Blog #17 – What are you reading now?
In the wake of some professional development that my dept. had done last week to discuss articles on reading and the issues / difficulties that the newest generation faces as it continues to make sense of the past, I decided to ask you about what you read in your spare time, have recently read, and/or are planning on reading when you get some spare time.
I know, I know, what spare time? Right? Sure, with everything being so hectic the way it is, sometimes we have to carve out some spare time for ourselves to unwind, unplug and just chill with a good book. I find that time at the end of the day before I go to bed – sometimes it’s 5-10 minutes and I’ve fallen asleep w/ the book in my hands b/c I’m so tired – not b/c the book is boring.
Well, here’s what I’m currently reading:
1. Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell – I love Ms. Vowell and her qui
rky eye for the unusual bits of American history and culture in her previous novels on the Pilgrims and Puritans (The Wordy Shipmates) and her travels to Washington D.C., Buffalo, N.Y., and places in between where 3 American presidents have been shot and killed in Assassination Vacation.
In Fishes, she examines the history of America’s involvement with Hawaii, from its earliest missionary settlements in the 1820s to the battle w/ Queen Lilioukalani over independence in 1893 and the islands’ annexation in 1898 during the Spanish American War. Her story moves like a travel book (as do the previous two I’ve mentioned) where she examines current Hawaii and searches for the remnants of its past with comments like:
Remember the opening credits of Hawaii Five – O, when [actor] Jack Lord stands on a roof, surveying the panorama of then-modern Honolulu? I’m on a balcony – around here it’s called a “lanai” – on the 20th floor of the very same building, the Ilikai…Wish I could say I was taking the Ilikai’s elevator down to street level as to get cracking on a day thwarting PCP smugglers or rescuing the diabetic scientist kidnapped by my Red Chinese archenemy, like Jack used to do every week. I chose to stay in this building b/c it’s within walking distance to the Mission Houses Musuem’s library and archives where the closest thing to a felony is taking notes with an ink pen instead of a pencil.
I’m about half way through it so far, and I like it because I’m learning a lot about Hawaii’s early history, how American missionaries used stowaway Hawaiian boys that landed on American shores and learned English as examples of how the “savages” could be civilized (we see this pattern again with the Native American schools at the end of the 19th Century), and the odd connections to other parts of American history. For instance, in the archives on the island, Vowell found a painting of a missionary couple painted Samuel Morse, same guy who invented the Morse code and telegraph. I didn’t know that he used to be a painter as well. It’s only 231 pages, so I hope to be done with it before the end of the school year.
Unfamiliar Fishes Intro read by Sarah Vowell
2. Signs of Life by Natalie Taylor – I mentioned this book in class to you as written by a former student of mine, Groves alum ’01. She is currently an English teacher at Berkley High School and raises her young son, Kai with the help of family and friends. She’s doing this on her own b/c about three years ago her husband died tragically when she was five months pregnant with Kai.
The book is a raw, almost unfiltered look at the emotional rollercoaster that she went through in the next year and a half. Natalie tells you how hard it was to move on without Josh, to do simple things like come home from work or sleep through the night. There are parts where I almost got emotional and wanted to cry, but I was reading it at lunch or in public so I had to put the book down and take a break. Normally, I don’t read heart-breaking memoirs, but b/c I knew Natalie and her family personally and had heard about the tragedy, I bought the book.
I also discovered that there are some amazingly freakishly funny parts to this book as well. Natalie finds humor / pathos in some of the strangest places, and as a dog owner with a poorly-behaved dog, I got it. As a father, I also could empathize with some of the sleepless nights where you go to school smelling vaguely like sour milk from baby spit-up (b/c you’re too tired to change your clean clothes that you just put on). And she described some sadly awkward moments where people / friends treated her as if she’d been dipped in a radioactive residue – most likely b/c they didn’t know what to say or do or possibly send her into a crying fit.
I am amazed at Natalie’s strength and courage and proud to have been her teacher. I also give her huge kudos for arranging each chapter of the book around a classic work of literature that applies (somehow!) to what she was going through at that time in her life.
3. City of Glass by Cassandra Clare – This is the third in a series of books (City of Bones and City of Ashes) about angels, wizards, demons, vampires, werewolves, Shadowhunters (humans that have angel-like abilities and weapons who constantly battle and destroy demons) and humans caught up in this whole mess. When I put it like that, it sounds like every other supernatural romance adventure / thriller teen novel out there. And there are similarities to a 7-part series about a boy wizard named Harry (evil nemesis returns after long absence to split the Shadowhunters apart, evil nemesis has amazing new powers and uses them to try and destroy the “old order”, mortal humans can’t see any of this unless they have a special gift). But this series is soooo much better than the other uber-popular series about a fawning girl named Bella and glittering vampire friends. There is romance, and the main character in the City series is a female but she’s tough and is torn between her old buddy, Simon, and Shadowhunter golden-boy, Jace.
Like the final book of the HP saga, there is a gay character and homosexuality is an unwelcome trait amongst the warrior Shadowhunters. So, he has to hide it. A bit of social commentary in fantasy fiction? What a concept!
I’m still not exactly sure why I like this series – maybe it’s because I had planned on writing something like this years ago, but only with angels and humans, not all the other Downworlder stuff as vampires, werewolves and wizards are called. But, I also like the fast-paced story and intertwined stories and interesting characters. I think it’s the characters that have made me want to continue reading, to find out who falls for who, to find out if they survive the final battle with Valentine (evil nemesis).
Here’s the series’ website: http://www.mortalinstruments.com/
Originally, I thought this was just a 3-part series, but according to the website, a second set of three books began with City of Fallen Angels began just this past month. Also, there is a new series on Victorian-era Shadowhunters beginning with A Clockwork Angel. http://www.theinfernaldevices.com/ I have both books but probably won’t get to them until the summer.
Here is my personal online library – books that I’ve owned, read, or currently own and plan to read (mostly the 3rd category, much to the great frustration of my wife). http://www.librarything.com/catalog/geoffwickersham
Your job: Tell me – in a short book review – about something you are reading right now, something you’ve already read recently, or a something you want to read soon. It can be a book for school, but it can also be something completely non-school related (preferable). Tell me why you picked the book, what you thought of it (or what you think so far if you’re not finished), and why you initially picked the book in the first place. If you can find a link about the book to the author’s website, that would be good too.
Please read some of the reviews already on the blog, either mine or from other students, to get an idea of how and what to write about. Make sure that your work is your own.
Due Wednesday, May 4. 300 words minimum.
Wall Street Journal’s article, “Why Gen Y Can’t Read Nonverbal Cues” by Mark Bauerlein. This guy is also author of The Dumbest Generation and you can see his provocative comments on his website: http://www.dumbestgeneration.com/media.html
sorry this is so long
ABOUT BOOKS AND THE STUFF I LIKE TO READ:
I really love reading, I love a great story, I love characters who seem as real as the people I pass by in the hallways at school everyday. I like to be able step into that wardrobe, or ride that train from platform 9 ¾’s to a sprawling world far away from my own, all through my early years as a reader the word “nonfiction” made me stomach turn in disgust. Well the only thing ive read for my own personal pleasure in the last four years is nonfiction. But why the sudden change? Im still going to different worlds, in fact I do it on a daily basis, just in a different way. Allow me to explain; I remember a rainy day in the spring of sixth grade, I had just walked the half block from the bus stop to my house and was sitting in front of my computer, browsing YouTube, feeling beyond bored. In the far right of my screen a link to a song who’s name I had heard once or twice before, but had never actually listened to, I almost never listened to music at this point. I clicked the link, and four jagged power chords rang like thunder from the speaker, then the drums went off like cannons sending the intensity of the song up into the stratosphere. I had never heard “Nirvana”, I hadn’t heard “smells like teen spirit: ever before in my life, I didn’t listen to music. But that one song was a catalyst for nearly everything I would do from, that point on, music was everything, it was new world, it was how I spent my free time, it was the shirt on my back and it was the books I read. Because there’s more to music then the music itself, there was also story of how it came to be, this want just something that happened, it was made by people. I had to know who more about these people and so that all ive read about for almost five years now.
Fast forward about a year, im in seventh grade, and with Nirvana as my musical Ground Zero, I’ve began pouring over ever facet of alternative rock, almost immediately leading me to discover The Red Hot Chili Peppers. So at the young age, im strolling the isles of my local library, through the biography section, not really looking for anything , when I see a name, “ Anthony Keidis”, the singer for the Peppers. So I checked it out and that night sat down to begin my reading. The book, “Scar Tissue” is an autobiography, a memoir, starting with his parents childhoods, his birth in Dearborn Michigan, this is someone’s, developing on the pages in front of me. At the age of 12/13 there was a lot I didn’t know much about, like drugs. Well that changed fast! Keidis tells about moving out of Michigan to live with his dad in L.A (his parents had divorced) and at the ripe age of 11, did drugs for the first time. At the kitchen table, with his dad and dad’s girlfriend, who took pictures (shown in the book), and you got to wonder what kind of parent let there kids do drugs, at 11? Well the kind of parent that is a drug dealer. By 13 Keidis was a seasoned veteran of the drug world, and was on coke and heroin. At this point my mind blown, im reading about a person who is addicted to drugs at 11, starring in movies with Sylvester Stallone at 14, going to hang out with sonny and cher, after school everyday, and getting babysat by cher. The book is full of the kind of stories you would only tell to your closest friend, in the privacy of your own bedroom. The story is so honest, so real, it’s a life but in my mind the stories are as vivid to me as my own personal memories. I feel like I was the one experience heroine withdrawal, losing my closest friend and band mate to overdose, passing out in the run down apartment of drug dealer/ gangsters in the worst neighborhoods in L.A. Reallly by the time I was done I felt like id matured with Anthony. Id just seen the highest highs and lowest lows of someone’s 40 odd years in 480 pages, I picked it up because I really loved the Chili Peppers but this isn’t about the chili peppers its about real people, real events, this is someone’s life on display for everyone one to read. I;ve re read this book three or four times now and like I said, the events depicted in its pages are a clear as mind as the events of the last couple hours. Theres a lot more I could write and I could probably talk about music till I grow so old that I forget how to breathe so im not gonna end it here. So SERIOUSLY go get this book, Baldwin library has it, because that’s the only way its gonna make sense. Maybe it’s a little to graphic, but it’s a life and its what happened. Its like cleaning out your attic after you have lost a spouse, you’ll come across a lot of memories but its better to address them and go through those old scrap books then pretend they aren’t there at all. So my review cant do justice, I feel like im reviewing a life rather then a book, and that’s really freaking hard to do. Go read it, its funny, it crazy, and it one of my favorite books.
A book that I want to read is Inheritance by Christopher Paolini. It is Book 4 in the Inheritance series, following a boy, who has become a young adult, Eragon, and his quest across Alagaesia to resist the terrible dictator Galbatorix. The series is based upon dragons. Saphira is Eragon’s dragon. There are only four more dragons left in existence. Galbatorix’s, Eragon’s, Murtagh’s, and another egg, a green egg, presumed to hatch in the conclusion to the fantasy series. Eragon is currently working with the Varden, a peace army to fight against Galbatorix. Eragon is the only “rider” alive. A long time ago, the Dragon Riders roamed Alagaesia peacefully, over watching it until the Galbatorix went against the Riders and set out to destroy them and conquer Alagaesia. Elves have a very unique language that is used to command spells and other actions. In the third novel Brisingr, Eragon learns the command “Brisingr” which means fire. In the first and second novels, large-scale warfare took place, including dragon battles between Murtagh and Eragon. They were half-brothers and didn’t know it until after Murtagh went to work for his father, Galbatorix and son realized he had made the wrong decision,m but by then it was too late for him to come back to the “good” side. I picked this book because I love the Inheritance Cycle and I’ve been waiting for this fourth novel for over a year now so I am very excited. I love how the setting is dynamic and how one city never stays the same, Eragon and his group will travel to a town in the first novel, and by the third, it is a completely different town. Also, the languages Paolini created are extraordinary. He created languages for the Elves, Dwarfs, and many other creatures of Alagaesia. Inheritance should be a great way to conclude a wonderful story and I look forward to picking it up November 8, 2011.
Fan Site: http://shurtugal.com/#
Inheritance Cycle Official Website: http://www.alagaesia.com/#/home
I recently finished reading Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult. I had never read a book by Jodi Picoult, and I was eager to start my first one (it was also on the sales rack at Barnes and Noble). Keeping Faith is a captivating book about a little 7 year old girl named Faith, who starts seeing God while her mother, Mariah White, struggles through a divorce. Mariah has dealt with bouts of depression before, and when she and her daughter walk in on her husband cheating, she cannot stop the flood of self-hatred. During this time, Faith starts seeing her “Guard”. The ironic thing about the whole thing is Faith is Jewish, but she and her family have never been very religious. So when Faith starts rattling off bible verses, even though she had never seen a bible in her life, Mariah starts to worry. And so starts the debate of whether or not Faith is seeing God. Faith is taken to psychologists, Rabbis, and Priests, but none of them can agree on one thing. Mariah could not keep Faith’s visions a secret for long, and soon there’s trouble getting in and out of the house. The house is surrounded by not only reporters, but also people who want to be healed by Faith. Faith’s case also attracts the country’s biggest Atheist, Ian, and his purpose it to prove that Mariah and her daughter are faking the whole thing. This book takes on the intense debate between science, Christianity, and Judaism all while making you really think about God, something that happens rarely in modern fiction. Jodi Picoult does it perfectly, without imputing her point of view, each religion or science is given equal balance so that the reader can decide for him/herself. Although this is the first Jodi Picoult book I have read, it will not be my last. This one captivating book has encouraged me to explore her other work.
http://www.jodipicoult.com/keeping-faith.html
This website has a interview with Jodi about Keeping Faith as well as a brief preview of the actual book.
I am planning on reading the book The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century, by George Friedman. In it he predicts what the world will be like in 100 years, and how the events will unfold throughout the century. Friedman makes many bold predictions, including a second Cold War between the United States and Russia, the collapses of China and Russia, the rise of Turkey, Poland and Japan, and a global war between the United States and Poland and Turkey and Japan. He also forecasts the general trends of prosperity and recession; although other aspects of the book will probably end up being extremely far off, this has a chance of being somewhat accurate. The tides of economic success are almost guaranteed to continue on in the future, as they have existed throughout the history of the modern age. It doesn’t as much matter that he predicts the future correctly, as he almost certainly will not, but that he created interesting and compelling reading material. Friedman is essentially writing a history of the future. Although it is all hypothetical, I think I will enjoy it. Part of the reason why is that I have always wondered while studying history how everything could have happened differently. I like to ponder the outcomes if certain events had or hadn’t occurred, or had been completely different. This book may sound bogus, and its predictions probably are, but people have not chosen to read it (and made it a bestseller in the process) did so because of its entertainment value. Another key reason this book might be so popular is that Friedman predicts that the United States will dominate the next century, and in a time of uncertainty, that is a reassurance to many Americans. In other words, if you want to know what could happen over the 100 years, or just want to feel better about the United States, this would be a great book to read.
Here is a link to an information page on Doctor George Friedman on the website of the company that he founded and is currently CEO of: http://www.stratfor.com/authors/dr_george_friedman
Thanks for the comments so far. I am extremely geeked that many of you like reading or are finding time to read. If you can’t find time to read, start small like Devan said w/ articles in magazines and online stuff. Eventually, you’ll be forced to read bigger and more complicated material for school, and this will help you immensely when preparing you for college. NOTHING prepared me for the amount of reading I had to do in college.
Random thoughts:
1. Thank you, Kaylee, for sparing all of us non-beliebers out here from a summary of JB’s books;
2. Glad to see many of you are reading Hunger Games. The book has gone into production as a movie with a release date potentially in March, 2012. It’s currently shooting in North Carolina with Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone, new X-Men movie) as Katniss;
3. Very glad to see that some of you are reading non-fiction. I started out with sports books like Bo by Mitch Albom (I would reread that every August to get myself fired up for football season), The Fab Five also by Mitch, and A Season on the Brink by John Feinstein, an inside look at Bobby Knight’s season at Indiana in which he tossed a chair onto the court;
In The novel, Jays Journal by an Anonymous writer, Jays life takes a turn for the worst as the story comes to a close. He became convinced that he possesses the ability to control forces of earth, his long time girlfriend, Tina, begins to date another guy, and his life begins to spiral into the haze of addiction that almost led him to self destruct in the beginning.
Jay and his girlfriend Tina become involved in the world of dark arts. Each is convinced that they can control unforeseen powers. They join a group called O, which stands for Ouija (yes, like the magic board) and need to be initiated into the group through strange acts of mutilating animals “…each of us took turns drinking the warm blood directly from the female animal. It was hard to get down because it came out in such great spurts, and was so hot, much hotter than expected…” (190). they literally had to sip the blood that was draining out of the veins of a female cow. They also thought that they would gain special powers from the blood of the animals “The blood was supposed to have given us the strength of the animal…” (191). The O group thought that strength was obtained through drinking the blood and consuming the organs of powerful animals.
After the O group parted, Jay realized he was pressured by his girlfriend Tina to engage in such an activity and they erupted in argument. “‘How could you make me do that?!’ yelled Jay’, ‘I thought you would’ve enjoyed it, obviously you can’t handle it’” (196) Jay went home to only find out that the girl he loved had cheated on his with “some bastard from Fairfax (God, what a hick)” (202). Jays closest friends were growing apart from him, putting space between themselves. Jay had nobody else, and he began to describe his “friendless, good for nothing life…” (204). He lost everything, his parents didn’t want to have anything to do with him after his incident when he stole pills from his father’s pharmacy and his friends distanced themselves from him because they knew he was involved with O.
Finally, Jay’s begins to fall into a haze of addiction. He begins using marijuana again and more of his friends distance themselves “Things are going from worse to impossible. I’m fighting a losing battle…” (208). Jay attempted to quit revert to the way of life he had tried to stride for in military school. He wants to leave the world. People at his school can’t begin to realize the pain of his life. He’s living with chronic depression, and nobody seems to care, and the path he’s headed down is one with no return.
A book that I have read in the past is Lord Of The Flies. This book was originally a class assignment in my 10th grade class but i had already wanted to read it because I had heard good things about it so i was excited to read it. The Lord of The Flies is a book about a group of kids stranded on an island and their struggle for sanity and survival. I really liked this book because it was about children and little kids so i could relate this to my past, being more relatable than if it were adults stranded on an island. The characters have many issues such as how to survive and they also lose their sight of reality when they have a sacred conch shell that is very important to them. They also have a leadership issue. Whoever holds the conch holds the power and the ability to speak to the group and no one else can speak. This usually creates a conflict of who will get the conch. There are two groups of kids, the main focus of the story is the older kids but there is also a group of little kids that the older ones call the younguns. They dont have much to do with the story though. One of the main children whos name is Simon has epillepsy and is always stroking out and at one point he sees the pig head they killed later in the book talking to him and telling him to do evil deeds. This is the lord of the flies that he sees.
While I was in class on Tuesday Mr. Wickersham started talking about the series of books called the City of Ashes. I went to the library and checked one of the three books out. The book is good but it develops really slowly. I enjoy the multiple plot lines and all of the different characters, but when the book starts to talk about events that have already happened the characters have these really long , informative, but slow moving conversations. I haven’t finished the book, but the characters haven’t really grown. I have never reed a book that only has static characters. Maybe this is the kind of book that has a final battle scene and after that everyone sees the error of their ways. This is a book in a series so I guess its understandable why they don’t develop a lot but I did expect some character changes in each individual book. This book is very relatable to our reality. If you look pass all of the demons, and warlocks, you cal see certain messages in the book. The message of friendship, love, and trust are very evident throughout the book. It is very east to identify with the characters too. There are so many characters in the book that if you don’t identify with at least one, you have a problem. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed the Percy Jackson series, Harry Potter, or Twilight ( and lets face it that’s covers just about every teenager in the world). This book has the romance, the violence, and the evil mastermind that all of these books have. I would say if you’re a Percy Jackson reader beware, the book is a little bit darker, but it is still totally worth reading.
The book I’m currently reading is called Orphans of Chaos by John C. Wright. I chose this book out at the library like a boss for many reasons. I like to choose my books based on an intellectual scale of logic. As an intellectual myself, I am very particular about which books I choose to enter my mind. This particular one was chosen mainly on the pretty picture on the cover. Orphans of Chaos is a fantasy book and I’m not sure yet if it’s nonfiction or not. Sometimes it can be hard to tell. The book starts out with 5 orphans who live in a private boarding school which appears to be in the middle of nowhere. They are the only students and are kept on very close watch by the teachers. They receive top notch education and I get confused because they talk about complicated physics. It might not even be complicated, I just can’t follow it. As the story goes on, the boarding school gets fishier and fishier. The kids don’t know their age or even if they are human. They came up with their own names after the school allowed them to change it from their original ones. I just past the part where two of the orphans (Quenton and Amelia) have just found out that they are Uranians and eavesdropped on the Pagan gods/goddesses talking about what to do with them. I’m not familiar with Pagan gods or anything like that so I probably missed some important details. Unlike Percy Jackson it didn’t do a god by god introduction. Overall this book is building up to some really fun stuff but it’s recently gotten into four dimensional reason with weird spheres and manipulating the universe. I don’t think the author understood what he was even writing because I have no idea what it’s talking about. From previous experience, I have learned that if I don’t understand something, it’s best to just hope that they explain it and keep reading. I understand the basic character qualities and I’m beginning to mark down the weird powers they each have. Also, this story is told from a female’s viewpoint who seems to have a lot of thoughts about boys. So far she seems to like this one guy but another randomly kissed her and I suppose there’s more depth but I skimmed over the details. 400 words exactly.
the book im currently reading is called summer night by jim butcher. its a book about the worlds only actual proffeshional wizzard for hire harry dresden. it takes place in chicago and occasionaly southern michigan. its the forth book of twelve in the dresden files. in this book dresden must solve a murder for a magical race from the nevernever in order to get the white council (governing body of wizzards in the area) prepared for a war wit the vampire council (governing body for vampires) that he started. that and if he failes to solve the murder he could be thrown out of the white council and handed over to the vampires who are trying to kill him. not only that but he is forced to cope with the greavance of his girlfriend being turned into a vampire while he desperatly tries to find a cure to change her back.
For the past week now i’ve been reading Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane and so far it’s a great book. Shutter Island is about Teddy Daniels who has recently been called to shutter island to investigate a disappearance with his newly assigned partner Chuck Aule. Shutter Island was an old military base, but now serves as a rehabilitation center for the criminally insane which holds pretty much purely insane murderers. The woman, Rachel Solando, escaped from her cell with no trace of how she escaped and is now loose somewhere on Shutter Island. Thats about where I am so I’m through pretty much only the intro to the book but again it’s a great book. It was made into a movie so, unfortunately, I already know the ending of it from friends talking about it but It’s supposed to be a really good movie with Leonardo DiCaprio so I’ll have to see that once I’m finished with the book.
I don’t know too much about the actual plot so I’ll talk about why I chose it. Basically, Dennis Lehane is one of my dad’s favorite writers, I’ve been recommended the book a bunch of times and It’s been made into a good movie. There’s plenty of time in a day to read it, especially if you don’t do anything after school so there isn’t much of an excuse not to read. Another reason I’m reading Shutter Island is because it just has an interesting topic, being sent to an island with insane murderers all around you, one loose and unfindable and the discovery that the only rational people around you are illegally tampering with their patients minds. It’s got the setup to be a great read.
Now I personally haven’t been very fond of reading, probably because I didn’t pick up the habit when I was young, I was much more interested in playing and watching sports rather than reading. Which is probably because I cannot stand being inactive. But I have still read a few books in my life time. The one I’m going to tell you about is one of three or four biography’s I have read about Derek Jeter. I am a diehard Yankees fan and an even more die hard Derek Jeter fan he is my favorite baseball player and he always will be. The last biography I read about him was in 7th grade the name of this book was “The Captain: The Journey of Derek Jeter”. By: Ian O’Connor. This was the first REAL biography I read about him, as opposed to the Matt Christopher type biography’s that are more geared towards younger kids such as elementary school kids. This biography told me everything you need to know about DJ, from being born in Kalamazoo Michigan and his high school baseball teams record of 3-30 his senior year, all the way to the day he broke the New York Yankees hit record. This book was FILLED with every little thing about DJ even I learned new things, and I know all there is to know about Derek Jeter, so that shows how loaded the book was with exciting info and him. I highly recommend you read this is you are a sports fan…and if you’re not a sports fan become one! Cause how could anybody live without sports! It would be tragic. If you like baseball you will love this, but if you love baseball you will fall in love with this book, so get out to borders and get yourself a copy you won’t regret it!
I used to read a lot. It used to be very common for me to travel everywhere with a book of some variety. Unfortunately, the amount of reading I do is substantially less than it used to be, but my interests have expanded to other areas of reading.
1. Although it’s not a book, it’s something I read months ago and loved it. The screenplay to the film SE7EN. Like the film, the screenplay is extremely interesting, intriguing and intense. Although it’s a reasonably long screenplay, (it runs about 135 pages), it’s an exceptionally quick read, and it’s hard to put down.
2. Something I’ve been reading lately is the book “World War Z” by Max Brooks. It tells the story of a zombie apocalypse in not only the United States, but also the world, and explores many different perspectives of the events leading up to the apocalypse, the “Zombie War” itself, and the aftermath. Also of note is the novel’s storytelling format, which I find is something that really makes WWZ worth reading. Not only is it told out of order, but it also makes use of parallel sub-plots within a larger narrative (the introduction to the novel explains that the main character of the story is a government worker who has been tasked with documenting the zombie apocalypse. The rest of the novel is told through his interviews of various people who lived through the ordeal).
3. Something I’d like to read is a highly (for lack of a better word) controversial novel: Atlas Shrugged. After seeing the film with my father, I was forced to deal with a car ride full of my dad’s ranting about how there was “so much more characterization and sub-plots in the book!”. I also am intrigued by Ayn Rand’s philosophies, and would like to explore it further.
I have a lot of trouble reading. It’s hard for me just to be able to sit down and read a book. I try not to blame it on the book but I usually do but there is one series that I have found myself able to easily get into: The Hunger Games. These stories are so compelling that I’m just not able to put the book down! It is about a girl named Katniss who lives in a post apocalyptic America. She is forced to live off of scraps and once a year the evil Capital has the “Hunger Games”. The Hunger Games are when 24 kids under 18 (2 from each of the 12 districts) are chosen to be put into an arena and they fight to the death. The one survivor wins eternal glory and riches. Katniss’ sister is chosen and she generously volunteers to take her place. She goes through many days of training until eventually she is thrown into the arena. Now ill stop the summary there even though I’m sure you have read it. It is such an amazing book because each sentence has you dying to find out what happens next! All of her journey is very detailed and it’s easy to picture everything perfectly in your head. Once she get’s into the arena there are many moments when she has to wait in silence for hours but even in those moments where there is no action, the author has me completely entwined in the story. Even though I have a really hard time reading doesn’t mean I can’t. I love a lot of books but it does take me a very long time to find those books. Also I usually end up enjoying books that are mandatory to read for a class in school. For example I love The Jungle! I read the whole thing!
i have been reading the books in the hunger games series. there has been talk abou them being some metaphor for peace and against war and yotta yotta but usually i would pick up on this. Since i don’t pick up on the liberal b.s. then the book does its job. The plot is great. The first is about 24 teenagers being thrown into an outdoor arena which is extremely vast, and they are forced to fight to the death. The first person perspectiver makes everything more suspenseful and just plain better. The set-up is a little slow but it picks up once you get to the hunger games. The author does an excellent job in showing what type of futuristic zone the setting really is. it is set up in 12 different districts that are each responsible for making something to supply the districts with. This is one of those points that warns of nuclear war and how it will obliterate democracy as we know it. The plot twists are thrown in perfectly because although the predictable does eventually happen throughout the book, the set-up and events before are very suprising. The 2nd book, catching fire is superior in almost every way. I the first book, the people fighting just sort of died. You did not know who most were and the fights and deaths were no really described. The 2nd has more plot twists, it is way more suspenseful, and the characters are developed beautifully. Each tribute is named and given specific likeable traits to make you feel for them, especially when they die. The games in the 2nd book are more exciting and rather than the predictable ending the the first, the 2nd ends with a bang, literally. The hunger games series should be read by everyone because it is purely a fun and exciting read, and i can sayu that because it is the first book to hold my attention, first book since the 7th harry potter i have read and continued reading for enjoyment.
The book I’m reading is titled Who’s Your Caddy, written by Rick Reilly. In this hilarious nonfiction story, Rick Reilly decides to spontaneously try out the job of caddying for PGA Tour golfers, celebrities, or just plain golf fanatics. He chronicles his experiences with many different entertaining people, and travels all around the world in his attempt to experience the game of golf from every angle. The setting changes in each chapter, because each chapter features a new player and new location. The different settings that are featured are significant because they help to show how golf, though it’s always the same sport being played, can vary immensely based on location, the event, and the type of people in attendance.
In the first chapter, Rick Reilly finds himself caddying in golf’s most prestigious event, The Masters, at one of golf’s most sacred places—Augusta National, the golf sanctuary in Augusta, Georgia. Sacred not because of its beauty, though it was beautiful, but sacred because of all the history, and all the memories made that will last forever. After all, the slogan of The Masters is “A tradition unlike any other.” The amount of legendary caddies that have hung out in that particular spot is incomprehensible, and hearing the accounts of the “holy place” itself is majestic. Reilly’s next victim is John Daly, who he caddies for in a pro-am event at the Willowbend Country Club in Mashpee, on Cape Cod, in June 2001. This pro-am event is more for charity and good fun than actual intense competition, making this particular chapter especially spirited and more based on the comedy John Daly delivers on nearly every hole. Reilly cracks jokes about the atmosphere of the event, especially so in his wisecrack aimed towards Daly when he says, “At every tee box, there lurks something sinister and dangerous to my man—Twix bars.” Daly got a new one on every tee Reilly “half-joked” (because he was actually pretty certain that it was true. The third, and most eventful chapter in my opinion, features Reilly taking on the bag of the boss himself—Donald Trump. Trump is the owner of a three golf courses around the world. This particular round took place at his finest establishment, Trump National Golf Club in Briarcliff Manor, New York. Reilly commentates with comedy and enthusiasm the emphasis that Trump places on being the best. “’Can you believe the stonework at this place? Brought in the best guy in the world, Baby. When I do things, it’s only the best!’” (57). As seen in the previous quote, Trump knows his place is top of the line, and he’s never hesitant to brag about it. Reilly says about Trump’s pursuit of perfection, “When you enter the tornado, all things are suddenly ‘the best’ ‘the absolute best’ ‘the most incredible’ ‘no. 1’ ‘unsurpassed’ and ‘top of the line, Baby’” (57). Everything at Trump National was “superlative”, “rich”, and though sometimes gimmicky, it’s what made Trump National, Trump National.
The setting of a golf event and the atmosphere surrounding the course is incredible in that it can make a sport that’s played the same, feel different wherever you go. A person can feel legendary, laid-back and relaxed, or big and famous just because of what’s around them on the course. The setting is part of what makes golf so great—it gives golf a complexity that no other sport can match.
This book is a must read! It’s entertaining, informative, and just straight fun to read. I recommend it to all—golf lovers and golf no-nothing-ers!
i have recently started a fictional series recomended to me by a good friend. the series is the dresden files series by jim butcher. he recomended me the first book storm front and once i started reading it i liked it alot. its about the only profeshional practicing wizzard for hire in the united states harry dresden. in the first book he must team up with the special investigations department of chicago to help them solve a murdur. while at the same time must investigate the disapearance of a local wives husbands dissaperance. could the two possibly be connected? read and find out. he must do all of this while on phrobation from the white courts wardens (the white court is the secritive governing body of wizzards) where if he does anything wrong he could be killed or worse. and he also must deal with the threatining leathal pressure of the largest gangboss in chicago, gentalmen johnney marcone, for his investigation in these matters. harry will end up having to fight off demonds, black sorcerers, the cops, and gangmembers. i find this a very good book and the series to be even better. i am currently on the 5th book out of the twelve in the series and it has been less than two months since i read this first book. i highly reccomend this book to those who like fictional action, adventure, magic, and things that go bump in the night.
The book I have read recently is called Catching Fire. It is a sequel to the book called The Hunger Games. I read The Hunger Games in eighth grade and just recently decided that I should read the second book. I thought that they were both great and they really sparked my interest. I’m not one to read much but once I find a book I like, I can’t put it down. Another book that I have recently read was Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. I think that Dan Brown is an amazing author and puts so much detail into his writing that you can actually see what is happening in the story. I compared this book the movie and it just made me laugh about how different they can change things to make a movie out of a book. I plan to read more Dan Brown books in the future such as the DaVinci Code and The Lost symbol.