Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry is the second book in the dystopia Giver series. Kira was born with a twisted leg, but she and her mother have always had each other to depend on. Now that her mother is dead, Kira finds herself as a flawed orphan in a society that discards the weak. Kira, however, isn't as defenseless as everyone thinks, for she has a special gift that is able to keep her alive.
Over the last few weeks I have been reading The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz and it has helped me with struggles I knew I was having but couldn’t previously explain. To be honest, I thought that the topic of choice and how too much is bad was a little narrow, and that an entire book didn't need to be written about it, but I was wrong.
Nurse Ratched, the head of the psych ward, runs a pretty tight ship. Oppressing her all-male patients and enforcing strict rules, readers experience the mechanical, routine life in the ward through the eyes of Bromden, a half-Indian deaf patient. This life is disturbed by the new patient McMurphy, exuberant and philanthropic in his own way, who catalyzes a change in the men on the ward. Kesey chronicles the war between him and Nurse Ratched while tying in ideas of societal pressures, sexuality, and the 1900s concept of mental health.
“Go wisely and slowly. Those who rush stumble and fall.”
By far the most famous of Shakespeare’s works, Romeo and Juliet, is the famous tragedy warning of the dangers that love can get you into. Following two feuding families, and their children. Young Romeo wants only the attention of his love, while Juliet is soon to be married to the pompous Paris. They marry in secret and begin a set of events that lead to their eventual deaths by their own hands.
Summary: As war was raging out all across Pyrrhia (a dragon dystopian land), a prophecy emerged saying that 5 dragonets born on the 20th year of the war will rise up and end the ongoing conflict. Clay and the other 4 dragonets in the destiny had heard this story a thousand times, and given that they were stuck in a cave and raised by a group of rebel dragons only interested in the prophecy, they had to figure out how to get out and see the outside world.
Summary: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne follows the story of Hester Prynne, a woman in Puritanical Boston who conceives a child out of wedlock and is forced to wear a scarlet letter 'A' as punishment for her adultery. Hester refuses to reveal the identity of the father, leading to speculation and ostracism within the community. As she struggles with the consequences of her actions, Hester finds strength and independence, eventually carving out a respected place in society despite the stigma of her past.
Dune by Frank Herbert is a sprawling epic set in a distant future where noble houses vie for control of the desert planet Arrakis, the only source of the coveted spice melange, which grants extended life and enhanced mental abilities.
