Monday musing - short story look.

I've read lots and lots of books and so I decided to try my hand at writing.   WOW!!! that is much more difficult then I ever thought....Good Job Authors...writing is not easy.  I really appreciate a well writen book now that I've tried to write my own.   I've written 3 books and a short story so far and they all need major editing, they took awhile and I stopped many times discouraged about where the story was going and the fact that I was lost in my own creation.  Writing is not for the faint at heart or maybe we are not all cut out to be writers.

I'm going to include my short story in one of the blog pages for anyone who may be interested in reading it...if you do read it I would love a comment, you can email me if you feel it is too constructive to leave on the page.  Thank you for coming by today and happy reading.

Quote of the month - August

“No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.”

- Confucius

Recap of the Week

What did you think of this weeks books? 

 What did you read this week?  Thanks for stopping by...Happy Reading. 

 Fabulous Faces and the Butterfly Cabinet are available on Goodreads swap.

Book Review - The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - Sherman Alexie

Title: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Author: Sherman Alexie

Quick Review: 5 stars

Review: In my effort to read the banned books of my time I picked up Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary. It has been getting a lot of press lately with parents trying to get it pulled from school. What interests me the most is the book is usually on the optional reading lists at the schools, yet these busy body parents feel it is their duties to control other parent’s kids instead of just managing their own.

Anyways, Junior is a slightly awkward Indian growing up on the rez and going to the rez school. Being quite intelligent he is without challenge at the school, and in his life, but goes along because that is just what Indians are supposed to do. Get along to get along. The tenuous balance is upset when he gets his new math book and realizes it is the same math book his mother used in school; literally the same book. He decides that enough is enough and he breaks free of his cultural prison and starts attending the local public school 20 miles down the road. An all white (i.e. Indian free) school.

What follows details how a community overcomes its prejudices in accepting an outsider, and more importantly how an outsider gives up his prejudices too. Also he must confront his past when he is considered a traitor to his race, his people. Alexie tells a powerful story of how we passively accept the roles assigned to us from birth and never realize our true potential. For Junior that is to be an Indian on the rez, but the concept is true for all of us. What is holding us back? Is it uncool to do well in school? To try? Or to do math or science as a girl? To be friends with the socially awkward kids? To be nice?

This is a fantastic book for the preteen Middle School age kid to read. It will help them in their transition into adulthood right at the time when they should be questioning what their role in life will be. So why do certain parents hate it so? The best I can figure are the following three things:
1. He mentions he likes to masturbate (go figure – a teen boy who masturbates)
2. He occasionally swears.
3. And this is the kicker, after he has been disowned by his best friend and community, and lost several important family members in rapid succession due to alcohol; he becomes very angry at God. In doing so he draws a cartoon in which allusions to Jesus farting is made.
Based on what is just a few sentences in a phenomenal book you have some whack jobs trying to get it banned as if it was a guidebook to becoming a profane, masturbating Satanist. Can’t have the kids reading that. Of course people who make this argument have never actually read the Bible because all that and worse is found in its pages.

Why Did I Read It?: I would like to say I did it because it is a National Book Award Winner (2007) but t hat would be untrue. I read it because people were trying to ban it. As with all these sort of books I found these concerns to be unfounded.

Where Did I get it?: My Local Library

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Copyright: 2007

ISBN: 978-0-316-01368-0

Pages: 230

Synopsis: In his first book for young adults, bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot. Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is based on the author's own experiences, coupled with poignant drawings by acclaimed artist Ellen Forney, that reflect the character's art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live

Other Reviews:

New York Times

The Literary Omnivore

Love YA Lit

FYI: Study Notes

Author: Sherman Alexie is the author of twenty-two books, including The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, winner of the 2007 National Book Award for Young People's Literature, War Dances, winner of the 2010 PEN Faulkner Award, and The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, a PEN Hemingway Special Citation winner. He is also the winner of the 2001 PEN Malamud Award for Excellence in the Art of the Short Story. Smoke Signals, the film he wrote and co-produced, won the Audience Award and Filmmakers' Trophy at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. He lives with his family in Seattle, Washington.

Book Review - Fabulous Faces - Peter Adamson M.D.

Title: Fabulous Faces

Author: Peter Adamson M.D.

Review: I have a slightly screwed up jaw since birth, one side is an inch longer than the other. Now it isn't something that is readily noticeable unless I point it out; especially since I had the good fortune to break my nose in the opposite direction as a teenager. So overall they cancel out each other giving me a balanced face. The only long term issue I have is my bite being unaligned requiring crowns in the back. I did have a surgeon tell me he could even out the jaw eliminating the need for the crowns but being really ignorant on the subject I passed (also because I am a little fearful of pain and surgery in general).

If I was a little braver, a little more forthright I would have started to ask questions. Starting with the basics and then just delving in until I could darn near explain it to someone else with full confidence. Now that I am older that is exactly what I do when I am confronted with a problem, or a novel experience – ASK QUESTIONS until I can’t. Fabulous Faces is a well respected Facial Plastic Surgeon anticipating every question a patient could want to know. And when he has done that he gives you example after example in his patients' own words.

Being a psychology type guy my favorite part of the book is when he dispels the most common myths about plastic surgery and explains the real motivation for people to undertake the process. Typically we think of vain people trying to look like someone beyond who they are with the end result being they look fake. But as Dr. Adamson explains, true beauty is in the mind of the beheld. All of us has a bell curve of what a normal looking person looks like in our mind. For whatever reason, real or perceived, the patient believes they fall outside that curve; that they are not normal. So surgery is not to go above the normal range, but rather it is to fit right in it, to become “invisible.”

Once a person finds themselves in that invisible zone they often find themselves able to unblock the rest of their life. They begin to live more engaged and more open (but he does note that it will NOT cure depression). Dr. Adamson then proceeds to go through in easily understandable language all the options people have with Facial Plastic surgery. Then follows with what each process involves from preparation to recovery. Then he has his former patients tell you in their own words what they went through.

If you or anybody you know are considering getting a procedure done you absolutely must read this book. It is like having a all day seminar with the surgeon. At the end of the day if I ever were to need the jaw surgery all my previous fears have been dispelled and I would not hesitate after reading this book.

Publisher: Oslerwood Enterprises

ISBN: 978-0-986-57420-7

Copyright: 2011

Pages: 252

Quick Review: 4 stars (out of 5)

Why I Read It: I love interesting nonfiction. That means the subject, but also the writing has to be good.

Where I Obtained the Book: Sent by the publisher.

Synopsis: A journey begins with a few small steps. If the final goal of your journey is facial plastic surgery of any kind, then reading Fabulous Faces is an indispensable step towards that goal. Dr. Peter Adamson has put together a clear and concise explanation of various procedures, and lets patients chronicle in their own words what going through the transformative experience of plastic surgery has meant to them.

In plain language, this award-winning facial plastic surgeon not only goes into what you can expect out of a particular procedure, but what the risks are and how to avoid them. He gives valuable tips on how to seek out a properly accredited plastic surgeon, and reveals skin maintenance secrets that can be more useful to your skin than the most valuable creams.

Let Dr. Peter Adamson, a noted expert in his field and in his business, take your hand and guide you to finding your real face – the face that reflects who you really are.

Author Biography: Dr. Peter Adamson has run a successful cosmetic surgery clinic, headed professional associations, won numerous awards, and heads a charity that specializes in reconstructive surgery for those less fortunate in third-world countries. His expert opinion and knowledge is sought by conferences worldwide, and now you can own a piece of that valuable advice in the form of his book, Fabulous Faces, written specifically for patients.

Other Reviews:

Layers of Thought

Inky Kiss

Mind Life Bloggers