Good Reads With Juhi

Friday, December 31, 2021

A tale of two cities

By: Charles Dickens

ISBN:0679420738

9780679420736

A tale of two cities is a book that follows the timeline of the French revolution and the Reign of Terror. The tale follows what is happening in England and France. It creates a dynamic similar to flashbacks but instead follows time jumps. Although it is famous, the storyline doesn't follow a traditional book and focuses more on the Anaphora and irony to portray the poor conditions of the French Revolution compared to the more wealthy.

The book follows a few main characters including Charles Darnay, Sydney Carton, Lucie Manette, the Defarges, Jerry Cruncher and a few other side characters. All of whom prove to be foils to each other. Each character has a completely different storyline but somehow all of them are connected. For example the character Lucie Manette is supposedly in love with Charles Darnay, but has two other suitors, one being Sydney Carton. However on the other hand, Carton is an alcoholic who dies for Charles Darnay. So as shown, all the Characters are somehow interconnected but distant from each other in one way.

My View: I didn't "love" this book but I would definitely still recommend it to understand the historical significance of the French Rev.

A tale of Two cities. Central Rappahannock Regional Library. (n.d.). Retrieved December 31, 2021, from https://librarypoint.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S72C465530

Disclaimer: The blog solely reflects the reader's opinion and views of the book. The blog is for educational purposes only for a school project and is not influenced or sponsored by anyone or to be used for any other monetary purpose. Full credits to author and publication company are given with the ISBN and publishing house name with the cover credit cited from Rappahannock Regional Library Catalog

Thursday, December 23, 2021

The Odyssey

by: Homer

The Odyssey begins ten years after the trojan war picking up with the await of the king of Ithaca, Odysseus. However at home waiting for him is his son Telemachus and his mother Penelope. Here Penelope is gaited into her home away from the hundreds of suitors waiting for hand in marriage while Odysseus is presumed dead or never to return. On the other hand, the god of Athena is Telemachus' advisor. Thereafter, Telemachus makes the choice to find his father Odysseus and sets off on a ship to do so.

Throughout the book you will find yourself following the adventures of Telemachus, the brave son, and the crude Odysseus. Through the entire book Odysseus comes to terms with the fact that he is missing and although is thought to be the hero, is actually a very frowned upon character. His hypocritical views and poor choices of love lead him through the book as a brute and unlucky man. However the book ends in a "happy" ending rewarding the main character Odysseus, taking the throne and his wife back.

My views: Personally, I did not enjoy this book. If felt that it rewarding the wrong people and had a very unlikable storyline. On top of which, it is was very confusing to read. Would not recommend unless you are looking to check of a classic. 1/5 stars

Homer. (n.d.). The Odyssey. Central Rappahannock Regional Library. Retrieved December 23, 2021, from https://librarypoint.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S72C793665

Friday, August 6, 2021

Julie and Julia

By: Julie Powell

Publication: New York : Little, Brown, 2

INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BOOK NUMBER (ISBN): 031610969X

The book Julie and Julia is about a women named Julie Powell, a secretary somewhere in Queens, NY in a monotonous steady lifestyle going nowhere. Married early with a bunch of younger friends who are living crazy lives of their own Julie gets annoyed with her straightforward lifestyle and decides to take on the incredulous task of 524 recipes,365 days in 1 tiny apartment kitchen.

Going through the ups and downs of having to start again on numerous recipes Julie Powell must make her way through the most interesting of meats and other ingredients. Not to mention the lobster phase.

There were even many instances in this book through all her achievements there were many downfalls. Julie put her whole marriage on the line, almost completely disconnected from her family and drove herself to insanity on the smallest things. Powell starts as a small foodie who then becomes this women who hosts dinners with editors and reporters.

This book is a whirlwind of Julie's inside thoughts to ever dish in the French cooking world and her own comparisons to the real world.

Review: I enjoyed this book and thought it was spot-on to the movie, although this book is just Julie's side of life.

Citations:

Powell, J. (2005). Julie and julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 tiny apartment kitchen ... Little, Brown and Co.

Friday, July 2, 2021

Go Set A Watchman

INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BOOK NUMBER (ISBN)

0062409859 (hardcover)
9780062409850 (hardcover)
PUBLICATION
- [New York] : Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2015.
Author: Harper Lee
Synopsis:

The story starts off by introducing the main setting and character as well as their advancements since the last book, "To Kill A Mockingbird". Scout, the main character begins the story by making a trip back to her hometown Maycomb, AL from her residence in New York. She returns home to find her slowly crippling father, Atticus Finch who is suffering from severe arthritis in his arms. Along with her father, Scout finds her aunt Alexandra acting as his caretaker. Lastly, she comes to meet her life-long friend and love interest "Hank" who begs her to marry him only to receive a long awaited rejection by the independent, adventurous Jean Louise Finch.

Jean Louise goes on to have many flashbacks from her childhood that showcase her adventurousness with her family and friends. She remember her fond friend Dill and brother Jem who passed away. Throughout this Scout really reflects on her past and truly discovers her greatest attributes and personality traits that she still carries forth. On her way back home from visiting her childhood home, a car filled with African American people going extremely fast triggers the attention of Hank to say that in this country African American people have the money to buy a car but not licenses and insurance.

The next day, Jean Louise makes the town gossip and later she finds out that her own father and love Henry are attending a racist meeting/convention which is for people in support of the hate towards African American people. Finding out this knowledge she is appalled and flooded with anger. Scout goes onto to find out that Calpurnia's grandson has committed murder and that is now the talk of the town. Atticus took the case. Seeing that the only man she recognized was not at the convention of White supremacy, Scout confides her anger and feelings in Uncle Jack who subtly points out that the two probably only went to keep up with the town and on good terms with the people, but don't actually believe in it.

The running to Henry, Scout spits out all of her feelings and anger at Henry and says that she won't marry him ever. After lashing out at him, she does the same thing to Atticus and having heard enough of her nonsense and rudeness towards her father, Uncle Jack slaps her. This sends Jean Louise to apologize to her father where thereafter her father says he is proud of her for believing so strongly in the things she does and staying on her grounds.

Views: This is a good book, although a little confusing to some I prefer "To Kill A Mockingbird" as it had more storyline in my opinion. Whereas this book had more moral interpretations.

Citations:

Lee, Harper. The Harper Lee Collection: To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman. Harper, an Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2015.

“Go Set a Watchman.” Central Rappahannock Regional Library, librarypoint.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S72C712937.

Wednesday, June 9, 2021

A Promised Land

By: Barack Obama

The book "A Promised Land" focuses around former president Barack Obama, his home life, political views, and everything in between. The book goes through many topics such as the Reformation bill, Affordable healthcare Act, Environmental Issues, Iraq and Afghanistan as well as snippets of Obama's struggles in his home life.

The first portion of the book starts by explaining Obama's background and education. It explains Obama's childhood and the people he looked up to. He goes onto explain his appreciation for his mother and grandparents whom he grew up with. It then goes onto explain his previous political entanglements helping out with his church then going onto becoming a senator.

After that and the portion of the book that explains his tedious campaigning for president, it goes onto explain the battles he had to overcome with his family life. Throughout the book Obama explains his regret for not being around more for his daughters and wife. Continuing on Obama recites all the small memories he has with his family in the little time he had between campaigning and breaks.

Another topic visited in this book was the Reformation bill. After the banks closed down and jobs decreased people weren't able to make payments with loans. Money was needed to be pumped into the economy to make jobs and create opening for the economy to resurface. Unfortunately there was a lot of backlash that come from this. Money that was being pumped in specifically for healthcare and reformation was frowned upon by middle class people who felt that they were getting little to no benefits compared to lower class and high class people. As well as with more jobs opening after everything went back to "normal" the environment which was prospering was now on rapid decline with pollution from factories that were used to create more jobs.

Lastly one of the main focuses of the book is the Afghanistan and Iraq problem. As we al know Obama himself using one of the life lesson he learned as a child, hates violence. Throughout the book Obama repeatedly described his hate for war and his unwillingness to go to war with Iraq. Throughout the book Obama must weave his way through everyone's opinions on whether or not pull out or put in troops.

A few themes that I picked up during the book or lessons that were mentioned were:

1.)Obama didn't like violence, he professed peace not war/violence.

2.)Be there for your family. Throughout the book Obama shares his regret for not being able to fully be there for his family. But he also shares the prized moments he did spend with his whole family.

3.)Sometimes stepping out of our comfort zones is what we need. Obama went through many people to find the exact personnel and cabinet he needed even if they weren't his first choice he recognized his need for diversity of opinions in the group.

4.)Don't give up. Obama never expected to win his presidency and through all the slumps and hardship eh never gave up.

Views: Personally this book wasn't something I "loved" nor was it something I "hated". It was "in between" I would definitely recommend this to people who enjoy politics or to even beginners who want to take a stab at politics or get o know who Obama was.

Citation:

A Promised Land. Central Rappahannock Regional Library. (n.d.). https://librarypoint.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S72C864000.

Obama, B. (2020). A promised land. Crown Publishing Group.

Monday, April 19, 2021

The Testing Series by: Joelle Charbonneau

By: Joelle Charbonneau

Brief Summary:

The first book starts off introducing the main girl, Malencia Vale, who is the main protagonist who seems to be an ordinary girl. Yet somehow, she gets selected to be tested to attend the highly prestigious university. She receives dangerous warnings from her dad about the deadly testing but must go anyway. There she meets her destined love, Tomas. Together they unravel the secrets of the testing and the untold truths it within it. Until her memory is wiped and she must here a recording re-tell the story of the violence and crimes she and everyone around her committed to survive.

The second book continues where Cia hears herself re-telling the stories of her past. Cia continues her path to university after passing the testing and is put in government studies, the sector of studies she is least interested in. The students are put through another initiation here Cia finds out there is a secret army that is planning on rebelling and stopping the testing. Cia is inducted into the army but later finds out her loving brother Zeen is part of it too! He goes by an undercover name, Cris. While working in an internship under the president and with close watch from her professors Cia successfully delivers a vital piece of information to the rebellion but finds out that the main leader ,Symon, is leading the rebels into war and actually is planning a fake rebellion. He works to promote the testing, secretly.

In the last book Cia must carry out the murder of 11 people to stop Symon leading the rebels into death. She creates a team of her, Enzo, Tomas, Stacia, Ian, and Will to lead the executions. Cia realizes that she must enlist her brother to help as well and worries that she is putting him in even more danger than he is already in. She leads out her plan but in the ends finds out that the main villain Dr. Barnes helps her end the testing. She ends going back home but decides she must continue her education.

Views: I loved the series and recommend it to YA ages.

Wednesday, April 14, 2021

Graduation Day by: Joelle Chardonneau

Publisher:Boston ; New York : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014

ISBN:9780547959214
0547959214Author: Joelle Charbonneau

Graduation Day picks up where the previous book left off where the main character, Cia, tries to warn her older brother, Zeen, about the fake rebellion conducted by Symon and Dr. Barnes. Although she wants him to escape, the heroic Zeen vows to stay to gain information that may help Cia from the inside. Cia then realizes that the only way to bring this fake rebellion and war down is to team up with President Collindar. Unfortunately, the president cannot cancel the main debate chamber meeting pertinent to the rebellion without raising suspicion so she postpones it and gives Cia a list of 11 people she must execute. These 11 people hold power in the testing and need to be eliminated for it not to continue.

Contemplating her next move Cia finds out that Professor Holt has been interviewing students about the disappearance of Damone Pyburn. Which is the boy whom she killed in self-defense. Upon this Cia immediately contacts her brother Zeen who warns her to get off campus because she is now a target among many other students. She immediately formulates a plan to kill only the most important people on the list.

She pulls together a team of her inner circle including Tomas, Raffe, Brick, Ian, Stacia, and Enzo. Cia fills them all in on the plan she agreed upon with the President, but before she tells Ian, Enzo, and Raffe she feels the need to test them someway to gain their trust. All of them pass her tests but in the process Enzo is seriously injured. While Ian stays back to warn the rebel students, Stacia, Tomas, and Raffe devise a plan to only murder 5 of the 11 people who are most important. The 4 meet up in an abandoned house off campus where they welcome Will into their plan. Raffe and Cia end up killing Dr. Jeffries and make their way to Dr. Barnes' house only to find him gone. Zeen indicated that he will take care of Symon, but never signaled back to the group that the execution occurred.

Professor Chen is also executed and the 4 Stacia, Raffe, Cia and Tomas make it back to campus to kill Dr. Barnes. Only to find out that Dr. Barnes is here to end the testing as well. Cia questions him under the truth serum and the book ends with Zeen and many other including Barnes and Symon dying.

Views:

I thought this book was a good ending to the series, but preferred the previous book to it.

Citations:

Charbonneau, Joelle. Graduation Day: Book Three of the Testing Series. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014.

“Graduation Day.” Central Rappahannock Regional Library, librarypoint.bibliocommons.com/item/show/655291072.