Hadi Girl

Hadi Girl is really cute. If you are looking for a short, cute story to maybe get you out of a funk, this is a good suggestion.

Hadi Girl is about a super shy girl who is easily embarrassed. She can't even watch two characters kiss on a movie without having to hide her face. One night a love angel and an egg pop into her room and she is given tasks to do and complete otherwise she will never find love. These tasks start out simple (hugging someone or looking at someone for 10 seconds), but then escalate from there (stepping into a boys bedroom, confessing her love). For most people it wouldn't be too difficult though some might be challenging, but for Kagura Sae, it is torture. However as she completes the challenges with one boy who ends up being her helper (though he is unaware of it) she actually starts falling for him and she starts doing the tasks because she wants to instead of being forced to.

Ahhh, cute! I really enjoy these little romantic comedies. This is a shorter manga (about 30 chapters/5 volumes) and so it was a quick pick me up from the heavier book I'm trying to read.

Kagura-san is a different character than is normally depicted. Most of the time anime girls are seen as ditzy or super brazen or simply kind or plain simple, but they are hardly seen as just shy, let alone brutally shy. This was different and goes to show that you can push through your weaknesses to get what you want. She was willing to face her fears and work through it.

I did find that it was harder to get my hands on. There was no physical copy anywhere here in the US that I could see (through my library anyway). But if you are interested you can find it on the app called "MyShelf." They have a great selection there.

P.S. A shout out to David for the suggestion.

The Amulet of Samarkand

The Amulet of Samarkand is book one of the "Bartimaeus" series by Jonathan Stroud and is very funny.

In an alternate universe where magicians and "magic" run the most notable governments, Bartimaeus, a djinni (demon), is summoned to acquire the Amulet of Samarkand from a very prominent and powerful magician. But this Amulet is more than what it seems and the small boy who summoned him is more powerful than the people around him give him credit for. However Nathaniel, quickly gets in way over his head. Of course he does.

The alternate reality took a little getting used to because I didn't know how far it intended to go. But Bartimaeus took good care to make sure we don't drowned while adventuring through his ocean of a story. Bartimaeus doesn't even break into his story for the explanations he gives. They come by way of footnotes. They are humorous as well as informational.

It is a young adult "boy" book (though obviously girls enjoy it too), that I'd suggest for any junior high or younger high school student. It isn't a romantic in any way, and there are really no girls in it all. But if there was a boy who was looking to start reading something, this would be one that I'd suggest to get him reading again.

Bartimaeus is, as said, very funny. He is a very sarcastic and very willing to drop the fourth wall barrier. Nathaniel is a little less exciting, but it was cool to see him grow throughout the book. Bartimaeus is the ringleader and main attraction to the story. And I'm okay with that.

I enjoyed the plot. Almost like a heist story or the suspense of one.

I enjoyed the story over all very much and would like to read the next one as well.

One For Sorrow

One For Sorrow: A Ghost Story takes place in 1917 and 1918 just as the influenza epidemic became
rampant across the USA. It is a children's story focusing around a new girl, Annie, who just moved into a new house and started at a new school. Nervous about making friends and slightly standoffish at the beginning, Annie gets picked up by the strange girl in the class. Elsie is weird. Larger than most girls in class, with an odd family, sweaty hands, and a knack for tattling on the other girls, Elsie is not hated by most of the class. Annie soon realizes why most of the other girls don't like Elsie, and she agrees with them. After inviting herself into Annie's house, she breaks her toys, calls herself Annie's best friend, and intrudes on everything Annie holds precious.

After a week or so of torture forcefully being Elsie's friend, Elsie is gone from school for a week and Annie is given the chance to show the girls that she is normal and doesn't like being "friends" with Elsie at all. Elsie comes back and feels betrayed that her only friend has sided with her enemies.

Influenza travels across the sea and starts killing people by the hundreds. Annie's new town is no acception. The girls see this as an opportunity though. The many funerals have refreshments and candies that just can't be ignored. So they sneak in, pretending to know the deceased and partake of the tasty treats. Over and over they do this until, after a particular night teasing Elsie, they find that Elsie herself has died of the Flu. Then after a sledding accident and bumping into Elsie's grave, Annie starts seeing Elsie everywhere. Elsie forces her to do nasty things. When will this stop?

I needed to step away from fantasy for a moment and I found 1918 and ghosts. It was an okay diversion. Not the best but for a children's book it was alright. The story toward the beginning gave me chills which was cool and I wanted to see how Annie would get rid of the ghost so I read it all. The setting and scenery was lacking for most of it, the reasoning as to why Elsie was fading was unclear, her meeting and being friends with someone who actually knew what to do seemed like a "because: plot" reason.

I do believe that the characters, though, were true to real people. I know just how terrible girls can be when you are different. I know how getting picked on can feel. It had a good moral to the story of "be nice to those around you otherwise it can come back to haunt you" as well as try to be understanding to those around you, we are all going through something.

This would be a book that I'd give a 5th or 6th grade girl. Good book for the appropriate audience.

Letters to a Young Poet

Ten simple letters with quite a bit of wisdom behind them. This is one of the few books that I would here. Please read it.
want to keep sticky notes in so then I could refer back to them later. The whole text can be found online

Rainer Maria Rilke was a poet in the early 20th Century who wrote letters to a fellow poet who went to the same military school he had--though a few years different.

There are many things that happen throughout the course of these letters. They are in response to an inquiry of critique on poetry. We only get one side of the letters, but they are full of inspiration, not only for writers (young and more experienced) but in almost any avenues of life. He asks his reader to look into himself and ask "Must I write?" You can ask yourself, "Must I ______ <insert what you most enjoy doing--reading, math, accounting, look at the stars, etc>?" When faced with that question myself, I found that I didn't need to write. It wasn't a must. Reading, devouring knowledge, is what I must. (This blog has helped that, which is awesome especially considering how much I disliked reading when I was little.) But you can ask yourself, what must you do?

There are many other things which Rilke discusses with his pen pal. Not only suggested books that he says has wisdom in them, but he discusses critiques (not to read them), solitude, the passion of writing, taking on anxieties and sadness, taking on what is difficult whilst in sadness, that your doubts can be a "good quality if you school them."

It seems Mr. Kappas, the pen pal to which Rilke is writing, had some dramatic changes in his life that kept him depressed and Rilke was one of the people who tried to assist and give advice as to how to overcome them. His advice was profound and from what I've been able to see in my own life, very accurate.

Some of my favorite quotes are these:

"The only sorrows which are harmful and bad are those one takes among people in order to drown them out."

"You shouldn't be dismayed if a sadness rises up in front of your, greater than any you have ever seen before; ...Why should you want to exclude from your life all unsettling, all pain, all depression of spirit, when you don't know what work it is these states are performing within you? ... You know well you are in a period of transformation and want nothing more than to be transformed. ... You must be patient as an invalid and trusting as a convalescent, for you are perhaps both. And more than that: you are also the doctor responsible for looking after himself. But with all illnesses there are many days when the doctor can do nothing but wait. And inasfar as you are your own doctor, this is above all is what you must do now."

"And your doubts can become a good quality if you school them. They must grow to be knowledgeable, they must learn to be critical. As soon as they begin to spoil something for you ask them why a thing is ugly, demand hard evidence, test them, and you will perhaps find them at a loss and short of an answer, or perhaps mutinous. But do not give in, request arguments, and act with this kind of attentiveness and consistency every single time, and the day will come when instead of behind demolishers they will be among your best workers--perhaps of all those at work on the building of your life."

Queen of Sorcery

Book two of the "Belgariad" is one of my favorites.

Garion has learned much about the world since he's left the little farm he grew up on. He's made more friends, has his world turned upside down realizing that his aunt and friend the storyteller are far more distantly related, and this mysterious adventure is far less mysterious though no less dangerous.

Seeking the Orb of Aldur makes them travel south through Arendia, Tolnedra, and Nyissa. Throughout their travels, Garion has been made acquaintances of more than a few kings and is instrumental in stopping quiet a few feuds/civil wars. He's busy throughout this book and is learning slowly that things aren't what they really appear. He also finds new strengths within himself that he will have to master or else blow himself up.

As always, the characters in the books have been my favorite. They add three more to love though one only sticks around for a portion of the book. I love the fact that they all come from different walks of life and bring very different cards to the table. They are all part of a prophecy which we don't get a full picture of yet though a "bear, a rat, and a man who lives twice" are in there somewhere. Eddings created this story based off of his map of the world and (although some seem a bit stereotypical of their particular countries) they are all so different from one another. Part of it feels like a D&D group or many fantasy based RPGs, for those who are familiar with the game. But still they are comical and very dear to me. I love the growth that Garion does have. Not only his little whiskers but that he is growing up mentally. That his choices have consequences and he has to deal not only with his first actions but that actions that follow certain choices. Others show different sides of themselves as well as change; they realize fears or chances to stand up for themselves or others.

I also love how although they go from country to country Garion makes the realization that even though they crossed a boarder, none of the scenery actually changes (until you get to the swamps that is). He's realizing that boarders are merely an illusion that humans make. The land is the land. It is a small part, but now that he is out of his home country and actually traveling, he's realizing (helping us to realize) that the grass is just as green on this side as the otherside.

This is the book I go back to when I want a taste of the "Belgariad" and I always find I enjoy it.

Junie B. Jones Is Not A Crook

I've been trying to read a few easy novels with my five year old son for the past little while. So I picked up some of the children's books I had growing up that I thought he would actually sit down and listen to. Junie B. is the one he picked out of my small-ish collection.

Junie B is a kindergartener who is just figuring out the world. Figuring out school, friends, the do's and don'ts of the world. This is book number 9 in the series, my son picked from random. In this story, Junie B. loses her  new, fluffy, black gloves that her grandpa gives her. She discovers there is a lost and found, but it's not there. Obviously upset that someone took her fancy gloves, she thinks they are all crooks. But then she finds a fancy pen under the drinking fountain, she believes "finders keepers, losers weepers is the rule" so she keeps it. Then comes the moral dilemma of a five year old.

It's alright. Good-ish for children who are starting to read. The morals to the stories are good and hopefully my son will realize that it's not good to take things that aren't yours. (I wish some people would choose that road more often then they do... *grumble grumble* my ring I lost *grumble grumble.

Junie B. is also a hoot. I think she is fun and she definitely has her own personality that often drive the adults around her nuts, just like many of children in general. That is very much authentic and fun.

My only real problem with it though is something that my own mother pointed out to me and why she doesn't care for the books--though she got them for me and helped me read them because they were some of the only things I'd read. My problem is that Junie doesn't speak grammatically correct. I have a five year old, I get that it is more authentic or real to the character to have her speak oddly at points, but there are other characters that don't speak so strangely. If we are trying to teach the children who are reading these books to speak well, shouldn't the main character speak more clearly? Yes. Even reading aloud myself, there were sometimes I'd have to catch myself because Junie B wasn't making grammatical sense. Teaching children to read and the societal constructs of what to expect I think is more important at this age than this particular growing curve that she has.

The Book of Mormon

I would feel very ungrateful if I didn't write a review about the book I just finished.

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The Book of Mormon is a "keystone of our religion" (Ezra Taft Benson). Many people will see the LDS/Mormon missionaries giving out free books and trying to discuss our beliefs with all those whom they see. We want to share the Gospel, the "good news," and this book is one of the best ways to share the Truth.

In the last few General Conferences that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints holds twice a year, we have been urged to reread the The Book of Mormon. I took up that challenge after the October General Conference this year and challenged myself to finish it before the end of the year. Well, today is the 31st of December and I finished it. It has lead to great discoveries about myself and the world in which we all live.

There will be many who will say that The Book of Mormon is false but I know it to be true. I know it.

The Book of Mormon, for those who are unaware, is the story of a few families (one in particular) that traveled from Jerusalem to the Americas six hundred years before Christ. It tells of their family feuds which leads to wars and later the destruction of one of the sides of the family. But more importantly it tells of Jesus Christ's visit to the people after he died in Jerusalem, how he healed and blessed the people who had gathered at the temple after the great destruction that had occurred with his passing. It is, as it says, "another testament of Jesus Christ." And it is truth.

Through this challenge to myself, I have grown in appreciation for Mormon, the man who compiled 1000 years of Nephite history to make this book. I am a lover of history and to know that I have that in common with a Prophet of the Lord brings me joy. He put so much time and effort into compiling this for us, today, so then we can be prepared for what is to come in the future. He had a great heart which was full of great joy and sorrow as he watched his people decay  and let anger and hatred fill their hearts. While he isn't the only great prophet in The Book of Mormon, he is one of my favorites.

If you like reading about wars and secret societies, read this book.

If you like reading about families, read this book.

If you seeking Truth (with a capital T), read this book.

If you want peace, read this book.

If you want to be prepared for the travesties that are to come, read this book.

Don't get stuck in 2 Nephi. Persevere and actually try to understand what Nephi is quoting (from Isaiah). Read of Captain Moroni and the battles he fought. Read of Abinadi and the brother of Jared and their faith in Christ. Read of Alma and Amulek and their devastating trials with the people of Ammonihah. There are so many stories that are relevant to today and the world we live in.  Read this book.

I know that this is Truth; I testify that it is. Pay particular attention to Moroni 10: 3-4 when you get to the end and follow his counsel there. You will not regret it.