Just kidding. I'm honestly surprised I spelled "entrepreneur" correctly on the first try.
The truth is I don't have a great excuse for not blogging. I was waiting on a good, relevant topic to write about and in the process I got caught up just plain living life. Sometimes no news is good news, you know?
Well. Summer is coming to an end. I wish I'd been able to blog more diligently during the last few months; the change of scenery from dorm to farm could've been nice. But oh well. I've got other things to think about as I set out for my final year of college.
(Yeah. I've also been watching a lot of Duck Dynasty.)
The last few summers--before my sophomore and junior years, that is--seemed to trudge by, like when you try to run in a dream and are astonished at how heavy your feet have become. This one, on the other hand, seriously flew by. I keep looking back at my pictures from choir tour and thinking, "Didn't I just get back from that???" It doesn't seem possible that that was nearly four months ago, as was the last time I talked to...well, a whole lotta people.
So am I ready to go back?
Ehhh...not really.
Usually by this point I'm bouncing off the walls, but this year I've really enjoyed my time at home. I'm not ready to swap the quiet country for the siren-laced city (and I know true cityfolk will tell me that Bethel's stretch of Mishawaka hardly qualifies as "city," but hey, compared to what I'm used to? It's THE city). The country makes sense to me. Going back to school means having to analyze countless situations--not to mention people--that may or may not actually have a solution. But I did move some of my stuff into my new room today, and I've got to say that helped excite me for the new year. I am indeed super excited to see my friends again, and even excited about some of my classes! And guys, guess what?! A week from today--Friday--I will once again be sitting in choir! Ah, how sweet it is.
So yeah, I've enjoyed my summer. It's been a very unexpected delight as I expected to be working and keeping very busy, and in reality I have been doing all that but I've been doing it all at home because I didn't actually find a job. That's another one of the perks of living on a farm; there's always something to do, something to make you feel like you're contributing to the world. Plus, the lack of a job has given me the opportunity to do some great things I wouldn't have been able to do otherwise.
For one, I've been able to go help out at my Opa's house with my dad a few times a week. Opa turns 82 today (Friday the 23rd, depending on when you're reading this) and has given up driving, so the rest of the family has been helping him out in whatever ways we are able/necessary. He's still sharp as a whip, especially when it comes to wisdom and humor--and he's one of those rare people who can mix the two effectively. It's been, again, an unexpected joy to help Opa out this summer and get to spend more time with him.
For another, I've begun sponsoring a child in Haiti. I know it sounds weird to say that I wouldn't have been able to do this if I hadn't not been able to find a job, but for some reason that's what it took to get me to actually do this. I've thought countless times about sponsoring a child, but I always thought, "I'll do it next semester when I'm working more hours and making more money." This summer, as I'm pretty much poorer than I've ever been in life, I realized that if I can't take it upon myself to help a child when I'm at my worst, I'll never do it when I'm at my best. Besides, it's $20 per month. Honestly, I spend more than that on myself per month regardless of my job situation. Which is pretty sad. So it was like humble pie, I suppose, and I'm doing my best to eat it daily. It was so exciting to pick out a child to sponsor from the wall of children in need of sponsorship, and so difficult to pick just one! I settled on a beautiful little girl named Sophonia Ocean, who will be ten years old next month. I just had a good feeling about her. I'll admit it's a little odd getting requests for child support payments in the mail, but it's totally awesome. Future goals include (A) meeting pretty Sophonia and (B) sponsoring another child, although that one will have to wait till I am in better standing.
Finally, I've been able to take advantage of summer for its reading opportunities--which is actually why I'm writing this anyway! The chance to finally read for pleasure is one of my very favorite parts of any school break, and I definitely took advantage of it this summer. I think my total count of books read is somewhere around 14 or 15, which isn't as many as I'd have liked, but it was soooooo nice to just read again. I never did understand the people who don't read. I mean, I "get it," but I don't get it. You know?
Anyway. Here are my 10 favorite reads of the summer, plus a few bonus points at the end because I couldn't make up my mind. Good to be back, blog readers!
[NOTE: These are listed in the order in which they were read, not by ranking.]
Chris-10's Top 10 Summer Reads:
- Push by Sapphire. I picked this one up at a Goodwill on 50% off day and read it almost in one sitting. This novel, which inspired the 2009 film Precious, is all of about 150 pages but it has enough story to span at least twice that. It's the story of a young mother, abused in unimaginable ways, who learns to use writing as a means of turning her life around for herself and her child. It is anything but light reading and if you're offended by intensely crude language, you'll probably want to keep your distance. It's also pretty hard to read because of the way Precious, the narrator, talks--but that's one of the beautiful parts of the book, too, because you can actually watch her improve.
- The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. This is one of the only books I can ever remember having to read for school and actually enjoying. I decided to give it another read this summer since it's been a while, and I'm so glad I did. This book is the exceptionally well-written story of a young man named Ponyboy (real name) essentially trying to overcome the gang life. I discovered after reading it a second time that S.E. Hinton was just 15 when she started writing the novel and 18 when it was published. I wish I'd done something cool like that.
- The Help by Kathryn Stockett. You know how when everybody says a book is really good or a really fast read, you like, unintentionally stop believing it'll be any good? That's what this was for me. I'd seen the movie and figured it honestly couldn't be much better than that, but I was way wrong. The movie was very good and followed the book rather well, but this was an amazing story. It was really eye-opening to me since I haven't really lived in the time of maids or, for the most parts, racism. I also really appreciated how Ms. Stockett told the story through the voices of 3 different characters, each of whom had a very different voice/vernacular, and she switched back and forth between them flawlessly.
- The Green Mile by Stephen King. So, books don't usually make me cry. And I figured that since I'd seen the movie and it made me tear up but not really cry that I'd be fine. But this book really got to me in a different way than the movie did. King's The Green Mile is the story of an inmate on death row, and it's told through the vantage point of the prison guard who oversaw all the executions. The story takes you through their respective stories and surprises you in the true natures of every character. It is not one of King's famous horror novels, but rather a novel with a supernatural flair. Oh, and it tugs at your heartstrings like crazy. Plus The Green Mile is actually a serial novel, which means it was released in five separate mini-novel installments. I'm really glad I got ahold of it after all the installments were released and I could buy it as one book, because that would have driven me crazy. But it is an amazing book, and to me, the way it was released is yet another example of King's genius in writing. I feel like he was sitting at his writing desk and thinking, "Let's see. I could do another novel, but that's what they'd be expecting. OOOOH! I'll write it as five little baby novels!" I can see how it would've built up suspense if you'd had to wait on each installment, which I'm sure was an added bonus.
- Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. This is one of those books that all the other girls read in middle school and I just got to this year. It's the story of a girl named Melinda who is starting her freshman year in high school as an outcast-squared as the result of something that happened that summer. She decided, because of this, to just not speak to anyone. The great thing about this book is--well, yes, it has an amazing story--but Melinda is downright hilarious. I love it when a serious topic can be intermingled with humor, and this is a great example of that. Also, it has a happy ending. Which is good, because the alternative would've been pretty depressing in this case.
- Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech. I actually read this one when I was in seventh grade and didn't think a whole lot of it, but I'd found it--yet again--at Goodwill on a 50% off day, so I decided to give it another go. This time through, I was blown away by the amazing story I sloughed off so many years ago. It's the story of a young girl Sal and her relentless search for her mother who left years ago, told to her grandparents as they take a roadtrip from Ohio to Idaho to find said mother. The grandparents are kooky and hilarious; and I was super excited that not only did they mention traveling through Indiana, but Elkhart and South Bend were actually mentioned by name. As I recall, the grandfather said to the grandmother, "Don't you remember Elkhart? We ate lunch in Elkhart. Don't you remember South Bend? You took a pee in South Bend." LOVE IT. And the ending had the tears rolling, and once again I wondered how this didn't happen the first time I read the book. Ah, how perceptions change from seventh grade...
- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. So, this book automatically gets points because (A) John Green has a writing style that actually makes a person laugh out loud, and (B) he's from Indiana! But seriously, this book was beautiful. It is about a seventeen year-old cancer patient named Hazel who meets a fellow survivor named Augustus (unfortunately called Gus) at a support group. I know, you have probably just figured out the rest of the story...but you actually probably haven't. I won't say too much because I don't want to spoil anything, but this one is definitely worth a read and definitely good if you need an emotion-laced read.
- And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini. I remember when I saw the posters up for this novel back in April before its release, I nearly squealed like a little girl. I love Hosseini's writing. I had to read The Kite Runner in high school and it was so good that I read his second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, which is one of my all-time favorites. So I had high hopes for this book, along with some ideas of what it would be like. Hosseini's work is usually incredibly fast-paced, thrilling, emotional, and eye-opening, so I figured this would be every bit as intense as his other works. And it...wasn't. I guess he decided to try his hand at subtlety, because this was not intense, nothing like his previous books. BUT...it was nonetheless amazing. I don't know how to describe the plot because it covers a lot of territory and somewhere around 70 years of time passage, not to mention multiple points of view, shifts in past and present tenses, character voices, and even languages. And once I took my expectations back and let the story tell itself, I realized he nailed it. So if you haven't read it yet, reevaluate how you think it will go and just read it. I think you'll be surprised like I was. This book was beautiful, an amazing piece of craftsmanship.
- P.S, I Love You by Cecelia Ahern. Total girl novel, I know. But you know, maybe it shouldn't be. This story is about a 30 year-old woman who's just lost her husband to a brain tumor and her journey towards healing with a little help from her friends, family, and the letters her late husband left her. If you've seen the movie, it's the same idea but there are major differences in the story. I still love the movie, but this book was amazing. It was almost 500 pages in the small paperback edition I have, but it flew by and I was sad when it was over. I think anyone who's experienced loss could relate, and they'll find themselves laughing aloud along the way.
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I know, I know, everybody else read this in school. Well, I didn't! I'd even tried to read it multiple times before and was never successful and getting through the first few pages. This time, however, the timing must've just been right because I nearly devoured this book. It's an eerie tale of a futuristic America in which it is illegal to read/own books, so all books and the dwellings in which they were found must be burned by the firemen--who, yes, now start fires rather than putting them out. It's always interesting to see what people of the past thought the future would look like, and it's always a little freaky when they get some things right.
Honorable Mentions To:
- The Chosen by Chaim Potok. The only reason this one doesn't make the top 10 is because technically my summer had not yet begun when I read it. I started it during the school year and finished it on choir tour, so it may or may not count and for technical reasons I figured I'd knock it out. But it's totally worth mentioning because it was a surprisingly beautiful book. It's the story of the unlikely friendship of two boys from different Jewish sects. The story was heartwarming and surprised me at every turn. Knowing what little I knew about the novel--we studied it briefly during my freshman year at BC and I promptly forgot most of the plot--I was not expecting the book to be as readable as it was, or to find myself near tears as the story wrapped up while I was on a bus to Minnesota surrounded by my peers. It's not exactly "light reading," but if you're looking for something that will enlighten you and make you think, you should definitely give it a read.
Also, my copy smelled really good. - True Grit by Charles Portis. I was amazed to find myself picking this book up this past May and even more amazed to find myself glued to it. I've never really been into Westerns, but there was a lot of raw emotion to this book and golly, it went by fast. It's the story of a 14 year-old girl named Mattie who sets off with a bounty hunter to avenge her father's murder. And I'm like, "Yeah! Gutsy female protagonist! Get it!" But it lost points because (A) there was an incident with a pony dying (go ahead and judge, but I really can't handle animal deaths in media) and (B) I didn't care for the ending. Endings can really make or break a story--it can be the most amazing thing you've ever heard, but if the ending gets botched, it ruins the whole thing.
Just Stay Away From:
- Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. Okay, you don't actually have to "stay away from" this book if you don't want to. I mean, read it and decide for yourself. But personally, *sigh* I had suuuuuuch high hopes for this book. The storyline was stellar--what's cooler than a man, overcome by his circumstances, getting picked up by the circus?--and the movie was one of those I expected to be good and then it ended up being even better than I expected. I know they say that if a book is made into a movie, you automatically prefer the one you saw first...for me, I've really never found that to be true. But anyway. The big problem with this book for me was that I found myself just despising the main character, Jacob. He wasn't a bad guy or anything, but as I read on I realized that if I actually met someone who acted like him--attitude-wise, decision-wise, etc.--I'd probably want to punch him in the face. The even sadder thing is that it was one of those novels that like, starts off with Jacob in a nursing home in his nineties and then the story is told through flashbacks/dreams from when he was in his twenties, and I couldn't stand Old Man Jacob either. He might actually have been even worse than his twenty-something self. So yeah, this one was a disappointment. For once the movie was better. It did, however, deepen my desire to have a pet elephant.
So there you have it! If you have differing opinions on any of these books, PLEASE, do tell! I love book chats and arguing about literature. I thank you all for being such cool people and reading this blog and making me feel better about myself. Y'all rock.
