24. Read a book every month.

October: Read two, am working on three! Both were started and finished within the time that I've been in Germany (About one week now). Thank you long plane flights and jet lag.

1. I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell by Tucker Max.
   This was I book that was introduced to me by a friend and then given as a gift before I left for Germany. The contents range from overdrinkingbarfighting to sex. It's a disgusting man book that makes me a little sick to think will be getting out into the hands of thousands of testosterone worshiping males. This book serves as an example than men can, in fact, take advantage of women (or "Sluts" and "Whores" as is often referred by Mr. Max). Why did I read it? It was so obscene and vile, a lifestyle so opposite mine, that it almost felt like anthropological work. I now consider myself sorely educated and, at best, a little more weary of men.
   
2. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares.
   First off, that movie is a little guilty pleasure don't judge me. Cute rich girls living abroad, swapping pants and having dozens of coming-of-age moments! You know, I may be in my early twenties, but my teenage interests are suppressed somewhere. In fact, this book was read in honor of the teenage interest liberation movement. Besides, I bought the book at the thrift store for fifty cents, come on, allow me one cheap indulgence. ps. Yeah, I enjoyed it.
   
   November: I have a lot of free time here which is why I'm pumping through books. I started this a few days ago and wrapped it up on the first day of November.
   
   
3. The Reader by Bernhard Schlink. I have free access to the bookshelves in the house, so when I feel like being around spines, I'll peruse the family's collection of old reads. I had never heard of this book before I picked it up, but seeing how it was Oprah-approved, I decided to give it a shot. The Reader was like an awkward blind date where you start off not knowing what to expect (though secretly expecting something great) and being sorely disappointed the whole way through. I kept assuming that it would get better, but the book had peaked in the first quarter of its tale. This was originally written in German, and I was constantly reminded of its translation the whole way through. Pity. Not recommended. Sorry Oprah.
   
   
4. Gods Behaving Badly - by. Marie Phillips.
   I'm a sucker for Greek myth, I can't help myself. So when I stumbled across this books while staying at Kate's house, well, I just had to pick it up and flip through it. The books takes the immortal gods and goddesses and fast forwards time until they are living life in the 21st century. Powers fading from disbelief, modern mischief, and shenanigans only gods could do. It was an interesting read the whole way through, though knowing mythological history may heighten the experience. Nothing profound, but comical (and yet possibly forgettable) in the least. On second thought, I do have my biases. I have favorite Greek gods and I dislike them being portrayed as antagonists.
   
5. The History of Love by. Nicole Krauss.
   I started reading this book in Hawaii, and as my bad habits go, I would have left it where I stopped it - the middle. Of course, being in Germany with only a selection of books leaves you breaking old habits to fulfill blank moments during babysitting nights. I picked up where I left off and finished it in two days. I appreciated the authors writing style as it resonated with my own. The entire book is full of dog ears, not to mark where I stopped, but to indicate the places where her words moved me. "She was gone, and all that was left was the space where you'd grown around her, like a tree that grows around a fence. For a long time it remained hollow. Years, maybe. And when at last it was filled again, you knew that the new love you felt for a woman would have been impossible without Alma. If it weren't for her, there would never have been an empty space, or the need to fill it." Everything read like poetry. When I reached the end, I cried and felt a newer deeper sense of love for things. Slow read, but fulfilling.

December: Although I started a grand total of four books this month, I only managed to finish one. This is a bad habit actually, where I get so excited for a new book that I don't bother to finish the one in my hands. To justify my underachievement here, I just want to state that I left Germany mid-December for an 18 day sojourn in the UK and Ireland. Ironically, the one book I completed was started and finished while in Scotland.

1. Myst by. Rand Miller and David Wingrove
   While in Scotland, I stayed with a friend who had an enormous bookshelf. As is usually the case, I stood before it and browsed the selection, interested in a finding a new book to replace the one I was already bored of. I remember playing this game (Myst) briefly many years ago, and it was this vague memory that intrigued me to pick up the book and read. Interestingly enough, for a book based off of a computer game, it was amazingly done. Throughout the book, there were subtle parallels depicting authors as gods and literature as reality. How true! The entire thing was cleverly done and is definitely recommended.
   
   
2. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling.
   I first saw this book in an assembly of airport bookstores during my holiday travels between the UK and Ireland. I had hardly an inch of space in my backpack and each time I saw this book, I always always picked it up, carried it around the store in deep contemplation, and then put it back on the shelf when it was time to go to my gate. Finally, on my way from Scotland to Ireland, I bought it. When I arrived at the Dublin Airport, they had just fired about 3 guards and the line for non-EU passports was comparable in length to the Dumbo attraction in Disneyland during peak season. It took me two hours to go through immigration, and in that time alone, I started and finished this book with time to spare. It was entertaining, and I liked how it still had the essence of the Harry Potter series within it (though no mention of Harry Potter directly). Composed of five short wizarding stories, good for all ages!

January 2009: January was a strange month. Returning from my trip too tired to read and too overwhelmed to blog. Then, I spent the last two weeks desperately trying to find a place to live as it was the halfway point when I found out I was losing my job. So, in the midsts of packing, I'll share the one book I managed to complete.

1. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
   I have seen this book around, often and over a long span of time. While looking for a new read, I found this in my host moms bookshelf and decided to give it go. Best decision of January. I kept myself up until 3 in the morning most nights just to read as much as I could. By the final pages, I had decided. This was one of my top five favorite books. Recommend it
   
   
   

FEBRUARY 2009 - Almost as if to make up for my lack of reading last month, I over indulged and consumed more that 2,500 pages of literature. Five books in all, a record read thus far, and I owe most of my accomplishments to the slight addiction I've had to the Twilight series and two 35 hour plane rides from Italy to Hawaii. And then of course, jet lag. 

The Joy Luck Club - by Amy Tan.Growing up in an Asian American family, it was almost destined that we would all watch this movie together during a family gathering. I remember how intently all the adults sat and watched as if the stories that were being told on screen emulated their reality. Everyone cried and I was too young to understand way. Despite this, the image of the move and my families reaction remain, and when I found this book in The Moms library, I immediately put it next on my reading list. Short but sweet, a must read to anyone of Asian decent.

Twilight - Stephanie Meyer

The book that started an addiction. I remember the first time I ever came across this book. I was in South Korea, hanging out in the YMCA doing goodness knows what, when I came across the reads of our youngest volunteer, Morgan. Being abroad with little access to English literature, I took it upon myself to peruse her selection, coming across this one and scoffing. "High schoolers," I thought, and walked away, assuming myself to be far better than young adult fiction. Six 

months later and I realize that Twilight has become a craze, yet still sticking to my guns that it was ridiculous and beneath me. Then, while in London last December, there was a Twilight movie poster on a the side of a bus stop right in front of my hostel. I walked past that thing like eight times a day, and by the time I left for Scotland, I was determined to watch the movie. Wait, not determined, I was obsessively needing to watch the movie. I often try to read the book before I watch the movie, so I found a bookstore here in Italy, bought the book, and consumed it, devoured it in hours. Yes, it's good. I would read it again. I'm addicted.

New Moon - Stephanie Meyer.

The day after I finished Twilight, I scoured all of Torino, visiting five and a half book stores searching for the sequel. None. It wasn't until a week later when I was laying over in New York did I get to purchase New Moon. I finished it by the time I was in Hawaii. Not nearly as good as the first, in fact, I feel as if Bella lost a lot of the character that made her so lovable in the first place. The romance between human and vampire was what made Twilight so amazing in the first place, and yet, all of that was lost here. I would say it isn't recommended, but still, I would read it again just to experience the entirety of the series.

 

Eclipse - Stephanie Meyer.

I once again needed the third novel to feed the vampire flame within me. Ironically, my own local Borders was out of stock, and I had to rush reserve the copy at a bookstore in the next city which I picked up after visiting my grandma in the hospital on my first day in Hawaii. I actually don't remember much of this book, and I don't know if it was because it was overshadowed by the grief of losing my grandma or because it wasn't exceptional in the first place. I do remember stopping at one point, deciding that I hated it, and then putting it down for a day or two. Of course, I came back and finished it, later noting that the end was far better than the beginning.

Breaking Dawn - Stephanie Meyer.

And then lastly, by the end o

f the week and my stay in Hawaii, I ran out yet again to pick up the last book in the series, Breaking Dawn. I finished this massive novel on the plane ride back to Italy, which is a show of dedication if I may say so myself. The beginning held the romance that I missed in the last two books, the middle got strangely creepy and extraordinarily sci-fi, and the ending picked up though lacked a certain element of action that I desired. Still, an interesting twist on the series. Do I recommend it all? It really would depend on what kind of reader you are.

MARCH 2009

As if I were trying to counter balance my excessive reading last month, I managed to finish only one book for March. Pathetically, I noticed how little time was left in the month and downloaded the audiobook to maximize time. I needed just one book afterall!  

The Host by Stephanie Meyer

I "read" this via audiobook, which may or may not count, I can't say. Also, I'm not sure if I hated The Host because of the actual content or the person reading it, as the reader had annoying inflections and a terrible reading style. Still, I'm pretty sure I would not recommend this book. I don't have much to say besides the fact that it was cliche and predictable. Blah.

APRIL 2009

Time in Italy exists in a way that differs from everywhere else in the world in that it goes by a lot (and significantly so) faster. I can hardly believe I read as much as I did, and really, it amounts to nothing. 

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Completely full of good humor and inspirational experiences. I loved the book despite it having taken me three months to complete. I recommend it for anyone who is feeling hopeless.

MAY 2009

Confessions of a Shopaolic - Sophie Kinsella

Mediocre. Go figure.

A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby

Super excellent. Recommended!