Cinder by Marissa Meyer

I have to be honest. I never liked Cinderella. I just couldn't identify with Cinderella, but when I read the first paragraph of this refreshing new take on Cinderella, I was hooked.

"The screw through Cinder's ankle had rusted, the engraved cross marks worn to a mangled circle. Her knuckles ached from forcing the screwdriver into the joint as she struggled to loosen the screw one gritting twist after another. By the time it was extracted far enough for her to wench free with her prosthetic steel hand, the hairline threads had been stripped clean."

The story takes place in a futuristic city of New Beijing, and Cinder, the Cinderella of this story, is a cyborg. In this world, cyborgs are second-class citizens, and she tries to hide it from Kai. 

While a war with Luna, a country on the Moon, looms over the citizen of New Beijing, Cinder must navigate her way through a devastating loss, a heart-breaking betrayal, and an astounding revelation.

This is a fun read. Though I didn't enjoy the teenage romance in the book (since I'm not a teenage girl), but I loved the plot twists and how the author had woven the story of Cinderella into this book.

If you're interested in a new take on an old tale, why don't you give this a try?

Awesome Reads - National Geographic, Black and White

I was coming back from Seattle this weekend, and I wanted something new to read. When I walked into a bookstore at the airport, this one really caught my eye.

Aside from many interesting articles, I was really struck by the fold-out below. We see things in terms of black and white (and I don't know why), but there are so many beautiful shades to us. The background color was picked based on the nose of the subject, and our palette is so broad and encompassing....  This picture stayed with me for a long time.

I'm going to ask my son and daughter to read this magazine, and I hope to have a conversation about the magazine.

National Geographic website