Monthly Archives: February 2011

Homecoming

Posted in Books by

Title: Homecoming

Author: Cynthia Voight

Pages: 372

What I Thought: This book is the 1st in the Tillerman series by Cynthia Voight.  It’s another young adult novel (like the 1st 2 books I reviewed).  It’s set in the 1980’s, according to Wikipedia, which I never would have figured out were it not for Wikipedia. 

The book follows the 4 Tillerman children, Dicey, James, Maybeth, and Sammy, and their journey to their aunt Cilla’s house in Bridgeport.  They were abandoned by their mother at a mall in Connecticut. 

There are strong themes of belonging and family throughout the book.  Family’s important to the Tillerman children, especially Dicey, as evidenced by the fact that she doesn’t want to split up herself and her siblings, and would do most anything to keep them together.  Their father left when their mother was pregnant with Sammy (who was 6 during the novel), and eventually their mother (Liza) loses her job.  Liza would disappear for hours, not talking to her kids, and like I mentioned before, just abandoning her kids at a mall.  This is strongly linked with belonging, because the family is presumed to be poor, setting them apart from the other kids at their school, resulting in them being bullied, having no friends (in the case of Dicey and James), and getting into fights (Sammy and Dicey).  They don’t really belong anywhere, so they learn to stick together, which makes their relationships with each other that much stronger. 

So they end up at their Aunt Cilla’s house, only to find that she has died, and are taken in by their cousin Eunice, who only does it because it’s the “right” thing to do.  Eunice doesn’t really care for the children, but will sacrifice her goal of becoming a nun in order to take them in.  However, they learn of their grandma in Crisfield, and they end up at her house, with all of the children and their grandmother realizing they care for each other.  Their grandmother ends up taking them in, even though she is resistant to the idea, setting aside her fears to take them in. 

Rating: I give it a 3 out of 5.  While a very enjoyable read, it was just average.  It wasn’t good, but it wasn’t bad either- just an average book.

Random Novel Update

Posted in Turning Point by

So I totally thought that I be working on more than one novel.  It was a grand scenario I imagined where I’d spend my days planning upcoming projects, writing, revising, and reading lots of books.

Alas, that is not how I spend my days.  I either watch whatever marathon they’re showing on USA or the histoy channel.  I read a little, and most certainly not the way I used to.  I’m lucky if I do anything related to those novels I had such high hopes for.

The hard part is actually doing it.  I can imagine all I want, but if I could just imagine things, and they’d be true, my life would be a lot different right now.  Please believe me when I say there are some things I could imagine right out of existence.

Even the rereading of every NaNo I’ve ever written has pretty much stopped.  I might read a page here or there, but there’s so many!  It makes my head want to explode!  I guess that is what I get for writing multiple novels though. 

Complaining aside, I am happy with how Turning Point is coming along, even if Saturday mornings are the only time I work on it.  This one is definitely my favorite of the bunch, as it’s the only one I’ve actually continue to write.  I’ve read some of the others, and had a good laugh (I have yet to jump off any cliffs, and I promise I’ll try to stay far away from cliffs), but reading and working on it are two completely different things.

Kiora is starting to work things out with her dad, and that’s good, because things got weird between them.  Or maybe things were always weird, but it’s become much more pronounced. 

Her secret service agents are going above and beyond the call of duty.  They’re concerned about her, and I think they’ll miss her, even if they won’t admit it. 

Not that I want to publish right now, because I don’t really want to publish right now, but if I did, I think it would be turning point.  And it’s not because I think the idea is any good, although it is an intriguing idea, but because it’s the only thing I’ve ever continued to work on.  Who knows, it could be coming to a bookstore near you someday.

New Books!

Posted in Books, Music by

The last thing I need are some new books, but I did stop at Barnes and Noble and got a few books.

  • The Bell Jar: I’ve always been meaning to read this book, so I finally picked up.  I’m really excited about it.
  • A Tree Grows In Brooklyn: I can’t remember if I’ve read this book or not, but either way, I’m really excited about this one too.
  • The Witch of Portobello: I loved the Alchemist, and happened to see it at the same table as the other two books.  I think I’ll like this one too.
  • In The President’s Secret Service: I came across this book in my research, and have been meaning to get it.  I managed to find it (I believe it was one of a few copies left on the shelf) and looked through it, and I think it’ll be really helpful.

On another note, I also downloaded some new music.  A few random songs, plus the NCIS soundtrack.  There’s a few song that I just love on it, and I was trying really hard to not start singing along and dancing when I was at the living room on saturday.  I think After All by Saving Abel is my favorite song so far.

Spaghetti Sauce and Muffins

Posted in Food, General by

We’re only a few days into February (not November, which I had started to type), and I’ve made spaghetti sauce and chocolate chip pumpkin muffins!  I’m already halfway to my food goals for the month, which is amazing.  I’ve learned that my kitchen doesn’t have the best lighting for pictures, even in broad daylight, but it’s something I’ll have to work with.

Spaghetti Sauce

I obviously didn’t do the best job pouring it into the container, but that’s okay.  This is seriously the best spaghetti sauce I’ve ever had in my life.  I actually like my spaghetti sauce really simple (and that’s when I eat it).  I’m not the biggest fan of any kind of sauce with my spaghetti.  I tend to like my spaghetti with just parmesan cheese.  But I thought I’d try making spaghetti sauce, and this recipe jumped out at me because of it’s simplicity- tomatoes, butter, and onions.  And the onions don’t even stay in the sauce, although I suppose you could chop them up and throw them back into the pot. 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

I’ve made pumpkin muffins before, but never with chocolate chips!  I think next time, I’m not going to put in so many chocolate chips, because the 1 cup that the recipe called for overwhelmed the flavor of the pumpkin.  The pumpkin was frozen, since I meant to use it for something else, and never did.  I had taken it out a couple days ago, and much to my dismay, the pumpkin was still slighty frozen.  It was just as well that there were a lot of chocolate chips, to balance out the watery-ness of the pumpkin.  You couldn’t tell that the pumpkin wasn’t completely thawed, which may or may not have been due to the chocolate chips.  But they are something I’d make again.

A Wrinkle In Time

Posted in Books by

Title: A Wrinkle In Time

Author: Madeleine L’Engle

Pages: 190

What I Thought: There is a reason why this book ended up on my top 24 book list, and it’s because this is a great book!  Even though I can’t remember the last time I read it, it was a book I loved reading when I was younger.  It was a quick read, but I did split it up over a few days because of another book that I’m currently reading. 

For me, it had the perfect amount of adventure and mystery.  However, I did notice that there were several references to biblical verses, which didn’t bother me, since it didn’t come across as preachy or anything.  It did fit in with the book really well, since the main focus was about trying to get Meg Murray’s dad off Camazotz, and later, trying to get Charles Wallace (Meg’s brother) away from IT.  Meg needed to remember that love was what she needed in oder to save Charles Wallace from IT. 

There were so many characters that I loved- Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit and Mrs. Which, the Happy Medium and Aunt Beast.  I liked Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin as well, but not as much as the Mrs. W’s, the Happy Medium and Aunt Beast.  I found Meg to be a pretty believable and sympathetic character, but there wasn’t really anything that made her very memorable.  It was the same with both Calvin and Charles Wallace.  I was creeped out that Charles Wallace (as a 5-year-old) was able to read his mother and sister so well, and was fairly mature for his age. 

The Mrs. W’s were definitely protective, and on this reread, it was obvious that they were angelic beings…supernatural guardians…whatever you want to call it.  Plus, I liked that they were stars who died.   

I did like the quotes that were scattered throughout the book, courtesy of Mrs. Who (who found talking hard).  And the quotes, much like the references to biblical verses, fit very well with the plot.       

Rating: On a scale of 1 to 5, I give it a 4.  While not completely and totally amazing, it was still an amazing book.

How I Came Up With Character Profiles

Posted in Look After You by

I have to say that this is probably my 2nd favorite novel.  I can’t remember now where I came up with the idea for the plot, but it’s stuck with me.  I’m only on page 17 (of 139) but there isn’t anything too weird.  At least, not yet.  The thing that I’ve noticed is that there are major inconsistencies, and several things that are seriously incorrect.  This one could’ve benefitted from a questions/plot holes/possible conflicts list, much like the one I did with Turning Point.   

I do love the random punctuation that’s appeared, plus some of the randomness.  I distinctly remember a good two pages on the easy button from staples.  I haven’t gotten that far yet, so I have no idea why I thought that was necessary.  Then again, it was a NaNo and most of what I write isn’t necessary.  The brain works in very mysterious ways, especially when you write two novels in 30 days. 

It was my 1st time doing character profiles, and I never used them, but it did set the stage for all character profiles I’ll be doing every NaNo.  I was bored one day, and just started writing random facts about Lindsay, the main character.  It’s amazing what being bored will do.  And I have to admit that knowing random trivia about my characters has been really helpful, even if I don’t use it during November.  It helps me get inside their head, and it makes them more real, like they’re living, breathing people.

It definitely needs a lot of work, though.  I need to work out the plot details, because a lot of it doesn’t match up with the little I know about the witness protection program.  And I definitely wasn’t sure about what I wanted to do with it, so that would explain the inconsistencies.  Some of them anyway, because I’ve learned that with NaNo, there’s always going to be inconsistencies.

Shampoo!

Posted in Writing Prompts by

Writing Prompt: Do we really need more than fifty kinds of shampoo?

No.  Seriously, it’s really overwhelming when I have to buy shampoo, lotion, bodywash, hair spray, or…pretty much anything.  The options are really overwhelming, and how hard is it to have just a few options? 

Of course, I only wash my hair about 3 or 4 times a week, so I don’t use that much shampoo.  I have settled on a good shampoo, that I actually love, so I’m set on shampoo.  The thing with my hair is that it’s curly, and I honestly don’t need to wash it that often.  Actually, I can usually get away with washing it just 2 or 3 times a week, if nothing’s going on. 

But still, there’s shampoo for everything- curly hair, straight hair, thin hair, brown hair, blonde hair…whatever’s going on with your hair, there’s probably a shampoo for it.  In fact, I think it would be safe to bet that there’s a whole line of products made just for your hair!

And the dizzying array of options extend to lotion, body wash, soap, toothpaste, and any beauty product that’s currently out there.  It’s frustrating, because all I want is some moisturizing lotion with no scent in it!  I don’t want scented whatever lotion that’ll make me look young (because I am young, and I really don’t need to look any younger), I just want some plain old lotion.  Is that too much too ask for? 

It does make me glad that I have my favorites, because it means I no longer have to spend 10 minutes trying to figure out which product to buy.  But I do have to pick up something for my grandma every once in a while, and I will admit to just picking something for her, mostly because…trying to decide on something is too annoying.

Crafts

Posted in General by

I think I first started to get into crafts about a year ago, but I’ve really been itching to do some crafts in about October or November.

I think I’ve mentioned before how my grandma used to crafts, and how I wished I had learned them from her when I had the chance.  And I believe I’ve mentioned the possibility of actually doing crafts this year, instead of just looking for crafts and thinking about how I should try that.

There are so many cute things out there that I just need to make!  The main problem is that I don’t have enough room to actually store all the supplies I’d need, since every project has few supplies in common.  It would definitely take some thinking and some planning in order to make room for the things I’d need.

Plus, it’d be a good skill to have.  Like, I really need to learn how to hem up my pants.  I’m short, and most pants tend to be really long on me, so being able to hem them up so I don’t trip on them would be a good thing.  I’m klutzy enough, and I don’t really need to make it any worse.  But being able to sew (and be somewhat crafty) would definitely be good because I’d be able to hem up pants and sew on buttons, and that kind of thing.

I’ll post pictures of any crafts I do.  Should be fun!