The filtering sunlight and a small beep finally woke him up around 11 the next morning. Another loud stretch and yawn then he kicked his feet out of bed and on the floor. He stepped on his bag of gifts and jumped. He sat back down and picked up the bag to asses the damage to the contents. “Oh sorry little munny” he said to the box. It was a blank “munny” a do it yourself toy that Ivan had gotten for his birthday. He had always been artistically gifted and the blank canvas of the munnys always made for fun projects. “What’s this” he picked at the little toy on a small heart shaped mark. “They must be making these a little different now” he said to himself as he placed the munny on his drawing table. A loud noise startled him, he looked up to see that one of the munnys he’d already designed and placed in a display case had fallen over. He opened the glass case to place the munny right side up again. “There you go Melvin, you stay upright now”. He saluted the camoflague painted munny called Melvin and shut the case, a quick movement caught his eye. Ivan shook his head, “I must be tired, it looked like Melvin blinked” he whispered to himself as he began to get ready for the day.

Melvin the Miraculous Munny

The fabulous tale of a lost king trapped in the body of a do it yourself plastic toy. His only hope is a geeky artist who has to help him find out who he really is and get back to his kingdom to take his rightful throne.

I play volleyball pretty regularly. I think being part of a team and participating athletics really taught me so much about pushing myself further than I thought I could. It also taught me the meaning of sportsmanship and true competition. I’m quiet but surprisingly competitive by nature because of this. I love to dominate especially on the volleyball court. Don’t get me wrong I definitely know my limits but I will play hard against anyone. I’ve been playing in this league called Nikkei for quite a bit now. I’ve managed to make a pretty good group of friends. We play in weekend tournaments sometimes and have managed to even do other non-volleyball related activities. I love volleyball and now I’m just rambling, but I think I’ll be playing this sport until I can’t walk anymore and even then I’ll still try to find a way.

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink:

What I liked: Thoroughly engrossing story. It’s easy to get emotionally attached to the narrative of this tale. My co-worker read this about a month after I did and the physical and emotional toll was visible. The story has a way of being really fresh and familiar. The aftermath of the Holocaust is a familiar one to many. The freshness of the affair as well as the secret Hanna is hiding is what keeps you entrenched. A wonderful read.

What I Didn’t: The affair was surprisingly graphic. My co-worker described it as soft core porn. The shock of the book leaves you a little jarred. Schlink also has a way of pulling the emotional rug out from under you. Which I think is satisfying as a literary device but is also very heart wrenching. 

Who Will Like This: Just about anyone.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman:

What I Liked: I loved everything about this book! I am a huge Neil Gaiman fan so he’d have to try not to please me. That aside the story is a wonderful adventure. His characters are always cheeky but good natured. The names of his characters are clever and you root for them throughout the book. 

What I Didn’t: That you can’t find this book anywhere! I’m hoping since it won the Newberry, shelves will begin to be stocked by this wonderful book.

Who Will Like This: Anyone.

My favorite genre of literature is of the fantastical science fictiony sort. I currently am obsessed with the Doctor as in Dr. Who, the longest running science fiction program on television. I devour all things that are similar to this concept, space/time travel, mythical creatures, aliens etc. I love the idea of discovering things to be real that we chose to explain away. It seems I don’t really enjoy reality too much and am constantly trying to escape it.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately that maybe this is where I should focus my writing energies. I’ve been trying to hard to write stuff that is aimed toward the literary sophisticates, other book snobs like myself. I think now I should really stick to what I enjoy myself. I remember the first story I ever wrote was about an underwater kingdom. I got top prize in my 3rd grade class for it and I still remember the thrill of writing that fantastical adventure. It’s freeing to think this is where my writing will take me. I would like to thank all of the wonderful influences in my science fiction world: Neil Gaiman, J.R.R. Tokien, C.S. Lewis, Madeline L’engle, and most recently Dr. Who. You have shown me worlds of wonder and I am eternally grateful.

Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse & Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

What I Liked: I re-read the series after seeing the movie in November. I basically holed myself in my room for most of my Thanksgiving weekend and read this series TWICE. I had already read this series before and though I enjoyed it, I didn’t have any intention of reading it again. After reading it again the story seemed to take on a whole new life for me. Maybe it was seeing the movie and having a face for all of the characters, or maybe it’s because I was PMSing and was thoroughly enjoying my predisposition to romance and drama but I loved it the second (and third) time around. My favorite thing about these books is the delayed gratification factor, the story keeps you on edge throughout the story. My favorite book was Eclipse. In ways that are totally obvious and cliche, but when you resign yourself into buying into the story line and characters you can happily forget the confines of reality and literary integrity.

What I didn’t: Bella is really really whiney and self-conscious ,which is why we find teenagers so annoying isn’t it? I didn’t particularly like the ending to the series, breaking dawn was my least favorite book. 

Who Will Like This: Apparently teenage girls and their moms, oh yeah and me

Dead Until Dark, Dead in Dallas & Club Dead by Charlaine Harris

What I Liked:I listened to these on audiobook and I really liked the narrator. I bought them for a friend for Christmas and thought I’d take a listen as well. I really wanted to like this series because I love vampires. I started this series in the after glow of the Twilight series. 

What I Didn’t: Sookie Stackhouse is an oversexed self-absorbed mind reader. It has been very hard to try and like this series but I figure I might as well stick it out since I have it on audio and can just listen to it passively at work. 

Who Would Like This: Not sure, but I guess people that are really into the vampire thing and aren’t too sensitive to the gratuitous sex stuff.

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

What I Liked: I generally enjoy the writing style of Gladwell. He presents ideas in a manner that is visual even though it’s on the page. I think his analogies or examples are much easier to see in the minds eye than statistics or scientific examples that could easily be used to present these ideas. I really enjoyed Blink, it’s interesting to read how the mind works and how our decisions are based on so much more than us just saying yes or no to ourselves.

What I Didn’t: None, I liked it. Granted I’m not a big one for the fact checking when it comes down to non-fic but the theory made perfect sense to me.

Who Would Like This: Those interested in marketing and business

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

What I Liked: Again, I thoroughly enjoy Gladwell’s books and ideas. This one was particularly enjoyable for the human case studies to illustrate his points. I also enjoyed how he made it personal by adding a profile of his grandmother and how it set him up for outlier type status. 

What I Didn’t: no complaints here

Who Would Like This: business minded individuals

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

What I Liked: Great inspirational lecture and a touching look back on a life well lived. It had a nice little surprise ending when he reveals his true motives for the lecture. 

What I Didn’t: Pretty cliche in terms of dying memoirs but no less poignant.

Who Would Like This: anyone who doesn’t get too uncomfortable at sentimentality.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote

What I Liked: Holly Golightly is a very colorful character and Capote does a great job of painting a picture of that era. Very well written.

What I Didn’t: Not sure if Capote is my brand of author, I didn’t find myself getting too involved in the story. It may be a product of having watched the movie before reading the book because I found myself making comparisons the whole time.

Who Would Like This: People interested in good literature 

The Easter Parade by Richard Yates

What I Liked: I devoured this book on a plane ride back from New York. I loved every sad minute of this novel. We live our lives telling trying to convince ourselves we have no regrets or that we shouldn’t have any. Yates does a wonderful job of showing regret and how sometimes we end up living a life we didn’t intend to because of cowardly choices or just because of circumstances beyond our control. Beautiful sentence construction, he makes you feel it with every word on the page.

What I Didn’t: Yates’ novels are really depressing and you’re always hoping for the light at the end of the tunnel which never seems to come.

Who Would Like This: Those with a more sophisticated literary taste and who aren’t afraid to get real about life.

” So what happens when the heart just stops, stops caring about anyone….” This song has some of my favorite lyrics ever. Whenever I sing along in my head I always end up thinking about the themes in the song. The concept of selfishness and of being cynical and bitter of closing yourself off to a world that is cold and unfair that tries to love you but always falls short. It resonates so loudly to someone who shuns love because of past hurts and who is prone to self-sabotage on all fronts. This is the essence of our brokenness, love is pilfered as the remedy to all and yet we as imperfect beings administer this cure in doses that are inconsistent, harmful and often abruptly taken away. It’s a tricky remedy because the prescription isn’t the same for everyone. 

I’ve been thinking a lot about the reasons behind my self imposed isolation. I can pinpoint moments in relationships where I feel a connection and I instantly turn my proverbial heel and run the other direction. I’m too afraid to get close to anyone these days, it’s the fear that I will not be accepted that I will be found out as a fake or worse that they’ll find out who I actually am and be extremely disappointed. Another layer is that I’m not really too sure of who I am anyway, it’s hard to present yourself as something when you have no idea who you are yet. I hope I’m not the only one who has problems defining their very being in a few short statements. 

These posts recently have been incoherent and very self-loathing. It’s funny because I hate reading whiney blogs, which I guess is the reason for the shoddy readership of this particular corner of the net. I’m still trying to figure out what to post about that isn’t so dramatic and pop psychological.