird)

-My Name is Hope by John Mark Comer

Ambitious, right? I'll always be an English major in my heart.

Adventures in Reading: "The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexadre Dumas

2011-12-23T19:54:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the long break, ya'll, but I was reading a big ol' book.

The Count of Monte Cristo. Such a good movie!

But how many people do you know who have actually read the book?

(The abridged version doesn't count here, people.)

Well, I may now join their ranks! As you may recall, my former roommate and dear friend was concerned by the odd pattern my reading life had taken on in terms of suicidal characters, so I was instructed to read "The Count".

At first, I was genuinely a bit nervous. The last classic "tome" I had read was just...the pits. And this book was almost 500 pages longer! The thing is, "The Count of Monte Cristo" is so good!

I have really liked the Jim Caviezel movie version of this book since it came out. The movie does follow the book to some extent, but at one point while reading, I had to let go of any expectations that they were really the same story overall. I think of them as two different stories.

I loved reading this book. So much so, that I actually stopped reading it for a few days toward the end because I didn't want it to be over. It's well-written and engaging and kept me interested for several weeks.

Oh...and there was one suicide, which gave me a very odd sense of satisfaction. I won't gloat for too long though, friend ;)

Live!

2011-12-23T19:45:00.000-08:00

I will not die an unlived life.

I will not live in fear

of falling or catching fire.

I choose to inhabit my days,

to allow my living to open me,

to make me less afraid,

more accessible;

to loosen my heart

until it becomes a wing,

a torch, a promise.

I choose to risk my significance,

to live so that which came to me as seed

goes to the next as blossom,

and that which came to me as blossom,

goes on as fruit.

-- Dawn Markova

NaNoWriMo 2:Electric Boogaloo

2011-10-31T21:15:00.000-07:00

It's NaNoWriMo Eve!

Honestly, it's not even my goal to write a whole novel this year. I just want to spend more time on writing. So here's to some motivation without the pressure.

Adventures in Reading: "The Last Dickens" By Matthew Pearl

2011-10-28T19:22:00.000-07:00

I'm not actually going to say a whole lot about this book. It was a fairly light, intriguing historical fiction mystery, similar to the other Pearl book I read. It was entertaining, and I think it cost me less than $5 thanks to Borders going out of business.

If you like historical fiction, you'll probably like this!

Adventures in Reading: "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Robert Lewis Stevenson

2011-08-28T14:43:00.000-07:00

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

It's such a well known reference that I really don't even need to expand on what the story is about. And I think that's what fascinates me so much about it.

The story is short and simple, yet it has become a prominent and ubiquitous symbol of the good and evil resident in each of us. I realize that this is not the only story to discuss similar ideas, but it is one of the few that has stuck so soundly to the conscious of our culture that almost anyone would understand the reference if it were mentioned.

Isn't that amazing? 125 year after that story was published, we're still talking about it. It is engrained in our cultural dialogue.

On some level, I think this is what all writers are striving toward: creating something that is enduring and relevant. Finding a way to express something within us that is universal.

Oh...Hello there!

2011-08-28T14:29:00.000-07:00

Well hello, blog! Long time no...anything.

Seeing as this is the first post I've made in about four months, you would think I would have a LOT to say about all the reading and writing I've been up to. Well, you would be mistaken.

For several reasons, I haven't actually done much reading or writing during my blog absence. That seems really strange to me, but when I look back at the last few months, life has been FULL! I actually have been reading during this time, but it has all been rereading, so there isn't really much to say about it. As for writing...after I found out that I would not be going to grad school this fall, I just didn't feel much like working on anything. I have been feeling much more inspired to start again, though, so hopefully that will see some fruition in the near future.

I believe the pace of life has begun to slow down a bit again, and with that, my desire to read and write are picking back up.

So, since Borders is going out of business (boo!), I now have a lovely little stack of books to get through (yay!), which means that I should be updating this little online archive a bit more often. Hope to talk with you again, SOON, blog :)

Oh, and about "The Count of Monte Cristo"...my former roommate noticed the strange pattern that every book I had read since moving into my then-new house had something to do with suicide. He thought I needed a break from that, so he recommended his favorite book, which he promised was suicide-free. Unfortunately, the library needed it back before I could get very far into it. Luckily for me, though, I found an inexpensive copy and plan to pick that back up fairly soon.

Another tome...

2011-03-27T19:49:00.001-07:00

For reasons I will explain in a later post, my roommate got to pick the next book I would read after "Ethan Frome". So I am currently reading "The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas. Since the book is 1,462 pages long, I obviously won't be posting about it for a while.

Hopefully I'll come up with some things to write about in the interim. Otherwise, it's going to be a while...

Adventures in Reading: "Ethan Frome" by Edith Wharton

2011-03-27T19:23:00.001-07:00

I really loved "The Age of Innocence" by Edith Wharton. A reference to "Ethan Frome" by my high school English teacher is actually the first I ever heard of Wharton, and for some reason it stuck with me. When I was wandering around the library a week or so ago and came across "Ethan Frome" on the shelf, I knew it was finally time.

Wharton's writing is just perfect. "Ethan Frome" is very short, about one hundred pages, so it could be considered more of a long short story than a novel, I suppose. And in my opinion, those are much more difficult to write. A short story writer must craft a story that is engaging and compelling, while being concise and to-the-point at the same time. Anyway...

"Ethan Frome" is the story of the title character, and how he came to be the broken man he is at the beginning of the story. The bulk of the story is told through a flashback, and recounts the tragic romance between Frome and his wife's cousin Mattie. Wharton's description of the tension and anticipation between all of the characters and the dynamics the contribute to their circumstances is spot on, and makes the entire story move at a steady pace.

Since the story is so short, I don't want to say too much about it as to give anything away, but I would definitely recommend this one. It will only take a couple of hours to read, and it's well worth it.

Adventures in Reading: "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" By Junot Diaz

2011-03-22T16:31:00.000-07:00

I've tried to write this post three or four times now. I'm not sure why it's taking me so long. Anyway...

This book won the Pulitzer Prize in 2008. I mean, if that's not a recommendation, I don't know what is. I was also told by several people that I had to read it, and I think I actually boxed out a librarian in order to check it out. And it didn't disappoint. It's vivid and heartbreaking and funny and disturbing. Never boring.

The story of Oscar is told by an unnamed narrator who we eventually learn is a character in the story. The narration is deceptively casual, using slang (a lot of which is in spanish), footnotes and references to science fiction and fantasy literature. However, despite the informal feeling of the narration, the story is tight and rarely dull or dragging.

The book is broken up into several parts which focus on Oscar, his sister or his mother, and how their stories weave together. Their stories are heavily influenced by their Dominican heritage, and their family's belief that they live under a curse. Because of the skipping around between characters, there tend to be gaps in the story, though these are mostly filled in by the end. You have to focus on each individual story as it's told and trust that the narrator will give you the whole story by the end.

There is also quite a bit of Dominican history scattered throughout the story, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Overall, I would recommend this book. It's not always an easy read, both because of content and structure, but it's definitely worth the time and effort.

** I feel like this post is missing something, but I just can't put my finger on it. Maybe that's why it's taken me so long to actually write this post. I probably waited too long between finishing the book and sitting down to type this. If I come up with some sort of epiphany about what else I need to say about it, I'll come back and edit it.

A Prayer

2011-03-15T12:33:00.000-07:00

“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of my enemy. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”

- Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude

Adventures in Reading: "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath

2011-02-10T20:24:00.000-08:00

I wish books didn't make me feel so woozy.

This book was not always easy to get through. The writing is engaging and honest. The content is heavy. And toward the end there's a lot of blood, which caused some serious flashbacks and unwanted fainty feelings. Ugh.

However, I think the thing that I enjoy most about the book is its truth. Not only is the story itself fairly autobiographical, but the sense of suffocating in the open air, the internal disconnect, the fear of not being able to trust your own mind...these are things that real people struggle with every day. There were times when I was frustrated during this book, when I felt the hopelessness of Esther Greenwood and, like her, just wanted it to end. Whether this effect was intended by the author or not, I can't say. But looking back, I would say that the tension created by this feeling makes the novel even more believable and worthwhile in the end.

Despite her gradual breakdown, I love that Esther never sounds insane. As a narrator, she is trustworthy, and this is what allows the novel to function. I understand why this book is essentially a classic. It speaks to the place in all of us that is broken and unsure and searching.

And now, I'll leave you with my favorite passage:

"I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story.

From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and other fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out.

I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, staring to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinke and go black, and one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet."

Oh and also this part:

"I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart.

I am. I am. I am."

No time!

2011-01-28T15:40:00.000-08:00

I have three books sitting on my couch. I want to read all of them. I'm also right in the middle of moving. Well, let's be honest: I'm right at the end of moving, which means my life is in a state complete chaos for the next four days.

So, I will continue to read "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath as often as I have time (aka, probably not again until Tuesday), and I will wait as patiently as possible to get to my other books as soon as this is all over.

I hate ~~moving~~ packing.

Motto

2011-01-10T08:44:00.000-08:00

"If you want something you've never had, you have to do something you've never done."

That's my motto for 2011. My main areas of focus are really letting God control my life, and being financially independent. So far, I'm off to a good start.

Big step

2011-01-03T08:57:00.001-08:00

I just submitted (and paid for) my application to graduate school. All that's left to do is finish editing my writing sample and send that in. Oh, and cross my fingers that my transcripts and letters of recommendation get in on time.

Feeling excited, relieved, nervous....

I'll keep you posted!

Advent Conspiracy

2010-11-30T12:18:00.000-08:00

This is important!

**Update: This year, our church has raised over $21,000 for well building projects in Gondar, Ethopia. I believe that will be combined with money raised from a couple of other churches. So awesome! Plus, we got to see pictures of completed wells that we donated money toward over the last two years. Praise God.

Thought for the evening

2010-11-22T21:48:00.000-08:00

We are all in the same boat in a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty.

GK Chesterton

Galatians 5:22-25 (The Message)

2010-11-15T17:53:00.000-08:00

But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.

Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified.

Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original.

love. joy. peace. patience. kindness. goodness. faithfulness. gentleness. self-control.

A poem for a Tuesday night

2010-11-09T23:38:00.000-08:00

A Psalm of Life

What the heart of the young man said to the psalmist

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream! --
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act, -- act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o'erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.

-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Adventures in Reading: "The Age of Innocence" by Edith Wharton

2010-11-08T21:36:00.000-08:00

I received this book as a very thoughtful gift, and was excited to start reading it right away. And I was not disappointed!

Edith Wharton has crafted a story of love and longing that keeps the reader engaged on every page. The story never drags, the characters are well developed and believable, the tension is well-crafted and the end is satisfying. And on top of all that, it was a fairly quick read! Honestly, I think this is a great example of what a novel should be.

So, if you're looking for a good book, "The Age of Innocence" might be just the thing.

Oh, and PS: I wrote 2,034 words today. My most successful day so far! I'm still a bit behind pace, but if I can keep this momentum going this week, I might just be able to catch up!

NaNoWriMo Day 3

2010-11-04T13:32:00.000-07:00

...was my first "succesful" day!

If you aren't familiar with the whole NaNoWriMo deal, check out the website (which I believe I linked to in my last post). One of the features is a chart that tracks your progress. This is helpful because it tells me how many words I need to write per day to real the goal of 50,000 in 30 days(which is about 1,670, if you're wondering). Then, if you miss a day, or have an off day where you can only think of ten words to write, it lets you know how many you're going to need to crank out the next day to make up for it.

My first day was not good as far word count goes (about 500 words). I counted it as a success for myself, though, because a) I started, and b) I came up with an actual idea for a story that I felt I could work with. So...word count schmerd count.

Day 2 was better in terms of the number of words I managed to bang out. It was about half of what I "need" to write each day, but that felt better than the day before. And then yesterday...

I did it! I wrote about 1,700 words, and it felt great. I ended the day with over 3,000 words total, and as of right now (around 2pm on day 4) I'm just about to hit 4,000. Yay.

So, there's an update about that. My plan is NOT to do an update every day on my progress, but instead to post something every few days. I can only write so much in one day, people!

PS: "Conversation 16" by the National has turned out to be my song of choice for this project. It's got the right tone and the right allusions to dark fantastic characters.

NaNoWriMo

2010-10-30T15:35:00.000-07:00

Well, I did it. I have officially signed up for my first NaNoWriMo. Wish me luck!

Music as inspiration

2010-10-26T23:42:00.000-07:00

I want to write a novel written exclusively while listening to The National. Matt Berninger's voice really just sets a tone in my mind that feels translatable. I may even have the beginnings of something in mind. I guess I'll just have to keep listening to see where it takes me. That is all...for now.

Here's a taste:

Checking in

2010-10-04T16:11:00.000-07:00

Blog, I haven't forgotten about you. I just don't have much to blog about at the moment.

For my loyal readers (all two of you), I also have a tumblr blog: reachingforit.tumblr.com. It's more or a less a scrapbook of things I find interesting or inspiring.

Adventures in Reading: "The Girl with Glass Feet" by Ali Shaw

2010-09-02T16:38:00.000-07:00

What attracted me to this book was its pseudo-Magical Realism with a European twist.

Oh boy.

This book was...not good. The premise was good. The ideas were good. But the book really read like a first draft. I mean, I now literally use some of the sentences from this book as examples of bad writing. It felt basic and underdeveloped.

And it was totally inspiring because if this can get published and end up on the best-seller list, then I KNOW I can do it.

So sorry, Ali Shaw, for the backhanded compliment. I truly truly hope to someday be where you are right now. Only better.