Reading Next... Joy Luck Club, reread!

 

The Joy Luck Club is always a popular choice title when we read for small group book clubs.  Each year, while my classes are reading from any where between 4-8 titles, I usually choose 1 or 2 to closely reread, at least half way through.  

It's been a while since I chose The Joy Luck Club as my reread.  I love this book, and in the 2018-2019 academic year, it reminded me so much of my mother who had recently passed away, there was no way I could grab the title and read it.  Instead, I'd smile and listen to the discussion groups, maintain every ounce of strength I had to get through class, and gear myself up to get through the papers about Waverly and her mother.  That's the thing about great books.  They can be so relatable- and sometimes, that connection can be a bit too much to bear.

This year, we were faced with all sorts of bad news and depressing events.  And my student readers of The Joy Luck Club were such a fun and pleasant group to be around, even on the zoom, I figured it was time for me to reopen Amy Tan, and I am so glad that I did!  I read the first few chapters and then abruptly closed the book after workshopping an approach paper (with in person writing conference session which was so great and not on zoom)!   I was enjoying the book so much, I decided to save it for a summer pleasure read instead of reading it for class.  

Even though I opened The Goblet of Fire last night and have about three other books going, I am planning on diving back into Amy Tan today.  I honestly cannot wait!  All of the humor and most agonizing moments of mother daughter relationships are ready and waiting, and this time, it is much more of a visit alongside my mom than a reminder that she is with me in new ways every day, even if she isn't really physically with me.  

 

March  By: John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell

    March is about civil rights legend John Lewis. It took place during the time when Jim Crow Laws were in place that created segregation between African Americans and White people. One thing I really took away from the book was not only their determination to be treated the same way. 

I learned several things from this book. But what I really was interested in was the non violence protesting. Civil Rights icons and John Lewis were really very religious so it was against their nature to be violent. One example of a peaceful protest was when Diane, a person in the book, and other people would go into a restaurant that only served white people. They would just sit down and go about their business. Then they went back the next day and the day after showing determination and not budging for anybody.

By reading this book it really gave me a new perspective on the civil rights movement and I really feel like it helps me understand what people went through during that time. However, I can not understand why one would be racist in the first place because I do not understand why someone should judge someone by the color of their skin. Given this, I think the best way to defeat  hate is with determination, love, and that is what I learned from March.

Originals

    Originals is a nonfiction book by Adam Grant explaining the psychological phenomenons behind some of relevantly recent history’s greatest successes, most embarrassing failures, and significant events in the technical world, the business world, and politics. The stories range in topics from the Segway, women’s suffrage, and Warby Parker, a website that sells glasses made by Adam Grant’s former students at the University of Pennsylvania. Grant’s explanations behind certain events are quite interesting especially when he describes how the tv show Seinfeld came to be. You see, despite being one of the most successful shows of all time, Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David’s original pitch of “a show about nothing” was originally rejected by networks, and ended up being picked up by an executive who didn’t even work with comedies at that point. There are many more stand out stories in the book similar to this, and Adam Grant's explanation of how they came to be using psychological concepts is quite interesting.

    One question the reader must ask themselves, is the reason why I enjoy this book so much because of the stories themselves, or how Grant words them and relates them to his general point. For me at least, the answer is both. While Grant has a knack for reiterating pop culture legend or information in a social studies textbook, Originals wouldn’t be nearly as entertaining and thought provoking if it was simply just a printed out wikipedia page. With Grant’s in depth explanations, reasonings, and connections, this book not only intellectually stimulates the reader, but also makes the reader recognize Grant’s intelligence and possibly their own intelligence as well. Overall, if I were to rate this book I would give it a decent to strong 8 out of 10.

All the Light We Cannot See

     All the Light We Cannot See is a book by Anthony Doerr about World War 2 and the stories of these fictional characters in the midst of it. These characters include the blind French girl Marie-Laure LeBlanc, the orphan radio aficionado and Nazi soldier Werner Pfennig, and a few other characters that are hardly ever explored minus their relation to the stories two protagonists. The book can be easily divided into about 5 acts, although the story is not quite linear, which is something I go into depth during the second paragraph. The story has a very strong beginning, a decent middle section, and an ending that ties up all of the plot’s loose ends despite it being quite boring (although I may have just been tired of the book at that point). None of the main characters make decisions that are logically questionable or out of character for them, however this may just be a byproduct of the fact that the main characters (LeBlanc and Pfennig) don’t seem to be in full control of their lives, due to the fact that one of them is seriously disabled and the other is a soldier in one of the most infamously authoritarian (among other things) regimes the world has seen thus far.

    The story follows this format of beginning with the climax of the story, and each section of the story afterward is interjected with chapters from what would be this story's climatic section. While beginning a story with its own end is not unheard of nor uncommon, it’s the interjections in between each section that truly wear on the reader. Beginning a story with its own end is a good tactic because it can inform the audience of what will happen to the story's protagonist(s) before these characters are even formally introduced, giving the entire story some sort of feeling of suspense in the reader or audience wondering how the events later on in the story will lead to this one, or alternatively some good old dramatic irony, similar to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. However, constantly interjecting your story with these sections of the climax disrupt the flow of the story, and almost insulting the reader, essentially saying “by the way this is how the book ends in case you forgot already,” every time a section is completed. This method of interjection and nonlinear structure also kills off the story's actual climax and it does not have as much effect as it should on the reader. Overall if I were to rate this book I’ll give it a light to decent 6/10. 

Stronger Than A Bronze Dragon

Stronger Than a Bronze Dragon by Mary Fan, is about a girl named Liang Anlei who lives in a village that gets attacked by shape-shifting shadow type creatures called Ligui. Liang’s village is losing people daily to the attacks, so when Viceroy Kang shows up and asks for her hand in marriage and a special relic called the river pearl in exchange for protection she says yes. Liang changes her mind and then the river pearl gets stolen, and Liang follows the thief and discovers that the thief is a man named Tai who also needs the River Pearl to defeat the Demon King Mowag.

Liang and Tai go on journey to the Courts of Hell to defeat the Demon King Mowag. On their way back home they find out that Liang’s village was destroyed by the Ligui. Wanting to protect her village she accepts Kang’s hand in marriage. Liang and Tai find out that Kang has been trapping spirits called Yueshen and turning them into Ligui. To find out what happens and if there is a happy ending, you’ll have to read the book.

I enjoyed reading this story and felt the characters and story were well developed.  From reading the blurb of the story, I was hoping to see more of the magic, mechanical dragons and air-shapes but I wasn’t disappointed at the end of the book.  I would recommend this book to readers looking for an action story.

 

I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak

     

I Am The Messenger is about a nineteen year old boy named Ed Kennedy who is challenged to help those around him. He is given different assignments through different playing cards. While he used those cards, he learned to face his fears.

    When I read the book, the beginning was a little confusing to me because each chapter included different story lines and didn't add up to the whole plot of the book. Overall, it wasn't a bad book. I would highly recommend this book if you are interested in books by Markus Zusak.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz

Blog Contributor: Rhiana Boutot

The Tattooist of Auschwitz, by Heather Morris, is based on the true story of Lale Sokolov. Lale was a Holocaust survivor, Slovakian Jew, and - most notably - the man who tattooed the thousands of arms of prisoners that would arrive in Auschwitz. One particular prisoner, Gita, draws Lale's attention - and from the moment they meet, Lale vows to survive the camps and marry her.

Lale was such an interesting character. From a hardworking, women-loving, well-dressed business man, to a prisoner in Auschwitz working on roofs and new blocks, to eventually being the tattooist of Auschwitz. While he was still technically a prisoner, he was put into a position of power, and used his privilege for good. He was able to gather extra food to feed his fellow prisoners, and could bribe the Nazis into giving him chocolate, alone time with Gita, and much more.

This book was hard to read. I'm not going to lie, I cried quite a bit. The story was beautifully written and was such an extraordinary tale of love and humanity, even if it took place in a concentration camp. Lale and his friends all found some way to stay alive - whether it was love for another, the want to live a real life, or just pure spite. It was truly a story of love, selflessness, and humanity.

I think everybody should read the story. It doesn't matter if this would be your first Holocaust story or your hundredth; it's such an important part of history and reading these books help to keep survivors' stories alive. We owe the survivors, and everyone who ever entered a concentration camp, that much.