Books

I have a couple of books on my summer reading list (ending in August)

1. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

2. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

I started The Brothers Karamazov back in July 2010 after I finished Crime and Punishment, but then school got in the way and it hasn’t progressed since then. Just lying there.

I watched the Les Mis play with my World Literature students sometime last year (or maybe two years ago?) and have just felt like I should read the novel. Both are quite thick if you are familiar with them. Let’s see if I can do it.

In the mean time, today I am going to start reading this famous Indian novel called Umrao Jan Ada by Mirza Muhammad Hadi Rusva (David Matthews translation). Book 2 of Rick Riordan’s The Kane Chronicles came out on Tuesday, so that’s there for me once my little brother is done with it (since he gets dibs). Also, book 5 in Michael Scott’s The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel is coming out in a couple of Tuesday’s so I AM SO PSYCHED about that. The Warlock it’s called.

I’ve also started The Shadow of the Wind, but that hasn’t progressed further than the first chapter so far.

I found this image rather interesting. Even though, it sometimes bug me that everything can now be accessed on internet and the use of paper media has almost disappeared in our daily lives, I never thought of really losing the heritage that paper media has blessed us with.
I do also agree, that most of the literature and other readable material should be printed on paper and promoted to study in that form too. Being able to sit away from the social web that the internet has weaved all around us, it is essential to get some time away from it all and just enjoy a good read.
It gives one time to reevaluate their aesthetic sense, it gives them an opportunity to grow while reading an interesting article. I personally feel that when I read something on a piece of paper, I tend to remember it more than something I come across on the internet. Maybe it is just my way of learning, and maybe I am just affected by it personally, but still not having print media around in excess is an alarming situation that we must address before it is too late.

Caitlin Richards 18

5 books I say you should read and you should probably listen to me.

#5 The World in Six Songs by Daniel J. Levitin
-Blending cutting-edge scientific findings with his own sometimes hilarious experiences as a musician and music-industry professional, Levitin's sweeping study also incorporates wisdom gleaned from interviews with icons ranging from Sting and Paul Simon to Joni Mitchell, and David Byrne, along with classical musicians and conductors, historians, anthropologists, and evolutionary biologists. The result is a brilliant revelation of the prehistoric yet elegant systems at play when we sing and dance at a wedding or cheer at a concert—or tune out quietly with an iPod.

#4 Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
-Purple Hibiscus is a novel set in postcolonial Nigeria, a country beset by political instability and economic
difficulties. The central character is Kambili Achike, fifteen for much of the period covered by the book, a
member of a wealthy family dominated by her devoutly Catholic father, Eugene. Eugene is both a
religious zealot and a violent figure in the Achike household, subjecting his wife Beatrice, Kambili herself,
and her brother Jaja to beatings and psychological cruelty.

#3 The Screwtape Letters by C.S Lewis
- The story takes the form of a series of letters from a senior demon, Screwtape, to his nephew, a junior "tempter" named Wormwood, so as to advise him on methods of securing the damnation of a British man, known only as "the Patient".

#2 To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
By far the best characters that were ever written, even though it was an autobiographical publishing, they gained life on the pages. Also everyone loves when justice is served.

#1 The Bible
Greatest story ever preserved.

Caitlin Richards 2

This was written awhile ago in my online journal, and im just posting it now...so even though Tuesday night has not happened yet, this was a past Tuesday night.

Its the afternoon after Tuesday night @ UCafe and I feel great. Set up an appointment with my Math Prof who also goes to my chuch, so hopefully he'll grade me like the angel that I am. other than math giving me the usual hell that it is, I'm really bustin ass this semester with the rest of my grades. Due to all the drama with "screwed" last semester, my grades were dismal, and thats not an excuse. I feel like I failed myself and I'm not okay with that. Me & this bitch called GPA are gonna battle for awhile, I Will Be Victorious. Probably switching my major to History.

I just spent another 200 @ the bookstore, on a smattering of subjects, none of them for my classes. Books, Music, and Movies are a bit of a high for me- Scratch that, I think culture is a high and I find these to be the best mediums to to experience it, besides living obviously.

Last night me and 2 other rooks went to Ucafe, our campus bar, and we had a blast. I can see how it gets tiring for the older people who no longer go, but we had fun dancing& drinking& mingling. K & Dre are mad fun to hang out with, all the guy vet rugby players were there too, along wihth some other campus comrades. It was great.

Lumps of lifeless paper.

It is not a surprise for anyone today, that every day rituals, festivals, and even education have been structured in a way to help the corporate side of the world. Weddings have to be "magical", and what ends up working behind that concept, is a team full of designers, planners, and other various businesses that gain from the term "magical". Same is the idea of education, I think. I am not going to go into much detail right now, but will focus only towards the books that are used by the universities every semester.

Every year, rather every 4-5 months books' editions change, the publishers simply change the covers and few terms in the book, to create a newer edition, that students must purchase. In case students try to save themselves from the increasing cost of education by purchasing old/used books, most of the instructors force them to buy the new edition as it might have a key CD or chapter crucial to passing the course.

Many times, I have been in a situation, where I 'had' to purchase a new book, but ended up using it no more than twice or three times that semester. Either the instructor decided to use notes from last year, or the course material in the book was too irrelevant for the daily discussions in class. For someone, who has to either get a student loan or work on the side to pay for school, it is just unfair to be charging this kind of fees, in the name of education. Some students try to sell their books at the end of the semester, and the amount they receive from the bookstore for their recently purchased books are usually a very tiny fraction of the actual amount.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think any thing is absurd with learning the newest material, but if it is done only in the name of earning profit, then I don't think the system of education is pure. All those old books are a waste of money, time, and other material invested in it. It may sound cliche, but even if it is thought of in terms of environment friendly, it is unhealthy of the education system, to mistreat books like that.

I think, that publishing books and the system of assigning books to each course, should be looked after by some sort of a committee where they make sure that no one is wasting a penny more just to feed the corporate system of life today.

Reading books

When I was a kid, I really hated to read books.
Even I tried to read, I automatically fell sleep after I read few lines. My mother kept telling me that "Read books!!!". To make me read books, she started to make a condition. If I would read 5 books per month, she gives me my favorite snack. My mother rarely buy snacks because she says that it is not good for health. But she tried to make me read books, so she made a condition to push me to read. However, I never did because I could not understand why books are interested.
When I entered middle school, I had to read many books as requirement. Of course, I really hated but I should...had to read it, so I started to read books.
When I became 15 years old, I started to feel that reading books is kind of interest. I could see different world through story, and I can learn something that I did not know.
After that I tried to read books as much as I can. Sometimes, I skipped my meal as well.

Actually, I do not remember what I read in that time exactly.
However, I believe what I read until now becomes my knowledge in somehow.