Camping Memories 2015

On my other blog, I shared a run down of all the things that happened on our camping trip to Bend, OR that we just got back from. Here is a list of some of the things that I predict I will remember most about this trip.

1. Late night campfire philosophical discussions with Ted and Spencer. Staying up til 12:30 talking was one of my favorite parts of the trip.

2. THE RESISTANCE. This was a game we played a lot on this trip. In it, there are randomly selected 'spies' and 'resistance members.' The spies know who the other spies are, but the resistance have no idea about anyone. The resistance wants to succeed 3 of 5 mission to win, and the spies was to fail 3 of 5. The rest of the game mechanics don't need to be explained here, but seriously, this game is awesome and you should play it. We played this a ton, and learned that some of us are much better at lying than others.

3. Rafting down the Deschutes River. The river is pretty mild and you can hike up about a mile and the float all the way down to the campground.

4. Exploring the river! On our last full day there, a group of us went about two miles farther than usual. We didn't know what to expect but what we found was a lot of beautiful scenery, some pretty deep water, a few mild rapids, and a little island full of wildflowers. It was awesome.

5. Waking up to the sound of the younger kids around the fire. There was a group of about four kids who were always up early, and it was not uncommon to wake up to the sounds of them talking about Lord of the Rings, or Monty Python, or who knows what else.

6. Playing mafia. I love this game, and it's a lot of fun to play it around the campfire in the dark. We had one game where the mafia won (which isn't that common), and one where the mafia was lynched but after a pretty long, interesting game. We also had some great storytellers, which made everything more fun.

7. Listening to podcasts in the car. We spent between 16 plus hours in the car on the this trip, and I spent a lot of it listening to old episodes of the Nerdist podcast, plus the new Hello Internet.

8. Inside jokes! When you have a group of people in tight quarter for long enough, some inside jokes begin to form. My favorite is the joke that formed from the Peters family getting so involved in a conversation that they drove all the way to Kennewick (not at all where they wanted to be), which led to a series of Kennewick jokes.


Overall, it was a pretty awesome trip. I love being in a great place with great people. It's nice to being somewhat isolated for a while with people you love and trust and to not have to worry too much about anything. A little break from real life for a while can be pretty nice.

The Lost Books: Part 1 {Emotional Attachment}

*This post may contain affiliate links, and if you make a purchase after clicking them, I will receive compensation.*

Tragically, I lost some books this week to a plumbing problem. There were 17 books that had enough water and/or mold damage that they had to be thrown out. I went though the books that are officially lost causes and made a few different lists, which will go up as a few different blog posts.

This is the first part, the books with emotional attachment/books that might not be replaceable.

Luckily, there are really only two books that fit into this category.

The first is Tales from the Ballet by Louis Untermeyer. I got this book at a library book sale for $1 many years ago. When I was little I checked it out from the library many times and I loved the stories and beautiful pictures in it. The copy I had was from the original 1968 printing, and it had a handwritten note on the first page dated December 1968.



This was the same cover as the copy I had. I would love to replace this book if possible, but I don't know if that'll be doable.


The second book is another one that I bought at a library book sale, probably for about $0.50. It was a copy of In the Hands of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce. It was an old library copy that had been pulled from circulation. It was from the origional printing (and had the origional cover), and was old and kind of ragged. When that book was in circulation, I checked it out from the library probably no less than 10 times in a period of 3 or 4 years. When I saw it at a book sale, I had to buy it.

This is probably the book I'm saddest to lose. I doubt it'll be easy to find a copy from that printing, and more than anything, I just loved having that copy of it, which I had read so many times when I was younger.

Hate vs. Indifference {Question #3}

Welcome to the series where I answer open ended questions from a quiz I found on Tumblr. They are a great opportunity for me to share bits and pieces about myself on the blog.

Today's question is:

Is there anyone close to you that you know you can't trust?

There was a situation not too long ago with a person who was a friend of mine who I always knew I shouldn’t trust, but still did. That situation spiraled completely out of control, and ended up very badly for a number of people. That person and I are no longer friends.

Since then, I try to be more careful about who I’m friends with. I don’t want to end up in a situation like that again. There are people I wouldn’t tell my deepest secrets to, of course, but all the people closest to me are people I trust.

Recently, I saw someone online say “Hate is too strong an emotion to waste on those you don’t like.” At first it made me mad, because I knew that person was trying to invalidate someone who said they hated them, but then I thought about it a little more. There is a very, very small number of people who I would say I legitimately hate. And the reason I hate those people is that I did like them once. I liked them, and they screwed me over, and made me hate them.

So I completely agree. Hate IS too strong an emotion for those you don’t like. Most of the time, my negative response to someone is just indifference. It’s only hate because I liked them once.

Sorry, that was kind of a tangent. To answer the actual question, there are some people close to me that I wouldn’t trust with certain information, but I try not to be close to people who I really can’t trust. 

Best Friends {Question #2}

Welcome to the series where I answer open ended questions from a quiz I found on Tumblr. They are a great opportunity for me to share bits and pieces about myself on the blog.

Today's question is:

What makes someone a best friend?

There are a couple of people who I would say were my “best friend” at different points in my life. One of them, who was my best friend from about ages 9-13, drifted out of my life until one day I realized I hadn’t talked to her in almost a year. When she was my best friend, it was honestly mostly because there was nobody else. She lived close to me, her dad was friends with my dad, and she was basically the only other girl my age that I knew. We were very different people, but we did a lot of stuff together, and had a lot of fun. She pushed me out of my comfort zone a lot, and as it turned out, that was often a good thing.

The girl who I would now call my best friend just faded into that role. One day, she introduced me to someone at school as her best friend, and I thought “Oh, yeah, I guess that’s right.” Unlike with M, L and I have a ton in common. We’re both huge readers, we have all the same friends, lots of similar interests, out parents are super similar, and we’ve had a lot of new experiences together. There have been periods of time where we don’t talk all that often. We both have other friends, who we actually spend more time with, and talk to more. But I think we’re still best friends because when I show up at her house, I feel like part of the family, and when one of us gets asked out on a date, the other will be the first (and maybe only) person to know.

Age is Relative {Question #1)

While browsing on Tumblr, I stumbled onto the F*** Yeah Surveys blog, which is just a collection of awesome surveys to do. I found this one that had a really great selection of questions, and I realized that most of these could be full blog posts of their own.

So that's what I'm going to do. These should be fun to answer, and these posts should be easy to write. Some of the answers will be short, others longer. I'll try to make sure they are all at least 500 words, just to make things interesting. There are 100 of these total, and I'll try to do most of them over the next few months, though I'll probably end up skipping some.

Today we're starting with the question:

1.    Are you young at heart, or an old soul?

Well, I kind of don't like this question, because we all are the age we are, but the experiences we have shape the way we react to situations, which is what I assume this question is talking about. My friends would probably say "old soul" simply because I'm always the one saying, "Uh, guys, don't you think this is a bad idea?" and being the 'responsible one.'

But also, I don't put a ton of value on a lot of the stuff that is part of youth culture. I haven't had a lot of the stereotypical teen experiences, and I don't really care. I'm happy with the person I am, and I don't care all that much that I've never gone to prom or homecoming, or that I won't have a typical high school graduation, or that my parents and younger siblings are at basically every party I go to. I really don't care.

I don't know if that really answers the question, but I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't feel the need to party and live it up right now. I want to go to college, not to drink, but to study, and being on the path to having a successful, fulfilling career is more important to me right now than meeting guys and being a traditional 17 year old.

That's not to say that I don't value having fun, I certainly do. I just know where my priorities lie.

I don't know if this was what this question was supposed to mean, but what the heck. This was fun. :P

Stuff I Like: Summer Edition

*This post may contain affiliate links, and if you make a purchase after clicking them, I will receive compensation.*

Today is another installement on my occasional series in which I tell you about cool stuff I've been readind/watching/listening to/playing lately, in list form, because I like lists.

Reading

1. I recently finished a book called Old Wolf by Avi, and it was quite good. It is a middle reader that flips between the POV of a wolf, and that of a 13 year old boy. It's a quick read, and well written, as is anything by Avi. I read an ARC of it, but I believe it comes out this month sometime.

2. I'm reading a book called The Swerve right now, and it is fantastic. I'm not far into it, but I highly reccommend it.

3. I reading The Golden Compass outloud to Isabelle right now, and I'm really loving rereading it. I am a huge fan of those books, and this time through, I'm really appreciating the writing.

4. I just read Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, and it was amazing. I highly, highly recommend it. There might be a full review of that one coming soon.

Watching

5. I finally finished Lost recently, and the ending was much better than I feared it could have been. It's been awesome to finally be able to read stuff on the internet about it, and boy is there a lot to read.

6. I'm now caught up on Gravity Falls, and I got my mom and sister to watch it, so now I'm also rewatching it with them. It's awesome. And there's a new episode tomorrow!!

Listening

7. There haven't been any new Hello Internets in a while, so I'm sad about that. Even Cortex is taking a week off. :(

8. I've been listening to a TON of Nerdist lately. I know I'm about four years late on that bandwagon, but it's a great one. For those of you who don't know, Nerdist is the podcast of Chris Hardwick, on which he and his co-hosts Matt Mira and Jonah Ray interview people. They come out three times a week most weeks, so there are over 700 of them, which is a lot. I actually much prefer the 'hostful' podcasts, which are just the three hosts, but the interviews can be really good too.

Just a warning - Nerdist is not a family friendly podcast. They swear a LOT, and there is a lot of adult content. Nerdist is hilarious, but not for kids or for the easily offended.

9. Welcome to Nightvale just came back from their hiatus, during which they posted two new episodes. One of those was the first chapter from their new book, and I am so excited! I can not wait for that book to come out this fall!

10. The Green brother's new podcast, Dear Hank and John, is also quite good.

11. I've been listening a little bit to Radio Free Burrito by Wil Wheaton, but it's not grabbing my attention as much as I thought it would. Not sure if I'll stick with that one.

Playing

12. I haven't had that much time to play games recently, but I have been playing a bit of Don't Starve every now and then.

13. There is this great indie game called Paper, Please that I really like. It's a work sim in which you are a boarder guard in a fictional world that is remarkably similar to 1980's eastern Europe.

I don't have time to put in links to all of these things, but please, go check them out!

Homeschool Academy, dancing, and more! {Life update}

This blog is feeling pretty empty now! The weird thing is that I feel like I'm writing stuff for this blog all the time, but you guys don't realize it. The back end of this blog has probably close to 50 unpublished drafts of posts. Some of those are terrible, and will never see the light of day, but some might... We'll see.

I think it's time for a little life update! I'm blogging (semi-regularly) on The Daily Ramble about my day to day life, so for a more complete idea of what I'm up to, go over there.

I've been pretty busy this summer. I'm teaching Latin still, plus some friends and I teamed up for Homeschool Academy, where we teach a bunch of cool classes. I'm co-teaching Geology, plus I'm teaching Irish dancing each week. It's a ton of fun, and it's super relaxed and laid back, which is nice.

I'm not doing any ballet this summer, but I am doing Irish, and we have some more performances coming up! We're dancing and the Whidbey Island Highland Games in a few weeks, and then at Birch Bay State Park a few weeks after that.

College searching continues. This weekend we're going to the east side of the state to visit Gonzaga University and WSU. I don't have any interest in WSU, but my sister wants to visit, and I love college campuses, so it should be fun. Plus, I've never been to either Pullman or Spokane, so it'll be fun to see more of the state.

I just finalized my class schedule for the fall. I'm taking Intermediate Algebra (unfortunately I didn't get into Precalc I), German I, and Introduction to World Religions. I think it should be a fun load, albeit a challenging one.

In the winter, I'll be taking Precalc, German II, and Western Civ III (assuming all goes according to plan.

That's my life right now! Here are some pictures from the last few weeks:

Prep for the Lit Analysis class I taught for the Homeschool Acadmey.

Aslan and I.

Bad pic, but I got a WTNV shirt!

Awesome necklace I bought at the steampunk festival yesterday!

Beautiful sunset over the dogpark

11th Grade Recap

As I'm nearing the end of my junior year of high school, I thought it was about time to do a recap of my year.

School

The biggest change this year that I started Running Start, and I've been taking college classes all year in addition to school at home. Here are the classes I took this year:

• Early Modern History - At home all year
• Geometry - At home all year
• College Study Skills (ENGL 170) - Fall 2014
• Yoga (PE 107) - Fall 2014
• English Comp I (ENGL 101) - Winter 2015
• General Psychology (PSYC 100) - Winter 2015
• Intro to Geology (GEOL 101) - Spring 2015
• Engligh Comp II (ENGL 102) - Spring 2015

I have a week left of spring quarter, but it looks like I'll finish my first year at the college with a 4.0 GPA!

School at home as been a struggle, and I am depressingly far behind. I will have to work for the summer to finish both history and math. Next year, I will taking a full load at the college and doing nothing at home.

Other Activities

I have really loved being at the college. I have made friends (though admittedly not that many), and I love being part of the community there. 

Outside of school, this has been a strange year. With some of my friends being gone at college other places, the year started out strangely, and through many strange and complicated events, the trend continued. 

It's been a hard year but that I've learned a lot about myself and how to handle challenging situations. I've learned a lot about dealing with and helping other people, and while there are numerous things about this year that I wish I could just reverse and have never had happen, I am a different person because of it, and I don't think that that's a bad thing.

I've made friends and had relationships evolve and change, and overall I think the year is ending on a positive note.

Outside of that, I've been teaching Latin, taking Irish dance and Ballet classes, and I was in two dance productions. I performed ballet in Dracula, and Irish dancing in the Nutcracker. I also danced in about four other smaller Irish performances this winter and spring. It's been quite a year! College planning has taken up time too, and we visited a number of colleges, mostly over spring break. I've been volunteering at the library as well, and have gone to a few annual events like the Children's Literature Conference at WWU, and the Bellingham Anime Convention at WCC (where I worked as a volunteer).

Next Year 

Next year is exciting and terrifying to think about. I'll be at the college full time, and I also will have college applications to work through. I also would really, really like to dance in the winter and spring performances at my dance studio if I am able. I have applied for a job working in the Writing Center at WCC, and I am hoping that that will be something I'll be doing come fall. I'd like to keep teaching Latin, and also taking Irish dance and ballet classes.

This is sounding exhausting already!

Podcasts

I know I've talked about podcasts on here before, but I've started listening to a few new ones recently and I wanted to talk a little bit about my current set up.

First of all, I listen to podcasts using Overcast. I used to use the default iOS one, but Overcast is much better.

As for the podcasts I listen to, there are a few categories. First are the ones I've listened to every episode of, and eagerly await new episodes of:

-Welcome to Nightvale. You probably all know I'm a big WTNV fan. If you listen to it too (and are totally caught up) you probably know that wierd things are happened in Nightvale and that this is a wonderful and terrifying time to be in that particular fandom.

-Hello Internet. I know I've talked about HI on here before, but really, it is worht talking about again. I love Hello Internet so much. It's a show of "two dudes talking" and it's awesome. It's hosted by CGP Grey and Brady Haran (of Numberphile and numerous other YouTube channels) and they talk about many, many things. I don't even know sometimes why I like this show so much, but it's really awesome.

-Cortex. Okay, so this only has one episode so far, but I'm putting it here anyway cause it was a pretty great first episode. This is CGP Grey's new podcast with Myke Hurley. This is about work flow, organization, and basically how Grey gets stuff done.

There are also other podcasts that I listen to periodically, but not religiously. I don't always listen to the episodes in order, and I sometime skip some:

- The Digital Gentlemen Podcast. This is also the "two dudes talking" style, and it's hosted by Matthew Gaydos and Matty Kerr. It's good, it's very weird, and it's very often not family friendly. They are both commedians in some sense, and the show is often very funny, and totally random.

-Radiolab. I don't to try to sell this one to you. Radiolab is clearly great, and it's the podcast that got me into podcasts. I don't listen to every episode, but there are some really awesome ones out there. 

-This American Life. Same basic story as Radiolab.

-Ear Biscuits. This is a podcast by Rhett and Link where they interview people of Youtube fame. Some episodes are really good, other less so. I usually just listen to the interviews of people I know and am interested in.

-The Cracked Podcast. This is run by Cracked.com, and it is sometimes a little overproduced for my taste, but it is well done. I dont always listen to it, but there are some great episodes out there. They focus on pop culture analysis and all sorts of human interest kind of things.

-99% Invisible. This is a new favorite of mine. It's hosted by Roman Mars, and it is about design - architecture, sound design, product design, all kinds of design. It's really great and the episodes are really short. It's well done, and you don't have to be into architecture to like it.



These are some of my favorites. What podcasts do you listen to? I'm always looking for more good ones!

Random Tumblr Survey!

Hey look! It's a survey. Cause why not. I remember getting so many of these things in my email when I was eight or nine. I haven't done one in years, so what the heck. I found this here. I went through a bunch of these, and this was the cleanest one I could find. There are a lot on there that would be fun, but that aren't really appropriate for this blog.

1.How many pets do you own? 

One black cat named Luna.

2. What’s your least favorite season? 
Probably winter. I'm not a huge fan of snow (which we don't even get every year anyway), and winter around here is just cold and gray and wet.

3. Do you prefer to text or call? 

Usually text, though I am very aware of the communication issues texting can cause. I will always call if it's important. Well, actually that depends on the person I'm trying to get ahold of. Most people know me well enough that they know that if I'm calling them and not texting, it's probably serious or urgent. Unless it's my mom. I call her more often that most people.

4. Morning or night?

Five years ago I would have said morning, but now that I have to get up at 6am for school everyday, I would say night. I like mornings sometimes, but on the whole, I'm really a night person.

5. Do you like tacos?

Yeah, but they aren't a favorite food of mine.

6. Are you an introvert or an extrovert?

Extrovert. I used to be an introvert, but I am now clearly an extrovert. And I'm defining those terms the Jungian way, so when I say I'm an extrovert, I mean that I get my energy from social interaction, which I certainly do.

7. What’s your favorite desert?
Hmm. That's hard. Probably either gelato (like ice cream but better!), or fudge, if that counts. I don't know, is that a candy? Does candy count?

8. Do you enjoy walks?

I do, though I don't take near enough of them.

9. Are you a frequent user of Facebook?

Yes. Facebook is such a strange place, but I do spend a lot of time there.

10. Do you watch animated shows still?

Not really. Just Gravity Falls at the moment, and that's the exception, not the rule.

11. Can you roll your tongue?

Nope.

12. What’s your “lucky” number?

The number 12.

13. Are you scared of anything?

So many things...

14. Big mac or big whopper? 

Neither. I haven't had either one of those... possibly ever?

15. Do you like to play board games?

I do, though I rarely actually play them.

16. Are you fond of romantic novels?

Not really. I don't have anything against them, but I like more plot and character development than is typically found in a romance novel.

17. Fruitloops or cocopops?

The person who made this quiz has never met my mom. Neither.

18. Would you eat a live spider for one million dollars?

Gosh, that's hard. I don't know...

19. Are you a heavy drinker?

Heh. No.

20. Would you forgive someone for cheating?

It would depend on the situation, but probably not.

21. Are you superstitious?

Not really.

22. Have you seen A Clockwork Orange?

No.

23. Do you like to read?

yes!!

24. Are you easily distressed?

Yes.

25. Do you believe in aliens?

No.

26. If you were the last person alive besides one other person you get to chose, who would it be?

So not answering that one. Way too many people I know IRL will read this post.

27. Dogs or cats?

Cats!

28. Are you a grumpy person?

I like to think not, but my sister would tell you something different.

29. What’s something you hate?
People who abuse your trust. On a lighter note, avocados and sun dried tomatoes (though I love fresh tomatoes).

30. Are you a worry wart?

Yes. So much yes.

31. Do you like having your picture taken?

I don't have strong feelings either way on the matter.

32. Do you like cotton candy?

It's okay. Honestly, I've had it maybe three times in my life.

33. Would you ever use a dating site?

I don't know. I think they're kind of weird, but maybe someday?

34. Do you believe in ghosts?

No.

35. Rap or pop?

Pop, not that I like it all that much, I just dislike it less that rap.

36. What’s the weirdest flavor of ice cream you’ve tried?
I have no idea... I don't try a lot of weird ice cream flavors. At the gelato place I go every week, you can get three flavors at once. I think the weirdest combo I've ever had was Salted Caramel, Blood Orange, and Chocolate. Not that weird, I know... I just don't eat weird food.

37. Do you like math?

Math is the bane of my existence.

38. Are you the type of person to laugh at others misfortune?

No, I don't, and I hate it when other people do.

39. Love or lust?

Love.

40. Do you remember lyrics easily?

Yeah, I have tons of song lyrics memorized.

41. What was/is your favorite school subject? 

English.

42: Do you like tattoos?

I don't mind them on other people, but I doubt I'll ever get one.

43. Are you the type of person to lie?

Not unless it's absolutely necessary.

44. Do you eat porridge for breakfast?

No.

45. What music are you listening to right now?

Everclear, Arctic Monkeys, Red Hot Chili Peppers.

46. Are you allergic to anything?

Lavender, and that's about it...

47. Do you like Lady Gaga?

no.

48. What about Nick Minaj?

nope

49. Do you like rainy days?

I do. I think it's kind of a pre-req to living happily in the PNW. I don't like drizzly gray days, but actual rainy days are kind of nice every once in a while.

50. Last question, do you like pie?

Duh. Who doesn't?

Another Set of Changes

You may remember that about nine months ago, I posted about some changes that were coming to this blog. The big one was that I was going to be focusing less of reading and writing, and more on my personal life, thought the Weekend Review posts, which served as weekly life updates. As time has gone on, those updates have been less and less frequent, and so has my posting in general. 

I want to revitalize this blog a bit, and part of that is going to involve rethinking it's purpose. I want this blog to first and foremost be a place for me to share my thoughts and ideas about what I've been thinking, reading, writing, and doing. While the life update posts do fit into that in a way, they distract from the main idea a little.

I am going to have those life update posts drift away from this blog a bit in the near future. Yes, that means I do have a secondary blog that those are going to go onto. For those of you who know Spencer and his blog, my goal is to go a bit in that direction, posting daily, or at least three or four times a week. Some days might be a simple outline of what I was doing, others might be a discussion relating to something I heard about in class, or read online. My goal is for the posts to be short but current and interesting. 

This blog will remain mostly as it is. Book reviews (hopefully more of them) will remain on here, as will my thoughts on writing, homeschooling, college, and other similar topics. Likely, if you follow both blogs, you'll see some topics coming up over there in a rough form, and them over here a week or two later, having been polished and written and edited to satisfaction. 

This blog will probably start to look a little different soon, so get ready for that. I hope to still post here once a week or (maybe) more, and over on the other blog three to six times a week.

My new blog is really intended for those who really want to keep up with my life, and I imagine will mostly keep the attention of my offline friends and family. I won't promote it much, either here or on social media, unless there is something going on over there that I think is really interesting.

Click here to see my new blog: The Daily Ramble. I am planning on starting to post over there very soon, this week or next, so grab the RSS feed now to stay connected! It is pretty boring and barren over there at the moment, but that will change soon.

The Semicolon Project 2015

Yesterday was April 16th. If you spend time on the parts of social media that I do, you may have heard of the Semicolon Project, which happens on 4/16 each year.

This is the image that circulated a few years ago about this.

I love things like these because they create a sense of community and allow us to do one simple thing to show that we are part of a larger movement. 

For me in particular, the date April 16th holds a lot of significance. It was a date where my life changed quite a bit at one point in the past, and to this day, it remains a day of thought and introspection for me. 

I don't talk about this much on this blog, and I'm not going to start now, but anxiety and depression are things that I struggle with on a daily basis. I have people close to me who suffer from these issues as well, and they have effected my life in any number of ways. I don't know who I would be if I did not suffer from them. 

The semicolon on my wrist.

I think things like the Semicolon Project are important because, as small as they are, they remind us that we need to celebrate the small victories. Celebrate the sentence that has not yet ended. 

The semicolon on my wrist will fade in a day or two, but while it's there, it reminds me that depression and anxiety are a neverending battle between two parts of myself, and that the day I give up is the day the sentence ends. That sentence isn't ending anytime soon. 

I'm a grammar nerd, and so I love semicolons no matter what, but the one on my wrist reminds me that I'm alive and I'm still fighting. 

Stranger by Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith {Book Review}

*This post may contain affiliate links, and if you make a purchase after clicking them, I will receive compensation.*

For the first time in I don't even want to know how long, I have a book review for you! I have been doing a lot less reading lately than I would like, and most of the books I have been reading are advanced readers copies (ARCs), meaning that they have not yet been released, and that I can not yet review them. I want to get into the habit of reviewing them as I finish them and having the reviews go up as they come out, so hopefully there will be more book reviews coming soon.

Plot Summary (from Amazon.com):

Many generations ago, a mysterious cataclysm struck the world. Governments collapsed and people scattered, to rebuild where they could. A mutation, "the Change,” arose, granting some people unique powers. Though the area once called Los Angeles retains its cultural diversity, its technological marvels have faded into legend. "Las Anclas" now resembles a Wild West frontier town… where the Sheriff possesses superhuman strength, the doctor can warp time to heal his patients, and the distant ruins of an ancient city bristle with deadly crystalline trees that take their jewel-like colors from the clothes of the people they killed.

Teenage prospector Ross Juarez’s best find ever – an ancient book he doesn’t know how to read – nearly costs him his life when a bounty hunter is set on him to kill him and steal the book. Ross barely makes it to Las Anclas, bringing with him a precious artifact, a power no one has ever had before, and a whole lot of trouble.


My Review:

Stranger was recommended to me by a friend who said it was the best book he'd ever read. While I wouldn't put it quite in that category, it was very good. The characters were well developed and unique. The book has five main characters who alternate narrating chapters (all in third person), and they each manage to have a unique voice. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, and it can be easy to forget who some of the minor characters are and how they relate to the story, but overall that wasn't too much of a problem.

The plot is enjoyable. While it is primarily action driven, the action was interesting enough that I did not mind too much. As I know I've said on this blog many times, I'm usually a fan of character driven plot over action driven. The plot kept a good pace, never getting slow enough to be boring, or fast enough to be confusing. There were quite a few subplots, mostly of the romantic variety, and while some of them lost me a bit, the main ones were interesting. There was a good balance between the action driven main plot line, and the romance driven subplots.

The writing is very interesting. While it at first seems to fit pretty well into the easy to read/well-written slot where books like Harry Potter reside, something about it makes me hesitate to put it there. As I read, I never found myself particularly noticing the writing, but it was a slow read, which I also wouldn't have expected. I think that maybe that is because of the density of action and nuance that it is not a super fast read. You do have to pay attention to understand what is going on.

One of the best things about this book is the fictional world it resides in. While we hear very little about the world as a whole (there is very little exposition, which I appreciate), we don't really need to. It's a futuristic, post-apocalyptic world, but it still manages to feel unique and fresh, and the important elements of this world aren't at all formulaic.


Who should read this book?

I would recommend this book to young teens and above. The writing and plot might be challenging to grasp for some younger readers, but it is well written and should be engaging to most. There are romantic elements to the story, but there are is nothing that would get probably about a PG rating, and there is no swearing that I can recall. Even violence, while it exists, isn't particularly graphic.