The Returned by Dr. Laurence B. Brown

I haven't done a good old fashioned book review on my blog here for a long time. I decided from now on, I will put up my book reviews here instead of on goodreads.com. I will update goodreads though with a link to my reviews once they are up on my blog.

1st time read August (10th completed) 2012
2nd time read August 22-24, 2014

I have read The Returned twice, the second time around to review it. I am a big fan of Dr. Brown's books, and have done reviews for some of his other books I have read so far. If you are interested, here they are!
The Eighth Scroll
The Zion Deception
MisGoded

The back of the book of The Returned reads: From Dr. Laurence B. Brown, author of the critically acclaimed best-seller, The Eighth Scroll, comes an exhilarating adventure of surprising depth and extraordinary resonance.

For brothers Nathan and Mark Jones, the best summer vacation they can imagine is one of wild adventure. That is why they join their college geochemistry professor on a prospecting trip to South America. But what begins as a simple expedition rapidly devolves into a life-altering trip into the darkest corners of the human soul. The brothers’ lives soon morph into a kaleidoscope of the best and worst that lawless human nature and untamed wilderness can dish out. They quickly realize that their survival depends not only upon one another, but upon the native Indians they have been taught to fear—the only ones who can lead them back to civilization.

Forty years later, Nathan returns to uncover the truths behind the deadly expedition. In the process, he uncovers a secret that traps him in a terrifying collision of belief, superstition, and survival.

 

In the vein of Thomas Berger’s Little Big Man and John Boorman’s The Emerald Forest, Dr. Brown captures with primal ferocity the clash between the west’s fanciful myths of indigenous cultures, and the harsh reality we encounter when our worlds, ideals, and morals collide. Probing the deepest recesses of the human psyche, he lays bare the unadorned savagery not just of primitive cultures, but of all people who are forced into adrenaline-fueled battles of wits and wills to survive. The Returned is an insightful, scintillating, action-packed adventure that illuminates the survival-based instincts that lie dormant in us all—and how choices in desperate circumstances define our characters.

*****

 
According to MY scale as described in http://sfraww.blogspot.com/2014/07/my... to me, 4 stars = really good (2-3 things disliked about the book). So here are my reasons for why I felt the way I did about The Returned.
 

I realized I love the cover art to all of Brown's books, including this one. Not a big deal, but if you pick up books based on their covers (yeah I know its' not good to judge a book my its cover, but who actually doesn't do this?!), then the cover art could make a difference to whether you choose to read a book or not. Regardless, The Returned was very action packed, suspenseful, and interesting. Some parts were gruesome, so if you don't like bloody descriptive scenes, I would avoid this book. (I'm use to this from reading Brown's other fiction books.) The book overall was very descriptive, giving the impression that Brown went to the Amazon jungle himself or did research on it, which he has done for many of his past books. Reading The Returned made me realize that I would HATE to be stuck in the Amazon jungle; I would actually be really scared!

The book is broken into 73 short chapters! While this may be good at times when we want to take a break or easily remember where to continue from, 73 chapters is a lot! A few other parts were also for more of an adult audience, in my opinion. For this reason, I think The Returned would be better suited for adult readers.

When I first read The Returned, I gave it five stars. This time, I was a little more critical. For some reason, giving it five stars again made me think, "I don't consider it a favorite, so why the 5 stars?" So four stars was more appropriate.

I wish I could give more specifics about The Returned that I try to usually include in my book reviews, but for now, this is where I stand with The Returned. It may not be a favorite like Brown's other books, but I still recommend adults read this one. You might learn to value your life more!

My Educational Philosophy

I decided to share my educational philosophy on my blog here. This answers questions on why I chose teaching, my beliefs about teaching, learning, and children, the type of teacher I want to be, etc. Some parts might be familiar, but this is my final statements with regards to teaching. 

As a future teacher candidate (inshAllah :) this was part of a university class assignment. I know some people don't agree with me sharing my "school/ college" related work here, especially those related to teaching, but with all due respect, this is my personal blog and I can share whatever I want to. Anyways, I hope this answers some questions :)

I was in fourth grade when I realized I wanted to be a teacher. Although I have been interested in other careers, my greatest hope continues to be to teach. I loved school back then and I looked forward to going to school every day. I read stories to my younger brother and played school with him. Later on in seventh grade, I tutored second graders in English. In addition, I have assisted teachers at a private school over my winter, spring, and summer breaks for the past few years. Through this, I was able to interact with children from different grades, ages, and backgrounds, which I enjoyed!

I realized the importance of having a good education begins from an early age. If children are taught life skills and knowledge, then life for them as well as the people they interact with, will be much better. Being in a position to teach allows the teacher to influence a child positively. Teachers also act as role models. Memories from my own school years remind me of my fun childhood, but also the problems youth face, such as bullying and peer pressure. These thoughts and experiences, as well as the love of children and teaching them to value their free education, further led me to consider a career in education.

I would like to work with students in grades K-6 and specialize in English. I love reading and writing and want to instill this in the young generation. Using technology enhances the classroom. A 5th grade English teacher from whom I was learning techniques had her class do presentations using PowerPoint and Prezi on vocabulary words. This had the students up on their feet, let them develop speaking skills in front of an audience, gave them an opportunity to work with computer software, and be creative. The students seemed to enjoy seeing their classmates work and their own presented with graphics and audio. This would be a good idea to have my future students do to acquire similar skills instead of the teacher presenting information all the time.

Working with students and forming close relationships with them showed me how much attention, support, and guidance they need from a young age. Being someone who can relate to their situations, help them and give advice, and be a role model, makes me feel good. I like how children feel comfortable around me and open up like I am a friend. Any way that I can make students enjoy their childhood and school, gives me the motivation that I can do so much more once I become a teacher.

The GoodReads Tag

I saw Pip do the GoodReads tag (a long time ago!) and thought it was time for me to do another tag here! For those who aren't familiar with tags online, it's basically a questionnaire that people answer and they tag a number of people to also answer them as well. For my tags, I will try to vary my answers without making them up and ask that everyone else try to do the same. Feel free to answer the questions here in the comments below ;) You can still answer these questions if you want to whether I tagged you or not!

1. What was the last book you marked as read?
Muslim Girl by Umm Zakiyyah

2. What are you currently reading?

MisGod'ed by Laurence B. Brown

3. What was the last book you marked as to read?
Monster War (Nightmare Academy #3) by Dean Lorey

4. What book do you plan to read next?
Sophia's Journal: Time Warp 1857 by Najiyah Diana Helwani

5. Do you use the star rating system?
Yes. Please see my last reading post, My Opinions on Rating and Reviewing Books for more info.

6. Are you doing a 2014 reading Challenge?
Yes. So far, I have only read 13/ 50 books :(

7. Do you have a wish list?
My to-buy shelf was really books on my wish list, so I just renamed it :)

8. What book do you want to buy next?
Black Sheep by Na'ima B. Robert

9. Do you have any favorite quotes and would you like to share any?
One of my favorites! “Smart people learn from their mistakes. But the real sharp ones learn from the mistakes of others.” by Brandon Mull

10. Who are your favorite authors?
Jenny Nimmo, Rick Riordan, J.K. Rowling, etc.

11. Have you joined any groups?
No

12. Are there any other questions you would like to add?
How many book shelves do you have on goodreads?
Including the 3 originals, 11 total shelves.

Now I'm off to update (condense) my list of 353 books!

The Joys of Journaling :P

 
How many of us write in a journal/ diary? I've been journaling for the past 3-4 years now and it wasn't until a friend read through some of her entries a while ago from her diary as a child, did I regret not starting earlier too. It's funny and interesting to see what we felt important enough to write about over the years, not to mention seeing how our handwriting and spelling (might have) changed!

I found out what the difference between a journal and diary is recently when I looked through The Complete Idiot's Guide to Creative Writing 2nd edition by Dr. Laurie E Rozakis. To make it easy to remember, diary is daily writing and journaling is not. I realized I did a bit of both. I started journaling in my rainbow journal gifted to me in high school, then in 2013 I made it a goal to write in my beach scene journal diary everyday! In 2014, I started journaling again in my pink zebra journal (only because I couldn't find a daily diary I liked...) Either way, now I know the difference between a diary and journal and came to the conclusion that I prefer journaling vs. writing daily in a diary.

I realized a few days ago while reading through my past entries that what I wrote wasn't really worth rereading. They sounded boring to be honest; like what I did daily or planned to do. That is what a planner is for in my opinion, not really a journal. Not that daily happenings aren't worth writing, I just got bored of writing and reading these almost all the time... So, I came up with 5 little "finish the statements" that I could do (mostly daily), to spice up my journal writing experience. I feel like writing at least these 5 sentences holds me accountable on how I spend my day and makes me really think about the good things in life. After writing these 5 sentences for the past few days, I noticed that I look forward to journaling a lot more now then I did before I started this. Yes, some sentences may focus on daily to dos, but not just that. There is more to it!

So the 5 sentences I came up with are:
1. Today I learned/ realized...
To try and learn something/ refresh your memory from THE day.
2. (Alhamdulillah) Today I am grateful for...
What happened THIS day that you were  grateful for?
3. Today I accomplished....
To feel a sense of... accomplishment :P
4. Tomorrow, (inshAllah) I plan to...
Focusing on just 1 goal for the NEXT day should feel doable and so we wont feel like we completely wasted our day.
5. I need to repent asap (as soon as possible) for...
Because we all sin, we should repent daily for something. The smaller the sins (get), you will realize you may be improving!

For example, one day I wrote:
1. Today I realized driving is freeing!
2. Today I am grateful for selling a textbook!
3. Today I accomplished cutting my (own) hair!
4. Tomorrow, I plan to practice for my Praxis exam...
5. I need to repent asap for wasting my time on YouTube...

Whether you want to include these 5 statements in your journal/ diary or not, the point is to start/ continue writing and enjoy it! In Dr. Rozakis's book, she said to think of your journal as: A giant safe deposit box that hold the most valuable stuff of all: your thoughts; a place to make your deepest confessions; a safe place where you work out a problem; a record of your life and the lives of those whom you love; and much more! According to a ProductiveMuslim article, "Personal journaling can be a very valuable tool for self-reflection and development, and here’s a quick reminder why:

1. It allows you to reconnect with yourself and your life: In our hectic day-to-day lives, many details simply get lost, somewhere between breakfast and bedtime. Taking some time each day to sit down and write about your day makes you more aware of what you’re thinking, feeling and doing. And the first step to improvement is always awareness.
2. It helps you see the bigger picture and discover patterns in your life: When you journal for some time, you will find it much easier to connect the dots and recognize the patterns in your life and your relationships. Reading back earlier journal entries can be a real eye-opener and gives you insight about where you’re coming from and where you’re heading to.
3. It enables you to diffuse negative feelings and attitudes: Sometimes you just need to let off steam about something that happened to you, or perhaps you struggle with negative feelings and thoughts that hold you back from being productive. Writing about it can be an enormous relief and it can help you to let go of the negativity and focus on being positive and productive.

Whatever your reason is, I encourage everyone to start journaling/ writing in a diary as young as possible and to continue (if you already do)!

By the way, blogging is a form of journaling and if you don't mind sharing your original writings with the world, then bring your journaling online.  

My OPINIONS on Rating and Reviewing Books

Rating Books

According to goodreads.com
1 star = didn't like the book
2 = it was okay
3 = liked it
4 = really liked it
5 = it was amazing!

My rating scale is a little different
1 star = couldn't finish (boring, confusing, etc.)
To me, the point of even putting a star is to show/ remember that an attempt to read the book was made, but it didn't go far :(
2 = completed, but disliked
If I don't completely quit on the book and give it a 1 star...
3 = okay (# good things = not good)
4 = really good (2-3 things disliked about the book)
5 = favorite (1 dislike I'm okay with)

From now on, when I rate books it will be according to my scale and for the reasons I mentioned above. In the past, when I would rate books on gr, I didn't know how I would differentiate between 3, 4, and 5 stars. After writing some reviews, I came to the conclusion that I should have a "standard" and "explanation" for why certain books get certain number of stars. The above scale is what I came up with :P It will take some time to get use to rating books according to this, but at least it will be easier to "justify" why a book should get more or less stars than another! Hope this makes sense :P

Reviewing Books

I'm getting into writing more reviews, even if they are only a few sentences. I think giving some sort of reasoning behind why you liked, disliked, or who you recommend the book to is helpful and interesting ;) I'm thinking about getting this journal to help me organize all my notes for reviewing books in the future inshAllah!

Spoil the Fun :P

I look at all reviews as spoilers! Even if you don't give away specific details and just talk about your feelings, people reading/ listening to the review will know to expect something that might make them feel the same way. I am not saying to not give details in reviews, but rather I am encouraging it! How can someone understand what made you feel/ think a certain way if you don't give away a few details??? If someone really doesn't want spoilers, they shouldn't even read the back cover to books or search the books online!

This post is not a complaint, just my opinions :)

My Future as a Diverse Educator

This post is of my follow up assignment to my My History as a Diverse Learner essay. Like I mentioned in that post, since I have started my education courses this past semester, I have decided to share some of my work from those classes. I am also considering whether to share my unit/ lesson plans here too, so if you would like to see those, let me know in the comments below!

As a future elementary (K-6) school educator, I will have an important role and responsibility in teaching and caring for my students. I started my education courses this semester, so I have become a little familiar with the “life” and work of a future educator. Although I will have guidelines to follow when it comes to what I have to teach/ follow, I believe as long as my units/ lessons are grade level appropriate, engaging, and enjoyable, any topic should be fair game. Since designing a few unit/ lesson plans for the first time this semester, I know how time consuming and sometimes frustrating it can be to come up with a topic and ideas to teach it. However, by the end it can be rewarding if the teacher and students enjoy the process and results

I would like to put this semester’s unit/lesson plans to use on world languages and culture, fairy tales, and the human body. Even after some tweaking, I would prefer to put the hard work I have done in coming up with content for lesson/ unit plans to use. As I progress in my courses, I will try to continue to come up with lesson/ unit plan ideas that can be used in the future by either me or other educators.

I believe all students can learn if they make the effort to and realize the importance of an education. Multiple intelligences should be in the back of a teacher’s mind when brainstorming ideas, teaching, and interacting with students. Everyone has all of the nine multiple intelligences, but also strengths and room for improvement in different areas. I think a mix of both authentic and traditional assessment in class would work better. Everyone learns in different ways, so catering to those needs in as many ways as possible will allow for a better idea of progress/ evaluation. Students should be given occasional quizzes/ tests instead of heavily focusing on just those for evaluation while still being assigned bigger, hands on, real-world experience assignments where students learn on their own instead of always relying on the teacher.

Educators have a responsibility in getting knowledge and skills across to the students under their care. Using a variety of techniques and materials to present information in an engaging and enjoyable way for both students and teacher will allow for a more meaningful and memorable experience. For example, I have noticed when volunteering at a school that using technology enhances the classroom. A 5th grade English teacher from whom I was learning techniques had her class do presentations using PowerPoint and Prezi on vocabulary words. This had the students up on their feet, let them develop speaking skills in front of an audience, gave them an opportunity to work with computer software, and be creative. The students seemed to enjoy seeing their classmates work and their own presented with graphics and audio. This would be a good idea to have my future students do to acquire similar skills instead of the teacher presenting information all the time.

I learned something useful about maintaining an effective classroom while completing my 20 hour observation this semester. I felt the teacher I was observing was hard on the students. Generally, the students were extremely quiet and didn't look like they were happy to be in class. From an outsider's perspective, it looked like they were more afraid of their teacher who dealt with her class as if they were in boot camp. If the teacher is too friendly and easy going, some students might take advantage of them and not take the teacher seriously. However, if the teacher is too strict, students will hesitate to interact with the teacher, not ask for help/ questions, etc. Being too nice or too strict has problems. I would take a middle approach and keep things peaceful during most of the class time and when necessary, make it obvious to students that I am serious and that they need to get their behavior/work together without yelling.

Overall, I have learned a lot with regards to being a future educator. Nonetheless, there is much to learn, understand, and experience to make my teaching and student’s learning experience as best as it can be. This is just the beginning of a lifelong mission to teach and teach well!

BINGO!

I finally got bingo (click here for more details about the original reading bingo board)!!! The 5 books I read (going from the top of the 4th column down) were:

1. A book published this year (right 1 from free square, up 2)

Muslim Girl by Umm Zakiyyah

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/954441767

 

2. A book by a female author (right 1 from free square, up 1)

If I Should Speak by Umm Zakiyyah

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/235401708?book_show_action=false

 

3. A book set in a different continent (right 1 from free square)
The Gift by Zaipah Ibrahim
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/784061230?book_show_action=false

4. A book based on a true story (right 1 from free square, down 1)

Traitor? by Terry C. Holdbrooks Jr.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/645165954?book_show_action=false

5. The second book in a series (right 1 from free square, down 2)

A Voice by Umm Zakiyyah
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/235072490

With the "rules" I put on myself (again read my original bingo post here), it is difficult to find choices, but the challenge makes it fun. I still plan to fill up the board and work on this side before I decide to start the YA reading bingo.

Join in if you haven't already and let me know in the comments below or a link about your progress!