The review I talked about...

Hey everypeoples!

So, in my last post I mentioned that I was working on a review-type-thing on a book I was reading and I said I'd have it up in "a week or so" right? Something like that.

Well it's been more than a week or so and it's still not up here. Ya, I know, bad author. :P

Well, some of my school work was more disheartening than I like, so I had to put off working on this review-thing for a while. So! I am still working on it when my schoolwork isn't eating my spare time and sanity. ^-^ (You know, I kind of want to graduate sooner than later...)

Anyways, that's my update for now! XD I'll see (er... write!) again sometime soon!

Melancholy

I've been feeling rather melancholy lately...

Maybe it's because school started again and I feel like I'm getting nothing done, but I think there's something else that's been bugging me lately as well.

Anyways, I'm reading a book that my friend lent me and I WILL be writing about it here because I think that, while not perfect, this book has some important points about society and food consumption/processing and where it is going and what our children will have to deal with in the future.

Anyways, I'm actually gonna work really hard on that so, please be expecting something good in the next week or so!

Thanks for reading,
Joy

Renewing Reviewing?

I've been thinking of starting to review books again. Would anyone enjoy book reviews? Let me know!

The Secret Garden

I finished reading The Secret Garden!!! It was amazing, just as I thought it would be. ^-^ and I really want to see the movie for it now! So I'll be looking for that.

Speaking of gardens, I just got a really pretty plant that I named Blanca (after the lady who gave it to me) and I was tending my blueberry plants the other day too! Maybe I can plant and grow some other things too! My mom is doing square foot gardening and so we have four boxes made of wood in our garden. The plants are doing really well in their boxes! The only trouble is that our chickens like our garden too and I have to chase them out (which is actually really fun! XP)

Hope you people out there in the web of the Internet are reading books that make you smile too!!!

Books update

Hi all! What's up?

So, books I've been reading, am reading, and will be reading:

I just finished reading The Borrowers by Mary Norton. I had really wanted to read that since I watched The Secret World of Arrietty (which I posted about here) so I'm really glad that I finally had the time to read it! Very good book. ^-^

I'm starting The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. One of my favorite books when I was younger was an abridged version of this book. I still have it too and sometimes I read it and look at the artwork, so I figured I should read the real, unabridged version. I have a thing against abridged versions of books anyways- when I read Little Women, my dad had the abridged version and I didn't know what that meant, so I thought I read the whole thing and I hadn't and my friend started talking about the part of the book that had been cut out and I was so lost, so I had to read the whole unabridged version and I kept checking to make sure it was unabridged. It wasn't so fun for me because I didn't like reading back then. But I loved the book. ^-^ Anyways! The Secret Garden! I'm reading it!

After I finish The Secret Garden, I have Emma and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen that I want to read. Well, Pride and Prejudice is a re-read, but it's one of my favorite books and I just got both these books for my birthday last month, so I want to re-read and read these two books.

Yup, that's all for now! depending on how quickly I can read these I may have another books update in about a week or so. ^-^ should be fun, but there are other things to do too. Life is good for living and doing things and you should enjoy it while you can.

See ya!

Picture Blog Update

OK, I went thru with it and started a picture blog. ^-^
Please view it here at Picture a Day.
^-^ See you soon!

Picture Blog

I'm thinking of starting a picture blog where I post a picture every day. It sounds pretty fun honestly, the hardest part about it would be updating every day. ^-^ I'm gonna think it thru a bit more first I guess.

I'll most likely link to it if I do start one. ^-^
See ya!

The Secret World of Arrietty!

Here in America, the Studio Ghibli film "The Secret World of Arrietty" was released today! ^-^

I was so excited when I saw the trailer for the first time! (Which, can you believe it, was only about a week ago!) I am a big fan of Studio Ghibli anyways, so it's normal for me to get so excited. ^-^;

So, since I can't really go out to the movie theater, and I would rather hear it in Japanese anyways (because dubbing is almost always awful) my friend helped me find the Japanese version of "The Secret World of Arrietty"and that is what I watched today. By the way, everything in this post is my opinion and you don't have to agree with any of it.

OK, to begin: AMAZING.

I mean, I can never quite wrap my head around all of the detail and thought put in everything in Studio Ghibli films, but this was amazing! Everything seemed so life-like and effortless and natural. And the "Doll House" was amazing! So cute too! ^-^ Also, the way that the difference in size between the worlds was shown was really cool, especially the scene where Arrietty sees the kitchen for the first time.

Even the characters have such depth to them! How Haru is so nosy and curious and how Arrietty is courageous and excitable, yet still has a slight shyness to her. I just love how much thought was put into everything.

And the music! So gorgeous! (Of course, my family is music people anyways.)
But even the sound effects of humans walking from the view of the Borrowers, as well as all of the different sounds when Pod and Arrietty are on her first borrowing. I loved how they made all the sounds in that scene!!! XD

Ah, "The Secret World of Arrietty is amazing and I will definitely watch it again. And again... and again and again and... so on. :D

Well, watching it made me want to read "The Borrowers," so I found the copy that was hiding in our bookshelf and I am going to read it! (Along with some other books from my Read Japan Plan.) And I may do a post comparing the two some time later. ^-^

Well, I hope everyone gets a chance to see "The Secret World of Arrietty" because it is amazing (and has a much better ending than Ponyo... I was so disappointed with the ending of Ponyo...)

For more information on "The Secret World of Arrietty", please enjoy the link to Wikipedia provided. ^-^

Thanks for reading and I'll see you again some time soon! XD

List o' Books!

Hey there! This post is gonna be a list of the books I'm currently reading and books I will be reading soon! I'm hoping to do posts for most of these books, so please stay tuned! XD

Books I'm currently reading:
Totto-chan by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi. Translated by Dorthy Britton. (I'm just over half way done with this. Had to pause in reading for a week or so because of school, but I should have it finished really soon.)
Japan Meets the World: The Birth of a Superpower by John R. Roberson. (This is part of my "Read Every Book About Japan In The Library" plan. ("Read Japan Plan" for short) ^-^ I also used it in an essay for my history class.)
Five Gentlemen of Japan: the portrait of a nation's character by Frank Gibney. (See my comment above. ^-^)

Books I'm gonna read soon:
The Young Traveler in Japan by Ann Thwaite. (Part of the Read Japan Plan. It also looks really interesting!)
The Japanese Have a Word for It: The Complete Guide to Japanese Thought and Culture by Boyé Lafayette De Mente. (Once again, part of the Read Japan Plan. I've wanted to read this book for a while, just didn't have too much time.)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling. (OK, this one is because I have never actually read the Harry Potter series but no matter where I go I have a couple friends who almost live by Harry Potter. This is so I can kind of understand what they're talking about... Besides, I've been borrowing this book for over a month and still haven't read it. It's time... ^-^)

After those books (long term reading goals):
My amazing friend, Stella, gave me sooooo many books!!! So after the books I've already listed, I'll be starting the Diary of a Teenage Girl series (16 books) as well as continuing with my Read Japan Plan.

So, that's what I'm reading! Now, What are YOU reading? ^-^

Facts about the Read Japan Plan: I have made it my mission to read every book in my school's library that has any focus on Japan within two to four years (hence the full name "Read Every Book About Japan In The Library" plan). After college I plan to continue the Read Japan Plan (hence the shortened name more practical to say and not dealing with the school's library... No, I don't want to stay in school for the rest of time).

Anyways, that's enough from me. Thank you very much for reading! I appreciate it! And please expect reviews and comments on these books soon! Bye!

On occasion...

On occasion, children will pick up certain habits from their parents. I had an experience where I was shocked at how many silly little things I picked up just from watching and listening to my mom. This likeness in our actions is greatly shown by something I said that I picked up from my mom sence we moved into the country... I was driving in the back country roads at almost dusk and in the empty car I found myself saying...

"Lord, lead me not into deer."

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

I watched the Narnia movie when it first came out and I absolutely fell in love with Aslan, so I thought, "I want to read the books!!!"
Well, I have owned the books The Magician's Nephew and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe sense elementary school, but I had only ever read The Magician's Nephew because when I was younger I was very discouraged from reading...
This year I have started to go through all the books I own and read them all the way through. Books have always fascinated me, even though I never really read when I was young. So I found these two books and I re-read The Magician's Nephew and I read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe for the first time. I love it! It is different from the movie, but then again all books are different from their movie counterparts.
Anyways, I'm not going to write a review or anything for Lion Witch Wardrobe, but I will say that it was a good book and I recommend it to everyone. When I can afford it, I will buy and read the rest of the Narnia books because they are interesting and full of adventure so far!
So, that's all... I have a stack (actually a bookcase full) of books I will be reading soon, so look foreword to more random talkings about books! Of course it'll be random because this is Unlimited Random! Bye!~