2025 Reading Challenge discussion
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Spectacles-50 book challenge
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Okay, I just finished The End Games! Here's some of my review of it:Wow! That’s all I can say: just wow. This book was so incredible; it was so poignantly and beautifully written. I think I can say that almost anyone will like this book. It’s got action, suspense, horror, romance and mystery to it. But, especially people who like videogames will like it (you’ll see what I mean if you read it)...
I wrote a more in-depth review of what I thought of The End Games: here
Just finished The Great Gatsby! Here's some of my review:So part of my review today is between The Great Gatsby, the movie AND the book. I did something I’ve never done before: I read the book before after watching the movie. In the minds of some people, this is an extreme taboo. And I can see why, but I also see a great benefit to it as well. Before I get in to The Great Gatsby, I’d like to discuss it a little if you don’t mind. Not that you have much of a say in what I write at the moment.
The cons include ruining the surprise of reading the book for the first time and trying to guess the ending. I mean, it kind of is a bummer to read a book and know exactly what is going to happen ahead of time. But, the same can happen if you read spoilers. Or even (which somewhat appalled me) some people read the last chapter or so of a book and then read it from the beginning. In some ways that can be a benefit because you can see more of the author’s intent and foreshadowing.
Part of doing so begs the question: Is it better to evaluate the book’s quality and know the ending or is it better to read for enjoyment and try to guess the ending?
Here's the rest of my review on my blog :-)
Finished my first graphic novel! Here's my review on Clockwork Angel:I’m trying to skip around several genres just to explore mainly. During my challenge, I want to have a more open-minded view towards books in terms of what I read. As a result, I decided to read my first graphic novel: Clockwork Angel. Also, I decided to use this book as my first graphic novel because I already know the storyline, so I could focus on the differences between the two mediums/genres of storytelling.
Before I discuss the differences between the two mediums that I had to deal with, I’ll tell you a bit about the story and the original novel.
Set in Victorian London, Clockwork Angel links back to The Mortal Instruments Series (MI). It revolves around a world of Shadowhunters (half angel, half human beings who fight and kill demons to keep humans/mundanes safe) and those of Downworld, including but not limited to faeries, werewolves, and vampires. At the beginning of the novel, it starts with Tessa, a girl from America looking for her brother Nate. She gets off the boat only to find herself kidnapped by the Dark Sisters, who train her to Change (shapeshift) for a man named the Magister. They tell her that she is to marry the Magister. One day, three Shadowhunters rescue Tessa from the Dark Sisters, but Tessa, stranded with no where to go and her brother no where to be found, has to stay with the Shadowhunters in a place called the Institute where safety and a room is provided to any who require it. Those staying in the Institute full time have given their help and resources, including Downworlders such as the warlock Magnus Bane and a notorious vampire named Camille Belcourt to aid Tessa in finding her brother.
Here's the rest of the review :)
New review up!A Persistant Connection Between Music and Life: a review of Victor Wooten’s The Music Lesson: A Spiritual Search for Growth Through Music
Something very different. I would recommend this book to anyone. Don’t be struck down by the title or the fact that it’s a book about music by a musician. This book will alter the way you look at music. If you are a musician, it will change the way you play/approach music; if you aren’t, it will change your appreciation of music and the way you experience music.
“From my position on the couch, he appeared quite tall and mysterious. He was wearing a blue NASA-style jumpsuit and a black motorcycle helmet. And even though his eyes were hidden, I could feel them penetrating deep into my mind as though he was looking for the proper place to begin.
‘How’d you get in here?’ I asked, startled, half asleep, and wondering why I wasn’t angry at his intrusion.
‘You asked me to come.’
‘I did?’
Here's the rest of my review :)
I haven't updated in a long while. Here's my review of Perks of Being a Wallflower:Set up as letters addressed as “Dear friend”, Charlie writes a series of letters anonymously explaining basically everything that happens during his freshman year of high school. Being exposed to many possible corrupters such as sex, drugs, alcohol and abuse, Charlie somehow comes through it all. He meets the girl of his dreams, Sam, who tells him he can never think of her that way and he, honorably so, tries not to. He does all he can to ensure that his family and friends are all happy, sometimes at the cost of himself. The Perks of Being a Wallflower as a coming-of-age story tracks Charlie’s gradual change from adolescence to adulthood.
Many people say that this book may be a Classic in the future. However, it was also challenged to be banned because of its questionable content. What was interesting was I found that almost half of the books that Charlie reads in the book have been banned or challenged at some point. How ironic!
In many ways I think it could be a Classic in the future. I tend to think of what would work well to teach in an English class when I try to think of what would make a good Classic. The book deals a lot with cultural references within the 1990s, which reminds me of The Great Gatsby, which I recently read and reviewed.
However, I can’t help but notice that the book mirrors some of the books that Charlie reads in Perks. In addition, Charlie is a bit of a combination of Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby. He almost perfectly fits Nick Carraway as an observer, someone who tends to stay out of the action, but who is also a trusted confidante. He is trusted by his sister and his friend Patrick who both tell him things that they don’t want anyone to know. Just as in The Great Gatsby with Nick Carraway, Charlie doesn’t tell anyone these secrets or do anything to fix the situation. Charlie also reminds me a bit of Jay Gatsby and his longing for Daisy Buchanan. The way Charlie idolizes Sam and sees Sam as his ideal girlfriend strongly creates this parallelism between the two stories, one that I cannot help but notice.
In addition, there’s Holden’s stream-of-consciousness type writing and run-on sentences. Especially in the quote: “I walked over to the hill where we used to go and sled. There were a lot of little kids there. I watched them flying. Doing jumps and having races. And I thought that all those little kids are going to grow up someday. And all of those little kids are going to do the things that we do. And they will all kiss someone someday. But for now, sledding is enough. I think it would be great if sledding were always enough, but it isn’t” (73-74), it is somewhat reminiscent of Holden’s “catcher in the rye” concept in his misheard lyric from “Comin’ Thro the Rye.”
So all this cross-referencing makes me question, did Stephen Chbosky create these parallelisms to form a unique enough story to be considered of his own invention? On one hand it almost seems like he was banking off the other ideas, but I think he did a great job of tying in these elements to create his own story, in a different time period, that would be really beneficial to teach in a classroom setting. There’s so much going on in the story, I think discussion topics flow freely off of this story.
Did you read the book and/or watch the movie? What did you think of it? Do you think it could be considered a future Classic?
My review is also seen on my blog
Here's a combo review of Oryx and Crake, Inferno, and An Abundance of Katherines. I did some weird formatting in the post, so I'll just post a link to the review on my blog if anyone's interested to see what I thought of the three books.
Here's a review of the first two Little House on the Prairie books: http://spectacleaglow.wordpress.com/2013/07/16/a-trip-down-memory-lane-part-1/
Here's a review of The Evolution of Mara Dyer: http://spectacleaglow.wordpress.com/2013/07/28/what-if/
Here's my review of Will Grayson, Will Grayson:http://spectacleaglow.wordpress.com/2013/09/08/if-youre-looking-for-a-laugh-will-grayson-will-grayson/
Here's my review of The Lucy Variations:http://spectacleaglow.wordpress.com/2013/09/12/if-youre-looking-for-hope-and-inspiration-the-lucy-variations-by-sara-zarr/
http://spectacleaglow.wordpress.com/ is my blog for all my reviews on all the aforementioned books and will include more posts for the books I will read this year and probably in the future!