The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

In the ruins of Panem, the Capitol is surrounded by twelve districts. To ensure their loyalty, every year the Capitol picks two children from each district, forcing them to fight to the death. Katniss's sister, Prim, is chosen for District Twelve. Katniss knows that she is likely committing herself to die, but she steps forward to take Prim's place. Now, facing starvation and murder on live TV, Katniss has to make terrible choices, weighing love and survival.

Amazing. Collins grips the reader on the first page and never lets them go, escalating the suspense with each chapter. Through the course of the story the contradicting emotions of love, sacrifice, and self-preservation are played against each other, making a statement about violence and humanity.

The Lady in the Tower, by Jean Plaidy

Anne Boleyn grew up in the French court, observing the sophisticated ladies and learning how to catch eyes. She was then sent home to England, where she was expected to marry well and raise the family's standing. But she overcame obstacles and everyone's expectations, by earning the attention of King Henry VIII. Although Katherine of Aragorn's only flaw was a failing to produce princes, he set her aside in order to marry Anne, tearing church and country apart. Anne had risen high, but now she was caught in a trap of her own making, and after three years was imprisoned in the Tower of London.

The Tudors are fascinating. Henry's fathers were commoners; Anne's father was only a country lord. It seems that those who rise the highest are those who have the farthest to fall. It's so sad- as told by this book, she didn't even love Henry, and for her he tore apart the country, and then threw her away for Jane Seymour. It's scary to think that even the queens are so unstable, and the kings have no thought but for themselves.

Jean Plaidy has written a lot of books about the Tudors and England, and is also known as Eleanor Hibbert, and Victoria Holt.

Shackleton's Stowaway

When Perce Blackborow decided to stowaway on Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance, he planned to be aboard as a sailor on a heroic quest across the Antarctic continent. When they are hundreds of miles from land, however, the ice moves in, slowly crushing the ship. The crew is stranded on ice, forced to make impossible treks, with all thought of adventuring gone. Now Perce is inextricably tied to Shackleton in a fight for their lives.

Amazing. I vaguely knew about Shackleton's expedition, but not many of the things explored in this book. I have never had to kill something for food myself, or gone without more than one meal, or suffered from frostbite. It definitely made me appreciate my warm house and clothes and food a lot more.

Note: Though the book is fiction, there really was a Perce Blackborow who stowed away on the journey.

Two Posts in September! Wow!

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
Bill Bryson is in his fifties: aging, overweight, and settled down. Instead of retiring, though, he does something he's wanted to do ever since he moved back across the pond: walk the Appalachian Trail, 2,100 miles from Georgia to Maine. Armed with a backpack, maps, and a lot of noodles, and accompanied by highschool friend Katz, Bryson sets off for a walk in the woods.

Good. It made me wish that I hiked, and that i had the fortitude to try something that daunting.

---

In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
After writing about America and Europe, Bill Bryson flies to Australia. What follows is his account of the only country which is also a continent: a country with baking deserts and lush rainforests, a place with more lethal creatures than anywhere else, a land where everyone is friendly. Bryson travels across Australia, remarking on every detail, leaving one wishing to go Down Under.

--

Daws: A Man Who Trusted God by Betty Lee Skinner
Growing up in California in the early 1900s, Dawson Trotman was a liar and a gambler. Then, in one decision, his life was changed forever. Reversing completely, Daws began learning Scripture verses every day, witnessing to everyone he met, and organizing Christian groups. That eventually became the core of the Navigators organization: Scripture memory, witnessing, and prayer. Through his life, Dawson Trotman led thousands to belief in Jesus Christ.

Convicting. I definitely don't read the Bible or pray or talk to people enough. Daws made me decide to re-start and re-dedicate.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

When Liesel Meminger is nine, in the year 1939, she steals her first book. She is by her brother's grave; it is the Grave Digger's Handbook. So begins a love affair for words, nurtured by her foster father and the Jew hidden in the basement. While the world burns around her, Liesel takes books from wherever they may be found, trying to live through the war.

This is one of the best-written books I have read for a long time. Zusak's prose burns with intensity, creating a deeply moving story about why we need books.

I would love to hear what you think about this story. Contact me!

Elizabeth by Sarah Baker

Written in 1996, this extensive history of Queen Elizabeth II covers Britain's royalty from Queen Victoria to Prince Charles. Elizabeth's father was unexpectedly made King when his brother, Edward VIII, abdicated, thus making Elizabeth the heir apparent. Through her long reign, the Queen has made her way through the aftermath of World War Two, the extensive restrictions placed on royalty under Margaret Thatcher, and the more recent scandals involving the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer. Queen Elizabeth is one of England's most beloved monarchs, remaining steadfast for her country.

I admire the Queen's perseverance and calm throughout all sorts of trials, especially in family matters. Reading this book makes me grateful for the family that I have.

Summer Conference Books

Yay Summer Conference! We all had so much fun, it was great to be on the beach. However, since Laguna is a good sixteen hours, I had a lot of time to read.

Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset, translated by Tiina Nunnally
As a girl in thirteen-hundred Finland, Kristin loves her father dearly, and does all she can to please him. But while at a convent school away from home she meets the dashing Erlend Nikulausson, and in sweeping defiance she marries him. They have seven sons, and try to be faithful to each other as the world tumbles into uncertainty.

This book won the Nobel Prize in Literature, and for good reason. It is justifiably regarded as super-slow and -long. But while most stories focus on the winning of the prince, most of Kristin Lavransdatter takes place after her marriage as she lives out her life with Erlend. This book makes you think about the consequences of the smallest actions, the shortest words, and how quickly our lives can become tangled and splintered. Read this book.
NOTE: The paperback 2005 edition's cover is much cooler, enough to tip the balance!
-----------

Christianity's Dangerous Idea by Alister McGrath
From medieval Lutheranism to modern Pentecostalism, all Protestant churches are based on the same idea: that one can interpret the Bible for oneself. This has caused arguments, denomination splits, wars, and is the core of the Post-Reformation Protestant Church. McGrath explores the people and ideas that still cause debate across the worldwide Church today.

Basically a history of the church after 1500, plus theological arguments.
----

A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar
Great things were in store for John Nash. A brilliant and pioneering mathematician who developed the game theory, algebraic geometry, and nonlinear theory, fields as wide-ranging as imaginary spaces, prime numbers, economics, and computer science all fascinated him. But when he was thirty he began slipping, eventually descending into schizophrenia that would give him a divorce, lovers, an illegitimate son and a mad one, and make him an outcast to many of his peers. Yet, through his ex-wife and the loyalty of friends, he rose from the ashes and won world fame. This is his story.

The person who stood out to me most was his ex-wife, Alicia. She had no obligation to him, was in fact often frightened of him, but she was the one who was most devoted supporter. She helped pay for his treatments, the damages, and his everyday needs. It is a great thing to have a devoted friend in the first place, but Alicia Nash surpasses most.

library books! and others!

Fallout, by Trudy Krisher
Gen lives in the conservative beach town of Easton, North Carolina, in the midst of the peak of anti-communism McCarthyism and the most active hurricane season until 2005. Into her little world comes the ultra-liberal Wompers family, and she becomes Brenda Wompers's best friend. Forced to take sides during controversies that tear the town in half, Gen battles natural and social disasters, when the reunion must be caused by something as violent as a hurricane.

I live in a world where greenhouse gases might kill us in a few hundred years. Gen lived in fear of a nuclear explosion at any time, not to mention constant devastation by hurricanes. It is amazing that she was able to choose to love Brenda in spite of their differences, in spite of the fact that most of the town then branded her a communist. We should think harder about commitments that strong.
----

Swimming to Antartica: Tales of a Long-Distance Swimmer by Lynne Cox
At the age of nine, Lynne Cox swam for three hours during a freezing hailstorm, by her choice. Then, after swimming twenty-six miles across the Catalina Channel, winning multiple long-distance races, going around the Cape of Good Hope, and breaking the record across the English Channel at age fifteen, Cox decided that, during the Cold War, she would try to swim the Bering Strait. Big and Little Diomede, one Soviet and one American, stood across the border from each other less than three miles apart. The swim would be a peace-making gesture and research on swimming. After swimming the Strait and helping break the Iron Curtain, Cox set her sites on something even more outrageous: swimming to Antartica.

Inspiring. As a swimmer, it is especially motivating to me, but I think that anyone would be excited by reading this book. Cox was told when she was nine that she could swim the English Channel, and six years later she not only did it, but broke a record! And, involving even more resolution, she spent nine years trying to swim the Bering Strait. What is she doing now? What involves more than swimming for hours in thirty-four degree water?
-----

Greetings from Planet Earth by Barbara Kerley
Mr. Meyer asks Theo's class what makes earth special as the Voyager II is sent into space. This simple question changes Theo's life. Is it people? Is it animals? Is it art? Family? Technology? While he is trying to finish his assignment, Theo questions his home life. His father has been MIA in Vietnam for five years, and suddenly everything changes, and Theo wonders why his dad went to Vietnam in the first place, why he didn't come home, and most importantly, where he is now. In a year shaped by the golden record, Theo finds what makes us special.

It's one thing to have to deal with losing your dad, but then to find out he could have come back for five years?! Theo makes me realize how important family is.
----

Blink: the Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
In Blink, Gladwell tries to answer three propositions: that decisions made quickly may be just as good as those made deliberately; that when such rapid thinking goes wrong, it is for a specific reason; and that first impressions and spontaneous decisions may be controlled. Thus, we learn why a man knew that a Greek statue was a fake immediately, even though it had been declared good by all the experts. We learn that on racial-bias tests a man who associated blacks with guns much faster than whites with guns was able to change his score drastically by thinking of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nelson Mandela beforehand. Gladwell shows us that, as in the case of the Greek 'kouros', snap decisions may be made accurately, and, even more importantly, our wrong judgements that we make unconsciously can be changed by a few simple steps.

Some of these tests are scary. I don't think I'm racist, but even Gladwell, who is half Jamaican, scored badly on that test. I often think that instant decisions are of less value than considered ones, but often those spontaneous things come from a deeper level of our self, so quickly that we are unable to rationalize them. But we CAN change. Thinking of brilliant black people makes our tests agree with something we know to be true. Training policemen to have better instincts causes less bystander deaths. Screening orchestra auditions allows for a sudden equalization of genders in music. This is good news! Act on it! Read this book!

Ultramarathon Man by Dean Karnazes

Dean Karnazes has a wife, a daughter. He has friends and a good job. He ran when he was in highschool, but that was fifteen years ago. Then one night he gets up and runs from San Francisco to Half Moon Bay- thirty miles, with no training and no forethought. After that, Karnazes is hooked. Soon he's running marathons before breakfast, running in his lunch breaks, and again after work. He signs up for the Western States Endurance Run (100 miles), for Badwater (135 through Death Valley), and for a marathon at the South Pole. Through his running, his family comes closer together and find common ground in supporting him. His is a tale of the heart: courage, love, and determination to push on when everyone else has stopped.

Wow. My dad read this first, and gushed about it to everyone else. One by one my mom, brother, and uncle, all runners, read it, and joined in the praise. I was more skeptical. Not being a runner, the idea of someone running 100 miles was cool, but eh. But I read it, and I too was sucked in. It's not really so much about running as it's about getting over tragedy, loving family, and astounding perseverance. It made me try to work harder at school, swimming, and music, along with everything else. You should read this, even if you're not a runner.

Outsiders: the Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

Usually success stories begin with the poor, down-on-luck person who, though faced with daunting obstacles, rise above the common man and become the elite. They pull themselves up by their bootstraps and eventually make it. But Gladwell digs deeper: he looks at the similarities between Bill Gates, Bill Joy, and the Beatles; why Korean Air suffered so many crashes and then turned itself around; and what successful New York lawyers have in common. He sees why the world's smartest man never finished college. He sees that peoples' environments, culture, and, more importantly, what they do with these things, are what make true outliers.

I didn't really get the point of this book until I talked with Dad, who had already read it. I thought that the message was that these successful people were given unexpected advantages, and that's what made them. That's true, but it's not all: Bill Gates was given the advantage of a world-class computer lab in middle school, and he took it. He spent every spare moment in that lab, and as a result had the know-how to created Microsoft.
It hits home. In almost everything, I am either good enough to get by or do just enough work to make it. I rarely 'work hard'. Even if I had the highest IQ on the planet, if I keep it up I might be just like Chris Langan, who could have had a Ph.D at seventeen but didn't persevere.
There is hope, though. After all, Korean Air, after nearly closing down, is now a respected airline. It was terrible, but the crews and pilots took the time to figure out their problems and work really hard at fixing them. I'm trying to keep this mindset, and hopefully it will lead to a better, more God-centered, more 'successful' me.