Not because it was hard, but because (a) my daughter kept talking to me and (b) I kept getting distracted by The Oscars. And Twitter and Facebook. Also, I was trying to figure out which leggings to buy. Anyway.
Okay, I had to look at my calendar to see what I actually did this past week. Is that sad? It feels sad. I guess it’s a good thing I’m doing the Slice of Life challenge next month, huh? Anyway, that’s where I am. So yes, this past week I:
went to a Hamilton trivia night (my team lost)
went to the dentist
went to a search committee meeting for the church’s new minister
attended a plagiarism hearing as a witness
visited an astronomy class as part of the pilot Teaching Squares program at my school (and learned quite a bit!)
attended a student conduct hearing as a member of the conduct board
went to see a student production of The Drowsy Chaperone, which was super fun (I love a good farce and a good meta-narrative)
dropped in to a party I wasn’t invited to to visit a friend who was only in town for one night
went to the Women’s March celebration and activist fair held by the local chapter of the march
And that doesn’t even count my regularly scheduled activities (work, gym, etc.).
I saw this link up posted in one of the comments on a post of Ally’s, and since I was on my third mini-breakdown of the week that day, I figured it might be a good thing for me to participate.
I have never been a huge Mediator fan, but I love Meg Cabot and needed something fun to read, so here we are.
This was a fun read, and I liked Jesse way more than I probably ever have. It probably helps that he’s not dead.
My only real issue is that I was annoyed (view spoiler)[they had sex before the wedding, especially since they got married the following week. That was dumb. I’m also not sure about the message it sends. Like, it was PERFECTLY FINE for them to wait since Jesse is Catholic and wanted to wait. Sometimes guys wait to have sex until they get married. And I liked that Suze was the one who had to deal with it, but ugh. It felt like such a PREMARITAL SEX IS OKAY moment, which…it is, but it’s also fine to wait until marriage. So. (hide spoiler)]
There was not enough CeeCee or Gina in this book, that’s for sure.
I liked this overall. It’s hard to rate a collection of short stories because each story is, you know, it’s own thing. Most of the ones in this collection provide backstory for the characters.
1. The Keeper (about Scarlet’s grandmother and how she came to house baby Cinder and become Scarlet’s guardian): This is an excellent start to the collection. Scarlet and her grandmother are both fantastic. (4 stars)
2. Glitches (how Cinder came to live with the Linh family) — this was fine, good backstory on Cinder (3 stars)
3. The Queen’s Army (how Ze’ev became Wolf, pack alpha) — Levana is the worst. Also, of course she finds kids from poor families for this. Of course. (3 stars)
4. Carswell’s Guide to Being Lucky (teen Thorne, the charmer) — this was fine, good backstory on Thorne (3 stars)
5. After Sunshine Passes By (how Cress came to live in the satellite) — Cress is a badass. This was heartbreaking but also shows how deeply excellent Cress is. (3 stars)
6. The Princess and the Guard (Winter’s decision to stop using her gift) — This is probably my favorite of the whole book. This gives all the backstory of Winter and Jacin and how they got to be the characters we see in the books. They are both pretty amazing, basically. (5 stars)
7. The Little Android (another android with a personality chip defect) — I thought this was going to be about Iko at first, but it’s not. This was pretty heartbreaking as well. I liked it. The characters aren’t connected to the ones from the series, but this offers a slice of life look at what it’s like for characters who aren’t living in the scope of the rebellion to live in that world. (4 stars)
8. The Mechanic (Cinder and Kai’s first meeting from Kai’s POV) — Aw, Kai. This was adorable. (3 stars)
9. Something Old, Something New (epilogue, a wedding) — This is probably my second favorite because all of the main characters are together again for a wedding. This is a trope I dig. Also, I love Iko with my whole heart and fully support any story in which she gets a lot of page time. (4 stars)
So, no duds here, though some stories were clearly superior to others. It was nice to spend more time with these characters and get to know more about them and their world. View all my reviews
As of today, I’m reading:
Yes, still. I’m not really a fan. The book is s l o w. Not only that but I am NOT buying one of the key character’s motivations. Book club is this Sunday, so I should be finished by then. We’ll see how it goes.
I haven’t decided on a second book for the week yet. I have a stack of library books to choose from.
If you guessed Levana from the Lunar Chronicles, you guessed right! Homegirl is CRAY. Like, certifiably so. And we get to find out just how much in Fairest: Levana’s Story by Marissa Meyer.
Before I get into the (non-spoilery) review, I just want to say I wish all of my students would read this because it has one of the best examples of tragic irony I have read in a long, long time. I mean, seriously. It is super great. In that horrible tragedy way. You know what I mean.
Let me just start by saying that I was going to recommend the WHOLE SERIES, but since I haven’t read the other books yet (except Cinder, of course), I don’t think that’d be prudent. I mean, there are five of them after all. But this book has effectively made me want to read every single word that Marissa Meyer writes in The Lunar Chronicles (and possibly beyond), so take that as you will.
I honestly don’t know where to begin. So, a (non-spoilery) list.
1. The characters are so great. SO GREAT.
I found Scarlet herself infuriating in the best possible way. She’s so headstrong and determined and desperate, but she is also so caring and honest and FIERCE.
Cinder and Kai show up in this one, and they are just as delightful as they were in the first book. Also, [spoiler] Iko is back, and she is THE BEST, and I love her, so obviously that made me happy.[/spoiler]
Scarlet’s grandmére is so badass and amazing. She was a pilot in the military! She chases people away from her door with a shotgun! Also, she is the kind of person her granddaughter would absolutely die for, and she raised a complete badass, so, you know. Grandmothers, man. Also, I kind of love badass old people (see also: Grandpa Noirtier from The Count of Monte Cristo).
Cinder by Marissa Meyer is a sci-fi retelling of the Cinderella tale with Cinder, the main character, cast as a cyborg who works as a mechanic in the futuristic New Beijing.
There is a lot to like about this book! Great characters, excellent setting, nice pacing. Also, Meyer nicely (and unexpectedly in some cases) weaves in the classic Cinderella tropes: the pumpkin, glass slipper, evil steps, etc.
I just wish I had more to say about it.
My favorite thing is probably how well drawn the step-family is. They’re not flat villains–nor the real villains in the story. Though, they do not take up a huge part of the narrative, I found that both stepsisters and the stepmother were well-drawn, even sympathetic in some instances.
My least favorite thing is that I saw alllll of the plot twists coming. Every single one of them. Except, maybe, the motivations of Dr. Erland.
As usual, I say that with the caveat that I am a fairly sophisticated reader with lots and lots of book reading and soap opera watching under my belt. My daughter probably would not have the same reaction.
Speaking of which, she would probably like this book a lot.
Anyway, I’m rambling now. Fun, fast read. Great characters. If you love sci-fi, you will probably love this book. I’m not a huge sci-fi fan and liked it.
Also, I think Meyer hinted at a Rapunzel story? At least I read the introduction of that one character (no spoilers!) as Rapunzel. I know the next book in the series is Red Riding Hood (Scarlet), so I’d be interested to see where the stories go.
I guess that means I might check out the next book. So there you go.
Now. Let’s talk about 
The Englishist 