At Christmas, she loaned me a book that she said was one of her all time favorites, called The Awakening.  When she did, she informed me that something happened at the end of the book that she considered growth.

I read The Awakening and agreed that it was a beautiful book, particularly relevant to women.  The author describes the process of awakening and growth with simplicity, directness, and exquisite precision.  But is the surprise ending growth?  I'm not so sure.  Anyway I was working in a diner at that time and served a woman who was reading. I asked her the title of the book.  She said it was The Awakening and that she was reading it a second time.

I was astounded because this book was written in 1899. Controversial and banned for decades afterwards.  What makes a book still relevant over 100 years later?  Some truth I think. Some soul-level honesty. Perhaps that is also what makes it so beautiful.

            For the average person, this may not be the easiest novel to connect with.  However, this novel can be connected to many movies like The Perfect Storm and Titanic, in the sense that they both have to do with being isolated in the middle of the sea, and have to do with the ship sinking. Furthermore, this novel could connect with other stories like The Cay, or Apollo 13 in the sense that they both explore isolation.  But it would be difficult for someone to personally connect with this story.

             Overall In the Heart of the sea story is an interesting story. The plotline is somewhat bland, and after an enraged sperm whale rams the Whale ship Essex, the storyline soon falls apart. However, there are some interesting parts, for example        “With barley a pound of crackers left, the crew dared to speak of something that had been on everyone’s mind, weather they should eat, in stead of bury the body.” This quote is a good example of how Philbrick shows how desperate the crewmembers were after their ship sunk about 1400 miles away from South America.  It is an interesting read, especially at times like this.  There were many exiting parts. For example when the ship was rammed, this go the slow story going.  Before the Essex sunk, the story was quite boring, but soon people started eating dead bodies. Overall the first half of the book is quite boring and bland, but after the climax, the book starts getting tip-of-your-seat, heart-pounding interesting.

            The Heart of the Sea contains many literary devices that make it worthy of literary recognition. Many colorful similes, metaphors, and personifications are used. For example: “ as darkness approached on the first day, the wind built steadily, kicking up a steep, irregular chop.”  In this one sentence, there are three creative personifications that add some pizzazz to the text. There are however, some parts of the story that are flat and bland. Unfortunately this takes away from the novel. At points of interest the story is able to come to life with a plethora of similes, metaphors, personifications, ironies and much more.

            In the Heart of the Sea challenges the thinking of readers.  It makes one think, “What would I do in a situation like this?” it makes them question their actions, and expands their minds. For example: (see quote paragraph 2) it makes one wonder “would I rather eat a dead human, or die of starvation?” this novel puts the structure of the human mind to the test.  The countless taboos that the crew performs are only part of the novel. This novel makes people see life in a new way, and thank that whaling was illegalized. This novel wasn’t only a source of entertainment; it was an experience as well.

All in all In the Heart of the Sea is a well-crafted novel that is known to many as “worthy of literary merit.”

These days, I see teenagers on the streets paying more attention to their I-pods and smart-phones. They don't seem to have the patience or desire to pick up a good novel and read through an enticing storyline. Then again, who can blame them? With all of the technology available at our disposal - television, the internet, cell phones - books are, to the average person, old-fashioned.

Many people consider books to be boring. And why read a book when you can watch a movie about it? They say an image is worth a thousand words. Well, a thousand words takes a while to read, whereas one image in a movie takes about 5 seconds to show, and it fulfills the same role as 1,000 words do.

That's not to say I hate technology - I don't. Personally, I think it's the best thing that has ever introduced to our civilization. But I'm just concerned that one day in the future, libraries might no longer carry books. All of the information will be stored electronically, or available in documentary movies.

So if life continues on its present course, will books soon become obsolete and a part of our history, just like tape cassettes and record players? I'll leave you to answer that question.

Tips for turning children into readers

1. Read aloud from earliest childhood. This time together can often extend well into middle-school years. Children love to “hear” stories.
2. Let your children see you read. Not magazines, books!
3. Instill a respect for books early. Have a special place for books and visit the library early in life, and often. Include bookstores in trips to the mall even if just to browse.
4. When things get hectic and you need some peace, declare 10 minutes of DEAR time - Drop Everything And Read. That includes you. Set a timer and everyone in the house reads for 10 minutes.
5. Use audio books for car rides and waiting in line for things. The child will love a cassette or DVD player dedicated to books for times like these.

There are some books that are must haves/must reads for children as they learn to love reading. Below is a list of age-appropriate selections. Any of these can be found in a library, online, or in most major bookstores. Some may even be selections for story time at local children's bookstores or libraries. You may recognize some from your childhood. Rediscover them with your children.

Ages 0-5

• Goodnight Moon
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar
• ANY Dr. Seuss book
• On The Night You Were Born
• Where the Wild Things Are
• Make Way for Ducklings
• The Little Engine That Could
• Curious George
• The Tales of Peter Rabbit
• Babar
• Black on White
• Tomie dePaola's Mother Goose
• Pat the Bunny
• Ages 3-7
• Winnie the Pooh series
• Stuart Little
• Corduroy
• Paddington Bear
• Harold and the Purple Crayon
• Tikki Tikki Tembo
• Madeline
• Ages 6-10
• Tom Sawyer
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
• Pippi Longstocking
• Beezus and Ramona
• Superfudge
• The Little Prince
• Stellaluna
• Charlotte's Web
• The Polar Express
• From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
• Bunnicula
• Ages 8-12
• The Yearling
• Anne of Green Gables
• Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
• Sarah Plain and Tall
• Henry Huggins
• Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh
• The Incredible Journey
• Old Yeller
• Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes
• The Indian in the Cupboard
• How to Eat Fried Worms
• Giving Tree
• Where the Sidewalk Ends
• A Light in the Attic
• Chronicles of Narnia
• The Little House series
• Little Women
• Inkheart
• The Boxcar Children
• Tuck Everlasting

It seems funny but I never seem to read the first book in a series. So I finally managed to find both of the first book in each series. It is always interesting to see how a series progresses.

I think Ms. Perry uses strong characters and also creates sympathy for some of the murderers, as well as the victims. You begin to feel an interest in the lives of the recurring characters who tend to make appearances in each of the books.

She uses the right amount of suspense to keep the reader's interest and keeps the endings a surprise.

My favorite books of hers in each series so far is:

"The Whitechapel Conspiracy." for Thomas Pitt.

"Slaves of Obsession," for Monk.

So, if you like mysteries you may like these series too.

Most students would never read Baroja unless their college major took them in that direction. Those studying modern Spanish history might, since much of Baroja's work involved criticism of Church-dominated politics and social class divisions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Survey courses in modern Spanish literature should include his work, and probably do. This is, however, a tragically small audience for writing of such extraordinary excellence and relevance.

Baroja is a member of a literary group known as the Generation of "98 (1898). He sits in illustrious company with authors such as Unamuno, Valle-Inclan, Azorin, and Vincente Blasco Ibanez of The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse fame. This graphic and eloquently written novel--made into the 1921 silent film-is considered one of the first anti-war books of the modern era.

All of the "98 writers in their youth questioned Roman Catholicism and sympathized with the downtrodden. Though in their time they were more inclined to dream of utopias, their works and ideas, including Baroja's, have been woven into the social fabric of modern Spain. One might say they were, like many visionaries, ahead of their time.

Baroja's writings are uniquely applicable to contemporary issues. Reading them is like reading sociology papers written today. His view of religion as hindering societies from achieving their full potential was as unpopular with the establishment then as it is among similar groups today. In Baroja's day separation of Church and State did not exist, but voices including his were beginning to explore the issue to the extreme displeasure of the Catholic Church and its upper class champions.

The unfortunate characters of his books are victims of not only class prejudice but of generationally inherited poverty to be quietly suffered in the interests of faith and salvation. The writings of Baroja posthumously contributed to Spain's eventual rejection of this notion. Spain today, as a modern progressive society, has the most stringent separation of church and state in the Western world.

The poetic writing style of Baroja offers readers a literary experience rarely available in today's modern novels. Granted, writing styles are generational and change with the tastes of the times. Many readers put off tackling the classics for that reason. Writing styles simply do not resonate with the modern ear. Baroja's, however, are different. Reading his works makes you realize that there is no substitute for the ability to bend words into riveting images. Truth is many writers today simply can not do it; thus a lesser use of language has become the norm--accepted and preferred by readers.

Anyone wishing to be thrilled again by a more eloquent and insightful literary voice should consider reading Baroja.

From The City of the Discreet, by Pio Baroja

Escobed proceeded. “Knowledge is the enemy of felicity. This state of peace, of tranquility, which the Greeks called with relation to the organism, euphoria...can not be attained in any other way than by ignorance. Thus at the beginning of life, at the age of twenty, when one sees the world superficially and falsely, things appear brilliant and worth coveting. The theatre is relatively fine, the music agreeable, the play amusing; but the evil instinct of learning will make one some day peer from the wings and commence to make discoveries and become disillusioned. One sees that the actresses are ugly...”.

• Plato: Essential Dialogues of Plato; Plato's Republic
• Aristotle: The Nicomachean Ethics; The Metaphysics; The Politics; The Four Causes
• Epicurus: To Menoecus
• Marcus Aurelius: Meditations
• Confucius: Analects
• Plotinus: The Enneads
• St. Augustine: Confessions; On the Teacher; On the Trinity; On Free Will
• St. Anselm: The Monologion; Proslogion; Curs De Homo
• St. Thomas Aquinas: Summa Theologica
• Machiavelli: The Prince; The Discourses
• Michel de Montaigne: Essays
• Francis Bacon: Colors of Good and Evil; Sacred Meditations; Confession of Faith; History of Life and Death; Things Thought and Things Seen
• Descartes: The Meditations; Discourse on Method
• Thomas Hobbes: Leviathan
• Blaise Pascal: The Pensees, Discourse on the Passion of Love, Lettres Provinciales
• Baruch de Spinoza: Metaphysical Thoughts; Ethics; Short Treatise on God, Man and His Well Being
• John Locke: Two Treatises on Government; Essay Concerning the Human Understanding; The Reasonableness of Christianity
• Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz: Discourse on Metaphysics; Monadology; Theodicy
• George Berkeley: A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge; Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonus
• David Hume: A Treatise on Human Nature; The Enquiries
• Voltaire: Candide; Zadig
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau: The Social Contract; Emile
• Immanuel Kant: Critique of Pure Reason; Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals
• George Hegel: Phenomenology of Spirit; The Philosophy of Right
• Adam Smith: The Wealth of Nations; The Theory of Moral Sentiments
• Jonathan Edwards: Freedom of the Will; Religious Affections
• Thomas Paine: Common Sense; Rights of Man; The Age of Reason
• Arthur Schopenhauer: The World as Will and Representation
• John Stuart Mill: On Liberty; Utilitarianism
• Auguste Comte: The Positive Philosophy of August Comte
• Ralph Waldo Emerson: Essays
• Charles Darwin: On the Origin of Species; The Descent of Man
• Karl Marx: The Communist Manifesto; Capital
• Sigmund Freud: Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality; The Ego and the Id; Civilization and Its Discontents
• Soren Kierkegaard: The Journals of Kierkegaard; Fear and Trembling; The Sickness unto Death
• Friedrich Nietzche: Thus Spoke Zarathustra; Beyond Good and Evil; The Will to Power
• William James: Pragmatism; A Pluralistic Universe; The Meaning of Truth
• George Santayana: The Sense of Beauty; The Life of Reason;
• Bertrand Russell: Problems of Philosophy; History of Western Philosophy; Essays
• Ludwig Wittgenstein: Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus; Philosophical Investigations
• Martin Heidegger: Being and Time
• CS Lewis: Mere Christianity
• Jean-Paul Sartre: Being and Nothingness
• Hans-Georg Gadamer: Truth and Method

   Here is what I am trying to get so many people to understand.  If you open that book, relax, and read, you can actually see in your head what is going on.  There are so many places you can visit and so many exciting adventures you can go on with out ever having to leave the comfort of your home!   Fly along with Eragon and Saphira as they battle the Empire, help Harry Potter in his fight against Voldemort, ride along with Alex Cross as he works to catch a serial killer.  Meet Huck Finn and his friends, enjoy life with Penelope Keeling in the Shell Seekers, the possibilities are endless.  Look around you, there are books written on just about any subject you can imagine.  Tried reading before and couldn't get involved? Maybe it was the author, or the genre.  Try something else.  My husband never liked to read until he picked up one of James Patterson's Alex Cross books. Now he reads whenever he gets the chance.  My dad and brother started reading more after reading Jurassic Park.  The most exciting thing for my right now is that my oldest son, who complained every time he had to read, has developed a love for reading and is now hooked on Harry Potter! I have always said that I am addicted to the written word.  I always have to have something to read and am usually reading 2 or 3 books at any given time.  I have found several books that could not hold my interest.  For instance, I loved Eragon, but Eldest could not keep my interest, I finally finished it several months after starting it, now I can say, with out a doubt that Brisingr is the best of the entire series so far. 

    There are authors that I truly love to read and buy just about everything they publish, and others who I enjoy but I can live without their books.  A great author is one who can capture your imagination and draw you into the story, leaving you breathless and wanting more when it ends.  I believe that it is very important for kids to learn to read and enjoy books.  It is not enough for them to read it as an assignment for school and then forget everything they read.  I think more kids would read if they could read books that capture their interest and keep them wanting to read until the end, and still be able to say, " WOW! What a ride!"

    So go ahead, pick up that book, encourage your kids to pick up that book, and come along for the ride!

     The books hold her interest because of the characters and writing. She instantly was grabbed by the characters, like Bella and Edward.  She finds them interesting and can't wait to find out what happens to them next.  She hasn't really ever been into vampires, but in this series the vampires feel so much like regular people.  The books are geared toward teens, so she finds them easier to read and follow. The words flow in a way that is easy to understand and follow the story.

     My sister who used to never read has been consumed by Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn.  I love seeing her become so into reading.   There are so many book series that have been getting lots of media attention. I love that these series can bring new people into reading, which to me is always a good thing.

            In almost every novel, chapters begin with the chapter number and/or a title for the chapter. In general, the only purpose of a summary in novels is to get readers acquainted with the plot, and perhaps hook them in to buy the book. It is usually on the back of the book. Swift, in lieu of chapter titles, which would only serve to highlight one significant aspect of the chapter, placed chapter summaries at the beginning of each chapter.

            These chapter summaries are not special in their own terms. They are short, two to four sentences. Like all summaries, they explain the general plot. The first one begins with, “The Author giveth some Account of himself and family; his first inducements of travel.” (39) There is no emphasis on themes and symbols that are germane to the chapter. He does not give any indication as to what his “Account” might entail, but simply states that he includes one. They are written in the hand of a third person narrator and refer to Gulliver as, “the author”.

            By writing this as a third person narrator, he gives a level of realism to the story, and helps to portray Gulliver as a real person. “He is shipwrecked, and swims for his life.” (15) This allows one to begin each chapter imagining the narrator as a real person, shipwrecked and swimming for his life. Swift was trying to write this novel as if it were a travel log of a real man, so the addition of a third person narrator served him to make it sound real, as if the publisher wanted the reader to become interested enough in each chapter to read on.

But Swift could have given this air of realism without these chapter summaries; he wrote them for another purpose. Swift wrote Gulliver’s Travels with a very distinct purpose: to satirize the state of English affair in the eighteenth century. He therefore wanted his biting wit to be easily discoverable, even by the most incoherent of readers. Therefore he added chapter summaries to help move the plot along. There is no doubt that he could have started the second chapter without saying, “The Emperor of Lilliput, attended by several of the nobility, comes to see the Author in his confinement.” (52) The entire paragraph could be excluded without and loss of substance in the text. However it would have made it more difficult for the barely learned of the eighteenth century to transcend understanding of the plot and understand the underlying meaning.

In a society such as Swifts, where very few are well educated, and the other media outlets are non existent (i.e. tv and movies), satire can be long on the general public. Swift needed to think of a way to prevent this problem, and one of his ways was to add chapter summaries, thus making it easier for uneducated readers to understand, because they already know what to look for.