Monday, June 23, 2008

Suicide Weekend

Actually I had a wonderful weekend. Ginny was in town for a conference so there was lots of fun hanging out with New College friends.

But I did manage to read two books in which involved teenage girls committing suicide. The first book, Thirteen Reasons Why, was structurally very interesting because of its use of dual narratives. Hannah, the girl who committed suicide, narrates her story through the tapes she's left for the thirteen people she blames for her suicide. And then there's Clay, a recipient of said tapes. Clay has had a long standing crush on Hannah and was devastated by her suicide. While the book was painful to read at times, Hannah is not at all a sympathetic character. As the story winds down you start to feel more and more fed up with her and and angry. Like I said, it's more of an interesting concept book than a good read.

Then I read Looking for Alaska by John Green. I don't want to give away too much because it was a really good book, but another suicide!

My weekend reading would have me believing that teenage girls are offing themselves left and right. Though in reality, Ginny (who is a psychologist and thus knows these things) says teenage boys are more likely to actually commit suicide than girls are. Hmmm. As I think back at the YA books I've read in the past that deal with suicide, it seems that in fiction it is usually girls who take their own lives. Interesting little contrast there, huh?

Thursday, June 05, 2008

Breaking Dawn


The grown-up me warns, "You will be disappointed and somewhat offended. Don't get all excited."

The 15 year old in my head responds, "Eeeeeee....why can't I have a gorgeous vampire fall passionately in love with me. "

Needless to say, I'm torn here.

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Helloooooo...elloooo...elloo...

I'm sorry. I know it's been a while and I'm wondering if there's anyone who still checks this blog. I'm debating the merits of continuing to blog as we get ready to move and I get more and more occupied with other things. But for now, we'll see how it goes. Speaking of moving, we now have an apartment. Yay! Now all we have to do if figure out how we are getting all our belongings from here to there. Fun times for sure.

Still no job though. I don't know what libraries up there are going through but if this area is a reflection of what's going on on a national scale, I'm worried!