New Class Time!

Since taking a break is not something I do well, and I do intend to continue this blog for a time at least, I thought I would share a few things with the great wide web.  First, I'm taking a readers advisory, fiction class-so reviews of those books will appear on here.  I'm currently reading Bel Canto by Ann Patchett and hope to finish it before spring classes begin.  If not, I will some day.  Between full time school, full time work and planning a wedding in 6-9 months (yes, you read that right, I'm engaged!!!) I hope to be able to keep up with this.

My professor for this course is awesome, I had her last term for another and she always shares wonderful snippets with us.  Today she shared this poem and I wanted to share it somewhere and so I thought here would be a lovely place.


The Littlest Christmas Tree by Amy Peterson

The littlest Christmas tree,
lived in a meadow of green,
Among a family,
of tall evergreens,
He learned how to whisper,
the evergreen song,
with the slightest of wind,
that came gently along.

He watched as the birds,
made a home out of twigs,
and couldn't wait till,
he too was big.
For all of the trees,
offered a home,
the maple, the pine, and the oak,
who's so strong.

"I hate being little",
the little tree said,
"I can't even turn colors,
like the maple turns red",
"I can't help the animals,
like the mighty old oak",
"He shelters them all,
in his wide mighty cloak".

The older tree said,
"Why little tree you don't know?
The story of a mighty king,
from the land with no snow?"
Little tree questioned,
"A land with no snow?"
"Yes!" said old tree,
"A very old story,
from so long ago".

"A star appeared,
giving great light,
over a manger,
on long winters night.
A baby was born,
a king of all kings,
and with him comes love,
over all things."

"He lived in a country,
all covered in sand,
and laid down his life,
to save all of man.'

Little tree thought of the gift
given by him,
then the big tree said with the
happiest grin,
"We're not just trees,
but a reminder of that day,
there's a much bigger part,
of a role that we play!"

"For on Christmas eve,
my life I'll lay down,
in exchange for a happier,
loving ground.
And as I stand dying,
they'll adorn me in trim,
this all will be done,
in memory of him".

"Among a warm fire,
with family and friends,
in the sweet songs of Christmas,
I'll find my great end,
then ever so gently,
he'll come down to see,
and take me to heaven,
Jesus and me".

"So you see little tree,
we are not like the oak,
who shelters all things,
beneath his great cloak.
Nor are we like the maple
in fall,
who's colors leave many,
standing in awe".

"The gift that we give,
is ourselves, limb for limb,
the greatest of honor,
in memory of him".

The little tree bowed,
his head down and cried,
and thought of the king,
who willingly died.
For what kind of gift,
can anyone give?
Then to lay down your life,
when you wanted to live.

A swelling of pride
came over the tree,
Can all of this happen?
Because of just me?
Can I really bring honor?
By adorning a home?
By reminding mankind,
that he's never alone?

With this thought, little tree,
began singing with glee,
Happy and proud,
to be a true Christmas tree.

You can still hear them singing,
even the smallest in height,
singing of Christmas,
and that one holy night.

Source: FamilyFriendPoems.com

Welcome LS583!

As much fun as it has been, I feel ALMOST this excited to see
this semester end.  This however, was my finish photo for my
first half-marathon that took place at the beginning of this semester.

For those of you who have been following this blog for the months it has been being written, feel free to ignore this post.  However, those of you who have found your way here through our class, welcome!  I have been keeping track of the books I've read for this course here in my little corner of the internet.  I found I have enjoyed most books I was required to read, though definitely not all, and I appreciated being forced to reflect on the novels I read.  I hope you aren't too bored by what I had to say and that you find a book or two you will enjoy.  Lord knows I found several I hadn't expected to like by recommendations from Beth (our instructor) and from friends/coworkers.  Another quick note, I apologize for the changes in font.  I have used blogger many times in the past and have never had this problem and despite my attempts at fixing it my computer skills are lacking.  

If you click on the "about me" tab at the end of this blog post you'll find the initial welcome one as well.  Feel free to comment on any posts, I promise I will be more likely to read these than other (probably because I get an email notification when I receive comments).  I haven't yet decided if I will continue to post about books I read but I like to think I will.  Either way, enjoy!

Read on!

Nicole

Shadowland

Cabot, Meg. Shadowland. New York: Avon, 2005. Print.

Genre: Fantasy

Intended Audience: Ages 11 and older

Personal Reaction: When I learned there was going to be another Mediator book released I couldn't help but reread the series starting with Shadowland.  For those who have never read the series (and I suspect most who are visiting my blog have not) perhaps my "personal reaction" will give you reason to read it. Suze sees dead people.  She helps guide people to their after life, most are happy about it and require something simple.  Some aren't so much-which brings in the problems in the series.

When Suze moves with her mom to California she moves into her new bedroom and finds Jesse de Silva, a ghost, sitting in her room.  In Shadowland Heather, a former student, committed suicide because her boyfriend broke up with her.  She decides to attempt to kill him and Suze and Father Dominic (another mediator at the school) help her to find her way home.  Through all this Suze and Jesse have feelings for one another and Jesse ends up saving Suze on multiple occasions throughout the story.

Author Facts:  Meg Cabot worked in a residence hall for ten years at NYU.  She has celiac disease which she finds most unfortunate as she loves all carbs, especially pizza and beer.  She currently lives in Key West with her husband and many cats.

Author Website:  http://www.megcabot.com/

Cress

Meyer, Marissa. Cress. New York, New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2014. Print.

Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy

Intended Audience: Ages 12 and older

Personal Reaction: The first two books in the Lunar Chronicles were so well written I couldn't help but read Cress.  Many of the characters in this series are loosely based on fairy tale characters, Cress being Rapunzel.  She has been trapped on a satellite for most of her life by the queen's right hand Sybil Mira.  Cress escapes the satellite with the help of Cinder, Thorne, and goes with them to find her father, Dr. Erland. 

This book was such a great and exciting, fast paced novel.  There was adventure and romance and above all, hope for the people of Luna.  Meyer successfully told another wonderful story of adventure and friendship.  She leaves a cliff hanger where we find Princess Winter keeping Scarlet in her palace, now waiting for Winter to be published next year.

Author Facts: One of Marissa Meyer's first words was story and her favorite childhood toy was a book so it is no wonder she became an author.  She and her husband have three cats.  Se also loves playing dress up, watching Firefly reruns and eating Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. 

Author Website: http://www.marissameyer.com/

The Selection

Cass, Kiera. The Selection. New York: HarperTeen, 2012. Print.

Genre: Dystopia

Intended Audience: Ages 12 and older

Personal Reaction: The Selection is a chance for young women in Illea to win the heart of a the prince and the crown.  America Singer is the star of our novel and despite not wanting to originally enter into the selection she enters and is selected as one of the thirty five girls so seek the hand of prince Maxon.  America is a snarky girl who falls for Maxon and while it seems as though he wants to marry her, she gets jealous of him spending time with the other women as well.  Add in an ex boyfriend, Aspen and America's life is turned upside down.

I was practically forced to read this book by a friend.  While I love chick lit novels, I don't usually gravitate toward books with pictures of girls in dresses on them, but I'm so happy I tried this one.  Cass wrote a beautiful book written with heartache and anticipation and of course, love.  Once I started it I could not put it down and cannot wait to read the rest of the series.

Author Facts: When growing up Kiera Cass wanted to be a performer, she taught theater at a camp and majored in musical theater.  She followed a boy to Radford University where she changed her major many times before settling on History and working on staff at a campus church.  Eventually Mr. Cass wooed her and married her and realized she loved writing and is now a well known author.

Author Website: http://www.kieracass.com/

Story of a Girl

Zarr, Sara. Story of a Girl: A Novel. New York: Little, Brown, 2007. Print.

Intended Audience: Ages 14 and older

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Personal Reaction: Story of a Girl is a coming of age story of Deanna Lambert.  Since losing her virginity in the back of Tommy Webber's Buick in eighth grade and her dad finding her with him in the act, her reputation has been shot.  Her father no longer trusts her or even looks at her, boys at school label her as being easy and make horrible comments and she constantly looks at her life in a manner of "if I was a different kind of girl."  The only bright spots in her life is her brother Darren, his girlfriend Stacy, their daughter April, and her two friends Jason and Lee.  The story follows Deanna's life as she eventually grows into being the kind of girl she always wanted to be but wouldn't allow herself to become. 

At points I found myself wanting to yell at Deanna for being so childish and seeming to blame others for her situation in life.  No, it is not fair for boys to grab at you in the mall, but because they have this opinion of you does not mean you need to have it herself.  I was happy at the end of the story how Deanna stopped saying how she would act if she was a certain kind of girl and instead started acting like it.  This was a great coming of age story, one I think any young girls may be able to relate with (even those who were not labeled as being easy).  

Author Facts: Sara Zarr was born in 1970 in Cleveland, OH.  She reads all mail she is sent and even writes back (something not many authors have time to do).  In 2010 she was a judge for the National Book Award. 

Author Website: http://www.sarazarr.com/

My True Love Gave To Me

Perkins, Stephanie, ed. My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories. New York, New York: St Martin's Griffin, 2014. Print.

Genre: Short Stories (realistic fiction and some fantasy)

Intended Audience: Ages 12 and older

Personal Reaction: I read this book alongside several others over the last week, taking in bits and pieces at a time to help prepare myself for the holiday season, finishing it on Thanksgiving.  There were stories taking place everywhere possible.  My favorite was in the North Pole with Natty, adopted by Santa, who has a crush on Flynn one of the elves written by Jenny Han.  Another featured Hanukkah, and a misfit student in college finding home over the Simpsons and latkes on the last day of Hanukkah.  Still others took place on New Years, giving hope and new starts to live.  

Each of these stories has a perfect fit in the collection as they all seem to have that feeling of hope-filled anticipation the holidays often bring.  Amid the longer novels I have been reading for this class and other homework that has been gracing itself with my time it was nice to have a reason for short breaks that I would not get hooked into reading for hours on end.  

Author (Editor) Facts: Stephanie Perkins is an author of teen fiction novels who lives in Ashville, North Carolina.  She counts as both editor and author for this book, as one of the short stories was by her, but she did the editing as well.  She and her husband live in a house that is nearly a hundred years old with many different colored rooms.  They have a cat named Mr. Tumnus. She used to be a librarian before becoming an author and believes stories should always have more kissing.  

Author (Editor) Website: http://www.stephanieperkins.com/books.html