When they just KNOW

Dorothy Parker, you get it. I don't know anything about you, really. But "A Telephone Call" (short story) is exactly how I feel right now. Well, not right now, but right now I remember feeling like ATC, and Parker has written my thoughts exactly.

How do authors do this? Well, they are only human, after all...

Re-Reading High School Series: To Kill a Mockingbird

I've finished my first book in this series, whoop, whoop!

In case you don't already know, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a fictional novel published in 1960 which is set in 1935. It is told from the perspective of a 10 year old girl : Scout (Jean Louise) Finch who lives in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama. What begins as a humorous and somewhat lighthearted story about two southern siblings and their widower father becomes what is for many people a timeless metaphor for the hatred of racism and the pain of growing up. 

Well, because I hope to hope that most students have read or will read this story, I will keep my review brief. This book is so, so much better than I had remembered! I've always held this book dear to my heart because it is one of the first "American classics" that I read on my own, you might even be able to pinpoint my love for literature to this book. However, I had forgotten how funny Scout is! Many quotes from this book actually induced peals of laughter. Furthermore, the little hints of detail Lee scatters about the story are almost too good to be fictional. More: Atticus Finch (the kids' father) is the epitome of an intelligent gentleman. I guarantee that if you read this book, you will wish you had an Atticus of your own. 

If you haven't read this book, do yourself a favor. Soon! Also: what was your favorite book from freshman year?

Next up in the series: A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare. Follow along if "thou art a man!"

Chao

Re-Reading High School

Hullo!

Alrighty, so I haven't been able to pick a book for the last few weeks, so I have finally come up with a solution. This isn't a new idea of mine, but I've been planning to do it for quite a while, and now is the perfect time to start. My idea: choose one book from each year of high school to re-read during my last months of high school as a sort of refresher-course. Ho, ho, how novel. After careful deliberation, here is my tentative reading list for the upcoming months:

1. Freshman year: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
During my 7th and 8th grade years, I read this in the month right before school got out. It is, and will remain, a Summer book for me.

2. Sophomore Year: A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare
GKC's all time favorite Shakespearean play, I can't wait to explore it again now that I understand Shakespeare-speak.

3. Junior Year: The Great Gatsby by F. (Francis) Scott Fitzgerald
Who doesn't love Gatsby?

4. Senior Year: Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Admittedly, I didn't actually read this when the rest of my class did. But I will now!









And finally, a few "extra credit" books in case I want to continue this project after my core four:
-The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
The Wild/Wilde love is prevalent among young adults everywhere.
-Paper Towns by John Green
An end-of-senior-year book if ever I met one.
-and Eighth Grade: The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
I read this during a solitary fall evening, S. E. Hinton is fantastic.

Whenever I finish a book on my reading list, I'll recount blasts from the past (that is, if I get any), and review them as better or worse than I remember. Anyways, this should keep me busy for awhile, but I've started Mockingbird and it is divine.

Aufiderzein!

Inspired by Pablo Neruda

Our class assignment was simply to write a poem of at least 12 lines, inspired by The Poetry Foundation. I searched for Nash first, but unfortunately my search was in vain. However, Neruda did appear in my shuffle through the "N" names, so why not? Here's what I came out with, inspired by Pablo, the moderns, and The Great Divorce... kinda. And wheat fields, obviously.

Oh, and for anyone who is curious: I will not be participating in BEDA, for a multitude of reasons. First of all, this is not a blog of my life events, because my life events are not interesting enough for me to feel the need to spend hours writing and editing, and then delivering to the masses. Also, work started this month, which means my blog would probably consist of a lot of "they messed up the schedule again" or "I seriously hate people sometimes!" And you don't need that kind of pessimism *oh, the joys of working at a theme park...* Last, I've never kept a successful diary or journal alive for more than a week, even attempting to do it every day for a month would be enough to keep me off blogger for the whole of April, and I like it too much to leave! Anywhoot, enough excuses.

Adieu!

Bookstores on the Chopping Block

Here is an article which, I heartily believe, expresses the opinions of true book lovers everywhere.

Slainte!

Californian Once More

Whelp, I'm back. I suppose it was inevitable. So lets get this part out of the way before I forget:

Above: College choice numero uno. Pretty, no? I do love brick.

Above: The college hangout of choice: Bucer's (pronounced Boot-zer's) coffeehouse and pub. Their americanos are amazing.

So. I'm still mulling over how I want to address my trip, but more on Idaho later. Today, I received my official acceptance package for Pepperdine University, Seaver College. And I got enough financial aide to MORE THAN pay for tuition. But I LOVE my Idahoan school! What should I do, internet? What should I do...

As always, there will be books here! While I was away I added several books/authors to my "must read" list. Enjoy:

-(more) Lewis
-Nietzsche
-(more) Dostoevsky
-Ogden Nash
-Elizabeth Eliot
-N. D. Wilson
-The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

More to come.
Cheers.

Here I go.

photo credit to Brooks!