Simplicity by Sabrina

It was Travis's turn to pick the book this time around and he gave me a few to pick from to see what I would like to read with him. He picked out solely science fiction and nonfiction books because the last two books we had read together were fiction. Ha ha.

He settled on Speaker for the Dead since I wasn't too excited about any of the prospects. Speaker for the Dead is the second book in a series written by Orson Scott Card. The first book is called Ender's Game. In order to put into context what I thought about Speaker for the Dead, I will refer to my thoughts on Ender's Game.

There will be SPOILERS, so if you just want to know what I thought of the books, then scroll down to the bottom to see!

Two years ago I was looking for a book recommendation and Travis suggested I read one of his favorites: Ender's Game. It sounded interesting enough, even though Science Fiction is usually not my genre of choice. However, when I was reading it I was surprised by how DARK the novel was. It is centered around a family who lives on earth in the future where population is controlled and earth is in a war against an alien species named "the buggers". They were essentially trying to breed and select a military master to obliterate this alien species. In the Wiggin family, there was Peter, who was ultimately not chosen probably because he was a little psychotic, Valentine, who was not chosen either, but was closer to what was needed, so the family was given permission to procreate one more time and then comes Ender, who was ultimately chosen. Ender had to leave his family at a young age to go to military school where he was manipulated beyond belief so the leaders could get exactly what they wanted from him. They isolated him, made him try impossible tasks, and definitely had some weird psychology games going on with Ender. In the end, Ender was able to defeat the buggers, however it was unknowingly because he was led to believe that everything was a simulation.

I thought Ender's Game was a little dark and twisted considering that most of the characters in the novel were children. So there was definitely a flare of dystopia in the book, however the character of Ender was very admirable. His friends were also some fun characters. Ender is redeemed at the end for being driven to kill an entire species unknowingly by writing a book called The Hive Queen where he tells the story of the buggers from their point of view, making them seem more understandable, and therefore, less threatening. He authors the book under the pseudonym Speaker for the Dead. He decides to go from world to world and do the same thing for others. His older brother Peter, who became a ruthless leader on earth asked Ender to write his story as well and Ender wrote a second book called The Hegemon for his brother's story.

The book Speaker for the Dead picks up when Ender is 35 years old, although 3,000 years has passed since the bugger wars. Ender and his sister Valentine have been traveling through space to different planets, never staying anywhere for longer than 6 months. Ender speaks people's deaths while Valentine writes histories of the planets. On the planet of Lusitania another species of alien has been encountered. Instead of making the same mistake again, humans have decided to back off and not interfere with this species, but only observe them. They refer to the species as "piggies" since they look like little pigs. Ender is summoned by a girl named Novinha to the colony of Lusitania when the piggies murder one of the xenologers (people that observe them).

Ender decides to go without Valentine (who has married and is pregnant with her first child on the planet of Trondheim) and it takes him 22 years to travel there (however it was only a week for Ender). When Ender arrives, he finds he was summoned to speak the death for two other people. While only being there four days, he finds out a lot of secrets, meets the piggies, and understands more about the piggies' way of life in a few hours than the xenologers who had been observing them had discovered in years of interaction.

In the end, Ender is able to build a treaty with the piggies so that the humans and piggies can co-exist on the planet without misunderstandings.



What I thought

I liked the Speaker for the Dead book better than Ender's Game because it was a lot lighter in terms of content. Although there were a few murders from an alien species, there was a lot more hope in this book and it is a pretty big theme, which I liked.

Other themes that I liked were: tolerance, understanding, redemption, community, and love. There were some pretty powerful characters in this book and I liked a lot of their attributes, even though pretty much everyone was flawed. Ender becomes close to the Ribeira family and takes on a fatherly role, which I thought was cool to see.

Something that appealed to me specifically about this book is that the colony of Lusitania was founded by Brazilians, more specifically brazilian catholics. There was some Portuguese in the book and all of them had Portuguese names, which I liked because I served my mission in Portugal and since worked for years teaching Brazilian Portuguese. It has a place near and dear to my heart and it was fun to read little parts of Portuguese and see the culture on this futuristic planet.

I also thought it was interesting to encounter another alien species in this book. I do have to admit that the piggies were so ALIEN. According to Travis (who has read a mountain of science fiction compared to me), in some science fiction there are alien species, but they do not seem so alien because they interact with humans and are so similar. It was interesting to see the humans interact with the piggies because they were able to communicate (the piggies easily learned the human language), however they did not understand each other in so many ways, thus leading to deaths, assumptions, and fear.

Ultimately the humans realized that just sitting and observing the species of the piggies was not leading them to understanding about the species, although they did not want to influence them by giving them technology they would otherwise not have developed themselves. Therefore, at the end of the novel, a treaty was needed so that they could make trades and live in harmony and understanding.

One theme that Travis and I talked about a lot in the book is the theme of community. One thing that is important for humanity is to belong to a community. Everyone needs it in order to feel accepted. However, something interesting that was addressed in this book is that sometimes the community you feel like you belong to can be a very small one, and that is still sufficient. Also, in the book it talks about how it is more important for you to realize what communities you are a part of instead of focusing on proclaiming the ones you are not a part of.


Here is the breakdown of Speaker for the Dead:

Genre: Science Fiction
Number of pages: 382
Reading endurance: Medium. You do have to read Ender's Game before reading Speaker for the Dead. Ender's Game was a little dark to me, so it was harder for me to personally get through it, but I thought Speaker for the Dead was a better read. Travis and I read it pretty quick--in less than two weeks I think.
Good Moral: Yes. It addresses themes of tolerance, acceptance, love, and community.
Favorite Quote: "What I wanted to hear was the name of what you are instead of the name of all the things that you are not. What you are is the hive queen. What you are is the Speaker for the Dead. It's a very small community, small in numbers, but a great-hearted one. So you chose not to be part of the bands of children who group together for the sole purpose of excluding others, and people look at you and say, poor girl, she's so isolated, but you know a secret, you know who you really are." (pg. 17)
Recommend? Yes

Travis and I recently finished reading this book together. Although we do not devote as much time to reading together as I think either of us would like, we like to steal away minutes here and there enjoying a good book together. This was one that I picked out to read together. I had originally brought it on Christmas vacation to read by myself and after I had started into a few chapters, Travis decided he wanted to read it with me (we had just finished our other book).

I think it is awesome to have a small book club with my favorite person. It has been fun to read more books together and stop and talk about what we have read. Mostly we talk throughout the book, but at the end here are some of the questions we asked each other (with my answers):

Who is your favorite character and why?

My favorite character was the main character Orual. I think she became my favorite throughout the novel because I learned the most about her because the book is written from her point of view. Though she is deeply flawed and uses the art of manipulation to get her younger sister Psyche to do what she wants, as a reader, I understood about her motivations and sadness after she made her mistake, and therefore I feel like I understood her best, flaws and all. She ended up becoming queen of Glome and was a good person in a lot of ways, but the story highlights her mistakes in a big way and how she learned to either overcome them or deal with them throughout her life.

Who is the most admirable character?

I think that Psyche is the most admirable character in the story because she is pure in her motives. She loves her sister and wants her to believe her situation and be happy for her. Psyche spends the rest of her life doing tasks the gods want of her all because she showed distrust, thanks to Orual.

Travis said he thinks Bardia is the most admirable character because of how hard he works for Queen Orual and shows his duty for his country by dedicating himself to his work. He also shows that he cares for his wife and is an upstanding person in all ways.

What does this book teach us about selfish love?

We talked about how essentially the main theme from his book is that selfish love is never OK. It is not right to manipulate someone, even if you love them. I think everyone already knew that even without reading this book, but what I think is interesting is that we as humans are still prone to experience selfish love simply because of our mortality--our imperfection. So the question is: how do we deal with the selfish love that we feel? Some people succumb to it and therefore suffer their whole lives because of it like Orual, but both Travis and I know because of the gospel that it is possible to overcome carnal feelings and desires and practice selfless love.

Why is Orual's ugliness such an important theme to the book?
Because of the title, it lends us to believe that there is significance behind everyone's face in the book. Over and over it states how ugly Orual is as a child and teenager. As a queen, she decides to veil her face, which I think has some significance too. I think it comes down to this quote from the book: "I saw well why the gods do not speak to us openly, nor let us answer. Till that word can be dug out of us, why should they hear the babble that we think we mean? How can they meet us face to face till we have faces?" Travis had to read this out loud to me several times before I started to understand it in the context of the book. I think it means that until we know who we are (until we have figured out our "face"), then how can God (or in the story, gods) speak to us? Orual did not understand who she was because she succumbed to her inner ugliness by manipulating Psyche. She suffered her whole life after that because she was confused and hurt that it did not work. She veiled her physical face to hide her pain and suffering. Once she faced herself and realized who she was, then she could learn and come to terms with everything and even attempt at seeking redemption.

What have we learned about revelation?
There is a part where Psyche tries to convince Orual that she is living in the palace of a god and that he is her husband, but Orual does not believe it. As Orual leaves, she looks back and sees the palace. She never admits to anyone that she sees it because she only caught a glimpse and rationalizes it away. However, she did in actuality see it. I think revelation is a lot like this. We do not see grand big pictures all of the time. It is usually glimpses and if we are not paying attention we will miss it, or miss the importance of what we are spiritually seeing.

In short, here is the breakdown of Till We Have Faces:

Genre: Fiction
Number of pages: 309
Reading endurance: Low to medium. I thought the book was easy to understand and therefore easy to get through, although it took us 2 months to get through it because we don't have much time to devote to reading.
Good Moral: Yes. It addresses themes of selfish love vs. selfless love, beauty vs. ugliness, sacrifice, forgiveness, and redemption.
Favorite Quote: "I was with book, as a woman is with child."
Recommend? Yes

Children's novels are probably one of my favorite genres. No joke. I could read books like this all day. They are usually fun, engaging, and light. Lately I feel like young adult fiction has gotten trashy, so I have started going back to my tried and true favorite children's books and they don't disappoint! I thought I would share with you some of these great books! Enjoy reading!


10. The Cardturner by Louis Sachar
Louis Sachar is better known for his book Holes, which is absolutely fabulous and I would recommend reading to anyone, however, I really like this newer book about the card game of Bridge. A boy named Alton who becomes the cardturner for his blind uncle who is very good at Bridge and while turning cards, Alton learns the game and learns things about himself as he grows up a little and even ends up winning a tournament and meeting a girl while doing it.


9. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
I have to admit that this book is the only one on this list that I have not actually finished reading. I have started this book more than once and I just can't finish it for some reason, but I include it on this list because Travis loves it. It is very much a book for him: survival, living in the woods, using a hatchet for everything, endless camping, wilderness survival skills, etc. For me, even though there was a lot of action happening: a boy gets stranded in the wilderness after the pilot of the plane has a heart attack and dies and has to learn to survive with basically nothing but a hatchet he brought (very pre-9/11), I thought the storyline moved surprisingly slow. However, Travis thinks it is an exciting book, so because he thinks so I would recommend this one.


8. The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
The title of the first book kind of describes this book very well in a nutshell: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy. If you liked Little Women or have a little one that would like the storyline but needs a little simpler reading, then this is is a great series! Skye, Jane, Rosalind, and Batty all move to a cottage with their father and dog one summer. They meet a boy named Jeffrey and the first book is about their adventures of the summer from chasing runaway rabbits to the girls helping Jeffrey stand up for what he wants.


7. Once Upon a Marigold
I was recently reminded of this book by a friend who read it and asked if I had, and I did many years ago, but I had forgotten how cute this story is. This book is about a boy named Christian who spies on the royal family and ends up helping Princess Marigold find out the wicked plot of the Queen. This book is downright funny in parts, although a little transparent about the Queen being evil. But, altogether a very fun read that I would highly recommend if you want some light reading.


6. My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison
This book has a funny storyline and interesting plot twists. It follows a girl named Savannah who gets dumped by her boyfriend for her older sister and wants to find prince charming to take her to prom. Enter a godmother-in-training who wears high heels, has pink hair, and chews gum. Savannah's "fair" godmother grants her wishes, but not in the way she wants. On her last wish, Savannah finds herself and three friends stuck in the Middle Ages. While trying to solve a mystery and break the spell, Savannah resorts to 21st century tricks and tries to get her happily ever after. This is technically more of a tween novel, but it is fun, clean, and easy to read.


5. The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
I read this book a few years ago at the suggestion of my sister-in-law and I liked it. I thought Travis would like it and afterward he read it. Reynie, an orphan, finds an interesting ad in a newspaper asking for brilliant kids to take a series of tests and afterward to go on a mission. Reynie passes all of the tests, as do three other children who are also orphans or estranged from their parents: Sticky, Kate, and Constance. They are each inducted into the Benedict Society, formed by a Mr. Benedict who asks them to infiltrate a facility that is a school for gifted children, that is run by an evil Mr. Curtain. This was an interesting book because there were puzzles, dilemmas, morse code, secret plots, and interesting twists.


4. Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
One of my all-time favorite books is this first novel in a quartet by Shannon Hale. The story is an adaptation to an older tale by the Brother Grimm, The Goose Girl, but I love what Shannon Hale has done with it. It follows a princess Anidori who has the special talent of speaking to animals. She does not relate well to people because of this and has a hard time connecting with others. She is close to her father, however, but one day he unexpectedly dies from falling off a horse while riding with Ani. The queen decides to send her to Bayern to become the princess bride to their prince. Along the way Ani has quite an adventure with her maiden trying to usurp her title, encounters with new friends, meeting a palace guard named Geric, and figuring out her way back to being a princess all while first becoming a goose girl. This is a fun read, as are the other books in the series. I think this also is more of a tween novel, but I would read it with young kids.


3. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
This is one of my favorite mystery books. I first read it when I was in the 5th grade and I read it slow to try to understand all of it, thinking I would be able to solve it before I reached the end, but I totally didn't. Very much a surprise ending. Sixteen different individuals were invited to the will reading of Sam Westing and they are all there for specific reasons, although some know and some do not. The person who can solve the mystery will win all of his inheritance, but at what price? This book still gives me a thrill reading and I absolutely love it.


2. Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
This is Travis's favorite children's novel and I agree that it is very good. It has some pretty deep themes of tolerance, friendship, differences, acceptance, coming-of-age, homelessness, etc. But, it also has some funny parts like how Maniac Magee is allergic to pizza (of all things!) and how he can outrun anyone. We have this book on CD and have listened to it a few times in the car and probably will continue to do so on many road trips to come. Jeffrey Magee enters and leaves the town of Two Mills in the same way: running. He is a phenomenon to the people of Two Mills because of his athletic abilities, running capabilities, and his ignorance of the racial duality and clear boundaries of the town. Travis says, "It is hilarious, memorable, and deeply moving." I would have to agree.


1. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
So this may be my all-time favorite book. I read it every time I visit my parents' house, even if it is just for the weekend. I think I grew up with three copies and tore through the binding on every. single. one. This fairytale Cinderella story has spunk. Ella of Frell is cursed with obedience from the foolish fairy Lucinda, however she is blessed with a fairy godmother and a loving mother. Her mother passes away from sickness and she is left practically an orphan because her father is so distant and aloof. Her father quickly marries Dame Olga, who brings her two daughters, Hattie and Olive, who are silly, shallow, and mean. Ella is shipped off to boarding school and embarks on many grand adventures from meeting Areida, an Ayorthan friend, having encounters with elves, ogres, a prince and his men, a giant wedding, and more. Ella is not what Cinderella is normally portrayed to be, but has personality, a love for languages and reading, is spunky, and learns a lot on her adventures about life, curses, magic, and love. While written simplistically, it is a fun read that you will want to read again and again. Travis helped me rank these books and even he agreed to put Ella Enchanted as number one because, "Ella is so relatable." I agree. She is not perfect, but she learns so much along the way about standing up for yourself, for those you love, and agency.

What are your favorite children's novels?

For more ideas and suggestions, check out this awesome list of 100 Top Children's Novels made by School Library Journal. I made my list before I found this one and pretty much all of my fav books are on it!

Since my husband is a budding economist, I decided to branch out from my usual book preference and read this book. I actually think I might have "borrowed" this from my sister, who is also studying economics. I say "borrowed" because sometimes I look in my closet and at my bookshelf and realize that I had every intention of borrowing these items from my sister, but somehow they became mine. She is such a good soul for sharing, even if it is unknowingly. In most families it is the younger sister who borrows, but in ours it is the opposite. Summer always did have better fashion, music, and taste in books than I did.

I did start this book almost two years ago and I just could not finish it. As I started to read this book again, I realized something about the way that I read: I like to understand EVERYTHING that I read. If I don't, it is hard for me to get through it because I can get bogged down by grammar structures, semantics, vocabulary, syntax, etc. Hence, I did not finish it the first time I attempted.  I also realized that I had not taken an economics course since I was in high school (I know, very ironic that I married someone that wants to be an economist yet I never took entry level economics in college, let alone advanced courses.) However, Travis and I do talk about economics--a lot, actually. I just like how Travis talks about it to me. Because I know him, I understand the concepts he talks about with me. He also doesn't address the high level math that is required to understand the nitty gritty (although, I do like math).

In this book, the format is pretty informal as well. However, I had a hard time understanding what I was reading. From marginal costs to cost-benefit analysis to the Indifference Principle, I was having a hard time grasping it all. I think I felt this way because the author seemed to be writing his opinion as if he was speaking for all economists. For me, it was sometimes hard to know what was opinion and what was applicable economic theory since I don't have the background. I think that if I had approached this book a little differently (not caring if I understood every single little thing he was saying), then I probably could have enjoyed it more instead of thinking I was reading a textbook.

Surprisingly, Steven Landsburg, an economist that from the sound of it in his writing is a macroeconomist, writes in an informal style that has more of an air of conversation than lecture. His grammar and syntax are informal, although he throws around some pretty hefty ideas like: Do government deficits matter? Which rich people should be taxed? Who should bear the cost of oil spills?, Why can unemployment be a good thing?, etc.  He also tackles some more fun questions, such as: Why is popcorn so expensive at the movie theater? and Why are seat belts deadly?

As I kept reading, I realized that certain parts of economics really interest me, like when he was talking about funding resources in education. I have felt for awhile that funding in education is a sticky problem and I don't really know the solution. Most everyone would say that more money in schools is a good thing, but what I liked about this book is that it questioned this notion, asking, "Is it better to have more money in schools?" "Would that make it more efficient?" Steven Landsburg addresses the issue of illiteracy more so than education of the illiterate in his book, but I have always wondered why so much money in education is petitioned for the teachers to use in their classrooms and even when that money is received by teachers in the classrooms, do they spend it wisely? Do they even know what to spend it on to actually help with student success? Does buying more books actually help? Or maybe there is the possibility to consider that there are too many books and maybe the money is needed in another way to be more efficient? Since I do not have access to the randomized experiments that could give answers to these questions, I don't know the answers. Instead, teachers are given money and use it on whatever they think is best (and I am not undermining teachers' opinions, because I know their wisdom and experience is important), and somehow test scores still don't improve.

I also realized that there are parts of economics that really do NOT interest me: like taxes (boring...), politics, and price discrimination. For me, those parts were hard to get through. I knew this before I read this book, but it amazes me how much of our lives involves economics, sometimes without our knowledge.

Here is a brief summary of each chapter. Sometimes I have written only a sentence that is a principle of economics taught in that chapter. This might be the boring part for you, especially if you want to read the book, then skip to the end where you can see my short breakdown. If not, then keep reading:

PLOT SUMMARY (as much of a plot that there is in a nonfiction book :)

Chapter 1: People respond to incentives. Likewise, people that have cars with seat belts in them drive less carefully, thus nullifying the safety feature. There are just as many accidents with or without seat belts.

Chapter 2: Economics always assumes that human behavior is rational.

Chapter 3: Smoking may not be such a bad thing; it is probably keeping your insurance rates lower. The best way to choose a movie (or anything) between spouses is to express your preference in dollar terms. (Travis and I have done this frequently in our marriage and it seems to work for us).

Chapter 22: Beware of great thinkers who advertise their conclusions without revealing their assumption.

Chapter 23: When making a model to analyze data, it is important to consider hidden variables that would make the data look different if the rules change.

Chapter 24: Environmentalism targets childhood specifically. (The author is highly opposed to environmentalism, i.e. recycling, conserving resources, etc. He does not like the fact that it is taught in primary grades, and therefore, he has a very snarky ending).

In short, here is the breakdown of The Armchair Economist:

Genre: Nonfiction
Number of pages: 231
Reading endurance: I would say medium-high endurance required. It depends on what kind of reader you are. I am the type of reader that likes to understand everything I read, so it was harder for me to get through.
Good Moral: Somewhat. Some of the "morals" of economics don't really jive with my personal morals, but nonetheless it is interesting to learn more.
Favorite Quote: "When Peter chooses to work 80 hours a week and get rich while Paul chooses to work 3 hours a week and get comfortable in other ways, who is to say which choice is the wiser? I can find nothing in economics, morality, or for that matter my personal instincts that says we should approve more of one than of the other. Unemployment, or a low level of employment, can be a voluntary choice and a good one." (pg. 130)
This quote totally reminds me of my husband, Travis, who has told me on multiple occasions when he was getting his undergrad that his economics professors would not care if he went to class or not, believing that each student optimizes his time according to what he thinks is best and therefore trusting each individual to do so. I was an education major and all of my professors put a BIG emphasis on class attendance because school is life when you are in education. I just thought this quote was funny because you can see maybe the beginnings of the differences Travis and I have and I am happy to be able to understand him a little bit better.
Recommend? Yes. I would recommend this if you want to branch out and read some nonfiction that you normally wouldn't and if you have any interest in economics.

Some may not know that The Giver by Lois Lowry, written in 1993 and made into a motion picture in 2014, is actually the first book in a series. I didn't know until two years ago when I decided to reread the book from our bookshelf and Travis mentioned that there were more books in the series. Since then, we have collected all four books and I recently finished the last book called Son.

This will mostly be a review of the last book, but in order to properly review it I will allude to the other three books. There may be a few SPOILERS just to give you fair warning, but if you want to know what I think of the book and the series in general in a gist, just scroll down to the end.

While The Giver follows the story of Jonah who becomes The Receiver and how he eventually escapes the dystopian community he was brought up in with a baby Gabriel, who was going to be put to death because he did not meet the standards of perfection of the community, the story of Son is the culminating story where we learn about the mother of Gabriel.

Plot Summary: 

BEFORE

Her name is Claire and she was designated to be a Birth Mother, which was not a sought after position in the community. While no one ever said it out loud, it was always implied that being a Birth Mother had no prestige, honor, or intellectualism to it. When Claire is 14, she is deemed ready to be have a baby and is impregnated. She soon delivers her baby, but in a strange and scarring way.

They blindfold her during the process of labor and tie her hands to a bed so that she cannot move freely. She is in labor for awhile before they realize something is wrong with her, so they drug her and give her a C-section without telling her ANYTHING that is happening. She wakes up with a huge scar on her belly and never gets to see her baby. Soon after she recovers she is reassigned to work in the fish hatchery instead of having more children (typically each Birth Mother has 3 children and then is reassigned). She is confused and feels shame for wondering what she did wrong that her birth did not go well. Instead of getting answers from the Elders, she finds out the number her child was assigned and that he still lives.

After being at the fish hatchery for awhile, Claire decides to visit the newchildren wing in the childcare center in the community. Her baby (number 36) was there and Claire visited often and got to know him. She felt this bond with him that she could not explain and often dreamed of having him with her. Claire was confused by these dreams and desires because no one else seemed to feel them. You eventually learn that she was not taking "pills" that the rest of the community was taking that help mask emotions and desires.

Claire learns that her baby was not thriving because he was labeled as "difficult" and would not sleep through the night and had a hard time adjusting. He was going to be released to elsewhere (another term for being killed). On the other side, Jonas (from The Giver), had gotten to know the baby and knew his name (Gabriel). He realized what was going to happen to Gabe and decided to take him and run away. He does so and Claire tries to run after him when she realizes Gabe is gone with Jonas, but ends up running onto a supply boat, gets lost in a storm and washes up onto a beach into a completely different culture.

BETWEEN

She suffers from shock and amnesia for awhile, but stays with a kind woman in a hut named Alys. Slowly memories come back to her while she gets to know the people on the island and has experiences (she sees a birth, holds a baby, etc.) Word spreads that Claire had a baby but no husband, which was looked down on by the people of that culture. Claire does not care and realizes that her purpose in life is to try to find her son again, no matter the cost. She does not want to go back by water, but instead decides to climb a mountain and travel out that way.

She befriends the only person that has attempted to climb the mountain, a boy named Einar that lives at the bottom of the mountain as a shepherd. He attempted to climb the mountain before, but became lame and lost a foot on his travels. It is not revealed how this happened at first, but everyone assumes he fell. Claire is determined to not have this happen to her. She trains for years to make sure she is strong enough. Finally when she is ready, Einar reveals the way in which he lost his foot: at the top of the mountain a man approached him and offered to help him. Einar was stubborn and decided to reject his help. The man pulled out an ax and chopped off his foot, so Einar warns Claire to accept help from the man.

Claire makes the climb and encounters the man at the top. He offers to help her find her son at a steep price: Claire's youth. Claire agrees, remembering Einar's warning.

BEYOND

Claire is transported where Gabe is, but she is an old woman now and feels she cannot tell Gabe who she really is because it would be a burden to him. Gabe is a sprightly young man by now but he is confused about where he comes from and seeks for a family. Jonas is in the same village as Gabe and has his own family (he married Kira from the second book and has two children, one of whom is named Matthew after the hero of the third book), but Jonas watches out for Gabe.

Eventually Claire reveals her story to Jonas, who tells Gabe when Claire is on her deathbed. Jonas tells Gabe that he has to defeat the evil man who took Claire's youth from her. Gabe sets out to do so and finds him close by on the other side of the river from his village. He uses a special gift he has to realize that the man was no man at all but the embodiment of evil. He defeats evil by speaking of hope and happiness, which sucks the life out of evil and he kills himself.

Gabe returns to find that he has broken the spell and Claire is restored to her youthful self.

What I thought: 

I really liked some elements from this book and it was especially poignant to me as I have recently become a mother. Going through a labor like Claire's would have been frightening because she was not told anything and could not see or experience anything. It would be like experiencing all of the scary, weird parts of labor and not enjoying the best part: the baby!

I could also identify with the strong feelings Claire had for Gabe in the beginning. She was alone and could not understand the bond of mother and child, but it is a very deep, biological bond that is hard to explain unless experienced. I thought Lowry did a great job explaining how important these feelings were to Claire.

The book is divided into the three parts: Before, Between, and Beyond. I liked the Before part (what is mentioned above), however the Between part takes a sharp turn in the plot. I like the characters and that it is juxtaposition of two very different cultures and experiences. Claire learns about things like colors, animals, music, and plants. In a way she is still a child in a lot of experiences.

Probably my favorite part of the book is when she decides to look for her son and starts training to climb the mountain. The book talks in detail about the exercises that Claire does to get strong and prepare herself. I particularly enjoyed this part because it is what I am trying to do in my life as well. My motivation for working out and being healthy is my daughter. I want to be strong so that I can lift her in whatever way she needs (she is over 20 lbs, so I have my work cut out for me!), play with her, and just be a good, healthy mother. So I think of her when I lift weights or go running and it helps me try to take care of my body in a better way. Claire does the same thing in the story and it made me think how all parents make sacrifices and try to be motivated for their kids.

The Beyond chapters are interesting because they involve the man who took Claire's youth from her. It also builds up to the climax of Gabe finding out that Claire is his mother. The end where Gabe has to defeat the evil man I thought was a great build up to a rather lame way of defeat. Also, there is no resolution at the end of the story with Claire and Gabe, Claire and Einar (who she proclaimed her love for earlier in the book), or even between Jonas and Claire. I thought there would be more resolution at the end of the series, but we are left hanging on some points, which I did not like as much. Overall, it was a good book and I would recommend the series (although book 2 and book 3 are not as interesting and not quite as necessary to read), however there were some parts that were left to imagination that I wish would have been addressed. I mean, if you have to read four books in order to get to an ending, I feel like there should be a pretty darn good ending! But that is just my personal opinion.

In short, here is the breakdown of Son:

Genre: Dystopian Young Adult Fiction
Number of pages: 393
Reading endurance: You need to read three other books before this one, all of comparable length. Medium reading endurance required.
Good Moral: Yes! It shows the importance of family, relationships, and choosing things for yourself.
Favorite Quote: "If she had not made the trade that had brought her here she would perhaps be back with Einar now, helping him tend his lambs, cooking a stew they would share in their hillside hut, talking together by the fire in the evenings. But she would not have found her son. She would never have seen Gabe again, would not have watched him grow into the lively young man he had become. She knew it was a trade she would make again, given the chance" (pg. 306)
Recommend? Yes

The dynamic couple that has everyone enchanted in the past couple of years has been without a doubt Chip and Joanna Gaines. They have brought fame to their small town of Waco, Texas through their television show Fixer Upper. Chip works in the construction/restoration side of fixing up homes for their clients while Joanna tackles the design and staging of the homes. Their company is called Magnolia Homes, but started as a shop called Magnolia Market that Joanna opened when she and Chip were newlyweds.

This book follows their story from the very beginning of how they met, dated, and married. They share heartwarming and funny anecdotes from their life as newlyweds from their unplanned honeymoon to their first apartment that smelled like pet urine and rotten meat when they moved in. Their story continues, following their different perspectives about their first personal fixer upper house of 800 square feet, bringing their babies home, starting their business together, Joanna feeling she should close down her shop once she started having more kids, and the continuing of following their dreams as they both became experts in their respective fields and complemented each other with their talents, ambitions, and love of life.

I enjoyed this light read and gained insight into this couples' life. I could identify with their funny stories of being newlywed and having babies because that is the stage of life I am in now. Even though the language of the book is very informal, as if you are sitting on their Magnolia Farm sipping lemonade while they tell you about their lives, it has a genuine tone throughout. It is easy to get the sense that Chip and Joanna care for each other as spouses and support each other. Though they are not perfect and readily admit to their faults, it is refreshing to see a real couple tackle real life problems.

Because of their conservative views, I feel like I can identify with their morals and goals. However, one way in which this book really changed my world view is how Chip and Joanna take crazy risks when it comes to real estate. Before Fixer Upper, Chip and Joanna would buy run down homes with their own money and fix them up to resell or lease. This requires a lot of credit and lots of debt in order to pull off. They shared how they kept going in their business by putting every rent check or property sold money back into another property so they could flip it. Some months they did not know how they would feed themselves or pay their mortgage because of this lifestyle. I personally have never been in debt and it was interesting to see people live life so differently and do risk-taking in that way that opposes how I would handle finances. The financial problems they candidly share in their book provides the book with more depth and shows how everyone struggles--especially financially. I believe this is how with their rising fame Chip and Joanna have stayed down to earth. They remember all too well what it was like to barely make ends meet and be a struggling local business.


My favorite parts of the book were Joanna's "revelations". Her first was on her couch in a beautiful home she had designed as a showcase to promote her work while she was at home with her kids.

Joanna says, "In my nonstop efforts to make the house look good and to raise our baby of a business, I had failed to create a space where my children could thrive and be kids. I had neglected to create a home that my most important babies could love too." (pg. 120)
Revelation #1: Family is what is most important and is worth putting time and effort into it even if it is a little messy and unorganized.

Joanna's second revelation came when Chip decided to buy a small house they would renovate and move into to save on money and have other business opportunities. They affectionately called it the "shotgun" house. She was not excited to move out of their showcase home she meticulously designed, but realized that the kids loved the smaller house even upon first glance. She says, "That day in that house with our kids was another turning point for me as a designer and a mom. I came to a brand-new conclusion: 'If all I'm doing is creating beautiful spaces, I'm failing. But if I'm creating beautiful spaces where families are thriving, then I'm really doing something.' Doing that became my new calling." (pg. 130)
Revelation #2: Families thriving is what is most important and all of our jobs should try to enable this goal.

In the nitty gritty of life, it is hard to appreciate special moments and time with the ones we love. Joanna remarks, "I realized that my determination to make things perfect meant I was chasing an empty obsession all day long. Nothing was ever going to be perfect the way I had envisioned it in the past. Did I want to keep spending my energy on that effort, or did I want to step out of that obsession and enjoy my kids, maybe allowing myself to get messy right along with them in the process? I chose the latter--and that made all the difference." (pg. 144)
Revelation #3: Life is messy. We need to embrace it and appreciate it in the beautiful messiness of it especially if that means we are loving those that matter.

All of these revelations lead up to the biggest one of all: thriving. That word was used a lot in the previous revelations, but I like how Joanna phrased it: "'If I'm going to sit around and say I am "just surviving" every day, well guess what? When a big wave comes along suddenly, I won't be surviving--I'll be drowning!' I mean, that's life. Life is never predictable. Life is never really manageable...So I finally flipped the switch in my mind. I said, 'I have to choose to thrive, even in the pain. Even when it's tough.'" (pg. 147-148)
Revelation #4: Choose to thrive and not just survive. It requires a different mind set, but it is what life is about!

In short, here is the breakdown of Magnolia Story:

Genre: Autobiography
Number of pages: 182
Reading endurance: Low reading endurance required
This short novel could be finished in a day or two, easy!
Good Moral: Definitely. Morality is important in literature for me to recommend it.
Favorite Quote: "Don't quit, and don't give up. The reward is just around the corner. And in times of doubt or times of joy, listen for that still, small voice. Know that God has been there from the beginning--and he will be there until the end." (pg. 182)
Recommend? Yes

For more information about Chip and Joanna Gaines, visit their blog.