Monthly Archives: December 2022

Book Review: The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

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The Year of Magical Thinking von Joan Didion - englisches Buch - bücher.de

A Year of Magical Thinking examines Joan Didion’s life and methods of mourning following the death of her husband of forty years, John Dunne.

Throughout the novel, Didion details her avoidance of, then obsession over, the sudden cardiac event one December night that killed the love of her life. The added stress of her daughter, Quintana Roo, being in the hospital on life support at the time leads to an nervous breakdown of sorts–and an examination of the nature of grieving and mourning itself.

I was first introduced to Didion’s writing about a year ago, and she quickly became one of my favorite authors of all time. That being said, I was a little reluctant to read this book- I knew that the subject matter would be darker and sadder than her usual writing style. Still, I was thoroughly impressed. Despite the turmoil in her personal life, Didion keeps her writing clean and precise, and doesn’t dwell on heavy-handed clichés about grief to convey her ideas; in fact, she even rejects some of these clichés (especially those about ‘healing’ and ‘coping’) as unrealistic.

Even so, the reader can feel her pain through her writing. She and John were inseparable- she even cites an instance when she was in San Francisco for a week writing a piece, and he would fly up from Santa Monica every night to have dinner with her before flying home again to be with their daughter. The loss hits her hard, and it’s apparent- she struggles desperately to keep herself sane and strong, for the sake of her daughter.

-Vaidehi B.

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

2022 World Cup

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The 2022 World Cup has come and gone, just like it does every 4 years. However, this World Cup will go down as one of the top World Cups in history.

 The 2022 tournament in Qatar brought tons of surprises, and wrapped up with the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) completing his trophy collection and accomplishing the most decorated career possible in the sport of football(or soccer). 

If you don’t know much about the World Cup, don’t worry, I’ll give a brief explanation real quick. It is played between the national teams of the qualifying country. To qualify for the tournament, teams need to be successful in the World Cup Qualifiers or be the host country. The tournament starts in the Group Stage, where there are 8 groups of 4 countries, and after each team plays 3 matches (against the 3 other teams in the group). Then, the top 2 countries from each group enter the knockout stage, where if you lose, you go home. The winners keep advancing until they reach the last match of the tournament, the World Cup Final. The 2 teams that lost in the semifinals also receive a chance to compete for the 3rd through a 3rd place match. 

In the 2022 World Cup, we saw Belgium, the team ranked 2nd in the FIFA national team rankings, go out in the group stage. Denmark, the 10th ranked team, and Germany, the 11th ranked team, also failed to advance to the knockout rounds. However, the biggest surprise came from Italy, the 6th ranked team, not even qualifying to take part in the World Cup. 

A pleasant surprise came when we saw Christian Pulisic and the USMNT (US Men’s National Team) qualify for the round of 16, before ultimately falling 3-1 to The Netherlands. In the Round of 16, we also saw Morocco knock out Spain on their way to the Quarterfinals. 

In the Quarterfinals, we witnessed some more surprising upsets. First, Luka Modric and Croatia stunned Neymar Jr and Brazil by drawing with them at the end of extra time, even after Neymar’s 105+1’ goal as Petkovic (Croatia) came up with an equalizer in the 117’ of the match, 3 minutes before the end of extra time. If you only watch one highlight from the World Cup, I suggest it be Neymar’s goal against Croatia. Then, Croatia proceeded to beat Brazil in penalties 4-2, sending the 1st ranked team home. We also saw Morocco shock the world by upsetting Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal 1-0. Some believe that the Portugal manager, Fernando Santos, made a mistake by bringing Ronaldo off the bench, as it was too late for them to come up with an equalizer. Ronaldo, in probably his last World Cup, was eliminated in the Quarterfinals, with his dream of winning the international tournament being just a dream. Messi and Argentina barely got past the Netherlands in a Penalty Shootout, after the Netherlands came back from a 2-0 deficit and came up with an equalizer in the last minute of second half stoppage time (90+11’). France beat England after Giroud scored a decider (go-ahead goal) in the 78th minute of the contest. Soon after, Harry Kane skied (hit over the goal)  a penalty, missing out on the chance to equalize. 

In the Semi-Finals, the favorites won, as Lionel Messi and Argentina comfortably handled Croatia 3-0, while France defeated Morocco 2-0. However, Morocco’s record-breaking World Cup journey was a huge accomplishment as they became the first African Nation to make the Semi-finals in the tournament. Morocco also received 4th place in the tournament, losing to Croatia in the 3rd place match. 

Finally, in the World Cup Final, we saw 2 powerhouses, Argentina and France, face off for a chance to make history. France was looking to be the first team since Brazil in 1962 to defend their title and be back-to-back champions. Lionel Messi on Argentina was looking to add the last missing trophy to complete his accomplished trophy cabinet. The match started with Argentina looking dominant while France was worse than terrible. Argentina started off their scoring with a penalty from Messi. Then, Angel Di Maria finished the counter-attack with an outstanding goal, making it 2-0 Argentina. In the 79th minute of action, France received a penalty, and Mbappe nailed it through the bottom left corner (80’). Then, 1 minute later, in the 81st minute, Kylian Mbappe scored another miraculous goal, tying it up at 2-2. It went to Extra time before Messi knocked in another goal in the 108th minute, cleaning up the save from the French Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. In the 118th minute, Mbappe scored another penalty, accomplishing a hat trick and knotting the game at 3-3. However, France also received another chance to score in the 120+3’ where Randal Kolo Muani took a shot between him and the goalkeeper, which the Argentine goalkeeper Emi Martinez saved. The biggest regret for France is Kolo Muani had Mbappe running on his left, and a pass to the French superstar could’ve won them the tournament. Argentina outlasted France in the penalty shootout, winning 4-2 and giving Messi his much desired World Cup victory. 

In conclusion, the 2022 Qatar World Cup was definitely one of the wildest World Cups yet, and I await the 2026 world cup with tremendous excitement.

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

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Their Eyes Were Watching God is a novel by Zora Neale Hurston.  The story is set in Florida around the turn of the twentieth century.  The main character is a woman named Janie Crawford.  Janie had a difficult background.  She was raised by her grandmother, who had been a slave for much of her life.  Janie also endured many trials.  She marries three men over the course of her life.  Her first husband is very controlling and does not treat her well.  Her second husband is very ambitious, and is also controlling.  Her third husband is different.  He shows more love and respect toward Janie and she feels much happier with him than during her previous marriages.

I was impressed by the main character.  She demonstrates great courage and endurance despite many difficult trials.  As a young woman she struggled to find love and happiness, but over time she developed strength and confidence that helped her to overcome challenging circumstances.  She was constantly under pressure from people around her to behave in a certain way, but she learned to bravely assert herself when necessary against people who tried to mistreat her.  She handled tragic events in her life with grace and courage, and became stronger as a result.

This book is considered one of the great classics of the Harlem Renaissance.  The author skillfully incorporates Southern vernacular with standard English.  I found this book to be a very insightful perspective on the culture and lifestyle in the South after the Civil War.  I appreciated its lessons about the harmful effects of spousal abuse and the power of love and respect.  This book is tragic in many ways but also inspiring.  I would highly recommend it.

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Album Review: Bleach by Nirvana

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Nirvana has to be one of the most influential bands of all time, changing music forever with their breakout album Nevermind. Nevermind wasn’t the trio’s first work, with Bleach being their freshman album. I love Nirvana so I naturally had to check out their debut album.

The album cover of Bleach

First of all, Bleach is a much different album than Nevermind and In Utero (Nirvana’s final studio album). It’s much more sludgy and metallic with it being comparable to the music of The Melvins, another grunge band from Nirvana’s neck of the woods. The best track off the album, in my opinion, is “Downer” which perfectly captures the vibe of Bleach.

If you listened to “Downer” and “Lithium” back to back, you’d think that Kurt Cobain had some sort of Temple of Dog-esque deal with the former track having different musicians than the latter (David Grohl didn’t play on Bleach but the guitar and bass are where some of the largest sonic differences come from). The song is on the faster side and has more in common with metal than the alternative rock of the 90s. Cobain has a strong vocal delivery and Krist Novoselic has an incredible bass line.


Kurt Cobain said not many people own Bleach while on MTV’s Unplugged program. His statement mostly holds up after his death, with Bleach being Nirvana’s least streamed album on Spotify. I personally think it’s the album’s weakest but it’s still a decent album in its own right. I give it a 7/10. You should definitely check it out when you have a moment.

Shakespeare by the Sea: Romeo and Juliet Review

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This is my first time seeing something by Shakespeare by the Sea, and my first time actually seeing a show of the famous Romeo and Juliet play. Despite how famous the story of Romeo and Juliet is, I have never actually seen a live performance of it, until Shakespeare by the Sea came around. Shakespeare by the Sea is a nonprofit organization that performs theatrical plays for free in communities around California. Last year, they were not able to tour and perform and they have just started again this summer. I was really lucky in catching this show, as it was part of the 25th anniversary and the last tour with the original founder of Shakespeare by the Sea.

I hadn’t been interested in Shakespeare and had just come along to watch the play because my mom asked if I wanted to. There was nothing I had to do that day, and I had never actually seen Romeo and Juliet yet, so I had no reason not to go see it. I was not disappointed. It was your usual Romeo and Juliet play, following the original story, but I had plenty of laughs and it was a lot of fun. There were a lot of moments, especially in the beginning of the play, that made me laugh out loud and smile. They spoke in the old, english dialect, but I understood it just fine. The actors did an amazing job, in portraying their character, the emotion, and making it fun for everyone. The actors help set up the stage, perform the entire thing, and take it down afterwards. The entire venue is outside and they work and perform for over an hour. The actors and people who work with Shakespeare by the Sea are honestly so amazing and put in so much time and effort in it. 

Shakespeare by the Sea has sparked my own interest in Shakespeare and his works and I am so happy to have been able to see them perform. If you ever get the chance to see one of their performances, I highly recommend going because they work super hard for their productions, and it is completely free to watch them. It is super fun to watch them perform and if you do ever end up going to a performance, make sure to give them a donation for their dedication to performing!

-Nicole R.

Book Review: To Kill A Mockingbird

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The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee is a well-known classic, deep rooted in valuable life lessons in perspective, respect, and that mostly of moral growth. In the beginning of the novel, the plot did not garner much intrigue for me personally. In my opinion, there was a little too much detail on Maycomb County and the society of it all. I just finished this book since this was a required read for all freshmen at our high school.

However, as I continued to read the book, chapter by chapter, I realized that this novel had taught some important life lessons that the author wanted to get out to the world. Scout and Jem’s demeanor from the beginning clearly showed that they had a child-like innocence of the entire Maycomb scene.

However, as they grew older and witnessed the racial tension, prejudice, and imperfections of society, they lose some of their innocence and mature into more understanding characters who are easier to relate to.

The quotes, “You never really understand a person until until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (Lee 118), and “Real courage is when you know you are licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what” (Lee 178) were really moving.

These quotes really touched my heart because Lee’s powerful themes throughout the book taught me the importance of not giving up in life and trying to understand people from their point of view before judging them.

Overall, the book definitely had some unprogressive parts in which there was a lot of unnecessary dialogue (typically between Scout and Jem), but these minimal flaws are overwhelmed by the powerful themes and life lessons that is expressed towards the readers.

I would recommend this book to many people because it really teaches you some important themes need for everyday life!

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

The Strangers

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If this movie doesn’t scare you then I don’t know what will! I personally have a strong love for any sort of horror/thriller films. I love anything and everything Horror related! The strangers is the perfect movie if you’re looking for something scary but non-paranormal. What truly sends chills down my spine is how it’s based off a true story. There were no ghosts involved and no sprites. Just real people who’re capable of re-acting the same crimes that once took place in that very house. Its terrify to me how they’re are people out there who have evil mentions.

In this movie you’ll soon see what I mean by this. It all starts at night. The couple are having a date night. Once they arrive home they’re both extremely tired. The finance who proposed to the woman has to go out and run some errands real quick. The Woman got angry that the finance was leaving her alone. She wanted him to stay with her. She felt uneasy. The finance managed to calm her down. He left. The woman then got lonely. She was wandering around the place they were staying.

Light footsteps. The sound is so faint. She spins around yet nothing is to be found. The paranoia doesn’t stop there. I hate to spoil such an amazing film for you all, but I have to warn you to always watch your back. As the homeowner noticed someone got in. Who? Where? How and when?

Why are these people targeting this specific house? Or is there a sinister reason behind it all. People aren’t who they seem? The scariest part of it all is not fiction whatsoever. Its based off of on couple. Who had little to no clue what would go down that very night. I wish you the best luck when watching. Moral of the story: Never answer the door for those who’re unknown. It can easily lead you to nothing but trouble. Or a traumatic death.

Never let your guard down. You never know who may be lurking.

Wolf Hollow

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Wolf Hollow takes place in a small, quiet town in western Pennsylvania. Initially, life goes on like normal for the characters. The main character, Annabelle, is one of the only people in the town who respects a World War I veteran named Toby. No one truly knows Toby’s backstory, but he seems to have been greatly affected by what he saw during the war. He now wanders around the town, barely saying a word to anyone. One day, a new girl named Betty moves into the town. Around teachers and other adults, Betty seems like an extremely kind girl. Meanwhile, when no one can see it happen, she bullies Annabelle. She threatens Annabelle with hurting her younger brothers and beating Annabelle with a large stick if she tells anyone about it. Soon, her bullying and attacks turn on Toby who is defenseless to prevent it. With no evidence but Betty’s false statements against Toby and nothing to even begin to prove Toby did not do anything, Toby is the one accused of what Betty does to hurt others.

I liked this book because of the fact that this type of story actually happens more often than we know. It represents how many of the internal struggles of those around you remain that way. This is shown through Toby, who rarely talks to anyone at all, and never speaks about the horrors he has experienced and seen. I felt like the plot was a little slow at some points during the story, but this was overall a great book.

-Peri A.

Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Coraline: Book VS Movie

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Coraline, by Neil Gaiman, is a fictional thriller, originally written as a novel, but later turned into a movie. The basic plot of the story is that a little girl named Coraline and her family move into a new house. Coraline finds a door in their new house that leads to a magical world where everything is perfect. Inside her perfect world, Coraline has ‘Other-Parents’ with sewn on button eyes. They try to convince Coraline to stay with them forever, on the condition that Coraline sews buttons into her eyes. This terrifies Coraline, who then tries to escape.

While I love both versions of the story, there are some major differences between the book and the movie.

Firstly, book Coraline’s parents are much nicer than they are in the movie. In the book, Coraline’s parents are stressed and tired. While they could have been nicer to their daughter, they were very busy and Coraline was being negative and bothersome. In the book, there is a very touching scene where Coraline tells The Cat about when her dad took her ‘adventuring’ and accidentally stepped on a wasp’s nest. Her dad took 39 stings to protect Coraline. So, in the book, Coraline’s parents are much nicer, and Coraline was mostly at fault. Throughout the book, she learns to appreciate her parents. In the movie, Coraline’s parents ignore Coraline and are unnecessarily snappish with her. In my opinion, the movie’s portrayal of Coraline’s parents makes more sense, because her parents’ unkindness is what drives Coraline to prefer the other world.

Secondly, in the book, Coraline visits the other world once and decides she doesn’t want to stay. In the movie, Coraline visits the other world three times before she decides to escape. Coraline in the book is very wary of other world and doesn’t trust her ‘Other Mother’. Movie Coraline was quick to accept the new world and wanted to stay there forever, until she learned that she would have to sew buttons on her eyes.

Thirdly, there is a character in the movie that was not present in the book. His name is Wybie, short for Wyborne. His grandmother’s sister was also taken by the Other Mother. Wybie finds a doll that looks exactly like Coraline, so he gives it to her. The doll was secretly a spy for the Other Mother, trying to find out what Coraline’s insecurities were to lure her to the other world. In the book, both the character Wybie and the doll he found did not exist.

There are many other small differences between the book and the movie (like Mr. Bobo AKA Bobinski, the singing rats, and Coraline’s blue hair), both the book and the movie were excellent. Would recommend!

Coraline by Neil Gaiman is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Michael Jordan’s Legendary Career

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Michael Jordan is regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time.  Drafted third overall in the 1984 draft, He won rookie of the year averaging 28 points a game.  But three games into the next season, Jordan suffered a broken foot which kept him sidelined for the majority of the season.  Jordan came back in 1986, averaged 37 points, and won his first scoring title. He also became the first player to win defensive player of the year and averaged 35 points a game in 1988. Jordan was a monster on both offense and defense.  He would go on to win six straight scoring titles from 1987 to 1993.  Jordan wins three consecutive championships from 1991 to 1993, but then shockingly retired after the 1993 championship season to go play baseball for two years before coming out of retirement at the end of the 1995 NBA season.  He would then come back and win three more scoring titles, three more championships, and three more NBA finals MVPs from 1996 to 1998.   He was the greatest scorer ever winning ten scoring titles, and averaging a record-high 30.1 points per game.  Michael Jordan was the most dominant player in his prime obliterating everyone he faced.

Jordan retired again after the 1998 championship run because the Bulls had fired his head coach Phil Jackson.  Jordan was not willing to play for any other coach so he retires for a second time.  Jordan would then return to basketball again for two more years in 2001 and 2002 to play for the Washington Wizards.  But everyone could tell it was not the Prime Jordan that had won 10 scoring titles.  He still played great averaging 20 points in both seasons, but it was not the same as before.  Jordan retires at the end of the 2002 season at the age of 40 and ended one of the great careers of all time.

Books about Michael Jordan are available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library.