Last Spurt

Ooh, it's the last post of the semester. How exciting.

I must say, I haven't read as many novels as I would've liked to. However, I did read The Lover's Dictionary, and Forged, and am currently reading It's Kind of a Funny Story. I didn't exactly have a specific reason to pick these books, it sort of just happened. I was supposed to read The Lover's Dictionary for my summer reading project, but it came late in the mail so I was forced to switch books. Forged was only because it was the sequel to Chains, and I'm only currently reading It's Kind of a Funny Story because the book I had my eyes on for the book swap was claimed right before my very eyes, leaving me with no choice but to pick a random book. No regrets though, haha.
I've also read a plethora of random things. Packets about composers from Orchestra, chapter after chapter in my boring history textbook, as well as (not sure if this would count) multiple folktales from my mandarin class. I've liked all the things I've read, (except for the history stuff) and even though some things didn't work out the way they were supposed to, I'm very glad I got to read the amazing things that I did.

My blogging in the beginning was pretty stiff. I really just spat out information, keeping it formal and totally defeating the purpose of a blog post. Now, I'd like to think I have a lot more voice and I'm more friendly. I mean, I'm not naturally a funny type of person, so bringing humor and showing my personality through my writing was hard, but I did my best, and hopefully you will be able to see it threaded through my posts. Up until around 4 blog posts ago, all I would ever do is write book summaries. Now, I've learned to branch out and write about different topics, which definitely will make my posts more interesting and less repetitive. That's nice.

Okayy, continuing on... I have literally been late when writing all my blog posts and comments. I put them off, thinking I can easily do them later. What a fool I am. For me, blogging is soo tedious, I literally sit in the chair for an hour typing, deleting, retyping, flipping through pages, rushing to get a post done. I'm disappointed in my time management, and baffled by how badly I procrastinated. Can I just say that it's like, the night before this post is due and I'm writing it now? I. Regret. Everything. It's only the first semester, and as a lowly freshmen in a busy high school environment, I should have lots of time. So one thing I plan on improving is definitely turning these posts in on time. (Because it's gonna seriously effect my grade). Also, I hope to be able to write about different topics. In the beginning of the school year, we were given a list with a large number of prompts, so I have plenty of ammo. One last thing is to read more. Just kidding. I hope to read books that I wouldn't normally pick up. Because the books that are totally out of my reading level, I do hope to read them someday. So I will start slowly, but surely I will build onto my vocabulary (as you can tell, my vocab is quite limited...) while reading, and become a stronger and more independent reader! I know I still have so much more to learn, and I hope to share that with everyone in the second semester.

And on that note, ugh yes, I am finally done with the last post. (Of the first semester).

The Best and Worst thing about It's Kind of a Funny Story

Haha fun fun.

Craig describing how he feels

The best thing about this book is the straight forward comments that Craig makes.

It's so real, his depression. 

It's like you're in his head, listening to his thoughts, understanding what he's going through. 

Craig's character development is phenomenal as well. When he acts, you can almost predict what he will do because it feels like you know him. I really hope to see how he grows throughout the book.

Hm... Now, I'd have to say the worst thing about this book is the dialogue. It's sort of...cliche? Like at one point Craig is with his group of friends and they keep going, "Son!" or "Pass it, son." I don't think that people say "son" anymore. Or at least not a lot. I find the conversations awkward, and hard to follow, sometimes I need to stop and reread to figure out who is talking. It might be the personalities of these people, maybe it's just me, I don't know. I like the book nonetheless. 

The Raven Boys

I know the title sounds weird, but askdfasdflk;asdf please read it.

The Raven Boys book cover

There are multiple main characters in this book- Blue, the female heroine, and her Raven boys, Gansey, Adam, Ronan, and Noah.

In this post I plan on focusing more on Gansey. More specifically, Richard "Dick" Campbell Gansey III.  He's my favorite character.

Gansey's a polite, headstrong young man who goes to Aglionby Academy. His appearance is more clean and polished, he's smart, cool, and kind. He's like the real life Barbie Ken. When Blue first saw him, she called him Mr. President because of his professional dressing style. One of Blue's relatives even referred to him as "the Pretty One".
I hope you get the idea.

Anyhow, Gansey isn't just a beautiful person on the outside. Nope. Personally, I think that his personality is something way more intriguing and pleasant. He's is witty and often times has a clever remark ready, yet he is also kind and thoughtful, treating everyone (unless they're evil) politely. Gansey is also very mature and business like, making it easy for him to communicate with grown ups, and deal with Ronan.

"When Gansey was polite, it made him powerful. When Adam was polite, he was giving power away."" (Stiefvater 131).

A drawing of Gansey

However, Blue (Gansey calls her Jane because he thinks Blue is a weird name) thinks he's annoying because he's somewhat ignorant with his words even though he means well. (This is when he is dealing with money... to him it is no big deal, however Blue's family is not exactly doing well in terms of wealth). I think that is one of his faults.

Hm, as a personal connection, unfortunately, I don't think that I am very great with my words. I have a lot of run on sentences, sometimes my mouth runs faster than my brain, and when I'm nervous I stutter. Sucks. Although I do think that I am relatively nice to people I meet, (hopefully!) and I do my best to treat them kindly.

Haha, The Raven Boys is an amazing book, as well as a series! Blue Lily, Lily Blue has finally come out and I'm soo excited to read it.

Starting It's Kind of a Funny Story

You know, I thought it would actually be a funny story. It's actually really depressing and makes me feel really sad.

Well, I'm only on page 49 out of 444, ha.

It's Kind of A Funny Story

The book starts out with this: "It's so hard to talk when you want to kill yourself." (Vizzini 3).

Wow. Talk about a funny story.
Anyways, this is about a teenage guy named Craig.

He's depressed.
A quiet kid with an active mind, Craig over thinks a lot. His thought process is deep, but his actual conversations are simple and he often gives short sentence replies, likely because he likes simple things, and also because he stutters.

His lingo in general is kinda weird, he uses certain terms that would relate to certain things. For example, he uses the word Tentacles which are the evil tasks that invade his life. I find this very interesting, and well, amusing. I can definitely see how they are tentacles too.

So far so many things are going on, I don't believe that he has stated the reason for his depression. Some of his symptoms are him not eating, not smoking pot and smoking too much pot, being anti-social. Maybe it's just him, but I really hope that he gets mentally healthier.

I mainly chose this book because of the cover... so lame, but worry not because I am actually enjoying it quite a bit.
Definitely excited to read what's gonna happen to Craig.

I am Malala

Grace and I are reading the memoir novel, I am Malala, by Malala Yousafzai. The book is about the life of a young girl, Malala, who lives in Swat Valley, Pakistan and fights against the Taliban for girls' education. Malala raised her voice and protested when the Taliban tried to stop women from attending school. At age 15, she was on her way home from class when the Taliban came and shot her. Even with the injuries, Malala survived and wrote about her life in a book. 

 The idea around her story is that people should not feel oppressed from fear of a greater power, but rather speak out against their wrongdoings to promote for the good of many. 

Map of where Swat Valley is

In Pakistan, the men in the household were superior to the women. Even the sons could tell their mother what to do just because of their gender. Women were not allowed to leave to house without a man's company. 

Consulting a women with your problems was considered weak and unwise, and most women in Pakistan were illiterate and did not go to school But despite the fact that the society demotes women's rights, Malala is a free bird. 

She was exposed to the importance of education at an early age. Her father started a school, and taught her how much her education mattered.

So even when the Taliban tried to stop women from going to school, Malala stepped up and fought back. Even when they attacked her, she didn't step down. Malala didn't even let getting shot break her and the fact that she wrote this book to spread awareness proves it. She didn't give up, just like how when people try to bring you down, you should be strong and push forward. Don't give people the power to tell you what to do.

“We realize the importance of our voices only when we are silenced." -Malala

One personal connection that I have made is that I shouldn't take my education for granted. I know that I am very blessed to be able to go to school without any trouble while in other countries, girls are risking their lives just to get an education.

Read my partners blog because you should: http://gracetangsreadingblog.blogspot.com/

The Phantom Tollbooth

Book Cover

The Phantom Tollbooth is a weird book. However, it has pictures which are very enjoyable!

The Phantom Tollbooth features a young boy named Milo. Milo is bored. He's so very extremely bored. When he is in school he wants out, when he is out he wants in. One day he comes home and finds a package that contains a tollbooth. Through the tollbooth he is taken to the Lands Beyond, a strange, make-believe place full of mysteries and riddles. He travels around in a little car.

Milo and his little car

He then meets a dog name Tock, a literal watchdog, who goes on a quest with him to go rescue the two princesses, Rhyme and Reason. They are also accompanied with another character, the Humbug. 

The Dodecahedron

On the journey the trio encounters many unique, unusual characters, some helpful, most not. They meet characters such as The Dodecahedron, a man with 12 faces, Alec Bings, a boy who floats, and the Soundkeeper, who keeps all sound from the valley the traveled to. They even encounter demons, which I think is terrifying, because a) the demons in the pictures are absolutely horrific, and b) these demons try to trick you into staying with them forever.

This demon reminds me of slenderman

In the end the three do indeed rescue the fair princesses. Milo returns to the real world, promising to return, excited for the many adventures to come. He realizes how unboring (not a word, but who gives?) the world actually is, and decides that he would not go for another trip in the tollbooth because there is just so much to do. (And then he will reach highschool, when he will barely be able to do anything but homework. Just kidding.)

Despite my poor description of the book I highly recommend it if you are looking for something different. It is literally a book of puns, certainly making it a unique piece of literature that is extremely enjoyable. The humor is witty and delivered in a way that reminds me of riddles. There is so much use of figurative language it sort of just blows your mind. Just kidding. But seriously it does. The Phantom Tollbooth such an easy book to read, you fly through it without even realizing the time. Haha, get it? Because Tock is a watchdog who should be helping you keep track of time but since the book Tock is in is so awesome you lose track of time. (I'm not funny but you should laugh anyways because I tried really hard.) Anyways definitely read it when you get the chance! 

Harry Potter

After years and years of being left out of the Harry Potter club. I have finally joined.

When I was young, I had no interest whatsoever in reading the Harry Potter series. I didn't like the way JK Rowling wrote, and I found the beginnings quite boring. So I quit.

All the way up to 8th grade, I was an uneducated simple muggle who didn't understand the wonders that those 7 books held.

The books are about magic, but the novel themselves are truly what makes it magical. The different characters and the plot. It's heart-racing, filled with breath-taking adventure and sappy romance, Harry Potter was more than my 6 year old brain had thought it was.

Chains and Forge

This review contains spoilers. If you don't want to be spoiled click away. (No wait)  

Okayy let's start with Chains. My sister recommended this book to me and of course I didn't read it until two years later. Why? Because I'm lame. And historical fiction is boring. Just kidding, this book was a lot more that I expected it to be, and I'm really glad I read it. It's beautifully written and completely understandable, making the book enjoyable and hard to put down. The story takes place around the time leading up to the Revolutionary War, and is about a young negro girl named Isabel who slaves for a Loyalist family, the Locktons. Isabel is stubborn and  strong spirited, and she works hard and dreams of freedom. She does not care much for the war, let alone what side she's on, for her main focus is finding away for her younger sister Ruth and her to stay together and escape slavery. She later on meets Curzon, a slave boy who is a spirited Rebel. He convinces her to spy on the Locktons for information about the British. In return he promises to do whatever he can to help them gain their freedom. This book is so unique in many ways, and it's definitely a piece that has you stuck until the end. The events that take place make reminds you continuously how cruel the Americans were to slaves.

 The novel is powerful and honest, allowing the reader to realize the actually pain and hardships the slaves endured. "She cannot chain my soul. Yes, she could hurt me. She'd already done so...I would bleed, or not. Scar, or not. Live, or not. But she could not hurt my soul, not unless I gave it to her."

Moments of joy are brief and scarce. Every chapter I'm constantly harboring small hope that something great will happen for Isabel and her sister. Only, things just seem to get worse and it sucks. (Not the book, it's just so hnghghh ugh distressing.) Mrs. Lockton sells Ruth off somewhere and lies to Isabel about the location. Isabel gets branded on her face. Curzon goes to war and is taken prisoner. Every day is a hardship for Isabel, but in the end she escapes Mrs. Lockton's evil grasps and takes Curzon with her. And that's where the book ends.

Forge is from Curzon's perspective instead of Isabel's, I actually liked this book better for only a few reasons, one was because Curzon was totally adorable when he thinks about Isabel. (He has a crush on her but refuses to acknowledge it.) So the story picks up only a few weeks after it left off. After a fight, Curzon and Isabel had split up; Isabel went to go look for her sister, and Curzon, without meaning to, joins the Continental Army. There, Curzon makes a few friends and one or two enemies. You can see how he matures more and sees things in a new perspective. You also find out that Curzon has a deep dark secret pertaining to his name. While struggling to survive in training Curzon unhappily reunites with his old master, Mr. Bellingham. Mr. Bellingham had previously promised him if he joined the army in his place, Curzon would gain his freedom when the war was over. However when they were reunited Bellingham pretended that such a deal never existed and forcefully took Curzon back with him. Ughhh. 

When Curzon had arrived at Mr. Bellingham's home he was surprised to see Isabel working there. (Oh what a coincidence!) She too had been taken there and was now a maid. Curzon and Isabel are awkward with each other at first but soon begin to warm up again. And yayy Curzon finally shows his true feelings for Isabel and tells her his secret about his name, and they kiss and it's all wonderful. But seriously that's all I got from this book. (Just kidding...) Soon after they sort out an escape plan and free Isabel from the neck chain that kept her from leaving. But of course Mr. Bellingham finds out about their plan to run away and corners them. He basically brutally beats Curzon, but then (woohoo) Isabel saves the day by knocking Bellingham unconscious. Go Isabel, too good so OP. They escape, and with the help of Curzon's soldier buddies both of them join the army. Isabel must pretend to be a boy and that's about where the story ends.

There's supposed to be a third book called Ashes, but that still hasn't come out yet. So many loose ends to be tied and I really hope it's a happy ending... I'm super psyched and I hold great expectations for the next book. 

The Infinite Moment of Us

I chose this book because of the pretty cover. Also because it's a love story and the last love story I read (excluding The Lover's Dictionary, that one doesn't apply for the situation here) was The Fault In Our Stars. I guess that's why this book isn't wowing me as much as I had hoped. The Infinite Moment of Us, what a cliche love story this is. A guy and girl, complete opposites. Charlie, the guy, who knows exactly what he wants, and Wren, the girl, who doesn't know what she wants at all. She is literally controlled by her parents and lives to make them happy. Her parents don't know what she likes, hates, and wants to do. And not to make this story any cheesier or anything but she happens to be one of those girls with the best friend who's super outgoing and beautiful, but Wren is also secretly beautiful too but no one notices her because she doesn't speak out. Oh, but fear not because there's that one sketchy boy named Charlie who rarely speaks to anyone but is secretly kind who supposedly is madly in love with Wren. "She smiled slightly, and they held each other's gaze. He still couldn't believe she was here, or that he was here. That they were here together." (Myracle 22).  This quote can be taken as a really sweet thing to say, but they're actually at a hospital because Charlie cut his finger, and Charlie thought it was some kind of  fateful meeting, and they sorta had a conversation but most of it was him think Wren was adorable, and Wren not laughing at his jokes. He watches her constantly and the way he describes her is more stalker-ish rather than romantic, considering the fact that he barely talks to her and kinda just watches from afar.

And that's where I stopped reading. I really truly honestly hope that this story gets better and doesn't continue to be the cheesy love story it's slowly becoming. I should actually stop being so harsh... I'm just disappointed that this book isn't turning out to be a super cute and exciting love story I was hoping it to be. I will most likely update this post when I finish the book and give a full review, based of the whole book entirely.

The Lover's Dictionary

I've started reading the famous, most interesting and captivating book; The Lovers Dictionary. It is from the point of view of a guy, and he is describing his relationship with a girl through a series of entries in a dictionary similar format. His entries start out about words that start with "A" and continues down the alphabet, each story pertaining to the word listed. So far, I'm on the letter C. I love how this book has a unique writing style, and a realistic story line. The topic was quite intriguing and I had heard a lot about this book from my friends.

At first, I didn't  understand what was going on, but once you get used to the different format, the story gets really intriguing and beautiful. "aloof, adj. It has always been my habit, ever since junior high school, to ask that question: "What are you thinking?" It is always an act of desperation, and I keep on asking, even though I know it will never work the way I want it to." (Levithan 11).  There are ups and downs, cute moments and sad moments, and the writing is extremely deep and leaves you thinking about the story constantly. The characters are very real, and genuine, like people who could actually exist. Overall I think this book is really good so far and I am excited to see what's to come!

Update:

I finished the book and I melted into a puddle.
It gets a lot better when you get the hang of the format, and it's become one of my favorite books.
Now shoo get off my blog and go read the book.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette

During the summer, I chose to read the book, Where'd You Go, Bernadette. This book takes place in Seattle, and is about a family of 3, Bernadette, her husband Elgie, and her daughter Bee. They are about to go on a trip to Antarctica, when Bernadette mysteriously disappears. 

Bernadette, who was once a well-known architect; famous for being one of the only females to thrive in her field, is now a stay at home mother who has take-home duty at the private school that her daughter Bee goes to. Bernadette experiences depression and anxiety, but also is antisocial. Her main friends are her daughter Bee, and an internet person with the name of "Manjula". Bernadette appears to be a little too trusting with Manjula and gives her valuable and important information about her family which later gets them into trouble.  Bernadette is an outcast to the mothers of the private school, and she knows it. She normally calls the mothers "gnats" and has an intense rivalry with a particular mother named Audrey. “I tried talking to her, but her windows were rolled up and she was pretending not to see me. You’d think she was the first lady of France, with her silk scarf flung just so and huge dark glasses.” (Semple 20). This quote is a description from Audrey's point of view, showing her distaste for Bernadette and how she perceives Bernadette's actions. Even Bernadette's own husband Elgie believes that there is something wrong with Bernadette. He writes to Dr. Kurtz stating: “Dr. Kurtz, I don’t pretend to understand what’s wrong with Bernadette. Is she depressed? Manic? Hooked on pills? Paranoid?  I don’t know what constitutes a mental breakdown. Whatever you want to call it, I think it’s fair to say my wife is in need of serious attention.” (Semple 97). The quote above shows how Elgie is worried for what Bernadette's current mental stage is. 

Over the course of the text, Bernadette seems to become more and more anxious. She begins to get weird and writes weird letters and emails. She even plans to not go on the trip to Antarctica that her daughter Bee wanted to go on. But after Elgie found out about all the emails she wrote to Manjula, he calls in people to get her help. Bernadette then disappears which then causes a huge change in Bee. Bee blamed her Father for the disappearance of Bernadette. She and her Dad still go on the cruise to Antarctica, because Bee intends to find her Mother there. Bee makes up with her dad and together they look for Bernadette. Bee finally finds her Mother and Bernadette seems a lot happier and in better condition. Bernadette is once again interested in Architecture, and her mental health has become much healthier. 

Okay now for my personal opinion! I actually quite enjoyed the book. The characters are all so very real and quirky, and I think it's just so interesting to see things from different point of views, like how Bernadette sees things, to how Audrey sees things. In the beginning of the book, I pretty much hated Audrey but in the end she turns out to be an okay character, although my favorite character will still always be Bernadette. She's so fun and her ways of thinking are so different.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette Article

The article summarizes the book and reviews what kind of character Bernadette is, and all of her attributes.