Don't Know Much About Politics

I'm not trying to be the cute blonde who giggles and pretends stupidity to gain attention. When I titled my post 'Don't Know Much About Politics,' I mean I don't know much about politics. Much is being kind, what I know couldn't amount to a piece of printer paper. Politics hold no source of value to me or I guess that's what my right brain creative side is saying. My left side pleads with me to show some sense and start caring. I've begun to feel guilty at my lack of enthusiasm for the topic. Most often I crave knowledge. I'm the person who after a long conversation about the origin of bookmarks, goes home, researches, and reads anything and everything about bookmarks. *

I can hear my grandmother now, if she read this, "Madelyne you need to know about politics. It is your right as a woman. It is your duty to arm yourself with knowledge." I can also hear her and other people I know telling me I’m an anti-feminist (very warped view of things) because I don't take this amazing power privilege I have access to. It has nothing to do with whether or not I'm a feminist. I choose not to tell you which one I am.

I do understand part of politics is wanting your voice to be heard. It's wanting your opinion to be out there for all to hear. That takes a brave, willing person to have people take your opinion and attack it much like buzzards attack and pick at their prey. Of course their prey is dead. Let's give your opinion a little more credit (and hope) than that though.

I love my opinion being out there, granted I'm always fearful of what others will think and/or say. If you lived at my house you'd say I was a liberal, can't keep her mouth shut, voice is never below a scream type of girl. I can understand looking back in history why women wanted such rights as the right to vote. ** It wasn't so much the vote as that they didn't want to be tossed to the corner where they’re forced to never speak above a whisper. They didn't want to argue they just didn't want to scream like banshees in order to be heard. I'm sorry that my temper gets the best of me most often and at that point I'm more willing to scream and shout my opinions than to discuss them diplomatically. (I'll forewarn you, if you didn't notice already, I'm horrible about going off on rabbit trails.)

Back to politics . . . When people ask questions like "Have you heard what Savage said?", I think to myself whose Savage? Maybe an author with a good new book out? (Ok I know that it is annoying how I can bring books into almost any conversation.) I put myself in this place of ignorance that I find that I am settled in at this point in my life. Shove me out though, go right ahead. I do need to know more. If you can recommend a good book for someone like me, oh let's say, The Very Unwilling and Stubborn Idiots Guide to Politics in Laymen's Terms by A Very Well to Do Educated Genius Whom Doesn't Mind Toning it Down for Some of Us Little People, please do so. I'm serious, as I always say I try very hard to read what is recommended to me.
I think if I know more about politics I won't be the type of person who hears one little tid bit of something and rides it like a $2.00 bus ticket. ***

For you out there who talk to me on a daily and/or weekly basis I appreciate the time you take to pause, explain, or even share with me things going on in the political world. Thanks for explaining it to me in a way that I can understand, book analogies and all. ****


Quote of the Day:

The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something we do not understand.
- Frank Herbert

* History of Bookmarks
** This is not my entire opinion on the subject. I only share that with certain people.

*** A situation like this happened not too long ago. There are a few people who know about it and even tried to smooth things over, but I'm still hesitant to believe differently.
**** I didn't take much time to go over this post. I'm sure there are many spelling and grammar mistakes.

Bibliophile Tendencies and my personal dilemma of going crazy. . .for books.

Snow, snow, snow, and more snow. I stopped liking snow this year for a number of reasons. My car accident because of the snow is foremost in my mind. I do however; think it also largely due to the fact that I’m no longer young enough for a 2-hour delay of school cancellation to allow me the joy of playing in snow. Otherwise the snow causes butterflies in my stomach as I drive to work. Not the pretty fluttering kind, but the kind that dive bomb at your stomach attacking any reserve of calm you might have been trying to hold up.

My Amazon wish list works not only as a list of books I want to buy, but a list of books to read. As of today the list has 105 books I want to read. About an eighth of these books are books I have read and want to own. Honestly 85% of the list if not more are books that I judge the cover for the level of reading appeal it held for me. I know that is not good, but I’ve only been wrong a few times. Once I read a book (I remember the title, but I won’t say it in case someone else may have loved this book) that looked like a scrumptious bit of reading. I read 11 chapters into the book and decided forget that, if it’s not going anywhere in 11 chapters it’s not worth my time. If an author wants a book to not go anywhere for a while they need to choose a lower of number chapters to do it in. For example I tried reading The Hobbit years ago and the first 5 chapters were torture….to me at least. My friend convinced me a few years later to give it a try again. I did and after those first 5 chapters it was great! While 5 chapters is still a lot to read through and not like, especially since they were long chapters it is much better than 11 chapters.

That aside I decided to indulge my craving yesterday at Walden Books (this craving never goes away) to buy a book from my wish list. I bought Sovay by Celia Rees. I’ve only read one other book by Celia and that was Pirates!. Just the title alone told me I would love this book and I did. Sovay has a cover that has me eager to pick it up right now and read it ahead of all the books in line before it (and there are many). I didn’t read the back of the book or inside flap. I only know it is about a girl and involves thievery.

I can’t help myself and know I should probably read about books before purchasing them. Is it the book editor that writes the back cover summary or inside flap? Well let me tell you, is it your goal to basically summarize every major event in the book? That way after reading those few paragraphs you’ve basically read the book. Come on! I want enough to make me squeal with anticipation, but not so much that I don’t need to read or buy the book. Okay maybe squeal was a little over the top…for in public. My sister doesn’t mind reading the summary. She doesn’t like that it gives too much away, but she can’t stand not to read it. She knows my reading tastes very well, probably second only to myself. If I really want to read the flap, but can’t bring myself to do it I pass the book to her. Then she gives her yah or nah opinion for if I will like the book. Obviously I trust her immensely J. In a way it is like trusting your child with a stranger, although my sister is certainly not a stranger.

I also purchased the book Queen, Empress, Concubine: Fifty Women Rulers from the Queen of Sheba to Catherine the Great by Claudia Gold. Royalty is one of my favorite subjects to read about.

Aside from the 2 new books I bought, I also bought (guilty blush) a few from Goodwill as well. I know, I know, I don’t know when to stop buying. Actually I don’t how to stop. As you can see from my LibraryThing tag ‘To be read’ books now is almost 400 books. Remember my previous post about striving to read more books from my on personal library, well that undertaking keeps getting bigger no thanks to yours truly. Maybe I need to rethink my idea of placing another large book order with Independent Publisher Group. Rats! They just came out with their 2009 catalogs too.


An appropriate quote of the day, that I may have posted before, is below.

Quote of the Day:

Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations.
-Henry David Thoreau

Goals! Recent Reads and WoW's!!!!!!!

What better to discuss on New Year’s Eve than goals for the New Year? I know it is a tedious thing to read about and let me tell you sometimes it is even more tedious for the person making the list. However, I’m taking a new outlook this year. I’m choosing to be positive about the coming year. If I remember correctly, at this time last year I posted something on my Myspace page about goals for 2008, hold on let me go take a look if I did….. Never mind I’m having issues with the computer.

Anyways I remember not looking forward to the new year and I remember loathing the idea of my birthday only being 5 months away. I wasn’t happy about turning 20 and my life still being at a standstill, you could say. Nothing has changed really, but I want to be more positive. You could say that turning 21 in 5 months could only make me happy because I can finally drink!!!! While I’m excited about that I’m also strongly convinced this year has things in store just waiting for me snatch them up.

Goals for the New Year:

1. Read between 150 and 200 books. The majority of which I hope come from my own shelves. I tend to buy, buy, buy like crazy, check out even more books from the library, and only read the ones I get from the library. If my tagging on LibraryThing is correct I have well over 350 books to be read. YIKES!

2. Finish and Enter 21 projects for the quilt show I participate in every August. My grandmother thinks this is too tall of an order for me, but why ever so do you ask? I inherited….yes you guessed it the procrastination gene from my mother and my grandmother. I like, no I choose, to wait a month sometimes less before the event to finish the projects. Not this year I’m starting tomorrow, actually that sounds like a good idea. At least 2 of the quilts are basically finished!

3. Get down to business about opening a bookstore. This has long been a deep desire for as well as my sister. The more I swap books online at PaperBackSwap the more I realize this goal is attainable. I’m praying the Lord will show me how I can do this. I need to know where I can get inventory from, large quantities of used books. Eventually I’d liked to branch out to selling new books too, but at first I want to focus on used books.

4. Try harder to write more. I really want to finish a book. There is just too much self doubt evolved. I wish I had a good friend that was a writer that could read my stuff and tell me ‘you stink’ or ‘this is good keep going’. Alas I don’t and I’m just going to try to work on writing. Write from the heart and not be worried about what others will think of it….until later when it becomes important.

5. Journal more.

6. A better relationship with the Lord. More than ever my relationship with the Lord has really been slack. The year has had its ups and downs. I back think to all of the blessings the Lord has gave me and think shame on me for not striving for a better relationship with Christ. However, I also shouldn’t only want a better relationship with Him just because of His blessings. I need to be in His word everyday, praying, and worshiping Him because I’m told to do so in His word, its obedience. I want to read my Bible more and truly seek the Lord’s wisdom.

Goals aside I have book reviews to post!!!!!!!

The Sinner’s Tale by Will Davenport (4 stars)

I love books that weave the past with the present. This novel is no different. The author did a great job of slowly drawing me in by starting in the 1300s with a knight. I was eager to know more about this righteous knight who thought himself so lowly and sinful. The book also made me more curious about Catholics and their beliefs. It had just enough mystery to it, to keep me picking it back up. I also want to know more about the time period now. Davenport cleverly had Chaucer as one of the characters and I kept thinking throughout the book that it was him. I was happy with the modern day setting, but didn't enjoy it as much as the past. Beth (modern day main character) was kind of annoying and mean. I kept wanting to take her by the shoulders and give her a good shake. The author does give a little background history from World War 2 as well. The ending message about war is particularly good. I'd recommend this book to people who like historical fiction, mystery, twists, and the movie A Knight's Tale!

A Certain Slant of Light by Laura (2 stars)

Before reading this book I had never read a book with ghosts as the main characters. I was intrigued by the author’s view of life, for some people, after death. Her style of writing was very poetic and it is obvious she has a love for literature and poetry. The story progressed well and was cause for curiosity. I thought it out of place for a young adult book to have such vividly described sex scenes. Usually I base a books worth on whether I feel right about placing it on my shelf someday for my children to read. I would never want them to read this for the pure and simple fact that I don't think it age appropriate, nor content anyone should be filling their minds with. Also it has to be said, I didn't like the portrayal of Christians in the book. It is not because I am a Christian that I say this, but because I don't like it in books or movies when people deem it right to make their audience feel that all Christians are that way. We all are hypocrites at one time or another, myself not excluded. I can understand writing about a Christian who is fake, but portraying us all as perfect little robots who never do anything wrong, don't tolerate sin ever, and pretend to lead a life of righteousness is wrong in my opinion. Sin is wrong, we are to hate the sin, but love the sinner, not to ostracize and create an outcast of ourselves.
I was happy with the ending, in that it gave you hope for the future. I will be interested to see what the author's future stories have in store.

Green Rider by Kristen Britain (4 stars)

Karigan, a young woman, finds herself kicked out of school and running away to get home. Little did she know that running away would bring her so much adventure. It starts with her meeting a dying messenger bound to deliver a message to the king, whose lasts words employ Karigan to take the message to the king. Along the way she meets up with strange creatures, people who speak of magic, traitors, and the mysterious ‘Gray One’.
I purchased this book a while ago based on the recommendation from a friend who knows my taste in books well. When I started reading, I will admit I was a bit put off by the slowness of the story and a lack of any sort of love interest for the main character. Once I told myself to get over no love intrigue in the book and to enjoy the story, that’s exactly what happened. I enjoyed the book! The author’s attention to a fantasy world was done very well and to its history. Many scenes I thought were reminiscent of Lord of the Rings, only with her own style. Karigan, the main character, was convincing as a young woman unsure of where life will lead her. The many trials she faced and the courage she showed in persevering made the story even more enjoyable. At times the story got a bit too predictable; however, in a way it helped to keep me reading more to see if all my predication were correct. There was a very slit hint at a developing love interest toward the end (so don’t give up on it completely). I look forward to the author’s sequel. I’m sure it will be even better.


And then if that’s not enough I have 2 Waiting on Wednesday’s.

I’m very excited that the publishers have decided to bring out another of Eva Ibbotson’s old books. Magic Flutes was originally published in 1982 and is now very hard to find. I’ve found copies before, but they are upwards of $25.00 or more. The book comes out May 2009 and the American title is The Reluctant Heiress. Please someone tell me why American copies of British author’s books have different titles???

Summary for The Reluctant Heiress (found on Amazon.com)

Being an heiress in 1920s Austria with nothing but a broken-down castle to your name and nary a penny in your purse could be frustrating for anyone but the Princess Theresa-Maria of Pfaffenstein. “Tessa,” however, is thrilled with her situation, as it allows her to concentrate on her love of the arts—and no one in the Viennese opera company need know that their delightful and charming under-wardrobe mistress is really a princess. But when the dashing self-made millionaire Guy Farne arrives at the opera in search of suitable entertainment for his high society guests, Tessa realizes that there may be more to life—and love—than just music. But while the attraction between them in undeniable, Guy’s insufferable snob of a fiancée only solidifies Tessa’s determination to keep her true identity a secret. Yet, after a chance meeting with the handsome Englishman, Tessa’s reserve begins to melt, and she starts to wonder if it’s not too late for a fairytale ending…

Why I’m waiting? Eva Ibbotson has been one of my favorite authors ever since I read The Secret of Platform 13 years ago. Many of her stories take place in Austria and she has a wonderful ability of describing it perfectly. I’m sure if I went there today it would be just as she describes it. It is obvious she loves her home country. Her characters I always feel like I know after I read the books. Oh I can’t wait; I’m squirming in my chair with anticipation!!!!

Allegiance by Cayla Kluver

If you want to read a prologue to her new book coming out 2009, head on over to Cayla Kluver's blog. She hasn’t come out with the release date, but I’m sure it will be soon.
Her first book, Legacy, was a good read. There were times when you could tell she is a new young author, but for the most part it was good and worth the read. I’m eager to read Allegiance because I want to see how the characters lives will turn out and sequels sometimes are better than their predecessors.