Educating Esme

Today I read a book called Educating Esme: Diary of a Teacher's First Year. I could not put it down. I even laughed out loud a few times while reading it. She was a lot more courageous than me in her first year of teaching, but the book did make me thankful for the teachers and principal I got to work with my first year of teaching. It was an inspiring book, and I recommend it to anyone.

Howl's Moving Castle

I just finished reading this book this morning. It is a children's book about a girl named Sophie. In the land where Sophie lives, the third-born child is considered to be the successful one. Since Sophie is an eldest child, she has no big hopes for her future. Nonetheless, she ends up living an exciting life filled with magic, wizards and witches.

This book was a really fun read. At times, I wished that the author would have gone into more detail. The story seemed shallow at times, like it was just brushing over events, giving an abridged version of the story. Still, maybe it's fun to get to fill in all the details yourself :) Anyway, now I really want to watch the movie.

The Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer

I finished the fourth book of the Twilight series yesterday, and I have to say that this series consumed me. While I was reading if, it took over my brain. It's not that the plot is amazing. It is actually quite predictable, but there is something about these books. Maybe it's the characters. I'm not quite sure.

I am very partial to vampire stories, but these books are not my favorite in the vampire genre. Stephenie Meyer plays with the traditional vampire myths in a way that I did not particularly like. I like the idea of vampires burning in sunlight and staying out at night mostly. In her books, they do not burn in sunlight, they shine and glisten. Annoying. Also the whole pregnancy thing still bothers me. How can an undead vampire have viable sperm??

On another note, the main couple in the book, Bella and Edward, bother me also. She has no self-confidence and blames herself for everything. She is not a role model I would choose for teenage girls. Edward is overly protective, almost to the point of being a stalker. This is not the type of boyfriend that teenagers to hope to be or find. Plus they fall in love way too quickly!

I started reading these books because I wanted to see why so many teenagers (even the ones who never read for fun) are suddenly reading all Twilight, all the time. There is something compelling about the story, but I worry that these teens could be getting a false impression of what love is. I would recommend the books, because they are entertaining. Just be aware, they may also be extremely frustrating.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

American Gods by Neil Gaiman is a very interesting book with a rich storyline. It tells the story of a man named Shadow, who has just been released from jail. He is offered a job by Wednesday. Wednesday wants Shadow to help him with a battle: the battle between the old gods and the new gods. The old gods are gods from the ancient pantheons who were brought to America in the minds and beliefs of immigrants. Some of the pantheons included in the book are Norse, Egyptian, Hindu, Native American, Celtic. There are also some folk figures included. Gaiman does not name all the gods explicitly, and some of them I could not figure out by myself. The new gods are the gods of tv, the internet, media, and other modern phenomena. The new gods are gaining worshippers, while the old gods are losing their power. Hence the battle.

Throughout the book, the main storyline is interrupted by short stories. These stories tell how the different gods were brought to America in the first place. These short stories are a fascinating addition to the book.

I really liked this book, and I would definitely recommend it The whole story was very imaginative, and the characters were well-developed. There was a little twist at the end that surprised me, but it fit perfectly with the storyline and characters. Overall, a good read.

A Relaxing Day

I had the day off work today, and I had a wonderful day. I picked up the house in the morning, then spent the remainder of the day reading, crocheting and watching decorating shows. I finished my book The Witch of Portobello by Paulo Coehlo. Awesome book, it sucked me in. Overall a perfect day :)

Green Baby Blanket

So, I've been working on this baby blanket since the beginning of summer. I have two pregnant cousins and a pregnant co-worker, so I thought it was time to start knitting baby things.

I have to admit, I almost gave up on this blanket. Some of the stitch transitions are looking a little looser that I would like, but I had already gone so far that I did not want to give up.

Then I spent two nights watching horror movies. This is one of my favorite times to knit as it helps me to not pick at my nails and bite my nails during those tense moments in the movie, so I did a lot of knitting and made a lot of progress. Now, I am on my third ball of Bernat Cottontots yarn and I am happy with my blanket.

One of the movies I saw was "The Ruins." Whether or not you have seen this movie, I must recommend the book first. I read the book before seeing the movie, and it is so much better. In the movie, they switched all the characters around. I can't figure out why, unless the movie makers were sexist and prejudiced......it made me a little crazy. You should really read the book. Great book.

Anyway, this is a close-up of the blanket. I am using knit, purl and seed stitch. The blanket is reversible and is knit in Sweet Green. For some reason, it photographed as a different color in these two pics. The first is a more accurate representation of the color. Hope you like it :)