Reading Challenge: September 2019

What To Talk About by Chris Colin and Rob Baedeker (A book by an author whose first and last names start with the same letter)
A funny book with some good tips, but not extremely helpful.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (A book that includes a wedding)

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan (Read a book during the season it is set in)

Wildwood by Colin Meloy (A book written by a musician)

Grave Mercy by Robin LeFevers (A book set in an abbey, cloister, monastery, vicarage, or convent)

Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (A book set in space)

Also read, but not for the challenge:

Matilda by Roald Dahl

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur

A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner

Thick As Thieves by Megan Whalen Turner

Reading Challenge: August 2019

The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner (a book about family)
The second book in The Queen's Thief series, it's a satisfying continuation. Must like the first book, TQOA is filled with twists, turns and beautiful characters.

What To Talk About by Chris Colin and Robert Baedeker (a book by an author whose first and last names start with the same letter)
A professor recommended this book to me. I'm a little disappointed? The book was humorous, but I didn't think the advice was particularly helpful. Didn't really tell me anything I didn't already know. 

Also read, but not for the challenge:

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner

Reading Challenge: July 2019

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs (a book with a zodiac sign or astrology term in the title)

A fun urban fantasy suggested by my sister! I'm not really an urban fantasy person, so I probably won't continue the series, but good for fans of the genre.

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo (a ghost story)

Creepy, detailed and atmospheric, The Ghost Bride takes you through the culture of Malaysia and the story of a girl struggling to save herself against supernatural forces.

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows (a book by two female authors)

I guess these three authors got together to write better endings for women in history. My Lady Jane contains a romantic sort of comedy. I found it hard to suspend my disbelief towards the end, but whatever. It was fun.

Happy Father's Day to my Heavenly Father

Recently, I found this video on churchofjesuschrist.org, part of a series called "Special Witnesses of Christ." It features Elder Gerrit W. Gong, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, sharing his testimony about Christ.

   

On this Father's Day, I find myself grateful for a lot of things, but mostly for blessings from my Heavenly Father. He doesn't have to go as hard as He does for us.

What sort of blessings have you received from Heavenly Father?

Reading Challenge: May 2019

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (a book set on a college or university campus) - What a lovely peek into the lives of people (like me) who enjoy creating content for our favorite books and movies!

Love You Hate You Miss You by Elizabeth Scott (a book with "love" in the title) - It was . . . good? I honestly didn't feel much when I read it and it didn't make much of an impression on me.

The Secret War by Matt Myklusch (a book about someone with a superpower) - My review can be read here.

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke (a debut novel) - This book took a while to read, but it left me satisfied. An intensely crafted world, real characters and a good ending.

Also read, but not for the challenge:

T. Rex and the Crater of Doom by Walter Alvarez

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

Reading Challenge: January, February, March, April 2019

My senior undergraduate year's been pretty crazy, but now it's over! so hopefully I'll have more time to read (crossing fingers). Here's what I've read the past few months:

Montmorency by Eleanor Updale (a book that makes you nostalgic) - A story I read when I was a child about a thief who uses London's sewers to steal from the rich. Better than I remember!

The Merlin Conspiracy by Diana Wynne Jones (a book you think should be turned into a movie) - Though they should probably make the first book, Deep Magic, into a movie before this one.

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson (a book featuring an extinct or imaginary creature) - Not quite as good as his other ones, I thought, but still really interesting!

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang (a book with an item of clothing or accessory on the cover) - Kinda silly, but cute!

Princess Sonora and the Long Sleep by Gail Carson Levine (a book inspired by mythology, legend or folklore) - Love this story. Love. It.

Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson (a book told through multiple character POVs) - Again, not as good as the first two books in the Stormlight Archives, but still amazing.

The Anatomy of Peace by the Arbinger Institute (a book you meant to read in 2018) - What a fascinating story.

Re Jane by Patricia Park (a retelling of a classic) - Loosely based off of Jane Eyre, but nowhere as good. Has some good things to think about, especially if you enjoy reading different perspectives.

Romeo and/or Juliet by Ryan North (a choose-your-own-adventure book) - Pretty silly.

Also read, but not for the challenge:
The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson

Edgedancer by Brandon Sanderson

The Fairy's Mistake by Gail Carson Levine

The Princess Test by Gail Carson Levine

Here Lies the Librarian by Richard Peck 

The Iron Giant by Ted Hughes

You Decide What It Means To Win

The 1 and 0 game is pretty simple in concept.

Everyone is split into groups of four. Each person is given a piece of paper with ten rounds marked on it. The rounds have strict rules about how you are allowed to communicate with your groupmates: sometimes you can talk normally, sometimes you’re not allowed to communicate at all. When the moderator says “Go,” each person marks either a 1 or a 0 on their paper. You cannot change your answer once it is written down.

If everyone in the group puts a 1, then everyone get 10 points. If everyone in the group puts down a 0, then everyone loses 10 points.

Sounds simple, right? Just put down a 1.

No.

If one person puts down a 1 and everyone else puts down a 0, then that person loses 20 points and everyone else gains 20. If one person puts down a 0 and everyone else puts down a 1, then that person gets 40 points and everyone else loses 40. Each.

I think you can see how this game might get pretty cutthroat.

There is one more rule, at the very end of the list: “You decide what it means to win.”

When I played this game in class, it started out pretty simple. We mostly put down 1s. But then, one person betrayed us and put down a 0. We also weren’t allowed to talk to each other, so no one could explain their reasoning or argue for a change in strategy.

It was over. No one trusted anyone else. There were 0s everywhere!

During the whole game, I just kept thinking about that last rule. What did it mean to win in this game? Did it meaning winning as a group, or as an individual?

This thought popped into my head: It had to be winning as a group, because our teacher would never have us play a game where the point was to hurt each other.

***

Life gets thrown at us. We are born without really knowing what’s going on. Often, we are taught conflicting things. You gotta make it in life! It’s a dog-eat-dog world! Survival of the fittest!

But also: Be kind. Say “Thank you” and “Please.” Give your seat to the old person or pregnant lady. You’re not a rock. You’re not an island. Each man’s death diminishes you.

It’s that old dilemma: “You decide what it means to win.” What does it mean to “win” in life? Is this an individual score? Or are we all in this together?

To complicate matters, there’s no easy answer about what constitutes a 1 and a 0. What might be considered a 1 to one person would be a 0 in someone else. What if we think we’re giving someone a 1, when they see it as a 0? And if someone gives us 0s all the time, does that mean they deserve 0s from us?

The questions are endless.

Is the point of life to hurt each other? Is that how we “win”?

***

In the end, our class scores were counted up as a group total, not individually. The highest score in our class was something like 900, if I remember correctly. My group’s score was in the negative hundreds. We had the lowest score in the class.

The feeling was terrible. It’s not like the class shamed us or anything, but we definitely felt ashamed. We had betrayed each other, and we had betrayed everything we learned in that class. Even if we did get to decide what it meant to win, it became obvious very quickly that we had chosen wrong.

I don’t know all the answers, but I believe we are in this together. It’s hard work, and giving a 1 can be really hard---especially if everyone else is giving you a 0. In the end, this is not an individual endeavor. This life is not a game where we have to hurt each other to survive.

Just remember: You decide what it means to win. But it never said what we decided would be the correct answer.

Photo by Samuel Zeller on Unsplash