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

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!

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."

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!!!

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!~