Recent Reads, 23/40: Grasshopper Jungle

I’ve been wanting to write my review for book 23, Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith, all week, but I didn’t have the dust jacket to take a good photo. I’ve been at Brad’s all week, and the cover has been at home and I just couldn’t wait any longer. So this photo will have to do…maybe I’ll update it, but it’s not really that important.
(Although I like the cover!)

Grasshopper Jungle is the story of 16 year old Austin Szerba, who is documenting the history of the end of the world.
Austin and his best friend, Robby Brees, spend their afternoons and weekends skateboarding in an alleyway they dubbed “grasshopper jungle” in the small town of Ealing, Iowa, where nothing exciting happens and everything basically sucks. One day, Austin and Robby are beaten up and their shoes are thrown on the roof of a secondhand store. When the boys go to retrieve it, they sneak into the shop and into the locked backroom, where many a weird thing is stored. It leads to a globe of phosphorescent mold being stolen by the same jerks who beat the kids up…and that mold holds a plague that will bring about the end of the world as we know it, creating 6-foot tall preying mantises out of anyone who comes in contact with the strain. As all of this is happening, Austin is dealing with the common problems of a 16 year old boy. He’s horny, he’s bored, and he’s in love with his best friend and his girlfriend, Shann Collins, adding sexually confused to his hormonal mix.

This was unlike anything I read. It’s sci-fi mixed with teenage drama, but in a very mature sense. Austin never sounds too big for his britches, an important thing for me in young adult novels. In fact, there’s a very repetitive nature to the way he speaks, and I like that. Just a reminder of what has been happening, as if he really is documenting the history of this devastation in notebooks.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone look for something different.
If you need anymore egging on, read this great review from Entertainment Weekly.

2014: A List of Goals (UPDATE)

My first post of the new year was a list of several goals for 2014.
I shared what I had written in a notebook, and I’ll share that same photo again.

We are 1/3 done with the year, so I think it’s a good idea to look back and see how well I’ve done so far.

1. Ahh…the books! I’m currently on book 9 of 40 this year. According to my Goodreads account, that means I’m 5 books behind schedule (but I’m 20% done, so that’s cool!). Yes, I had a month-long set back, but I am not too worried. I think the goal can still be achieved. As for the book club, it might not be the typical kind, but my friend Katie and I have created a little two-person book club. We’ve met twice and will eventually be meeting for our third book this weekend. So, yeah, I might be a little behind, but it’s a consistency in my life.

2. Well, I definitely looked into and completely immersed myself in Project Life. You can read all PL-related posts by clicking here. I look forward to printing my pictures each month, spreading everything out and playing! My love for Project Life has spanned into a love for all things paper craft. I love embellishments like Thickers, stickers, page tabs, ribbon, washi tape, various colors of pens and inks, stamps, etc. I’m also super thankful that I did this, because I love having something physical to look back on and reminisce.
The addition of the Project Life journal has only added to the love.

3. Organization…kinda? Maybe? Sort of? My nail polish rack is not hanging on the wall, but it’s filled with my polishes. The ones I like to use regularly are on the “lazy Susan” Brad made for me a couple of years ago. I keep a lot of polish in a bag I carry back and forth to Brad’s. That keeps me from being super-organized, but at least I know where they all are.
My room is a lot cleaner, but I still don’t have bookshelves or a clear desk to put things away. There are three tall stacks of books on my floor, threatening to fall over at a moment’s notice. I did do a lot of tossing and clearing, so that helps me from floor clutter. I am doing decently with putting clothes away as soon as they are clean and dry. Inhabiting two spaces makes this hard, since I tend to live out of a bag. I don’t have to, but I choose to.
When I have my own place, whenever that may be, I look forward to having tons of organization.
As for all the new paper/craft things I’ve acquired, I utilize the organizer Brad got me a couple of Christmases ago, and I have a big Hello Kitty bag that holds my PL binder, pocket pages, and a plastic container with my journaling cards.

4. I’m trying. I let late night inspiration slip through the cracks, and that’s silly. Even if it means grabbing my phone and recording something there, I need to do it more. There are also so many times I have an idea for something, anything, to write. Blog posts. Short stories. Little articles. Whatever. And I don’t do it.
I let my laziness get the best of me. Still, when I sit down and actually start to write, it pours out.
I need to remind myself of this when I’m feeling lazy.

5. This needs improvement. Technology, specifically my iPhone, proves to be a LARGE distraction in my life. It is always on me, meaning I play stupid games, check IG, and pretty much do everything else but what I should be doing.
Whether it’s entertaining friends or watching a favorite TV show, the iPhone often has my full attention.
Sometimes, and this is embarrassing to admit, I feel like I haven’t seen someone who I spent a whole day/weekend with in forever, simply because of this device. It is a wonderful thing. Truly useful, it’s a great camera, and it’s important to have a phone on you (if I didn’t always have it on me, I wouldn’t have saved myself from being locked out of the car with it running because I wouldn’t have been able to call my dad to get the pin) for any emergencies.
I love taking and sharing pictures, but the other things I do on my phone (I play 6 different life-consuming games) should be reserved for waiting room boredom, moments of insomnia, or me time.
Recently, I saw (and bawled, it’s so beautiful) this video and it’s SO IMPORTANT.
Please watch. It’s something I need to keep in mind every time I want to pick up a phone when the people I love are around. Except for taking pictures. They don’t need to be posted to Instagram right away.
How do you get candids or fun shots of your friends if you’re not even looking at them? EXACTLY.

6. My Project Life probably has more iPhone photos than DSLR photos, though I am proud to admit that I have used the camera much more lately. My father used my phone when we were traveling to VA, for instance, so I had to rely on the DSLR and the photos I took were breathtaking on their own without iPhone filters or anything. It’s a cumbersome thing to carry around, but I think it will help with staying off the phone as well.

And that’s how I’ve done so far, from January to April. I am pretty pleased that each goal was at least breached or is a continual project to be worked on. The goals I made aren’t outlandish, but they are still difficult at times for me.
This is satisfying. Everything is reasonable and within reach, I just have to let it happen.

The Book That Wasn’t: A Challenge Setback

As part of my 2014 list, I wanted to start a book club. Luckily enough, my friend Katie was interested in doing the same thing! It’s a small start, just the two of us, but exciting all the same. We’ve been sharing ideas for books to read and how we can mix things up. We started with Gillian Flynn’s second novel Dark Places. The idea came from a list of books hitting the big screen this year. Since I’ve read (and greatly enjoyed) Flynn’s other two books, I was all about jumping in.
However…

The book fits the title, as it is extremely dark.
The premise can be told without ruining it because we basically know what happened going in.
Libby Day is a 30-something woman who has lived solely off the money she received as “Baby Day”, the survivor of the gruesome murders of her two sisters and mother. Her brother, Ben, was put in jail for the crime.
She is miserable, angry, hateful, greedy, and has absolutely no people skills. Can you blame her?
As money runs low in her fund, she realizes she might have to get a job. Since she has no desire to ever work, she agrees to meet with people in a “Kill Club”, a group who obsess over and sometimes try to solve different murders that have happened over the years. Several people obsess over the Day murders and some believe Ben to be innocent. If Libby shows up, possibly sells some items of her deceased family, and talks to members, she’ll earn money. By doing that, though, she has to face her demons and wonder whether or not her brother truly is innocent.

I didn’t finish this book. It was truly upsetting for me. That being said, I think Gillian Flynn did an amazing job and the book served it’s purpose. She writes stories of true crime and mystery, and they are not fluffy or happy pieces. While I was able to push aside my fears in the past (I loved both Sharp Objects and Gone Girl), it just didn’t happen for me with this one. The tension was building and the murders are so gruesome that it was too much.

I was able to talk about the book with Katie because I flipped through the rest of the pages (I had 100 left, chump change really, but I wussed out) and did some web searching to fill in gaps. In general, because of the strong emotional impact, I can say that it was well-written. Much like Gone Girl, the book is told in two parts, with alternating chapters. Libby narrates her parts, and every other chapter tells the story of what Ben and his mother Patty went through the day before the murders. I’ve heard some people say they preferred the Libby parts best, but the Patty and Ben parts were more enjoyable, and the tension was built perfectly, even though you know the general gritty end.
Still, a mystery is being pieced together and solved, and it’s intriguing.

I really wonder how Gillian Flynn does it. I could barely read the book and it came from her mind.
Now that I’ve (mostly) read all of her books, I can say she truly is a great author who deserves the hype.
Since I didn’t finish the book, I didn’t include it in my challenge.
It’s just not fair, even if I read most of it and know what happens.

As for the book club, I think Katie and I have found book number 2! Can’t wait for our next meet up.

A New Endeavor: Project Life

Something that is on my list for 2014 is scrapbooking. In my 26 years, I have never considered scrapbooking. And, if I’m being honest, I still don’t really know if I understand scrapbooking. It’s a fancier photo album? A glorified journal with photos? I don’t know. But I intend to find out.

Not that I don’t have my moments, but I wouldn’t classify myself as crafty.
I express myself in some “artistic” ways, I guess, by writing or taking pictures of my life or even painting my nails.
It wasn’t until the last year or so that I got into scouting through craft stores and thinking of what I could do on my own to save a few bucks and make something from the heart.

Because of this lack of innate craftiness, I’m really excited to explore scrapbooking in the form of Project Life.
If you follow A Beautiful Mess, then you’ve surely heard of this.
Basically, with a few ingredients from the Project Life collection and my own photos and decorative choices, I can create a journal/photo album hybrid that will put my photos and memories to use. I love blogging and taking pictures, but I think it will be really nice to have something physical to flip through when I want to take a walk down memory lane. A lot of photos in my phone or on my computer go ignored. A lot of memories fall by the wayside because I document it (or not) on the blog. And it’s a total pain to go back through the pages. Not that I don’t do it, and I love it when I see something I forgot about, but it’s not as easy as picking up a book and flipping through it.

Lucky for me (though it is sad), a craft store nearby is closing, which means mega sales on basically everything I need (I just had to get the Sunshine Edition core kit, created by Elsie and Emma!). In fact, if it weren’t for this, I probably wouldn’t have considered doing it. It’s not like I have the funds to throw around, especially since trying a hobby for the first time doesn’t mean it will actually last. This is the perfect way to dip my toes in and, if I love it, later investments will be worth it. I may not have a ton of money, but I have plenty of time.
What a better way to use it then to record it?

2014: A List of Goals

When the new year approaches, it’s impossible not to think of what can be done differently to make it better than the last. In my case, 2013 was a rather rough year. I am glad that I took a leap of faith and left a tough part of my life behind. My spirit feels a lot lighter since I left and, though I struggle a bit more with a smaller job, I have time to sort my mind out and figure out what I’d like to be doing with this little space on Earth I call my life.

Last year, I made a list and posted it to the blog. I can say that I didn’t do a single thing on it.
I’m embarrassed, natch, but I think it’s also enlightening. I’m glad I posted it, and it’s okay that I didn’t do anything because life is impossible to plan. If you had asked me this time last year that I’d no longer be working at my full-time job, I wouldn’t have believed you. If you had told me I’d have a different job, I wouldn’t have believed you.
You could’ve told me that I’d have a shaggy pixie-esque cut and I wouldn’t believe you.
Because I change as the days do.

I love that my first goal here is the same as last time. I’ve had a pretty good invitation, but life is so busy and I also want to read modern fiction, new books, young adult reads, some memoirs. Even if I don’t get to be a part of a monthly book club, I just want to find a space to talk about a book with people who have strong opinions about it. I feel alone in reading because, unless it’s a popular series, not many people read the books I do.
It would be so great to change that, and I suppose that’s why it’s first on my list. Again.

Of course, this isn’t it.
There’s so much more I want to do than what’s above.
Little things like wearing more lipstick and jewelry, donating more clothes, using my Bento box for healthy lunches, etc.
But for now, here we go…