The Choice

I just finished reading Paper Towns by John which was the first book I read by him. It was really down to earth and I liked that because Q and his friends talked the way kids my age and older actually talk. The situation-finding a missing girl- was a little cliche I thought at first but the journey Q, Radar, Ben, and Lacey go on proved me completely wrong.

Now I am rereading another Nicholas Sparks book, that I bought a few years back in my favorite bookstore, Barnes and Nobles. This book somewhat resembled the The Notebook, the second book by him that I read, but the characters had completely different lives and problems that I got lost in the pages just like I had with the three other books I've read by him; The Notebook, The Wedding, Dear John, and The Choice.
Travis, the first main character has an issue with being in a dedicated and serius relationship because he is concerned about how different and difficult his life will be when he gets married and decides to have kids of his own. Instead, he does sports and rides the waves, literally and metaphorically, while his friends live with their kids and in-laws.  I really like this book and want to finish it again soon.

Lions of Little Rock (***** stars)

I finished reading this book a few days ago and it has won the title as one of my favorite historical fiction books. HISTORICAL FICTION PEOPLE!! Usually when I see this genre I run to the realistic fiction section becasue most historical fiction stories are boring becasue its just endless facts without a strong story. Lions of Little Rock blew my mind with the bizarre plot and character relationships and because the story was crafted so skillfully it was not frustrating to read the facts blately stated throughout. The facts, instead of boring me to death, were actually welcomed and cleared up the questions I had building up in the past chapters. Don't go scouring bookstore shelves for this book yet because I read the unpublished copy, but by the time the published version is sold, everyone who reads this posts should be reading it or at least considering to read it.
One thing I admire about this book is the imagery and symbolism. When the magic squares are brought into the picture and the main character listens to the lions outside her window at night in the zoo you start to develop a connection with her and want the things she wants. In everybook, you, the reader, should care aboutthe characters becasue without an interest in the character you don't get much from reading the book.

...Evin's Post... ;)

I read Evin's blog post, Love and a Bad Hair Day, and I could actually hear her voice throughout it even before she made a text to self connection about the time(s) when she focused more on making others happy and leaving no time to think about her. As soon I she started talking about taking time to think about yourself, I thought about Madea in I Can Do Bad All By Myself (movie) when she argued with her daughter Cora about never having "me time" when she was trying to provide money for her and her family.
I actually started thinking about the hundreds of times I've thought about making other people happy, regardless if it was a close friend or an aquiantance. Sometime earlier in history, I thought to myself, "is my life MINE or am I making it revolve around other people?" I never got to think about ME and what I WANTED. I enjoyed reading Evin's post becasue she brought memories to me that I didn't want to think about because I knew they were true.
The worst memories are the ones that have the most emotions and a lot more than usual, you come out of the situation with scars and with wrapped up emotions. You feel like you can't deal with your emotions because you don't wan to. Evin's post spoke deeper than words for me and I know that when people read her post and read my reaction to it, they might think I'm missing the point or going over board with my feelngs, but sometimes it takes the littlest things to make you feel those issues you pushed back. This was more of a personal call to me and there were a lot of things (there still are) that have been affecting me, but Evin reminded me to think about ME when things go unexpectedly. Sometimes you just need to close the door on the world to think about yourself and where you want to go in life even as you struggle. For this situation, I think WORDS spoke louder than ACTIONS for me because I was reminded to take myself out of the wings of life's stage and put me back as the leading star.
I also got attached to Evin's post because her voice was real, not like she was writing for a newspaper, but like she was talking to me. I felt like we were on the same level and I knew she was writing for 13-14 year olds, not scholars at Harvard.
Evin's post is a promontory amoungst posts for others to look at for help in writing in your own voice and triggering old or new memories.

The Wedding~Nicholas Sparks

The wedding is a book that i read a few years back and i decided to reread it this year because i really connected to his writing and craft.
His characters in this book are dynamic and they feel the emotions deeply in every situation they are cast into. One thing ive noticed is that the setting in all or most of his stories is north carolina.
I can connect to his stories because i lived in north carolina for so many years of my life. The events may be too adult for me but i really like imagining myself in my hoise in nc with my family. Nicholas Sparks has a craft that draws all hungry readers and he has captivated me and made me a dedicated reader. His characters are real but not his problems are expressed in word and lifd is spun on an angle.

The Wedding

I am rereading this book by the brilliant Nicholas Spaeks, who has weitten many of my favorite love novels. I enjoyed reading this book the first time and I previously finished The Help, so I decided to refresh my memory by analyzing it again.
Throughout his novels, Nicholas Sparks uses beautifull language that literally transports me into the time period of his charcters and when i close the book i feel that my world is not my own because I get so engaged in the story. Probably the strongest thing about his masterpieces are his characters. Each one even if they say one thing is REAL and even as a young eighth grader I can connect to the relationships portray and created. The book on the top of my list is The Choice.
This novel should be the book that readers disect and connet with first out of his novels (that I've read) because even though the story can be as dramatic as a play,the characters aren't just actors acting for $20, the characters are IN and ALL OVER even IN BETWEEN the boom and its pages. Even if i cant relate to specific situations mentioned i can connect to the emotions because every emotion is o e that any and everyone experiences at one or more times in their life.

The Help

I am so obsessed with this book and the social issues have lured me in so deeply, that it's hard to wrap my mind around them. Even though I'm almost done reading the book I'm still learning about the consequences that could fall on a white person that associated themselves with a black person (vise versa) even with the black person having their uniform. The boundaries in this book are very thick and it takes both strong readers to analyze the issues and dynamic characters to bring the reader through a complicated and deeply meaningful conflict.

The Help, the book collaborated by Skeeter Phelan has twelve stories of black maids and their working trilogy, leading from their  first domesticated jobs to their current jobs. The y also talk about the white women they work for, but these interviews are just fun and games. Medgar Evers is recently killed and other blacks are being beaten for simple things such as accidently using the bathroom for white people and the maids are terrified that someone will rat them out and possibly even kill them. One thing I found weird, was the fact that even though Skeeter has lived in Jackson, Mississippi all her life she never tapped into how harsh the life of a black person was and she didn't believe the possible punishments that she and the maids, like Minny and Aibileen, are faced with. Racism is such a big topic, but when you think about how it wires peoples' minds...it's unbelievable. I mean when Hilly wanted Skeeter to print her bathroom initiative stating that black maids should have separate bathrooms outside the house of the boss because of the "infectious diseases they carry" I wanted to punch Hilly out. She made that initiative out of sheer ignorance and didn't see it as a problem or rude thing to say. When Skeeter organized for toilets to be spread all over Hilly's front yard, that was the smallest bit of justice she could try to stamp into Hilly's mind to say she didn't agree with her nonsense.

Influence can control you, but strangely enough, even living in a society swarming with issues, you could walk outside and be completely oblivious to them, like Skeeter being unaware of the extremes of her actions, or complete and utter ignorance like Hilly.

How Justice is Slipped into "The Help"

In The Help, Kathryn Stockett focuses on a racially controlled era, when African Americans still worked for whites and separate bathrooms were constructed outside of homes for maids, because of the fear of catching "Negro diseases". Justice is a complicated issue in this book and Aibileen, Minny, and Miss. Skeeter are searching for the best and safest way for them to tell others about the injustice they've experienced.
Aibileen and Minny are both maids who work for dominant and complex white women, Miss. Celia and Miss. Leefolt. Minny and Aibileen have been working all their life and when Miss. Skeeter asks them to participate in an interview to go in her new book about the ups and downs about working for white women, they are extremely hesitant. Black people can get fired or worse for talking about their white employers behind their backs and Aibileen and Minny would have nothing if they didn't work. There seems to be no justice in the life of an African American because they are so constricted by what they can and cannot do. 
I don't see the white  people in the book as bad, but confused and shaped in a racist society that has influenced their way of life. Justice seems to be the last thing on Miss. Leefolt's mind because she doesn't see Aibileen as a friend even though she has been working for her and her family for several years. 
I think the main thing that upsets me about the injustice in this book is the fact that skin color can keep people away from each other and prevent strong relationships. I already know Minny has given Miss. Hilly, her old employer, a taste of what she considers justice by giving her a cake of something that is supposedly really bad. In Minny's case, her justice was out of revenge, but revenge just escalates problems and now Minny tries to avoid Miss. Hilly on every occasion to avoid starting a bigger problem. If Miss. Skeeter collaborates with Aibileen and Minny to make the book, that justice will be even more powerful because they're speaking out and letting others know what they're feeling.