Red Queen, by Victoria Aveyard

Mare Barrow struggles for survival in a world where there is a ruling class, the Silvers, who proudly proudly display their superpowers in order to make the powerless Reds feel belittled. The Reds are forced into poverty and are slaves to the Silvers’ war. All Reds who don’t have any special skills (like sewing, fishing, etc.) by the age of 18 are forced to fight and die in the war. Mare is approaching the age of 18 and is becoming increasingly disobedient to the laws of the Silvers. But she has a few lessons to learn.

This is one of the better teen dystopias I’ve read in a while. The world-building is unique and the characters are engaging. It’s unlike many of the dystopias lately in that it gives you the opportunity to see how the bad guys aren’t all bad. But it does also has some typical aspects of teen dystopias with female main characters. I’d like to see more teen fantasy/sci-fi with male characters these days, as I find them more to the point and less about messed up romance.

Overall, if you like teen dystopia, you’ll like this book. If you don’t, you won’t.

I emerge from Hibernation (again)

Well, it’s certainly been a while, hasn’t it. I haven’t been blogging lately because I fell into an interviewing / reading / blogging funk. Interviewing is such a draining process! But the good news is that I got a good job at a major dialysis company and have been training there for about two months. So it’s time to re-emerge. That’s my big news for over the last couple of months, so I’ll just settle down to a weekly update now:

It’s been quite the week! I came down with some sore throat / cough illness early in the week, and it’s just lingering on – so I won’t be able to donate platelets as planned on Labor Day. (I know, I get sick a lot, don’t I?) 😦 Also, I’ve run into problems with the police. Remember how I bought a new car in March? Well, I traded in my old car, but something went wrong with the transfer of the title or something illegal happened because I’m now being investigated for a hit-and-run on top of notifications that the car has been impounded! They’re threatening citation and reports to collections, which would affect my credit. On top of that, I wanted to order flowers for my friend’s mom’s surgery, and I kept running into problems and 1800flowers called me up and canceled the order, and said they refunded me. But I’ve got TWO (not just one) charge on my bank card, so I need to call them up and figure THAT out. Also, I went to back up my computer and found that my back-up hard drive was shot! I lost some stuff. Luckily, I have a back-up back-up, so most of the stuff is still on there – I lost a few things because people made fun of me for having a back-up back-up, so I stopped using it recently. 🙂

Today I’m going to the Renaissance Festival with my friend and boyfriend, though to be honest I’d rather be sleeping off this illness. Hopefully it’ll be fun, anyway. I’ll probably perk up once the morning blues have worn off. 🙂 Tomorrow I’m going to the AMC theater showing of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factor AND Blazing Saddles. I have two tickets and hoping my friend will be able to join me, but her mom gets out of the hospital tomorrow and we’re not sure she’ll come. So I might have two tickets but go alone if I can’t find anyone. I’d still enjoy it. 🙂

On the reading front, I finished two books this week: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, by J. K. Rowling (for fun book), and Red Queen, by Victoria Aveyard (book club). Reviews to come. As far as I remember, I haven’t watched anything worth mentioning.

I’m currently reading: The Ear, the Eye, and The Arm, by Nancy Farmer as my fiction (for fun book); Stiletto, by Daniel O’Malley as my audiobook (book club book); and Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers, by Robert M. Sapolsky for my fiction (for fun book).

In which Rachel has been interviewed

Ever since getting my EMT certification about 3 weeks ago I’ve been applying for jobs like crazy. In fact, one morning I woke up to discover that I’d actually applied to several jobs in the middle of the night and totally forgotten about it! This week, I’ve had two interviews. Both jobs seem very interesting. We’ll see what happens.

I also went to the confirmation of my boyfriend’s brother. It took place in the Cathedral of Saint Paul, and was a beautiful ceremony.

And there was a little emergency that happened in our family too. My sister called me around midnight on Tuesday to say that she was in the ER with her 2 year old son. He’d had a “bad” seizure. It turned out to “only” be a febrile seizure – when a young child gets a high temperature sometimes they seize. It was very scary because it was the first seizure my sister had ever seen – and to see it in her own son! We spent several hours in the ER, but he turned out to be ok in the end. Phew!

Currently Reading

I changed the books I am currently reading because I remembered that Doing Dewey has a monthly non-fiction book club, and they’re reading Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson. With my interest in the justice system, I couldn’t pass this book up. Even though I promised myself I’d focus on mental health for my own Mental Health Blog Hop (for which I’m reading Ten Days in a Mad-House). I’m also reading Roots, by Alex Haley for the read-along hosted by True Book Addict.

Watched this week

Acquired this week

Book Blogger Hop question of the week: Why did you start your blog?

My Answer: I started my blog because I enjoy writing reviews about books. I’ve always wanted to be an author (I know, join the club), and I thought this would be a good way to practice writing and figure out how to market. But I never started marketing on my blog, I just enjoy reviewing books too much.

This update is posted to Book Blogger Hop @Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer, Stacking the Shelves @Tynga’s Reviews, Sunday Salon, Sunday Post @Caffeinated Book Reviewer, and It’s Monday What are You Reading @Book Date

The Corinthian, by Georgette Heyer

The Corinthian
Written by Georgette Heyer
Read by Georgina Sutton

The ridiculously wealthy Sir Richard Wyndham has just been bullied by his family into proposing to a cold-hearted mercenary woman whom he does not love. They day before his proposal, he goes on a drunken walk through the night-time city, and a boy climbs out of a window into his arms. But the boy turns out to be Penelope Creed, a young heiress who is likewise being pressured by her family to marry someone she doesn’t love. Penelope is about to set out on a journey, and Wyndham feels obligated to escort her.

The Corinthian is a fantastic adventure for both the characters and the reader. This is only my second Georgette Heyer book, but it’ll probably end up to be my favorite. The characters made lovably silly choices all the way through the book, with humorous outcomes. The book remains light-hearted while sticking to a believable story-line. I can’t wait to read another Heyer book – in fact I almost went ahead and picked up another right away. I’ll definitely read another within the next few months.

In which Rachel buys Peptochrome

Another good week has passed, though again with very little reading or corresponding with blogging buddies. Hopefully this silence will pass soon! I’ve just got to pass my NREMT exam and I’ll be back in the blogging world with a vengeance. This week I celebrated Easter twice – once with my boyfriend’s family and once with my own. I went to the park with my 1.5yo nephew a couple of times and found that he’s able to ride the zipline all by himself! I should have gotten a picture for you. AND I bought a new car. The old one was having “break problems.” That is, it shook violently when breaking. They’ve been telling me “break problems” for years, but I keep fixing the breaks and it never fixes the shake. I have brand new (like within the last three months) breaks and rotors, and had some rust filed down in there. None of it helped, and none of that stuff helped years ago when I first started having the problems. It’s like they simply can’t fathom that my car might shake when I break if the rotors and breaks have been put in properly. It’s always blame-it-on-the-last-guy. Finally, the shake got bad enough that I had a choice – get my next big 15k maintenance on my car, or just get rid of it before I crash and die. So I bought Peptochrome.

Currently Reading

Completed this week

Watched this week

Completed in March

In which Rachel passes her EMT practicum

This was a good but busy week. I passed my EMT practicum and got an A in the EMT class. Now I’m all ready to sign up for the NREMT (national registry exam for EMTs). I hear is the hardest test I’ll ever take in my life. I thought the MCAT would be the hardest test I took in my life, so we’ll see if the NREMT beats that. I’ll keep you updated. Otherwise the week was pretty uneventful. Filled with studying, going to my part time job at the nursing home, training for my part-time job as a medical scribe, volunteering, and tests. The highlight of the week is that it was the birthday of a good friend of mine and we went on a couple of adventures to celebrate.

Happy Easter to all those who celebrate!

Currently reading

This hasn’t changed since last week!

Completed this week

It’s tempting to rush and read some kiddie book real quickly so I’ll have something to put here.

Watched this week

Again, nothing.

Acquired

The Five Kingdoms book is Death Weavers – the fourth book in the series. I purchased it for a palate cleanser since my reading motivation is going down, but I didn’t actually start it. Ha! Low motivation.

The other book is a medical terminology book which I will be using in my class this summer. I got it now so I can start studying for my medical scribe job as well.

In which Rachel takes a part-time job as a medical scribe

Well, my first week of tests for the EMT class is over. These were just practice tests – one practice test for the EMT certification exam and one for the National Registry practicum. I did adequately in both, and am hoping to pass both real exams soon. On next Monday I take the real practicum, on Wednesday I take the class final exam, and sometime in the next month I’ll take the NREMT (certification exam). Then I can start looking for an EMT position!

Additionally, I took a part-time job as a medical scribe. It’s apparently another great way to prepare for a physician’s assistant program. Unfortunately, it requires 30 hours of unpaid, online training, which is due two weeks from Wednesday. I may not have enough time to get through all of it while I’m studying for my last week of EMT class. We’ll see!

Currently Reading

Completed this week

Watched

Acquired

In which Rachel has her last week of EMT lectures

Happy Daylight Saving weekend everyone! Not much happened this week out here in Rachel-land. The weather is beautiful, and I’ve been able to take some nice long walks around a lake – we have 10,000 of them out here in MN. 😉

I had another moulage victim gig this week – this time I was a belligerent drunk with a tib-fib fracture and a tension pneumothorax. I got to yell at poor medical interns while they tried to convince their examiner that they knew what they were doing. It was pretty fun. My lines were “I’m going to die if you don’t do something!” “I’m going to throw up!” and “I need to sit up so I can breathe!” The rest was all ad lib. I DO wonder if I’d be able to be quite so loud if I really had a tension pneumothorax, though.

This is my last week of EMT lectures. From now on it’s two full weeks of tests. I can’t wait. *cringes*

Currently Reading

Completed this week

Watched

Acquired

Season 1 of Flash and POP! Hulk were gifts for my boyfriend’s birthday. Gooseberry Bluff Community College of Magic is my real-life bookclub choice this month.

In which Rachel goes on an Ambulance Ride-Along

First of all, thanks for everyone who has been commenting on my blog despite my disappearance. I plan on getting back to all of your blogs soon, but I’ve been concentrating on studying for the onslaught of tests at the end of my EMT class. I have to do well or else I won’t pass my national exams. I’ll keep you updated on how I’m doing. 🙂

This week was fantastic, though exhausting. I celebrated my nephew’s 3rd birthday twice – it only comes around every 4 years, so it’s exciting to celebrate. We went to Rainforest Cafe at the Mall of America for our first celebration. Dinner there was terrible. It took about 45 minutes to get our drinks, and they totally forgot to bring my dad’s – he had to wait another 15 minutes for his. Plus, one of us accidentally ate a piece of plastic that was in the quesadillas. Of course we sent them back and had them taken off the tab, but that’s a huge choking hazard! The service was terrible, the food lacking in tastiness, and the restaurant had tables crushed together way too close so that you HAD to bump into another table in order to get out of your own.

The next time I celebrated my nephew’s birthday, I took him over to a friend’s house, where we discovered (horror of horrors) that both Netflix and Hulu had stopped streaming Doctor Who. I’m sure they announced it in advance, but we didn’t notice. We had to watch a couple of movies instead. Now I’ve bought the 6th series so that we can watch it at our leisure.

I also had an ambulance ride-along, which was fantastic. The trip was 14 hours, and we spent the whole of it in the ambulance. There were about 7 calls – one every 2 hours. None of them were particularly exciting, though we did have to handcuff two of the patients for our own safety. I was shocked how quickly 14 hours passed.

I also went to a high school production of Man of La Mancha. It was fantastic, other then the orchestra which had a fairly bad trumpet player. But the acting was superb considering it was a high school performance. Especially Don Quixote. Amazing acting and boy could that kid sing!

Currently Reading

Completed This Week

Watched

Acquired

A Room of One’s Own and Chasing the Scream were both purchased on sale at Audible. I’m starting to pile up books in my Audible queue through these sales, but how can I resist? I thought it would be nice to add in one more Virginia Woolf book this year, as I’m celebrating women classic authors right now. Chasing the Scream fits with my current interest in the state of the failing justice system here in America.

In which Rachel tries out being a moulage patient

This was a good week. I got lots of studying done, did well on a test, went out to dinner with the family for my nephew’s 3rd birthday (he’s turning 12 on the 29th), and tried out being a moulage patient for an EMS program.

In case you don’t know what a moulage patient is, medical students, EMS students, etc. need practice patients to assess and diagnose. Moulage patients are make-uped to look like they’re sick or have undergone trauma. This experience was fantastic for me since it prepares me for my practical exams for my EMT class, which will happen in a couple of weeks. In fact, I was moulaging for EMT students, so the test is exactly the same as I will experience myself! It’s a pretty low-brain job which pays a reasonable amount of money. I enjoyed it so much that I agreed to do another run in a couple of weeks, and I applied for a “casual-but-long-term” job doing it. It’s not the job I want after I graduate, but since it’s casual I can do it every once in a while when it’s convenient. We’ll see if I get an interview.

Monthly wrap-up

Overall, the month has been a good one. I went down to part time at work, started exercising on a regular basis, and have been doing well in my EMT class. I will have finished 8 books – a decrease from the 14 from last month. I know it seems like I should have more reading time now that I’m part-time, but I have a lot less time in the car to listen to audiobooks, and I’m spending a good deal of my new free-time studying.

Posts

Little House on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder

The Reivers, by William Faulkner

A Passage to India, by E. M. Forster

Lecture 6 of Stress and Your Body

Currently Reading

Completed this week

Acquired

I bought The Last Week and Neurotribes because I knew that I would be reading them soon. The Last Week is a great book to read during Lent since it’s about the last week of Jesus’ life. Neurotribes was on sale at Audible for a two-for-one sale, and I added on Bluebeard. Neurotribes will wait until autism April. In the Woods was a gift from a LibraryThing friend.