My 1000 Cranes

According to Japanese legend, a person who makes 1000 origami cranes is granted a wish. In fact, when I first heard the legend it was that the creator would be cured of an illness.

I am a big believer in all types of things, particularly those types of things that can't hurt you if you try them. I have decided that I am going to make 1000 cranes in the hopes that the gods smile down upon their beauty and help me find my path to health.

Yesterday I found a book of almost 900 pages of origami paper to get me started. It wasn't easy for me to figure out to make a crane, but finally, the follwing YouTube video came in handy:



Last night I made my first 14 cranes.I have read that I need to create the thousand within one year's time. I don't see why I shouldn't be able to do this.

Have you heard of the Japanese legend of 1000 cranes?

If you were granted one wish for making 1000 origami cranes, what would you wish for?

The Memory Project Begins

For this week's Sunday writing prompt on StoryDam, Morgan asked us to write about memories in her post What Is Your Pomegranate?. Her timing was/is really impeccable. Now that my husband's Masters is complete and he'll be returning to work tomorrow, it is time I turn my attention to what I am calling my Memory Project.

What Is The Memory Project?

I have described it briefly in previous posts, but the Memory Project is a Christmas gift I am working on for my little brother. Our father passed away when we were both young (I was 12, he was 8). I found out years after his passing, when both my brother and I were adults, that he had little memory of our father. It broke my heart and felt terribly unfair. I have often wondered how to rectify the situation. This summer, just weeks before my brother's birthday, it came to me: I'll write him a book of memories.

I'll write my own. Interview and ask for help from friends and family and see what I come up with. Lord only knows what this whole thing will look like in the end, but I'm hoping it turns out to be something like a book gift for my brother.

The (tentative) Plan

My current approach is that I am going to write and gather stories up until the end of October. For the month of November I will bring it all together in book form, edit it with pictures, etc and then find a way to print it in December. Hopefully it will be ready to wrap by Christmas Eve! 

My First Memory

Today I took my first stab at capturing a memory of the three of us - me my brother and our father. It is inspired by the thought of zeppoles every time I see them, smell them or crave them. It is one of my favorite memories because it captures so much of who we were as a family. I wrote it up and posted it on a blog I created long ago, but have done literally nothing with called Rivera wRites Through It. I have decided that, until I am ready for publication, I am going to gather my memory project stories on that blog so I have somewhere to send my friends and family who are curious to track my progress. I'd love any feedback you can give me on this first post Memory Project - Zeppoles. 

Thank you!

Have You Ever Read A Book With A Missing Ending?

The Book Blogger Hop's question of the week is a peek into a horrific world I am so happy I have never journeyed to. Kero submitted the following question for us to answer:

Have you ever ended up reading a book with its last or last few pages missing?

Thankfully this has never happened to me! I don't know what I would do if it did. If I hadn't reached the point of the missing pages in the middle of the night, I'd probably run right up to the bookstore to read the ending in another copy of the book - and, let's be honest, if I liked the bok, I'd probably buy the complete copy.

While I never read any books with last pages missing, I have read some books with the covers missing. I didn't know at the time that those covers were missing for a reason! The first such book I read was Trump: The Art of the Deal. I was in middle school, maybe 11 or 12 years old and my school bus driver somehow picked up that I liked to read (I guess I read a lot on the bus!). One day he asked me if I'd like the books he had sitting on his dashboard. I felt so honored that he wanted to give me such BIG books! I was also fascinated by Donald Trump (Mom would take us to Trump Tower just to see "how the other half lived"), so it was an extra bonus. The other book was a war book, I think. I never read that one, but I loved the Trump book.

Have you ever read a book with some of the pieces missing? 

How did you deal with it?

Where did you get this fractured book?

Top 10 Secondary Book Characters

I love this week's topic from The Broke and the Bookish! This week we are talking about our favorite secondary book characters. There are so many times in reading where it is these characters that drive me to turn page after page, that light me up after some painful conflict and give me the literary hug that I need. I love secondary characters. I will tell you now, I am going to forget some super important ones in my reading history. I am well aware of this fact because I am writing this list from the top of my head and I am not looking back! So, for right now, here are my

Top 10 Secondary Book Characters

1. Ron, Hermione & so much of the Harry Potter supporting cast

Where would JK Rowling's universe be if it weren't for all of the characters surrounding Harry in his journeys. At first, I was only going to list Ron and Hermione, then I thought of Hagrid, the Weasley family, DOBBY!, Professor McGonagall, Dumbledore... the list goes on. I am sure as I explore the lists created by fellow bloggers this week, I will find tons of Potter love.

Movie version: 

2. Robin from The Cuckoo's Calling

While I am on the topic of JKR, why not stay there for a bit. I loved Robin, Cormoran Strike's assistant in The Cuckoo's Calling. She had her own rich story and a reason to be invested in Strike's investigations. I loved how she resisted finding new jobs that would even pay more money because she was so intrigued by the manner of Strike's work. That's a girl by my own heart.


3. Hassan from An Abundance of Katherines

John Green is another author who is quite good at building supporting casts, but if I had to pick one secondary character that I loved above the rest it would be Colin's best friend, Hassan. Hassan was a funny "regular guy" that I just loved to read. He was definitely one of those characters that lit up their scenes.


4. Simon from City of Bones

I have not yet finished reading this book, but from the moment Simon stepped onto the page before me, I knew he was going to be my favorite character in the book. When it looked like he was going to be left behind in th mundane world never to be heard from again, I nearly wanted to put the book down. However, now that he is intermingling with the story's ongoing drama, I can't wait to see how his story develops!

Movie version:

 

5. Ali from If You Could Be Mine
Sarah's cousin, Ali, and his flamboyance was a welcomed change in the strict, conservative Iran Sarah was trapped in. I loved the world that he showed Sarah (and us) just when it felt like she was all alone. He confidence in who he was and the life he (and Sarah) deserved to live helped to bring hope to this story and the reality of life in Iran for the LGBT community.



6. Hobbes from Calvin and Hobbes
I am not sure if this one qualifies. One may argue that Hobbes is not secondary at all, but, in my eyes, he's one of the greatest sidekicks ever to be written.

Comic book version:

 

7. Ted and Bartleby from Bone

Jeff Smith's Bone comic is one of the first that I collected issue by issue. It is now available in graphic novel form and is an excellent fantasy adventure story. This book sort of falls under that "Harry Potter" category of having an amazing supporting cast of characters that I could easily make a top 10 of all on its own, but two characters that I was always happy to see in an issue I picked up were Ted the bug and Bartleby the baby rat-creature.

Comic book versions of Bartleby (left) and Ted (right): 

8. Annabeth from the Percy Jackson series

Percy's love interest/best friend, Annabeth, is one cool character. She's super smart, athletic and has a Yankee's cap that makes her invisible. I love how she takes charge and is a strong female character in a series of books that can easily be appreciated by the boys that read it.

The strangely not-blonde Movie Version of Annabeth: 

9. Al from The Full Metal Alchemist
Edward's story would fall flat on its face without his little brother transformed into a a giant metal suit. His quest to protect his brother and change him back to the little boy he was presented the single shred of maturity Ed could muster. Throughout the rest of the story Al proved to be the calming force and the overpowering image (with a little boy's voice) that intimidated all those they came in contact with.

TV Show Version:

10. Boo Radley from To Kill A Mockingbird

Forget about top secondary characters, Boo Radley may be my favorite literary character of all time. Misunderstood with a pure heart, his quiet presence of strength within a weak frame is something that brings tears to my eyes every time I I come into contact with this character.

 Movie Version:

What are your favorite secondary book characters?

If you can't think of book characters, what are favorite secondary TV and movie characters? 

LAST MINUTE ADDITIONS BEFORE PRESSING "PUBLISH":

11. Merry and Pippin from The Lord of the Rings

Did I really almost forget these guys?? Although this is another book overflowing with incredible secondary characters!!

Audiobook Review - The Cuckoo's Calling By Robert Galbraith [JK Rowling]

Note: The book written about in the following blog post was given to me by the publisher (Hachette Audio) in exchange for an honest review.

Check out the AUDIO!

First of all, I don't want you acting all shocked that I jumped right on The Cuckoo's Calling bandwagon the second I found out that Mr. Robert Galbraith was actually one of my great heroines, JK Rowling - you ALL knew that was going to happen. I'm not ashamed. I'm a fangirl. It was my duty to read this book.

Now that I finished it, I have to say, I loved it!

My Thoughts About The Story

It has been a really long time since I read a crime novel, so, on one hand, that was part of the fun for me. The second is that it was so well written. Galbraith [Rowling] paints each scene so vividly that it feels as though you are walking the streets of London, experiencing the seasons and talking to the characters. Our protagonist, Cormoran Strike, is well-developed with a rich history and an equally compelling present. His assistant, Robin, was a character I couldn't help but love and everyone else in the cast was full of life, humanity and some level of motive. Like any good crime novel, the ending makes all kinds of perfect sense on the last page, but was just out of reach throughout the rest of the book. I am elated that Cormoran Strike will be a recurring character. I will be back.

The Audiobook

I am so happy that I listened to this book instead of read the hardcover. This is not to say that I have some aversion to the printed word, it is simply that Robert Glenister did such an amazing job narrating this book.  I know I would never have been able to deliver these words to myself internally as fluidly, or in the right voice. Here's what I know: if I read this book in print, I would have "heard" a female narrator in my mind. Having gone through the book completely with Glenister as a narrator, I can't imagine it being anywhere nearly as powerful without him. The audiobook was not overproduced in anyway - it was just Glenister, changing his voice accordingly for the characters while disappearing seamlessly into the background like all awesome narrators can do!

My Response To A Couple of Strangers

Midway through my read I remembered to check into Goodreads to say that I was "currently reading" The Cuckoo's Calling. While there, I noticed that someone gave it a one star rating. Since I was enjoying the book so far I curiously delved in to read the criticisms. As one of the major criticisms was about the ending, I was ill-equipped to properly judge its merits until now. If you don't mind, I'd like to take a moment to speak my mind on one point of contention I now hold with this criticism having finished the book.

The reviewer (and I have read this same comment from a couple of reviewers now) said that the killer was "obvious" and that they "knew it all along." I promise not to spoil anything, but I am sorry, they did not "know" who the killer was. Every reader of this book, at one point, thought "maybe it's so-and-so," because that's how crime dramas work. If you don't experience this feeling at least once or twice during the reading, then, in my opinion, the author failed. The fantastic thing about this book is that I had that thought run through my brain about a number of different characters as the story unfolded. This does not mean that "I knew who the killer was all along" just because I had a sneaking suspicion early on. Throughout the story doubt surfaced and other suspects came to the forefront. That is how these stories work and, you know what? That's what makes them fun!

My Review

If you are a crime fan, I highly recommend this book. Of course, I'd like to extend it another step further and recommend the awesome audiobook - nothing makes house chores go faster than a mystery for you to unravel! For fans of JK Rowling, if you are being honest with yourselves, this is the same writing we all fell in love with - it is just as magical even though it is about the mundane. If you are looking for literal magic, however, she's hung up her sorting hat, so this isn't the book for you!

Are you a fan of crime novels? If so, recommend one - I think I'm back on the bandwagon!

Did you read The Cuckoo's Calling? If so, what is your opinion about its predictability?

 

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