50% Pay Cut

I’m still alive, gentle reader. It is the Feast of the ARCHANGELS.  You must feast! I’m a little disappointed that I could no longer find “The Archangel Song” on youtube. It was a great video created by some of the seminarians at Mundelein a while back. Instead, I give you this original CYE mash-up that I did a few years ago:
 

I know that it’s been quite a while. One year ago today, I was sending out the invitations for our wedding. Transitioning into married life has been quite the cliché roller coaster, and I haven’t been sparing any time to write much unless, you know, I’m morally bound to do so because my choleric takes over and is all ROAR STUFF THINGS! Anyways. I spent a charming 6-month romp working at Dynamic Catholic, and felt called to move on. I’d rather not talk about that experience other than to say I met a few really great people who have aided in my transition to the Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati area. I also got to read a lot of great things by some awesome Catholic authors. And no, I don’t mean books written by the person you think I mean. But that’s where I’ll stop, lest I tread on the path of libel, slander, calumny,and thought crime in general. But, to illustrate just exactly how much I learned whilst at that institute, I shall now be adding GIFs to my posts.

And, yes, Ryan Gosling is disappointed.

Now I work all day selling books and reading books and talking about books with kids and it’s just ALL BOOKS and mostly introversion but a little extroversion so it’s a GREAT balance.  

I took a massive pay cut, but hey, what the hell?  Like Unke Dave is always saying, “It doesn’t matter how much money you make, if you are satisfied and happy with your job, it will be worth it no matter what.”  Well, he never said that exactly, per se.  Not as eloquently and poignant, and I’m sure there were a few expletives when he gave me the general idea back in college, but he got the idea across.  

 Point is, it’s worth it. BOOKS!

Point is, dear reader, this blog is coming full circle to one of its original missions: to read and review books.  I’m in the perfect setting to do so, and it’s also something that’s going to prep me for when we, Godwilling, have kids. We're also working on our own library:

This is a panoramic view of a 10x10 room. You have my leave to be jealous. We're currently looking for another shelf.

Sope, in order to know the product, I need to read the product.  Explicate the product.  Be able to have an intelligent conversation about the product.  Know of the hidden dangers that lie within so parents can stay clear of inappropriate content.  This means, of course, that I need to make a list.  And you all know how much

So, without further ado, I take you back to the days of the summer reading list where books competed for the prized Word Nerd Seal of Approval.  Back to the days where I polished off YA lit as if I were tearing through a back of Krunchers Jalapeño chips.  

Here we go! The italicized titles are a part of a series. I’ve finished anything in bold.  

1.  Alexander, Lloyd. The Book of Three.
2. Barnhill, Kelly. The Girl Who Drank the Moon.
3. Beatty, Robert. Serafina and the Black Cloak.
4. Serafina and the Twisted Staff.
5. Black, Holly. Doll Bones.
6. Brallier, Max. The Last Kids on Earth.
7. The Last Kids on Earth and the Zombie Parade
8. Brubaker Bradley, Kimberly. The War that Saved My Life.
9. Bruchac, Joseph. Code Talker.
10. Colfer, Chris. The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell.
11. The Land of Stories: The Enchantress Returns.
12. The Land of Stories: A Grimm Warning.
13. The Land of Stories: Beyond the Kingdoms.
14. The Land of Stories: An Author’s Odyssey.
15. Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games.
16. Catching Fire.
17. Mocking Jay.
18. Cushman, Karen. Rodzina.
19. Dashner, James. The Maze Runner.
20. The Scorch Trials.
21. The Death Cure.
22. The Kill Order.
23. Forester, Victoria. The Girl Who Could Fly.
24. Gibbs, Stuart. Belly Up.
25. Space Case.
26. Gidwitz, Adam. A Tale Dark & Grimm.
27. In a Glass Grimmly.
28. A Grimm Conclusion.
29. Goldberg Sloan, Holly. Counting by 7s.
30. Grabestein, Chris. Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library.
31. Mr. Lemoncello’s Library Olympics.
32. The Island of Dr. Libris.
33. Graff, Lisa. Lost in the Sun.
34. Green, John. The Fault in Our Stars.
35. Grove, S.E. The Glass Sentence.
36. Haddix, Margaret P. READ ALL THE BOOKS!
37. Hallowell, Edward. The School of Good and Evil.
38. Holczer, Tracy. The Hum of a Daisy.
39. Henkes, Kevin. Junonia.
40. Korman, Gordan. Masterminds.
41. Masterminds: Criminal Destiny.
42. Leyson, Leon. The Boy on the Wooden Box.
43. Paige, Danielle. Dorothy Must Die Series.
44. Palacio, R.J. Wonder.
45. Auggie & Me.
46. Pennypacker, Sara. Pax.
47. Riggs, Ransom. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.
48. Hollow City.
49. Riordan, Rick. READ ALL THE BOOKS!
50. Sanders, Ted.  The Keepers: The Box and the Dragonfly.
51. Sheinkin, Steve. The Notorious Benedict Arnold.
52. Stewart, Trenton Lee.  The Mysterious Benedict Society.
53. The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey.
54. The Mysterious Benedict Society and The Prisoner’s Dilemma.
55. The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict.
56. St. George, Judith. The Duel: the Parallel Lives of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr.
57. Telgemeier, Raina. Smile.
58. Sisters.
59. Valente, Catherynne M.  The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making.
60. VanWagenen, Maya. Popular: A Memoir.
61. VandeVelde, Vivian. Frogged.
62. Vaught, Susan. Footer Davis Probably is Crazy.
63. Vogel Frederick, Heather. Absolutely Truly
64. Weiner, Jennifer. The Littlest Bigfoot.
65. Westerfield, Scott. Uglies.
66. Weston, Carol.   Ava & Pip.
67. White, J.A.  The Thickety: A Path Begins.
68. The Thickety: The Whispering Trees.
69. The Thickety: Well of Witches.
70. Yancey, Rick.  The 5 Wave.
71. The Infinite Sea.
72. The Last Star.
73. Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief.

At first glance, the entire list makes me want to roll my eyes. There are a lot of “fad” books in here, and I detest fads. I didn’t even jump on the Harry Potter train until quite a few years after the first movie was released. But then I fell in love. So, I figure I’ll give them all a chance. Hopefully I’ll be able to wade through the mess of teenage angst and the drivel that can call itself descriptive dialogue these days (ahem, Dorothy Must Die series), and get to the really outstanding works that I’d be proud to share with my future kids. Also, I think that I’m going to wait to post on certain titles if they’re in a series. I’d like to finish as much of the series as I can to get the most out of it. In my previous reviews, I’d just post the title, the summary from the back of the book, my reaction, and quotations from the material. This time around, I’m going to go a little bit more in depth. In addition to the previous way I would summarize, I will be looking to answer these questions: Does… it promote virtue? transcendentals? the protagonist overcome the human condition? it contain any negativity toward Catholicism? paganry? swearing? violence? How much/what kind? What is the appropriate age/intended audience? Thoughts on the writing style. Are there any notable quoteables? Does it use awesome words to improve lexicon? If you also have any recommendations, please let me know! First up on the block: Dorothy Must Die series by Danielle Paige. Tune in next time for a raging, slander and calumny fest! Jen