Simone and Her Books

How to become a reader

October 27, 2016

I was thinking about this over the weekend while visiting my boyfriend’s family. His sister has three kids under the age of three, which makes life a little more challenging. While talking with her, she asked me for some book recommendations. “I just have these times when I read a bunch of books at once and then stop reading for a while.”

I thought that was great and proceeded to provide her with a few of my favorite books from over the summer. But our conversation made me think a little bit about readers and reading. What constitutes a good reader?

Do you need to have a bookshelf overflowing with books?

Do you have to carry a book with you everywhere you go?

What does it mean to be a reader? How can you become a reader?

Some people believe readers are intellectual people who mutter random quotes at you and tries to find the metaphor in everything they do. They read “hard books” like Proust or Faulkner or Tolstoy. However, I don’t like to see readers in that light. We’re not this exclusive club that you need to prove yourself by reading 80 books a year or written a dissertation on Barthes theory. If anything, we’re the most inclusive club you can join because every reader promotes reading to everyone everywhere.

It’s important for humans to read. There’s so many worlds and cultures and histories that you can learn from books that to not read is almost like holding yourself back from your fullest potential. It’s a disservice and even one book can break you from that shell you’re hiding in 😉

If you’re only reading a book every three or four months, that’s ok! We all have busy lives and different responsibilities. It doesn’t discount you from the readership. However, if you just can’t seem to get yourself into reading, here’s a few tips for you:

Read what you loved

Don’t go all crazy and try to read Jonathan Franzen right out the gate. You’ll end up burning out and giving up. Instead, read something that you’ve read before and you remember loving. Perhaps it’s a middle grade or children’s book, but that shouldn’t stop you. My favorite book growing up was The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. When I first started reading more books, I started with this one because I remembered my enjoyment when reading it as a kid. Reading something you remember loving helps you find your groove. What was it about the book that you loved? What can you find in other books that follow that same line of thinking? It’s a good way to get that imagination revved and ready to read.

Find what works for you

Haters gonna hate like readers gonna read. Don’t worry about what the haters are going to say, just read for the love of reading. I never would have thought myself as the type of person to love reading romance and YA. Even silly books like Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey were enough inspiration for me to find similar or even better books than those. Yeah, these books get a lot of flack amongst other human beings (let alone the book community), but they’re books nonetheless and they sparked a readership in me that other books weren’t able to find. If you love romance novels, then love romance novels. If you love YA, then love YA. If you’re scared to read these genres out in public, get an e-reader. They’ll never know 😉

Challenge yourself

Now that you’ve gotten into the groove of reading, challenge yourself. See how long it takes you to read that book in your hand. Start a Goodreads account or even buy yourself a journal to not only keep track of what you’re reading, but also keep track of what you think. Books will do that even if you don’t want them to. They’ll make you think about things in a different way or see a different perspective.

Don’t get too caught up in the details of a character, but understand and appreciate who this character is and what they contribute to the story. Form some opinions around what you like to see when you read. Reading can almost mimic data analytics. If you’re a business person or work in operations like I do, then you’ll find patterns in the books you like. You’ll find the areas and traits that really grab hold of you and you can use that to help you to read even more.

And that’s it! Reading isn’t about how fast you can do it or how many books you can read. If you end up reading one book this year, that’s more than other people have in the last five years. If you love books, you’ll find yourself gravitating towards them. It’s like a love story. Some people have short bursts of relationships with books while others it’s a constant affair. There’s no judgments. Open your heart and read a little today!

So what do you believe makes you a reader?
The Lovely Reckless by Kami Garcia – Book Review

October 24, 2016

A few posts ago, I mentioned doing a Library Reading Challenge, where I try to read four books within three weeks time. The reason? Well, you can only borrow a book for three weeks before you have to return it. Given my track record on reading, I would only be able to finish 3/4 books.

Yes, I know that I can renew the books if I don’t get to them, but that doesn’t make it a challenge. I want to see if I can do it. There’s really no other reason why I want to do this. Also, my TBR is piling up to uncontrollable levels and I’d like to read those books as well. First world book problems, am I right?

Anyway, I decided to start off my challenge with The Lovely Reckless by Kami Garcia.

The only other novel I’ve read by Kami Garcia was Beautiful Creatures, which wasn’t my favorite even if I always end up watching the movie when it’s on TV.

But this was different. Fast and Furious meets Rich girl/Poor boy.

Synopsis (from Goodreads.com) – Seventeen-year-old Frankie Devereux would do anything to forget the past. Haunted by the memory of her boyfriend’s death, she lives her life by one dangerous rule: Nothing matters. At least, that’s what Frankie tells herself after a reckless mistake forces her to leave her privileged life in the Heights to move in with her dad—an undercover cop. She transfers to a public high school in the Downs, where fistfights don’t faze anyone and illegal street racing is more popular than football.

Marco Leone is the fastest street racer in the Downs. Tough, sexy, and hypnotic, he makes it impossible for Frankie to ignore him—and how he makes her feel. But the risks Marco takes for his family could have devastating consequences for them both. When Frankie discovers his secret, she has to make a choice. Will she let the pain of the past determine her future? Or will she risk what little she has left to follow her heart?

Rating: 4/5 stars and a definite recommendation

My thoughts – I finished reading this book over the weekend while flying over to Florida. I love books like this. I love them because they’re easily digestible and entertaining. That’s not to say there isn’t substance, there is. But when you read a lot of books about serious “adult” stuff, you want a little bit of a break. The Lovely Reckless is definitely a nice little break.

The writing is easy-to-read and digestible. Kami Garcia does a great job painting the picture of a young girl who doesn’t know what to do with herself after seeing her boyfriend die. I think the one thing I didn’t like was how she made it entirely about herself. She ignored her friends and started causing trouble. I get that it’s tough when someone you love is gone, but you don’t ignore the friends and family that want to take care of you during your time of need. That part didn’t sit right with me, but that might not be the case for everyone.

The plot read like Fast and Furious. I was surprised that Frankie, the main character, didn’t actually work for the cops with her dad as an undercover agent. However, I did have to take half a star away for the plot being too quick for the couple to fall in love as well as the “good girl gone bad” and the rich/poor dynamic of the couple.

But again, this isn’t about the smaller minutae, but the bigger story. You will definitely fall in love with Frankie and Marco and you’ll feel feelings for Deacon that you wish could come true. It’s riveting and had me at the edge of my seat even if I was 30,000 feet in the air.
Commonwealth by Ann Patchett – Book Review

October 21, 2016

A story about how the decisions you make for yourself can trigger effects across everyone you love.

Synopsis (from Goodreads.com) –

One Sunday afternoon in Southern California, Bert Cousins shows up at Franny Keating’s christening party uninvited. Before evening falls, he has kissed Franny’s mother, Beverly—thus setting in motion the dissolution of their marriages and the joining of two families.

Spanning five decades, Commonwealth explores how this chance encounter reverberates through the lives of the four parents and six children involved. Spending summers together in Virginia, the Keating and Cousins children forge a lasting bond that is based on a shared disillusionment with their parents and the strange and genuine affection that grows up between them.

Rating: 4/5 stars

My thoughts – Have you ever considered if the decisions you make for yourself somehow effect the people around you? Thinking that way would probably put you on eggshells for the rest of your life. For the most part, we all do what makes us happy. It’s what we’re taught when we’re young. But what happens when what makes you happy makes everyone miserable?

In Commonwealth, Ann Patchett explores what happens when you do. After Bert and Beverly kiss at Franny’s christening party, it ends up setting off a chain reaction of events. First, they get divorced from their former lovers and then get married. Then, they move to Virginia causing their kids to shuttle between the West Coast and the East Coast every summer. The cause of all these events leads to their children hating them.

And perhaps you can say that the events that happened to them as they spent their summers in Virginia was the catalyst for the rest of their life. Ann Patchett took a lot of time to really bring out these characters. Since there are six kids between Beverly and Bert as well as their exes, there’s a lot of ground to cover. While I did love the character development, I feel like the plot of the story suffered a little bit from it. It’s why I didn’t give it that last star.

However, the story idea is intriguing and what really made me think after I put the book down. What have I done in my life that might have affected the life of someone else? I think we all do things with the best of intentions and in some place somewhere far away there’s someone who is affected by it.

An example I can think of is my day job. If I were to leave, what would happen to the people I work with? Yes, they’ll be fine, but they’ll also have another manager and perhaps they may consider their own careers. For better or worse. It’s difficult to be selfish, but sometimes life requires you to be selfish. Sometimes you just need to be selfish to be happy because your current situation makes you miserable.

I think what you need to remember is that even though you’re making decisions for yourself, others may also be along for that ride. If that’s the case, take a moment to remember them. Empathize with their feelings, get their opinions, and if you do go ahead with your plans, never leave them out. You may never know what may happen to them down the line.
October 2016 Library Book Haul

October 18, 2016

I can’t pinpoint the exact moment I started loving books or going to the library, but I did. I don’t even think it had anything to do with the books, but the fact that there’s this public place you can come to and study, rent books, and escape from reality. Because the truth is that only a certain kind of person goes to the library and those people are the dreamers.

Scratch that, the truth is that homeless people go to the library because it’s warm and there’s a free bathroom.

But I go to the library or a bookstore or any place you can patron that has books because I’m just your typical book lover. I love to read books, be around books, and generally want to be a book.

There’s a magic when you arrive. The air is musty from the older reference books and the temperature is cold to keep the publicly used computers nice and cool.

My childhood library was amazing. There were three stories of books all ranging from children’s to research and I remember spending my time from when I was really young (maybe 6-7) to when I graduated from high school there. I’d be a part of the reading program every summer and at one point wanted to work at the library. I ended up spending my lunch periods in high school helping out in the school library and putting books back on the shelf. I was that lame.

It took me a while to get back to the library mostly because there was a scene in the movie The Squid and the Whale where the young kid masturbates in the stacks and then wipes his semen on the spines of the books. That swore me off from those books for a few years. I didn’t want to touch nasty books especially when I live in the same city as the characters from that movie.

But I’ve managed to quell my OCD thoughts from what might be on those books and started to take advantage of the library system again.

All of this to say, I’ve got some great reads from the library and I’m sharing them with you now.

1. Siracusa by Delia Ephron – New Yorkers Michael, a famous writer, and Lizzie, a journalist, travel to Italy with their friends from Maine—Finn, his wife Taylor, and their daughter Snow. “From the beginning,” says Taylor, “it was a conspiracy for Lizzie and Finn to be together.” Told Rashomon-style in alternating points of view, the characters expose and stumble upon lies and infidelities past and present. Snow, ten years old and precociously drawn into a far more adult drama, becomes the catalyst for catastrophe as the novel explores collusion and betrayal in marriage.

Ephron delivers a meditation on marriage, friendship, and the meaning of travel. Set on the sun-drenched coast of the Ionian Sea, Siracusa unfolds with the pacing of a psychological thriller and delivers an unexpected final act that none can see coming.

I was going to read this right after I finished Commonwealth, but I’m starting to see that maybe this one is a little too close to what I’m reading now. I might hold off while I get a palate cleanser in there.

2. The Girls by Emma Cline – Northern California, during the violent end of the 1960s. At the start of summer, a lonely and thoughtful teenager, Evie Boyd, sees a group of girls in the park, and is immediately caught by their freedom, their careless dress, their dangerous aura of abandon. Soon, Evie is in thrall to Suzanne, a mesmerizing older girl, and is drawn into the circle of a soon-to-be infamous cult and the man who is its charismatic leader. Hidden in the hills, their sprawling ranch is eerie and run down, but to Evie, it is exotic, thrilling, charged—a place where she feels desperate to be accepted. As she spends more time away from her mother and the rhythms of her daily life, and as her obsession with Suzanne intensifies, Evie does not realize she is coming closer and closer to unthinkable violence, and to that moment in a girl’s life when everything can go horribly wrong.

I’ve been going back and forth with this one. In fact, this is my second time borrowing this book from the library because I haven’t made up my mind if I should read it or not. It’s because I like stories about Charles Manson, but I don’t want to read about the horrendous acts he made those people do.

Coincidentally, my office decided to have a book discussion on this read in a few weeks, so I figured I’ll read it with the intention of going to this book discussion and see how I feel about it.

3. Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven – Everyone thinks they know Libby Strout, the girl once dubbed “America’s Fattest Teen.” But no one’s taken the time to look past her weight to get to know who she really is. Following her mom’s death, she’s been picking up the pieces in the privacy of her home, dealing with her heartbroken father and her own grief. Now, Libby’s ready: for high school, for new friends, for love, and for every possibility life has to offer. In that moment, I know the part I want to play here at MVB High. I want to be the girl who can do anything.

Everyone thinks they know Jack Masselin, too. Yes, he’s got swagger, but he’s also mastered the impossible art of giving people what they want, of fitting in. What no one knows is that Jack has a newly acquired secret: he can’t recognize faces. Even his own brothers are strangers to him. He’s the guy who can re-engineer and rebuild anything, but he can’t understand what’s going on with the inner workings of his brain. So he tells himself to play it cool: Be charming. Be hilarious. Don’t get too close to anyone.

Until he meets Libby. When the two get tangled up in a cruel high school game—which lands them in group counseling and community service—Libby and Jack are both pissed, and then surprised. Because the more time they spend together, the less alone they feel. Because sometimes when you meet someone, it changes the world, theirs and yours.

Ugh, I can already tell by the looks of this novel that it’s going to thrash my soul. I love Jennifer Niven and I was a huge fan of All the Bright Lights. Jennifer Niven has a tendency to hit some serious issues as well (depression, suicidal thoughts), so hopefully this won’t throw me into a panic.

4. The Lovely Reckless by Kami Garcia – Seventeen-year-old Frankie Devereux would do anything to forget the past. Haunted by the memory of her boyfriend’s death, she lives her life by one dangerous rule: Nothing matters. At least, that’s what Frankie tells herself after a reckless mistake forces her to leave her privileged life in the Heights to move in with her dad—an undercover cop. She transfers to a public high school in the Downs, where fistfights don’t faze anyone and illegal street racing is more popular than football.

Marco Leone is the fastest street racer in the Downs. Tough, sexy, and hypnotic, he makes it impossible for Frankie to ignore him—and how he makes her feel. But the risks Marco takes for his family could have devastating consequences for them both. When Frankie discovers his secret, she has to make a choice. Will she let the pain of the past determine her future? Or will she risk what little she has left to follow her heart?

I think this one will be the book I read next since it’s a little bit more light-hearted (ish) and not too close to Commonwealth’s plot. I’m actually really excited because I loved Beautiful Creatures and sometimes I guiltily re-watch the movie.

What about you? Do you love the library?
Reasons why I started a book blog

October 17, 2016

And you may ask yourself
Well…How did I get here?

Lately, I’ve been thinking about why I started to blog about books. I’ve never done it before. Most of my blogs in the past were about petty teenager stuff; poems I’ve written about love interests that didn’t work out. But at some point early this year, I realized that I wanted a place where I can express my thoughts about books, about life, about the impact books have on my life.

I definitely know that I’m not blogging about books because I want to be rich and famous. Yes, I want to be rich and famous, but who doesn’t? I don’t think the approach would be to start a book blog. Let’s be honest, that’s probably the least successful way of getting rich and famous.

No, I started this blog because my brain is a garbage heap and I can’t remember plot points to books I’ve read.

I found this out last year when I challenged myself to read 60 books. On average, I could finish one book within a week (5-7 days for those doing the math). My challenge meant I would add an additional 8 books to my year. I figured that there would be some books that I finished within less than a week providing me the additional space to read more.

With my ambition came my downfall. While I was meeting the needs of my challenge, I was also forgetting what I was reading. I don’t remember much about the books that I did read. I was so enraptured in the thought that I will get behind my reading challenge that I didn’t remember what I read and what I didn’t read. It all blended together and even plots blended together. All I remember was what I liked and what I didn’t like, but I didn’t remember specific reasons why my opinions swayed one way or another.

It was most embarrassing when I was at intellectual friend’s party and people asked me “oh what did you think?” and all I can muster is “Uh…it was good!”

You want to say something cool about the book or note on an anecdote, but you can’t even remember the basic plot. You’ve got like these pseudo-intellectuals living in Brooklyn staring at you wondering if you have any thoughts about books.

That was when I decided that I needed to have a reading blog. It’s more than just journaling my thoughts about books, but it’s about being able to recall details from stories. It’s a brain dump, essentially. I’m trying to get out the most I can think about a book and in doing so somehow remember it? I don’t know, this worked in college.

I want to be a reading advocate and someone who’s bookish thoughts are listened to and considered important. I don’t want to be just some book critic with overhyped opinions inflated with intellectual language and not a lot of heart. I want what I read to invoke thoughts and my thoughts hopefully met by a like-minded audience. I’m not really doing this to find some fame or fortune, but just the opportunity to talk about books through social media.

So that’s why I started my blog. Books mean a lot to me, and I guess what I’m trying to say by having a blog is that I want to share their importance with you.

What are some reasons why you started your book blog?
In the Mood to Read

October 15, 2016

Have you ever had those moments when you’re reading a book and you wonder to yourself why you’re reading that book?

Let me give you a scenario:

You’ve been interested in a book. It’s been on your TBR for a while and finally, you pick it up. You start reading it, but something triggers in you that makes you realize you don’t want to read this book right now. Is it the book? Is it you? Who knows! Something about it makes you want to put it down and pick up something else instead.

9/10 times, for me, it’s usually my anxiety. I have pretty negative thoughts in my head that tend to also perpetuate even further with the book I’m reading. This is why I haven’t read anything by Ransom Riggs because I don’t need photos of creepy kids giving me anxiety attacks every other page.

But for others, it could be a myriad of reasons. Maybe it’s Autumn and you decided to reread Harry Potter. Maybe it’s just a boring story (feasible scenario). Or maybe it’s because you’re just not in the mood for it.

It took me a really long time to understand that what I’m feeling is a lack of interest in reading, I’m just not in the mood. Reading books is like trying to figure out what you want to eat for dinner. If there aren’t any obvious choices, you’re going to go for the cheapest, most convenient thing in front of you. Halfway through the meal, you realize that this isn’t what you wanted in the first place and then the meal is in the trash or put in the back of your fridge.

If you haven’t done that with your books, then your fridge must look pretty barren.

I hate leaving a book in the middle of the story, but sometimes when you’re not in the mood to read that particular story and that’s OK. I think the key point to understand here is that reading is subjective. Either you want to do it or you don’t. If you don’t want to do it, there’s no mark against you. Yeah, you’ll get put back a little bit on your reading challenge, but it’s not the end of the world. Unless it is the end of the world and even then there are bigger things to worry about than not being able to finish Anna Karenina.

So, in summation, be kind to yourself. Read what you want to read when you want to read it. And if you’re just not in the mood, then put down the book. There’s no one watching. Go ahead. Put it down.
Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo – Book Review

October 11, 2016

Is it pessimistic to say that I wanted to hate this book? It’s a sequel, there’s a certain amount of expectation there knowing that it’s a sequel. It’s supposed to be bad. It’s supposed to try and wrap everything up in a neat little bow, but the bow is made from lion mane still attached to the lion. Most sequels are bad.

Crooked Kingdom is not.

Synopsis (from Goodreads.com) – Kaz Brekker and his crew have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn’t think they’d survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they’re right back to fighting for their lives. Double-crossed and left crippled by the kidnapping of a valuable team member, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz’s cunning and test the team’s fragile loyalties. A war will be waged on the city’s dark and twisting streets―a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of magic in the Grisha world.

Rating: 5/5

My thoughts – I am a huge fan of the Six of Crow series. My reaction to the end of the first novel made me want to throw a table. Cliffhangers are the worst and Leigh Bardugo gave us the worst cliffhanger of all; ending the first story where these band of misfits get swindled from their money and one of their own gets kidnapped.

I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!

I needed to know what happens to Inej and Kaz, and Matthias and Nina, and does Jesper and Wylan ever hook up because that would be so precious!

All these moments hanging on the balance for only a few months (because I read the book earlier this summer) and then culminated to this final book. When I opened my delivery box, all I can see is the cover. The color palette on the front of the book were these dusty sand and black with a huge crow trying to gain altitude almost reaching out above you.

Then, you see the red-stained edges. I’ve gotten books with deckled edges and I know the Bible comes with that special gold edge, but not red. Such a sexy book.

I pushed all my books aside and made room for Crooked Kingdom to take me back to Ketterdam and fix all that is wrong in the world.

And wow, did Leigh Bardugo deliver.

While I could complain that the story was a little too long for me, it’s negligible. I don’t think Leigh Bardugo could cut out any step within this process especially since she has the ability to reconnect those moments together at the end.

Maybe there were people who lived those lives. Maybe this girl was one of them. But what about the rest of us? What about the nobodies and the nothings, the invisible girls? We learn to hold our heads as if we wear crowns. We learn to wring magic from the ordinary. That was how you survived when you weren’t chosen, when there was no royal blood in your veins. When the world owed you nothing, you demanded something of it anyway.

Her style of writing is poetic. Each moment for the characters is representative of something in their lives. It could be an insecurity or it could be their greatest strength, but Leigh Bardugo doesn’t leave you in the dark about any of it. The best part is that she doesn’t take 5 books for you to find out. She’s upfront and genuine and actually somewhat like this crew of misfits she’s created.

You can also always expect a surprise from her at the end of the novel. While things did work out for everyone in the end (sorry about that little spoiler), it’s the journey to the end that really matters. You see that these aren’t just some ordinary thieves, that there’s a small ounce of humanitarian-ism in each of them and despite the world dealing them a pretty nasty hand, they’re able to smile with each other and commiserate together.

No mourners, no funerals. Another way of saying good luck. But it was something more. A dark wink to the fact that there would be no expensive burials for people like them, no marble markers to remember their names, no wreaths of myrtle and rose.
September 2016 Wrap Up

October 2, 2016
I can’t believe that it’s already October. The cool weather is really settling in Brooklyn and I’m pulling out the scarves, jackets, and hot cups of tea. It’s my favorite time of the year and it’s also the perfect reason to go out and read (more than I usually do).

Anyway, here’s my September Wrap Up. I had a few books on my list in September, but as always, my plans changed (lol). I only read four books in September, but I feel like I’m more enriched by my reads. Here’s my reads:
1. P.S. I Like You by Kasie West (5/5 stars) – I got this book in my Owlcrate box in August, but haven’t had the chance to read it until now. This was such a sweet little read. I love doing “in-betweeners,” which are books that you read to separate out some of the more heavy and serious reads. Not to say that this book isn’t serious. It’s the kind of book that doesn’t remind you of the strife and struggle of reality. I don’t know if you deal with this kind of thing, but when I read too many serious books I get some serious anxiety about life. When you’re so enveloped by a book, you forget what’s reality and what’s the fiction and in those situations, the anxiety is real. If you haven’t felt anxiety after reading a serious book then you’ve got a stronger mind than me.
2. One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid (4.5/5 stars) – I was reading One True Loves as another “in-betweener” because I wasn’t ready to read something serious yet. However, as I got into it, I realized that this was a bit more serious. Dead husbands and finding love and finding old loves again. Those kinds of conversations are reserved for the reality of the world and not the fun world of “in-betweeners.” But I fell in love with this book the way Emma, the main character, fell in love twice. No spoilers here, but it’s really difficult to choose someone you want to be with when you have feelings for more than one person. I will keep the rest to myself, but I strongly suggest this book.
3. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (5/5 stars) – Alright, when I talk about serious books, this is a serious book. However, it’s an important book and something I think everyone should read. If you’ve ever asked yourself what your ethnicity and heritage/background is, then you should read this book. Coming from a very family-centric environment, it was frustrating for me to read about a family lineage where it gets so muddled because of something as barbaric as slavery and war. It reminds me of the Syrian refugees ripped from their families and their homes. I think with modern technology they may be able to be together again, but back in the 19th century, that wasn’t an option. It brings a sad tear to my eye knowing that some families will never be together again. Everyone should read this if only to value the families they have.
4. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (4/5 stars) – I read this one for Banned Books Week. There is something about Toni Morrison’s voice that compels me to read more and pushes me away from her. Her words are haunting and visceral like looking at a surrealist painting. The Bluest Eye is the first novel she’s published and if you’ve ever struggled with your own identity and accepting who you are, then you should definitely read this book. In the end, the moral of the story is that you shouldn’t struggle to try and be something you’re not. Love yourself for who you are and enjoy your youth as much as you can.
Enjoy!
2016 Banned Books Week and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

September 29, 2016

I love Banned Books Week. If anything, it should be more awareness vs. passion for banned books, but maybe it’s the rebel in me that wants to read banned books because some group of people say that we need to protect our children from them.

As an adult and a lover of books, I can read whatever book I want. However, there are dozens of schools and libraries throughout the United States that feel the need to censor some books because of their themes and content. I don’t think there’s anything worse than hiding truth and knowledge from young people. Maybe cookies. If you were hiding cookies from young people, I’m pretty sure they should know about it.

This year’s theme is on diverse books. Funnily enough, I’ve been on a pretty big diverse reading kick lately and found the timing pretty serendipitous. For my book this year, I chose to read The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison.

I’ve only known some vague facts about this book, but I knew I loved Toni Morrison’s writing style. It’s almost like reading a surrealist painting. You can see she’s telling a story, but in the most artistic way possible. Every scene and every character is depicted to show you a more overarching themes and in the case of The Bluest Eye, beauty.

I think Toni Morrison takes the phrase “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” quite literally. The story follows a young black girl named Pecola Breedlove and her want to have the bluest of blue eyes. Everywhere she went and everything she saw in terms of beauty was that of a young white woman with blue eyes and blonde hair. She prays every day and wishes to have these blue eyes. However, everyone around her sees her as this ugly little girl with weird features. Even other black people found her to be unattractive.

This theme of fitting in and wanting to be adored is something I felt when I was younger. Being Asian American and growing up in a predominantly white town made it difficult for me to fit in with both Asian and non-Asian groups of friends. You’re interminably this puzzle piece that just doesn’t quite fit into the space. It’s a frustrating feeling and if I had known about a book like The Bluest Eye when I was a kid, then perhaps I would have seen things differently.

Books like this are impressionable because it tells you that you’re not alone. It tells you that there’s no point in trying to fit in because you’re beat yourself crazy trying to do so. Accept yourself for who you are and don’t let people make you think otherwise. Pecola Breedlove didn’t have that kind of support or understood that kind of thinking and I think eventually led to her downfall at the end of the story.

This book was banned and frequently challenged because of its rape and incest scenes. Yeah, I’ll admit that those scenes were a little challenging to read, but I think there was one and it was the catalyst to what happened to Pecola in the end. I think if Pecola had a better family who loved her for who she was rather than looking at her as somewhat flawed, she wouldn’t have ended up trying to model herself off of a depiction of the perfect life.

Aesthetics are difficult for everyone, let alone women. We see something on TV or online and we envy their adoration. We want their fame so that we can feel their love. We have something to be remembered by and it’s always difficult to pull yourself from that thinking and remember that you’re you and you belong in this world as much as that pretty person does.

If you’ve never read this book and have had moments where you wished you had smaller hips or a tiny butt or less weight, then you should read this book. The lesson is that you shouldn’t want something that will make you feel accepted or loved. You should love yourself and when you do that, maybe the marigolds will bloom for you.
Book Review: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

September 24, 2016

The family is like the forest: if you are outside it is dense; if you are inside you see that each tree has its own position.

Synopsis (from Goodreads.com)

Two half sisters, Effia and Esi, unknown to each other, are born into different villages in eighteenth-century Ghana. Effia is married off to an Englishman and will live in comfort in the palatial rooms of Cape Coast Castle, raising children who will be sent abroad to be educated before returning to the Gold Coast to serve as administrators of the empire. Esi, imprisoned beneath Effia in the Castle’s women’s dungeon and then shipped off on a boat bound for America, will be sold into slavery. Stretching from the wars of Ghana to slavery and the Civil War in America, from the coal mines in the American South to the Great Migration to twentieth-century Harlem, Yaa Gyasi’s novel moves through histories and geographies and captures–with outstanding economy and force– the troubled spirit of our own nation. She has written a modern masterpiece

Rating: 5/5 Stars

My thoughts

A remarkable read. I loved every single word of this book. I don’t think I’ve come across a novel like this in a really long time.

The story follows the bloodlines of two half-sisters; one who marries a white trader in Ghana while the other is shipped off to America to be sold as a slave. Both of them experience the prejudices and hardships of being a person of color within the last 100 years.

While in the middle of reading this book, a guy on the street asked me for directions to the train. Instead of just pointing out to him where to go, I asked him to follow me since we were going in the same direction. He asked where I was from and what part of Brooklyn I lived so I asked the same. “BedStuy, but I got out of there because I had enough,” he said.

“Did you always live in Brooklyn?” I asked curiously.

“No, I made my way up here from Mississippi with my mom,” he replied.

It was uncanny how I was in the middle of reading a book on families moving and striving for a better life for their young ones and then I encounter a man who’s family has done the same thing. I don’t think I would have had the same amount of curiosity for him and how he grew up if I wasn’t reading this book.

Honestly, everyone should read this book and other diverse books. Homegoing is one of those books that opens my eyes to the reality of the world. It makes me sad that some people can’t trace their ancestry back any further than a few generations. People made sacrifices in order for other people to survive. Some people are lucky enough to have their family heirlooms passed down generation after generation. Others, not so much. I wouldn’t have known that had I not given this book a shot. We read so many novels about the same characters going through the same hardships, so it’s good for readers like us to branch out and learn a little bit more about something we’re not so comfortable with.

This book made me want to call my mother and ask for more information about my family. I want to know my lineage and being an Asian American, it makes me want to connect further with my roots.

This is the problem of history. We cannot know that which we were not there to see and hear and experience for ourselves. We must rely upon the words of others. Those who were there in the olden days, they told stories to the children so that the children would know, so that the children could tell stories to their children. And so on, and so on.

I can’t say it any more clearly that people should read books like Homegoing. It will broaden your mind and make you less ignorant of the person standing next to you.