Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Renewing Reviewing?
I've been thinking of starting to review books again. Would anyone enjoy book reviews? Let me know!
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Totto-chan
Totto-chan by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi. Translated by Dorthy Britton.
I have to say before anything else that this book amazed me and moved me to laughter, tears, excitement, sorrow, and many other emotions and feelings! It is incredibly descriptive and well written in a simple sort of way, and something about it touches its readers soul.
Totto-chan is in the first grade and she is transferring to Tomoe Gakuen because she was expelled from her previous elementary school for being disruptive (ex. opening and shutting her desk repeatedly because she's really excited that her desk opens and shuts, getting up in the middle of class and calling out to the street minstrels on the road so that they will come and play at the window for her and her class). When she arrives at Tomoe, Totto-chan is welcomed by classrooms made of train cars and a very kind headmaster with an unusual method for teaching children. Totto-chan loves Tomoe School very much immediately and she makes friends with all the students there very quickly (there were only around 50 students). This story follows the time Totto-chan spent attending Tomoe School and the good things and bad things that happened during that time.
The beginning of the book is happy and cheerful, but about 3/4ths of the way through the book, a sort of sadness is painted outside the world of the children at Tomoe School. This is because the Pacific War (the part of WWII that took place in the Pacific) was beginning at this time and it was gradually becoming more evident in the lives of the children. Even though the last story in the book is very sad because of what happened due to the war, the characters leave no room for sadness, they remain hopeful and optimistic about what life will bring them next.
My favorite sections are some of the happy stories and also some of the saddest. These stories resonated with something inside of me and made me feel the joy or the pain that Totto-chan felt. The Great Adventure, "The Only Thing I Want!", Talking with Your Hands, "Thank You", "Shabby Old School", Visiting the Wounded, and "Yasuaki-chan's Dead" are my favorite of the stories, even though some of them made me cry.
In the end, Tomoe burned down due to an American air raid, but the headmaster continued to educate children until his death. He believed strongly that children need freedom in their learning and he worked hard to help children be more accepting of others with disabilities especially. He also tried to help children become more comfortable with themselves and confident.
The part about this book that I found mind-blowing is that everything in this book is true! Totto-chan is the author, Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, who is a famous actress and talk show host. This book, as she explains in her Postscript at the end of the book, is the story of her early childhood and education in the three or so years she spent at Tomoe. Every story is an actual experience from her childhood, every person written about is real. For me, that makes this book very special. I also like that at the end of the book, in the Epilogue, Tetsuko (Totto-chan) tells the readers what all of her friends from Tomoe are doing now. Some of them are very famous people! (Of course, she is also famous.)
This book, Totto-chan, is an amazing story. In one year 4,500,000 copies of this book were sold in Japan making it an "unexpected best seller", and I can see why! I highly recommend Totto-chan to anyone! Tetsuko said that children at 7 years old read and enjoyed it just as much as a 103 year old Literature Scholar did.
So, if you happen across Totto-chan in a store or library or online or on your Kindle, iPad, Whatever-you-use, please consider reading it. It is a simple yet intense story and I hope you enjoy it very much! Thank you and happy reading!
I have to say before anything else that this book amazed me and moved me to laughter, tears, excitement, sorrow, and many other emotions and feelings! It is incredibly descriptive and well written in a simple sort of way, and something about it touches its readers soul.
Totto-chan is in the first grade and she is transferring to Tomoe Gakuen because she was expelled from her previous elementary school for being disruptive (ex. opening and shutting her desk repeatedly because she's really excited that her desk opens and shuts, getting up in the middle of class and calling out to the street minstrels on the road so that they will come and play at the window for her and her class). When she arrives at Tomoe, Totto-chan is welcomed by classrooms made of train cars and a very kind headmaster with an unusual method for teaching children. Totto-chan loves Tomoe School very much immediately and she makes friends with all the students there very quickly (there were only around 50 students). This story follows the time Totto-chan spent attending Tomoe School and the good things and bad things that happened during that time.
The beginning of the book is happy and cheerful, but about 3/4ths of the way through the book, a sort of sadness is painted outside the world of the children at Tomoe School. This is because the Pacific War (the part of WWII that took place in the Pacific) was beginning at this time and it was gradually becoming more evident in the lives of the children. Even though the last story in the book is very sad because of what happened due to the war, the characters leave no room for sadness, they remain hopeful and optimistic about what life will bring them next.
My favorite sections are some of the happy stories and also some of the saddest. These stories resonated with something inside of me and made me feel the joy or the pain that Totto-chan felt. The Great Adventure, "The Only Thing I Want!", Talking with Your Hands, "Thank You", "Shabby Old School", Visiting the Wounded, and "Yasuaki-chan's Dead" are my favorite of the stories, even though some of them made me cry.
In the end, Tomoe burned down due to an American air raid, but the headmaster continued to educate children until his death. He believed strongly that children need freedom in their learning and he worked hard to help children be more accepting of others with disabilities especially. He also tried to help children become more comfortable with themselves and confident.
The part about this book that I found mind-blowing is that everything in this book is true! Totto-chan is the author, Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, who is a famous actress and talk show host. This book, as she explains in her Postscript at the end of the book, is the story of her early childhood and education in the three or so years she spent at Tomoe. Every story is an actual experience from her childhood, every person written about is real. For me, that makes this book very special. I also like that at the end of the book, in the Epilogue, Tetsuko (Totto-chan) tells the readers what all of her friends from Tomoe are doing now. Some of them are very famous people! (Of course, she is also famous.)
This book, Totto-chan, is an amazing story. In one year 4,500,000 copies of this book were sold in Japan making it an "unexpected best seller", and I can see why! I highly recommend Totto-chan to anyone! Tetsuko said that children at 7 years old read and enjoyed it just as much as a 103 year old Literature Scholar did.
So, if you happen across Totto-chan in a store or library or online or on your Kindle, iPad, Whatever-you-use, please consider reading it. It is a simple yet intense story and I hope you enjoy it very much! Thank you and happy reading!
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Natsume Soseki
I recently read two books by Natsume Soseki: Botchan and Kokoro.
Botchan-
Botchan is the main character in this story (obvious naming reason). At the beginning it tells about Botchan's childhood and how his family didn't really want anything to do with him. Botchan tells us that the only one who ever showed him any kindness was his old caretaker, Kiyo.
The story follows Botchan to when he graduates University in Tokyo and accepts a job teaching math in Matsuyama. Botchan teaches at an all boys school and he finds the boys devious and thinks of them as unrefined barbarians.
As Botchan works at the school, he discovers the character of each of his fellow teachers. (Porcupine, Redshirt, the Clown, Green Pumpkin, Raccoon Dog. Don't trust my names, I may have messed them up, it's been over a month sense I finished the book) Botchan discovers some things about Redshirt that he considers immoral and unacceptable. He and Porcupine work together to give Redshirt the punishment that they believe he deserves.
Kokoro-
This story is about a University student (I don't think it ever gives us his name... 0.o maybe I missed it) who befriends an older gentleman while he is at a resort on his holiday. He calls this man Sensei. The two become fast friends and the main character comes to admire Sensei very much. When he returns to Tokyo for the school year, he goes to visit Sensei and he visits often after that. He learns a lot from Sensei just about life.
In the second part of the book, the main character has graduated from University and goes to spend the summer with his mother and father. During this summer, the emperor dies. Shortly after the death of the emperor, the main characters father falls ill. (His father had been ill either one or two winters ago also, I think it was one but don't trust my memory on this too much.) The rest of the summer, the fathers condition worsens to the point where he is on his deathbed. A short time after General Nogi kills himself in order to regain his honor, the main character receives a letter from Sensei. The main character skims through the letter and is just about to put it away when he sees the words that say that Sensei may be dead by the time he reads this letter. The main character wastes no time, he gets on a train back to Tokyo sending a letter to his family that something important came up and that he had to leave. On the train, he reads Sensei's letter.
The third part of the book is Sensei's letter. In the letter, he tells of his past and how he was tricked out of his inheritance by his uncle and how he and K-san lived together with a widow and her daughter. He tells how living with there helped heal K-san and how they both fell in love with the widow's daughter. Sensei also tells in his letter how, after he asked for the widow's daughters hand in marriage, K-san found out and shortly after killed himself (even though he didn't say anything about it in the letter he left). Then Sensei wrote about how he had really wanted to tell his story before he died to that someone could benefit from his experiences.
I really liked both books, though there was some culture that I had a hard time relating to and understanding (considering that I'm not Japanese and I'm not entirely familiar with the traditional culture of the Japanese). Botchan was easier to read and slightly less depressing. :P
Ah, that's all for now! I still have a ton of books to read so I hope I can get some time to read them soon!!! Bai-bai nao!!!
Botchan-
Botchan is the main character in this story (obvious naming reason). At the beginning it tells about Botchan's childhood and how his family didn't really want anything to do with him. Botchan tells us that the only one who ever showed him any kindness was his old caretaker, Kiyo.
The story follows Botchan to when he graduates University in Tokyo and accepts a job teaching math in Matsuyama. Botchan teaches at an all boys school and he finds the boys devious and thinks of them as unrefined barbarians.
As Botchan works at the school, he discovers the character of each of his fellow teachers. (Porcupine, Redshirt, the Clown, Green Pumpkin, Raccoon Dog. Don't trust my names, I may have messed them up, it's been over a month sense I finished the book) Botchan discovers some things about Redshirt that he considers immoral and unacceptable. He and Porcupine work together to give Redshirt the punishment that they believe he deserves.
Kokoro-
This story is about a University student (I don't think it ever gives us his name... 0.o maybe I missed it) who befriends an older gentleman while he is at a resort on his holiday. He calls this man Sensei. The two become fast friends and the main character comes to admire Sensei very much. When he returns to Tokyo for the school year, he goes to visit Sensei and he visits often after that. He learns a lot from Sensei just about life.
In the second part of the book, the main character has graduated from University and goes to spend the summer with his mother and father. During this summer, the emperor dies. Shortly after the death of the emperor, the main characters father falls ill. (His father had been ill either one or two winters ago also, I think it was one but don't trust my memory on this too much.) The rest of the summer, the fathers condition worsens to the point where he is on his deathbed. A short time after General Nogi kills himself in order to regain his honor, the main character receives a letter from Sensei. The main character skims through the letter and is just about to put it away when he sees the words that say that Sensei may be dead by the time he reads this letter. The main character wastes no time, he gets on a train back to Tokyo sending a letter to his family that something important came up and that he had to leave. On the train, he reads Sensei's letter.
The third part of the book is Sensei's letter. In the letter, he tells of his past and how he was tricked out of his inheritance by his uncle and how he and K-san lived together with a widow and her daughter. He tells how living with there helped heal K-san and how they both fell in love with the widow's daughter. Sensei also tells in his letter how, after he asked for the widow's daughters hand in marriage, K-san found out and shortly after killed himself (even though he didn't say anything about it in the letter he left). Then Sensei wrote about how he had really wanted to tell his story before he died to that someone could benefit from his experiences.
I really liked both books, though there was some culture that I had a hard time relating to and understanding (considering that I'm not Japanese and I'm not entirely familiar with the traditional culture of the Japanese). Botchan was easier to read and slightly less depressing. :P
Ah, that's all for now! I still have a ton of books to read so I hope I can get some time to read them soon!!! Bai-bai nao!!!
Saturday, July 9, 2011
DragonFlight
This post contains spoilers. :D
DragonFlight by Anne McCaffrey
The book DragonFlight by Anne McCaffrey has two main characters, but centers mostly on the girl Lessa. In the beginning, the reader is introduced to Lessa as a dredge in Ruath Hold who has woken in uneasiness, sensing danger. She cannot sense where the danger is coming from though. Then the reader meets F'lar, a dragonrider and wingleader from Benden Weyr.
F'lar and his wing, which includes his half brother F'nor, are on Search looking for a girl to Impress the gold egg that the queen dragon Nemorth has laid. His wing comes to the High Reaches, which is the area that the overlord Fax controlled. Fax had conquered many holds in this area and had inherited or married into others; Ruatha was an area that he had conquered, brutally killing anyone of the Ruathian blood that he could find. (He didn't kill them all! Later on we discover that Lessa is of Ruathian blood and the only reason she survived the attack from Fax is because she hid in the watch-wher's den where no one would look.) F'lar and his wing search multiple Holds that Fax controls and they find no one that F'lar is satisfied with, but when they enter Ruatha all the dragonriders sense a power somewhere nearby.
As Ruath Hold discovers that Fax is coming, they panic because the Hold has deteriorated so much in the past ten Turns and they are not prepared to have their overlord there. Lessa, while others are trying to prepare, is sabotaging everything she can, hoping that Fax will renounce the Hold and she will be able to take her place as the holder of Ruatha.
Due to Lessa's sabotage, Fax says that if his wife gives birth to a healthy son, he will give up his claim to the Hold. When Lady Gamma does give birth to a healthy boy, Fax is furious and explodes in anger and hits the drudge who bore the news. This drudge happens to be Lessa and the dragonriders happened to feel power come from her, so when she does not move after being hit by Fax, F'lar is angry. Just when he finds a girl that they can take for the search, she may be dead!
So F'lar fights with and kills Fax. He then makes sure that the girl is still alive and he discoverers that she is of Ruathian blood. He coaxes her into coming to the Weyr because she has a chance to become Weyrwoman.
Lessa in fact does Impress the golden egg and dragon, Ramoth, and she becomes Weyrwoman. She then learns to fly with Ramoth as well as go between.
As the threat of Threads, the things that fall from the Red Star that kill off everything that is living, becomes a bigger issue, the riders at the Weyr are worried that they will not have enough dragons to fight the foes. The last time that Threads fell was 400 Turns ago with six Weyrs to fight them and full support of the Holds. Now there is but one Weyr and the Lords of the holds do not fully support the dragonriders anymore. They think that no more Threads will come.
Lessa discovers that one can travel back and forth in time through between just as you can travel from place to place through it, but it takes a terrible toll on the body. She decides to travel to 400 Turns ago when the riders and their dragons of five of the six Weyrs just disappeared without a trace. She survives the journey and brings the riders of the Weyrs to her present time so that they can help fight the new threat of Threads!
In the battle where all the riders come together to fight the Threads, Lessa is finally allowed to fight alongside the men because in the past, there was a whole wing for the queens! (a tradition long forgotten.)
The last thought is F'lar thinking on the extent of between and if someday they will be able to go to the Red Star and destroy the Threads once and for all, but if he told Lessa, with her nature she would definitely try it without a thought.
I loved this book! It's been in my bookshelf for years and I never managed to finish reading it... But I started reading three days ago (I read really slowly!) and I couldn't put it down even for ten minutes to get a drink! I finished half of it that day and didn't get back to it till today and I finished it earlier today! I liked the courage and strength of Lessa and the companionship of the rider and the dragon. I do recommend this book to anyone!
DragonFlight by Anne McCaffrey
The book DragonFlight by Anne McCaffrey has two main characters, but centers mostly on the girl Lessa. In the beginning, the reader is introduced to Lessa as a dredge in Ruath Hold who has woken in uneasiness, sensing danger. She cannot sense where the danger is coming from though. Then the reader meets F'lar, a dragonrider and wingleader from Benden Weyr.
F'lar and his wing, which includes his half brother F'nor, are on Search looking for a girl to Impress the gold egg that the queen dragon Nemorth has laid. His wing comes to the High Reaches, which is the area that the overlord Fax controlled. Fax had conquered many holds in this area and had inherited or married into others; Ruatha was an area that he had conquered, brutally killing anyone of the Ruathian blood that he could find. (He didn't kill them all! Later on we discover that Lessa is of Ruathian blood and the only reason she survived the attack from Fax is because she hid in the watch-wher's den where no one would look.) F'lar and his wing search multiple Holds that Fax controls and they find no one that F'lar is satisfied with, but when they enter Ruatha all the dragonriders sense a power somewhere nearby.
As Ruath Hold discovers that Fax is coming, they panic because the Hold has deteriorated so much in the past ten Turns and they are not prepared to have their overlord there. Lessa, while others are trying to prepare, is sabotaging everything she can, hoping that Fax will renounce the Hold and she will be able to take her place as the holder of Ruatha.
Due to Lessa's sabotage, Fax says that if his wife gives birth to a healthy son, he will give up his claim to the Hold. When Lady Gamma does give birth to a healthy boy, Fax is furious and explodes in anger and hits the drudge who bore the news. This drudge happens to be Lessa and the dragonriders happened to feel power come from her, so when she does not move after being hit by Fax, F'lar is angry. Just when he finds a girl that they can take for the search, she may be dead!
So F'lar fights with and kills Fax. He then makes sure that the girl is still alive and he discoverers that she is of Ruathian blood. He coaxes her into coming to the Weyr because she has a chance to become Weyrwoman.
Lessa in fact does Impress the golden egg and dragon, Ramoth, and she becomes Weyrwoman. She then learns to fly with Ramoth as well as go between.
As the threat of Threads, the things that fall from the Red Star that kill off everything that is living, becomes a bigger issue, the riders at the Weyr are worried that they will not have enough dragons to fight the foes. The last time that Threads fell was 400 Turns ago with six Weyrs to fight them and full support of the Holds. Now there is but one Weyr and the Lords of the holds do not fully support the dragonriders anymore. They think that no more Threads will come.
Lessa discovers that one can travel back and forth in time through between just as you can travel from place to place through it, but it takes a terrible toll on the body. She decides to travel to 400 Turns ago when the riders and their dragons of five of the six Weyrs just disappeared without a trace. She survives the journey and brings the riders of the Weyrs to her present time so that they can help fight the new threat of Threads!
In the battle where all the riders come together to fight the Threads, Lessa is finally allowed to fight alongside the men because in the past, there was a whole wing for the queens! (a tradition long forgotten.)
The last thought is F'lar thinking on the extent of between and if someday they will be able to go to the Red Star and destroy the Threads once and for all, but if he told Lessa, with her nature she would definitely try it without a thought.
I loved this book! It's been in my bookshelf for years and I never managed to finish reading it... But I started reading three days ago (I read really slowly!) and I couldn't put it down even for ten minutes to get a drink! I finished half of it that day and didn't get back to it till today and I finished it earlier today! I liked the courage and strength of Lessa and the companionship of the rider and the dragon. I do recommend this book to anyone!
Friday, July 8, 2011
Um, back again and a book
Long time no see... um, sorry. I won't get into much of why I didn't post. The most I'll say is that I had to take care of school stuff, but you don't wanna hear my excuses, you wanna hear about books!
I tend to include spoilers. Not many, but they slip out.
So, I read this short little book by J. R. R. Tolkien the other day called Smith of Wootton Major. This book is about 62 pages long; very short! It is about a village named Wootton Major and the happenings that go on there to cause Smith to be able to travel to the land of Faery and what he finds in this land. I thought the story was interesting and I wanted to know what would happen to Smith in Faery and what would ever happen if he lost the star that let him enter the land. I think it's a very good story, and it's short enough to finish in a limited amount of time.
I hope those who read Smith of Wootton Major enjoy it as much as I did. This is all for now! The book I am reading currently is DragonFlight by Anne McCaffrey! Expect that soon!
I tend to include spoilers. Not many, but they slip out.
So, I read this short little book by J. R. R. Tolkien the other day called Smith of Wootton Major. This book is about 62 pages long; very short! It is about a village named Wootton Major and the happenings that go on there to cause Smith to be able to travel to the land of Faery and what he finds in this land. I thought the story was interesting and I wanted to know what would happen to Smith in Faery and what would ever happen if he lost the star that let him enter the land. I think it's a very good story, and it's short enough to finish in a limited amount of time.
I hope those who read Smith of Wootton Major enjoy it as much as I did. This is all for now! The book I am reading currently is DragonFlight by Anne McCaffrey! Expect that soon!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Sarah's Garden
Sarah's Gardenby Kelly Long
Sarah King lives in an Amish community in Pine Creek, Pennsylvania. Here she lives among her Mamm, her father, and her three unmarried older brothers. The story begins at the table on the King Farm where Sarah's family has gathered for the evening meal. At grace, her father brings good news that Chelsea, her older sister, is with child! Everyone is excited, and Sarah is asked to make a quilt for the child and also run the family's roadside stand in Chelsea's place. Shy Sarah reluctantly agrees.
Around the time that Sarah begins to work at the stand, a new neighbor moves into the Fisher farm across the way from the Kings. He is an Englischer, and also a veterinarian. Grant Williams hopes that he will be accepted into this Amish community because all his life he has felt the urge to serve the Amish people just as his father had.
On her first day at the roadside stand, Sarah met Grant. After that, they met frequently. As their friendship grew, Grant realizes that he loves Sarah, but his love will never work because he is an Englischer and Sarah is Amish. At Christmas time, Sarah realizes that she loves Grant as well and goes to tell him, but he stops her because their love will cause much grief. Shortly after this, Grant leaves without a trace, even his house-keepers don't know where he has gone, and Sarah finds herself heartsick.
During this time of heartsickness, Sarah finds creativity in quilt making and painting. She also helps Mathew Fisher, who had been abused and hurt as a child, to find a way to make a new life for himself.
Sarah turns to Der Herr, the Lord, for wisdom and guidance when Grant is gone, and she finds great peace in telling Him all that she has held inside her. The Lord gives her peace on the day she begins another year working on the roadside stand again. Peace in more ways than one.
I really enjoyed reading this book. Sarah's Garden is very realistic. It seems like Kelly Long took real people and put them in her story. When I was reading, I felt like Sarah was one of my real friends. When they held a quilting, I felt like I was there with them, sitting around the quilt with it's iridescent patches, and listening to Chelsea's story. Kelly Long has done a very good job of writing this book. It shows how much effort was put into it in the research and language. I really enjoyed it!
Book from Book Sneeze.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
it's NOT about ME
it's NOT about MEby Michelle Sutton
Annie is a people-pleaser. She has lived all her life doing whatever someone told her to do simply because she wanted to please people. Because of this she rarely has troubles, so her life is pretty much picture perfect. However, one night, all of this changes. Annie's world is thrown entirely upside down and she must find what she's been missing her whole life. Annie must find what can heal her, as well as everyone around her, from the inside.
This book was actually difficult for me to read. A lot of action happened within the first 65 pages, and it continued throughout the book. Multiple times while reading, I found myself putting the book down so that my head could stop spinning. Michelle Sutton has captured how a person thinks and reacts to devastating events well. it's NOT about ME is a good book, but I would only recommend it to mature readers due to some of the content.
Book provided by the author.
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