Reading Wishlist

Book Wishlist:


  -Sarah Dessen's series such as: Along for the ride, Just Listen, Someone Like You and That Summer


  -How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff


  -Delirium by Lauren Oliver


-Dear John by Nicolas Sparks


-My Name Is Memory by Ann Brashares


  The book I would want to read first is 'That Summer' by Sarah Dessen because it is the start of summer and the name is fitting; it looks really good and I enjoy Sarah Dessen's books.

My Product of Book #4

Before I read 'The Longest Ride' I said I was going to pose a question for myself and that question was whether or not I was happy with seeing the movie before I read the book. My answer is yes; I am not a huge reader to begin with so that could be a factor why I don't regret seeing the movie before I read the book. After seeing the movie it is all I could think about for days and I just wanted to watch it over and over again and that is what made me want to read the book. I think that if I did not see the movie I wouldn't of thought of reading the book. I probably would of eventually read the book but not as recent as I did. Reading the book made the story live out longer in my brain, while I was reading the book I could play the scenes in my head and picture almost every little detail; this probably wouldn't of been as fun if the book and movie were not basically identical but they are so it made reading the book that much more fun! Some people don't like to see the movie until they have read the book because they like to see if what they imagined is anything like the movie and I understand that but sometimes it is fun to already have the image in your head so you can have every detail pictured in your head.

I have also decided to do a problem/solution chart with the 2 main characters (Luke and Sophia) and also a few things throughout the book:

Problem-

• Sophia at first wanted nothing to do with going out with her friends, she wanted to stay in their house and study for exams
• Sophia and Luke have their first date, he comes and picks her up, everything goes great until, Sophia told him she has an internship in New York all summer
• Luke and Sophia are on their way home from their first date, it is pouring rain and they see a car off the side of the highway that is crashed
• Luke is a bull rider but also has a very serious head condition from getting thrown off a bull very roughly a while back. Sophia later finds out about the head condition and tells Luke it is either stop bull riding or they can't be together. Luke doesn't want to stop until he reaches #1 so they break up
• Sophia has always wanted to live in the city to have an art gallery but Luke has always grown up on a farm and he wants to keep it that way

Solution-

• Her friends convince her to get ready and go out with them if they promise they won't be out long but little did she know she'd end up meeting a boy, Luke, she is really into
• Luke and Sophia discuss a lot and she ends up going to New York really isn't what she wants so she ends up staying to be with Luke  
• They stop the car and get out to find an older man who they weren't sure if he was dead or not and get him to the hospital for him to survive
• Luke continues bull riding but later becomes content with how far he has made it and stops; him and Sophia get back together
• After the death of Ira (the elder man who crashed) they had won all that art and Sophia buys and starts a gallery of her own, and Luke has a farm that he owns and runs during the day and they both go home together each night so it is the best of both worlds

Book Talk Prezi

Check-in #2

I finished 'The Longest Ride' and it was such a good book, I am glad that I chose this for my final book. After Luke and Sophia had their falling out they didn't speak for the longest time but were both constantly wondering what the other one was doing. Luke continued to bull ride and he did end up reaching his goal and became content with himself for what he had accomplished. Sophia was debating her internship for a long time and ended up not going. The thing that brought the two, Luke and Sophia, back together was the death of Ira (the elder man who crashed on the side of the highway). He invited both of them to the auction of his art that he loved so much. Sophia went and visited him almost every day and she read the letters that he wrote for a girl he loves to him. At the auction Luke ended up winning all of the art work totally fluke accident. Him and Sophia end up working out all of there issues right there and both admit they still want to be together. At the end of the book Sophia ends up opening her own art place selling/showing all of Ira's art and more. Luke ends up having a farm that he owns and works on during the day and they both end up together, happy, in their home at the end of the day. Who would've thought? ;)

Check-in #1

I am reading "The Longest Ride" I am about half way through and I have really enjoyed it so far!  In the beginning it was kind of sad because it talks about this old mans car crash on the side of the road and how he is in the hospital, and then it flashes to Sophia in her sorority house and she is studying for tests but her friends convince her to go out and she ends up meeting this guy, Luke and he asks her to go on a date with him. When he comes to pick her up all of the girls are so excited for Sophia; on their first date they just had a picnic type thing and everything went perfect except for the fact of Sophia saying she is going to New York for an intern for the whole summer, Luke doesn't like this idea but that doesn't stop their relationship. They continue to date and have a great time together until Sophia learns how severe Luke's head injury is and she tells him that if he continues to bull ride that she won't date him anymore. Because of this they get in a huge fight and break up because he wouldn't quit bull riding until he reached #1.

Blog 6: Book 3 Listicle

Question posed: 5 reasons why Amy Poehler would love Tina Fey's novel, Bossy Pants.

As many people might already know, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler star in many Hollywood comedy productions such as, Sisters, Baby Mama, Anchorman 2 and Mean girls (all movie comedies). Tina and Amy both are known for their humorous personalities and they definitely work well together and also think alike when it comes to amusing the crowd.

1) Both give off the 'be afraid of me, I don't care what you think so I'm going to do me and you do you' type of personality. "Don't waste your energy trying to change opinions ... Do your thing, and don't care if they like it."
2) Amy and Tina both share the same liking of vulgar things... "Amy Poehler was new to SNL and we were all crowded into the seventeenth-floor writers' room, waiting for the Wednesday night read-through to start... Amy was in the middle of some such nonsense with Seth Meyers across the table, and she did something vulgar as a joke. I can't remember what it was exactly, except it was dirty and loud and 'unladylike'...."
3) Neither of them are afraid to go crazy on you if they feel is necessary... "Never tell a crazy person she’s crazy."

4) Both of their books (Amy's Yes Please! and Tina's Bossypants) extremely women-empowering.
5) They give you the strength and courage to want to be you, and only you, and not be afraid.... "You do it because the doing of it is the thing. The doing is the thing. The talking and worrying and thinking is not the thing."

As a women, especially as a teenager, girls seem to have less self-confidence and are afraid to be themselves. Reading Tina Fey's novel helps you get a good laugh and know that it is okay to be weird and laugh at yourself. Having Amy love the book also just makes you admire their friendship and their personalities.  

Blog 5: The Truth in Memoir

    For a book to be non-fiction in my mind it has to be more correct than non-correct. When writing something such as an autobiography you're not going to remember a conversation word for word when you were a toddler or even from a couple months ago so not everything is totally true but the basic point is true. When I think of a fiction book I think of something that's never happen before or something that is totally unrealistic; that being said not everything has to be totally false for it to be a fiction book.
     I think a half-truth book just really isn't a non-fiction or fiction book. It is understandable when telling a story or writing a book you want to make it seem just a little more exciting without completely and flat out lying about something. I also think it really depends on how much you bent the truth and how much it impacts your story overall. If you bent the truth in a very large way and it was something that has major impact then it would be considered a fiction book in my mind, but if it was just something that is kind of irrelevant to the story then it isn't as big of a deal.
    To me fiction and non-fiction isn't a really huge deal. I think it is good to have some fiction and some non-fiction books but I don't think there is any harm in having books that are kind of just there and aren't in the non-fiction or fiction genre because there are more genres than just those two so no matter what the book will be classified in some sort of book type.

Post 4: Adapting P.S I Love You

   For the book I read, P.S I Love You, I think I could adapt the film that has already been created. In the film they don't really give you a good and solid background of Holly and Jerry and I think that that is a crucial part within the book at the beginning really getting to know the two of them. If I were to adapt the movie and add in more detail about the two of them and their relationship in the beginning and not drag out the ending as much it would be an even better movie than it is. At points it can get boring so I would also try to liven those up. I think a t.v show of P.S I Love You could be really interesting too, I would have to change up the way they show that Jerry dies so it does come so sudden and unexpected for the viewer where it doesn't make sense but shocking enough that it keeps them intrigued.
      Scenes that are essential to keep in the movie or t.v show would definitely be when Holly and Jerry are out with her Mom and her family and he says how she isn't ready to have kids yet but he wants them and when they go back to their house and argue about it and his argument is how they don't have all the time in the world to live and have children together. Another essential scene would be when Jerry sends her and her friends to Ireland and to that concert of the guy that he knew and Holly thinks is really cute showing that he is trying to help her get over him.
      Cuts that I would make would be from the pointless scenes like Holly sitting alone in her house mourning about Jerry's death, they just put in a few too many, to keep the movie/show more interesting and less repetitive.
      There aren't very many other additional or changes that would need to be made. Overall I think that it is just important to keep the reader or viewer interested and wanting more at all times.
       Casting that I would use for the two main characters around the book would be Reece Witherspoon for Holly and Channing Tatum for Jerry. Holly is a very petite and overall little and I think Reece fits that spot and could definitely see her being right for the character of Holly. Jerry is a very muscular and big guy and so is Channing so I think he would give off the right characteristics of the character of Jerry.
      A good soundtrack for the movie or t.v show would be depressing, sad and heartbreaking music forsure. Songs like, a thousand years, John Mayer music, Sam Smith and more.

Post 3: Book 1 Project

Thirteen Reasons Why is a book full of mystery, fear and eagerness of what is to come next; but once it is all said and done did you want a little more? To know just a few more details or live within the book and Hannah's life for just a little longer? I did too, and I have the perfect solution for you! The Thirteen Reasons Why board game, it is fun and exciting and lets you live within the book as many times as you want without having to read it all over again. How it works is you can have up to 13 players in the game but no less then 2 players, you begin with 13 cards with an emoji on it a person (3 happy face emoji cards, 3 mad face emoji card, 3 neutral face emoji cards, and a free card) next you roll the dice but you don't move yet on the board, you first have to draw a card and read a quote from one of Hannah's tapes and determine if she would have a smiley, mad, or neutral face emoji while saying this; if you think she would have a smiley face you move forward how ever many spaces you rolled with the die, if you think she would have a mad face emoji you move back that many spaces, and if you think it is neutral you stay where you are. For example: you draw a card and it reads, "I admit, during class discussions I didn't open up much. But when I did, did anyone thank me by dropping a note in my bag?  That would have been nice to know. In fact, it might have encouraged me to open up even more." (166) This would be considered a mad face in my opinion because this boy Zach kept taking all her notes of encouragement that could've really boosted her self-esteem and maybe would have held her back from taking her own life because of all the pain that built up inside her, it truly is the little things that have such a large impact on us. So in this case I would have to move backwards. If I drew another card and it read, "Hanging over the front of the counter, a wire rack holds all the best candies. Well, they're my favorite anyway. And the moment I open the door, the man at the register rings me up cha-ching- even before I pick up a candy bar, because he knows I never leave without one." (45) This would definitely be a smiley face emoji because this was a positive memory that she had throughout her life and it was someone who knew her well enough that she would not leave the store without buying  candy bar first, sometimes it is good just to know somebody does pay attention to you. Now, I would move forward. Finally, if my third card said, "If you could hear other people's thoughts, you'd overhear things that are true as well as things that are completely random. And you wouldn't know one from the other. It'd drive you insane. What's true? What's not? A million ideas, but what do they mean?" (175) Although you could maybe argue that this could be a smiley or mad face emoji I would say that it is mostly a neutral face because it really isn't expressing a negative or positive view for sure. This would mean I would stay put on the space I am at. At the end of the board game there is a giant smiley face and whoever lands on the smiley face first is the winner of the Thirteen Reasons Why board game!

Post 2: What is a book?

  A book is an object that has so much meaning behind it whether it is on a Kindle, iPad, iPhone or the actual book itself it is a time and 'place' where you can get away from the real world and read the things you enjoy to read about to get your mind off things and put yourself in someone else's story. Like Victor LaValle said in "Scribble" 'it's not the book, but the idea of the book' I strongly agree with this because like I said before, (even though I prefer the actual book itself) a book doesn't lose its meaning just because it is on an iPad, Kindle or iPhone, it is the idea and meaning of the book that truly matters. The great thing about books is all of them are different because they all have different point of views and ways they believe in certain things, it gives your mind something more to think about. Tom Piazza said, "when everything has equal weight, everything is weightless" and "if everything's the same size, there's no perspective." The second quote he said really means a lot to me because I agree with that if everything was the same size, shape, looks, anything there would be no outside opinion and no different point of views making life so boring.
   Joe Meno said basically that no matter what form you read the book in it is still a book which I agree with but my personal opinion is to read a hard or paper back copy, I think is gives me a better experience and you feel like you're actually reading a book because you are verses just off of a screen shining back on your face. I am not against reading off of an electronic device because I know it can sometimes be way more convenient then going to the book store and actually purchasing the book but I think there are many different experiences one can have while reading a book and if you experience your best reading when it is on a Kindle, iPad, iPhone, whatever it may be then you do it :)  

Why I read

I read because it can be relaxing and get your mind off whatever is happening in your life. I find it nice to read while I'm on vacation, on a rainy day, in a long car ride or just when I need to get away from the real world. The only time I really don't enjoy reading is if I get a book from school that I find boring or just isn't my kind of book. It is also a lot of pressure when the teachers give you very little time to read that you can't even really take the time to enjoy it, it becomes a stress of having to cram in a ton of reading multiple, multiple pages a night.