Category: #amreading

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#amreading goals Internet life project reading the3six5 time

First Third, 2010.

There’s still a week left in April, but still: last night, I came to the realization that the year is almost already a third over. The time that has passed this year–it’s hard to believe how it stays in motion and that the dark period of time continues to edge further and further away.

I’ve been reviewing my journals from the last half of 2009 and I realize that, although many things change externally and internally, a lot of my thoughts stay constant. The goals I had mapped out for this year have been derailed by that unfortunate period of time, but slowly, I’m picking myself back up.

On Monday, I found myself perusing the public library and scooping up a few more books on writing. I can never get enough of these kinds of books; I’m always looking to read and learn more, to hone my craft. Writing has been dormant lately, at least creatively. Sure, I’m drafting emails and meeting minutes at work, but that’s just stating the facts. Reminds me of my days in high school when I wrote articles for the school paper.

In a few days, I’ll be leaving my mark on the3six5 Project, and I continue to feel in disbelief that my time to write my entry for the project has snuck up on me so quickly. I remember when I signed up to be a writer for the project (late last year) that I was already envisioning what I would write on April 24; I had many plans and dreams to build up to that point in time back in December. Now, I see that all those plans I had will not be written about, at least not this year. There are different things happening instead.

Life continues to amaze me with the twists and turns that come my way. Reading my journals has been like reading a suspenseful novel; didn’t know things would turn out this way, but I’ll still persevere. I’m alive today, and I’m truly thankful for that.

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#amreading Review Time

Review: Lucado’s "Fearless" Quashes Unnecessary Worries

Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear by Max Lucado

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Max Lucado is a pro at writing inspirational books, and “Fearless” further confirms that fact. Each chapter opens up with scenarios/small stories to warm the reader up for the topic of the chapter. Lucado includes many aspects of the Bible throughout the text just to prove more and more that people should not fear so much, that God has taken care of many of our fears/worries.

This was a great book for me to read while recovering from a car accident; definitely a good way to get my mind back on track.

View all my reviews >>

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#amreading Review Time

Megan McCafferty: One Smart Writer

Back in the summer, I’d mentioned about my book genre preferences. And as that entry stated, even though I’m open to all genres, I prefer certain ones over others (as does everyone else). For awhile, I hadn’t wanted to venture into Chick Lit mainly because I honestly felt like “Well, I already know what it feels like to be a girl, so why read about all that angst?”

That was before I started reading Megan McCafferty’s Jessica Darling series.

I was yoked in immediately through the first book, feeling like I was going down memory lane, re-living a parallel universe of my high school years. Albeit mundane, the plot has drawn in so many readers, because they can relate to the protagonist, Jessica Darling. McCafferty’s skill at writing the series is what impresses me the most though; anybody can write about the tumultuous years of high school through college, but can they do it as well as McCafferty?

Earlier this year, I read an article about what Sesame Street can teach writers to do: to write in “the monster at the end of the book”. This is where a writer knows how to draw readers in with a bit of a promise of a “treat” by the end of the book. McCafferty has honed this craft well with the 5-book series, making skeptical readers (like myself) keep on reading, trying to search for that monster at the end…

I flew through the first few books in the series within a few days of starting the books; that’s just how easy yet well-written they are. The language is simple (as if I myself were Jessica Darling writing the diary entries out), and, well, the story is one that many of us can relate to.

I’m looking forward to reading the last of the books in the series, and I hope to hone my craft as well as McCafferty has.

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#amreading

Books From My Childhood

The other day, I suddenly had a thought about some books from my childhood. I remember when I was younger, I was touched by the powerful messages that some books conveyed. The two books that I can remember to this day are Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree and Robert N. Munsch’s Love You Forever.

I really liked these two books for the deeper meaning that they had. They both had the storyline of loving others unconditionally, no matter what they do or do not do for you in return. I remember I might have let a few tears shed when I read these books; they were simple yet complex in their own nature.

I don’t keep up with children’s books these days, but I feel like these two books in particular should always be timeless and part of any child’s bookshelf, no matter what generation they are in.

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#amreading genres list reading

Book Genre Preferences

You know, it’d been awhile since I had read a book for leisurely purposes. Throughout the last half of high school and all of college, I put my hobby of reading on hiatus to concentrate on reading school textbooks. Six months after college, I decided I would make up for all that time by compiling a book list for myself.

In general, I’m open to almost anything in all aspects of life. It’s the same thing with books: I had no real idea what kind of genres I preferred since I had taken such a long leave-of-absence form reading, so I just asked my friends and family for any book recommendations they had.

As of this past week, my book list is at 330+ books (yikes!) Of course, I’ve been adding onto the list ever since last January, so that explains the huge number of books on the list. I read 26 books last year, and so far have read 16 books this year. From these 40some books, I notice where my preferences lie: in self-help, nonfiction, and general fiction. I have a lot of books on my still to-read list from all sorts of genres, but it seems that I find books in the three aforementioned categories most enjoyable.

There’s obviously nothing wrong with other genres I haven’t read/don’t prefer to read. It’s just, I tend to enjoy books that make me think a little more past what I already know. Many of my peers/friends prefer books in the Science Fiction/Fantasy, or Chick Lit genres. While I may not prefer reading those kinds of books, I wouldn’t say I would never read anything from those genres.