Mango Street Thoughts

Thanks for the new book. I think I saw this one on another book recommendation list so I'm excited about it! On to March's book. After I got through reading it again, I'm pretty sure they should not have let junior high school students read it (or maybe I was in 9th grade). There were parts that I'm sure went over my head at that point so I'm sure it wasn't too big of a deal. Anyway, I still liked it but not as much as I had remembered liking it. There were parts that made me laugh out loud (like when they all went by on the bike and a large woman commented that they had a large load there and her friend made the same comment back to her). I also really like Cisneros' style of writing. She made everything so simple and detailed at the same time. Her writing form is truly an art form. I also did like the stories she told. It was amazing that you could learn so much from one short chapter. We recently moved to a smaller town in Utah County. I love our house but it's kind of in a more run down part of town. I almost felt the same way Esperanza felt when she was describing Mango Street and so it was nice to relate to that. Anyway, there's my thoughts. I'm curious about yours...

April: Goodbye, Mr. Chips by James Hilton

So I've chosen the book for April. I'm sorry it's a little slow in coming... The book I chose is Goodbye, Mr. Chips. It was recommended by my mom and sounded like a good, short read. (That's the kind I gravitate to these days.) I hope you'll all enjoy it! Find it on Amazon here.

Mayflower Review

This is slow in coming, but I wanted to post how much I enjoyed this book. I love history books which is why I majored (although I graduated yet) in history. I havent studied early American history for so long, but I thought this book did a good job of telling the story of what happened to those early settlers. I particularly enjoyed learning a little more about Squanto's role and life story. Im sure glad I was born now when I dont have to struggle to grow all my own crops, or worry about getting the wall around the fort done before the next feared Indian attack! But I am glad for their sacrifice and contributions to this country. The reason why I love to study history is because it gives so much insight into why a group of people are the way they are. Studying the pilgrims gave a lot of insight into why our culture is the way it is today.

The House on Mango Street

Since I'm stuck at home recovering from an emergency appendectomy, I've had a lot of time to think about my book choice. With it being the first day of the month I'd figure it's the perfect time to post my choice. The book I've picked is "House on Mango Street". This book takes me back to junior high. I think I first read it in 7th grade (is that right Nancy?). Anyway, I remember loving it then and I'm looking forward to reading it again. I think I've mentioned before that I love memoirs and this one in particular. You can get it from Amazon starting at $.03. Enjoy!

Marley

Thanks, Joanna, for getting the discussion rolling. I'm not a dog person either but I figured that this book would make me laugh and cry and I love books that move me in some way. My main sentiment at first when I read about Marley's destruction, particularly to the house, was, "I'd KILL that dog!" I mean seriously, I can't even imagine dog boogers all over my walls and lampshades. But then I stepped away from that and realized the endless amounts of laughter and entertainment Marley must have provided the Grogans. My favorite parts of this book - my laugh-out loud moments - were when John described kissing Marley while thinking it was his wife...and then taking him the next day to get fixed, and sledding down the hill with Marley laying on top of him. I cried when I read about Marley dragging himself from to tree after tree in his old age looking for just the right place to pee.

I was grateful that their next dog was more calm, touched by the memories Marley left behind and inspired by the things he taught his owners: live each day with "unbridled exuberance and joy," seize the moment, follow your heart, appreciate the simple things, be optimistic in the face of adversity and unwavering loyalty. Those kinds of lessons are true gifts whenever and however they come.

My Thoughts on Marley

I'm assuming everyone has finished the book so I thought I'd get the ball rolling on everyone's thoughts. When I first heard about the book I immediately thought about the movie and I was a little hesitant because it wasn't a movie I was too interested in seeing. I then remembered seeing Grogan on the Today Show a few years ago and liking his story and was interested in reading the book. After remembering that I was excited to read the book and had a hard time putting it down whenever I picked it up. At first I wasn't sure I'd like it because I'm not too much of a dog person but I realized in the end that it wasn't really a book about his dog. Instead he used his dog to tell his memoirs. I love reading memoirs and so I loved this book. I loved how he made Marley into a person too. It was fun when he would speak for Marley and how he showed Marley's personality throughout the book. One part I really liked was at the end of the book where he made a list of things that Marley taught him. I can't remember the specifics (and I don't have the book anymore) but I know it was a good list. It was fun to watch Marley grow with the family and to see what they were all learning and growing through together. I think that Grogan and his wife matured along with Marley. They all started out young and carefree and grew older and wiser together through different life experiences. So there's my jumbled thoughts. What did you think?

"The Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War" by Nathaniel Philbrick

Sorry I've been slow to post February's book, I've been a little sidetracked I guess.

I love history and am always drawn to non-fiction more than fiction. With that in mind, I'm hoping this isn't a terrible pick for everyone else. I thought it looked interesting...






From The Washington Post: Few periods in American history are as clouded in mythology and romantic fantasy as the Pilgrim settlement of New England. The Mayflower, Plymouth Rock, the first Thanksgiving, Miles Standish, John Alden and Priscilla ("Speak for yourself, John") Mullins -- this is the stuff of legend, and we have thrilled to it for generations. Among many other things, it is what Nathaniel Philbrick calls "a restorative myth of national origins," one that encourages us in the conviction that we are a nation uniquely blessed by God and that we have reached a level of righteousness unattained by any other country.
It is a comforting mythology, but it has little basis in fact. The voyage of the Mayflower was a painful and fatal (one crew member died) transatlantic passage by people who knew nothing about the sea and had "almost no relevant experience when it came to carving a settlement out of the American wilderness." Wherever they first set foot on the American continent, it wasn't Plymouth, and it certainly wasn't Plymouth Rock. The first Thanksgiving (in 1621) was indeed attended by Indians as well as Pilgrims, but they didn't sit at the tidy table depicted in Victorian popular art; they "stood, squatted, or sat on the ground as they clustered around outdoor fires, where the deer and birds turned on wooden spits and where pottages -- stews into which varieties of meats and vegetables were thrown -- simmered invitingly." As for Priscilla Mullins, John Alden and Miles Standish, that tale is nothing more than a product of the imagination of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
These cherished myths, in other words, bear approximately as much resemblance to reality as does, say, the story of George Washington and the cherry tree. In Mayflower, his study of the Pilgrim settlement, Philbrick dispatches them in a few paragraphs. It takes considerably longer, and requires vastly more detail, for him to get closer to the truth about relations between the Pilgrims and the Indians. Popular mythology tends to focus on Massasoit, the chief of the Pokanokets who allied his tribe with the English settlers, and Squanto, the English-speaking Indian who formed a close, mutually rewarding friendship with William Bradford, governor of Plymouth Plantation for three decades. Some of what that mythology tells us is indeed true, but as Philbrick is at pains to demonstrate, the full truth is vastly more complicated.




Buy the book on Amazon starting at $0.76 used.