Throughout this school year long challenge, the point was not only to read more books than we normally would, but it was also to get us to read more challenging books and find more genres we personally like. For the challenge, I think that I both did good and bad. If we're considering the amount of books I read, I really didn't do very good at all, sadly. However, I read a pretty challenging book that I know I wouldn't have ever read. I also found that I really like essay books, which, again, I wouldn't normally have read. Along with also finding more books and genres I really like, this challenge also helped me find ones that I didn't like. Even if I didn't like them, I think it's kind of actually important to still get some experience with reading them. Even if that sounds cheesy, I won't take it back. When I look back at my sixth grade year and then look back at my seventh grade year now, it's clear to me that I did do way more reading. Since I'm not a very big reader I barely read anything at all last year. It just wasn't my thing. But, this year, I read so much more. I actually branched out my reading, I think is a way to say it. And again, I read a book that I'm pretty proud of reading (Dreams With Sharp Teeth). I feel like it was a pretty mature book because of the vocabulary and its creativity and so many other things about it. It wasn't meant to be read my kids my age, yet I still went out and read it. That doesn't seem too shabby to me.
I feel mixed feelings about the 40 Book Challenge. I mean, it helped me find things I like, but then again, it was so very boring. I like the idea of the challenge itself, but the blogging that came paired along with the challenge was not something I found appealing. I think, and it may just be me, but I think that the blogging made it kind of stressful. Not overwhelmingly of course, but more than it ever needed to be. I mean, there are some weeks where we be stacked with homework and club activities and out of school things. Things get busy! For example, I was on the robotics team. When we got close to our state competition, we would be staying in the classroom until 5:30pm almost everyday on those closing weeks. I couldn't just abandon our meets, so I would have to juggle coming home late all the time with having to do projects and assignments in this class and this class, along with other papers here and there. After getting all that done, it's kind of hard to get a fair amount of reading into your day and then write about it. I hate to sound like I'm making excuses, but that's how I honestly felt. I think that things would have been a lot easier regarding the challenge if there wasn't so much blogging required. Yeah, it was fun sometimes to be able to draw my representation of a book or to give my true opinion of a book, but sometimes it was a bit stressful to fit into a HW schedule.
I did like the challenge, don't get me wrong. It was fun reading the books and stuff, but the blogging really kind of killed it. I'm hoping that next year I'll be able to work with my time better than I did this year. Since I plan to cut back on a club here and there, I really hope that next year I'm able to read even more books than this year. I don't really know if I'll be able to finish the challenge, but doing that would be super awesome. Since I have a better idea of what I do and don't like in terms of books, I think I might really enjoy the challenge next year-- and I hope it goes well.
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Monday, May 12, 2014
The Phantom Tollbooth
For week 5/08
**Select a quote from your reading that you liked. What made you pick it? How does it make you pause and think?
Pages Read: 1-92
When I was younger, I read this book and loved it. This year, I've decided to read it again and sort of revisit the reasons of why I liked it so much. I remember liking it because the story was interesting and the characters were peculiar and funny. Everything about the book was interesting and I just fell in love with it. Also, I really liked how the narrator narrated the story. I'm not sure how to describe it, but it wasn't just plain old narration. There we go. I guess it was like the narrator even had a bit of life to him. Anyway, since I had read the book when I was younger, I didn't really catch any of the messages that I've caught now that I'm older and more understanding (I think is the word for it). There were quite a few quotes that caught my eye, so I couldn't pick just one.
The first quote is, "'You see,' cautioned the count, "you must pick your words very carefully and be sure to say just what you intend to say." I liked this quote because it actually had truthful meaning. This was said in the book because the character was acting out the phrase he had used, which was "easier than tripping over a log,". Because he had gotten hurt, another character had said this quote to him. I took this message in the way that meant you should carefully choose your words because you may say something you don't actually mean; you may be misinterpreted if you don't choose your words carefully. You could really hurt someone. I thought it was interesting because the character who had said this didn't mean it in this way, as he was just focused on the fact that someone had gotten hurt because they didn't choose they words carefully.
The next quote I liked is, "Expect everything, I always say, and the unexpected never happens." I liked this quote because it's very wise and very true. I thought about it and if you do take the time to think of all outcomes, nothing can be unexpected. I thought it was interesting because never once had I thought of outcomes like this.
"'Well now, well now, well now,' he began again, 'I don't know of any wrong road to Dictionopolis, so if this road goes to Dictionopolis at all it must be the right road, and if it doesn't it must be the right road to somewhere else, because there are no wrong roads to anywhere.'" This is my next quote. I interpreted this quote as saying that no matter what road you take in life, it will be a good road to somewhere. Even if you think you've taken the wrong road to where you want to go, that road is also the right road to somewhere else. I think that sometimes people think that once they've made one mistake in life, their goal or life is ruined. This quote tells you that that mistake or choice you've made just puts you on the right road to somewhere else and suddenly, things don't seem that bad anymore if you think of it like that.
Other quotes I liked were:
"'I never knew words could be so confusing,' Milo said to Tock as he bent down to scratch the dog's ear. 'Only when you use a lot to say a little,'"
"Whether or not you find your own way, you're bound to find some way. If you happen to find my way, please return it, as it was lost years ago. I imagine by now it's quite rusty."
"Why not? That's a good reason for almost anything - a bit used perhaps, but still quite serviceable."
"When he was in school, he longed to be out, and when he was out he longed to be in. On the way he thought about coming home, and coming home he thought about going. Wherever he was he wished he were somewhere else, and when he got there he wondered why he'd bothered."
"The only thing that is easy to do is to be wrong and it's hardly worth the effort."
**Select a quote from your reading that you liked. What made you pick it? How does it make you pause and think?
Pages Read: 1-92
When I was younger, I read this book and loved it. This year, I've decided to read it again and sort of revisit the reasons of why I liked it so much. I remember liking it because the story was interesting and the characters were peculiar and funny. Everything about the book was interesting and I just fell in love with it. Also, I really liked how the narrator narrated the story. I'm not sure how to describe it, but it wasn't just plain old narration. There we go. I guess it was like the narrator even had a bit of life to him. Anyway, since I had read the book when I was younger, I didn't really catch any of the messages that I've caught now that I'm older and more understanding (I think is the word for it). There were quite a few quotes that caught my eye, so I couldn't pick just one.The first quote is, "'You see,' cautioned the count, "you must pick your words very carefully and be sure to say just what you intend to say." I liked this quote because it actually had truthful meaning. This was said in the book because the character was acting out the phrase he had used, which was "easier than tripping over a log,". Because he had gotten hurt, another character had said this quote to him. I took this message in the way that meant you should carefully choose your words because you may say something you don't actually mean; you may be misinterpreted if you don't choose your words carefully. You could really hurt someone. I thought it was interesting because the character who had said this didn't mean it in this way, as he was just focused on the fact that someone had gotten hurt because they didn't choose they words carefully.
The next quote I liked is, "Expect everything, I always say, and the unexpected never happens." I liked this quote because it's very wise and very true. I thought about it and if you do take the time to think of all outcomes, nothing can be unexpected. I thought it was interesting because never once had I thought of outcomes like this.
"'Well now, well now, well now,' he began again, 'I don't know of any wrong road to Dictionopolis, so if this road goes to Dictionopolis at all it must be the right road, and if it doesn't it must be the right road to somewhere else, because there are no wrong roads to anywhere.'" This is my next quote. I interpreted this quote as saying that no matter what road you take in life, it will be a good road to somewhere. Even if you think you've taken the wrong road to where you want to go, that road is also the right road to somewhere else. I think that sometimes people think that once they've made one mistake in life, their goal or life is ruined. This quote tells you that that mistake or choice you've made just puts you on the right road to somewhere else and suddenly, things don't seem that bad anymore if you think of it like that.
Other quotes I liked were:
"'I never knew words could be so confusing,' Milo said to Tock as he bent down to scratch the dog's ear. 'Only when you use a lot to say a little,'"
"Whether or not you find your own way, you're bound to find some way. If you happen to find my way, please return it, as it was lost years ago. I imagine by now it's quite rusty."
"Why not? That's a good reason for almost anything - a bit used perhaps, but still quite serviceable."
"When he was in school, he longed to be out, and when he was out he longed to be in. On the way he thought about coming home, and coming home he thought about going. Wherever he was he wished he were somewhere else, and when he got there he wondered why he'd bothered."
"The only thing that is easy to do is to be wrong and it's hardly worth the effort."
A Wrinkle In Time
For week 5/01
**Would you recommend this book to friends? Why or Why not?
Pages Read: 132-211 (End)
Would I recommend this book to a friend? Nope. Nope. Nope-ity nope. I'm going to attempt to put my ever so mild hatred for this book into three paragraphs so this should be good. As you can probably tell, I really didn't like this book. I feel I've read much better books than this. So much better, really. For one, I found this book to be pretty boring. Throughout the book, it just felt like nothing was happening even though there were things going on in the book. It just felt very slow and boring. Even when there were things happening, they were pretty expected, I think. This made nothing in the book that interesting. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the book could have been more creative and interesting. Way more.
Another thing I didn't like about this book was the characters. Besides their sort of magical powers, I feel like they weren't that much different from characters in other books I've read. They weren't unique. Even if an author is purposefully trying to make their characters seem like ordinary kids, the characters can still be unique in their own way. It's just of a thing to make characters unique. It makes them and the story interesting. The characters in A Wrinkle In Time were not only not-unique to me, but I also thought they were kind of shallow. I felt there was no real depth to them. Like they were just kind of there. The dialogue they shared between each other was also unrealistic and boring. It didn't seem like actual things kids would say in general and to each other. Although, the book was written quite a long time ago, so things were probably way different back then with what kids said.
The last thing I'd like to mention is the overall idea of the book. Kids working with magical witches to save their father. I can't speak for anyone else, but this idea doesn't really interest me. The evil darkness stuff that's taking over planets isn't really explained, and it appeared to be an antagonist in the book. Honestly, I'm not sure if it was an antagonist because they didn't really explain it. In fact, they just kind of forget about the darkness at the end of the book. Happily ever after while the darkness continues on, I guess. Anyway, the idea of the book just seemed really boring to me although I'm sure some people would love the idea. This book just wasn't my thing. It's kind of hard for me to say exactly what about the book made me dislike it but I've tried my best to interpret my feeling.
So, if one of my friends asks if I'd recommend this book to them, I'd just full on:
Would I recommend this book to a friend? Nope. Nope. Nope-ity nope. I'm going to attempt to put my ever so mild hatred for this book into three paragraphs so this should be good. As you can probably tell, I really didn't like this book. I feel I've read much better books than this. So much better, really. For one, I found this book to be pretty boring. Throughout the book, it just felt like nothing was happening even though there were things going on in the book. It just felt very slow and boring. Even when there were things happening, they were pretty expected, I think. This made nothing in the book that interesting. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the book could have been more creative and interesting. Way more.
Another thing I didn't like about this book was the characters. Besides their sort of magical powers, I feel like they weren't that much different from characters in other books I've read. They weren't unique. Even if an author is purposefully trying to make their characters seem like ordinary kids, the characters can still be unique in their own way. It's just of a thing to make characters unique. It makes them and the story interesting. The characters in A Wrinkle In Time were not only not-unique to me, but I also thought they were kind of shallow. I felt there was no real depth to them. Like they were just kind of there. The dialogue they shared between each other was also unrealistic and boring. It didn't seem like actual things kids would say in general and to each other. Although, the book was written quite a long time ago, so things were probably way different back then with what kids said.
The last thing I'd like to mention is the overall idea of the book. Kids working with magical witches to save their father. I can't speak for anyone else, but this idea doesn't really interest me. The evil darkness stuff that's taking over planets isn't really explained, and it appeared to be an antagonist in the book. Honestly, I'm not sure if it was an antagonist because they didn't really explain it. In fact, they just kind of forget about the darkness at the end of the book. Happily ever after while the darkness continues on, I guess. Anyway, the idea of the book just seemed really boring to me although I'm sure some people would love the idea. This book just wasn't my thing. It's kind of hard for me to say exactly what about the book made me dislike it but I've tried my best to interpret my feeling.
So, if one of my friends asks if I'd recommend this book to them, I'd just full on:
I don't know how I keep doing this, but I did that thing again where I write
my blog and then close out and completely forget to actually publish it.
Here it is anyway.
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