Summer Reading

This is the first summer in quite a while that I have not had required summer reading. It's been very nice because I've been able to read whatever I want. So I thought I'd review those books that I have read so far this summer, so that you, the reader, may read something on my recommendation. Or not, whatever.

The Lovely Bones
Summary: Susie, a 14-year-old girl, gets raped and murdered. The book is written in first person from her point of view from Heaven as she watches her family and friends cope with her death. The book spans from the time of her death to about 20 years later.
Critique: The first 100 pages are incredibly depressing. The rape is described in full detail, and is probably very accurate of a rape considering the author herself was raped (she wrote another book called Lucky about her experience with rape). After you get past the horrific rape scene and the tear-jerking descriptions of the family's grief (particularly emotional was a chapter in which Susie's father has to explain to her 4 year old brother that his sister is dead) the book actually gets a little light-hearted, suspenseful, and at times humorous. At times, the novel is almost like a mystery because the reader knows who Susie's killer is, but the family doesn't and you don't know if they ever will catch him. The novel deals with a lot of issues. Susie's friends go through high school and growing up and finding themselves with the weight of a tragic loss on their shoulders. Her siblings have to deal with being labeled as "the dead girl's" brother or sister. Her parents have to deal with being able to love each other after the loss of a child, which proves extremely difficult and harmful to the family as a whole. Susie herself has to deal with watching those on Earth, but being unable to connect with them until she does find a way to break through, which is a really weird and interesting chapter. Overall, I would give the book a 4 out of 5 stars.

The DaVinci Code
Summary: Robert Langdon gets this call in the middle of the night in France and goes to the Louvre Museum to find the famous curator sprawled out in the Viruvian Man position. He and the curator's granddaughter find all these clues that the dead guy left behind and they are just so freakin' smart that they solve a bunch of clues leading to the treasure that no one has been able to find for centuries. This treasure is the Holy Grail, which really isn't a grail, but Mary Magdeline's tomb. They're being chased by the police and they get into all these Indiana Jones type adventures. The whole thing takes place in about 3 days.
Critique: Despite what everyone else says about this book, I did not like it. I think Dan Brown is a hack. Maybe I was expecting more because of all the hype, but this book just didn't do it for me. First of all, the writing is not anything spectacular. Sure, the story itself is very imaginative and takes a clever mind, but it would make a much better movie than a book. The book is frustrating in that it presents so many stories about history that you have to wonder which are fact and which are fiction. Also, Dan Brown makes a lot of bold claims about the Catholic Church. He seems as if he's trying to trick reader's into believing that the Church was founded on corrupt schemes by placing these stories among facts about art history. Obviously, Brown is not a fan of the Church, but he does not have to make things up about it. I have heard some people who have read the book actually buy into his little stories about the Church's "corrupt foundations." It is a fiction book. It's FICTION. I realize the Church is not perfect, because it is man-made. But there are not such deep, dark, corrupt, malicious, devious secrets that built the Church up. Anyway, more about the book. It became very long and drawn out and the characters did a lot of sitting around and talking and explaining certain things repeatedly to different people. Also, Langdon and his side-kick girl figured things out much too quickly for this treasure to have been such a well-gaurded secret for centuries. One second, they'd be pondering, then the next, they would have figured out this impossible riddle that has left treasure seekers perplexed for ages. The book is ridiculously outlandish. Skip this book and stick to the Indiana Jones movies. 2 out of 5 stars.

Sloppy Firsts
Summary: Jessica Darling's best friend just moved far away. In her sophomore year, she is left with only those mere aquaintances she eats lunch with. They are the superficial, popular girls who stab each other in the back, drink regularly, never eat, and have a new boyfriend every week. Jessica, a smart and quiet girl, feels lost without her best friend. To top it off, her whole family is preoccupied with her older sister's wedding and her father only talks to her about running. Marcus Flutie, the class druggie, becomes a part of Jessica's life when she decides to be daring and let him use her urine sample to fake a drug test. She becomes depressed and is becoming more distant from her once best friend, but she always maintains her wit. This book is written in the form of Jessica's journal and it follows her from sophomore year to junior year.
Critique: I couldn't put the book down. It was right up my alley. It's a very hard book to summarize because it's written in journal form, so there are many minor events that make up the book. Jessica Darling is very sarcastic and witty and is never afraid to tell her journal how she really feels about her parents or the girls she eats lunch with or Marcus Flutie. The book is not as serious as it sounds and it has lots of laugh out loud moments. It's a feel-good read with substance. Jessica was definitely a girl I could relate to and would want to be friends with. Her sense of humor is unique and she is very insightful when it comes to analyzing people. Currently, two Jessica Darling books have been written with more to come. 5 out of 5 stars.

Stiff
Summary: This is not a novel, but investigative journalism. It's all about "the curious lives of cadavers"--the many different uses for dead human bodies. Each chapter deals with a different use, including how plastic surgeons practice on heads for face lifts, cadavers used as crash test dummies, cadavers used to examine human decay, how cadavers can detail the events of a disaster, anatomy students holding memorial services for their cadavers, Body Worlds exhibits, and much more.
Critique: Warning! This book entails gory and at times horrific detailing of dead human bodies and what is done with them. It is reccomended that the reader has a strong stomache. No detail is left out in this book. The chapter that describes a field at a certain university, specifically dedicated to the study of decay (bodies are literally strewn about the field), is especially disgusting in its description of the 4 stages of decay. Because this book does not have a story line, it's a little harder to get through. Once a chapter ends, so does a story, so it's not exactly a page turner. It is, however, very interesting and I am glad that I read it. It's amazing how many uses there are for cadavers. This is a book you don't have to read all at once, but can pick up and read a chapter from time to time. 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Smashed
Summary: Koren Sailckas, the author, describes how she fell into alcohol abuse. Her "story of a drunken girlhood" starts when she is only 14 and ends when she give up alcohol at age 22. The novel focuses on her struggle for acceptance and self-confidence through alcohol, the pressure for women to drink, and the difficulties in escaping it.
Critique: Every girl should read this book before going to college. If I had any doubts that I would continue to abstain from alcohol in college, they were abolished with this book. Koren begins drinking at 14. By age 16, she has her stomache pumped and falls into an alcohol induced coma. In college, she blacks out and wakes up the next morning, having lost her virginity to a man she met the night before. Her relationships continously crumble and she is always afraid of men. Her attempts at abstaining from alcohol fall apart when social situations call for drinking. Her friendships are based on drinking, so when she finally does choose to quit drinking, it is made much harder for the sudden loneliness felt when she realizes the only things she had in common with her friends was drinking. She is never an alcoholic, just an alcohol abuser. Zailckas discuses throughout the book societies expectations of women when it comes to drinking. Women are supposed to be made more confident and forward and dominating if they drink, which in actuallity, there is a Girls Gone Wild camera hiding outside a bar, telling drunk girls to lift their shirts or a man hurrying a wasted girl into his car. Women are objectified in alcohol commericals when they mudwrestle or serve a man his drink, scantily clad. This book truly demonstrates the dangers of excess and how college drinking is especially harmful, despite its wide acceptance. Zailckas sites several Harvard studies on college drinking throughout her book to backup her claim that, although accepted, college binge drinking is dangerous for all people, especially women. So if there is one book that you read this summer, make it this one. It might change your opinion on drinking once you get to school, or it at least might make you take a second thought. 5 out of 5 stars.

So there you have it--my summer reading. Take it for what its worth, but trust me about Smashed. Happy reading!

Two topics rolled into one blog!!!

I love fireworks. They are just so great. I wish they launched fireworks year round, but I doubt very many people would sit outside in December to watch them. Anyway, I missed the 4th of July parade, not because I am unpatriotic, but for several reasons:
1.) Stow's parade is getting really lame. It's turned into a bunch of realtors giving out business cards.
2.) I am afraid of clowns and parades almost always have clowns. I saw one at a cookout on the 3rd and I nearly freaked out until I noticed the clown did not have face paint on. This made things a little better, but not much, considering he was equipped with huge multi-colored shoes, MC Hammer-esque parachute pants, and balloon animal making skills.
3.) I had a feeling watching a parade would make me more aware that I am not a kid anymore and that my childhood is behind me. It's like I wouldn't be allowed to enjoy it because society says parades are for kids and such. I probably wouldn't enjoy anyway, though, because they'd be throwing candy at me and I'd just be thinking about how many calories are in each little tootsie roll.
4.) I didn't want to get up early. I like sleep. A lot.
5.) I wasn't in the parade. I would definitely go if I was in it. Walking those five miles while chucking candy at toddlers would be a great workout. The only time I was in the parade was for girlscouts and that was in 3rd grade. It was fun. I decided I could probably just have an impromptu float idea and hop in line for the parade, but by the time I came up with a cause, it was too late and I was too lazy. My cause would be PETA: People for Eating Tasty Animals (I know that's not my original idea, but it's soooo funny). My float would be Hawaiin style with a giant pig on a spit in the middle. I'd toss steaks into the crowd. So, if anyone wants to join me in this cause for next year's parade, just give me a call.
6.) I hate it when people say "Happy 4th of July" and that would definitely happen at a 4th of July parade. Saying "happy 4th of July" is like saying "Happy 23 of April." It's a date! not a holiday! If you want to wish someone some holiday cheer on July 4th, you should say "Happy Independence day" or "Here, have some leftover potato salad from yesterday's family picnic!" But please, do not say "happy birthday America." That is soooo corny.

I guess those are really the only reasons I had for not going to the parade. I did go to two sets of fireworks--Hudson's and Silver Lake's. Silver Lake's was way better.

So at the end of this month I get my roommate assignment. I'm so excited!!! I just want to know right now. It's killing me, not knowing, it really is. I've been speculating all summer about what my roomie is going to be like and what will I do if she's a twit? I watched this episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer where Buffy gets this awful roommate who is just so annoying, but such a sickeningly sweet goodie tooshoes. She's uber obnoxious, but to top it off, she ends up being a soul-sucking demon. Don't worry, Buffy kicks her butt into another dimension. But what if I, a normal, non-slayer girl, gets a terrible roommate who wants to kill me? I have no super powers! I can barely shove someone to their side of the room, let alone into another realm. So here's keeping my fingers crossed for a non-demon roommate.