The Journal of Hélène Berr (~)

I've finished another book! The Journal of Hélène Berr. It's a true story, of a Jewish woman, in Paris during WWII. It's similar to The Diary of Anne Frank, only, Hélène is 22 years old and is a university student. It really allows a person who has not lived through the war to grasp how horrible Jews were treated. I liked the book because of this perspective, BUT I didn't like it because it was very poetic (she was an English literature major) and sometimes hard to follow. It also differs from The Diary of Anne Frank in that Hélène wasn't hiding from the Gestapo, while Anne and her family were. 

I must say that Hélène should be an inspiration to anyone. She was a strong woman, she cared so much for everyone, especially the little children who became orphans because their parents were deported and (probably) killed. She dealt with being mocked and criticized for being Jewish. I'm not doing her justice here, but all I can say really is that she was an amazing woman, and if she had survived the war, she would've been an amazing mother and grandmother. She would've taught her children compassion, which is what the world needs more of at the moment.

Anyway, I definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the suffering of the Jews during WWII.

Until next time! Happy reading!

If Life Was Like a Story...

I've been thinking off and on about this idea for awhile now. I have joined a penpal site, and sometimes, people don't respond, or they have many friends they talk about, but I don't know them. I know this probably sounds weird...But I've come to realize that everyone has a story. How they came to be the person they are today. What made them that way, who they're friends are, and why they are the way they are. When you write a book, a character must be introduced. It's like they are being created from scratch in front of your eyes. They have no prior history, they can focus all their attention on you, you don't have to be careful how you act around them, because they have no prior history, so they have no memories or which could be triggered.

I guess what I'm saying, is that making friends is difficult. It'd be much easier if when you are trying to make friends, you don't have to compete with the old ones they already have. You don't have to worry about prior histories of friendships, relationships, and other things. I wish life could be like a story you're writing yourself, where you can make up people as you meet them, and if you don't like that person, or you make a bad mistake, you can delete it easily, and not have any repercussions. But I guess the problem with this is that you would never learn from your mistakes, and you would be bound to continuously repeat the same thing over and over again. But if you are the one writing the story, then you will still have to memory of that mistake, and you wouldn't repeat it even if you deleted it...hmm, fascinating topic...The way I suggested it, it sounds like if you delete something from your "story" then, you would also delete it from your memory, but I also described it as if you delete something from you "story" then it wouldn't be deleted from your memory...Hard to decide which is better...

I will think on this some more, and get back to  you.

Happy Reading!

Slumdog Millionaire (↑)

I have finished a book, finally! And I have finished my 3rd year of university so I have a lot of time on my hands, so I should be writing more blogs more often! Anyway, the book I have finished reading is called Slumdog Millionaire. It's the book that the movie is based off of. It's a really good book, and brings to light the horrible plight of poverty-stricken people. I'm not really sure in what era this book was set, but if it's in this day and age, I am shocked to learn that there are still people living in horrible little slums, with no running water, and no electricity. It also makes me sad that the poor are persecuted so easily in that country, and that religion plays such an important part in making decisions of who you can be friends with and who you can't be friends with. I guess in some areas of the world, they are still "backwards". Hopefully someday that will be rectified.

Until next time, happy reading!

Vanishing Acts (↑)

I have finished a book! Finally, you say!

This one is another by Jodi Picoult. It wasn't as good as the Tenth Circle, but I still liked it all the same. It's about a woman who finds out she was kidnapped by her father 30 years before. Her father is then arrested for said crime, and they go on trial in Arizona. It basically tells the story of this trial and all the other proceedings, and other things that go on outside of the court-room.

It is also told from many different perspectives, which I didn't think I would like at first, but I'm glad I did. It made me gain respect for the inmates in prison, along with made me realize the alliances and fights that can occur in prison and how dangerous that place actually is.

I really don't have much else to say about this book, other than I would recommend it to anyone who wants a fairly fast paced read, but wants a longer book.

Anyway, until next time, Happy reading!

Just Thoughts

I haven't finished a book yet (sadly), but I've found that Jodi Picoult books are a wealth of information, or good quotes at least about finding yourself and what it's meant to be yourself. I don't really know if my full character has developed yet, seeing as I am only 20, but I kind of hope, I have the characteristics I think I have. That might sound a little confusing, but hopefully you will understand.

Anywho, I should probably get back to my work...It's not quite the end of term, so I still have to get some work done.

Until next time, happy reading!

The Secret Life of Bees (~)

I have finally finished another book! It's The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. I don't really know what the title means, but it is a very well written book. It's about a young girl who is motherless and runs away from home when her and her black nanny get in trouble with men at their town jail. She lives with 3 black women who happened to know her mother. She finds out some truths about her mother, but in the ends realizes that even if her mother is not there in flesh she is still there in spirit inside of her, and that she shouldn't worry if she feels lonely because she has many friends who care about her.

Yeah, kind of corny description of the book, but there's really no other way to put it. It's beautifully written, but not so much so that it makes it difficult to get through. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants an inspirational read.

Now it is time to continue on to another Jodi Picoult book. Hopefully this one is as good as the last one I read by her.

Happy reading, and until next time!

Freedom to Read

I was reading the newspaper today and I came upon the article talking about Freedom to Read week. I checked out the list of books and magazines that have been banned from public school libraries because of their "inappropriate" material. Some of them I agreed with, but others I was appalled at the reason behind the ban.

A few of the books are Harry Potter, the Golden Compass, To Kill a Mockingbird, Underground to Canada.

The way I see it is that how can you educate children about equality and acceptance of other races and of homosexuality if you do not allow them to read about how it used to be and how things should be changed? Parents believe that children are impressionable, (and don't get me wrong, they are) but I'm sure that reading ONE book is not going to change their attitudes towards a race or religion or change their sexuality. I also believe that it would be better to inform our children of how things used to be, and for them to gain more information about prejudice and other past societal views than it is to shield them from it. How are we ever going to learn from our mistakes if we do not accept them and continuously view them? As someone once said (sorry for the missing citation) "Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it".

To think also of how nowadays people believe we are so accepting of gays and lesbians, but we won't allow children to read books about homosexuality because we are afraid that it will influence their beliefs. Do people not realize that homosexuality is NOT a lifestyle choice, but is biologically driven? And that by reading books "endorsing" homosexuality will not change their sexual preferences?

I was also surprised to see that Harry Potter and the Golden Compass made the list. Apparently, according to some parents, Harry Potter was inappropriate because of the magical themes (come on! It's for entertainment!) and how the Golden Compass is promoting atheism. As I said before, reading 6 books on that specific theme will not influence their religious beliefs because children do not delve that deep into the meaning behind books, most children only read them for entertainment. In comparison, you don't see any bans on Disney movies because of "magical themes", especially in the older movies (Fantasia, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, etc.).

I do agree with banning some books, and I believe that there should be an age restriction on books, especially those like To Kill a Mockingbird. I believe for a book like that, it should be read by children who are old enough to understand that it is inappropriate now to say the "n-word" but it was part of the culture from that time period.

I think parents are just making a big deal out of nothing because they want to control their children's beliefs for as long as possible. I believe it's better for them to be informed as early as possible so that our world can continue to move towards a less prejudiced place.

I say, support Freedom to Read week by reading all of the "banned" books, which can be found in a list on this website: www.freedomtoread.ca.

Happy reading!