My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok

Dear Readers,
This book makes me want to be an artist, a desire that is not common to me. I enjoy life, but normally have no desire to put what I see onto canvas. Painting and drawing can only capture one sense (not even my favorite sense). My Name is Asher Lev made painting more interesting. It made it into something I almost wanted to try. Almost.
I must again say this book was different than what I thought it was going to be. I find that is true about most books, which means I need to stop judging them before reading. In my defense I heard many book review and such high praise about this book that it altered my view before reading. The book lived up to the praise. In many ways it actually exceeded my expectations.
Again I did something with this book that I do with too many. I thought the book was above me and it was going to be hard to read. For some reason when people tell me that books are great and have a deep meaning it translates to difficult and boring. Asher Lev, the narrator of the book, turned out to be very personable and well spoken without be lofty.
Asher Lev was from a Jewish family in New York. His father and mother came from very important Jewish families. Asher was next in line to be very important. Instead of following his father into working for the rebbe he fell in love with art. From a young age he was said to have a gift. He would paint or draw everything he saw. His father did not approve. Many times he was told to stop this silliness and grow up. Asher was told that God did not approve of his drawing and it was a sin to continue on with something so childish. The rebbe however had different ideas.
The rebbe says Asher is to learn to paint. He is to be taught by a prominent Jewish artist. While studying the different types of art Asher learns to turn his passion and raw talent into beauty.
What else can I say but read it?
Enjoy!
Lindsey  

God is Dead by Ron Currie Jr.

Dear Readers,

Ron Currie Jr. is an interesting author. I enjoyed all of the books I read of his. Everything Matters was my favorite. I found meaning and incite in that book. His other books I have read intrigue me and make me think, but I am not exactly sure what to say about them.
God is Dead was good but quite horrifying to me. To some who are not religious and not believe in a God this book may not seem horrifying, but to those who find purpose in religion it might send a shock wave through their beliefs. Thinking about what would happen if something you believed in your whole life suddenly stops being true is a real mind trip.
I was raised in the Christian church. The Missouri Synod Lutheran Church to be more exact. When thinking about my religion it seemed to be a tall tower built off blocks. If one of the foundation blocks was suddenly removed the whole thing then seemed lucrative. Age has helped expand my beliefs and they are no longer restricted to tottering tower of blocks. Still thinking about what would happen if God was entirely removed from the world shook me.
The book is told from many different views; these views help show how all different sorts of people were affected. It unites the world and tears it apart at the same time. Suddenly everyone is in the same boat with no idea what the future holds. This should unify people, but instead violence breaks out. Then things keep going and people realize the they have to keep on living. Somehow the world keeps spinning. The unique stories in this book make you think about what happens to the human race after disasters of all types.
So many different points could be discussed from this book, but I really cannot do them all justice. Read the book and then you will see what I mean. It is a quick read. Short book, but it will provoke more thought than books triple its length.
Lindsey

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkekes

Dear Readers,
Romance and Chick-Lit are the comfort food of books. They are the bowl of chicken noodle soup on a cold day. They are the old baggy pair of sweat pants that you own. You love them because they are so comfortable, but you would never be caught dead in them in pubic. Something about the improbable stories sucks the reader in and even if they want to leave it won't let them. It doesn't matter if you know the end from the first page or if you have no emotional attachment to the characters, it is impossible to stop.
Perfect Chemistry was recommended to me a few years ago. I read a description of the book and thought 'hey that sounds like something I would like to read'. I instantly put it on my to-read book list. It has been on there for a while and I decided I should finally read it.
Perfect Chemistry was predictable and implausible like most teen romance novels. The plot was quick moving, almost to quick moving.The characters were slightly boring. A gang member who has a heart is not the most original character, and having him fall in love with the 'perfect' pretty girl with a hard family life was almost comical. The theme was pretty nonexistent, but I guess that is when you get from romance.
To young teen age girls living far from the big city and all of its bright lights the idea of a Mexican gang member with a soft side is probably very enticing. Just like pirates once where to love hungry ladies no where near the water. People have been gobbling up the same story forever. The bad guy falls for the good girl and she goes against everything she knows and falls for him. They both have secrets and they share them. They finally found someone to understand them and it was the complete opposite of who they thought it would be. Blah Blah Blah. It goes on and on.
Both of the main characters have secrets that they think make them special and set them apart. The pretty girl has a disabled sister and wack-a-doodle mother. She longs for something besides being perfect. The extremely hot bad boy gangbanger wants a quite life with no violence and safety for his family. They find each other thrown together and grudgingly they start to interact. A wall breaks down and they see each other for the first time. Its pretty much down hill from there. A cookie cutter romance novel.
I do give props to the author for actually killing a character. Some real suffering happened. Some people got the shit beaten out of them a few times. The gang violence wasn't all empty threats and missed bullets.
If you are looking for an escape you can find it here. It wasn't a long one for me. Only took me an afternoon to read, and then it was back to thinking about the very real mean Chicago street. Its cute. The ending is cute. I don't want to spoil it because there are so many possibilities.
Lindsey
P.S.
This book makes me happy because it makes me realize we are one step closer to this exciting future.
If gangsters can be love interests then they are on their way to being harmless just like pirates.

Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles by Ron Currie Jr.

Dear Readers,
I am stumped. Normally after reading a book I am filled with so many thoughts, questions, and revelations that it is hard to put it all in one blog post. For some reason Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles has left me with nothing. Not that the book wasn't good because it was. Not that is didn't interest me because it did. I just don't think there is anything I can say about it.
I am trying hard to give you a good review. I am trying to tell you what to expect, but I don't think I should. I think that you should enjoy this one for yourself. The writing style is very interesting. It switches between different streams of thought so you will never get bored. The story it intriguing. The characters are complex and relatable.
All I have left to say is read it. Enjoy it. It left me with something. Something that I really can't put into words. Hopefully you find something in this "true" story, too.
Lindsey

My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud'homme

Dear Readers,

What can be said about Julia that hasn't already been said?
Her life was full of love. Whether in the kitchen or on television or with the people she loved, Julia Child put her heart into everything.
This love for food, also life, was one of the many influences that pushed me into the culinary industry. Before reading her auto-biography I knew very little about Julia. I thought that I knew her life story, but I really knew nothing until I heard it from her. Her quirky, informal, and personal voice leaves no guessing on how she became an instant success as a cookbook writer and television personality. Her voice and very interesting life make "My Life in France" feel nothing like a dry, traditional biography.
"The France Book", written with help from her great nephew, begins when Julia first discovers her love of France and French food. For every chef out there a story lurkers behind their love. The first taste of excellence never leaves a person. For Julia is was a bite of Sole Menuiere in the Norman countryside her first day in France that set her on the path to becoming the "French Chef". One can only become a great cook after becoming a great eater. Julia and Paul became fantastic eaters their first year in Paris. With a new taste for the rich and wonderful French cuisine, Julia longed to learn to cook the dishes. She started with many disastrous attempts, but eventually with enough practice and confidence grew into an accomplished cook.
These first mess ups and flops are what separate the real go getters from the rest. After messing up and messing up only the ones who will truly make it keep trying. Confidence is key in the kitchen. Julia said it best  when she described her vile eggs Florentine.

"I don't believe in twisting yourself into knots of excuses and explanation over food you make. When one's hostess starts in with self deprecation such as 'Oh, I don't know how to cook...,' or 'Poor little me...,' or 'This tastes awful...,' it is so dreadful to have to reassure that everything is delicious and fine, whether it is or not. Besides, such admissions only draw attentions to one's shortcomings (or self-perceived shortcomings), and make the other person think, 'Yes you're right, this really is an awful meal!' Maybe the cat has fallen into the stew, or the lettuce has frozen, or the cake has collapsed- eh bein tant pis! Usually one's cooking is better than one thinks it is. And if the food is truly vile, as my ersatz eggs Florentine surely were, then the cook must simply grit her teeth and bear it with a smile- and learn from her mistakes." 

 I shared my own flops and failures in the kitchen, and I can guarantee more are coming. Julia's knowledge though rings true. When mistakes are made in the kitchen and in life they must be made into learning experiences.
Julia Child lived a life filled with love and good food, and that is all anyone can hope for (it is most certainly what I am striving for). Reading about her passion has made me think more about my own passions. I have chosen a field where I do what I love everyday. If I did not love baking the burns on my arms and dough under my nails would never be worth it. I leave for work happy every morning and come home thoroughly exhausted but happy. For a very short while I worked at a bakery where I was unhappy; it showed me a few things. Life is to short to do things you dislike. What is the point in waking up everyday to work somewhere that make you miserable? Some may say that I am to young to be thinking about these things. Is there really a better time though? I now have my whole life ahead of me to fill with passion and love.
Julia wander in life for a while. She herself said she was lost in life. Until she met Paul and found a passion for food Julia was not the Julia we all know and love.
Julia taught many how to cook, but she has taught me this... A life lived in the purist of good food and passion is a life well lived. So dear readers have no fear. Go wholeheartedly into anything you love. Make no excuses for your mistakes, instead learn from them. And above all enjoy every morsel you eat!
Lindsey

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

Dear Readers,
"You don't put your life into your books. You find it there."
This quirky little novella provides much more insist into the mind of a read than is expected from only 120 pages. The Uncommon Reader tells the tale of an uncommon woman learning the wonder of books meant for common people.
When her unruly corgis find their way onto a traveling library by the castle kitchens Queen Elizabeth II feels obligated to borrow a book from Mr. Hutchings. Out of the same obligation she reads the book and returns it to him the next week. The young Norman, a kitchen boy, recommends the next book for the queen. After a few books she decides she likes this reading thing. Norman becomes her amanuensis.
The more books Norman finds for her, the more the Queen disregards her normal duties. While leaving behind what filled her time to read books, she finds one's life between their pages.
Alan Bennett's Queen has such a sense of finding herself in literature that relating was very easy and the 120 pages flew by. Books open the reader to a whole new world. Places inaccessible and people who are long gone are just a page away for anyone willing to read. The world is such a broad place for one person to experience everything is impossible. Even the Queen of England in this novel felt as though she had not experienced enough.  One evening she writes in her journal "I think of literature as a vast county to far borders of which I am  journeying but will never reach". Books can open up a whole new vast country with unreachable far off borders. So much knowledge and information can be learned from the books at the local library.
Not only do books open up knowledge of human kind with its triumphs, downfalls, wars, and times of peace they also open up the mind. They allow reflection onto one own's life. For the Queen her literature induced epiphany was that her interesting, wonderful, and extremely uncommon life would be left only in peoples memories. This acknowledgement of her current state drove the Queen to seek out ways of leaving her life as more than just a distant memory. The search is not for redemption but conformation  Through reflection and analysis she plans on confirming what she knows about her uncommon life. With the new found knowledge she means to write her story.
Few things can compare to reading. It is an involuntary reaction for most. We read the milk carton at breakfast, the ads on the subway, the billboards on the side of the road, and the multiple text message, twitter and facebook updates, and email on our phones. Finding one's self through words is not much harder. Picking up  a book is the first step to self discovery. Through literature passions can be found, interests can be cultivated, feelings can be understood, history can be relived, lessons can be learned, mistakes can be prevented. If that is not enough motivation to pick up a book the best advice would be to go see a doctor.
Lindsey
Postscript
Not only is this book a wonderful read, a road to self discovery, and an understanding of literature the writing is peppered with fantastic humor. It is one of those books that will leave you smiling. The wit is outstanding. For a taste here is my favorite passage.
These are lines exchanged between the secretary of the Queen and the secretary of the Prime Minister.
"'Yes. Lending him books to read. That's out of order.'
'Her Majesty likes reading.'
'I like having my dick sucked. I don't make the prime minister do it. Any thoughts, Kevin?'"
Go Out And READ!!

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

Dear Readers,
So rarely is there a book that perfectly captures the transformation from  teenager to young woman. I Capture the Castle is one of those rare books. The teen shelves at bookstores are now filled with shit. Books that fill teenage girls' heads with silly notions that they will find the perfect man and then on top of him being perfect they will change into vampires and than live forever. Their romances are cheap and their characters transparent. These books are not empowering all of the female teenagers out there, instead they are teaching them that when they fall in love everything will magically work out and there will be no more problem unless they involve saving the world repeatedly, mistaken identities, or the worst of all they are separated from there boyfriend for more than 20 minutes. Life and love is hard. When  better to learn that than as a teenager.
Here is where someone could interject that learning everything from books is not good either. It is said that failure is the best teacher. That is true, but why are we sending girls out there to fail with high expectations of life. It only makes it so when they fall they fall further. They need a guide. I Capture the Castle can be that guide.
Cassandra the narrator of I Capture the Castle is a very well-spoken seventeen year old. She journals a year of her life living in a decrepit castle in the English country side with her family. Her father, who is a famous retired writer, feel in love with the castle while getting lost house hunting one day. He immediately signed a 40 year lease. When they move to the castle Cassandra and her family had it good, but soon things go down hill. Her mother dies, the house keepers dies, her father marries again, and slowly they are running out of money. By the time Cassandra starts her journal they are all out of work, wearing thread bare clothes, and living off their garden and the few eggs they can get from a neighboring farmer. Cassandra has adapted fine to the poverty, but her twenty-one ear old sister, Rose, has not. She still longs for the days when they had more than just enough food to go around and they could buy new clothes every year. Just when Rose considers selling her soul the devil to just get out, a light at the end of the tunnel comes.
The owner of the castle from whom Father is renting died, and his two sons have come to England to visit their estate and their mother. They wander into the castle and end up meeting Cassandra and her family. Rose is determined to make one of them fall in love with her. Both of them are rich and money is all she says she needs. The two families are thrown together.
While her sister is content to fall in love with whoever Cassandra sits to the side and watches. She nudges her sister along knowing that if she marries they will no longer be poor. What she did not expect was how deeply she was going to fall for the man who fell for Rose. After a secret kiss Cassandra falls head over heels in love with the man her sister is suppose to marry. Since her feelings are not reciprocated she is very unhappy in love. She searched for happiness through other means. She tries to push away her feelings.
When she finds out that Rose is not love with her fiance Cassandra has the small hope that they will break it off and he will fall in love with her. They end the engagement, but Cassandra does not get her wish. The man she longs for is still in love with Rose. Cassandra still loves him and even though he asked her to come to America with him she declines. In the end she is happy though she has grown out of her youthful stage and now understands what being in love is about.
That might be an awful and quickly written explanation of the book. It made the book sound silly and only about how much she longed for a man. The meaning in this book is one of those things that is hard to describe in words. Words are no match to my feeling for this book. I related to it so strongly. I have not been unhappy in love to many times, but every high school girl has her share of heart break and unrequited love. The relation to the book went much further than anything about love. Cassandra thought her life was going one way. She planned, she dreamed, she hoped for this one thing to happen. It was all she wanted in the world. For the man she loved to love her back. When it finally came she felt different more adult about her feelings. She declined his offer to leave the country with him. When something you have wanted for so long finally happens it sometimes does not meet your expectations and you are left feeling much different.
I moved to Chicago a year ago longing for freedom from my parents, my town, my old life. I left thinking that I was going to live the most exciting life in the city. I was going to be doing something I had wanted for so long. I had practically begged my parents to let me go. Now after I have been here I find that I want nothing more than to be home with them. Its such an odd feeling. I must grow up though. The saying goes that you sleep in the bed you made. The hardest thing I find with growing up is expectation verses reality. I have recently gone through that just like Cassandra and just like many young girls will go through. It is something not many are prepared for. I know that all life lessons cannot be learnt from the pages of a book, but it is better to be prepared.
I would like to close with one final statement about the book and its importance, but I really can't find the words. For me there was so much more in the book than just a teenage girl longing for love. The best I can do is to say read it. Maybe Cassandra's story will help you grow. Maybe it can help you capture the castles in your life. I know it gave me a good eye-opening.
Lindsey