Rory's Book Club

    I realize it's November and I am just now posting about September's book reads but better late than never, I suppose. September was a month to dive into some of the books referenced on Gilmore Girls. One of the things that drew me to the show, besides the witty banter, quick line delivery and the obscene amount of pop culture references was the fact that Rory read and she read a lot. If I had more time, I would simply would have begun with episode one of the show and gone through all the books referenced in order. However, a month is hardly enough time to read through seven seasons of Gilmore Girls so a spattering had to suffice.
     Randomly choosing some novels, I was able to read several authors that I've wanted to read but just haven't. The month began with a book that I read ages ago in school, The Outsiders and finished with the thriller, Rosemary's Baby which was ironic since I was helping backstage of Deathtrap, also by Ira Levin. It was a wide range of choices and authors and I wish I had time to finish more of the books I had wanted to.
      As much as I would love to go into grave detail about each of the books, it is November and October's reads should probably be detailed as well. Because of that, a quick run down of my three favorites will do although all of them were good. Franny and Zooey by JD Salinger was definitely one of my favorites. I believe it is the first time I had read anything by Salinger and I do want to read more. It gave a rather interesting look into the society of socialites in the 50's and their take on life and religion. The Picture of Dorian Gray was another favorite. I loved the way Oscar Wilde protrayed Dorian's descent into madenss and how his sins and decisions reflected in his portrait as that grew older but the man didn't.
     High Fidelity by Nick Hornby was also a lot of fun. It was witty, it was clever, insanely sarcastic, and utterly British. I enjoyed how he referenced heaps of music in the book, many of which I didn't know but it was very Gilmore Girls with the references.
     The thing about the books chosen this month is that in many ways they reflect the show from which they were referenced. Some of them rather mainstream, others witty, off the wall, and a bit quirky. But all of them were good, quality works. By reading these books, I feel like I know Rory and Lorelai that much better, not to mention their creator Amy Sherman-Palladino. So do a google search for Rory's book club. There's so many choices and good choices at that. I'm sure you won't be disappointed with what you come up with.

October; It stemmed from some of the books I didn't get to from my Gilmore Girls month. The theme became books that were written before 1900 since I had wanted to read A Tale of Two Cities but just hadn't yet. Stay tuned for October.

The Outsiders- SE Hinton

The Picture of Dorian Gray- Oscar Wilde
Franny and Zooey – JD Salinger
The Little Locksmith- Katharine Butler Hathaway
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest- Ken Kesey
High Fidelity- Nick Hornby
Rosemary’s Baby – Ira Levin

Pass The Imaginatorium Along

    It can be a daunting task to walk into a bookshop and see rows upon rows of books waiting to be read. Some of them are bound to be fantastic while others are destined to fail. I often find myself going back to the same authors I have read before, too wary to branch out in fear that the stellar story the back cover promises will not deliver.
    But bravery comes in many forms and this month, the safest way to experience new authors was to ask my friends for recommendations. From seven different people, ten books were chosen and none of them left me feeling unsatisfied. The problem with enjoying all of the books is that I would love to go into detail about all of them but at the risk of boring everyone, I shall refrain.
     One of the highlights of the month was John Green's The Fault in Our Stars. Quirky, comical, slightly teen angsty, the book follows the story of Hazel, a young girl fighting cancer whose world of one is quickly changed when Augustus Waters, another cancer fighter enters her life. With excellent vocabulary, a sense of poignancy, and a brilliant theory as to why basketball is existential, the book quickly became one of my favorites. The dialogue is quirky and witty and the insights and character development unfold quite naturally. It's an tricky task writing truth about cancer from the eyes of teenagers and how they view their world. It's not a downer book but one that I would certainly pass on my recommendation for. I'm excited to read a few more novels by John Green as well. For some reason, he finally came up with the explanation behind my oftentimes jumbled thoughts; "My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations." Thank you, Augustus Waters via John Green.
       For how many times I've read The Great Gatsby (current count is four times), I have never picked up any of Fitzgerald's other novels. So when one of my friends mentioned This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald, I figured it was high time to give it a try. After reading The Paris Wife about Ernest Hemingway's first wife in which Fitzgerald enters as a character at one point, it seemed cohesive to pick up a Fitzgerald novel. I wasn't sure what I was expecting. Perhaps I was expecting something more Gatsby-esque but This Side of Paradise revolves around Amory as he comes of age and tries to make sense of the world in which he resides; the world of pretense, money, propriety, and influence. Fitzgerald still critiques that world of affluence but through the eyes of a young man as he navigates through his world. I really enjoyed it. At one point in the novel, Fitzgerald switches from prose to play form which was brilliant and perfectly fitted the scene. It was a creative novel in a way that I wasn't prepared for. It reminded me why Fitzgerald's books are not just for one place and time but they can transcend.
       My go-to genre has, in recent years, been fantasy yet at the same time, I'm often hesitant to try new authors because my expectations are rather high for those sorts of novels thanks to CS Lewis, Tolkien, and Robert Jordan. But when one of my friends mentioned Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings and said he had read it multiple times, I decided to trust his judgement and give it a try. I'm thankful that the book was only the first in the series and there are more to be read. It follows a young farm boy named Garion whose past is slightly shrouded in mystery when he discovers that his Aunt Pol may not just be who she says she is and that his own importance may just be more than he realizes. He soon finds himself on an adventure seeking out new lands and learning that some of the "stories" he's heard growing up may not just be stories. The first book teases with information about Garion and who he is so I'm excited to continue with the series to see where it all goes. One thing that I really enjoyed was the dialogue, the humor, and just the wit throughout the book. It was a lot of fun to read and I definitely recommend it.
      Among the other books, Jesus Land is a really interesting memoir. For me, it was interesting to read because of growing up in the church and how the author critiques the perceptions, decisions, and masks that people wear throughout their lives that affects us both good and bad. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut was also interesting, as the narrator has set out to interview the children of the man who invented the atomic bomb. It features it's own made up religion and transcends into a bit of madness but the satirical brilliance left me with a sense of "huh" once I finished but it was good.  The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett was another just fun read. It's super creative, wonderful vocabulary and a bit of anti or reluctant hero story. Definitely worth a read.
     Lastly, The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly quite immediately drew me in as the main character, David, has a love of books and stories fostered by his mother who explains how books need to be read and want to come alive. When his mother passes, through circumstances beyond his control, he finds himself in a world where the stories from Earth such as Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Snow White and many others come to life but been twisted ever so slightly. David's quest while in the world is to find the King and "The Book of the Lost Things" so that he can make it back to his world. I enjoyed this book immensely as well. I loved how so many different stories were brought into the world. There's a reason stories and books grab us and many of those are discussed in this book which had an added sense of Imaginatorium for me.

     I do love recommendations from friends, especially friends that I know read a lot and read good books. There's something special about sharing a favorite story, being able to talk about it, and relive events and characters together. In reality, when the authors share their words with the world and they are good, isn't it our duty to pass it along?

Next month: September, school, perhaps not for me, but with school back in session, the promise of the leaves changing, and the weather becoming colder, I thought it was fitting to dive into books read or mentioned on Gilmore Girls. One of the things I always have loved and identified with in Rory was her love of books. There are so many to choose from but I'm excited to finally take my list of books from Gilmore Girls and enjoy what Rory did.

A Separate Peace- John Knowles

The Fault in our Stars- John Green
Pawn of Prophecy – David Eddings
The Paris Wife – Paula McLain
The Book of Lost Things – John Connolly
This Side of Paradise – F. Scott Fitzgerald
Cat’s Cradle – Kurt Vonnegut
The Colour of Magic – Terry Pratchett
Jesus Land – Julia Scheeres

The Friday Night Knitting Club – Kate Jacobs

Revisited Imaginatorium

       Sit in a quiet room, listen to the sound of stillness, let the silence engulf the moment but let your imagination run wild. Allow your thoughts to bounce around the room, carelessly bumping into the walls, the door, the chairs, and each other. Give each thought a moment and then shove it away. Revisit it later and see if it has something new to say. You soon realize with each passing thought they transform, they come alive, and they become new. Work through the imagination, discover new worlds, new schools of thought, or sit there in utter shock that no thoughts have come. My guess is our imagination, if given a chance, has a lot to say if we would only listen.
    Just like our thoughts that we revisit, like our imagination when we let it transpire, the well worn pages of imaginatorium hold new thoughts, new adventures, and oftentimes old friends. They may be words we know so well that only a few phrases need be uttered and we know precisely where we are. It may be that we know the events in the story so intimately that they become unremarkable to us. But a good book, a truly good story, is a source of unlimited and unending imaginatorium. It won't matter if we've read it two times or a hundred, the allure is still there. There's always the chance that things won't happen the same or perhaps that the ending will have changed from the last time we read it but we don't know until we reach the final pages. It's the reason Shakespeare endures, Jane Austen still lives, and Mark Twain still continues to reside in schools. We may know the endings but it doesn't stop us from enjoying the work.
    For some, it might be dull to read something they've already read but for me, there's a familiarity, a comfort, but still a sense of discovery that lies within the pages of books I've enjoyed before. Since it is mid way through my year of written imaginatorium, I decided to reread a few books and read a sequel. I'll admit that I had a very long list of books that I wanted to reread but never got through them all. But all the same, the imaginatorium I dived into was, for me, the chance to converse again with some old friends.
     The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) by JK Rowling, and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, the sequel to the Hunger Games, were my three reads of the month. All of which were of thorough delight. It was my third time reading The Hobbit but only the second time actually paying attention. I was 10 when I received it as a birthday gift. The cover scared me but my dad said it was good so I skim read it, afraid of what ghostly things would be hidden in the pages. Since then, JRR Tolkien has become a familiar friend and the world of Middle Earth a familiar place. Although I wouldn't always want to reside there, I wouldn't mind spending time in the Shire or in Rivendell. Jumping back into the world was a thrill and only added to my anticipation for Peter Jackson's movie.
    The Harry Potter series is a series that I have read over and over again and still adore the world of Hogwarts. I had only read the seventh book once so I decided to read it again. It was, once again, a book that I can read many times and still get lost in the story. The only part that still drives me crazy, which might be part of the reason it's taken me so long to re-read it, is the epilogue. But that's a rant for another day.
     Catching Fire was also a nice final addition to the month. I really did like the Hunger Games, despite my apprehension that it was too talked about. In Catching Fire, the new characters that she created were intriguing and although I wasn't sure if I liked where she was headed with the story, I understand her reasoning for (SPOILER ALERT) sending them back into the arena. She made it different enough that it wasn't simply a repeat of the first book so that was a good move on her part.
   I'll admit that I had every intention of reading through heaps of books this month but I only made it to three. However, each of them contained friends that I have missed and, in the case of Catching Fire, needed to be sure they were okay.
    This month served as a fair reminder that once you've finished a book, the book might not be finished with you. It's the stories that we remember long after we've read the last page. It's the books that sit on the shelf and in the quiet, you can softly hear them call your name, begging you to pick them back up. If it's well written and truly worth your time, the book won't end when the pages do, it will keep going. It will find new ways to entice it's readers, draw them in, and invite them once more to enter into some of their favorite moments of imagaintorium. So as you glance over your bookshelf or think through your favorites, perhaps there's a story that just beckons you to come back and discover once again the reason why you fell in love with that story in the first place. Happy Reading!

Next month: Recommendations from friends. As much as I love picking a theme and reading within it, there's a lot of books that either would not fall into such a theme or I would never think to pick a theme revolving around them. So I'm taking my friends' advice and reading some of their favorites. Feel to let me know if there's any that you recommend as well.

The Hobbit- JRR Tolkien

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- JK Rowling

Catching Fire- Suzanne Collins

"To Blog or Not to Blog"

   There was a sense of irony as I stepped out onto the stage for the Sizzling Summer Spectacular to deliver my monologue. Indeed an idea had been sparked from a comment made by a friend and inspired by none other than a masterful man of imaginatorium that led me to ask a simple question; "To blog or not to blog". Since I am perhaps procrastinating posting for this month, for those who were not in attendance for the show, I feel it fitting to post the monologue below for your viewing pleasure. Let me set the stage: A desk, a keyboard, a notebook and pen, a very large Shakespeare book that I have just finished, a stool and me in huge black rimmed glasses. The book is finished and in a moment of indecision, I know not whether to type my thoughts or merely write them and thus it begins:

To blog or not blog, that is the question.
Whether tis nobler to put fingers to keyboard or suffer the paper cuts and carpel tunnel syndrome.
To blog, to write no more, and by blogging to say we end the novel and the thousands of well worn pages that authors have written?
Tis a consummation not to be wished.
To blog, to write, to blog, perchance to read.
Aye, there's the rub.
For in the writing fury, what words may come when we have shuffled off the pen and paper.
This must give us pause. There's a respect that makes bloggers of so long life.
For who would hear the long winded paragraphs, the endless ramblings, the excessive emoticons, the facebook postings, the twitter escapades, the downfall of Myspace?
When she herself should lift her keyboard and slam it to the ground it utter disgust!
But the dread of something after the screen goes dark, the unread words which no one can read, puzzles the follower and makes us rather furious at the blogger and quickly fly to other social media that we know not of.
Thus conscience does make us read on and thus the social media takes over with the pale cast of thought drawing us in for hours of wasted time.
With this regard, their fingers turn on the computer and dutifully begin to blog.

I do hope that Shakespeare does not roll over in his grave from this particular version of Hamlet's speech. There's a small part of me that thinks it would have made him smile. I hope the effect is the same for you. July's reads to appear soon.

Cyborgs, Werewolves, and True Love's Kiss Revisited

And in my excitement to post, I forgot to add one tiny detail; my actual list of books just in case someone wants to read any of them that made the list. So in a rare moment, two posts in one month within a few days of each other. Here they are:

Mermaid- Carolyn Turgeon

Cinder- Marissa Meyer
Prom and Prejudice- Elizabeth Fulberg
Jane Slayre- Charlotte Bronte and Sherri Browning Erwin
Beauty –Robin McKinley
Austenland- Shannon Hale
Enchanted- Alethea Kontis

Enjoy! In a few weeks, look for another post. :)

Cyborgs, Werewolves, and True Love's Kiss

   We know the endings, we know the plot, and often times we know the characters and the stories so well that they've become second nature to us. It's the fairy tales we've grown up with and the classics we were told to read when we were in school. But can there really be anything added? Can new imaginatorim be pulled from the stories to give us something new that we don't already know? A fair ponderance, I believe. In that light, fairy tales retold and classics revisited were my choice this month. A few fairy tales such as Cinderella, the Princess and the Frog, and the Little Mermaid were on the list along with a bit of Jane Austen and Jane Eyre. As to be expected, some of them were really well done and others failed miserably.
      My two favorites of the month were Cinder by Marissa Meyer and Mermaid by Carolyn Turgeon. Cinder, obviously a take on Cinderella, kept the basic premise of a young girl who lives with her evil stepmother, meets the prince, and the prince is giving a ball. But set the story in the future in China, let Cinderella be a cyborg, have a plague rage across the world threatening the life of the entire civilization, and that's where Cinder places the reader. I admit that my sci-fi senses were tingling and enjoyed the book all the way through. The fairy tale aspect was still firmly in place but the book goes deeper and more intense than the story that Disney had told us. Cinder is only the start of this series. There are to be three more books after this one. I'm excited to see where the series continues and if the author does end the series with the typical fairy tale ending or not. Whether or not, you're a fan of sci-fi, it was really fun, well written and worth the read.
     Mermaid gave an interesting look at The Little Mermaid. The main character was not Ariel but Lenia. What was brilliant was that the book went back and forth between two princesses, the human, Margarthe, and the mermaid, Lenia, whose lives intersect early in the story when Lenia saves the prince from a shipwreck. Margarthe is on the shore and takes care of him from there.
     Unlike my favorite Disney movie, the book was a lot darker than I expected. Lenia does not simply loose her voice but rather has her tongue cut out by the evil sea witch. The prince was not the adorable Prince Eric of my childhood but rather a womanizing Prince who you eventually feel compassion for. The story flowed really well between the two perspectives. Because of these two simultaneous perspectives, there's a tension that arises as to who we want to win the Prince's heart. Although we want the prince to fall for the mermaid, Margarthe is a princess who has been promised to the prince to unite two kingdoms in marriage. Her blight is also one that the reader becomes sympathetic toward which heightens that tension.
    I had wished the book had been a bit longer which I don't often say. There was a lot of set up that needed to happen but the climax and resolution happened so fast. I wouldn't have minded a few more chapters to allow the conflict to continue just for a wee bit longer.
        Cinder and Mermaid were wonderful. However, there were two books that I was not a fan of at all, both of which took classic novels and tried to present something new. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was brilliantly done so I was eager to give Jane Slayre a try. But when the co-author tried to work zombies, werewolves, and vampires all into one classic novel, the attempt failed miserably in my opinion. The only part that made "sense" in the Jane Eyre world was that the crazy wife in the attic was a werewolf. That worked but the rest of them, the zombies and the vampires, were just awkwardly added, felt out of place and forced into the prose unlike some of the better attempts to take classic novels and add the supernatural creatures to them. I was a bit disappointed that it wasn't better executed.
      The other book that I wanted to throw across the room after I finished it was Prom and Prejudice. I knew the minute I picked it up that it was going to be bad but I didn't realize just how poorly done it was to be. The first problem is that prom as the "marriage aspect" of the book which just does not function the same way. The other problem was that the author kept most of the names the same. That's fine but when the story is poorly executed, it's almost a crime to use the same names as the original Jane Austen novel. On top of that, Darcy was way too nice way too early. He needs to seem sympathetic so that Lizzie has that reason to fall for him but Darcy was portrayed as a little stuck up but still way too nice. It's books like this that deepen my belief that people should not mess with Jane Austen. Do not tell me what happened after the wedding, do not give me another character's perspective, just leave Jane alone. That's not to say that there have not been some good re-tellings of Pride and Prejudice because I'm sure there have been but Prom and Prejudice is not one of them.
      On that note, Austenland was a really fun read. The main character, Jane, gets a present from her aunt to go to Austenland where everything is done in period and she has a "Jane Austen" experience. It was an easy and fun read, certainly worth it. Beauty and Enchanted were also fun fairy tales to step into. Enchanted included a lot of different fairy tales beginning with The Princess and the Frog and then went on from there.
        I have always loved the fairy tales and my classics. It may be that those are the imaginatorium stories that have ruined my own imagination and given me false hopes and dreams but at the same time, those are the stories that we cling to. Those are the kind of stories that we can get lost in when the real world seems to be caving in or we need a distraction from everything else. I was thrilled to find some excellent retellings and some really fun reads this month.

    We've hit the halfway point. It is now halfway through the year which I feel is time for re-reads and sequels. There are some books that I've wanted to re-read for a while such as The Hobbit, The Book Thief and a few others. There are also some series that I need to read the sequels to such as the Hunger Games. I'm excited to get lost in my favorite books again and see what happens from there.

Challenging the words within Imaginatorium

   A story told, a story written, a story invested in, what the author wishes the world to know. The words which the author chose have been carefully prepared, edited, re-edited, and edited again. Even the small words that may have no consequence have been carefully chosen and placed precisely where they need to be. Yet over the years, there have been works of imaginatorium that have captured the public's attention for perhaps the wrong reasons. I choose not to debate whether banning or challenging certain titles is fair. I think it's up to each individual what they choose to digest when it comes to their reading choices. But this month, I chose to read those exact titles.
      There have always been those books that I wanted to read but never quite picked up that had been challenged in some arena. This month I chose to see what all the fuss was about when it came to three books; A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Catch 22 by Joseph Heller, and A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. All three of these books have been challenged based mostly on objectionable language. With the risk of this turning into a dreadfully boring post where the English major in me decides to analyze the rhetoric, the syntax, the themes, and all the other English-y things, I promise I won't do that. So I'll begin and we'll see where this goes.
      First of all (and I know, that's a very English paper thing to say), I did enjoy all three of the books. A Brave New World has been one I wanted to read since I was 16 and finally picked it up. It's an interesting look at what happens when the stability of a society is governed by the fact that emotions, parents, and the arts are all carefully stowed away and manipulated by the people in charge. There was a bit of sexual content which is part of the reason the book was banned/challenged. But it's definitely worth a read. In many ways, it serves as a warning that if we begin to challenge and ban literary works, soon enough to find ourselves in a Brave New World where emotion, relationships, and ultimately happiness is suppressed to a sense of sterileness. Although many of the characters claim they are in want of nothing because of the conditioning they have received throughout their lives, it's the few that break free from that mould who find themselves at the crossroads of trying to come to grips with how they're feeling and what the world has taught them.
     This book was also challenged to some degree due to how Native Americans were portrayed. All I can say on that subject is that within the context of the story, they provide the perfect antithesis to the rest of the characters and the supposed Utopian society that the government or the "controller" has created. Therefore, portraying them any other way would not have fit.
    Give the book a read if you like the more science fiction, Utopian/dystopian novels. It was a really good read and I found it really interesting.
     Catch-22 is a novel that I remember a group of guys reading in my AP Lit class and most of them had sparked noted the novel, none of them seemed to like it and most of them seemed to be confused. That being said, I understand why they might have been to some degree. But the "in your face", sarcastic and comical tone that the book is written in certainly engaged me in the story. However, it doesn't go in order, I never trusted the narrator as to whether or not half the things he was saying were truth or not. But I'm glad I finally picked it up. It's another book that has been challenged based on objectionable content and again, most of it centers around the sexual content that is rather explicit in parts. Without giving away the Catch-22, as Yossarian and his comrades go through the paces, the idea of the Catch-22 is inherent even in the way the story is told. I won't say much more than that other than to give it a read and see what you think. I'm interested to read some of Joseph Heller's other novels someday. This story did go around in circles and did lend itself to some of the confusion the guys in my AP Lit classed faced. But it's a modern classic that needs to be read.
     A Clockwork Orange was a bit of an impulsive and random choice for me. I had heard of the movie but hadn't realized it was book originally. What I didn't realize until afterwards was that it was the movie and not the novel that caused such an uproar with the portrayal of the violence. I have not yet seen the movie but I would like to because I did enjoy the book. As I was encouraged to do by a friend, a glossary of terms should be close at hand when reading this novel. Anthony Burgress brilliantly created his own set of slang in a futuristic world. The main characters do engage in a lot of violent activities but it's such an interestingly well written book that for me, the violence took a backseat to the style of story. It's a work of pure imagintorium that I really enjoyed. It's one of the books that I feel like you just have to read to understand the weight of the book, the tone, and the themes that play within the story. Google a glossary of terms and give it a go.
      I know there's reasons why books are challenged and consequently banned. Do I believe in that? Not really. Keeping a work of imaginatorium for those who want to read it is ridiculous. It's up to us to choose what we want to read. If any of these books had been banned, it would be doing the literary world a disservice, same as trying to ban novels such as Huck Finn and To Kill Mockingbird just to name a few. So the challenge has been set. Pick a few books from the challenged or banned list and see what you think. My experience has been that they will be worth the time.

Banned novels behind us . . . June, here we come. A bit of summer reading despite the clouds in the sky. A look at modern day fairy tales, retellings of classics, and a perhaps a back story or two from some of my favorite books. A little lighter, a little easier, but isn't that what summer's for? Stay tuned!

A Brave New World- Aldous Huxley

Catch 22- Joseph Heller

A Clockwork Orange- Anthony Burgess