TBR List
- Insurgent
- Allegiant
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Monday, January 27, 2014
Week 20 Reading
"The 5th Wave" by Rick Yancey
So far (I have only read about half) this has been an okay book. I don't like it a ton, but I hope my emotions will be changed by the end of the book. A young woman named Cassie lives on an earth where we have been attacked by aliens called the "Others." There have been four waves of their attack on earth (using different ways to kill us), which leaves few survivors, and those survivors believe they are the only humans left. On the eve of the 5th Wave, which might wipe out humanity for good, people desperately attempt to prolong their lives until the inevitable end. Before I started to read this, I thought it was a book about zombies where there were different stages (or waves) of the infection or some thing like that. I sounded a lot cooler than what has happened so far though. Nonetheless, aliens and zombies are both overdone and overused, and I give this book credit for trying to be original with it's story, but it hasn't impressed me very much.
You will have to read my blog next week to see if the second half changes my opinion, so don't decide whether or not you want to read The 5th Wave based on this post. It is very well-written (it is told from Cassie's prospective) and is captivating and admittedly creepy sometimes. It follows Cassie's thoughts as she tries to survive as long a possible, and as she finds other survivors (while trying to decide if they are real people or just traps that the Others have planted) and how they interact in the in-humanizing setting.
I will continue to read this book next week. Good luck on EXPO everybody!
So far (I have only read about half) this has been an okay book. I don't like it a ton, but I hope my emotions will be changed by the end of the book. A young woman named Cassie lives on an earth where we have been attacked by aliens called the "Others." There have been four waves of their attack on earth (using different ways to kill us), which leaves few survivors, and those survivors believe they are the only humans left. On the eve of the 5th Wave, which might wipe out humanity for good, people desperately attempt to prolong their lives until the inevitable end. Before I started to read this, I thought it was a book about zombies where there were different stages (or waves) of the infection or some thing like that. I sounded a lot cooler than what has happened so far though. Nonetheless, aliens and zombies are both overdone and overused, and I give this book credit for trying to be original with it's story, but it hasn't impressed me very much.
You will have to read my blog next week to see if the second half changes my opinion, so don't decide whether or not you want to read The 5th Wave based on this post. It is very well-written (it is told from Cassie's prospective) and is captivating and admittedly creepy sometimes. It follows Cassie's thoughts as she tries to survive as long a possible, and as she finds other survivors (while trying to decide if they are real people or just traps that the Others have planted) and how they interact in the in-humanizing setting.
I will continue to read this book next week. Good luck on EXPO everybody!
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Week 19 Reading
"Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger
Catcher in the Rye is a very different book. I'm sad that I wasn't there on Thursday to talk about the classic books, because of the classic books I have read, it is nothing like the others. It is about a high school age boy in the 1950's name Holden, who lives at his prep school. People told me the kids there weren't nice to him, which is why he left, but I disagree. He isn't a very good kid, and he does things on the spur of the moment because he has plenty of money and no intentions in his life. He leaves his school in Pennsylvania five days before everyone else leaves for Christmas and goes to New York City. He intends lives there for a couple days before he goes back to his home for Christmas break.
Now I will talk about how it is different. So, what is excepted in society as a great book, generally is something that has beautifully written descriptions and a compelling story. That is what most classics have (except they are written in old English). Catcher in the Rye has absolutely no content like that. It is told in a way that it is as if Holden is telling his life story to a friend, like instead of writing it down he is casually telling almost all of the details in his days. It is odd and amazing in it's own way, and I do recommend this book to anyone that wants to read a very different book. It does have quite a bit of adult content/language, so it would be nest for second year AS students.
Next week I will read the 5th Wave.
Catcher in the Rye is a very different book. I'm sad that I wasn't there on Thursday to talk about the classic books, because of the classic books I have read, it is nothing like the others. It is about a high school age boy in the 1950's name Holden, who lives at his prep school. People told me the kids there weren't nice to him, which is why he left, but I disagree. He isn't a very good kid, and he does things on the spur of the moment because he has plenty of money and no intentions in his life. He leaves his school in Pennsylvania five days before everyone else leaves for Christmas and goes to New York City. He intends lives there for a couple days before he goes back to his home for Christmas break.
Now I will talk about how it is different. So, what is excepted in society as a great book, generally is something that has beautifully written descriptions and a compelling story. That is what most classics have (except they are written in old English). Catcher in the Rye has absolutely no content like that. It is told in a way that it is as if Holden is telling his life story to a friend, like instead of writing it down he is casually telling almost all of the details in his days. It is odd and amazing in it's own way, and I do recommend this book to anyone that wants to read a very different book. It does have quite a bit of adult content/language, so it would be nest for second year AS students.
Next week I will read the 5th Wave.
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Week 18 Reading
"Laika" By Nick AbadzisThis is the first graphic novel I've read in a while, (the others being the Adventures of Tintin) and I have come to enjoy graphic novels a lot. It is the true story of a dog in Russia originally named Kudryavka, who was born into a family, and was immediately know as a different kind of dog than the rest. She has a long story with many different owners in her life, and different well told sub-stories, but she eventually came into the hands of the Russian version of NASA (the IMPB) by the time she was an adult dog. After the launch of Sputnik 1, the Premier of Russia finds the propaganda importance of spacecrafts in the orbit of Earth. He then looks to the IMPB to get another object into into space in just a month, but this time with a dog in it. They find Laika as the best fit for the position, and quickly start training her for things she will endure in space. She makes many friendships with the workers at IMPB, and they soon come to realize that they can't afford to be so affectionate with the little dog.
Laika is widely known as the first living organism out of Earth's atmosphere and to orbit the planet. The story is told in an interesting way, and it brings out a lot of emotions that are naturally between humans and dogs. From the standpoint of a graphic novel, the drawings aren't the prettiest, but it probably works better as a graphic novel than it would as a normal book. I highly recommend this book for anyone, no matter if you like graphic novels or have trouble reading them.
Next week I will read "Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger.
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