Reading Wishlist

Over the course of the next few months or so, I hope to finish 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs as well as Bossypants by Tina Fey and The Wolf of Wall Street by Jordan Belfort.  I just recently bought 13 Reasons Why and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children this past weekend, and have already read a few pages of Thirteen Reasons Why.  

13 Reasons Why: 13 Reasons Why is about a girl named Hannah who commits suicide.  She leaves tapes saying why she did it to people she was related to or friends with and that will tell them her 13 reasons why she committed suicide.  I think that I will like this book because it is a bit of a mystery and is also realistic fiction which I enjoy.  Hopefully the reviews I read were correct and the story is quite good and realistic.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is a interesting book about superhuman children who live under the care of Miss Peregrine.  It is essentially an orphanage for children who are extraordinary.  I think I will like this book because it has elements of the supernatural genre and is known for being a strange story, and both things appeal to me.  I think this will be a good read and I will probably end up recommending it to people I know.

Gone Girl: Over the course of this class, I have heard a lot about this book.  I didn't even know it existed before, but now, based off of things I have heard, I think that I will really like the book.  I have heard a series of rumors about what happens to the main character, Amy, and I want to clear up all the conspiracies that I have heard.

Bossypants: I have just recently heard of this book from this class, and I think that I would like it.  I think humor is a good lightening genre, and I think that I would really like the book.  I have hard a lot of positive reviews for it so hopefully it will live up to its expectation.

The Wolf of Wall Street: I have heard quite a lot about this book and I think that I will probably read it sometime in the future.  I have heard that it's a good book, but that it has a lot of vulgar language and inappropriate scenes, which I have heard from juniors and seniors, so maybe I'll wait until college to read this book.  But it is still a book I want to read and I think that I would like it a lot when I get older based off the scene reenactment I saw in class.

Post #7 Book 4 Reflection

In Gayle Forman's If I Stay, the main character, Mia, is a relatively likable character.  Mia is a quiet cellist who strives her hardest to impress her parents.  I think that Mia is likable because she is so relatable.  I think, however, that readers will not like Mia and only because she is so likable and relatable.  An interesting, and maybe confusing thought, but sometimes when someone is very popular or likable, people avoid them just because of what they’re heard. On page 8, Mia’s thought process goes like this: “I hear a crash and a boom coming from upstairs.  Teddy is pounding on his drum kit.”  I think a lot of siblings can relate to this kind of thing, especially people with siblings that are a lot louder than they are.  Since my brother is a drummer, I have experiences like that a lot.  I think that specifically sisters of brothers would be able to relate better because they typically view their brothers as loud or annoying.  I’m not specifically saying that Mia sees Teddy as obnoxious, but I know that a lot of girls would be annoyed if their brother did something like that and so early in the morning.  As I was saying, I think that Mia is a likable character because she is relatable.

I think Mia’s likability was almost completely gone towards the end of the book.  I think that she almost wears out her personality as the book goes on and tries too hard to be shy and kind.  I have absolutely nothing against shy people, but towards the end, I felt that her character was a bit forced.  This could just be me, but it seemed overused.  However, the undertone of depression towards the end of the book did prove to make it more interesting.  The plot wasn’t completely bland the last three fourths of the book because of that, but the general idea did get a bit old.   

Mia’s likability does become irritating as the plot advances, especially when her depression and hopelessness takes over her.  I would even go far enough to say that maybe her likability goes away completely as the depression kicks in.  On page 228, it says “I don’t care anymore.  I’m tired of this all, and it will be over soon.”  This line of despair doesn’t make me pity Mia, it actually causes me to become angry at her.  When someone gives up completely it makes me become angry, and despite how hypocritical it may be, I wish people didn’t even have the ability to think of giving up.  It’s a hopeless thought, but maybe if Mia hadn’t been exposed to her decision in the first place, then maybe her overwhelming depression never would have been a large part of her life. 

Mia’s depression, however, also makes her more likable.  I think that, again, this could be because so many teenagers have depression or similar issues.  Mia’s depression made it easier to identify what she was feeling even at her darkest times and when she was thinking about the worst things.  I think the ending to If I Stay makes Mia’s character more likable because she chooses in a way that I think made people believe that they can also be as strong as Mia.  Because even in her darkest times, Mia always chose what she truly believed in at the end.  That is why I think that Mia from If I Stay is a likable character, and that anyone can relate to her and that this story will have a lasting impact on generations to come.

The Book Thief Trailer

Book Talk

Post #6: Listicle

Jackie Robinson, the first professional black baseball player, wrote an autobiography in 1995 titled I Never Had it Made.  Jackie Robinson is, for sure, a sports hero for African Americans all over the United States.  Jackie's thought process throughout his book really shows how he felt during situations in his battle to get into a professional league.  His voice is clear and concise, and it pretty obviously shows what he was thinking when faced with difficult situations, whether it be about family life or racial discrimination.  This leads to the question: besides his success as a baseball player, why is Jackie Robinson so popular among Americans of all races?

1.  He stands up for what he believes in.  On page 20 it says, "The captain was very annoyed because I wouldn't back down."  Jackie obviously does not want to be a bystander, especially not in the situation of racial discrimination or anything like it.  This also shows that Jackie feels very strongly about his views and opinions on society and makes them known, which leads me to the next point. 

2. Jackie makes his opinions and accomplishments well-known and actively demonstrates his beliefs.  For one, Jackie actually attempted to join a professional baseball team and successfully joined the Dodgers.  Also, in his book page 57, it is said that, "The sports writers snatched up telephones.   The telegraph wires relayed the message to the sports world."  His ideas were distributed all over the country and the world after he was first on the news and radio. 

3. Jackie Robinson is a genuinely nice person.  From what I understand, Jackie doesn't typically say things out of impulse, and he tries to be as nice as he can, even when he's in an argument.  I didn't hear him saying anything negative the whole book, even in his stream of conscious, and for a lot of people that is very difficult, so he would definitely be a role model for people like that.

4. He is supportive.  In the book I Never Had it Made Jackie supports his fellow teammates and the fans despite all the cruel things both parties do.  It was amazing to see how he withstood all the cruel and inhumane behavior he received, and a lot of people support him for that.

5. Jackie accepts reality.  Another reason Jackie is so popular is due to his ability to accept things, no matter how hard it may be.  He accepted that his career path would never be easy with all the discrimination at the time, and yet he chose to take that path in his life.  He also accepted family issues as well and didn't try to ignore the issues, he faced them head on.

These reasons show why Jackie Robinson, the first African American baseball player, is a popular figure in history despite the racial discrimination present.

Blog Post #5: Truth in Memoir

In my mind, for a book to be considered non-fiction, it has to be at least 85% true; 100% being what people expect, but in reality it usually ranges from 85%-90% true.  Sure, people are going to stretch the truth to make the story more interesting, they always do, but I don't think an author should completely change the course of the story unless they say it is fiction rather than non fiction.   I think that people stretch the truth so they can sound more heroic, accomplished, or even intelligent.  Agreeing with Aimee Bender,  I think that works don't have to be an exact replica of the event, the truth can be stretched a bit to capture the reader's attention more.  I do think that truth is a valuable aspect of a book, but I think that it can be molded and changed to fit the story or the mood of the story more. 

I think that, rather than half truths, quarter truths are okay.  I think stories need to be at least 3/4 of the way true. This is because I think location, dialogue, characters, and events are the four main parts of truths.  You can have different combinations of the four aspects, arranging it any way you'd like, but at least three of those dynamics should be true.  You can change the events as long as the same characters, dialogue, and location still exists. 

I think that David Shields is partially right. This is because fiction and non fiction are labeled as genres not a specifying category that defines whether or not something is true or not true. After all, what is the definition of fiction and non fiction?  Do genres even have real definitions or defining characteristics?  I think that fiction and non fiction matter because they describe what the reader is meant to believe.  Plus, if you're reading a book marked 'Horror' and then coming to find that it was a true story that makes it even more terrifying.  This is what I think about fiction and non fiction and how much truth should be told in non fiction.

Post #4: Adapting Your Book - The Book Thief

Since The Book Thief has already been adapted into a movie, I'll just go off the film version and say what they did correctly or incorrectly, or what they needed to add and didn't.  The filmmaker from The Book Thief movie didn't seem to do anything significantly wrong and I think the film company did a nice job with the movie. I think that so far it follows the book quite well.  The filmmaker had to change some of the things regarding Liesel's past since so far this have not been to elaborated on in the book.  I think that the movie makers created a backstory for Liesel that was not even mentioned in the book at all, but this may be necessary for the plot to follow the book relatively closely in the movie since this has only been mentioned a few times so far, and very vaguely.

I think that the movie definitely needed to keep some key scenes that made a large impact in the book, or will make a significant change to the storyline.  Since the book is called The Book Thief, I think that it's only natural that the scene where Liesel steals her first book is incorporated.  This scene is also important because it is the first book that she ever had and it is the book that gets her to learn how to read.  The second scene that I think definitely needs to be added to the movie is when Mama and Papa are first introduced.  I think that this scene needs to be added because that shows a lot about their personalities and how they want things to operate in their house. And finally, the last scene that I think should be added into the movie (based off of what I have read so far) would be when Papa and Liesel begin their midnight lessons because this will lead to Liesel becoming a better reader and writer.  I think that all the said scenes should be added because in some way they all relate to Liesel's book stealing tendencies or her gaining the ability to read.

Two parts of The Book Thief that I would probably cut out from the movie adaption are when Liesel wets the bed - I feel that this isn't too important of a scene, I think that all that needs to really be included relating to  that is Liesel having the nightmares and then waking up and having midnight study sessions with Papa.  Another scene that I think could be cut out without much of a difference in the plot would be when Liesel and Rudy go to the store to buy mixed candy.  I think that this isn't too important, and I think that it could be left out without much argument.