Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit by Daniel Quinn

   

Synopsis: A pessimistic man sees an ad: "TEACHER SEEKS PUPIL. Must have an earnest desire to save the world. Apply in person." He gets angry. He lost all notion of saving the world a long time ago. But he goes anyways. The last thing he expected to see was a giant gorilla behind a glass panel. Even less for said gorilla to talk to him. Enter Ishnael, a giant educated gorilla with a story all of his own. So begins the story of a man who becomes the student of a gorilla who wants to show him how exactly human's are destroying the world and what they can do to save it.

Review: I really liked this book. It was well thought out and made me question things such as, how much of what we believe in is actually true? Why do we belive that the world was made for us and solely us? I personally belive that a book is great if it challenges your way of thinking. If it pushes your boundaries and has logical and justified reasons for doing so then you know you have a great piece of literature. I like that Ishmael,  the gorilla, asks questions instead of answering them and just lecturing. At one point all I was thinking was " If all teachers were like Ishmael then I don't think we would have such a huge problem with lack of critical thinking skills. ". I also really liked the main character. Not because he understood every concept of the lesson right away, but because he reacted the way you expect someone whose entire perception of life is being challenged to react. He was confused and didn't understand certain points and sometimes he wasn't the brightest, but he worked through it and came up with his own conclusions. I also don't want to give out the sense that Ishmael was perfect and wise. Yes, he was extremely educated and knew many things, but he was also flawed and you see that as the book progresses.

Final Thoughts: I reccomend this book for anyone who wants to do a bit of thinking (everytime that Ishmael asked something I would stop reading and cone up with my own explanation before continuing). It's a book with a different concept and very out-of-the-box ideas, so keep an open mind and go on a journey with Ishmael.

If any of you guys have read this book let me know what your thoughts were :)

What I'm Reading This Month

     Hi everyone! This week the work has been piling on so I may not be able to give you guys a book review until Friday. That's the latest. So to not keep you guys hanging here's what I'm currently reading:

1. Ishmael by Daniel Quinn: I'm already into the book and I really like it. I really never thought that I would be reading a book about a talking gorilla.

2. The Story of Spanish by Jean-Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow: I won this in a giveaway on Goodreads and I'm so excited to read it! I find the roots of languages fascinating and how they're used all over the world is equally interesting.

3. Cruel Sister by David Conway: This book is about the really extreme side of sibling rivalry. They both want control of their father's company and so they go through any means necessary to make sure that the other one doesn't succeed. Apparently their is also boyfriend stealing going on at the same time. It's definitely a different book from what I'm used to. I usually like to read happy and bright books, but this one caught my attention.

4. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: I'm reading this book for a book club that I'm part of. It's a classic and I'm really trying to incorporate classic works into my reading. I like it thus far. The only problem with it is that you really need to to your homework before buying the book and get a translation that is as accurate as can be.

     That's just a little update on what I'm reading. What are you guys reading this month?

April Wrap Up and May To Be Read

     Hi everyone! So as April comes to a close I'm getting my books ready for May. I was able to read four books this month which I find amazing considering that school has taken up a colossal amount of my time. So here are the four books that I've read this month:

                                                    

                                                 1. Monster  by Frank Peretti

            2. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss

     3. Vision in White by Nora Roberts

  4. Poesia by Dulce Maria Loynaz

     I really liked all four books. Monster and Vision  in White were really fast reads just because the actual pace of the story went really fast. Great books that you can finish in about two days. The History of Love (which I am absolutely in love with) took a little longer to read even though it was a much shorter book just because I wanted to make sure that I read every little detail and didn't miss anything. The poetry book didn't take long either, the poems were fairly short and so was the book. I already did a review on Vision in white (click here to see that review), but if you guys want a review on any of the other books I'll be more than happy to do so. All in all I was very happy with the books I read this month.

     Now for next month's reads! I'm really excited about this one :) 

1. Dracula Rekindled by Xander Buchan: I strated reading this book on Friday (is that cheating?), but I know that I won't be able to finish it by the end of the month so I put it over to next month. It's really good so far. I'm more than likely going to do a review or discussion (will contain spoilers because I'll go much more in depth) on this book. Thoughts on this? Which would you prefer?

 2. Ishmael by Daniel Quinn: I promised a friend that I would read this and after doing a little reserach on the book I'm super pumped to get into it. It's definitely different from any book I've read.

3. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: I'm reading this one for a reading group that I'm part of on Goodreads (Classics Without All the Class) and I've never read anything by Tolstoy, but I know that this book is raved about and so I'm excited for this one too (I'm excited for everything as you can tell).

4. Cartas a Mama Desde el Infierno (Letters to Mom From Hell) by Ingrid Betancourt: The history and     the events of the Colombian drug cartels is extremely interesting. The author of this book was actually captured by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and lived as a prisoner in the jungle for more than five years. It's an interesting book and it's not something that I typically read, but reading is all about expanding your scope of literature and what better way to do it than with a topic that you're not very well versed on?

    

     I want to keep reading four books every month (maybe more, but no less) and this list seems doable seeing as the last book is 63 pages long and can be read in about one or two hours. Look forward to book reviews (or discussions) soon. Till next time :)