School Year Reads

     School has started back for many, and I thought it would be a good time to share the books I am, or will be, reading for school this year. From Textbooks, to Classics, Fiction, and Nonfiction, here are my school year reads:

In the category of Theology, we have:

• What the Old Testament Authors Really Cared About edited by Jason S. DeRouchie
• Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
• Jesus Among Other Gods by Ravi Zacharias
• The Bible (of course!)

In the category of World history, we have:

• The Discoverers by Daniel Boorstin

In the category of Ancient Literature, we have:

• Theogonoy by Hesiod
• The Iliad by Homer
• The Odyssey by Homer
• The Aeneid by Virgil
• Oedipus Rex by Sophocles
• Heroes of the City of Man by Peter Leithart (Companion study guide)

An I will also be studying Physics, Advanced Math, and doing some Latin Translations. I can't wait to share with you what I think of the books I will be reading. On some I will be writing papers/speeches and I also plan to share those. Hopefully I will still be able to get some leisure reading completed over the school year!

I have finished reading Theogonoy, have begun reading The Discoverers, and am working through What The Old Testament Authors Really Cared About, and Heroes of the City of Man. Post on Theogonoy will be posted soon.

The Mortal Instruments, book one - City of Bones

     I finished reading City of Bones by Cassandra Clare last night. It was a slower read for me, taking three days to complete. I believe the main reason for the slow pace was because I couldn't get into it as easily as I did Divergent, by Veronica Roth, which I had just read right before starting City of Bones. The pace of the book was also slow, it covered a span of two to three weeks, almost day by day. But it was an enjoyable read, and I know that I will be reading the rest of the series, because the way she ended it. Oh. My. Gosh. My heart was broken.

     I really enjoyed the relationships the characters had with each other. They were all well developed except for Alec, I believe. All of the sudden out of the blue Clary (the main character) could tell Alec was gay? I didn't notice a thing, but then again I might just be a lot like Jace in this area and be blind to the hints of gay-ness or what have ye. It wasn't until after Clary discovered this that I began to notice that Alec, was indeed, gay. Maybe the glamour had been lift from my eyes in this case? Excepting the homosexuality, I still feel as if Alec's character isn't fully developed and clean as the other characters.

     Another thing about City of Bones that I really enjoyed was the fact that Clare kept the mythical creatures in the story true to their origins. Demons and vampires are destroyed in sunlight. She had a hierarchy of the mythical creatures, she knew what she was talking about when it came to magic/myths. She kept the creatures true to the story while still making them fresh and new and different. And the fact that werewolves can change at will doesn't bother me, because as is explained in the book at the beginning they have no control and change against their will at every full moon, but over time they learn to control it and only a strong full moon can force the more mature werewolves to change.
     Spectacular and refreshing compared to the mumbo jumbo that Twilight has brought upon the world of mythical and magical creatures.

     As for being the first book in the series, it was a good introduction. It got the ball rolling for the plot, introduced drama, and developed characters and relationships. Despite being a slow read, it got me interested and attached enough to the characters and plot to read the rest of the series.

     And let me rant before I end this review by saying.
     What. The. Heck.
     The actors they have for Jace and Clary in the up and coming Mortal Instruments movie... just, no. No. No. No.
     The End.



 One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.

     Themes:
 Magic, mythical creatures, demons

       Language:
Light to light mild. Nothing dramatic

       Sexual/Romantic Interaction
Kissing. One of the characters is homosexual. Couple of mentions of sex and 'hot bods' and similar.

       Violence
Light heavy on the violence. Fights, death, kidnapping, killing. Magical fights. Describes blood and wounds in some detail.

      I would give City of Bones a rating of light to mild PG-13


      On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give City of Bones a 3.5

Divergent - Book One

     I read Divergent by Veronica Roth in around eight hours. It was very good! At less than a hundred pages in I was hooked, and when I got to chapter twelve I didn't want to put it down even though I had to. This is my favorite Dystopian book I have read (although I can count the number of Dystopian books I have read on one hand). The factions Roth made in Divergent are fascinating and I can see the individual mindsets of each faction in society today, although we act in a more 'divergent' matter, not restricting ourselves to one mindset. If I ever did end up in Divergent and was put in a faction, I would be in Abnegation, the selfless. I thought that as I read it and took the quiz at the end and ended up in that faction too. :)

     As for characters I instantly fell in love with Tris (Beatrice) and Four. Tris' evolution through the book was executed will, although there were times when I was floored by her thought process/selfishness that became stronger during the climax of the story (it's the Abnegation in me, I suppose). But I liked how in the resolution of the book she over came that overwhelming selfishness. She went from attempting to be selfless 24/7 in Abnegation, something extremely difficult and many times impossible to do even in the real 'world', to become a selfish Dauntless who wasn't afraid of revenge. Over the span of the book her instructor, Four, taught her that she needed a balance of the two, and I found it artistic how Roth symbolized the symbiosis of the two factions with Tris' tattoos.

     I think my largest complaint would be that the romantic relationship between Tris and Four was pivotal in Tris' development. I wish it could have been less focused on that. If Roth had waited until the end of the first book to flesh out their relationship's I wouldn't have argued. But I am very, very interested to pick up the next book in the series, Insurgent, to see how it all pans out relationship wise.

     Oh, and just for fun here are my picks for Disney characters and the Faction that they best fit:

Candor: Pinocchio
Abnegation: Snow White
Dauntless: Mulan
Amity: Pocahontas
Erudite: Belle

     Agree? Disagree? Share with me :)




One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.

     Themes:
 Dystopian, revolution, power, control, government

       Language:
One or two words, very very light.

       Sexual/Romantic Interaction
Tris and Four's relationship is pivotal throughout the book. Many kissing scenes, some more passionate than others. A few times sex is mentioned/talked about.

       Violence
Heavy on the violence. The Dauntless initiation is very violent. There are guns, stabbing, facing fears, killing, murder, mind control throughout the entire book.

      I would give Divergent a rating of mild PG-13


      On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give Divergent a 4.5

 

A Northern Light

     I found A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly an enjoyable read with an interesting plot and storyline. I enjoyed that she was inspired by true events and how this story was her interpretation of a 'What If...' Jennifer Donnelly has a very compelling writing style, however I have to object too some of the philosophical/ideological ideas she presents in the book. From her feministic overtones, to her feelings on relationships, to what books are 'Truths' and 'Untruths'. I find the darkness that comes from these ideas depressing. (Get ready for spoilers now, skip to the end where I give the rating if you don't want spoilers)

     Donnelly calls books like Pride and Prejudice untruths, while books like Huckleberry Finn are truths because in Huckleberry Finn Hucks father is a drunk who beats his son. It is true that not all love stories are 'glamourous' like Lizzie Bennett's and Fitzwilliam Darcy's,  but in A Northern Light, Donnally condemns those relationships to be hard and ultimately heart breaking (in the book the main character's, Mattie, parents had a relationship similar to Lizzie and Darcy's which only lead to heart break for the entire family. Mattie's friend, Minnie, also had a relationship similar to Lizzie and Darcy's, and although Mattie could see the good in it, she could only focus on the bad, which all relationships will have no matter what.) Any relationship is going to have hardships. A true relationship can face those hardships with courage, compassion, understanding, and stay united. I think Mattie misses the point that in Austen's books the hero and heroine change willingly, without being forced or forcing themselves, as they come face to face with their hardships, both separate and together.

     When relationships are based on physical attractions, feelings, and personal gain, as Mattie's and Royal's was, it is doomed and will fail, as it did. And when you have a flawed view of romantic love and a false idea on what love is, you will never marry, as happens with Mattie and Royal. Mattie goes off to college and rejects Royal's marriage proposal because she feels like a tool he is using to get her father's property. I think Royal was intending to use her for his own gain, but I also believe that he did have some feelings for Mattie, especially when he gave her a book as a gift. It might have been a cookbook, and it might have offended her (because she felt Royal was trying to change her to be a proper housewife who cooks and rears children), but he was becoming more open to her love of reading, he was starting to change. But that wasn't quick enough for Mattie. Impatient she leaves. After being oppressed to a promise she made to her dying mother, Mattie leaves, breaking her father's heart, returning the ring Royal had given her, leaving her younger sister to take care of the two youngest... Mattie was full of a selfish heart, and she had grown tired of attempting to be selfless. Her problem as she was trying to be selfless was that she was still selfish.

     Then comes the feministic overtones. They frustrate me more than anything else in the book, because to me the problems I've already discussed stem from the feminism in the book. I find the feministic view to be depressing most of the time, and this book reinforces that belief.




One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.

     Themes:
 Coming of Age, murder mystery, historical fiction

       Language:
Very little

       Sexual/Romantic Interaction
Multiple 'groping' at body parts and passionate romantic gestures that made me feel uncomfortable, but not violated.

       Violence
Almost an entire chapter is dedicated to a birth scene with much detail. Donnelly describes drowning, racial violence, sickness, and a dead body, in mild detail.

      I would give A Northern Light a rating of light PG-13


      On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give A Northern Light a 2.5