Saturday, November 15, 2008
We're Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!
Okay...so, we have been MIA for awhile, but we are back in action now. We will be reading, "The Hour I First Believed" bu Wally Lamb and we will have discussions about the book as we read along. I have already read the first chapter and the book is very easy to read and it is very well written. Please join us!!!
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Hello
Hello all-
I believe that we are all finished with "The Center of Everything." Like I mentioned several times before, the book was amazing. I was really able to connect with all of the characters in some way. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that we are going to start reading "The God of Small Things" next week. Hopefully, we will all be able to get our hands on a copy of the book before then. I have read about 26 pages of the book. I am having a difficult time remembering the names of the characters and remembering who is doing what. I have been reading the book before bed and I don't think that that is the best time to read because I am sleepy. So, I am going to try to read a little more of the book when I am awake. lol. :o)
I would love to hear from anyone who has started to read the book.
I am going up north tomorrow and I will not be able to read/post/participate until Monday evening. I hope that all of you are having a great summer and I look forward to talking with you about the book.
Oh, I just have to say, we have a kid who is really emotionally impaired in my classroom and the other teacher in the room said that he had a lot of pain-body. I knew that she was a Tolle fan as soon as she said it! Hilarious!
~Erika
I believe that we are all finished with "The Center of Everything." Like I mentioned several times before, the book was amazing. I was really able to connect with all of the characters in some way. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that we are going to start reading "The God of Small Things" next week. Hopefully, we will all be able to get our hands on a copy of the book before then. I have read about 26 pages of the book. I am having a difficult time remembering the names of the characters and remembering who is doing what. I have been reading the book before bed and I don't think that that is the best time to read because I am sleepy. So, I am going to try to read a little more of the book when I am awake. lol. :o)
I would love to hear from anyone who has started to read the book.
I am going up north tomorrow and I will not be able to read/post/participate until Monday evening. I hope that all of you are having a great summer and I look forward to talking with you about the book.
Oh, I just have to say, we have a kid who is really emotionally impaired in my classroom and the other teacher in the room said that he had a lot of pain-body. I knew that she was a Tolle fan as soon as she said it! Hilarious!
~Erika
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
The Center of Everything So Far
I think I am through Chapter 11. Sorry, ya’ll, but I warned you that I would not start reading until after vacation, which ended up being about five days after vacation... ;)
It took only a few pages for me to get very enveloped in this book. I immediately fell for Evelyn’s voice, but it wasn’t until the impending visit to the grandparent’s home that I had to know what would happen next!
It’s been awhile since I’ve read a good story and been transplanted into someone else’s world, which is what I enjoy most about this novel.
I agree with and like everyone’s observations and feelings about this book, and I’m glad you enjoyed it. I guess I want to talk a little about Evelyn’s relationship with her mother...
I think it’s clear that Tina loves Evelyn more than anything, but her shortcomings arise when she allows her pride to get in the way of her daughter’s best interests. She did this when she refused her father’s help to give them a reliable car, and again two more times, both times, Evelyn thinking to herself, “it was Wichita all over again...”
Tina also shows a lack of mature parenting at times. I thought it was crazy when her solution to Evelyn’s getting kicked off the school bus for a week was to have her stay home all week. Couldn’t she call the school and let them know that was Evelyn’s only means to get to school? Wouldn’t the school want to work out a different form of punishment for Evelyn’s fight? I’m not sure where this carelessness stems from on Tina’s part. Maybe it’s that she just doesn’t know any better at times, or is too preoccupied with her own stress to give Evelyn the proper attention she needs. (like when Evelyn immediately wanted to go home when she didn’t place in the science fair, and Tina was OK with it).
There is a point in every person’s life when you realize that your parents aren’t perfect. I remember it to be a heartbreaking thing. Evelyn was 10 years old when this happened, and to me that is a young, early age to go through this. Even though Evelyn heard from other people that she was different from her mom and also that her mom was bad, I do not think that she let those judgments affect her love for her Mom until she saw Tina unravel before her own eyes.
This happens after they go to sign up for welfare and Tina ends up not cooperating with the guidelines. Tina's fear and then her pride stand in the way. I was angry when Tina wouldn’t tell the worker the baby’s daddy’s name. She was too scared and wanted to keep the mistake hidden. I wanted her to put everything aside for Evelyn’s sake - for her daughter who didn’t even have shoes to walk home with.
After they get home Tina is depressed for days and when Evelyn finally gets her out of her room, Tina tells her that everything will be OK. Evelyn thinks - I know it will not. In her mind, things have changed and she’s started to draw a line between the two of them. She begins to separate herself from her Mom at that young age. I think it’s wonderful that Evelyn feels secure knowing that she is gifted in school, but sad that she is creating a resistance against her mother, which is sure to cause a lot of pain. At the same time, I think it’s an unavoidable and realistic direction given Evelyn’s age and circumstance.
The books skips ahead a bit to Evelyn being 14, when she has all out resentment for Tina. I’m sure there are going to be many more blow outs between Evelyn and Tina at this stage. Evelyn is at that age when your parent can become your enemy, and she isn’t letting go of her mother’s mistakes and accepting her for who she is. Tina does teach Evelyn many good values, but I think it’s going to be impossible for Evelyn to understand her for a very long time.
It took only a few pages for me to get very enveloped in this book. I immediately fell for Evelyn’s voice, but it wasn’t until the impending visit to the grandparent’s home that I had to know what would happen next!
It’s been awhile since I’ve read a good story and been transplanted into someone else’s world, which is what I enjoy most about this novel.
I agree with and like everyone’s observations and feelings about this book, and I’m glad you enjoyed it. I guess I want to talk a little about Evelyn’s relationship with her mother...
I think it’s clear that Tina loves Evelyn more than anything, but her shortcomings arise when she allows her pride to get in the way of her daughter’s best interests. She did this when she refused her father’s help to give them a reliable car, and again two more times, both times, Evelyn thinking to herself, “it was Wichita all over again...”
Tina also shows a lack of mature parenting at times. I thought it was crazy when her solution to Evelyn’s getting kicked off the school bus for a week was to have her stay home all week. Couldn’t she call the school and let them know that was Evelyn’s only means to get to school? Wouldn’t the school want to work out a different form of punishment for Evelyn’s fight? I’m not sure where this carelessness stems from on Tina’s part. Maybe it’s that she just doesn’t know any better at times, or is too preoccupied with her own stress to give Evelyn the proper attention she needs. (like when Evelyn immediately wanted to go home when she didn’t place in the science fair, and Tina was OK with it).
There is a point in every person’s life when you realize that your parents aren’t perfect. I remember it to be a heartbreaking thing. Evelyn was 10 years old when this happened, and to me that is a young, early age to go through this. Even though Evelyn heard from other people that she was different from her mom and also that her mom was bad, I do not think that she let those judgments affect her love for her Mom until she saw Tina unravel before her own eyes.
This happens after they go to sign up for welfare and Tina ends up not cooperating with the guidelines. Tina's fear and then her pride stand in the way. I was angry when Tina wouldn’t tell the worker the baby’s daddy’s name. She was too scared and wanted to keep the mistake hidden. I wanted her to put everything aside for Evelyn’s sake - for her daughter who didn’t even have shoes to walk home with.
After they get home Tina is depressed for days and when Evelyn finally gets her out of her room, Tina tells her that everything will be OK. Evelyn thinks - I know it will not. In her mind, things have changed and she’s started to draw a line between the two of them. She begins to separate herself from her Mom at that young age. I think it’s wonderful that Evelyn feels secure knowing that she is gifted in school, but sad that she is creating a resistance against her mother, which is sure to cause a lot of pain. At the same time, I think it’s an unavoidable and realistic direction given Evelyn’s age and circumstance.
The books skips ahead a bit to Evelyn being 14, when she has all out resentment for Tina. I’m sure there are going to be many more blow outs between Evelyn and Tina at this stage. Evelyn is at that age when your parent can become your enemy, and she isn’t letting go of her mother’s mistakes and accepting her for who she is. Tina does teach Evelyn many good values, but I think it’s going to be impossible for Evelyn to understand her for a very long time.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Book Suggestions
Hi everyone!
I have just finished reading, "The Center of Everything"...I happened to log on last Friday and noticed that people had not only started reading but Erika had finished :0 I thought we were waiting...lol!!! It's all good though, I finished last night...I will post my comments shortly.
I wanted to give my book suggestions for the next novel...
(TWO GREAT NOVELS...Flowers for Algernon and The God of Small Things)
The God of Small Things By: Arundhati Roy -----
Flowers for Algernon By: Danielle Keyes -----
An American classic that inspired the award-winning movie Charly, Flowers for Algernon now returns to Harcourt as a Harvest paperback.
I couldn't choose between the two but I figured two suggestions was better than none ;) Please let me know your thoughts.
Thanks,
I have just finished reading, "The Center of Everything"...I happened to log on last Friday and noticed that people had not only started reading but Erika had finished :0 I thought we were waiting...lol!!! It's all good though, I finished last night...I will post my comments shortly.
I wanted to give my book suggestions for the next novel...
(TWO GREAT NOVELS...Flowers for Algernon and The God of Small Things)
The God of Small Things By: Arundhati Roy -----
Synopses & Reviews
Publisher Comments:
The story of the tragic decline of an Indian family whose members suffer the terrible consequences of forbidden love, The God of Small Things is set in the state of Kerala, on the southernmost tip of India. Armed only with the invincible innocence of children, the twins Rahel and Esthappen fashion a childhood for themselves in the shade of the wreck that is their family — their lonely, lovely mother, Ammu (who loves by night the man her children love by day), their blind grandmother, Mammachi (who plays Handel on her violin), their beloved uncle Chacko (Rhodes scholar, pickle baron, radical Marxist, bottom-pincher), their enemy, Baby Kochamma (ex-nun and incumbent grandaunt), and the ghost of an imperial entomologist's moth (with unusually dense dorsal tufts).
When their English cousin and her mother arrive on a Christmas visit, the twins learn that Things Can Change in a Day. That lives can twist into new, ugly shapes, even cease forever. The brilliantly plotted story uncoils with an agonizing sense of foreboding and inevitability. Yet nothing prepares you for what lies at the heart of it.
Review:
"A novel of real ambition must invent its own language, and this one does.... A Tiger Woodsian debut." (-- John Updike, The New Yorker)
Synopsis:
"A banquet for all the senses", said "Newsweek" of this bestselling and Booker Prize-winning literary novel--a richly textured first book about the tragic decline of one family whose members suffer the terrible consequences of forbidden love.
Flowers for Algernon By: Danielle Keyes -----
Synopses & Reviews
Publisher Comments:
Charlie Gordon is about to embark upon an unprecedented journey. Born with an unusually low IQ, he has been chosen as the perfect subject for an experimental surgery that researchers hope will increase his intelligence-a procedure that has already been highly successful when tested on a lab mouse named Algernon.
As the treatment takes effect, Charlie's intelligence expands until it surpasses that of the doctors who engineered his metamorphosis. The experiment appears to be a scientific breakthrough of paramount importance, until Algernon suddenly deteriorates. Will the same happen to Charlie?
WINNER OF THE HUGO AWARD AND THE NEBULA AWARD
The classic novel that inspired the Academy Award-winning movie Charly
Daniel Keyes, the author of eight books, was born in Brooklyn, New York, and received his B.A. and M.A. degrees from Brooklyn College. Professor emeritus at Ohio University, he lives in Boca Raton, Florida.
Synopsis:
Following his doctor's instructions, engaging simpleton Charlie Gordon tells his own story in semi-literate "progris riports." He dimly wants to better himself, but with an IQ of 68 can't even beat the laboratory mouse Algernon at maze-solving. Then, an operation turns him into a genius and introduces him to heartache.
Synopsis:
With more than five million copies sold, Flowers for Algernon is the beloved, classic story of a mentally disabled man whose experimental quest for intelligence mirrors that of Algernon, an extraordinary lab mouse. In poignant diary entries, Charlie tells how a brain operation increases his IQ and changes his life. As the experimental procedure takes effect, Charlie's intelligence expands until it surpasses that of the doctors who engineered his metamorphosis. The experiment seems to be a scientific breakthrough of paramount importance-until Algernon begins his sudden, unexpected deterioration. Will the same happen to Charlie?An American classic that inspired the award-winning movie Charly, Flowers for Algernon now returns to Harcourt as a Harvest paperback.
I couldn't choose between the two but I figured two suggestions was better than none ;) Please let me know your thoughts.
Thanks,
Saturday, July 12, 2008
If You Are Still Reading "The Center of Everything"
Hi...
I just wanted to let all of you know that the book club is still finishing up "The Center of Everything." We will continue to read and comment on the book until the end of next week. In all honesty, we were waiting for Kim to get back from vacation to begin, but Laura and I were too excited to wait. I was wondering, is there anyone else that plans on posting about the book?
Nicole and Laura, we would love to hear what novels you would like to read. Laura, I think that you said, "Eat, Pray, Love," but Kim has already read that book. So, please feel free to post any books that you would like to read.
For the next novel, I was thinking that we could read a classic or a mystery. I would like to mix up the genres. What about fantasy, historical fiction, or a collection of short stories? Just think about it!!!
As for now, just keep posting and commenting about "The Center of Everything." I thought that it was fantastic, but it would be really fantastic if I could share my thoughts with all of you.
Keep reading,
Erika
I just wanted to let all of you know that the book club is still finishing up "The Center of Everything." We will continue to read and comment on the book until the end of next week. In all honesty, we were waiting for Kim to get back from vacation to begin, but Laura and I were too excited to wait. I was wondering, is there anyone else that plans on posting about the book?
Nicole and Laura, we would love to hear what novels you would like to read. Laura, I think that you said, "Eat, Pray, Love," but Kim has already read that book. So, please feel free to post any books that you would like to read.
For the next novel, I was thinking that we could read a classic or a mystery. I would like to mix up the genres. What about fantasy, historical fiction, or a collection of short stories? Just think about it!!!
As for now, just keep posting and commenting about "The Center of Everything." I thought that it was fantastic, but it would be really fantastic if I could share my thoughts with all of you.
Keep reading,
Erika
Friday, July 4, 2008
The Center of Everything...in general
After reading "The Center of Everything," I realized that there are numerous things to say about the title. You can think of Evelyn being in the center of everything, or you can think about family, religion, or dreams to be the center of everything. When I was reading the book, I kept thinking about what I believed when I was a kid. All I can remember is that I wanted everyone to like me. I wanted to have cool clothes, cool hair, and a boyfriend. That's right. I wanted a boyfriend. When Evelyn talks about Travis, I can't help but to think of myself. I tried to be nonchalant in front of boys, but I could never hide my feelings. I think that Evelyn resisting Travis (especially in the end) shows how mature she really is-I also believe that her resistance is a form of rebellion from her mother, Tina. As you know, Tina is kinda promiscuous and Evelyn is trying to not be like her mother.
One of the most awkward scenes in the book is when Evelyn and Tina go to ask the grandfather for money. I smirked when I read the whole horse/whore bit, but I was so sad that the grandfather was such a jerk. I was annoyed that he couldn't just forgive Tina and love her and Evelyn. I hated how cheesy he acted towards Evelyn. He kept treating her like she was a 4-year-old. Yuck.
I was unsure of how the book was going to end, but I was pleased for the most part. I like books that answer some questions but leave some unanswered questions as well. :o)
~Erika
One of the most awkward scenes in the book is when Evelyn and Tina go to ask the grandfather for money. I smirked when I read the whole horse/whore bit, but I was so sad that the grandfather was such a jerk. I was annoyed that he couldn't just forgive Tina and love her and Evelyn. I hated how cheesy he acted towards Evelyn. He kept treating her like she was a 4-year-old. Yuck.
I was unsure of how the book was going to end, but I was pleased for the most part. I like books that answer some questions but leave some unanswered questions as well. :o)
~Erika
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