My Life Through Books

Once again I'm surprised that after all this time having a blog, I've never had a post about books! This is crazy. I mean, books are my thing. I like to binge them like a Wholockian binges BBC. The problem is that when I'm at school, I read so many classic and academic books that I have barely enough time to read fun books (that is, young adult literature). As soon as the semester ends (3 weeks!!!!) I engorge myself on any YA Lit I can get my hands on.

Do you not like the classics you read in school?

On the contrary. I read Death Comes to the Arch Bishop last semester and 1984 this semester, and I'm pretty sure both have changed my life and how I see the world. However my brain is so full of deep, tangled thoughts because of these books that by the end of the semester, I want to read something simply for the enjoyment of reading, not to get big ideas about the world and stuff (because you can only have so much of that in one year).

So this week I was talking with two of my Writing Center friends, Tashara and Celine, about the books that we fell in love with when we were growing up. Now, there are some conversations which I wish I could have every day, and this is one of them. We got so excited when we realized that we had fallen in love with the same books around the same ages. The thing about finding someone who loves the same book as you is that each time you fall in love with a book, it becomes a part of you. So when you meet someone who had the same connection with that book, suddenly it's like you are long lost sisters that were princesses in a far away kingdom together, or battled monsters in an ancient war together, or watched a beautiful couple fall in love together. That day, I kind of felt like Tashara, Celine, and I were long lost sisters who had travelled some of the same journeys and we were now just realizing it.

I took a Young Adult Literature class once (Best class in the world, by the way. Oh, you want me to read fifteen YA novels of my choice? I've already got 30 picket out!), and the teacher asked us at the beginning of the class to write a list of every book that we remember reading as a child and young adult that had an effect on us. This was one of my favorite assignments because I realized how many books changed my life. So today, I'm going to do something like that. And if you realize that we read the same books and we're actually long lost book siblings, let me know. I'd love to talk to you about those long ago journeys that we once had.

My Early Years (4-11)

I don't remember everything I read, and I know my mom read me many, many picture books, but I'm going to stick to larger books to keep the list short.

Frog and Toad

I know I read this when I was four because my mom tells me I would read it on my own and laugh out loud because I thought it was so funny. I still laugh out loud at Frog and Toad.  

The Backward Bird Dog

I actually loved any book by Bill Wallace (specifically Snot Stew and Totally Disgusting!) because I loved dogs so much, and he always writes about dogs. I especially like this one though, probably because this poor dog goes through so much and is kind of weird, but he turns out to be pretty awesome in the end. I like underdog stories ;)

The Giver

I'm still not sure why this book didn't send me into as much of a reading frenzy as it should have. It was my first dystopian novel, and I was disturbed yet intrigued by it. The idea of a society like this was so horrifying and fascinating to me. It planted the seeds for my love of dystopia later on.

Young Teen (12-15)

I went through a time where I really didn't read much besides animal books and picture books. I was tentative to step into the world of bigger novels. Every time I tried, I never really liked the story too much. I was just having a hard time finding good novels. Then, my friend, Nicky, suggested I read something by Cornelia Funke. I suddenly wanted to never stop reading because of her books.

The Thief Lord

This was the book that got me back into reading. I remember my family took a road trip when I was probably twelve, and I bought The Thief Lord to read on the way. I stayed in the car late into the night while everyone else set up camp because I couldn't put it down. When I did, it was to marvel at how much I loved the story. I thought I would never love a book as much as this one, but then I read Cornelia Funke's other novel.

Inkheart

I don't actually know how many times I've read Inkheart, but I could probably tell you the entire story without glancing at my tattered paperback copy. The reason it was so compelling to me was because I had started to fall in love with books (I finally started reading the Harry Potter books, much later than many of my friends), and this book answered the question, what if you could make your favorite characters come out of a book or what if you could go inside your favorite book? Nothing was more exciting to me than that prospect. I think this is also when I started writing. I realized I couldn't get enough of these stories in books, and that I had my own stories I wanted to tell. So I started filling up notebooks with what once had been daydreams and were now stories.

Eragon

I was on a fantasy kick, and I thought nothing could be more exciting than having your own dragon. I also read this one multiple times, but I never got into the series. The first book was good enough for me.

The Goose Girl

I loved The Goose Girl because I had long blonde flowing tresses as well. I just think it's the perfect princess story, one where the princess must be brave and save the day, but without the heavy handed feminist push. She still needs and loves her prince, and their relationship is perfect.

Twilight

I absolutely loved the first two books in this series. I was lucky enough to read them before the explosions of Twilight hate happened, and I would have been shamed to the point of reading them in the bathroom. I had some pretty harsh comments about my love of Twilight later on. Some of my peers were even forbidden to read it, as if it were satanic (some were forbidden to read Harry Potter as well. Pro tip for parents: Don't ever tell your kid not to read something. It'll only make them wonder why and then they'll want to read it more. Instead, tell them  you read it and it was boring. Then they actually won't read it). For me, it was my first experience reading a seriously romantic novel, and it was awesome. I never ever thought I could like any romantic novel (I thought romance books were boring. See parents, if anyone had told me it was boring, I wouldn't have read it. Instead everyone told me it was evil, so I had a certain pride in my love for it), but Twilight changed that. It made me actually want to read Jane Austen, whereas before I thought anything that lovey-dovey would be a waste of time.

Older Teen (16-18)

I devoured so many books in my teen years that I can't even remember most of them. We moved to Virginia when I was 16, and I didn't have a homeschool group anymore, so I decided to educate myself only by reading. I read a ton of classics, but I also read many, many fun books. Here are some of the ones that I remember having a strong effect on me.

Pendragon

I actually started this series when I was probably fourteen or fifteen (my best friend, Alissa, suggested them), but it's such a huge series (10 books!) that I had to wait for some of the books to come out, so I didn't finish it until I was eighteen. It was actually probably the most disappointing series I've ever read (dues ex machina to the max), but the individual books are pretty good. The author probably should have stuck with his original idea, which was to have ten separate books with ten separate worlds instead of trying to combine all of them into a series that didn't make sense. One cool thing is that the book about the planet Quillian is pretty much like The Hunger Games, but not as good. 

Airborn

One of my favorite steam punk novels. This is also a series (which I finished only last year and found only mildly disappointing), although I didn't know it when I picked up the first one. It's probably at the level of Inkheart in inspiration for me. It is aesthetically beautiful, and because of the main character's strong desire for flying, at many moments I wished I could fly too. I figure if a character wants something so bad that the reader wants it too, that's a good book.

Foundling

Another steam punk, but this time with monsters. Oh my gosh I wish people would write more monster books. I don't know why, but I love monsters. Not in the vampire/werewolf sort of way, but in the lanky thing in the woods, enormous shadow in the water, giant that hides behind mountains sort of way. This is a series, but the first one is probably the best. It constantly asks the question, who are the real monsters?

Incarceron

I had always wanted to get into dystopian novels, but I couldn't find any quite as good as The Giver. I read Incarceron because of the front cover and the description on the back. It just seemed like the perfect dystopia, and it was. What was really cool is that my aunt bought me the UK edition of the second book, Sapphique, before it was out in America. They are interesting reads with fascinating concepts about society and science.

The Prince of Mist

This is probably one of the creepiest books I've ever read. I actually started listening to it on CD, but they added all these creepy sound effects and I just could not handle it. Instead I read it curled up in a blanket in the middle of the night. Also not a good idea. I'm not one for horror, but this isn't scary in the disturbing, blood and guts sense. It's more scary in the Mothman sense (which I also watched all alone at night. What is wrong with me?!), but not in a way that I want to curl up in a ball wearing a tiara, watching Tinkerbelle, and eating cupcakes until my fear resides, kind of way. More in a, oh my gosh how can this be happening, why is this happening, how can anything be so evil, sort of way. Definitely worth the two hours it takes to read it.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

So, after The Prince of Mist, I was on a scary book kick, and I saw the cover of this book and knew it was just the sort of creepy book for me. Like I said, I love monster books, and this is the scariest monster book I've read. Well, I also read it in the middle of the night while listening to Library Tapes, so maybe that wasn't such a good idea either. This book is a YA book, but it felt like an older book to me, which was good because I was about 18 and ready for older books. 

Almost something like an adult (19-21)

I still read YA lit, so I don't feel like a real adult, but here are books I've read since being a teenager that have been amazing.

Unwind

I love it when people take serious modern day issues and address them in an objective (or seemingly objective) way in a novel. This book address the topic of abortion by presenting you the information in a what if scenario, in such a way that you must decide for yourself what life is really worth. I listened to it on CD while on a road trip with my sister, and we had to pause it multiple times just to gape and then discuss.

The Night Circus

I read this while I was engaged, living at home, and nannying to save up money for my wedding. I thought it was adult fiction, so I was all excited to be reading a real adult novel! But it actually falls under the category of Sort of Adultish-Sort of Late Teenish. Boo. But it is probably one of the most beautiful books I've ever read. I tend to get incredibly immersed into books when I read (so much that you can call my name and speak to me and I won't hear you at all), but I sank so deep into this book, mostly because of the descriptions, that when I came out, I felt like I had to gasp for air.

The Scorpio Races

I read Maggie Siefvater's Shiver, and thought it was pretty meh, so I wasn't incredibly excited for this one. Then I found out it's about monster-flesh-eating water horses, and you know how much I love monsters. It's got a very sweet love story as well, much more honest feeling than the relationship in Shiver.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox

I literally picked up this book fully expecting to put it down within the first chapter. I picked it randomly from a library bookshelf and thought, "Meh, let's try it." I was engrossed within the first chapter. It's also dystopian, although I didn't know it at first, and it also address similar issues as Unwind, such as, what is human life, really?

So, wow, that's a lot of books.

Yeah... I didn't think I'd write about that many, and I actually had to restrain myself from writing about more. They really are a huge part of my life.

Actually, as I look back on all of these books, it's like looking back on my entire life. I grew from animals, to fantasy, to romance, to dystopian, to spine-tingling, to current issues. Each book is a piece of me. I feel like if you read them all in the order I put them in, you would somehow know me. You'd know why I think certain ways and what I was like when I was younger and what I dream about. You could try it, if you have time. Call it the "Discovering Esther Through Books" experiment. I'd love to know what everyone else's list is. Then I could do the "Discovering So-and-So Through Books" experiment, and somehow we'd know each other better than many of our closest friends.

P.S. I did not put the Harry Potter or Hunger Games series on this list. They were an enormous part of my life and to this day I reread them. However, because they are so popular, I didn't feel like I had much to say about them; I've discussed them so much already. If you really want to do the "Discovering Esther Through Books" experiment, you could toss those books in too, but you've probably already read them (right? RIGHT?).

P.P.S Check out my goodreads account for a look at more books I like. 

The Star Plunge

So I realized today that when I created this blog, I promised to share some of my creative writing pieces. I have not done that yet. 

Wasn't that the whole point of this blog?

Actually I can't remember the point of this blog, except maybe a place for me to rant and write whatever random crap comes to my mind. But like I said, I have not shown some of my creative stuff yet. But I've decided I need to do it more. In fact, I might start making this a monthly thing (you people know how I am with commitments though).

So today I decided to share a piece of creative non-fiction. I really enjoy writing creative non-fiction, and I do it a lot (actually, all of my blog posts could be considered creative non-fiction). I'm writing from my memory, so I don't have to worry about what happens next, and since it's about myself, I get to use my own voice instead the stuffy, vaguely sarcastic voice I use for academic writing (I can't take myself seriously when I'm pretending to be professional). This is by far not my best piece nor my favorite piece, but it's my most recent piece. I wrote it for our Writing Center Anthology, which is a little booklet of some writing tutor's writings that our darling Celine creates every semester. Anyway, it's supposed to be describing my most embarrassing moment. My family knows this story, so it'll be no surprise to them, but I thought you guys would enjoy laughing at my misery as well.

The Star Plunge

Voila. The Star Plunge.

When you open the door to the Star Plunge, Thermopolis Wyoming’s premier hot springs water park, you’re immediately engulfed in a cloud of sulfur, which smells like a mixture of dog farts and refried beans. The whole town actually reeks of this, but it’s more concentrated at the Star Plunge. Whenever my family goes to Wyoming to visit my grandparents, we always spend an afternoon at the water park, partly because it is the only thing to do in Thermopolis and partly to escape my grandmother’s incredible people skills. One summer while we were at the Star Plunge, after changing into my swimsuit, I foolishly decided to leave my glasses in the locker room. It’s so foggy near the pools that I thought I wouldn’t have been able to see anything with them anyways. I’m pretty blind, so I told my little sister to guide me around to prevent me from accidently falling into the lobster pot, the hottest pool in the park, or something.

Three generations in the Lobster Pot.

When we were all dressed, my grandpa sidled off to said lobster pot, my parents went to the steam room, and my siblings and I went straight for the water park’s namesake: the Star Plunge, or the water slide of all water slides. 

Now, normally a water slide is made of heavy-duty blue or yellow plastic held up by thick white pillars of iron. This slide, however, was made out of the same stuff most cutting boards were made of, making it see-through and utterly terrifying. Instead of pillars, some parts of the slide were held up by rope that was tied around the tube’s middle, so when you whipped around it fast enough, it swung from side to side. Instead of a life guard at the top telling you when it was safe to slide, there was a rope at the bottom that you pulled as you got out of the slide, which lifted a plank of wood at the top, signifying a clear landing area for the next person. I’m pretty sure if there were any sort of safety codes for water slides, this one broke every one in the book. I’ve never been on a more exhilarating slide in my life.

The water slide of all water slides.

After racing up the cement stairs that led to the slide entrance, my siblings and I took turns shooting down it, pulling the rope, then racing up the stairs for another try. By the time I had gone three times, my older sister and brother had gotten bored and gone off to find the least stinky and old people infested hot tub to soak in. I wasn’t giving up. I had a plan to perfect my slide. You see, if you cross your arms and legs and tuck your butt in just right, you’ll go down so fast that when you hit the huge bump in the low grade plastic, you fly the rest of the way down. I knew that with all my years of practice, I could do this. I took a deep breath, sat down on the squeaky plastic, and slung myself down the tube as hard as I could. I rattled down that thing like seal in a sewage pipe. With precision, I tucked in my tail at the perfect moment, and FWOOSH!, hit the bump spot on. I flew the rest of the way, not even touching the sulfuric water that rushed beneath me. I was so fast I nearly hit the end of the pool when I exited the tube. After creating a splash large enough to make Shamu cry salty orca tears in jealousy, I pulled the rope to signal my epic exeunt. I felt like an animal.

My little sister/caretaker, Zosia

Without delay, I got out of the pool and searched out my siblings. I spotted a blonde-ish sister shaped blob wearing a blue-ish swimsuit, and I jogged over to her. Behind me I could hear the less satisfying splash of my little sister coming down the shoot. As soon as I got to the blob, I giddily jumped up and down, my wet hair plastered to my head, and squealed, “Did you see how fast I went?” A distinctly strange voice replied awkwardly, “No… I didn’t.” As I realized that I was speaking to a complete stranger, and I had just been jumping up and down and flapping my arms at her, my sister came up behind me and gently took my elbow. “Come on, Esther, let’s go find Mom and Dad,” she said with a voice only caretakers of the mentally ill use.