April 20, 2007 12:11 pm

Books, Reading, Virginia Tech, and Apartments

In order to understand my book collection, you have to understand how I purchase books; rarely do I buy anything I haven’t already read. This may seem strange to some, because why get it once you’ve already read it? With me, I buy books generally because I read it and loved it so much I had to own it. I’m very, very big on re-reading books.

Without further ado, here are some books I’ve read recently and would like to recommend:

A Handmaid’s Tale
I’d only heard about this book, but never talked to anyone who had read it and hadn’t ever had it recommended to me. The subject matter seemed interesting and I’d heard it was somewhat of a classic, so I got it.

If you have any interest in books about future societies (e.g. George Orwell’s 1984), women’s rights, or just well-written books, you should totally read this. I think it’s especially appropriate given our administration at the moment.

The Leap
This is by Jonathan Stroud, the same guy that wrote the Bartimaeus Trilogy that I liked a lot. The story follows a girl who is recovering from nearly dying trying to save her best friend. Nobody believes her story that he’s not dead, and her family constantly tries to take her mind off of the situation. Then she starts having weird dreams where she gets hurt and wakes up with real wounds. She just knows her friend is still alive, and she’s determined to save him. It’s a young-adult book, but very, very good.

The Notebook
I rented the movie The Notebook on a whim because 1) I heard it was good, and 2) I heard people kiss in the rain. Really, how could you go wrong? I ended up loving the movie and when I found the book at a thrift store, I picked it up. It’s very short, but it’s absolutely beautiful. Both the book and the movie make me cry – in a good way – because you can just feel the love that these people have for each other. Sappy but true. It’s a wonderful book.

Blink
This talks about your gut reactions to people, places or things and how they can actually be beneficial to you. Malcom Gladwell, the author, contests that your instincts are not often wrong, and this book talks about the times they do go wrong and what you can do to avoid that. It’s thought-provoking and interesting.

Edited to add:
Eats, shoots & leaves
A must for anyone who likes grammar and spelling. I bought this on a whim because I heard good things about it, and it’s seriously so great. If you see signs like, “All patient’s welcome” and cringe because you know they’ve misused an apostrophe, this book is for you. I love it.

Subject Change

I’ve been trying to think of something to say about what happened in Virginia, and I can’t quite come up with anything that conveys my feelings accurately. I’m sad about it, obviously. I’m upset for the school, the families, and those poor students. I feel bad that the killer thought that was his only way out. I cried when I read that a student looked back at his teacher before jumping out the window to save himself, and later hearing that the teacher was shot and killed. I have an enormous amount of respect for educators and the thought that a teacher would stay behind to protect his or her students is very, very powerful to me.

I thought of Becca and assumed she probably knew someone who went to the college. (The people she knows are okay.) I thought of my college, who sent out an email that morning expressing their sadness and advising students on appropriate safety measures. I thought of my family, and how they would have reacted had I gone to that school.

I hate that the killer gets so much notoriety. I hate that people are focusing on the fact that he was Korean instead of the fact that he was a troubled young man who needed help. I hate hearing that people made fun of him or were mean to him. I wonder what he was thinking.

Subject Change

I’m also upset about the recent ruling on abortion. Here’s why.

Subject Change

Daniel and I recently found out that our lease on our apartment has been month-to-month since May 31, 2006. Since we initially signed a 9-month lease, I had assumed it revolved in nine-month increments. We were up for renewal in March of this year, and I assumed since we missed that, we’d have to wait until December to move but apparently that’s not true.

I don’t know who thought of making leases month-to-month without telling anyone, but it actually works in our favor. We are going to look at two different apartments tonight and I have really high hopes for one of them. It’s quite a bit more expensive than what we have now ($850 versus $525) but it’s not that far away from where we are now and it’s huge and has natural light.

Natural light! I could take pictures that don’t look awful! I think I will also have to figure out budgeting and determine how I will be able to keep up that amount of rent with student loan payments and all that, but I think it will work out.

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4 Comments

  • Sarah says:

    *is confused* “I’m very, very big on re-reading books and will often buyLast Saturday, I finally spent a Powell’s Bookstore gift card I’d had in my wallet for weeks.” buyLast!

  • Meggan says:

    Awh crap. Will fix, thanks. :)

  • Kat says:

    Just wanted to say that I totally agree about people focusing on the guy being Korean. As if that had anything to do with it. I bet they’d love to turn it into some sort of terrorist attack story. So sad, trying to make people fearful of foreigners…

  • Melissa says:

    I have that Notebook movie in my Netflix queue…just because people keep saying it’s so good. I’m so not a romance movie person but hey if it’s really good then why not! ^_^

    Sadness about VT. :( I agree, I heard about that teacher dying for his students as well and that is just…awesome…but sad, so sad. :(

    Good luck on your apartment search! I hear ya, after I move next week I have to find one too, bah. It’s stressful but it’s so nice to have a new place. :)