Maybe you remember my post of my “Bizzare Bookshop” puzzle earlier? Here’s a picture of it; it is now hanging on my bedroom wall.
This bookstore really is bizarre, lots of weird things lying on the shelves, and all the titles are puns on classic stories!
I also had two more puzzles to complete. I love puzzles almost as much as I love books, so to be able to do puzzles of books is a-m-a-z-i-n-g for me! Ravensburger makes the best puzzles, ever. And believe you me, I have done my fair share of puzzles.
The next one is finished, and hanging on my bedroom wall. This one is “World of Words”. This took less than a week.
World of Words, 1000 pieces
The one in progress is “Sanctuary of Knowledge”, which is taking me already two weeks….I did this one last year and one of my girls took it and put it in their room. Fair enough. I have just really been struggling to sit down and work on this: holidays, back to work, MBA classes started……
Sanctuary of Knowledge, 1000 pieces
And the toughest, but my favorite Ravensburger puzzle? “The Last Supper”. A very close friend of mine from church bought this for me and my girls. 3000 pieces. Took us all 6 weeks to complete it but it has been hanging on my kitchen wall for over two years and I love looking at this. Every. Single. Day.
Wrote: The Catcher in the Rye, published in 1951, as well as 3 other novels, including short stories that appeared in The New Yorker. He was drafted into the Army and served from 1942-1944. He was hospitalized after suffering a nervous breakdown after the war. Mr. Salinger lived a very private life, last published a book in 1965, and gave his last interview in 1980.
Odd Fact: Mark David Chapman, the man who assassinated John Lennon, was found with a copy of the book at the time of his arrest and later explained that the reason for the shooting could be found in the book’s pages.
Quote: “What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn’t happen much, though.” ― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
The Catcher in the Rye
I have to be completely honest and say I have never read this book! I am ashamed to even say that, but I guarantee after reading the synopsis of this book, I will own it before the weekend is over.
Are You Familiar With Gregory Maguire? Have you read Wicked? If you have, then you’ve read Gregory Maguire. Being a huge Wizard of Oz fan, I have of course enjoyed all of the books in the Wicked Series (Except the last one, I haven’t read that yet). Gregory Maguire has a way of taking common fairy tales that we are all familiar with, or other stories we think we know, and giving them his own unique twist; taking you on a journey you never expected.
Do you like Cinderella? You want to read “Confessions of an Ugly Step-Sister”.
How about Snow White? Then you would love “Mirror, Mirror”.
“What-the-Dickens” is a story about the tooth-fairy. It revolves around Dinah Ormsby, her older brother Zeke, their 2 year old sister Rebecca Ruth, and their just showed up on their doorstep distant cousin Gage. There isn’t a definite time frame, or year that this book seems to be set in. The back story on the family is the parents disappeared, Gage shows up. On page 5 we read that “the Ormsby’s were trying the experiment of living by gospel standards, and they hoped to be surer of their faith tomorrow than they’d been yesterday”. This is also a family who lives with no cable television, internet service, or visits to the mall.
This isn’t your run-of-the-mill tooth-fairy either. He is what would be called a Skibbereen, or Skibberee. “His arm webs were filmy, nearly transparent, and his skin was suggestible, like water. I suppose his circulation worked on a capillary system; his coloring could shift from pale to dark and many shades in between” (pg. 20). He sounds kind of like a dragon fly to me.
So are you interested? Good. Because I have just started this book, and “What-the-Dickens” (yes, that is his name) seems like he has a lot of trouble coming his way. I can’t wait to share it with you!
What an ending to a wild ride of a story. Is it the end of this series? I can’t say for sure. Checking Neal’s website shows me that I missed a short-story book about Lev, called Unstrung, which was sandwiched between Unwholly and Unsouled. It details exactly what went on with Lev from the time Conner kidnapped him from his tithing, until he finally ended up at the Graveyard.
Book 3 finds Conner, Risa, Lev, and Cam all together, knowing they have to pull out all the stops to finally put an end to unwinding. The key seems to lie with Sonia, whom Conner knows more about than Sonia finds comfortable. But what she does let them know, is the final work of her husband, determined to fix the mistake he made by inadvertently allowing unwinding to come to be.
A printer, that prints real human organs, making unwinding unnecessary. The powers-that-be bought this from Janson for millions, and destroyed it, making the printers, blueprints, everything disappear. There is too much money to be made in the unwinding market.
This story, and series, is definitely well worth the read. There doesn’t necessarily need to be another book to this, and it would still seem like a complete series. There is plenty of room for another story to follow. If one does, it will definitely be on my bookshelf.
I bought, and read this series, for two reasons. Because it sounded interesting, and to make sure it was okay for my 12 year old daughter to read. In my household, this is a series I will let her read (she is currently reading the first book, Unwind. There is not much in “bloody-gore” violence, but both children and adults are killed throughout the series. The actual act of unwinding is not graphic, but as I said in an earlier review, the way it was written was very disturbing to me (my imagination got the better of me). There are a lot of weapons in this story, mostly guns and assault weapons.
As a perspective, I will not let my 12 year old watch rated R movies, but she does watch PG-13 movies. I try to not let her watch any obscene, rude shows of gross humor or blatant sexual behavior. If I said I never swore in front of her I would be lying, but I do try to monitor what she is exposed to as best as I can in this internet-driven world. We have a very open relationship where we are comfortable discussing anything with each other, without the uncomfortable awkwardness that can sometimes occur.
I am midway through Unsouled. I thought with all of my free time I would have been finished by now. Not yet, but hopefully by Monday night!
This story seems to be starting to tie up some loose ends about mid-story, so I am thinking this is likely only a 3-book series. I am not sure if I am happy about this or not; I’ll let you know when I get to the end!
Everyone also seems to be in a place (location) at this part of the story that they do not want to be. Emotionally as well as physically.
Cam is bound and determined to do what he needs to do to earn Risa’s love and respect. Conner and Lev have finally caught back up with each other, at a reservation that Lev has a history with. Starkey is travelling the country with the remaining storks from the Graveyard, blackmailing their way to Nevada, and a harvest camp they plan to rescue every teen from.
An interesting couple of paragraphs in the story:
“In this case blackmail for blackmail was the right move, and the man caves, just as Starkey had known he would. Even the hint of harm to his precious children was too much for the man. Incredible. It never ceases to amaze Starkey how far society will go to protect the children it loves and to discard the ones it doesn’t” (Shusterman, N. 2012, pg. 109)
“‘You want to know the real reason unwinding keeps going strong, Miss Risa Ward? It isn’t because of the parts we want for ourselves-it’s because of the things we’re willing to do to save our children.’ She thinks about that and laughs ruefully. ‘Imagine that. We’re willing to sacrifice the children we don’t love for the ones we do. And we call ourselves civilized!'”(Shusterman, N. 2012, pg. 173)
Food for thought, and the central theme to this series. One never really knows what they would do to save someone they love, until they have to make that choice, do they?
Unsouled, the third book in the Unwind dystology, started off running and hasn’t slowed down yet. The second book, Unwholly, basically left you hanging so unless if you are the type of person who does not need to know how a story ends, or a series in this case, you could skip this book and go about your business never caring what happens to Conner, Risa, Lev, and Cam.
Is this even possible?
I have only ever had one book I could not finish because it was so terrible, and it honestly still bothers me that I couldn’t finish it. It is on my bookshelf, and no matter how much I look at it, I cannot bear to even open it.
So…..getting into Unsouled…..
Risa stays true to herself and lets the whole world know exactly why she turned and became an alleged supporter of the unwinding practice. Cam takes great offense to the brush-off from Risa, just when the public was beginning to accept him for what he was.
Conner and Lev? Winging it once again. Coming up with an idea, and running with it. This seems to only work about 50% of the time for these two.
Starkey is still on the hunt, determined to take down the Akron AWOL (aka Conner) and take out anyone who gets in his way. He will do anything to make the storked kids come first for once.
Oh. And Nelson. The Black Market Parts Pirate? He’s pretty ticked off too since he had the Akron AWOL captured, only to lose him. He also had Lev and lost him too. Kind of makes you wonder how he makes a living on the black market, doesn’t it?
There is much more to come, as I am only beginning to get into this book. I am most curious to know if this book is the last, or if there is another one to come! I am trying to be good and not Google for that information, so the end of a book will remain a surprise.
What has you tearing through the pages at the moment?
Well, I was certainly kept in suspense with this second book in the Unwind series. I have to say, Neal was very clever by leaving the end of this book completely hanging with no resolutions. You absolutely have to read the next book to get any type of closer on what is going to happen with Conner, Risa, Lev, and Cam.
I am very happy I already have the 3rd book on my bookshelf (I spent enough at Barnes and Nobles yesterday!)
The action was great, the story flowed very nicely, and this book is definitely a page turner!
Lev and his rescued Miracolina (another tithe) manage to work their way back to the graveyard. Conner has someone turn on him, and put everyone at the Graveyard in danger. Risa appears to have turned to the enemy, but all is not what it seems. A Conner is just doing every possible thing he is capable of to get the AWOL’s in the Graveyard to safety. I’ll just say this was an Epic fail for Conner.
Definitely digging into the 3rd book, Unsouled, starting today.
Have you been reading anything great during this holiday season?
This book started pretty much where Unwind left off; and I appreciate the fact that the author does not cover every single detail from the first book.
Conner is now running the Graveyard, and they are down to about 700 teens. The age limit for unwinding also got lowered to the age of 17, which means thousands of 17 year olds at harvest camps had to be released.
There now appears to be a shortage of organs, and tissue, so children are now being kidnapped and sold on the black market. The Juvey Cops (that is what they are called in the story) are well aware of the Graveyard, but have a very good reason for leaving the kids there alone.
Supply and Demand
The powers that be can charge enormous fees for body parts while there is a perceived shortage. They want the AWOL teens to stay in the Graveyard, or they will have to lower their selling costs.
And then there is the advertising campaign. One such ad as in the book:
“When Billy’s behavior became too much for us to bear, and we began to fear for our own safety, we did the only humane thing. We sent him to harvest camp, so he could find fulfillment in a divided state. But now, with an age restriction preventing seventeen-year-olds from being unwound, we wouldn’t have had that choice. Just last week a seventeen-year-old girl in our neighborhood got drunk, crashed her car, and killed two innocent people. Would it still have happened if her parents could have chosen to send her to harvest camp? You tell me.” VOTE YES ON PROP 46! End the Cap-17 law, and lift the ban on late teen unwinding! Paid for by Citizens for a Wholesome Tomorrow. (Shusterman, N. 2012, pg 36).
And I thought all of the political advertising was ridiculous!
As for Risa and Lev, they are both still a huge part of this second book; Risa dealing with feeling abandoned by Conner, and Lev being worshipped by everyone for being the “clapper” that didn’t clap. (Clappers are teens who have their blood mixed with explosives, and basically do a suicide mission by clapping their hands, where detonators are implanted, and killing themselves and everyone in the vicinity).
This book has kept me just as interested as the first story did, and I hope to have this finished by tomorrow.
I wasn’t quite sure, as I was getting towards the back half of “Unwind”, if the author was actually going to unwind one of his characters.
Well, he did.
I have to say, there was no talk of blood, cutting, what body parts were being taken, how they were being taken, or anything else graphic. And it literally made me feel sick to my stomach. Literally. (I stopped reading it at one point to focus on something else for a few moments to make sure I was OK).
By using nothing more than words, and planting ideas in my head throughout the story, the author successfully had me experiencing exactly what was going on; as if I were really there.
I am not sure what did it. I have certainly read horror stories that detailed much worse things than this one section ever even touched on. Maybe it was an emotional attachment I had made with the subject. He wasn’t a central character, but I knew him, none-the-less, from this story. I knew he was mean, and conniving, and ruthless, and it was still unbearable to visualize, in my mind, him being unwound.
So Kudos to Neal Shusterman on the writing of this story. I have been scared by books before, emotionally brought to my knees because of books, sobbed uncontrollably because of books, and cheered for the hero, because of books. But to feel sick to my stomach without the graphic detail of blood and gore; well done Mr. Shusterman; well done.
It looks like I can get this book wrapped and under the tree, and on to book #2, Unwholly. Having a whole lot of free time until the New Year should make fast reading of this book, as well as the third one.
A difficult read emotionally, but one you can’t put down. I questioned myself as to whether or not I really wanted to read it, once I was told what the story was about. As a parent, it is like reading your most terrible fear come to life.
This has turned into one of those books that book clubs are raving about; there are even versions with the questions in the back that you can use for book clubs. Is that a bad thing? Not at all. I just tend to feel that books that do this are promoting themselves for the wrong reason (this is just my personal opinion).
“The Shack” by William Paul Young
As sad and heartbreaking as this story is, I have read it 4 times now. It is one of those stories that reminds me of what my faith is supposed to do in my life, and how no matter what I am doing every day of the week as far as my religion is concerned, I can still be closer to God.
If you haven’t read or heard about this story, the premise is as follows: a loving family strong in faith suffers the unthinkable when their child is kidnapped, and murdered. A young 6 year old girl, innocent to all the evils in the world, and the fact that bad things really do happen to good people. (As a mother to 4 girls, the youngest who was 6 when I first read this, that was why I hesitated to read it).
The rest of the story deals with a father’s anger, guilt, and faith, and a weekend spent with God, in various forms. As a religious person whom still sometimes struggles with understanding the Triune God, this story presents this in a way that brings it home to me, making it make sense. Does that make sense?
Mack, the father, suffers in a deep depression, while functioning on the outside, for four years. Receiving a note in the mail that is suspicious at best, Mack spends a weekend in the shack where his daughter’s life ended, and comes to terms with not only her murder, but so much more. Nan, his wife, had a strong faith that did not seem to waver as Mack struggled to get through each day. This weekend would also help him understand how Nan kept a strong faith through the most difficult part of their lives.
How would you like having breakfast with Jesus, or growing a garden with His help? Would you even know how to approach him? From the story:
What should you do when you come to the door of a house, or cabin in this case, where God might be? Should you knock? Presumably God already knew that Mack was there. Maybe he ought to simply walk in and introduce himself, but that seemed equally absurd. And how should he address him? Should he call him “Father,” or “Almighty One,” or perhaps “Mr. God,” and would it be best if he fell down and worshipped? Not that he was really in the mood (Young, Wm. Paul, 2007, pg. 84).
How does Mack first see God? As a large, African-American woman, embracing him as someone whom finally sees a long-lost friend after many, many years. Smelling of his mother’s perfume, Mack fights to stop the tears that start to flow in front of this “stranger.” Next a small Asian woman approached him, a collector of tears is what she told Mack she was, and shimmered in a way that made it difficult for him to look at her. The third person to join them in the shack is a man of Middle Eastern descent, an obvious laborer with his tool belt full of tools. Confused, Mack asks all of them, “Are there more of you?”
“No Mackenzie.” The black woman chuckled. “We is all that you get, and believe me, we’re more than enough” (pg. 87).
So Mack has his three companions for the weekend, each with a specific purpose to help him deal with his grief, his faith, and his anger. They break down his walls, the barriers in his heart, and show him that in order to be free from his guilt and grief, he absolutely must forgive his enemy; the man who murdered his child.
This story is full of emotion, sadness, and even hope as Mack goes on this journey to reveal what is truly in his heart, and learns how to be healed of the emotional pain that has consumed his life, and in turn his family’s life, for the past four years.
Whatever your beliefs may be, or not be, this is a story to be read by everyone, whether you have Faith or not. It makes points that seem generic to humankind in general, without trying to force someone else’s beliefs on you. You understand the story, and the lessons it seems to present without ever really trying.
This is definitely a book I will pick up for the 5th time, and likely even more than that.
The Shack. 2007. William Paul Young. Windblown Media: Newbury Park, California.
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