These Books Among Us

As most of you reading this know, there seems to be a trend in the "hero complex" in young adult, middle grade, and children's novels. Stories like Percy Jackson, Hunger Games, and Whichwood all have younger people saving the world. But why has this become the norm for a lot of current writings? Well, let's explore that together. First off, what is the superhero complex and how can we try to identify the features of it in our literature and our lives? The superhero complex is often when a character has a desperate need to protect the people around them. They do not necessarily think of their own safety in the matter, only that they must protect. This person will have an inherent desire and compulsion to help people. There is also a need to do it all alone, to hopefully trim down the list of casualties. Many of the identifiable features of this include over protection, a disinterest in self preservation, and being quite controlling over any and all situatio...

Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein (134 pages) My Rating: 4 Stars Date Read: 6 November 2016 Synopsis: The MLA Committee on Scholarly Editions has awarded Tender Buttons: The Corrected Centennial Edition its seal designating it an MLA Approved Edition. 2014 marks the one hundredth anniversary of the original publication of Gertrude Stein's groundbreaking modernist classic, Tender Buttons. This centennial edition is the first and only version to incorporate Stein's own handwritten corrections—found in a first-edition copy at the University of Colorado—as well as corrections discovered among her papers at the Beinecke Library at Yale University. Editor Seth Perlow has assembled a text with over one hundred emendations, resulting in the first version of Tender Buttons that truly reflects its author's intentions. These changes are detailed in Perlow's "Note on the Text," which describes the editorial process and lists the specific variants for the benefit...

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo (536 pages) My Rating: 5 stars Date Read: 27 October 2016 Synopsis When you can’t beat the odds, change the game. Kaz Brekker and his crew have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn’t think they’d survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they’re right back to fighting for their lives. Double-crossed and badly weakened, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz’s cunning and test the team's fragile loyalties. A war will be waged on the city’s dark and twisting streets―a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of the Grisha world. My Review: This post will 100% be full of spoilers for both the first book and this book, so if you have not read either, please leave the post now, because you need to read this series...