Post #12 Readig Wishlist

My Book Wishlist... Room by Emma Donoghue The Longest Ride By Nicholas Sparks The Book Thief By Mark Zusak Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children By Ransom Riggs Confessions the Private School Murders By James Patterson Paper Towns By John Green Shutter Island by Denis Lehane Gone Girl by Gilian Flynn An Abundance of Katherine's by John Green Looking for Alaska by John Green Maximum Ride by James Patterson The Glass Castle by Jeannette Wells

Post #11 Book Talk Presentation

Post #10 Book 3 Review

  







  Carrie is a horror story about a telekinetic seventeen year old girl that has been tormented by her classmates her whole life and is abused by her mother. She keeps to herself and doesn’t really acknowledge people, but when Sue Snell asks her boyfriend Tommy Ross to ask Carrie to their Prom it looks like things may change for the better. But when Chris Hagerson pulls a cruel prank of dumping pigs blood on her "Carrie got it the worst. She looked exactly like she had been dipped in a bucket of red paint."Norma said, Carrie snaps and becomes an uncontrollable force that destroys almost everyone and everything in her way. "They had beaten her, bested her, once and for all time. It was over", Carrie thought.

   It’s a bit ironic that when Carrie finally sought out her revenge it ended up being her complete destruction. All of those years she took the teasing and the kids making fun of her, but when she took matters into her own hands it was too much that had built up and finally exploded. Maybe if she had had a more understanding or helpful mother she would have been okay or maybe if Chris hadn’t pulled that final prank everything would have been okay. Maybe things would have even been better for her. But I think that Stephen King purposely wrote it that way to show that revenge isn't always the best option.

   All in all Carrie deserves a four out of five stars. Only because it was a great thriller but it took a little while to get to be really good. Maybe its' because I don’t typically read horror but it was a little different for me. I would say though that for horror it was definitely a good story, it kept you on your toes wanting more once you got into it. You never knew for sure what was going to happen. Stephen King sort of kept you guessing, but that added to the thrill of the story making it good.

   Vampire Academy though was a different story. The novel Vampire Academy is about a Dhampir Guardian named Rose and her best friend Lissa who is a royal Moroi vampire. "Novice guardians-dhampirs like me- and Moroi sat together eating and socializing, faces alight with whatever current gossip held the Academy's attention." she said. Together Rose and Lissa get through heartbreak, friend drama and even fight a few bad guys along the way.

   It seems now that heroine's are becoming more and more common in modern books. Which is awesome! It can get a little annoying to only read or watch girls always be the ones that are saved, it’s a nice change to have a girl kicking some butt. Just like Rose in Vampire Academy, she is your typical heroin she's stubborn, headstrong and wants things to be done her way. But on the other hand she will always do everything in her power to protect and keep her loved ones safe. Which makes a pretty awesome heroin for this story.

   Vampire Academy deserves five out of five stars. Yes that’s a high rating but its well deserved. It’s a fantasy novel that also has some mixes of romance, action, and even some magic to make it a well rounded story. Another thing is that it doesn't take long to get to the really good parts. Right off the bat you don’t want to put it down. You want to find out, who found Rose and Lissa. Who is taking them back to the school? Are they safe? Can Rose live up to her job? It keeps you wanting more which is always something you want in a book, it makes it a lot more enjoyable for you as a reader and it helps you get lost in your own little world.

Blog #9 Heroes and Villains

Heroes and Villains

      In Vampire Academy I think they put a spin on the “typical villain.” Normally the villain comes off as cold-hearted and cruel and bloodthirsty for some kind of revenge, but Richelle Mead portrayed her villain differently. She had him as the kind, caring uncle who always looked out for his niece, Lissa, who happened to be the princess and next heir to the throne.  The way she wrote it had you convinced that there was someone who had something huge against Lissa when in reality it was here own Uncle who she loved and cared for so much that ended up being the one doing all of the bad things to her and kidnapping her. I loved how you never expected it to be him, the whole time I was reading I was convinced that there was some huge enemy that was going to be revealed and the fact that it was her own uncle and even a little bit of her cousin made it more exciting because you never would have expected it.  Now on the other side of things you have Rose, who is Lissa’s best friend and also in my opinion probably the main hero of the book.  Rose is a dhampir guardian and her job is to protect her best friend no matter what.  She is taught by the best and on top of that has the ability to get inside Lissa’s head and feel what she’s feeling and sometimes even see what she’s seeing. Which I think makes for a pretty awesome hero and the fact that she saves Lissa’s life multiple times.

Blog #8 The Truth? Yes or No?

How true does a book have to be in your mind to be considered non-fiction? Why?

          I personally think that a book has to be 100% true to be considered non-fiction because the whole point of the genre is that it’s true, not something made up or embellished. Also I think it should be 100% true because if someone is using a book that they think is non-fiction for research they are depending on the fact that what is in that book is supposedly true. Another thing is, don’t you think it would just then become fiction once embellishments are made or things that aren’t true are added.

 

Are half-truths okay if it’s still a good story? Does it matter if Frey or other memoirists bent the truth to tell a story? 

           I think that most of the time half-truths aren’t okay. I can understand if it was something that happened when the author was really little or if it was many, many years ago but any other time I think that the author writing the memoir or non-fiction book should stick to the truth. Also it does matter if Frey or other memoirists bent the truth because the point of a memoir is to tell your true life story, your experiences .  Not what you think will sell a bunch of books, even though that would be a great bonus I still think  that sticking to the truth when writing memoirs and non-fiction is the best way to go.