Blog 10: Final Blog Post

The majority of people say they hate reading. When people say they don’t read or they don’t like reading I wonder how that’s even possible. Reading books has been in my life since before I could read myself. I’ve always read before going to bed and whenever I have the time to I grab a book and read. When I was younger my mom always took me to story time at the library. We would pick out books and sit there for hours reading them. When I could read for myself, I would always have books with me. No matter where I went, I was guaranteed to be carrying a book. Soon after, I wouldn’t carry just one book, I would have several books with me at all times. I look at my bookshelf and I see it bursting with books. I read one and as soon as I finish it, I pick up another.

Being an avid reader really shaped my view on the world because I had the opportunity to experience other lives through the characters eyes. Of all the books I’ve read, the one that stands out to me the most is Touch and Go by Lisa Gardner. It teaches the readers that a small simple mistake in life can have a catastrophic change in the timeline. Reading something like that opened my eyes to see what is between the lines and that’s what keeps fueling my love for reading.

My favorite genre, my favorite authors, all have to go under Science Fiction and Mystery/Thriller. J.K. Rowling, Lisa Gardner, James Dashner, Michael Grant and many more. Something about their writing style and the way to draw readers in intrigues me.

What bothers me with reading is the fact that people think electronic reading is the same as print book reading. It's not the same thing! E-Book reading doesn't give you the same feel with Print Books. When you read print books, you get to feel the pages in your hand, be satisfied with the physical evidence of how far you're in the book and the old book smell. E-Books can blind you especially when reading in the dark by the fire. It's not easy to snuggle, get comfortable and read by the fireplace.

You know those people that read like crazy, maybe carrying several books with them at a time? Yeah, that’s me. Maybe 2. Maybe 4. I don’t even know. The highest I’ve gone was 6 books at once. Was it hard to read and keep track of them all? Not really because each book was different from the other. The genre might be the same but content wise it’s drastically different which I like so it’s easier to read.

Reading makes my world easy. It allows me to live several lives and be in other people’s shoes. Things that most don’t understand.

x

Blog Post FINAL: Listicle

Have you ever wanted a superpower? How about if that superpower can kill people? Or even stop you from touching other people?

17 year old Juliette Ferrars has that superpower.

Her touch is lethal.

Her touch is power.

A group called the Reestablishment wants her to join their side to rebuild and shape the world.

Juliette doesn't want to.

The Reestablishment will come for her.

Juliette will come for the Reestablishment.

What will happen?

In comes Adam Kent. A boy Juliette had known prior to her kidnapping. A boy she loved. Adam Kent is the boy Juliette has a special connection with. A connection that allows him to touch her without killing him.

But the leader of the Reestablishment, Warner, also has that connection.

Juliette doesn't know why.

In UNRAVEL ME Juliette finally gets her questions answered.

Juliette, Kenji (another friend) and Adam fight for their lives. They train day in and day out. They become one with their powers and strength.

But is that enough to defeat the Reestablishment from their endgame?

Maybe. Maybe not.

In the book we see Juliette fighting for her life, for her friends, and for the man she loves. So the question is:

WHY IS ADAM JULIETTE'S WEAKNESS?

  

The answer:

1. He's a liability.
2. He's the man she loves.
3. He's her best friend.
4. “He looks away. And he smiles. It's the kind of smile that makes me forget how to do everything but blink and blink and I don't understand what's happening to me. I don't know why I can't convince my eyes to find something else to focus on. I don't know why my heart is losing its mind.”

Juliette can’t stop her feelings for Adam but she knows that she can’t focus if she’s focused on the wrong subject. As she pushes Adam away, she pulls towards Warner causing a love triangle between them.  

This quote summarizes Juliette’s feelings:

5. “He's looking so deeply into my eyes that I'm surprised I haven't buckled under the intensity and I realize then, right in this moment I realize that everything about him is intense. Nothing about him is manageable or easy to compartmentalize. He's too much. Everything about him is too much. His emotions, his actions, his anger, his aggression. His love.”

She doesn’t know how to deal with the love she gets from two men, one of who tried to kill her. Which is why she distances herself from Adam; she doesn’t want to hurt him or even kill him. In that she finds herself being sheltered by Warner which uses it to his advantage.

Would you want it even if you lose your friends because of the superpower? Would you want to run for your life? Juliette may have amazing powers that develops over time but she has challenges and choices to make to either better or worsen her life.

“The truth," he says, "is a painful reminder of why I prefer to live among the lies.”

Shatter Juliette.

Unravel Juliette.

Ignite Juliette.

Fracture Juliette.

Whatever you do, don’t hurt the people Juliette cares about.

Blog Post 9

The book I am reading is Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi. In my book there is a character named Juliette who is the main character. The story is told through her point of view. Juliette is this 17 year old girl who can kill a person with the touch of her skin.

In this book, you see Juliette struggle with her ability and her relationship with Adam. Adam was a soldier in the group that had held Juliette captive for several years.

So, what kind of character is Juliette and is she right in the decisions she made?

In my opinion, Juliette is this girl who whines her way through the day. She can never make a proper decision and everyone around her gets tired of dealing with her nonsense. But what I like about Juliette is that we, as readers, know exactly how and what she is feeling. Her emotions are shown on the outside. She also is in this love triangle between two guys who one she loves very deeply for and the other won't admit her feelings for. Adam being the one she deeply loves, tells her that they can still be  together even if there are complications but she tells him that it can't happen because she doesn't want to kill him. She, very much, wants to be with Adam but she believes that being away from him will protect him even though Adam has said multiple times he didn't care and that they would make it work.

I believe Juliette is incapable of making her own decisions because she either makes the wrong one or she has no idea what to do. Every time there is a decision to be made she starts going into a frenzy. She can't get her act together.

But when her life, or someone else's life depended on it, Juliette would become this strong, lead character that gets the job done. She's a character of two personalities. One is the quiet, shy girl and the other is the take charge, intense girl.

Honestly, Juliette is a lot like me. I see myself in her at times. She's the quiet, shy girl-- I'm the girl that doesn't like to draw attention to myself. But for the both of us, when someone's life is on the line, they will be saved one way or another. I have no love triangle. That's where our similarities stop.

We both want what is best for the people around us, even if it means making the wrong decision.

Blog Post #8

For book 4, I read Live To See Tomorrow by Iris Johansen. I read it not knowing it was in a series/trilogy (I'm not sure) of books. Luckily, it wasn't hard to follow. There were some parts in it that were confusing but for the most part it was easy to follow.

It was an interesting book for it being a true crime book. What I mean by interesting is that it added in elements that are often used in science fiction or fantasy novels like telepathy. I like how in the book has a strong female character lead. It shows people that women aren't all for the fame, money, sex, and glory. They're fierce and when they put their mind to something they achieve it. Johansen captured that essence very well. Catherine is good at extraction, fighting, is headstrong and very smart.

Live To See Tomorrow is about Catherine, the main character, who is sent to Tibet to rescue a woman has been kidnapped and tortured. She's assisted by Cameron and her long time friend HuChang. They are hindered by a man drunk on power, Kadmus. There is non stop action, gun fights and considerable romance.

The book is very good on description and it makes you feel like you're watching a movie but actually reading a book. The figurative language and diction make it more thrilling than it already is. One section of the book I really liked in particular is, "Good. No hesitation. They just might get out of this alive. Catherine tore after her, past the body of sentry she'd had to kill on her approach to the palace, down they rocky path to-- A bullet whistled past her. Then more gunfire, shouts as the gates of the compound were thrown open. Shit." Reading that for one sent chills up my spine. It was intense and suspenseful. It was unexpected. The beginning with the phrases drew you in, wanting to read more.

The only thing I wished was it would be in Catherine's POV so first person instead of third person. Because the book revolves around her, it would have been interesting to see how she felt and dealt with what was happening. We get an inside of it through the third person narrative but we don't get the nitty-gritty deep emotional feelings.

Overall, it was a great book and very suspenseful. It was action filled and very driven.

Blog Post #7

Women's Fiction. When I read that in the article, " Speak Out On Franzen Feud: 08/26/201" I had to stop and think for a moment. Since when was "Women's Fiction" a thing? It was interesting to see that it was a way to describe a genre of books.

When, in the article, it talks about popular fiction being over looked, critically, Weiner basically says that women writing is typically romance or "a beach book" meaning that stereotypically they can't write other genres. That's probably why JK Rowling went by that name because she believed that people wouldn't view her work.

Picot says that "...there are a lot of readers who would like to see reviews that belong in the range of commercial fiction rather than making it the blanket assumption that all commercial fiction is unworthy." And to be honest, I agree with her. Having a wide variety and dispersion catches the eyes of all kinds of readers and not just certain ones, making things unfair.

Not only does it effect the authors it affects the reader's going to these websites to get their information on what books to read. For me, I try to see all types of book genres before I make a decision on the book or the genre I want to read. "It's not universal. The Washington Post...used to do the widest reviews..." Why can't they continue to do wider reviews instead of narrowing it down to certain genres or authors.

As literary critic Sarah Seltzer says, "writing across gender may be harder, require more research and humility. We may fail or get 'called out' for letting our biases show, or being ignorant. But the attempt at understanding, empathy, and inhabiting the soul of someone whose life experience is not ours, helps us grow as writers, and people too." But we must respect and give support to those authors who can pull it off or try to. Female authors writing with a male perspective seem to do far better than them writing from a male perspective. Take JK Rowling for example. Being a female author of fantasy and those novels she accomplished more with the Harry Potter series and the Cormoran Strike trilogy than Stephanie Meyer with Twilight or Veronica Roth with Divergent.

Blog Post #6

Movie and Book adaptation I chose was The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials. When I read the book I judged it based off the book before it: The Maze Runner. I shouldn't have done that well because I hate it when I compare it to another book in the set because of course they're not all the same and they won't have the same expectations.

The sequel follows Thomas and his Gladers as they escape a facility that they thought was safe and into "the scorch," a sandblasted, barren wasteland of danger and creatures called Cranks. As they attempt to find safety with a group called "The Right Arm," they meet some frenemies, run into deadly storms, try to avoid being infected by a disease called "the flare," and all the time, they are trying to slip from the grasp of the people who captured them in the first place: WCKED

When I read The Scorch Trials, I loved how Teresa wasn't in it till the end. I never liked her. I understood that she played a vital role in book 1 but there was no point to her character after she delivered the message to Thomas. In the book, Teresa is upset about something. She tells Thomas that he and the others need to stay away from her. She isn’t present very much after that. She spends her time communicating with Thomas telepathically, pretending to betray him. She’s actually working with WICKED and Aris. In the movie this doesn’t happen. 

When I saw the movie, I was really upset because they had her in the movie more than what was written.

In the book, Thomas ends up getting locked in a gas chamber but in the movie, it didn't happen. I was eager to see how that was played out but I never got to.

     Overall I loved both. If you put the movie aside from the book then it was pretty amazing. The changes in the movie from the book I thought made more sense as it was easier to play out. In writing, pretty much anything and everything can happen but in movies or TV series only so much can be put out and still seem realistic. I wasn't disappointed when I saw all these changes. I was excited as to see what would come next in the last of the trilogy.


"To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often." Winston Churchill

Blog Post # 5

So last week in class we watched the movie Arrival. It was based off of Ted Chiang's The Story of You.

Both the short story and the movie did a great job in the telling of the story. With the story, it was easier to see the detail and description more in depth than what was shown in the movie.  

When watching the movie I noticed they didn’t show the physics part from the story. It would have been cool to see that play out but also it would be a hard concept to produce.

The short story is more straightforward about the order of Louise's experiences. We know before the first section break/memory that the first alien contact happened before the child was born. The short story proceeds along a traditional structural route of a protagonist remembering two things from the past, the first alien contact and what we come to learn is the memory of the pre-knowledge gained by the protagonist.

Watching the movie it was easier to grasp what was written out in the story. It was easier to tell what was present and what was future. Arrival puts everything into perspective. The movie has a way of capturing the emotion of the actors as well as the audience in a way that leaves them stunned.

Arrival also layers in some important secondary notes that add nuance to that easy takeaway. Because it’s not just deciphering the words that someone else is saying that’s important: It’s the whole framework that determines how those words are being pinned to meaning. We can technically speak the same language, but functionally be miles apart.

There’s only so much you can put into a movie but with a book there is a lot more. The description and the feeling of the characters comes more to life in the short story than it does in a film. The film just quite literally brings the feelings to life associating it with a real person but it doesn’t give off the same effect. For a movie with so many complicated ideas, it doesn’t waste any more time on exposition than is absolutely necessary. Arrival is serious and smartly crafted, shifting around like a Rubik’s cube in the hand of a savant, nothing quite making sense until all the pieces suddenly come together.

The film’s premise hinges on the idea, shared by many linguists and philosophers of language, that we do not all experience the same reality. The pieces of it are the same — we live on the same planet, breathe the same air — but our perceptions of those pieces shift and change based on the words and grammar we use to describe them to ourselves and each other.

The story and film set a new perspective on our lives. The time travel aspect as well as the fact of knowing the future and decisions made by the characters sets an impact on the viewers.

Either way, I enjoyed both and it’s one of those “watch again” or “read again” pieces. I’d recommend it to others. It’s a movie worth seeing. It keeps you thinking throughout and makes you wonder about your own future.

Blog Post # 4: Film Adaptations

       So books are made into movies. Shocking, I know. For me, reading is my life so I tend to read the book first then watch the movie, well unless I grew up watching the movies before I could even read the books.

      Like for most, Harry Potter was the huge thing while growing up. I watched the movies first of course then I went and read the books once I got old enough to do so. Reading the books opened a whole new world. There was much more detail and insight the movies just couldn't capture. Once I read the books, I went and watched the movie again and I could point out what was cut from the book and what should have happened. I always annoyed the people I watched the movies with.

     Harry Potter was probably the only book that the movies were very close to. Only a few changes here and there but other than that, they were pretty much the exact same. J.K Rowling of course, made that  happen.

    But books I've read like The Maze Runner, Perks of being a Wallflower, The Hunger Games and several others have seemed to disappoint me when I watched the movies. We would be here all day if I had to explain why for each one.

    One series in particular I wished was never made into movies was Stephanie Meyer's Twilight Saga. The books were just very benign and to be honest you could skip half the book and not miss anything important. There is just way too much detail and the storyline drags on forever.

     Percy Jackson! Those were some great books but man the movies weren't up to par. They were the worst in adapting Rick Riordan's novels. The books captured his vision beautifully but when it came to the movies the vision was lost. Going off on that The Giver was a benign book and the movie made no sense. Like why is there a spaceship at the end?

Sometimes, I will watch the movie before I read the book and I

         


 Unless the movie bored me to death.

Blog Post # 3: Book Review

My first book for this class was In the Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware. Here is the summary: What should be a cozy and fun-filled weekend deep in the English countryside takes a sinister turn in Ruth Ware’s suspenseful, compulsive, and darkly twisted psychological thriller. Sometimes the only thing to fear…is yourself. When reclusive writer Leonora is invited to the English countryside for a weekend away, she reluctantly agrees to make the trip. But as the first night falls, revelations unfold among friends old and new, an unnerving memory shatters Leonora’s reserve, and a haunting realization creeps in: the party is not alone in the woods.

         It was an interesting book. The majority of the book is just about how the characters get together for the trip. Then towards the last 10 ish chapters things unravel and it gets intense. It's interesting to see the story from the past as the present and the present as the future. 
         Through flashbacks, Ware slowly unspools the mystery, setting a truly spooky scene as six relative strangers gather at the isolated Glass House, celebrating the upcoming marriage of Nora’s former friend Clare Cavendish, with whom she had lost touch 10 years before. In classic Agatha Christie fashion, the first half of the novel is masterful in the slow build of suspense. Clearly, something is very wrong, but it’s unclear whether it’s Nora, Clare, Flo, or some outside intruder who is responsible for the chills and the deepening unease. However, the success of the first half of the novel does speak to Ware’s ability to spin a good yarn. Recalling such classics as And Then There Were None, she creates a unique setting for the psychological scares, and her characters, while somewhat stock, have enough depth to fool even savvy mystery fans for a while. Like the Glass House itself, this novel is “a tiger’s enclosure, with nowhere to hide” and with a constant undercurrent of danger. Read it on a dark and stormy night—with all the lights on.

Overall I thought it was a good book that deserved its New York Times Best Sellars award. The author did a great job, keeping the readers engaged and wanting to read more. I stayed up one night and powered through, kept telling myself that this would be the last chapter for the night, but that eventually ended up me finishing the book. 

Author's Bio

Looking up my author I realized that the name the book was published under is not the name of that author. It's a pseudonym for an existing author. A well known, well established author. Robert Galbraith is what the author wants us to see as we read the book but under that name is J.K Rowling. Yes, J.K Rowling. The author of the entire Harry Potter Series. When writing the Harry Potter series she kept her name as J.K Rowling because her publishers were unsure of how her books would sell as she is a women writing with a male main character. For a long time people thought Rowling was a man but to people’s surprise, it was a women. J.K stands for Joanne Kathleen- her’s and her mother’s name.

J.K Rowling first conceived the Harry Potter story while she was traveling in a train. The idea hit her and on a napkin she drafted the entire first chapter of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Rowling received a net worth of $15 billion from the entire 7 book series. She became the top author. Each Harry Potter book selling about 50 billion to 65 billion copies worldwide.

J.K. Rowling writes under the name of Robert Galbraith to maintain the distinction from her other writings.

J.K Rowling chose Robert because it is one of her favourite men’s names, because Robert F Kennedy is her hero and because, mercifully, she hadn’t used it for any of the characters in the Potter series or The Casual Vacancy. Galbraith came about for a slightly odd reason. When she was a child, Rowling really wanted to be called ‘Ella Galbraith’. She didn’t even know how she knew that the surname existed, because she couldn’t remember ever meeting anyone with it. Be that as it may, the name had a fascination for Rowling. She considered calling herself L A Galbraith for the Strike series, but for fairly obvious reasons decided that initials were a bad idea. Odder still, there was a well-known economist called J K Galbraith, something she only remembered by the time it was far too late. Rowling was completely paranoid that people might take this as a clue and land at her real identity, but thankfully nobody was looking that deeply at the author’s name.

Blog #1: Reader Bio

        As a child, I loved going to the library with my mom and we'd just sit there during story time and listen to the stories every week. I remember always carrying home a stack almost as big as me of small short children books to read. Since then, I had always read whenever I possibly could. Reading became a part of me. There were times where I had to read for a few hours before I went to bed or I couldn't go to bed at all.
        As I got older, I never stopped reading. I was always that kid that carried a stack of books. Wherever I went, I always carried a book with me. Even to the movies or to a concert or out to dinner. I always had a book. I mean, I still do. And I mean a print, hard copy of the book not a kindle or E-book.
        Horror, Thriller, Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-fi are my favorite types of books. I always like to read books that keep me engaged and are suspenseful. Those make me read even more and not want to put the book down. When I read, I feel like I'm watching or playing the story in my head. Sometimes when I take a break I think "Was I reading that or watching a movie?" What I love about reading is you read something new every time. It's not always the same story even in the same genre.
         As a wonderful author, C.S. Lewis once said, "We read to know we are not alone." And I agree. When I read I feel like the characters are right there with me, telling me the story as if any of my real life friends would.
         Somethings you'll never see me read are non fiction and Twilight. Sorry all you Stephanie Myer fans, I will not read them again ever. Harry Potter all the way. Speaking of, I remember, living on the UC campus before they kicked us out, my mom and her friends would take us, kids, to the theater on campus and go see movies. Majority of the time it was the Harry Potter movies. Growing up watching and reading them, I grew a liking to that type of genre. Harry Potter became my entire world and my first official fandom.
        J.K. Rowling created this adventure from her brain while riding in a train and writing the first chapter just on a napkin. I own all the books and have been re-reading them over the years several times. Not just Rowling, but many other authors have given us the opportunity to read very good books. We'd be here all day if I were to list them all.
       Can I marry fictional characters? Can I be a fictional character?

       
<---- James Dashner author of The Maze Runner trilogy has this quote in the movie. And I think it means a lot to readers because, books are never going to stay the same. There are always going to be new authors emerging and those new authors are going to need a chance from readers to accept their work.
        So, yes there is a change, and no you can't do anything about it so you can't deny the fact there will always be a new book lurking in the shadows for one to read and maybe, just maybe one picks up a book and loves it which makes them continue reading, adding one more person into the readers world!

            So to those new people, welcome!