September Reads

Here we are at the beginning of October, exhausted and frazzled, but still reading. Here's what we knocked off our lists in September:

Katie

• The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente
• The Girl Who Ruled Fairyland - For a Little While by Catherynne M. Valente
• Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life by Bryan Lee O'Malley (Scott Pilgrim vol. 1)
• Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

My top recommendation for the month: I loved The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland, the first book in Valente's "Fairyland" series, as well as the novella side-story The Girl Who Ruled Fairyland. I will definitely be reading the rest of the series. Me Talk Pretty One Day was my introduction to David Sedaris. I didn't fully get into his humor until a few chapters in, but once I did, I found it hilarious. I plan to read more of his work. I also started the Scott Pilgrim series... which I actually started fairly early this year, but I didn't really get into it and I set the first volume aside without counting it, since I didn't feel like I'd paid much attention while reading it. I randomly felt like picking it back up and starting again. This time, I plan to continue reading the rest of the volumes. I'll report back on my thoughts on those in a future post.

Currently, I'm reading a bunch of things: The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin, The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There by Catherynne M. Valente, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson (one of the Barnes & Noble Classics), and Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Sarah

• Pretties by Scott Westerfeld
• The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

For the time being, I decided to discontinue my reading of Scott Westerfeld books. I grow weary of the YA dystopian genre. Pretties became stereotypical and boring very quickly, and some of the world-building decisions were bothersome to me. After reading it, I felt a bit desperate to read a more substantial, satisfying book.
My feelings on The Catcher in the Rye are very mixed. I would certainly not recommend reading it if you are in a mental state of turmoil, but there were some redeeming passages, and even some that were enjoyable. Even though I cannot condone much of the content in the book, it kept my attention, and I finished it quickly with no trouble at all - aside from the emotional distress, that is. 
I am currently reading The Bondage of the Will by Martin Luther and The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Happy October everyone! Have a great 500th anniversary of the Reformation!

August Reads

Hello, all! We are back with the August edition of our What We Read This Month posts:

Katie:

• Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith
• The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

I did not read many books this month, as you can see. I've been in a bit of a slump, and I'm trying to work my way past it. That said, I did very much like The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey, which is a fairytale retelling / magical realism novel. It tells the story of a married couple who have not been able to have children, and have moved to Alaska to farm. They are lonely and sad, and wondering if coming to the harsh Alaskan landscape was a mistake. Then one day, in a brief lighthearted moment, they go out in the snow and build a snow-girl. In the morning, the snow-girl has been broken apart, and they catch a glimpse of a real girl in the forest... It's a good book. Read it to find out more. Anyway, I did also like Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith, but as I believe I mentioned last month, I have a difficult time reading books of poetry. I feel like I can enjoy poems read in isolation more than poetry collections, and I think it's because I don't really understand how to read poetry collections. If anyone has thoughts on this, let me know in the comments.

I'm currently reading The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin, which I've been meaning to read for years now, and also The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherine Valente. I'm only a few chapters in on that one, but it's great so far. Great title, great cover, great writing. It's very reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland, but the style and story are more to my taste.

Sarah:

• Ben Franklin's Almanac: Being a True Account of the Good Gentleman's Life by Candace Fleming
• Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I pondered reading Uglies for a long time before I ever actually picked it up, for the simple reason that I find the constant onslaught of YA dystopian novels to be tiresome and, in general, formulaic. Although the book did make use of some of the usual cliches and there were some plot points that could have been written better, I enjoyed the story overall. Although I would certainly not point to it as the epitome of good reading for teens, it kept me more engaged than Divergent managed to do. In fact, I am currently reading the next book in the series, which is, perhaps predictably, entitled Pretties.
Of course, Pride and Prejudice is an absolutely delightful study of human character, and if you have not given it a go yet, I recommend reading it as soon as possible. 

As summer ends and our regular routines pick back up, it is easy to let reading fall by the wayside as an unnecessary activity. However, as counterintuitive as it might seem, our goal is to allow the rhythm of autumn to encourage us to deliberately set aside time for personal edification. There is usually more than one way of approaching a goal and it is better to come at it with a positive outlook. This fall, we wish to avoid sabotaging ourselves, and hopefully will actively seek more reading time rather than less.

We do also try to keep in mind that we are always reading, even when we're not checking off books from our TBR lists. Whether it's the news, or blogs, or school assignments, or the back of a cereal box, we are reading something every single day. 

Wish us luck in our reading endeavors! We wish you the same, and hope you all have a lovely weekend.

June and July Reads

Hi all! Hope everyone is enjoying their summer. 

It's time to tell you about what we've been reading. Please know that we would love to hear about what you've been reading, too! Share with us in the comments!

June Reads

Katie:

• All My Sons by Arthur Miller

I finished just this one thing in June. It's a play centered around two families, whose fathers were partners in business during the war. Their machine shop turned out defective airplane parts, causing the deaths of twenty-one pilots. (Yes, you read that right. Apparently this play is where Tyler Joseph got his band name.) Anyway, the play concerns the resurfacing of those events, and the conflict between and within the families because of them.

Sarah:

• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

As you can see, I did not make much headway in June. Tom Sawyer was a pretty fun read, but it did not make much of an impression on me.

July Reads

Katie:

• Of Bees and Mist by Erick Setiawan
• The Trouble with Poetry and Other Poems by Billy Collins
• Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
• Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
• The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery

After waiting in line for a few months, I got the short story collection by Ted Chiang back from the library and was finally able to finish it. I really enjoyed the vast majority of these stories. (Arrival, a film adaptation of "Story of Your Life," is also good - though not quite as good as the source material). I also enjoyed The Blue Castle, which was a light, cute romance brought to us by the author of Anne of Green Gables. Of Bees and Mist, which falls under the genre of magical realism was also quite good. My top recommendation for July, however, is Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. I won't say anything about it just now - this paragraph is already long enough - but perhaps I'll post about it in the not-too-distant future. I liked the Billy Collins poems, but I have found that I feel like I don't know how to properly read a book of poetry... which is funny, because I'm currently reading two more: one by Carl Sandburg, and one by Tracy K. Smith. If anyone has any tips for me, let me know!

Sarah:

• The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler by James Cross Giblin
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Huckleberry Finn was a decent novel, but it did not engage me the entire way through - it seemed to lag a little bit in some places. Probably my favorite thing about the book was the way that Huck's character developed over the course of the story. The dynamic between Huckleberry and Jim was also fascinating to observe. I am currently reading a biography by Elizabeth Partridge entitled All I Want is the Truth. It is a photographic biography of John Lennon, and I am finding it to be a very interesting read thus far. 

We really struggle with these personal goals we set for ourselves... weekly blogging, reading 100 books in a year, etc. etc... yet we persist in at least trying! That counts for something, right? Maybe it's time to look into some more realistic goals, though. Haha. Hey, we could blog about that!

Mac & Cheese

This weekend, we participated in a Mac-&-Cheese-Off! What is a Mac-&-Cheese-Off, you ask? Why, it's a fierce and deadly competition to find out who can make the best mac & cheese, of course!

Okay, it's an event that we made up on a whim with our friend Hannah. We each had to find and make a mac & cheese recipe we had never tried before. Then we got together to compare the three different mac & cheeses, and crown the winner. (Well, actually the winner gets an apron, not a crown, but you get the drift.)

Sarah: I made a crock pot recipe from this blog. The recipe was very simple and easy, which is a plus, but it did not yield as good of results as stovetop or baked.

Katie: I made a recipe from this cookbook that I got from Sarah for Christmas. It used sharp white cheddar, bow tie pasta, and it had a jalapeno cream sauce, so it was kind of spicy.

Our friend's recipe used several different kinds of cheese. Katie's recipe won, but none of the three recipes were the delicious, classic recipe we hope to find someday. This is clearly an indicator that the #mac&cheeseoff needs to be an annual event!

Yes, we're aware that we're weird... but we have fun with our weirdness, so who cares? ;)

What did you guys do this weekend?

Random Recommendations

Hello there! It has been a busy week, so we are posting on Saturday. Still, please note that we are in fact posting. :)

Today we will both be sharing lists of recommendations to you, our readers, but also to each other. We have made a point of choosing books, videos, etc. with which the other person is not very familiar. 

Sarah's Recommendations:

• Gaslight - There are two versions of this movie, but the one I have seen was released in 1944. Ingrid Bergman plays the starring role, with Charles Boyer and Joseph Cotten playing the male leads. As an added bonus, Angela Lansbury makes her film debut as a housemaid.
• The Financial Diet - This is a YouTube channel that I discovered recently. It has a lot of videos with helpful advice for young people on how to manage money. Here's their channel introduction:

• Nomadic Matt - Nomadic Matt is a blogger who gives tips for how to travel on the cheap. He has been to many countries all across the globe, and the focus of his website is helping people discover the possibilities for travel, even if they are short on resources. 
• The Kitchn - No, I did not make a typographical error. There is no e in the web address of this cooking site. I recommend it because it is comprehensive with all the instructions it provides, and it is easy to understand - especially since there are several photos included in each post to show what everything should look like. I also appreciate the fact that there are plenty of tutorials on method, as opposed to being solely recipe-focused.
• Countdown - I thoroughly enjoyed this children's book by author Deborah Wiles. Although the story is rife with heavy topics, the ultimate message is one of hope. In addition to the plot, Wiles' writing style is very appealing to me. She incorporates so much of the Southern vernacular, which adds depth to the characters and the setting. If you like historical fiction and children's literature, this is a great book to check out.

Katie's Recommendations:

• Shipwrecked. - Yes, I'm starting out with a YouTube channel. I'm a fan of basically everything that's been done by the Shipwrecked Comedy team (including various things that the individual members have done outside of Shipwrecked Comedy... but I won't go into that now). I would particularly like to recommend their "Edgar Allen Poe's Murder Mystery Dinner Party" series. See the trailer below:

• Orange - This slice-of-life manga by Ichigo Takano is only 5 volumes long, so it's a quick read. There's a science fiction element to the story: the inciting incident occurs when main character Naho receives a letter from her future self, telling her what she needs to do in order to prevent what will someday be her biggest regrets. This manga does fall into the romance genre, but I would say that it's chiefly about friendship.
• The Arcadian Wild - I discovered this folk band through a YouTube channel dedicated to sharing indie music (that channel can be found here). The Arcadian Wild's music features lots of acoustic instruments and beautiful vocal harmonies. Here is Rain Clouds, the first song off the band's self-titled album:

• Code Name Verity - I know I've mentioned it before, but it's worth mentioning again. This novel by Elizabeth Wein is historical fiction, set during WWII. It revolves around two female protagonists, a spy and a pilot. The YA genre is very hit-or-miss for me; this novel happens to be one of the best YA books I've ever read.
• Pushing Daisies - This show is whimsical and sweet, and also quite weird. Main character Ned discovers as a young child that his touch can bring dead things back to life, but there are some important caveats to his abilities (which I won't name here, because I think it's more interesting to find out what they are while watching the first episode). The main story takes place during Ned's adulthood, when he starts using his magic touch to solve crimes, but flashbacks to his childhood are frequent. The show was cancelled after only two seasons, but the creators had enough warning that they were able to bring their story to a fitting conclusion.

We hope something listed here catches your fancy. If you in turn have any random recommendations for us, leave them in the comments below. Thanks!

May Reads

Both of us did well with our reading goals this month. Not only did we read a lot more than we have in a long time, but we also enjoyed all the books that we chose.

Katie:

• Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
• Mockingbird by Katherine Erskine
• Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol
• A Pocket Full of Murder by RJ Anderson
• A Little Taste of Poison by RJ Anderson
• Orange volumes 1-5 by Ichigo Takano *
• Arcadia by Tom Stoppard
• 100 Cupboards by ND Wilson

* indicates multiple books listed as one entry

I read twelve books this month - all of which I enjoyed - so I'm on my way to getting back on track! I'd like to single out the manga series Orange, because I think it would be a great place to start for someone looking to try reading manga for the first time. It's only five volumes, so it's not a major commitment. The concept is interesting, and the characters endearing. Suwa is my personal favorite. I also want to mention the play Arcadia by Tom Stoppard, because it's the first play I read this year and I absolutely loved it. It's a bit difficult to follow, but totally worth the read.

Sarah:

• Your Lie in April volumes 4-11 by Naoshi Arakawa *
• The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander

* indicates multiple books listed as one entry

Your Lie in April is a beautiful manga, and I would definitely recommend it. The story is sweet and innocent, and suitable for a range of different age groups. The Book of Three is the first installment in a children's fantasy series that I read when I was younger. I picked it up again because I love to re-read old favorites. It is a lot of fun to look at the story in the light of my past self while simultaneously viewing it with fresh eyes. 

That wraps up the month of May! See you next week. :)

Our Plans Going Forward

It has been a long time since we have posted according to any kind of schedule. There are a lot of reasons for that, and while it is good to be adaptable, lack of structure is a surefire way to create a general aura of "We don't know or care what in the heck is going on." We will be the first to admit that we are unorganized at times, but we do intend to continue this blog - despite the inferences that could be made based on our erratic posting. 

Summer is almost upon us, which means that we are operating under the assumption that time to blog will be easier to come by. To hold ourselves accountable, we would like to give the breakdown of our blogging schedule over the coming months, which is as follows:

1. At the end of each month, we will continue to put up our "What We Read" posts. 

2. In addition to that, we will post on a weekly basis, and these posts will cover a range of topics. We can't say which day of the week any given post may fall on - it may vary, depending on our schedules - but we want to make sure we're putting something up every week.

This blogging project is important to us, and we want to continue as faithfully as possible. Many thanks to our . . . 2 or so followers? for sticking with us thus far. We are so grateful. <3

- Katie and Sarah