For the literary Blog Hop

 

What is the most difficult literary work you've ever read? What made it so difficult?

The first book that stands out Is Old Man and the Sea. It stands out because when I read it in high school I had yet to grasp symbolism so it made no sense. Why would a man hold a fish all the way to shore?

My teacher was telling me and the class it was symbolic. Me being as out spoken as i am was telling her it still did not make any sense. As I am deaf and went to a deaf school the teacher tends to show a movie to help us understand better. I thought the movie was dumb too. After a week of explaining step by step the story behind the story so to speak  I began to grasp what it was really about.

Once I understood it opened up a whole new world for me in terms of reading and enjoying books.

Next up on my list is Gravity’s Rainbow so am curious how that will go.

Flow

The book’s premise is to explain how to induce happiness. It goes by the theory that there are certain things that people do that can make their life more meaningful. His most important message was how to induce “Flow” which is the art of losing oneself completely in what ever activity one is doing.

He did research by having people wear beepers and when ever they contacted the person they was supposed to stop and record what they was doing and how they felt. From this he figured out what made people the happiest.

I found some very useful information in this book. I am not sure if it is just me but the sentence that stood out the most was the one on how chess players who is supposedly the epitome of flow exercised to better their concentration. I couldn't help but wonder if it would work for reading also.

The second thing that stood out was that in order to keep gaining satisfaction for our activities we have to keep it interesting and challenging. If something becomes to easy we wont have the same satisfaction as we did when we first started an activity. This makes sense when one thinks about it. How many times have we started something then became bored with it then did not want to do it anymore? I know I have done that many times. We have to find new ways of doing something to keep the excitement.

It also focused on mental activities as ways of warding off boredom in the situations we find ourselves in without any physical activities. I know I could never do this. The very thought of being caught without a book is enough to induce anxiety. There are some people that apparently can do this.

He provides a number case studies so we can see each concept in action. I was somewhat fascinated. He makes his case very well. I came away eager to try some of the concepts in the book.

The writing can be dull at times but i think that is more of his being a scientist than his  writing ability. It is well written and understandable so that the lay person can understand how to implement the concepts.

Woman: An Intimate Journey

First of all I want to comment on Angier writing. It was a cross between a lyrical method and a science no nonsense method. I couldn't make up my mind if I liked it or not. Sometimes I wish she would stay with one kind of writing. At times it grated on my nerves. At other times I thought it was beautiful way of composing a sensitive and oft misrepresented subject.

The context of the book was well written and informative. She uses science and anecdotes from the animal kingdom to illustrate her topics.

She takes the reader on a journey though the female anatomy. At 30 years of age I wish I read this book when I was 18. It provided advice on what's normal and what's not. It also answers questions that you may be to embarrassed to ask. The author is an accomplished biology writer so she knows in depth about what she writes.

I liked that it was written from a feminist point of view. I often feel that there are not enough books that give women a reason to feel good about themselves and their bodies. This is a book that does both.

Candy Freak

I have to be honest. This book made me hungry reading it. On every sugar infested page there were mouth watering descriptions of various candies. The way he described them I could almost taste them. I had to make several trips to the store to stock up on candies. Not good for my diet.
The author Steve Almond (his last name is a testament to his love of candy I think ,and yes it is his real last name) is a self professed candy freak who “has eaten a piece of candy every day of his life”  and decided to see how the “underbellies” of the candy trade were doing. There are the “big three'’ of the candy trade then there is the small independently owned candy factories.
Almond visits  various independent candy factories. He tours the factories and he gives accounts of what it is like. I had to admit at times I was jealous of all the free candy he received. Almond goes into glorious detail of various candy bars. It was almost as good as being there.
Of the various candies I am to young to know of any expect the goo goo clusters since I am from the south.
I loved his humor. It is sprinkled out in appropriate dosage. Even when he was writing about his brief period with depression he still conveyed it in a way that made the reader feel that it was not all that bad and hey he got free candy!
There were even some facts that I did not know before i read this book. For example, candy companies have to pay a shelving fee to have their candies displayed in stores. An independent candy company cant compete against the “big three’ so they have to find alterative avenues like the dollar store. That explains why you see the same candies again and again in almost every store you go to.
There was also a history of candy making that I found fascinating. I now know that my love for milk chocolate is because the big three use milk chocolate so that what you taste most of the time. It is what your taste buds grow accustomed to. If however we were to acquire the taste of real chocolate then according to the “experts” we would have a much more distinguished palate.
This little book provides an entertaining and insightful look at the candy making industry. Just be sure that you have plenty of candy while you are reading this.

The Sunday Salon

First for those who want an update on my read a thon. It was horrible. I kept getting distracted then I fell asleep. I have a plan for the next read a thon though. I am going to lock myself in a hotel room and dare anyone to bother me.

In other news I have checked out a total of 10 books from the Library. I told myself that I will not check out anymore books until I get those ten read but then I remembered that Halloween is coming and I want to do a Halloween themed post. I need to decided on a book and soon if that is to happen. Any Ideas?

I am still reading Women; An intimate geography. I have an excuse for reading so slow though. I was at the Library and I took a wrong turn and found all the periodicals. The book reviews periodicals that I have wanted to read but did not have access too and was to broke to subscribe are all there. The New York Review of books and others. I was like a little kid in a candy store. I sat down and read all of them for hours.  I hope that by reading them m own reviews will improve drastically.

I will definitely finish Woman today though then I will start on Flow which was recommended to me from a trusted friend. He has never recommend a book that i did not end up liking so I trust his judgment.

For once in my life I will be reading two books at the same time. I decided on a whim that I was going to learn how to knit so checked out Knitting for Dummies. I usually hate reading more than one book at a time so we shall see how it goes.

Read –a-thon intro post

Where are you reading from today? I am reading from Kent Ohio

3 facts about me

After living in the south all my life I just moved to the north

This is my second read-a-thon

I love to meet new people

 

 

How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours

I have five books.

 

 

Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)?

Not really. I find if I try and set goals and I don't meet them I feel as if I have failed.

If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time?

Change settings often and have plenty of food and caffeine ready

I woke up in time to start the read-a-thon on time! I have been spending time checking the twitter hashtag and visiting blogs.

I have my books ready and am making coffee. I will start by finishing Woman:an Intimate Journey.