Book List: "Around the World in 80 Days"

Jules Verne is a writer I’ve been hearing about for quite some time. I am enchanted with science-fiction and fantasy, and Verne does this in a fun, familiar sort of way. The characters are lovable, the story is full of adventure, and the book moves fast and steady.

The story starts with a quiet hermit-like man, Phileas Fogg living in his home in Saville Row. His mysterious fortune supplies him with his daily needs, which are very few, and his lifestyle is simple. During a discussion with a few of his card-playing buddies about the newest ideas of transportation, he places a bet on his ability to traverse the globe in 80 days. This takes all of London by surprise, as he seemed like a more mundane person, but he takes off with his new servant, Passepartout, that very evening, heading East.

Book List: "Up From Slavery"

This story is an autobiography by a slave, during the transition from slavery to freedom. Booker T. Washington, a young boy who was born to a plantation cook, moves away with his family during the emancipation, to work in a coal mine. His dreams of education push him to go to Hampton Institute, finding his way by working for food and board. He gets his education, and begins to teach others after returning to his hometown. He also starts to study speech, and gives speeches to his students in the community. He meets inspirational people, and learns about respect and discipline during the first half of his life, which have a major effect on his later half.

Washington, with his wife by his side, started the Tuskegee Institute. This school was designed to give the flailing negro population with the skills to enter the white man's world. Right at the time of the Industrial Revolution, this school served thousands of students. It taught former slaves proper manners, dress, and etiquette-- this sort of education was particularly needed for those who had grown up as slaves. The book shows the progression of not just Washington's progression from slavery, but it also details society's climb out of prejudice and into acceptance.

Book List: "The Time Machine"

The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells, is a remarkable science-fiction book for it's age. It is a perfect "Introduction to Time Travel" for anyone who has never been inside sci-fi. It starts at the "Time Traveler's" House, where several people including doctors and psychologists are gathered for a presentation. It is narrated by one of these such visitors. The entire story occurs here in the Time Traveler's living room and lab, where he shows off his time machine to his friends at a dinner party. The next week, a similar group of people gather at the house again, and the Time Traveler is late for his own dinner party. He walks in, completely exhausted from his adventures of the last hour. He sits down, and tells a long story of traveling into the far-off future, where he lost his time machine and spent eight days searching for it.

Book List: "Red Badge of Courage"

The Red Badge of Courage was written by Stephen Crane in the late 1800's. It is about a young soldier fighting in the Civil War, similar to Rifles for Watie and other Civil War novels. It is, of course, a fictitious narrative, based on actual events and testimonies from Civil War soldiers.

Crane is very loquacious and poetic in his story-telling, going into detail on the main character's thoughts and emotions during his time as a soldier. The character goes from being a young, anxious soldier expecting glory, to a content veteran, happy to never go to war again. He pulls the character through excitement, restlessness, blind fighting, natural fear, shame, intense pride, and sadness throughout the book, and the character's emotions mimic a real situation well. They go up and down within the same paragraph, as though every line of dialogue, every bullet shot had some effect on the young man's internal struggles.

Book List: "Hamlet"

This is the first time I've read Shakespeare's tragedy, Hamlet! I've always been unusually fond of old-fashioned language, although it's dense and difficult to wade through at times. Thankfully, I have Librivox to read it out loud to me, which makes it much easier. Shakespeare wrote plays, not novels, and he designed his texts to be read aloud. By listening to the play or audiobook, you get a sense of the rhythm he used.

Book List: "Antigone"

The play Antigone by Sophocles reminds me of Shakespeare, without rhymes and poems. It begins with a long-winded discussion between two sisters about the death of their brothers, who killed one another. The King of the city has declared one of their brothers to have an honorable ceremony and burial, but the second brother is to be left out in the street. This order is punishable by death.

Book List: "How to Write Sci-Fi & Fantasy"

This book by Orson Scott Card has been timely, and very helpful for me. It goes in depth on topics like character building, world creation, and story structure. I want to re-read this book because of how many, "WOAH, that makes SO MUCH SENSE!" moments I had while reading it. I want to highlight all over it, annotate it, and keep it next to my dictionary and my Bible. I'm glad I bought myself a used copy!

Not only is this book good for writers of science fiction or fantasy, it is applicable to any fiction especially Chapter 3 on Story Construction, and 4 on Writing Well. It is also applicable to anyone who is vaguely interested in role-playing games, or even readers of sci-fi/fantasy. Chapters 1 and 2 (Boundaries of Sci-Fi and World Creation) would be very useful to those people. This book is over 20 years old, written in 1990, but that makes it even more universal. The things that are specific to Card's time period or genre which are probably no longer valid could be taken out, and the rest of the book could apply to any fiction writer, anywhere.

May Reading Challenge: Book List

I have decided that I definitely want to do a book-reading challenge during the month of May-- to read ten books during that month, as soon as I'm finished with April's Camp NaNoWriMo! It will be difficult, but it'll be productive enough to be worth it.

Why am I doing this? Because it's almost the end of the school year, and I'm way behind on American History, which involves reading three civil war novels. Also, I'll have just finished my own science-fiction/steampunk novel for NaNoWriMo, and what better way is there to celebrate than by reading books like mine that have come before me? They will help influence my editing process a lot! In addition to History class and NaNoWriMo research, I firgured I should read some of the books that have been sitting on my shelf for a long time.

Book List: "Rifles for Watie"

Written by Harold Keith in 1957, this book has become my favorite Civil War novel. It's about a young Kansas boy who joins the Union army after his family's farm is raided by bushwhackers. He enlists with several of his friends, looking for glory and action in battle. He gets everything he wanted, and so much more. Throughout the book, he served in the infantry, cavalry, artillery, and as a scout in the Rebel army. He falls in love with a Rebel gal, and although she heartily disagrees with him, she loves him back. He endures hunger, fatigue, and nightmares as every soldier does.

For my American History class, I've had to read several Civil War novels, like Uncle Tom's Cabin, Across Five Aprils, and Harriet Beecher Stowe's biography. Soon, I'll be reading Up From Slavery, Red Badge of Courage, and Around the World in 80 Days as part of the same class. So far, Rifles for Watie is my personal favorite!

Coming Soon to Wrandom Writer

The past few months have been really crazy! I haven't been reading like I should, which is why there haven't been many Book List posts up here. Instead, I've been blogging on my year-long challenge blog! The 2013-Challenge has been going extremely well. I've only missed 2 days of writing since January 1st, which is amazing for me!

Next month, I'll be doing another round of Camp NaNoWriMo, on top of my every-weekday blogging. I've decided to spend the entire month of March preparing myself-- outlining, scheduling, creating characters, creating plot lines, and generally brainstorming and researching for the project. April's NaNo event will be spent writing a first draft!

Book List: "On Writing"

I finished this book several weeks ago and have already turned it back into the library, but I never wrote a post about it, so here it goes!

I've never read any Stephen King novel, and after reading this helpful manual for writers, I'm not sure if I would even his enjoy his works of fiction. The book, however, was brilliant and wonderful. It has helped to confirm many of the theories and ideas I've had about writing for a while now!

Book List: "Across Five Aprils"

After struggling to finish this book over the past few weeks, I finally finished reading Across Five Aprils. I can see why it is considered a literary classic! It was a really good piece of writing-- descriptive, emotional, and factual. My only criticism is that it focused perhaps a little too much on the war. I wasn't interested as much in the parts that went into detail about the politics and the ongoing narrative about the movements of the various armies, but for other readers I'm sure it was interesting information.

Irene Hunt told this historical story in a very neat way. She intertwined fact and fiction in a satisfying blend of emotions and family, and she was able to tell the story of the Civil War from many different perspectives. By focusing on one family, you can plainly see how the war affected the home life of everyone in the country. Bill, the older brother that runs away to fight for the South, brings some unmerited ridicule and mob activity to their family farm. John, a brother, son, and father if the perfect example of the survivor-- the one that comes home to his former life scarred by the loss of his children's growing-up years. Shadrach and Jenny make a beautiful romance-- the boy goes off to war, leaving his heart at home with the young lovesick girl. And finally, the death of Tom, representing all those that never came home.

Book List: "The Hobbit"

In preparation for the recently released movie, I put Hobbit at the top of my reading list this month. I just finished it, and I loved it! This is the first Tolkien book I've read-- of course, I've seen the Lord of the Rings movies many times and I'm very familiar with the Middle Earth universe already.

The Hobbit held up to my expectations in every way. I knew something about it before page one, after seeing the Lord of the Rings trilogy on screen, and hearing everyone talk about it. I could've guessed it was about Bilbo's story, and that he also goes on a long journey through Middle Earth, eventually obtaining the Ring, etc. But books are always best first-hand, and that is still true.

Book List: "Harriet Beecher & The Beecher Preachers"

This book by Jean Fritz captures the character of Harriet Beecher Stowe in a way that Harriet herself would be proud of. She tells the story as if she and Harriet had lived together their entire lives, as if Fritz was writing Uncle Tom's Cabin right there with Stowe.

I am only halfway through Harriet's book Uncle Tom's Cabin, but Fritz's description of the author gives me a new perspective on Stowe's literary works, and makes me want to continue reading them with intensity. She also gives an insightful look into the events leading up to the civil war in a way I hadn't seen before. It definitely sheds light on the fact that many people benefitted from the start of a war-- Harriet was able to build her dream home as the war took hold because of the profits she made solely on her writings about the Civil War. She did more than any woman could during that time period, but even her brother, Henry Ward, seemed to be financially successful as a result from the war's beginning.

Book List: "The Three Musketeers"

"The Three Musketeers" by Alexander Dumas is a very long-winded, wordy book, but nonetheless, immensely enjoyable! It takes you back to a time period where haughtiness was normal, women fainted, and where swordsmanship and loyalty were the only skills you required to become a great, rich man. My friends and I have been reading this together, and creating videos on out vlog, SweetCranberrys.

September 5th: 3Ms - D-Artagnan is Funny

Book List: "I Am NOT A Serial Killer"

Because his book was short, I shall keep my response short as well.

This book is great!!

"I Am NOT A Serial Killer" takes on a very unique perspective-- a young boy who obsesses over serial killers, and dreads that his sociopathic tendencies might take him too far. I love the storytelling; Dan Wells is a great writer and story-designer. He constructs every detail possible for the characters, and fearlessly incorporates enormous texture into the mind of this young, abnormal teen. Not only does he craft excellent characters, but his plot twist in this book was literally unbelievable. I couldn't tell if the character was hallucinating, if it was a dramatization, or if it was actually real, until almost the end of the book. The story was a roller coaster that just kept climbing up, with a tiny downward spiral at the end-- but it kept me intrigued the entire way up!

Book List : "Anthem" Part 2

Here are the videos from the second half of Anthem, by Ayn Rand.
Click here to see our vlog: SweetCranberrys
Click here to see the videos from Part 1.

My video from Monday, August 27:

Book List : "Anthem" Part 1

I have read Anthem, by Ayn Rand, twice before. But, I wanted my best friends to read it as well, and so we decided to start a book club through our vlog, SweetCranberrys. Here is the first week, of the first half of the book:

My video from Monday, August 20:

Book List : "Fahrenheit 451"

I just finished Fahrenheit 451 this afternoon, and I have to say– it was brilliant!

Although Ray Bradbury used a lot of flowery, distracting metaphors and imagery, he still accomplished what he wanted: a meaningful story. The novel is set in a dystopian, futuristic society where technology has stolen the will to think from the human race. Firemen burn books instead of preventing fires, and the oncoming war does very little to worry the endlessly entertained population. Guy Montague, a fireman who doesn't understand why he steals books, meets an abnormal teenager and an unemployed professor, and the terror of the society finally dawns on him through these outstanding people. His suicidal wife turns him in for owning books, then promptly leaves him, while his fire-chief taunts him into committing murder. Guy finally runs away, meeting a group of renegade scholars who keep copies of all the burned books in their minds, hoping to one day pass on the texts to future generations.

Book List : Introduction

I've decided to start a book-club! As I look around at stacks of unread classics in my bedroom, I ask myself– what am I waiting on? I have finally come to the conclusion that I don't need someone to read them with, nor do I need a teacher to tell me to read them, nor do I need an instructional institution to assist me in gleaning information from them (that's what the internet is for!) So, I've decided to take a serious plunge headfirst into a commitment to classic literature.

Now don't get me wrong! A few of these books have been read by me at one point or another, because I've always been an avid reader–since I first picked up a book! But now I feel a need to organize my reading and attack with force– to engage in learning information and expanding my mind through these classic works. I am going to divide and conquer the ever-growing list of novels that I have yet to read. I refuse to allow these great works to pass me by!