The Hunger Games. YES.

Since I'm spending the summer doing a lot of nothing (when in actuality, I should be planning for the many classes I'm teaching this fall), I have decided to put some hours on my Kindle.  We know from an earlier blog post that 50 Shades of Grey just didn't do it for me, so I opted for something that had caused mass hysteria at the movies - The Hunger Games.  Let me reiterate, I'm usually not one to follow the crowd, but if I ever expect to win Jeopardy I need to delve into pop culture a bit.  Anyway, I borrowed the first one with the monthly lending allowance on Kindle, and figured I'd take my time with it and borrow another one in the next month.  Well, 24 hours later I had knocked that one back and was ready for another.

I did what any good resourceful person does when faced with a challenge like this, took to Facebook to beg for a lender.  I immediately found someone (three people actually) who was willing to digitally lend me the last two books in the series and I went to work on them.  The first book was definitely the best, and they sort of petered out from there, but altogether, they were exciting enough.  The author did excellent descriptive work, I could really picture the Capitol and the 12 (13) districts, the characters, the reaping, and the arena in the Hunger Games.  The character development was thorough and the plot was filled with exciting developments that led to a good story overall. 

Some of it was predictable, but that is okay.  The whole love story was weak.  However, the way Katniss tells the man she chooses that she loves him was kind of cute there at the end.  I guess since these books were for young adults they couldn't get too raunchy.  Stealing kisses and glances here and there was about all we got.  The whole dynamic of the post-apocalyptic United States and a powerful Capitol who makes slaves out of the people of the districts was really quite clever.  It seemed plausible but totally ridiculous all at the same time.  I liked it.  It mixed the days of the Glaldiator fights in the Roman Coliseum with the technology and advancements of the future. 

I was sad to see this series end.  My cousin graciously send me almost 700 books for my Kindle so I have enough free books to keep me entertained all summer and then some.  I'm currently reading a murder mystery by James Patterson.  The story is good enough but the typos on the digital version are driving me insane.

Unrelated:  only a month left until I start work.  I'm getting antsy because I feel like I should be doing something, yet I'm so overwhelmed that I don't even know where to start.  Sometimes between now and then, probably around my birthday, we are taking a family trip to the beach with my in-laws.  I'm really excited to be spending a few days with my kids on the beach.  The big ones love it and hopefully Brayden will enjoy it as well.  I'm actually supposed to be looking for a place to stay now, so I better get back on that.  Until next time.

Fifty Shades of Lame

Normally, I don't follow the crowd.  I don't have to see the latest blockbuster in theaters when it comes out at midnight on a school night.  I don't wait in line for hours to pick up the latest gadget.  I don't read books like Twilight or Lord of the Rings.  I don't watch primetime TV (although, I will watch reruns on Netflix if I get hooked  - ex. Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice).  I'm not sure why this is the case, I guess I just like blaze my own trail.  Anyway, when Facebook became inundated with posts about the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, I was indifferent.  That was until I read reasons why people weren't reading it, then I became intrigued.  I also read that hardware stores were having trouble keeping rope on the shelf, which I really don't understand because the characters never even used it.  I picked up my handy Kindle Fire and went to the book store.  Then I found they wanted $9.99 for one book.  Um.  No.  Fortunately, I have a friend who is even more resourceful than I am and she sent me the whole series.  I set to work to see what all the hype was about.

First, the good (sort of).  It kept me interested at first but it seemed to follow the law of diminishing returns.  The more I read, the less interested I became.  The author tried to come off as a sesquipedalian (aka user of big words) and I think my vocabulary expanded slightly.  It was almost as though she overused her thesaurus and underused it at the same time.  Anyway, this is supposed to be the good.  The book was about BDSM, which is very obviously why so many understimulated housewives are enjoying it.  They have an inner freak similar to Ana's inner goddess. Some of the sex scenes she described were entertaining, but they lost their spunk a few hundred pages into the book.  The romance was thick.  I can see how people would like to read about handsome billionaires lavishing an ordinary mortal with houses in Aspen, condos in New York, Audis, diamonds, expensive vacations, and Christian Louboutins.  I get it.

The bad.   There was absolutely no plot.  It kind of felt like I was just reading Ana's blog.  The author has got to be laughing about this all the way to the bank.  James does throw in a few good sub-plots that kept me turning the pages like the time the ex-submissive Leila held a gun to Ana and the time Ana's ex-boss Hyde demanded ransom for Christian's sister.  The problem?  It only lasted a couple of pages and the solution was entirely predictable.  As for a climax (insofar as stories go), there was no major climax in any book.  It was just a flat storyline.  Not only that, the story wasn't even believable.  Their romance blossomed at a freakishly quick pace.  She needed her ass whooped, and not by him, for moving so quickly with a man.

More bad.  The redunancy was so annoying.  Ana and Christian were constantly fighting and having makeup sex.  GAG ME (metaphorically speaking).  Not only was the story repetitive, but James used the same five sentences to rehash the same story lines OVER AND OVER.  The book was on repeat.  I never had trouble turning off my Kindle to go to bed at night.  To me, that is the measure of a good read...whether you can't put the thing down at night.  I could.  Her prose was terrible.  I've seen autistic monkeys with better communication skills.  I was more distracted by that than anything else.  She also had a hard time with writing in the first person.  We never knew Christian quite like we knew Ana.  The ways she told us about him was through emails (FOR REAL).  She also made us read the dominant/submissive contract TWO agonizing times to give us a glimpse into his world.  At the end, when she realized she had written something totally unbelievable into the story (Ana withdrawing five million bucks for ransom) she just wrote a separate chapter that described a phone conversation Christian had with the banker.  Really?  Lame.  Then at the end she tells the story of Ana and Christian meeting (again), but this time from Christian's POV.  After spending hundreds of pages making the reader want to like Christian, she finishes by making him look like a complete douchebag.

Anyway, I'm done bagging on that book.  I guess this is why I don't follow trends.  I am far too cynical to enjoy them.

Confession: This white girl loves Malcolm X.

Be forewarned - this is not a book review.  I had enough of those in college.

I recently read Manning Marable's book, Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention, which can be purchased on amazon.com here.  This is a picture of the hardback version.



I must say - this book was AMAZING.  Since I graduated in May with a Masters degree in History, I have had a LOT of free time on my hands (when I'm not chasing around my toddler).  I knew I wanted to spend some of that time reading for pleasure, since I haven't been able to do that for the last several years.  Why did I choose to read historical nonfiction rather than trashy romance novels?  I am going to be teaching American History at the college level in the fall and I figured I would beef up my knowledge this summer.  I also just love history (as well I should)!

The Civil Rights Movement is probably my favorite historical period.  It is better than fiction.  I am intrigued by it.  My favorite aspect of this grassroots movement was the bravery and courage necessary for it to occur.  Oftentimes, this movement is remembered by telling the story of the romanticized martyr MLK.  Malcolm X has always been controversial and has definitely taken a backseat to King in the historical memory.  I don't want that to be the case when I teach about this era.

From what I understand, this book was released upon learning that the author, Manning Marable, had a terminal illness.  This book was his life's work.  He had spent some 30 years researching and writing this groundbreaking masterpiece.  Unfortunately, he died just days before the book hit the shelves.  He left behind something very special.

This book reads like a novel.  I couldn't put it down.  The way he follows Malcolm through his life felt like he was right there with Malcolm through it all.  Having written a thesis, I know a little bit of what it is like to research a topic extensively and exhaustively.  I am most impressed with his success in getting Louis Farrakhan to be interviewed as a source for this book.  His thoroughness in researching Malcolm is incredible.  He left no stone unturned.  His eloquence in sharing the story is amazing.  This book was not only about Malcolm but about the Nation of Islam, the group that was an integral part of Malcolm's many transformations in life - the thesis of the book.

There are so many things I love about Malcolm after reading this book, chief among which was his integrity.  This man, unlike many others who profess to believe in something, was no hypocrite.  He really practiced what he preached, unlike his mentor Elijah Muhammed. 

I don't think that enough white people in the south (or anywhere for that matter) understand black history, especially from a personal point of view.  This seems to feed into stereotypes and racism.  Blacks SHOULD be bitter about how their parents, grandparents, and ancestors were treated in the past.  Malcolm X was controversial partly because early on, he declared his antipathy for whites in no uncertain terms.  I have always felt like this was a fair and honest reaction to the things he had seen in his life and this book served as validation for that.

Marable unveils the real story behind Malcolm's death at the age of 39 in this book.  Killed by his former brothers in the NOI, Malcolm was forever silenced by an assassins bullet in front of his wife and children.    Manning has beautifully and intimately cemented Malcolm's legacy in this book which is sure to stand as THE definitive account of Malcolm X for years to come.