The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

If you've read Dan Brown's other novels The Davinci Code and Angels & Demons, you'll love his newest work featuring beloved character and Harvard Professor, Robert Langdon.

One day out of the blue Robert Langdon receives a phone call from the office of his good friend and high-ranked mason, Peter Solomon. Peter's assistant informs Langdon that Peter is hosting a dinner for the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C., which he is very involved in, but unfortunately their speaker dropped out at the last minute and Peter thought a speech Langdon had given on television a few years back would be perfect. Of course, Langdon agrees to help out his dear friend and is flown by private jet to D.C. that evening. However, upon his arrival to the capital building where the event is supposed to be held Langdon realizes things have gone terribly wrong and he has fallen into a tricky trap; when he can't find the location of the dinner and hears the scream of a child coming from the rotunda, Langdon rushes to the scene and finds out he has made a terrible mistake by going to D.C. that night. Peter's so-called "secretary" was not a secretary at all, but his captor for reasons beyond Langdon's understanding. This clever and creepy captor uses the symbols of the ancient mysteries to guide Langdon, the capitol police, and the CIA on a quest for Masonic secrets he believes are uncover-able based on information he got out of Peter. The cause of the child's screaming was the severed hand of Peter Solomon, with his Masonic ring still on his finger, pointing to the top of the capitol rotunda and tattooed with some unknown symbology. Peter's captor contacts him by cell phone and gives a choice: solve the mysteries of the masonic legends by the end of the night and share them with him or Peter and his sister will cease to see the light of day. The story tracks Langdon, Peter's Captor, the CIA, the capitol police, and Peter's sister as the events of the night unfold, leaving the reading aching for more.

Brown's unique style of alternating perspectives every chapter makes the novel interesting and easy to read, just like two of his very popular others. Though I have to say out of the 3 Langdon-centered novels this extra captivating one is by far my favorite.

Care for find out more about how Landgon will deal with his options and who else comes into play throughout the novel? Pick up this newest edition to the Robert Langdon trilogy and you won't be sorry.

Quarter 1 Reflection/Quarter 2 Goals

After looking over all my blogs since the beginning of this quarter I have noticed that I usually discuss more about the book's/author's writing style than the plot, which I mostly give a brief but informative synopsis of. In the majority of my blogs I included quotes that I particularly liked from the books or thought showed evidence of a repeated theme. I also realized that I often like to compare the books I have read to other books or even different types of media such as movies or television shows. The book blogging experience is a very unique one; it is different than just writing a summary of your independent reading book because it allows you to really include your specific take and perspective on the literature, which I quite enjoyed because of being able to voice my own true opinion.

As a blogger I would like to accomplish gaining a greater understanding of the books I have read and will read through my blog by perhaps asking questions I have about the book or character's actions to help me grasp main points and maybe get some advice from anyone who might become a follower of the blog. I could probably work on making my blog a little clearer and including more about the plot and characters in my entries for the next quarter. I have found that if I am blogging about a book I really enjoyed then I tend to be very interested in what I have to say, however not so much if I have to blog about a book I didn't quite like as much. I might feel differently about these books if I looked for more positives while writing my blogs. Overall I enjoyed writing independent reading blogs for the first quarter and am excited to continue it for the next marking period.

Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote

The star of this most famous of Truman Capote's works happens to be Miss Holly Golightly, a rather young woman with a world of charm of someone twice her age. Capote clearly put a lot of work into developing such a unique and timeless character; Miss Golightly is well known by those who live around her in the city and most still admire her despite her annoying late night arrivals forgetting her key and buzzing someone up to let her in at any hours of the night.

The novel is a very quick read partially because of the quirky and fast-paced dialogue that reminds me of the conversations between Rory and Lorelai on Gilmore Girls; Audrey, Rory, and Lorelai all share that their speech is often random and not always clear to others, but yet the three women possess a light and warmth about them that seems welcoming and makes you envy their natural ease at life.

What is ironic about how perfect Capote makes Holly out to be is that is not at all how she was raised; she grew up with many siblings in a very rural area yet she manages to quickly adjust and flourish in the life of the city. At the same time that Holly seems so truly and effortlessly the image of feminine perfection she still has a sense of doubt within herself. She lets this show through when referring to her cat, "poor slob without a name. It's a little inconvenient, his not having a name. But I haven't any right to give him one: he'll have to wait until he belongs to somebody. We just sort of took up by the river one day, we don't belong to each other: he's an independent, and so am I. I don't want to own anything until I know I've found the place where me and things belong together." This statement addresses the uncertainty in all of us; we don't know exactly what we're looking for all the time, sometimes just something to make us feel complete. Through the novel Holly finds herself through her encounters with various individuals that impact the course of her life.

The classic also brings about the eternal truth that shopping is the best therapy, as Miss Golightly herself mentions, " What I've found does the most good is just to get in a taxi and go to Tiffany's. It calms me down right away, the quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there, not with those kind of men in their nice suits, and that lovely smell of silver and alligator wallets." Even if your not the shopping type of gal, any woman and any human can relate to the comfort in having a sanctuary of one's own whatever that might be. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a fast but sweet read and don't forget to check out the film as well.

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

Randy Pausch is 45 years old, he has three young children, a wonderful wife, and a stable teaching career as a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, but all this, he finds out, is in jeopardy; he has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, the cancer type with the least percent survivors of all, and finds out after undergoing a risky surgery and intense chemotherapy that all he has left is 3 to 6 months of good health.

Three to six months seems like very little time to settle everything for one's family and etc. before their passing. Pausch, however does not choose to waste one second of the time he has left. Since he is a professor and lecturing is second nature to him as part of his last acts on earth Randy arranges to give a last lecture at Carnegie Mellon. As if this wasn't enough to take on during the last stages of one's life, Randy also made the decision to move to Virginia so his wife and children would be close to family when the time of his death arrived and they needed them most. Would this lecture be a goodbye on Pausch's part? No more of a last offer of wisdom to those around him and a way for his children to learn about their dad and the life lessons he would have taught them but would no longer be around to do so. What did he call this momentous lecture? "The Last Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood dreams".

This memoir is more or less a version of Pausch's last lecture, slightly expanded upon, in which he shares experiences from his life and offers advice to those that are all so lucky to just still have much of their lives ahead of them.

I found Pauch's style of writing very easy to read and very personal; I felt as if he I was sitting in the lecture hall listening to him speak as I was reading. Something very surprising about the tone of the memoir is Pauch's unwavering optimism; despite surgeries, chemotherapy and death practically waiting on his doorstep he managed to keep a smile on and even those who caught a peek of him just through a car window noticed.

Throughout his life, Pausch had many amazing opportunities such as experiencing zero gravity at the Nasa center, creating various virtual reality experiences, teaching at Carnegie Mellon, and even using a sixth month sabbatical to work as a Disney Imagineer.

Though his condition eventually lead to Pauch's death in 2008 his book became a bestseller and left many who read it, including myself filled with inspiration and a newfound desire to relish all moments of life.

Let me leave you with one last piece of wisdom from the bestseller, "We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand,"-Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture.

The Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini (End)

!!!SEVERE SPOILER ALERT!!!!

When Amir is informed of Rahim Khan's illness he immediately journeys to Afghanistan to see the man that was like a second father to him in his time of need. Upon visiting Rahim at his apartment, Amir finds him to be in a worsening state. He discovers that what he feared was true; Rahim Khan knows of the terrible mistakes of his childhood involving Hassan. But Amir soon finds there is hope for redemption.

Rahim tells of the Afghanistan after Baba and Amir left, terrible but Rahim, aging, was aided by the help of Hassan and his wife who Amir never had the privelege of meeting in the house where Baba and Ali once lived in Kabul. During this time Hassan and his wife were blessed with a child, Hassan was reunited with his mother for a short time and then she was taken away from him and not long after Taliban officers took Hassan and his wife's lives away from them and their son, Sohrab in Rahim Khan's absence.

In order to honor Hassan, who Amir finds out to have been his half brother, something that makes him wish he could alter the past more than ever before, Amir feels a great obligation to find Hassan's boy and bring him to a place of safety. However, to Amir's dismay Sohrab turns up to be in the hands of those from his and his father's childhood, those who could harm him most, and won't give up without a fight where only one side may be victorious.

Curious to see if Amir is successful in saving Sohrab from those who can harm him? Itching to see what'll happen to Sohrab if he is saved? Where will Amir take him? Another orphanage,a safe haven, his own home? It won't be a struggle to finish this thrilling tale that's for sure. Enjoy the ending, you won't be disappointed!

THe Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Middle Continued)

!Spoiler Alert! (Avert your eyes if you don't want some important book details to be leaked)

In my last post I mentioned Amir had developed feelings for Soraya, the beautiful daughter of fellow afghans working at the flea market on sundays. In keeping with the increasing pace of the novel, things have quickly progressed from that point in a small sum of pages.

Since then Amir has asked for Soraya's hand in marriage to have it granted by her father, the general, and Baba has been diagnosed with cancer which only continues to get worse. As Baba's condition becomes poorer and poorer the wedding is planned and held in record time to make sure Baba won't miss it. However, very soon after the wedding Baba kisses Amir and Soraya goodnight but never wakes up. It is ever more evident how admired Baba was in the Afghan community by the lots upon lots of people who attended his funeral and mentioned personal stories about him to Amir. The time was very emotional for the whole family and even Amir breaks down but finds comfort in his new wife Soraya's arms.

When Soraya and Amir begin trying to have children and are faced with a year-long struggle of tests and doctor's office visits only to be told adoption is their best option, Amir comes face to face with his fears once again: is he being punished for his handling of the terrible situation with Hassan so many years ago? However Amir is no longer alone in his resentment towards his past; Soraya has made mistakes of her own that have tarnished her reputation in society, but not in Amir's heart.

Amir has just found out that Rahim Khan is terribly ill and is planning to go see him in his final days when he is struck by the realization that he may know the terrible mistakes of his past that no one else does.

Care to find out if Amir and Soraya are ever blessed with a child and if Rahim Khan will mention anything to Amir about their life past i Afghanistan? Keep reading to see for yourself.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Middle)

!SPOILER ALERT!

As you fall deeper into the story-line of The Kite Runner, the novel moves faster and faster to the point where Amir, the main character, is graduating high school and entering college, in America nonetheless. America? Yes, your eyes have not deceived you; California is his exact location, however your probably wondering how he got there.

Quite soon after Afghanistan's famous kite-flying competition, which Amir and Hassan successfully win a terrible occurrence takes place on the streets of Kabul. I won't reveal what happens, but it forever changes Hassan's and Amir's life and alters their friendship beyond repair. When news of this unfortunate event reaches Ali, Hassan's Father, he is so outraged that he decides they must leave and go to stay with their cousins because they can no longer remain Baba's servants following this event.

Soon after Hassan and Ali leave Kabul, the state of things in Afghanistan turns to chaos. Amir and his father believing it is in their best interests, flee from their home in secrecy on a bus trip that is less than smooth flowing. Eventually though, the men make it to America and establish a life for themselves there among a growing population of Afghans.

Baba and Amir work to establish opportunities for themselves as they adjust to the new customs of America, hard as it may be. During this time Amir graduates high school, begins college and when working sundays with his father selling garage sale goods, meets a young woman he develops feelings for, despite gossip of her past.

Hosseini's method of jumping years ahead in Amir and Baba's lives keeps the reader entertained and offers a nice contrast to Amir's childhood personality; Amir's adult perspective changed by his new home is very different from the young, somewhat carefree boy he used to be able to be back in Kabul.

Care to find out if Amir and Hassan ever get the chance to reunite, or if the woman Amir has come to fancy returns his affection? Don't drop the novel if you think the beginning is slow-moving, it speeds right up soon enough.