Book 151: My Antonia by Willa Cather.

“Now I understood that the same road was to bring us together again. Whatever we had missed, we possessed together the precious, the incommunicable past.” 

My Antonia is a book that I have avoided since my first read as an incoming high school freshman. It was one of three books we were required to read before the year started (the other 2 were Ender's Game and The Count of Monte Cristo), and it was a novel that my entire class hated. I've actually written about that experience before, back when I read Cather's O Pioneers! as book 25. 

At the time, I think my read of her novel came at the wrong time. First, it followed two books that blew me away with action and plot. And if you've read My Antonia, you know it is a much quieter book.

I also think I fell victim to the pressure of my peers to hate the book. Because I while I remember being frustrated with the novel, I don't think it was until I was in class talking about the book that I hated it.

In all reality, My Antonia is a book I should have loved back then. I have always been fascinated by life on the prairie and the lives of those who went west with the expansion of the United States (as proven by my love for Laura Ingalls Wilder and the fact that my American Girl doll was Kirsten-the pioneer). I suppose I can chalk up my previous experience with Cather to being a stubborn teenager, and to the book finding me in the wrong time and place.

For this read, I was excited to begin. After loving O Pioneers! so dearly, I had high expectations for this, especially because I could barely remember it. I decided to dive in during The Classics Club Readathon, and I wasn't disappointed by the story.

Yes, My Antonia is a quieter story. At its heart, it is a perfect example of picaresque literature. There are small stories that connect together in small ways, but they all come back to the narrator's reflections of Antonia.

“But she still had that something which fires the imagination, could still stop one's breath for a moment by a look or gesture that somehow revealed the meaning in common things. She had only to stand in the orchard, to put her hand on a little crab tree and look up at the apples, to make you feel the goodness of planting and tending and harvesting at last. All the strong things of her heart came out in her body, that had been so tireless in serving generous emotions. It was no wonder that her sons stood tall and straight. She was a rich mine of life, like the founders of early races.”

The writing is absolutely divine. Cather paints a portrait of life on the American prairie and the challenges those individuals face. And while the read certainly gets to know Jim Burden, the narrator, we also get to know the community he grew up in and how Antonia fit into that world.

The beginning of the novel has some of my favorite descriptions. It is early on in the novel that Jim comes west to live with his grandparents, and the enormity of the landscape almost overwhelms him at times.

“There were no clouds, the sun was going down in a limpid, gold-washed sky. Just as the lower edge of the red disk rested on the high fields against the horizon, a great black figure suddenly appeared on the face of the sun. We sprang to our feet, straining our eyes toward it. In a moment we realized what it was. On some upland farm, a plough had been left standing in the field. The sun was sinking just behind it. Magnified across the distance by the horizontal light, it stood out against the sun, was exactly contained within the circle of the disk; the handles, the tongue, the share—black against the molten red. There it was, heroic in size, a picture writing on the sun.”

From Jim's appearance on the prairie, there is also the appearance of Antonia and her family-a strong-willed group of immigrants who struggle to survive amidst the hard conditions. Reading about their struggle brought back a lot of images related to the other "pioneer" novels I have read. And like the others, Cather touches on the violence of the conditions, but also the beauty of a land more devoted to nature than human influence.

“There was nothing but land; not a country at all, but the material out of which countries are made.” 

The novel also continues to grow with the characters. Jim and Antonia grow up and change-moving to town and discovering loves of their own. Their growth, as well as the growth of the prairie, are central to the entire novel. While they shape the land around them, it also shapes who they become.

In all, it is a beautiful novel, but quiet. It merely reflects on the life of the pioneers-those brave individuals and families who forged the western half of the United States. It does so eloquently and with a quiet strength.

And, it was most certainly wasted on my 14 year-old self. But, I am glad I took the opportunity to read it again as an adult, and to cherish it.

 “The earth was warm under me, and warm as I crumbled it through my fingers...I kept as still as I could. Nothing happened. I did not expect anything to happen. I was something that lay under the sun and felt it, like the pumpkins, and I did not want to be anything more. I was entirely happy. Perhaps we feel like that when we die and become a part of something entire, whether it is sun and air, or goodness and knowledge. At any rate, that is happiness; to be dissolved into something complete and great. When it comes to one, it comes as naturally as sleep.”

Book 110: A Lesson Before Dying and Book Stats.

Title: A Lesson Before Dying
Author: Ernest J. Gaines (1933-)

First Published: 1993

My Edition: Vintage Paperback (at left)

Pages: 255

Other Works Include: Of Love and Dust (1967), A Long Day in November (1971), A Gathering of Old Men (1983)

I had to read this novel in my eleventh grade English class. The other novel we read in that class was The Catcher in the Rye which I loved and everyone else in the class hated. Our roles reversed for this one.

And it wasn't that I really hated it, it was more that I felt the message of the novel was being shoved down my throat. Plus, we had to watch the movie. And the Oprah special. It was just too much for my eleventh grade self.

I suppose it is time to give it another chance, since it is on my list and all. This is another relatively recent title on the list (remember, my list was made based on AP reading lists, top 100 lists, and opinionated people). This was one of those "modern classics" I needed to revisit.

I am feeling a little "meh" about diving back in, but I am in a good reading mood, so I should fly right through it, right?

Book 95: On Rereading...

I first read this as a high school senior. I picked it at random from the AP list my English teacher had given out. I didn’t know what it was about going into it. I think, had I known then, I wouldn’t have chosen it. What I read shocked and scared me. The book was so real, so violent, and in my face. Looking back at it, I’m surprised I finished it. It was nothing like what I expected.

Now, I am reading this from a completely different perspective. I read this again in college for an African-American Literature class and gained a whole other point of view to read it from. I learned to appreciate the subtleties and language, the pain and the suffering.

I’m reading this from the same edition I read in high school. It is full of little comments and insights that make me laugh-not because they’re funny but because they’re pretty shallow. I missed so much depth and complexity in that first read, that I am learning a lot from myself as a reader.

The things that I have underlined or starred are nothing that impact the actual power of the story. I also have way too many things misspelled for my grammar loving heart. But I really love seeing my little "aha!" moments as I read, when I begin to piece things together and jot them down.

This is truly the joy and pleasure in rereading. I seem to be in a little spurt of rereads recently, and they have all shown me how much I have grown. Now I am seeing how Walker really uses language to draw her reader in from the beginning. She is clever and sharp, making me feel Celie's pain as if I was there with her. While I remembered the lingering feeling of pain from my previous rereads, I forgot the beginning.

What makes this such an emotional and powerful story is that Walker brings us directly in to Celie's world. Nothing is sugarcoated. From the beginning, we are hit with raw, ragged pain as we begin to understand what is happening to Celie:

"He never have a kine word to say to me. Just say You gotta do what your mammy wouldn't. ..when that hurt, I cry. He start to choke me, saying You better shut up and git used to it. But I don't never git used to it," (1-2).

See? From the beginning, we are pulled in to the pain that Celie suffers (I did leave a small but out in the middle of that quote). I forgot the beginning and the strong feelings it already invokes.

I wonder what else I will suddenly remember as I continue onward. Already I am jumping ahead in my thought process and remembering bits and pieces, names, people. I am already yearning for that scene that makes me so proud of Celie, but I know I'm not there yet. :) For now I will just continue to soak up and enjoy the mastery of Walker's words and the memories they bring back.


**I'm sorry if the formatting is wonky. I am pre-scheduling these and this was written in word and transferred over. It seems to have messed up a bit, at least from what I can see on my preview screen**

Book 68: Memories of Reading Emma.

I think there are two reactions to Austen's Emma. You either love the character of Emma Woodhouse, or you hate her. There doesn't seem to be a a middle ground for her character.

I have fond memories of the first time I read the novel back in high school. It was for my senior English class as one of my selections from the AP reading list. When I was a little younger, maybe 13 or 14, I went through an insanely giggly, boy-crazy stage. My friends and I were intent on finding the loves of our lives (oh boy...the embarrassment of writing this). We were obsessed with those silly little kinds of flirtations and the idea of love as something we had yet to discover for ourselves.

So when I picked up Emma as a senior in high school, it took me back to those moments. I had grown up from that giggly obnoxious kind of girlhood into someone who was in a "real" relationship for the first time ever (and that relationship turned into my marriage with Matt 7 and a half years later).

But the novel brought me back to what I had been and what I used to believe in. It made me laugh and giggle in the right spots. I enjoyed it and liked Emma, even though I had no desire of ever being like her again.

And this time, it is no different. While Emma does have its depth as you move further into the story, it is frivolous and fun on a surface level. It is hard not to love the cast of characters whose lives seem to controlled by love and relationships. Emma certainly plays the part of mastermind, believing she knows everything about everything that goes on around her. And so convinced that she knows best, she seems almost ruthless in her quest to have things just so.

The beginning of the novel starts off with Emma using her match-making skills in the aid of her friend, Harriet Smith. Harriet come from unknown parentage, but Emma is convinced that she must make a good match. So, she has Harriet turn down a perfectly good proposal from a man she likes in hopes of something more suitable. And of course, there is a man in mind who is simply perfect and miscommunications ensue.

From what I can recall, the novel continues from here, showing us how Emma continuously tries to fix those around her up, but misinterprets what is right in front of her face. I think this is where that dividing line between lovers and haters begin. Some see Emma as manipulative, silly, and selfish. I see her as silly, yes, but I also see her as someone who hasn't grown up in that way. She seems like a girl who secretly writes "Mrs. Emma *****" in her notebooks, but never tells anyone and hides them away so no one will ever find them. I see her as a girl who has yet to undergo that transformation of real love with another person.

I can remember being like that (a little. I swear I was never that bad). And this novel brings me back to that time and place.

So yes, this time I am still loving Emma. She reminds me of when love was simple, and when Matt could do no wrong. :) And she reminds me that at the core, romance can still be simple and fun.

I hope this feeling continues as I move forward, that I continue to see Emma Woodhouse as what, I think, Austen intended: young, naive, and inexperience. She appears to be a foil to the other Austen heroines in many way, but undeniably, she is still an Austen girl, silly or no.

Book 56: Structure.

Reading The Joy Luck Club for the second time is a completely different experience than the first time. When I read it back in high school, my teacher altered the way in which we read the novel.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the novel, it follows four mothers and their daughters (although one of the mothers is dead at the beginning). There are four sections, each with four short chapters. Each character gets two of their own chapters to tell an overall story in the book.

Back in high school, we read the novel by characters. We would read the mother's two stories, followed by her daughter's. And so on and so forth. It made some kind of linear sense as we read it and it was probably easier for our tenth grade minds to understand.

This time, I am reading the novel straight through. It is different enough that I feel I am pulling more from the novel, but the stories are familiar. I know that one of the chapters/stories, "Rules of the Game" is taught in schools and is found in many of those heavy "literature" textbooks kids get in high school (I know, I taught the story!).

In reading this again, I find that I am thinking a lot about the structure of the novel. It has 16 different parts that equal one big whole. I wonder if Tan tried to write it from one point of view instead of 7, and if she believed that the only true way to tell this story was in the way she did.

I am wondering all of this as a writer myself. I have restarted pieces because it didn't sound right from one perspective. My current WIP was restarted three times to get the sound right and the structure in place so my character's story could be told.

It makes for interesting thinking-the structure of the stories we love so much. If you think about one of the biggest novels from this summer, Mockingjay, it is easy to change how we would ahve viewed it. The novel would have had a different tone and feel had the point of view come from one of the Gamemakers, or from a citizen of the Capitol. Would we have seen Katniss as a friend or foe?

We can take one of Austen's novels, Pride and Prejudice, and think about the structure there. Why did Austen tell it in such a way?

I am beginning to think that sometimes a story can only be told in one way, and it is the author's job to find that right structure for their novel. Perhaps that is why some novels fail, even with good ideas.

I remember thinking back in high school that Tan's novel was a stupid way to tell a story. I had a hard time putting together the pieces of these women's lives and making sense of it. But now, I can see why Tan's structure is so important to the whole. Each piece fits together in a way that a linear novel couldn't accomplish. We get insights about the struggles of being a different race in a white dominated America from more than one person. And together, they paint a picture of racial differences and prejudices I wouldn't have gotten from any other novel.


Yet again, I am amazed at how much more I can pull out of a book on a reread. Every book has value and insight, given that we read it at the right time.

Book 56: The Joy Luck Club and Book Stats.

Title: The Joy Luck Club

Author: Amy Tan (1952-?)

First Published: 1989

My Edition: Ivy Books (seen at left)

Pages: 332

Other Works Include: The Kitchen God's Wife (1991), The Hundred Secret Senses (1995), The Bonesetter's Daughter (2001), Saving Fish from Drowning (2005)

This is actually a re-read for me. I read this novel as a tenth grader for school. My teacher allowed the class to pick and vote for what we would read during the year, and this novel edged out Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. I still have no idea why she let us do that, since we read a lot of things the other classes weren't...and we never read some of the big things we should have.

In any case, I really enjoyed this novel as a tenth grader. It was far more modern than a lot of the other things I had read in school. It can be argued that it maybe shouldn't be here, but it is hailed as a modern classic, so I am just going to accept that.

I haven't read any of Tan's other novels, although I have meant to. I think I have a copy of Saving Fish from Drowning somewhere, but I've never gotten around to it. In any case, I am looking forward to revisiting this novel and seeing what I can pull from it that my 15 year old self ignored.

Book 44: As I Lay Dying and Book Stats.

Title: As I Lay Dying
Author: William Faulkner (1897-1962)
First Published: 1930

My Edition: Vintage International Edition (seen at left)
Pages: 267

Other Works Include: Soldiers' Pay (1926), The Sound and the Fury (1929), Sanctuary (1931), Light in August (1932), Absalom, Absalom! (1936), The Unvanquished (1938), Go Down, Moses (1942), Intruder in the Dust (1948), The Town (1957)


I have read this novel previously. Like Ethan Frome before it, this book was assigned in my AP Literature class when I was a senior in high school. I immediately fell in love with the style (stream-of-consciousness) and I loved the depth of the story. I felt that it spoke to me about some universal themes about death and grieving. When my grandfather passed away shortly after my graduation that year, this book helped me get through the process of grieving for him in a way that was meaningful to me.

I have always said that this is one of my all-time favorite books. I cherish it as I cherish childhood friends and I am really looking forward to rereading it again.

I have read a great deal of Faulkner's other works. I am reading three other novels of his for this project: The Sound and the Fury, A Light in August, and Absalom, Absalom! Of the three, I haven't read the last, but I am looking forward to it.

Faulkner is known for changing things up, and welcoming the stream-of-consciousness style. He also likes to focus on the dark, and somewhat morbid, side of life in the South. But I love him for his honest writing and ability to really capture the way his characters feel. I wish more people read Faulkner so I could share the love openly, but it seems like he is one of those writers we tend to forget about.

Have you read any Faulkner and did you enjoy it?

Book 34: Mrs. Dalloway.

Reading anything by Virginia Woolf is an experience. I think she is probably one of the most difficult writers to understand and like for people who have never been exposed to her. She has a unique style that is almost off-putting the first time you read her writing. I think that throws many people off and they never return to her work.

I first read Virginia Woolf way back in high school. For fun, I decided to pick up a copy of The Waves since it was one of the favorite books of one of my English teachers. She raved about the language and the beauty of Woolf's writing (I feel I should also point out that this teacher also introduced me to Walt Whitman, who is my favorite poet, ever).

I ended up reading The Waves over the course of a few weeks. I found it difficult, confusing, frustrating, and beautiful. Even though I was probably only 15 or so when I read it, I knew that I was reading something truly powerful. I loved her narrative voice and the power of her story. I have reread The Waves numerous times since then and I have loved it every time. I think, no matter what, it will always remain my favorite piece of Woolf.

In college, none of my English classes required us to read any more of her longer work. I picked up a few here and there on my own to get some more exposure, but I always felt like I was missing something. I know that for many first-time Woolf readers, her works appear to be confusing and all over the place. I was just missing a piece of perspective.

In order to graduate, I had to take a class in the 480 level range. Since I had a lot of classes that conflicted, I was left taking a literary theory class my last semester in college. It was quite honestly the HARDEST class I have ever taken. We had this monster of a book filled with columns and columns of critiques. We read everything from Plato and Aristotle to Nietzsche and Emerson. I always left class with a throbbing headache.

Somewhere in the middle we read a few of Woolf's essays and everything clicked into perspective for me. Why she writes the way she does, the power of what she was trying to accomplish in her work. It was inspiring and is the reason I remain a huge fan of Virginia Woolf.

One of the things I also learned is that you learn to love her even more with each reading of her work. This will be my third reading of Mrs. Dalloway and I hope to take even more away this time about this marvelous author.

Book 30: Lord of the Flies.

I think most young adults in the United States were forced to read Lord of the Flies sometime in their school career. I feel for them, because I never had to. For some unknown reason, I never "had" to read this book and I never felt any real desire to pick it up on my own in high school either.

With that being said, I know the jist of the story fairly well. After all, since most American teens are forced to read this (Yes, I am using the word "force"), I was the minority all throughout college when the book was referenced, just like I was when Of Mice and Men was talked about (nope, never read that either). Thus, I felt like I had to at least acquaint myself with the book so I at least knew the story. I even went out and bought a copy.

Then I started reading. I got 30 pages in, determined it was stupid, threw it at the wall, and moved on with my life.

I still have my copy. One corner is bent pretty badly from hitting the wall.

While I do believe that we should be reading more of the classics in general, I hate that certain titles are thrown down the throats of American high schoolers. As an educator, I am a big proponent of choices in the classroom. When it came time for me to assign projects during my student teaching and when I taught history last year, I always offered options. I personally don't think it is right to assume that every student will like everything I do, so I try and vary assignments accordingly. I have always said that when I do have my own classroom and I am teaching English, I will most certainly offer choices. Taking into account that there is a specific canon I need to teach, I will do while offering my students choices about the books they are expected to read.

I am sure that most of us can remember a time when we were told to read a book that we absolutely hated. I can also go on a rant here about finding suitable books for age groups. For example, I read Great Expectations when I was 13 for school. Even though I was in the advanced English class, I had no idea what the book was about and hated that it was forced down my throat. I was too young to understand it.

Lord of the Flies is commonly taught at that same age, or a year older. Do you think it is really possible for every 13 and 14 year old to understand the significance of this book? Sure, I bet a handful will "Get it," but most won't. Especially since in most districts you don't learn about the fear of the Cold War and the threat of nuclear holocaust until a year or two after that. It doesn't make sense.

Anyway, I suppose I am trying to say that even though I haven't read this book from cover to cover yet, we already have a lot of history together. It should be interesting, and hopefully eye-opening to finally read it. Perhaps my opinions will change...

Book 25: O Willa....

Way back in the summer before ninth grade, I had a reading assignment to complete. Since I was attempting to be an over-achiever, I signed up for Honors English. That last few weeks of school in 8th grade were a bummer once we all found out we had to read three assigned books before the beginning of school.

Those books were The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, a choice between Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card or David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (I wisely chose Card's book unlike 4 of my classmates), and My Antonia by Willa Cather.

I decided to bring these three books with me on our annual summer vacation up to my grandparent's cottage. I have many great memories of reading up there in the summer while lying on the end of the dock, or sitting in the boat, and that summer is no exception.

Things start off well. I decided to read The Count of Monte Cristo first, since it seemed to be the heaviest of the three. I actually ended up loving the revenge and violence of the book and flew through it in 2 days. Then I decided to read Ender's Game. I had not read any science fiction at that point, but reading that book launched my love affair with the genre. By this point, I was ecstatic. If all Honors English was like this, I was going to be amazing. My teacher was going to love me and I knew I was going to rock in my class and show off my mad reading skills.

But I had one book left, and that book was My Antonia by Willa Cather. When we went to buy a copy, it definitely didn't seem intimidating. After all, it had a pink cover. I figured it was a girly romance and I could fly through it, no problem!

That is where it all went downhill. For some reason, I HATED Cather's novel. It was all I could do to force myself through it, page by page, moaning and groaning the entire way. I can vividly remember sitting in the back of the boat, book in hand, and trying not to chuck it in the water and be done with it. Somehow, I managed to finish it and I vowed that I would never read it ever again.

On the first day of ninth grade, however, the world's scariest English teacher, Mrs. P, gave us the lecture that scared us for the rest of the year (I was actually petrified of her until 12th grade when she subbed for us. Then I realized she was actually an awesome lady). She told us on that first day that the first month of school would be devoted to those three books and we were going to discuss every detail.

She also told us that she had no problem letting us struggle under water for as long as we needed to, and she was the kind of person to only dive in and get you if you actually drowned. It was a scary speech for a freshman.

We managed to discuss the other novels and there was a general consensus that everyone like the book choices. After all, they were pretty entertaining. But when it came time for My Antonia, no one said much of anything. In fact, the only thing I can really remember about the book is the "red grass" and that was all my classmates could remember. We discussed that red grass blowing in the wind so many times that I swore that if I ever saw red grass in my life I would scream (I haven't so I haven't had to embarrass myself yet).

It was pure luck that I was not assigned to the group that had to do a final project on My Antonia. We all felt bad for those poor kids (I got to do my project on Ender's Game).

So, you can understand why I have reservations about reading Willa Cather again. I mean, she ruined my summer and I don't even remember why! However, I am a believer in that a book has to come to you in the right moment for you to click with it (unless it is Dickens because I will never click with Dickens) and perhaps at 13 I just wasn't ready for Cather. I am willing to give her another chance and see if age has helped, especially since it has been 11 years since that experience.

Here is to second chances and red grass!

Book 16: Ethan Frome

Way back at the beginning of twelfth grade, my AP English teacher handed us all a book on the second day of school. The book was Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton. It was a cheap Dover Thrift edition with a hideous cover of wood grain. We all looked at it and thought to ourselves, "This looks HORRIBLY boring." She told us the books were our own and we could mark them up as we pleased while we read them. I think we all assumed that we had to mark them up, so we wrote things like "IMPORTANT" in the margins, or underlined passages because we thought we were supposed to.

A week or so later, we had our first paper due. We were all nervous, seeing as we were all overachievers who before this class received A's on all our papers. So when the big day came to get our papers, we were all perfectly quiet. This would tell us if we were actually smart and if we deserved the honor of being in this class. She told us that in her 3 sections of AP English, she only gave out 3 B's, every other paper was a C or lower. I think in that moment everyone had a small heart attack.

When I got my own paper back, I remember trying not to panic and trying to figure out how I was going to tell my mom I got a C on a paper. But I didn't need to worry. I was one of the 3 (out of 100 students) that got a B. I was ecstatic. It was a glorious moment.

What made it even more glorious was that I absolutely HATED Ethan Frome. I thought the novella was stupid. Even with all my scribbles in the margins I couldn't make sense of its simplicity. I hated it, and I hated that the back cover called it Wharton's masterpiece.

A few years later when I was in college, I was looking for a quick read one weekend. I had brought a few books up with me for such occasions, including my battered copy of Ethan Frome. I remembered that it was small and a quick read and that I hated it, but I couldn't remember why. So I read it again.

Turns out, I actually loved it. Something inside me clicked and I finally understood the passion of the seemingly simple story. Maybe it was because I gave it an honest chance, or perhaps because I was older and finally understood the meaning of the story. In any case, I loved it.

And I have read it nearly every year since. That one re-reading of a story I once thought I hated sparked a passion for Wharton's work. I love her writing style and the passion she puts into her characters, and I think she does a perfect job in the slim little Ethan Frome. Her skill as a writer shines through and this little novella encapsulates her views as an author. The messages in her books are all as beautifully contrived as in this, and she only gets better with each piece you read by her.

Part of me would love to tell Mrs. McWhirter that she helped inspire my great passion for reading great books. After all, she assigned that slim little novel. And when I finally gave it a real chance, it sparked a love in me of the books that I would have normally rejected.

I still have my Dover thrift edition of the book, and while I would love to get a nicer version, I still love this copy. Its a little beat up, the pages are written all over, the paper is practically see through, but I love the memories. And even though all the passages I marked and comments I made are completely superficial and gloss over the depth of this novella, I still love them and the images they bring back, like that beautiful B I got on that paper, and how reading experiences can change with age.

Thursday Treat #1: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

For the inaugural Thursday Treat I have chosen my all-time favorite book to talk about, Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card.

I think that the experience you have surrounding the reading of a book really adds to your own personal feelings towards that book. When I first read this, it was the summer after my 8th grade year and it was an assignment for the summer before my freshman Honors English class. I had never read any science fiction before and I instantly fell in love with Ender and his world.

I credit this book with helping me discover my love of science fiction. Without it, I don’t think I would be as obsessed as I am now.

So, for those of you who have never read it, let me paint a picture for you.

In Ender’s world, parents are only allowed to have two children. Each child is monitored by the government for a period of time to evaluate their intelligence. Peter and Valentine Wiggin, older siblings to Andrew Wiggin, weren’t at the right intelligence level the government wanted, so Ender’s parents were asked to have a Third, and ended up with Ender.

Ender is also evaluated and is determined to be a right fit for Battle School. At the age of five, he is taken from his family, placed on a shuttle, and sent to Battle School (which orbits Earth). There, Ender is trained for war against the nemesis of Earth—the Buggers, an alien race that had already attacked and retreated once before. The children train in a room where armies are pitted against each other and they much win to score points and honor for their army.

Alongside Ender, there are hundreds of children in Battle School also training for a war that is sometime in the future. Violence and manipulation run rampant in the school on part of the highly intelligent children and the staff who run it. It is a vicious and challenging place and all who are there wonder, when will the war begin?


I love this novel, even with its faults. The idea of training children for war is a powerful one and it grabs hold of you, right to the very last page. When we presented this in my ninth grade English class, we talked a lot about the saying, “The ends justify the means.” If it means we’ll win, why not train children for war?

While Ender’s Game is surely a standalone novel and can be read as such, there are two parallel series that branch off from it. One is called the Shadow series, and follows the other children Ender fought with as they return home after the war, It contains a lot of political talk that can really hook you and isn’t as heavy on the science fiction. It is also newer than the other series, with the last book, Shadow of the Giant, being published in 2004.

The second series, and my favorite of the two, begins with Speaker for the Dead which was published in 1986, one year after Ender’s Game. One of the coolest things about Ender’s Game and Speaker for the Dead is that they both won back to back Hugo and Nebula Awards. No other science fiction author has achieved that. This series only has two more books after Speaker, Xenocide and Children of the Mind. Children of the Mind is actually one of my favorites in the series and my senior quote in the yearbook comes from it (yes, I am a nerd). This series is a little heavier on the science fiction aspects and takes place a number of years after the events in Ender's Game, unlike the Shadow series which is immediately after. I also find this series to be a lot deeper and more powerful.

Another thing I love about this novel is the power of some of the lines even when you take them completely out of context. Card has a way of truly mastering language. Here are some of my favorites:

“Sometimes lies are more dependable than the truth,” (2).

“Carn Carby left, and Ender mentally added him to his private list of people who also qualified as human beings,” (184).

“Perhaps it's impossible to wear an identity without becoming what you pretend to be,” (231).

“I think it's impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them they way they love themselves,” (238).

“I am your enemy, the first one you've ever had who was smarter than you. There is no teacher but the enemy. No one but the enemy will tell you what the enemy is going to do. No one but the enemy will ever teach you how to destroy and conquer. Only the enemy tells you where he is strong. And the rules of the game are what you can do to him and what you can stop him from doing to you. I am your enemy from now on. From now on I am your teacher,” (262).

“I don't care if I pass your test, I don't care if I follow your rules. If you can cheat, so can I. I won't let you beat me unfairly-I'll beat you unfairly first,” (293).

“We have to go. I'm almost happy here,” (323).

I hope you add this to your reading list if you have never read. It truly is a powerful novel and one that really stays with you long after you have finished reading it. It has stayed with me through numerous re-reads and discussions and is still the number one book I recommend to everyone I meet, especially fans of science fiction.



If you want to learn more about Orson Scott Card and all of his novels (many others that are also amazing), please visit his official website: http://www.hatrack.com/

And Orson Scott Card has no idea who I am and I am sure he doesn’t care either, so this is not a shameless promotion.

Book 10: My Hatred of Charles Dickens.

I have a deep and abiding hatred for a Mr. Charles Dickens. My first exposure to him was somewhat positive, with his A Christmas Carol. To be perfectly honest, you are a scrooge if you don’t at least halfway enjoy that tale.

My second exposure was in ninth grade Honors English when we had to choose between reading David Copperfield and Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (now my favorite book). After reading the back covers of each book, and weighing them in my hand (a very scientific process), I decided on Card’s book, which eventually led to my love of science fiction. I thought to myself at the time that I made a very narrow escape, as the kids who choose David Copperfield all confided that it was a miserable bore.

Unfortunately for me, later that same year we were all assigned to read Great Expectations. And I hated every minute of it. I believe I read the first 100 or so pages before deciding I would rather gouge my eyes out than read more about Pip. After that, I went to sparknotes.com and managed to squeak through the rest of that unit—sorry mom. I never finished the novel and I thought to myself that I would rather die than read any more Dickens.

Alas, for an English major, it is quite hard to avoid Dickens, but I tried my best to do so. I actually switched sections for one of my required classes because I heard that the professor I had class with LOVED Dickens and FOUR of his novels were on our reading list. Switching ended up being a good decision. There was only one Dickens novel on the list, Hard Times.

In that class, the professor told us we could manage to get away with only reading half the books if the reading was too much. I had never heard that from an English professor before and all of the kids in my class had their mouths open. Then he amended what he was saying and said that if you read half the books, you could squeak by with a passing grade of 1.5.

That class ended up being my favorite English class I ever took at MSU and the professor, Professor Watts, was my favorite. We read A LOT and while some things I didn’t enjoy, I discovered a love for many 19th century authors in his class.

When it came time to read Hard Times I would like to say that I tried. In fact, I think I read 5 pages before making a very hard decision. Hard Times became the ONLY BOOK in my entire college career that a professor assigned that I did not read—again, sorry mom. I couldn’t stand those five pages and my prejudice from my previous experiences with Dickens solidified my decision.

I graduated with and English degree without reading any Charles Dickens. Doesn’t that sounds horrid??

Well, when I decided to embark on this little challenge of mine, I was kind of annoyed to find that so many of Charles Dickens novels were on the A.P. list and on “best of classics” lists. I even thought about ignoring his work and pretending he didn’t exist, merely so I wouldn’t have to read anything written by him. After deciding that I would be cheating if I did so, I relented and put on the novels written by Mr. Dickens that seemed to pop up the most. They ended up being the following:

1. Bleak House
2. David Copperfield
3. Great Expectations
4. Hard Times
5. Nicholas Nickleby
6. Oliver Twist
7. Tale of Two Cities

7 books to challenge me more than any others (well…perhaps the Russians might give Dickens a run for his money). You might notice that I left A Christmas Carol off the list, mostly because I know it too well and I wanted to keep the number on my list to a rounded 250 titles.

Instead of leaving these to the end and sloughing through them, I have decided that since I have read 9 wonderful books, I might as well throw in an awful Charles Dickens experience to get it out of the way. Besides, six is a much better number to have looming over my head than seven.

So, Book 10 is a Dickens wonder (HA!). And to make it even more super-duper fun, I have decided to give my arch-nemesis a go and get it over with. Great Expectations has the honor and privilege of being Book #10 and I will probably hate it just as much this time as I did the last time through.

Let’s just say that I have no great expectations for Book 10 (HA!).

Here I go.

Book 7 Part 1: The First Time and Old Friends.

One of the main reasons I like to keep the books I have read is to look at them and remember where I was and “when” I was when I first read them. Sometimes I stand in front of the linen closet that currently houses my books and just look at the titles. While I own quite a few books that I haven’t read yet, there are many old battered titles that have been in my hands more times than I can count.

I am one of those people who re-reads her favorites all the time. Each time I read a book I find something new—a new line to make me smile, a new favorite character, or a scene I thought I forgot. As I get older and read some of my early favorites, I can also remember how much I used to love that book as a kid and how it helped encourage my love of reading at a young age.

Books have the potential to teach you something new each time you read them. That’s why you can never really be done with a book. No matter what, there is always something more waiting in the pages.

Even the books that I can almost recite always surprise me. Mostly because I really can’t recite them and when I think I know what’s coming next, I get it wrong.

As I am drawing near the end of The Fellowship of the Ring, I am recalling a lot of old memories. I’ve read the series a few times (maybe 3 or 4), but I have seen the films more than I can count. And I really think the films are well done, even though things are not exact as so many wish they were.

I believe it was during my freshman year in high school when my family went out to Colorado the first time. We never flew, but instead drove to wherever we were going on vacation. That was the year we had a huge van and we were crammed into it for 20+ hours as we drove past cows, grass, and nothingness for what seemed like an eternity. I read or slept for most of the trip and I flew through my reading material rather quickly.

Halfway through our vacation, I made my parents go into a bookstore in one of the small towns we were passing through and visiting. I remember that the bookshop was really small and their science fiction and fantasy section consisted of one lowly bookshelf. I had just recently started to read that genre, as my freshman Honor’s English class had to read Ender’s Game and I had fallen in love. So, I searched the shelves trying to find something to read.

At the time, the movies were not even being mentioned. There was no imdb.com or anything similar. I had heard of The Lord of the Rings only from my English teacher who told me, “If you really want to read good fantasy, you need to read Tolkein. He is where it all started.”

The small bookstore had a copy of all three books, so I picked them and searched the back for the “blurbs” that either sell or destroy a book. The back of The Fellowship of the Ring said the following:

“The dark, fearsome Ringwraiths were searching for a hobbit. Frodo Baggins knew they were seeking him and the Ring he bore—the Ring of Power that would enable evil Sauron to destroy all that was good in Middle-earth. Now it is up to Frodo and his faithful servant, Sam, with a small band of companions, to carry the Ring to the one place it could be destroyed—Mount Doom, in the very center of Sauron’s dark kingdom,” (Del-Rey Paperback Edition).

It sounded gloriously epic and dramatic, just what my teenage heart desired. So, I begged my dad to get them for me, and he got me all three. I remember the shopkeeper telling me they were good and I would certainly enjoy them.

It was only once we were back in the car that I noticed they had this printed in a line on the front cover:

“An Epic Motion Picture Trilogy Coming Soon From New Line Cinema!”

I dove right in and while I thought it was hard to read in some parts, particularly all the songs and poems, I really began to fall in love with them. I have memories of sitting in the backseat of that van reading about the Misty Mountains and looking up at the Rockies soaring around me, comparing them in my mind.

I finished the third volume, The Return of the King during the car ride on the way back to Michigan. And I remember thinking to myself, “Wow. That was awesome.”

I was incredibly articulate for a 14-year-old.

Flash forward a few years and The Lord of the Rings hit the big screen. New editions were coming out with Elijah Wood plastered on the cover, or scenes from the movie. My lowly little editions with the old artwork were outnumbered by illustrated versions with stills from the film, or cast interviews, or a pull out map of Middle-earth. It seemed like everyone was reading them and it didn’t seem as personal an experience as when I read them.

Sometimes I feel that film adaptations ruin a book and the value it had once before. When I started reading these again, all I could see was Elijah Wood and Orlando Bloom in my head (not that I’m really complaining) and my long-ago images of who the characters used to be have been lost.

But now, I am remembering that trip to Colorado and how I fell in love with the story then. And now, I am falling in love with the story all over again.

And if I really want to, I can be THAT book snob who says, “I read them before the movies, and I loved them then.” But that really doesn’t matter, does it?

The point is this; these books are old friends that everyone had forgotten for awhile, and even though they’ve gotten all glamorous and well known, my books and my memories with them are still the same as they’ve always been. No one can really take that kind of experience away from me.

So I encourage you to read an old friend. You might be surprised to see what kind of memories it brings back to you.

Book 5: "Much Ado."

Much to my surprise, the poll ended and “Much Ado About Nothing” was chosen as my first play by William Shakespeare to read. I was hoping for something else to pull ahead and win, but it seems as though I was destined to read this.

I actually really like this play and in fact, it’s my favorite of Shakespeare’s plays (that I’ve read thus far). I really enjoy his comedies and I think they are far more entertaining than his tragedies, or his histories. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy a good gloomy story like “Macbeth,” I just prefer something a little lighter—and a play where everything does get resolved in a pleasant way in the end.

I first read “Much Ado about Nothing” in high school. In my A.P. English class senior year, my teacher showed us the 1993 film version which is an excellent adaptation of the play. It’s fairly accurate. I also love the fact that it combines well-known Shakespearian actors with Hollywood actors. There is a big difference. The version I am speaking of has the following cast members: Kenneth Branagh as Benedick (you might recognize him as Gilderoy Lockhart from the HP movies), Emma Thompson as Beatrice, Denzel Washington as Don Pedro, Keanu Reeves as Don John the Bastard (a very funny performance by the way), and Kate Beckinsale as Hero (one of my favorite actresses).

One of the reasons I love the film so much is that it really captured the essence of the play. On later readings, I could remember moments and scenes from the film that made the play come alive in my head. Also, I just loved seeing Keanu Reeves in a role “pre-Matrix.”

Anyway, even though I was initially said that I was re-reading one of my favorite plays so early on in this project, it will be a good place to start. I can save the challenge of reading something completely new for the next Shakespeare selection.


*I should point out now that I know that this is not a "book" as the title indicates. But for the purposes of this blog and keeping track of what I am reading, each piece that I am reading is simply being called a "book." It makes sense in my head.*

Book 2: Crime and Punishment and Russian Names.

Well, you voted and after 21 votes Crime and Punishment won as the next book I am reading.

*sigh*

I was hoping that something else would win because my one previous experience with Crime and Punishment didn’t go so well. When I was a senior in high school I was in A.P. English. Every month we had to read a book off of the A.P. English list and Crime and Punishment was my choice one month. After finally getting a copy I sat down to read it. When I finished about 30 pages, I set it aside and I had no idea what I had read. Literarily, I couldn’t recall a thing I had read and was on the verge of tears.

I gave up and told my teacher I needed to read something else. I read The Awakening instead.

Now I have to read it again. Ugh.

But I did start it and surprise, its not as bad as I remembered. Actually, I kind of like it, although it is slow and rather detailed. I am also struggling with the names. I have no Russian background so I am attempting to pronounce these names in my head.

Usually when I am reading fantasy, I come across names that are unfamiliar, so I simply make up something in my head that sounds like the letters I am seeing on the page. But these Russian names…..they’re hurting my head. My brain can’t seem to process these names and I stumble over them every time I see one.

So, to fix all this, I am renaming the main characters as I come across them in hopes that it will make it a little easier to get through the story without getting tripped up on names.

The main character has been referred to as either the young man or Raskolnikov. I have decided to call him Rascal. And the man name Marmeladov I am just calling Ma.

Perhaps Fyodor Dostoevsky won’t approve but I do need to keep my sanity.