Review of Grasshopper Jungle

“I read somewhere that human beings are genetically predisposed to record history.”

-Grasshopper Jungle, p.1

Austin, the main character, is on the cusp of growing up and learning who he is. He is a recorder of history. His room is filled with many notebooks of his accounts of the going-ons of a small town in the Midwest. This funny tale combines love, lust, selfishness, friendship, and an alien strain into a gooey mess of a story. A lot happens throughout the story and some of the jumps are a little jolting, but so is adolescence. Austin is a very confused teenage boy whose thoughts and wants sometimes keep him from having a clear head on his shoulders. Together with his friends Robby and Shann Collins, Austin tries to piece together who he is and save the world from aliens bent on making the small town their own.

This is a quirky coming of age story told through the foggy mind of a realistic teenager. Robby and Austin get into a lot of trouble together from breaking into a store Austin works for to climbing the roof of a pancake house. Austin weaves this story between his narrative and what he learns to record in the future. Together this creates a narrative that fills the reader in on all angles of the story with every character having a role. This story is on the verge of being a hit for many high-schoolers eager to read a story they can laugh with and relate to. The story is unpredictable with plenty of witty lines that will keep readers laughing until the last page.

Title: Grasshopper Jungle 

Author: Andrew Smith

Release Date: February 11th, 2014

Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)

*Digital galley granted through Penguin's First To Read Program

The Adult Fairytale

I just finished the novel In The House Upon The Dirt Between The Lake And The Woods by Matt Bell and it was amazing. I had no idea what I was getting into when I started the novel but soon fell into the language and characters. The story is about a Husband and Wife's new life together in a foreign place where there is really no one to help them. They are truly starting out on their own with only each other to rely on. Soon problems between the two develop as the Husband yearns for a child to complete their family. The Wife is able to get pregnant but can't bring any of her pregnancies to term. The two slowly drift apart as the Husband, the narrator of the story goes through a selfish journey to find what he really wants.

The story is told like a fairy tale where the names for the character describe what they are such as Husband and Bear. The story twists around the idea of elements such as Husband, Wife, Dirt, and Woods. The landscape is both realistic and magical. At times the narrative was confusing to get through, as I find happens in a lot of fairy tales. It's not one of those books you can shut your brain off and read. There are a lot of dots to connect between the elements that are involved in the novel. At the same time, this makes it a book a reader can read over and over to get new things out of it, which is truly what fairy tales are meant to do. Morals and lessons are at the heart of every fairy tale and it is up to the reader to look at the story and see how it could reflect on their own lives. What expectations do you have for a future spouse or partner? How do you see yourself? Do you think about how your actions and expectations affect other people?

Fairy tales have fallen out of today's society. The old Grimm and Hans Christian tales still resonate and are retold, but what about modern fairy tales that could speak for today's generation of readers. In The House Upon The Dirt Between The Lake And The Woods is a step in reviving an old storytelling art form and will delight readers looking for a challenging novel with exquisite language and imagery.

Out with the Old, In with the New

With the new semester starting up, I have decided to change a lot of things I am doing before I graduate in May. It's time to get organized, make mistakes, and get messy!

First on my agenda, my blog. I redesigned the layout and header to make it more simplistic. To me, it looks more pleasing to the eye and less distracting. I'm really excited to be revamping the blog. With such a busy semester, I've decided I will be writing three blog posts a week! Today is number 1/3 for this week. In case you were curious here is the old design of the blog:
















Second: I started going to the gym. This is the most common New Years resolution. But I'm not doing it as a resolution. I've been wanting to go to the gym to become more happy and healthy. This is only my second week going. But I already love it! My roommate and I are workout buddies and go about three to four days a week. We both have the common goal of keeping our health up. I'm excited to see if this continues to be a fun activity for the both of us!

Third: Attempting to have the best semester of college. I think this goal will honestly be the hardest. There is so much to schedule this semester and almost every weekend in March and April is filled with activities to be at. It makes me a bit more excited to be leaving school just to have weekends back. There are just a few things I need to cross off the ol' college bucket list!

Top Five Things I Learned in 2013

Tomorrow night will begin the year 2014. I truly can't believe it! 2013 has been a year of drastic changes for me as I finish my last year of college, had my first internship, and began cooking for myself. This has truly been a year of self discovery. Before I can create goals for 2014, I'm making a list of the top five things I learned in 2013:

1) I'm a bit of a neat freak... and by a bit I mean I'm very particular about cleanliness.... Fine! I'm a neat freak plain and simple. I've always known that I like keeping things tidy, but this year, living in an apartment with two other girls, I've learned that I'm a lot more picky than I thought. I want the dishes cleaned right away. I like dirty dishes put in a certain place. I also found my new love, Mr. Swifer. I think the addition of him into my life made me realize just how much I like to keep things clean. It's also not a bad thing, I just need to learn that other people have different levels of cleanliness and we should be meeting in the middle.

2) Grocery shopping is not always fun. Most adults would roll their eyes at this comment. Of course grocery shopping isn't very fun! When you have to do it to survive, it becomes a chore. To combat this, I let myself get one treat every time I go whether its a box of cookies or a small wedge of expensive cheese. Sometimes the little things can change your whole outlook on a chore!

3) I really don't like Pennsylvania as a place to live or as a vacation. I've lived there on and off for four years now. I will admit it is mostly in the middle of nowhere. Many of my Pennsylvania friends are lovely, but I haven't found anything in PA that connects me to the place. The people are ok. The scenery isn't bad. At least now I know that is one place I can cross off my list of potential places to live.

4) Pinterest is awesome! As a college student who is still just beginning to learn how to live on her own, pinterest is a lifesaver.  You can literally learn everything from leadership skills to how to cook a roast. It's both fun and useful, although it can also be a bit more of a time-suck than I need in my life. Oops....

5) I'm ready to graduate college. I've met a lot of other college students who are scared to graduate. The media always seems to be telling college students that college is the best time of their lives. Many adults have told me that I will miss all the "free time" and "breaks" I had. I really need to find the definition of free time and break. I have loved college a lot. I have made a lot of friends here and learned a lot. I'm glad I went, but I'm ready for it to end. My college career has been built on business. There hasn't been much free time and when I come home I work. I'm looking forward to a stable job and having weekends off. There are many things beyond college that I want to do. College isn't the final chapter. It's still part of the first third of a book. There is so much left for me to do and all of it goes beyond the gated community of college. Full-time jobs, traveling, and having my own house I can live in for more than a year are exciting to me. College is part of the growing process and eventually you learn everything college can teach you. I feel that I have hit that point.

I hope you all have a great New Years Eve whether its going out partying with your friends or having some nice wine and old Chinese food in front of your TV!

Celebrating Hanukah in NYC

                                       
Hello! It's been awhile since I've posted. My homework load has been absolutely atrocious, therefore no time to write for fun :(. Plus no fun things to blog about! Well, it's Thanksgiving break and I'm spending it in NYC with my lovely friend Emma! This is my third time in New York so by now it somewhat feels like coming home. I still don't know my way around the city, but it's nice being back in the hustle and bustle! It's been a bit rainy so I don't have any outside pics yet, but hopefully those will come soon! For now I have some lovely indoor pictures.

Today we walked around a lot and went to one of my favorite stores, FAO Schwarz. It was super crowded since it's Thanksgiving therefore, no pictures, but I loved going there and seeing all the excited kids! Next we went to Saks 5th Avenue. We went and bought some SnAKS at their cafe since that was really the only thing we could afford. We ordered some champagne and "snacks" aka a meal. I had a margarita flatbread while Emma had grilled cheese. It was enough to feed both of us which I don't really consider snacking. It all tasted so good and looked amazing. Naturally we also had to get desert! It was a crepe cake with layers of crepes and cream. It tasted so good that even though I was stuffed I couldn't stop eating it!

Margarita Pizza

Champagne and Crepe Cake

Then we walked around the Union Square Christmas market. It was fun to look, a little to expensive to buy anything. But we did get macaroons! Can't wait to try them!

By this time it was getting late and we went back to Emma's house to celebrate the first night of Hanukah with her family! I enjoyed watching her light the candle and hearing the prayer. I also tried latkes for the first time. I advise everyone to have some. They are really good! I also got presents! It was a great experience!

So excited to see the parade tomorrow for the first time in person! Hope you are all have a great Thanksgiving!

Finding My Place In College

This post is a bit more somber than I usually write, but I felt like I had to write about it. This weekend I accompanied a friend to the hospital. She had been drinking and had way too much. She ended up being ok and was driven home that night. These situations are completely terrifying for me to even think about. I'm a senior in college and she is a freshman. I hadn't been with her when she drank, I found her after. Amazingly, this experience was really eye-opening for me because I realized how lucky I had been my first year of college.

My roommate and I found each other through the incoming class of 2014 page on Facebook. We instantly connected by talking about our love for Harry Potter and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Although, we didn't always get along throughout the year, we understood each other. We became best friends through shared experiences and laughter. I had found a best friend at college who I am also living with this year, for our last year. I couldn't ask for a better roommate and friend.

Freshman year I was never peer-pressured to drink or do drugs. The first time I did drink in college was the first time I had ever drank and my friends respected that. It was just a small group of us. We stayed in one place. They took care of me and made sure I knew what I was doing. Therefore, my first experience with alcohol couldn't have been more perfect. It was low key and protected. And that shaped the rest of my experiences, I never was dangerously intoxicated. I never had to be in the hospital for myself. I owe all this to my friends and roommate. Without them I could have made bad choices, instead they taught me how to be safe. If there is only one thing that I will take away from college, it is that finding the right friends means everything. They really can help make your college experiences great and safe.

Thanks to all my friends freshman year and beyond who have made my college experience safe and taught me how to act in an emergency.

Hold On, It's Only November

I saw my first Christmas shopping commercial a week before Halloween this year.  Ugh.  What happened to Halloween, not to mention that one holiday involving a parade and endless turkey?

I know that I'm not the only one who complains about the way Christmas seems to creep closer and closer to September.  There are a lot of people who prefer to live through Thanksgiving before hearing a single jingle bell or seeing mistletoe.  But we sadly don't get to dictate this.  The stores do, and they will turn on that Christmas music whether you like it or not.  But why am I so angry when I hear, see, smell, or hear anything Christmasy before the "official season" starts?

I finally figured it out yesterday.  I was thinking about Thanksgiving and how it is suppose celebrate being thankful for what you have.  You're taught to cherish the family and friends around you as the fire crackles and the smell of warm pumpkin pie fills the air.  That's Thanksgiving.  No sparkling tree with presents eagerly waiting to be torn open.  Thanksgiving is a holiday of relaxation and being with people you love, before you beg them for that new sweater for Christmas.  And I like it that way.  I like having a holiday where I don't have to worry about what to wear and getting presents.  Thanksgiving is still a very valid holiday that should get recognition because your family deserves it.

So, before you being to hang up those Christmas lights and buy the wrapping paper, take time to appreciate the wait.  What is your favorite dish to eat at Thanksgiving?  Mine is definitely the pie.  No question!