The Fault In Our Stars

So far this is my second favorite book of the year: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.  In a nut-shell, it's about two young cancer patients (Hazel and Augustus) who fall in love.  Mostly, I love how honestly the author writes.  He gives really great insights into what his characters are thinking, putting into words things that I have thought about before too.  These were some of my favorite quotes from the book (*page numbers may not correspond to the actual text because I was reading this online through the digital public library):

"Isaac and I communicated almost exclusively through sighs.  Each time someone discussed anticancer diets or snorting ground-up shark fin or whatever, he'd glance over at me and sigh ever so slightly.  I'd shake my head microscopically and exhale in response." (27)

Hazel describes this as the one redeeming part of her cancer support group meetings.  As a pretty quiet person, I can definitely relate.  I typically didn't speak up much in class when I was younger.. and later- in staff meetings at work, I would communicate how I felt about what we were discussing through  looks or "microscopic" head nods to friends.  And in some of those situations, the unspoken communication was the best part of the class or meeting.

"I paused a second, trying to figure out if my response should be calibrated to please Augustus or his parents." (49)

In this scene, Hazel is meeting Augustus's parents for the first time and they ask how the support group meeting went.  If she answers truely honestly, her response would probably make Augustus laugh.. but would also most likely be considered rude by his parents.  Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like even the most honest people "calibrate" their responses for their audience.  It doesn't mean they lie, but they choose which part of the truth to tell.. and when you have a split audience it becomes even more apparent that you are choosing what to say.  For example, when I'm with a friend and we talk about cooking, I say that I can follow recipes and the things I make are easy.  When I talk about cooking with my mom or grandma, I tell them about some of the more interesting recipes I've tried lately or experiments that have turned out well.  With my friends, I don't want to seem like I'm bragging; with my mom and grandma, I want them to know that I can feed myself fairly healthy foods.  The completely honest truth is somewhere in the middle: I can follow recipes.  I can make things up and sometimes they turn out well.  I eat lots of vegetables and not much fruit.  I often have hot chocolate for breakfast, and sometimes I have Oreos and milk for dinner.

"...they were good songs, but because I didn't know them already, they weren't as good to me as they were to him." (58)

I also prefer to listen to songs I already know.  When I was dating a musician, this was probably not his favorite thing about me.. but you can't sing along unless you know the words!

"And then the line was quiet but not dead.  I almost felt like he was there in my room with me, but in a way it was better, like I was not in my room and he was not in his, but instead we were together in some invisible and tenuous third space that could only be visited on the phone." (99)

I like this image!

"The pleasure of remembering had been taken from me, because there was no longer anyone to remember with.  It felt like losing your co-rememberer meant losing the memory itself, as if the things we'd done were less real and important than they had been hours before." (305)

To me, this is one of the hardest things about losing a friend, especially when it's a friend you had for a long time or with whom you shared a lot of interesting experiences.  Once that friend is no longer a part of your life, you don't have anyone to reminisce with about your shared experiences.. and as those memories start to fade, it does make them feel less real and important to some degree.  It's a sad thing.

2016 Book Count: 9

Movie: The Book Thief

I saw the movie The Book Thief, and it was so much better than I expected!  I absolutely loved the book, so I was prepared to be disappointed by the movie.  There were a few differences (it didn't show the scenes of Liesel and Rudy stealing food, a few secondary characters were eliminated- like Hans and Rosa's children, and in the movie Rosa was toned down quite a bit).  But, the changes made sense.  In a movie there just isn't enough time to develop characters the way there is in a book, and by toning down Rosa's character (and eliminating a scene when Hans was hard on Liesel), it kept those characters truer to who they really are in the book.  Death was still the narrator, but he only interjected a couple of times, and I thought the casting decisions were fantastic.  Hans was lovable; Liesel was complex; Rudy was adorable.  It's definitely a movie I'd watch again!

The Inferno

SPOILER ALERT: This past weekend I finished reading The Inferno by Dan Brown.  I really enjoyed it!  I love dystopian literature and I also love historical or realistic fiction based on controversial issues (one of the reasons I like Jodi Picoult so much).  This book is realistic fiction centered around the controversy  of overpopulation, and while I wouldn't call it dystopian literature, it does hint at what the future could be like if someone decided to take it into their own hands to prevent overpopulation.  I've heard Dan Brown's writing style criticized by quite a few people, but he does a much better job than I could- and I really enjoy his books.  I like how slowly he gives the reader information (although, as a result, I feel like I'm spoiling parts of the book by even saying this little bit about it) and I also like how your perception of characters changes throughout the story.  Many characters in this book seem to be on the wrong side of things, then the right side, and then the wrong side again (and vice versa).  It's also clear that he does his homework before he begins writing.  He gives so many details about where the story takes place that I feel like I could find my way around if I ever traveled to the setting of his story.  I've read some of his other books as well, and they always inspire me to want to read more about certain topics.  After reading this book, I definitely want to read Dante's Divine Comedy.

2016 Book Count: 8

The Money Answer Book

The other day I finished reading Dave Ramsey's The Money Answer Book from the NC Digital Library.  It was written in a question and answer format, divided into sections based on major topics in personal finance.  It was also pretty direct and to the point, which I appreciated.  I've read some of Dave Ramsey's other books, and sometimes I feel like I get bogged down in the stories.  I understand that they're meant to be motivational, but I like practical tips best.

I've been making budgets Dave-Ramsey-style since before I knew who Dave Ramsey was, and my husband and I are doing pretty well in terms of his baby steps.  Reading through this book though did cause me to put a few more things on my to-do list (which consisted of a series of one-line emails to Steven).  He has some great tips!

2016 Book Count: 7

5 Days to a Clutter-Free House

I found this book (5 Days to a Clutter-Free House by Sandra Felton and Marsha Sims) on the North Carolina Digital Library, which is probably my new favorite thing.  All you need is the number off your regular library card and your 4-digit pin number (many libraries  recommend the last four digits of your phone number- so try that if you forgot yours).  The selection isn't amazing, but you can definitely find something to read!

I wasn't too impressed with this book.  I felt like the first half of it could be summarized in about a paragraph, but the second half of the book had a few good tips.

Basically, the authors recommend gathering together a group of people (2 people per room of your house if possible) and focus on clearing surfaces, using body benchmarks.  Day 1 is feet to knees, day 2 is knees to shoulders, day 3 is shoulders to the ceiling, day 4 is reserved for inside cupboards and cabinets, and day 5 is for storage areas like a garage or shed.  As you go through clearing surfaces, everything gets put into those neat little white cardboard storage boxes, labeled with where you found the stuff and where it goes.  For example, a box might be labeled "Papers from coffee table in living room- going to office" or "Shoes from dining room- going to master bedroom."  At the end of each day, you take the boxes to the room in which they ultimately belong and neatly stack them against the wall.  Later, the homeowner, will go through the boxes, either putting each item where it "lives" in the house, putting it in a pile to donate, or putting it in a "maybe" box.. which will have to be sorted through eventually.  When the initial work crew goes through the house, any obvious trash can be discarded, but "likely trash" stuff should be put in a box labeled trash for the homeowner to make ultimate decisions about.  So, obvious trash would be things like gum wrappers and used paper plates.  "Likely trash" might be something like a broken toy.

That's really the meat of the first half of the book, in a nutshell.  Most of the book was meant to be inspirational rather than strictly practical.  The second half of the book gives tips for sorting through those white boxes and keeping your house from getting cluttered again.

2016 Book Count: 6

Hominy Casserole

Ingredients:

2 tbsp butter
1 large onion
1 green bell pepper
15 oz can of white hominy
15 oz can of yellow hominy
about 2 tbsp flour
about 2 cups of milk
1 8 oz block of sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Ritz crackers, most of one sleeve

Spices: garlic powder, onion powder, seasoned salt, black pepper, and a tiny bit of cayenne pepper

Directions:

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat, and add your chopped onions and bell peppers.  Stir them around until they're soft and getting brown.

Drain and rinse both cans of hominy, and add it to the skillet.  Cook it until it's nice and hot.

Push your vegetables to one side of the skillet and tilt it so your butter pours away from them into another corner.  Add the flour and stir it around until it starts to brown.

Then add your milk.  Be sure to stir it really well and make sure any little clumps of buttery flour are incorporated.

Add your grated cheese and stir it around until it melts.  It's okay if it's not totally melted though, because you're going to put it in the oven.

Crumble up the Ritz crackers and sprinkle them over the top.

Bake it in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes, or until the crackers on top are starting to brown and you can see the sauce bubbling through a little.

It is not the most beautiful casserole ever, but it is so good!  It's really rich and heavy- good for a cold night.

The Book Thief

This past weekend I finished The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.  It is one of the BEST books I've read in years.  It's set in Germany during World War II and follows a German girl (Liesel) whose foster family hides a Jewish man in their basement.  Liesel can barely read at all when she first joins the family, but her foster father teaches her and she comes to love it.  The Book Thief is written in ten sections around ten of the books that impact Liesel's story, and it is narrated by Death.  The characters in this book are endearing and complex, and Zusak's writing style is powerful and even humorous, despite the subject matter.  I would highly, highly recommend it if you haven't read it yet.  I haven't seen the movie, but I can't imagine that it could possibly do this book justice.

2016 Book Count: 5