Like most young boys, video games consumed my life. When
PlayStation came out, I had to have it. When PlayStation 2 arrived, I
had to have that. If I was not playing my PlayStation then I
was at my friend's house playing Nintendo 64 and eventually Nintendo GameCube. Want to guess what I did when I visited cousins? Yup it
was video games. In case it's not clear what I did in my childhood, I PLAYED
VIDEO GAMES (although I will say not as much as today's generation).
My obsession with video games didn't just end
with playing, I spent a great deal of time reading video game magazines that
helped me beat various games and steered me in the right direction as to what
games I should buy. One of my favorite magazines was GamePro. I remember after school I
would go to major electronics retailers such as Virgin Megastore, Circuit
City and Comp USA (remember those stores?) and spend an hour reading
through this magazine. I would take note of ratings that focused on
features of the game such as graphics and gameplay. If the game got good
ratings then there was good chance money I saved up would be spent on it.
Looking back, I may have obsessed over games a little too much but what young
boy doesn't? As I said previously, I doubt my level of interest in games was as
intense as the level of interest boys and some girls take in games today. With
that said at least I did some reading that time (believe me I did get a chance
to read some books). GamePro played an essential part of my childhood and I know
it continues to grab the attention of young gamers today.
In honor
of the Throwback Thursday mania that has swept the nation, I wanted to
discuss a book that I was very fond of in my childhood. In case you are
wondering I am in my mid-twenties (80s baby and proud of it). I remember in
elementary school, during story time, my teacher read this book to the
class called Miss Nelson is Missing.
For those who are unfamiliar with the book, Miss Nelson is a
nice teacher with an unruly class. When Miss Nelson suddenly goes missing, the extremely stern substitute teacher, Miss
Viola Swamp, arrives and life in the classroom becomes difficult
for Miss Nelson's students. To be honest I cannot recall if I got the message at the
time, I am sure I did through classroom discussion but I do remember just
liking the book. It could have been the surprise ending, being able to relate
to the students or something as superficial as the pictures in the book
(although I highly doubt that is the reason).
Reflecting on the book now, I
love the book's message of appreciating people and not
taking anyone for granted. I believe that people (including me),
sometimes, are not grateful towards the people that care about us and we only
do not recognize their importance until they are gone. This might be a
little too deep for children to understand but the message is definitely there.
In addition to reading a plethora of books, I am also an avid magazine reader. About four to five months ago, I was in Target doing some shopping when I noticed the title of a magazine stating "The Keys to Happiness", or something to that effect. Being the inquisitive person that I am, I picked up the magazine and started reading. I became so invested that I decided to purchase it. Ever since that day, Psychology Today has been a staple in my magazine collection.
The human mind has always been of great interest to me so it was only natural that I should become a fan of Psychology Today. I find the topics extremely fascinating and I feel it provides a great deal of insight into the motivations and actions of people. The magazine has covered topics such as: the need to say no, traits that makeup an emotionally happy person, the effect of holding secret and telling lies. Any text that allows for deep introspection is worth reading in my book. Even psychology isn't your thing, the articles are sure to provide some level of interest and entertainment, so take a chance you might learn something about your self that you were unaware of.
I believe I was flipping through a magazine when I noticed an advertisement for Sue Monk Kidd's The Invention of Wings. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Kidd she authored the book The Secret Life of Bees, which went on to become a movie starring Queen Latifah and Dakota Fanning. I felt that Kidd was successfully able to explore the kinship between a white girl with a tumultuous past and the strong black females she came in contact with throughout the course of the novel. For that reason and more I was eager to see what Kidd was able to produce in The Inventions of Wings. Maybe a week after seeing the advertisement in the magazine, I searched the public library catalog to see where the book was available. To my delight it was at a library near my home and I soon picked up the book. To answer some of the questions you might be thinking, no I do not have an e-reader and yes I still borrow actual books from the library. I am all for the technological movement but there are things I refuse to do and that includes giving up the pleasure of holding a real live book in my hands. Usually it takes me a day or two to start reading a new book but I immediately started The Invention of Wings, eager to discover the characters in the book.
To give you a little background information on The Invention of Wings, it chronicles the lives of two characters: Sarah Grimke the daughter of a judge whose family owns a plantation of slaves and Handful, the maiden slave of Sarah. The chapters, which tend to be short, rotates between the perspectives of Sarah and Handful. Readers will quickly learn of Sarah's disgust for slavery however Handful turns out to be a complicated character. At first Handful does everything that is required of a slave but as she gets older and is influenced more by her disruptive , strong-willed mother, Charlotte, her view on life changes. The relationship between the two girls is an uncommon one that will intrigue readers throughout the course of the book.
One of the basic thing I appreciated about this book and books in general are the short chapters. Although I love to read, long chapters tend to disengage me a bit and decreases my enthusiasm for reading further into a text. With short chapters the temptation to read more is frequent and I think to myself "I need read only a couple of pages more." The rotation of perspectives from Sarah to Handful was genius. Sarah and Handful are in total opposite positions in the world and it is necessary to see how each views the world, although their viewpoints are not as far as might be presumed.
The evolution of Sarah and Handful is what makes The Invention of Wings so captivating. Through their respective experiences, Sarah and Handful both develop their voices and use their voices to navigate through the world. In the experiences of the two protagonists, Kidd depicts a vivid description of the brutality of slavery, although most are already aware of this fact. She tells a story, which is based on real life events, about finding's one value in society and following and acting upon your own belief system. Reading The Invention of Wings allowed me to put re-experience the harsh reality that was slavery and challenge me to question how I use my voice in society. Expect to be taken on an emotional ride!
I've tried a writing a few blogs or rather I started a previous blog but kind of lost interest in it because the passion for the topic wasn't there. I am pretty sure this blog will be different. The reason for that being I will focus on books and books are my life. Reading has always been a passion of mines since childhood. As I entered the adult world and went to college and grad school I sort of lost some of my interest in reading for fun. With papers and presentations can you really expect me not to? Within the past year I have renewed my interest in reading for fun ( with me being out of school and learning to balance and work and enjoying my interests) and I intend to share some of my thoughts on the books I am reading. I don't want to say I will be giving book reviews because that would be too boring but I do intend to share some reasons you may want to read a particular book and what you should expect when reading that book (without spoiling it of course). I also hope to share some insight I received from the book about that extends into larger worldly discussions. Here I go...
