Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari

OK so let me start off by saying that this book looked like it would be really good, but I was disappointed. This novel definitely had a lot of potential and just when I was like ok here we go now it'll start to get good I was left wondering what the heck happened.

Here is your basic plot, in the future there is a plague that is so bad that it kills 99% of the population. After this plague the weather system also goes outta wack leaving the world with a long wet season and a long dry season , also hurricanes and tornadoes and earthquakes (oh my!) that ravage the earth. Not really sure how plagues trigger natural disasters, but o well it's the end of the world right? SO anyway living all by her lonesome in Central Park is this 17 year old girl, Lucy. She's living and hacking out a meager existence in this lean-to type structure. No what I found really odd about this was that she was living there by choice. Her house didn't succumb to any of the disasters, and yeah sure with 99% of the population dead the water and heat are gonna be shut off eventually, but you still have a structure that you can live in, why would you leave your home in Northern NJ and trek to NYC to live in the woods especially when she states that the reason she left her family's home was so she didn't have to be alone after her family dies. Hello you are living alone, but in considerably worse conditions. So that was one this that bothered me. Something else that bothered me was the lack of zombies, not that I was expecting them right off the bat, but when Lucy does a flashback to the plague she talks about how once you get the plague chances are you are going to die from it, but there is also a very slim chance that you will survive and if you do you can become a "S'ans" and she talks about how they are crazy and try to attack people and I'm like "Oh cool, zombies wasn't expecting that, maybe now it'll get better", but nope disappointed there too, turns out the "S'ans" are just misunderstood and are completely normal aside from their appearance from the plague. Also, the big chase and climax is at the end, the very end and it was very disappointing. Overall, it did not live up to the hype I created in my head for this book based on it's plot summary.

So here are some questions for you based on the book which is in bookstore despite it's June 1 release date, so for those of you itching to read it like I was it's there in the stores waiting for you, but just don't have really high hopes for it. Ok so here are the questions to think about. If you were Lucy would you have left the relative safety of an actual building for the squalor and uncertainty of the woods? Next question is slightly spoilerish so read at your own risk. Would you have let the so called scientists use you and your blood if it meant have a chance to save everyone who was left from a mutating plague? Well, that is you food for thought

Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky

Since I am a visual person here is a picture of the cover, I know they say don't judge a book by it's cover, but how can you not when it's the first thing you see.

So here is my first review of a book. There are so many that I have read that it is difficult to pick which one I should start with, don't worry I'll eventually get to them all, but this seemed like a good place to begin. So this novel Awaken whihc is by Katie Kacvinsky was a really well written book. It was definately a thinking type of book. Lately I have been on a dystopia/ future world kick, and this one fit right in with that. I find that when I get really excited about a book and want to share it with people I give too much away, but that's just me I don't like to be surprised, I'm the kind of person who reads the end of the book first. Anyway here is your basic plot of the book followed by my opinions, question, and thoughts on it.

The main character is a girl named Maddie, who is seventeen. The book is set 50 years from now and boy has a lot changed and not always for the better. Everything, and I mean everything is digital. You go to school on your computer, hang out with friends, even date on the computer, everyone is so plugged in that you never have to leave your house ( even food is deleivered to your doorstep). Moving on, Maddie is content with her life, becasue she knows nothing different, until she meets Justin who forces Maddie to exam her world and really take a look at whether or not these things are actually a good thing. That is where I'll leave you with it and we'll move on to my opinions.

So thinking about this world, the scary part of it is we are already on our way there. Think about just how many times you rely on a computer or some form of technology during the day. I know myslef, I have a smartphone now so I can always be connected to the internet. In some cases this type of connectivity is great, it is wonderful, it has made the world a better place for people. Think about it the phone alone has made such a huge difference, you can call halfway around the world in a matter of seconds, before this it would have taken weeks by snail mail to get a message anywhere. Technology has made the world a much smaller place though, think about how many times a day you are on camera. I know at my bookstore alone I am on camera probably 85% during an 8 hour shift. This is mostly for security and shoplifting purposes, but in all actaulity if the government wanted to they could tap into that computer feed anytime they wanted and locate anyway, anytime. This is a scary thought. Also, in the novel a huge part of it is the digital school or DS. The fact that if this were to occur it would put thousands of people out of work, becasue there would be no more need to have actual brick and mortar schools, everything is online, everyone is getting the same education whether you live in California or Florida or Oklahoma, no matter how much money you do or don't have. While I think a standardize education is wonderful and something we should move towards just so everyone is on the same page learning the same thing and no one is at a disadvantage later on in life due to educational dispardies, the fact that you are sitting in your room alone learning is awful. Humans by nature are social beings and by taking out that social aspect of school people won't know how to interact with each other and won't be able to work cooperatively.

Another disturbing thing, at least to me, was the lack of nature in the future. As humans we want to control things and fire is something we can't control, so in the story all the trees are gone, replaces by plastic immitation trees, just so there wouldn't be any forest fires. Also, along those lines since trees are out so is paper, and things made of wood. So what does this mean for us since wood is out, plastic is in. Everthing is plastic from your house to paper, that is if you actually use paper, since everything is digital. Again we are already heading this way with so many of these digital e-readers. I will admit that I do own one, and I love it. I was soemone who right up until I bought it was spouting her love of books, even when I purchased it I said to myself, why am I going to pay for soemthing that is actually nothing, when you purchase an e-book you are actually purchasing an idea, air. I said that I would only use this thing for travel, because that wa it's only benefit. When I traveled two years ago for an entire month I brought with my 14 books, which while even though they were mass markets (the small paperbacks) they took up a lot of room, so for me that was the only benefit I could see, but lately I have been changing my tune because they are coinvient, it easier to carry than a whole book and if while I'm out I finish a book I have more waiting for me. I still do purchase "real books" my room and it's overflowing bookshelves are a testament to that, but I can see the appeal and the growing trend of these devices. So back to the point, we are heading this way, to this world of no trees and plastic paper, and I want to go kicking and screaming into this world, becasue to me there is nothing like a books store and nothing better to do on a rainy day, like this one, than curl up with a good book, an actual book. I will still be buying hard copies of my books til the bitter end. Thought, opinions on the real vs digital book debate?

As I have said this novel is a wonderful thinking novel, it poses questions about what the world is going to be like in 50 years, and whether those changes are good or bad. So I ask you those of you that have read the book, or even just this post. Are all technological advances good or are they bad? In my opinion, some are great as I have said, but the majority of them or I guess more how they are being used are not so good. I wil also ask this a question that the author aked me when I emailed her asking if there was a second book, since it kinda ends abruptly, and the answer is yes there is a second one just don't look for it til next year. Anyway the question is would you have fought the DS or just left it alone and let the world spiral into a world where people don't actually know each other. I think that I found fight the idea that the DS basically turns people into solitary creatures, I think the idea of a universal cirriculum is wonder (this coming from an aspiring teacher), but I think there should be choices when it comes to all this digital stuff whether you want it in your life, and how much. So there yuo have it the thoughts in my head about this book, I told you it makes you think.

If anyone is interested in purchasing the book here is the link for amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0547371489/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=

Barnes and Noble

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Awaken/Katie-Kacvinsky/e/9780547371481/?itm=1&USRI=awaken+kacvinsky

The start of something new

Ok all you people out there in cyberspace, this is the official launch of my blog.I have been thinking that lately I should have a blog so that I can get all my thoughts and ideas about the books that I read out there and hopefully someone will actually read them and then they might pick up said book based on something I said which would be totally cool. The main reason I think that I'm doing this is because I read. A lot. Usually I have someone to talk to about it.Usually im at work so the conversations are quick and I don't get all my ideas out. Also, lately no one has been listening to me about what I read and another point, I hear it can be theraputic just to write and what better thing for me to write about than books I mean I've worked in books for about eight years first in high school at my library where I would bring home stacks and stacks of books about everything and anything I would probably only read like half of them though. Now I am at my local barnes and noble and today not only marks my birthday but also is my four year mark at that places and say what you will about working retail, the hours suck, the pay sucks, and the messes that people leave suck big time, but since working there I have accumulated more books and read more things than any other time in my life. So there you have people my reasons for doing this I still have to think of an updating schedule and write down everything im going to review but I think in the long run it'll be a good thing. So here is to the start of something new.