tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2159352127192240615.post6770704721501532184..comments2023-03-24T08:25:02.510-06:00Comments on Smith 9H 12-13: Summer Readinganneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00573450327737964454noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2159352127192240615.post-91462439008215818662012-08-29T21:11:01.555-06:002012-08-29T21:11:01.555-06:00Over the summer I read, A Walk to Remember by Nich...Over the summer I read, A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks and Speak my Laurie Halse Anderson. I loved reading A Walk to Remember because it was such a cute, unexpected love story. From reading this, I learned that unexpected things can happen, and not all are bad. Something may seem negative in the beginning but its always has a possibility that it ends on a positive note. Jamie and Landon's relationship taught me these things. When Jamie dies in the end, my heart reached out to Landon and ached for him. Nicholas Sparks did such a great job writing this book and I could feel every emotion Landon was feeling. Speak was unlike any book I have ever read. This book broke my heart at times because Melinda's friends were being terrible to her and wouldn't even give her the time of day to explain to them what had happened. No one understood what she was going through and I think Laurie Halse Anderson portrayed her character pretty well. When Melinda was hurting, I was hurting. This book is very powerful and I think part of the message to readers, was to speak out when you are being hurt. Don't keep it inside and shut everyone out. This is a relatable book, not only in the sense of abuse, but also being bullied in general. I hope that other girls who read this book were inspired to speak out and tell someone about whats going on in their lives. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2159352127192240615.post-10249603692389315222012-08-23T21:59:19.837-06:002012-08-23T21:59:19.837-06:00Over the summer I read Lord of the Flies by Willia...Over the summer I read Lord of the Flies by William Golding, and I also read The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares. In Lord of the Flies, I liked reading about the methods the boys decided to use to survive on the island. I think that at some point and time everyone thinks it could be fun to be stranded for a couple days, but once they got past their initial excitement they would be forced to face reality. The book transforms the young boys’ issues so that you almost forget that they are only boys and not men. As you’re reading, it is much easier to picture the problems that they had being only adult issues rather than issues of very young boys. At the end, the rescuer allows you to see the boys’ time on the island with a different perspective that makes everything seem less important. The boys are transformed back into younger boys again, but they will never be the same. I learned how easy it can be to lose your innocence and also how hard it is for humans, including me, to completely think through a situation before making a decision. The other book that I read this summer was The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. The title makes it sound a little odd, but it is actually a very good book. One of the most important reasons I liked this book was because it was relatable. I would always think of myself in the same situation as one of the four main characters, and think about how I would act or what I would do. Each character had very different qualities and it taught me to look for confidence, bravery, having an open mind, and thoughtfulness, each of their best qualities, in myself.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2159352127192240615.post-76012493471532188852012-08-23T21:46:55.792-06:002012-08-23T21:46:55.792-06:00This summer I read two really good books. I read L...This summer I read two really good books. I read Lord of the Flies and The Hobbit. The book I enjoyed the most is the hobbit. It follows the adventures of a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins. J.R. Tolkien illustrates each scene to perfection and it kept me engaged throughout the entire book. I also liked how he put just the right amount of action to keep it interesting. Throughout the story I learned that you don't have to be the biggest, strongest, or smartest. All you need is to have the biggest heart. The Hobbit showed me this by having Bilbo defeat the antagonist in the book even though he stands at about 2 feet tall. What matters to me about the books content is that it makes comparisons between life today and life in an imaginary world. J.R. Tolkien himself admitted to relating a lot of the traits of hobbits to modern day English people. This is an important piece of the book and it is important to me because I love to see the connections between different things. The second book I read was Lord of the Flies. The book is about a group of boys who crash land on a desert island during the fallout of an atomic war. What I liked about this book is that there was a very in depth story line. What I mean b y this is that there are a lot of places in the text where you can infer what the author is saying. I think this makes the novel a lot more fun to read and you get a lot more out of it. What mattered to me about this books content is that it kept relating to the bible. Even though the author was heavily criticized for this, I liked it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2159352127192240615.post-79800847917199728402012-08-23T21:37:14.030-06:002012-08-23T21:37:14.030-06:00As an English summer reading assignment I read two...As an English summer reading assignment I read two books, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, and the emotional story of love and survival in The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. As you start to read The Fault in Our Stars, you hear the story of a teenage cancer fighter, Hazel. As she continues her fight with multiple hospital visits, oxygen tanks, and support group meetings, she comes into acquaintance with another cancer survivor, Augustus. Together, the two try to find out the meaning of life with cancer through a book about a young cancer patient. Not only does their relationship grow, but their friendship. Hazel and Gus not only learn to support each other, but realize that love can happen. Through tragedy, disappointment, and triumph, what I learned and what made an impact on me was that no matter what your situation is, there is always hope, and happiness will come. Just having your heart beating is a reason to live. I loved the intensity of the story that kept the book flowing. <br />Lord of the Flies is a story about elementary English schoolboys having to live and cooperate on their own, after becoming stranded on an island with no parental supervision. Not only do you see the reflection of modern day society, but see the importance of order, system, and civilization. I learned how one symbol of power, or one common leader could literally be the difference between life and death. I now further understand the importance of both friendship and relationships, and how much the affect us. It was a book that I would not personally read again, but it got me thinking and I learned more then I ever thought I would from reading Lord of the Flies.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2159352127192240615.post-48076009564365161282012-08-23T21:24:36.250-06:002012-08-23T21:24:36.250-06:00This summer we were asked to read two books. My ch...This summer we were asked to read two books. My choices were "Lord Of the Flies" by WIlliam Golding and "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot. Both books were very different, but both phenomenally written. "Lord of the Flies" is about a group of boys from Brittian that are stranded on a desolate island. I liked this book because the characters were interesting enough too keep my mind engaged in the book. This book taught me more about how quickly power is decided and how easily it can become abused. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is about Henrietta Lacks, and her immortal cell line known as HeLa. It follows Henrietta's daughter Deborah and the author (Rebecca Skloot) as they dig up the many mysteries behind Henrietta and the whole Lackses family. There are many things I loved about this book. As a student who loves Science, all the chapters that were centered around the more Science subjects in this book were fun too read as well as being educational helping me learn more. This book also taught me a lot about the ethical issues with African Americans and medicine in the 1950s. Overall I recommend both of these books to anyone looking for a good read Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2159352127192240615.post-58413724689546352132012-08-23T21:23:46.884-06:002012-08-23T21:23:46.884-06:00Over the summer, I read the books Once upon a Mari...Over the summer, I read the books Once upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris and The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale. I liked Once Upon a Marigold specifically because of its humor. It is about a boy named Christian who has lived in the forest his whole life, and goes to the kingdom in search of work. He soon falls in love with the princess and discovers an evil plot to get rid of her. I liked this book because it was funny and entertaining to read. I also liked how each character had their own distinct personality (for example: Christian was very outgoing and courageous, and wasn't afraid of anything), which helped the story line progress smoothly throughout the book. In this book I learned that sometimes it's good to try new things, because sometimes good can come from it. What mattered to me about this book is that the whole truth was revealed about everything in the end. Nothing was left out. All of the the secret identities were discovered and the truth behind the lies were discovered.<br /><br />The Goose Girl I especially liked for a variety of reasons. It is a spin-off of a Grimm fairytale, about a princess named Ani who is sent to a foreign kingdom to be wed, but is ambushed by her lady-in-waiting on the way, who pretends to be Ani when they get to the kingdom. The real Princess Ani finds work as the goose girl at the castle and tries to find a way to overthrow her lady-in-waiting. I liked this book mainly because it was very interesting and kept me reading. I was always wondering what would happen next and how the story would end. In this book I learned that when in doubt, never give up hope. The main character lost many things throughout the book, but she never gave up hope. What mattered to me most about this book is that it had a happy ending. Even though the main character struggled, all of it payed off in the end.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2159352127192240615.post-4128119773194001292012-08-23T21:02:45.481-06:002012-08-23T21:02:45.481-06:00Over the summer I read Lord of the Flies by Willia...Over the summer I read Lord of the Flies by William Golding and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I didn’t particularly love either book that I read, but they each have a quality that made them well worth reading. While reading Pride and Prejudice, I was very impressed by the characters. They were all well rounded, and relatable even today, one hundred and ninety-nine years after it was first published. The heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, is likeable, independent, and firm in her beliefs, refusing to bow down to her mother and society’s pressures to marry for wealth and status rather than love. The supporting characters are all vastly different, and each serves a purpose and adds another aspect to the story, be it Mr. Darcy for the mystery and romance, the humor from the falsely pompous Mr. Bingley, or the likability of Jane. I also appreciated the believable growth in each of the characters and their relationships with each other. To me, the characters in Lord of the Flies were unappealing , and I didn’t enjoy reading it all that much, but the symbolism in it and the questions about our society that it raised made it one of the most powerful and memorable books that I have read. Throughout the book I was shocked by the behavior of the boys, and thought they had gone crazy. Had the book been just about the increasing insanity of young boys stranded on an island, it would have been interesting and horrifying, but not so incredibly poignant. The book is taken to the next level, and made a classic and an incredibly thought provoking study of human nature and society by the backdrop of a world war. Throughout the book, they boys do appalling things that showcase their bloodlust and insanity, such as murdering each other and setting the entire island on fire, thus destroying their food source and shelter, for the sole purpose of killing another human being. Some of the characters recognize how wrong the behavior is, calling others “batty” and “crackers” and referring to them as savages and animals, rather than people. They yearn to think like adults so that they will know what the “right” thing to do is and create a functioning community. It’s a reasonable assumption that adults would do a better job surviving and creating order. However, peppered throughout the book are hints at what is going on in the adult world around them. Atom bombs, fighter planes, and naval officers all make appearances in the book. The adults are killing each other and destroying large areas, on a bigger scale, and somehow that is acceptable, while what the boys do on the island is not. It was this revelation that turned a book that I didn’t enjoy reading or think was good into one that is rooted in my mind and has opened my eyes to the extremely fine line between sane and acceptable and insane and abhorred. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2159352127192240615.post-72119129867222329032012-08-23T20:57:14.242-06:002012-08-23T20:57:14.242-06:00Over the summer I read two novels that both taught...Over the summer I read two novels that both taught me lessons about myself as a person, and the world around me. The first of the two was The 5 People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. What I really liked about this book is that it really told the story of a man's life and the significant events he endured while he was alive and his experience in heaven. What really mattered to me in the books content was that the five people that the man met in heaven were individuals who really changed his life, during his life. Each person taught him a lesson about life. For example, the man's father and him had been conflicting for most of his life. When he meets his father in heaven they make peace and his father teaches him about forgiveness. The second novel I read over the summer was Tuesdays with Morrie also by Mitch Albom. What I liked about this book's content is the fact that Morrie, a dying old man, chooses to use his last remaining months to pass on everything he has ever learned about life to a young man. Morrie was the young man's professor in college. Now that the young man is on his own he is doing very well. He has a fancy house, a fancy car, and a wife. But throughout the book you see that the young man changes into a much better person. These are the two books I read over the summer and what I thought about them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2159352127192240615.post-48832439894799913742012-08-23T20:53:34.358-06:002012-08-23T20:53:34.358-06:00I read The invisible Man by H.G. Wells and Lord of...I read The invisible Man by H.G. Wells and Lord of the Flies by William Golding. I loved the science in the The Invisable Man where Jack made a formula to make anything including himself invisible. Also how the oldness of the book shows. Also the dialouge shows how he uses British dialouge that is strange to us a Americans. I loved in Lord of the Flies how the boys would truly act if there were no adults for miles. I also loved how Golding implicated a government run by boys and the mutany implicated by Jack. In The Invisable Man I learned that if I had a great power such as invisability I wouldn't abuse that powere as Jack did. Also that I would not test something like that on myself first and not keep something like that a secret. In Lord of the Flies I learned that if I was ever in that situation I would try my hardest not to let my primal instincs come out like Jack's did at the end. Also to always listen to everyone's opinion and not just push it aside like a piece of garbage. The part where everyone split into to tribes in Lord of the Flies matters to me. This matters to me because I think that, that moment was when the primal instincts of Jack and his followers came out. Ralps's group however still had their sences. This also matters because this crutial point is when man can go backwards in evolution and go back to the dark and misunderstanding. In The Invisable Man the message was to never think lower of man because of what you can do like Jack becoming invisable. That just isn't right what he was going to do try to take over the world and kill anyone in his way. All in all I loved both of the books very much.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2159352127192240615.post-72284019939390351332012-08-23T20:40:38.780-06:002012-08-23T20:40:38.780-06:00Over the summer I read "The Feathered Serpent...Over the summer I read "The Feathered Serpent" by Junius Podrug and "American Sniper" by Chris Kyle. The Feathered Serpent is a thrilling story about a young astrobiologist who discovers that an ancient Mexican god has escaped and is wreaking havoc on the world. It is believed that it will destroy the world on December 21, 2012 supporting the rumors of the 2012 end of the world theory. It also has many flashbacks going back to ancient Mexico where you follow this young boy as he also discovers the many secrets involving an ancient powerful city created by the dangerous god. American Sniper is a non-fiction story about a man who was once a Navy Seal. He has the most confirmed kills out of any American sniper in history. The book goes into great detail about the countless missions he goes on. It also explains the hardships of being in the U.S. military, but at the same time tells about the very positive impact it has had on him since joining. Both the Feathered Serpent and American Sniper are excellent books and I would highly recommend them both for anyone to read.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2159352127192240615.post-67600394720911897852012-08-23T20:39:48.929-06:002012-08-23T20:39:48.929-06:00Of the many books I read this summer, the two that...Of the many books I read this summer, the two that I was obsessed with were We’ll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han, and Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen.<br />We’ll Always Have Summer is the last book in this series’ trilogy. In this book the main character, Belly, had to finally decide between the only two boys who have ever been in her life. This summer romance-read contained a triangle of heartbreak and love that was irresistible to not want to be a part of. Jenny Han made clear that the only way to truly be satisfied with the path your life is going on is by listening to your heart. Han proved to me, that my heart is one of the most important voices speaking. When I don’t know what to do and there is nowhere to turn my heart will lead the way. What mattered to me about this book’s content, was that it proved that you can’t have a limited amount of love in your heart because you could be the one to change someone else’s life through your own.<br />The main character of Lock and Key, Ruby, has a completely different life then my own. She doesn’t have parents who love one another, or even live together. She doesn’t have a mom who takes care of her, or a sister who has grown up right by her side. The reason I liked this book so much was because of what I learned from it. Throughout the story, Sarah Dessen was trying to define family. In the end, I learned there is no fixed definition and the reason is because family is never set. Ruby’s family turned out to be her long lost sister, uncle, and friends she met along her journey of life. Everyone’s family is different, whether they’re related or just bonded through experience. My own family actually is not just my siblings and parents, but the friends who always have my back. A family can be anyone you love. This life lesson was the part of this book’s content that really mattered to me. Once I’d finally grasped what Dessen was trying to get across, I realized how much this book connected with We’ll Always Have Summer. The important fact is that every day I interact with new people and without enough love in my heart, these new people might never get a chance to be a part of my own family. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2159352127192240615.post-51986753297975763322012-08-23T20:30:49.352-06:002012-08-23T20:30:49.352-06:00Over the summer I was able to read many books but ...Over the summer I was able to read many books but the two that stood out to me were Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, and Megan Meades Guide to the McGowan Boys, by Kate Brian. The reason that I enjoyed these two books over the many others is because I could relate to them. In this novel, by Kate Brian, Megan Meade has to adjust to a whole new life style when her army parents are sent to Korea and Megan is left with some family friends. You see her grow stronger and more confident with herself along the plot, although she was new and lost with the situation. I enjoyed this read because I really like how much she effected people without them or herself knowing it. Also it showed that when you put your mind to something you can over come it. Just as Megan overcame moving from none to seven siblings. Even when she was put down she got back up just to try harder. The lesson I will remember from this story is that even when others try to put you down you have to come back stronger than before to overcome your challenges that you are faceing.<br /><br />In Lord of the Flies, a group of young and innocent school boys are dropped out of the sky and washed up on a mysterious island. This book showed alot of courage and leadership, along with fear and savagery. With fear and barbarity taking over the island you see these boys let out their inner beast in order to survive. While the voice of reason (Piggy) is ignored, ongoing battles between Jack and Ralph leed to mutiny and a division of the boys. It shows that if people dont accept others help and act civilezed things will fall apart. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2159352127192240615.post-68015958972545777622012-08-23T19:33:32.365-06:002012-08-23T19:33:32.365-06:00This summer, along with Lord of the Flies, I read ...This summer, along with Lord of the Flies, I read Flowers in the Attic and Petals on the Wind by V. C. Andrews. Flowers in the Attic is a disturbing story about four siblings who get locked up in a small attic for more than three years by their mother and grandmother. I liked that this novel didn't leave out very many details. The siblings did things in the attic that were interesting to read, and although some were awkward, I'm glad I got the whole experience. I learned that no matter how complex or difficult the situation may seem, there is always a way out. I also learned that know matter how many times you lie, the truth will always get to you. What matters to me about this book is that the mother did not care about the kids. She poisoned her kids and almost let them die. I learned from that how not to be a mother! In Petals on the Wind, the teenagers learn how to deal with their loss of three years and move on. Although some thoughts are extremely hostile and about revenge, they decide to leave the past in the past...until they see their mother again. I liked in this book how the author had contrast between good and bad. Chris, the oldest brother, put the past in the past and never looked back. Cathy, the oldest sister, couldn’t get rid of that thought to find her mother and grandmother to get revenge. I learned from this novel that trust is a fragile thing, and when it gets broken, you can never gain it back. What matters to me is that Cathy never let her thought of revenge leave her mind. Since I am a very forgiving person, it is hard to wrap my head around how someone could not forget that feeling of hatred. I would not necessarily recommend these books to read, unless you feel like you want to read something disturbing and different.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2159352127192240615.post-43316358542512319862012-08-23T19:29:50.355-06:002012-08-23T19:29:50.355-06:00Over the summer, I read Animal Farm by George Orwe...Over the summer, I read Animal Farm by George Orwell and The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. I really enjoyed Animal Farm, a story about animals taking over their farm and creating their own system of government. It was very unsettling to read on as everything fell apart, and eventually, power corrupted some of the animals, as they lied and cheated for their own personal gain. I liked that uneasy feeling I got, though, just because no other novels have made me feel that way before. Since I read this for pleasure, I didn’t do any research about the book or the author, but something I noticed more in depth was that the characters strongly represented different behaviors that greatly effected the end of the novel, and I’ve thought about how the absence of a single character could change things. I also contemplated a few symbols and their purposes throughout the book.<br /><br />I have attempted to read The Golden Compass many times before, but kept getting bored shortly in. This time, though, I forced myself to get through and I’m glad I did. It does start slowly but once things were set in motion it was very adventurous and I often found myself unable to put it down. The story seems to be in a normal setting at first but I soon learned about the very different realm of fantasy that this novel occurs in. It was actually quite difficult to keep up with the complicated fictional sciences that were the basis of this book, the reason for everything that happened, so I did end up going back to some pages to remind myself of the meaning of many made up terms and concepts as they were repeated throughout the novel. Alongside of these words, I did end up learning a lot of real vocabulary that was new to me. At the end of the novel, I didn’t feel compelled to read the rest of the trilogy, this being the first of the series. Perhaps I just don’t want to get into another long, complicated situation, or I don’t want to read about something awful happening to all the characters who I’ve come to care so much about, but I don’t think I’ll ever finish the series. However, that doesn’t mean I wasn’t content with The Golden Compass alone, which I was very entertained with. <br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2159352127192240615.post-69645499232901917912012-08-23T17:50:16.178-06:002012-08-23T17:50:16.178-06:00Over the summer, I read two books. One being "...Over the summer, I read two books. One being "Enclave" by Ann Aguire, and the other was William Golding's "Lord of the Flies". Enclave is a book about a society in the future that lives underground, in the abandoned subway tunnels of New York City. They believe that above ground is a place where nothing grows, and that it is impossible for anyone or anything to live there. This book follows the story of a girl named Deuce, who is a Hunter, one of the three essential and only jobs in the Enclave. When assigned her partner, she is paired with a boy named Fade. An outcast, he was found in the tunnels as a small child. As Deuce and Fade are patrolling the tunnels for food, they find a small, blind boy hiding in a metal shelter, who says he has a message for the Enclave. When the hunting pair bring him back to their society, he tells them that Nassau, a neighboring Enclave, has been overrun by Freaks. Freaks are human-like creatures that live in the tunnels and feed on whatever they can. This book is full of suspense, and I really enjoyed and recommend it.<br /><br /> William Golding's "Lord of the Flies" is a novel about boys who plane crash on an island. With no adults around, they are forced to learn how to survive on their own. Over time, leadership, fire, and rescue conflicts arise between the two main characters, Jack and Ralph. And in a reflection of society, fights, deaths, and fears all come together to create complete anarchy amongst the boys. I really enjoyed this book because it showed me that even though technology and progress have changed since 1954, when the book was written, society's dark and grotesque side has remained just the sameAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2159352127192240615.post-69867683732666472702012-08-23T15:55:34.241-06:002012-08-23T15:55:34.241-06:00 Over the summer I read Lord of the Flies... Over the summer I read Lord of the Flies by William Golding and The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. Lord of the Flies fallows a group of young ,British, boys during World War II that are stranded on a deserted island and try to create a civil form of community that ultimately fails. My next book had a very interesting and thought provoking concept; after you die you meet five people that you may not have even known but were connected to you in some way. They each were placed in your life to teach you a lesson, which you learn after your death. <br /> <br /> My favorite of the two was The Five People You Meet in Heaven because it was so inspirational but entertaining at the same time. I loved how everything connected together. My favorite thing about this book was hearing all of the stories behind the lesson because the stories told how the person was connected to Eddie, the main character, and more often than not they did not know each other at all. I also loved how after he talked to the person and learned their lesson their scars or imperfections would fade away and they would leave Eddie as they wanted to be seen. Although Lord of the Flies is a classic and highly regarded book, I must say I did not care for it. I won’t deny that it had good life lessons but to me, it was overly descriptive and irrational. However, I did like Piggy and what he stood for. Over all, I do not regret reading either book because they each taught me something very different but equally valuable. I also highly suggest that anyone who wasn’t already read The Five People You Meet in Heaven should most definitely read it.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2159352127192240615.post-27459673507460073092012-08-23T15:53:44.038-06:002012-08-23T15:53:44.038-06:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2159352127192240615.post-67923356591239566332012-08-23T15:36:02.865-06:002012-08-23T15:36:02.865-06:00Over the summer, I read and annotated both William... Over the summer, I read and annotated both William Golding's<br />"Lord of the Flies" and Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451." I liked Lord<br />of the Flies more than Fahrenheit 451, although both I found very<br />thought provoking and interesting. I din't quite understand exactly<br />how the lord of the flies connected to the overall theme of Lord of<br />the Flies, although I did understand what message Golding was trying<br />to get across in the book, and thought that it was a very interesting<br />parallel to society. Fairenheit 451 on the other hand was easy to<br />understand, and I got what the message was, But I wasn't particularly<br />impressed with the explanation of it, and did not think that it was a<br />very accurate portrayal of society and human behaviors. They explained<br />at one point in the book all about how "When no one is more<br />knowledgable than another conflict won't arise" but that just didn't<br />seem like a very logical idea to me, and I thought it was very<br />unrealistic, which bugged me. Also, I didn't feel at all attached to<br />the characters in the book due to Bradbury's very vague depictions of<br />their personalities, because of this, I didn't exactly care what<br />happened to Montag, or Clarisse, or Mildred or any other of the<br />characters in the story. This then made the book boring, and Reading<br />it became a burden. Also, I found the idea of a writer glorifying<br />reading a little tacky. I felt this book had no connection to past,<br />present, or future society, and therefore did not enjoy it all that<br />much. Though I had some pretty negative opinions on the book the first<br />time around, I am looking forward to reading it a second time and<br />possibly picking up on some new, more positive, reactions towards it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2159352127192240615.post-39560428255624230442012-08-23T13:56:30.379-06:002012-08-23T13:56:30.379-06:00Over the summer I read Twilight by Stephanie Meyer...Over the summer I read Twilight by Stephanie Meyer and Out of Sight Out of Time by Ally Carter. I enjoyed Twilight because of the sense of character. Stephanie Meyer did a great job of portraying all of the main characters. Everyone had a strong personality, which made the conflict very interesting. I also enjoyed the sense of romance in Twilight. Out of Sight Out of Time became very suspenseful and I had a hard time putting the book down! Both of these books used lots of flashbacks and I learned many new vocabulary words.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2159352127192240615.post-21081823688734290172012-08-23T11:51:07.532-06:002012-08-23T11:51:07.532-06:00Over the summer, the two books I read The Lord of ...Over the summer, the two books I read The Lord of The Flies by William Golding and Through My Eyes by Tim Tebow and Nathan Whitaker. I really enjoyed Through MY Eyes because it is about one of Heroes and it shows his perspective on all of life's struggles including being born with dyslexia. Through reading Through MY Eyes, I learned that no matter what life throws at you, put your head down and work your way through it. The Lord Of The Flies I felt was a very interesting novel to read. It is about a group boys who's plane crashed and they are stranded on a deserted island without any adults. It was interesting to read how the different ages of boys interacted with each other and what they would choose to do to survive. I enjoyed this book because the author developed characters very well and you could see them, maturing as the book went on. The book has many twists and turns that keeps the reader on their toes and keeps them wanting more. Overall, both books were very intriguing and I learned from both that whenever life throws a challenge at you, step up to the plate and fight back. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2159352127192240615.post-42246640633641384822012-08-23T10:26:33.043-06:002012-08-23T10:26:33.043-06:00This summer I read The Help by Kathryn Stockett an...This summer I read The Help by Kathryn Stockett and Lord of the Flies by William Golding. I really enjoyed The Help, but honestly, can’t say the same for Lord of the Flies. I thought that the concept of The Help was a really important topic and that the book was well written. I felt that the concept of Lord of the Flies could have been a really interesting topic for a book, but I feel that this was somewhat of an outdated book. Although some parts were interesting I lost interest after a while. After reading The Help I have learned more about segregation and the effects it has on families, relationships, and communities. After reading Lord of the Flies I learned how violent children can be and how the evils in the world can be hidden in a child and it can be influenced onto other children. I also was angry after the killed both of my favorite character. Both books taught me things but I probably wouldn’t read Lord of the Flies again.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2159352127192240615.post-66142019216106286442012-08-23T10:23:11.872-06:002012-08-23T10:23:11.872-06:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2159352127192240615.post-14641422477824696382012-08-23T07:57:56.480-06:002012-08-23T07:57:56.480-06:00Over the summer I read The Perks of Being a Wallfl...Over the summer I read The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is about a boy, Charlie, who is starting high school. You learn about Charlie and his life through letters that he writes to an anonymous person. Charlie is relatable, he is a freshman who doesn’t know what to expect of high school. He is one of those people who stands in the corner and watches everyone else, and has a hard time figuring out what it really means to participate. Charlie meets two people, Sam and Patrick, who impact his life greatly. I learned what it means to really participate. Participating is getting yourself involved in something. Once you participate, you notice things you never did before. When you participate you feel infinite. I enjoyed the writing style Chbosky chose for this book. The second book I read this summer was Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. Catching Fire is the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy. There was an intense plot-twist in Catching Fire. In the Hunger Games, Katniss survived the Games and will never have to go back, right? Wrong. For the Quarter-Quell, Katniss has to go back into the arena. I loved the emotion throughout the book. It kept me interested and made me feel like I was Katniss. Catching Fire sends a message that you can change things. You can impact the world; all you have to do is try. People are helping you, even if you don’t know they are.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2159352127192240615.post-11433072052907400272012-08-23T00:04:08.279-06:002012-08-23T00:04:08.279-06:00This summer I read Lord of the Flies by William Go...This summer I read Lord of the Flies by William Golding and Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. I did not necessarily like the Lord of the Flies, but it was well written and made a good survival story. I did like that it had a deeper meaning that the average survival story in that the boys represent a society. The society runs smoothly at first but then people start realizing the problems they face on the island and the island government doesn't have a lot of power just as a starting countries government has little power. Then people start slacking off of their jobs and that costs them a shot at rescue or in real life a shot at making it big in a certain field. Relationships get tense like things do in the real world when times get tough. We also see that the older boys are the upper class, the middle age boys and Piggy the middle class, and the little ones the lower class. Eventually a group secedes and goes off on their own, like what happened before the Civil War. Problems have been coming up before this happened and they are getting resolved at this point like the beast. Eventually the miniature war gets more intense and two boys are killed. Sort of like a riot in a civilized country. And when things look darkest for the good guys, Ralph, rescuers come and save the day. So that would be like a third party saying it wasn't a good idea to keep fighting and the other two countries making peace. The story is complicated and could have many meeting but I saw it as a younger, miniature society. <br />The second book was Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. Jon Krakauer was a magazine article writer for Outside Magazine in 1966 and he climbed Everest and later wrote about it. His story is of the tragedies from many tour groups climbing Everest. Many groups were attempting to summit in a window of a couple of days. Jon's group led by famous mountaineer Rob Hall. Most of Rob Hall's team reached the summit but at different times, Jon Krakauer was one of the first so he was left waiting for his group to descend. Many climbers in his group made bad calls by staying on the summit too long or not turning back early enough. A blizzard came in from nowhere and trapped many climbers from multiple groups high on the mountain. Luckily Jon had headed down earlier than his group and was not trapped. The next days where spent huddled in tents recovering from reaching the summit and for other it was spent going out on rescue mission for those still stranded in the storm which limited visibility severely. In the end many lives were lost some very experienced and some not as experienced, but they all made the decision to not pay attention to the time turn back for them to turn around if they hadn't reached the summit yet. This was a very tragic year on Everest with all of the death but it taught climbers and all other people a lesson, when you set deadlines don't ignore them they can be very important obviously in some cases the penalty for ignoring the deadlines are harsher than others, but being true to deadlines you set makes you a more successful person. It is a true story so it is very sad but it is interesting and different reading it from a climbers memories. This book may not have too many relevant applications to me, but I still found it a very interesting book.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2159352127192240615.post-25325998047546906392012-08-22T21:53:30.863-06:002012-08-22T21:53:30.863-06:00So I read two books besides Lord of the FLies this...So I read two books besides Lord of the FLies this summer.<br /><br />1. The Perfect Storm by Sebastien Junger- This book is based on the true story of the fishing vessel The Andrea Gail and her crew. I really enjoyed reading about the fishing culture and the town there, Gloucester. The way a fisherman usually lives (paycheck to paycheck), surpiresd me. These men will make a couple thousand dollars on a single 3 week trip and blow most, if not all, of it in the week or so they're at port before they leave again. The motto for these guys is "work hard, play harder". This book also dealed with the superstition surrounding most fisherman. For example... some men are "marked". This means that they are, to put it simply, slated to die. You can tell by getting a bad feeling as you walk on the dock, have a dream, or have too many close calls. I would definitely recommend this book as it gives a good perspective on fishing culture and ideas.<br /><br />2. I also read The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. This book is ridiculously complicated in symbolism and conspiracies. The main idea of the book is that Jesus Christ, contrary to popular belief, married Mary Magdalene and had a child. The entire book is based two belief systems- The Priory of Sion and the Catholic idealistic group Opus Dei. The Priory of Sion is a group that follows the supposed bloodline of Jesus. Opus Dei is group that believes in the church above all. They use special tools, whips, and uncomfortable clothing to constantly reminding themselves of Christ's suffering. A symbol expert get caught up in the middle of the ages old conflict between the two groups and struggles to decipher the truth as he flees from the groups and authorities. I enjoyed this book, although some of the symbolism pieces were a bit too far fetched for me. Part of it might be my personal beliefs, but it was thought-provoking book. What is extremely interesting is that the groups, symbols, and practices are all real. The amount of controversy this bool generated actually caused people to convince the Vatican to ban this book. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone looking to read a thought-provoking controversial book. (Disclaimer-I didn't do a great job summarizing and explaining this complicated book, so read it!!!!)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com