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.
Monday, April 28, 2014
A Wrinkle In Time
For week 4/23
**Pretend you get to create the music soundtrack for what you've been reading. What five songs would you include? Write an explanation for each song: why would you include it, how does the song connect to events.
**Pretend you get to create the music soundtrack for what you've been reading. What five songs would you include? Write an explanation for each song: why would you include it, how does the song connect to events.
Pages Read: 38-132
One of the songs I would include would be First Of The Year by Skrillex (hereee). I think that this song connects to the book in three different ways, which I wouldn't normally expect since this is a dubstep song. But. Whatever. If you go and listen to the song, you'll of course notice the general sound of it. The sound of the song connected to my book because, to me, this sounded like the song that could play during a couple scenes in the book where the characters are traveling through dimensions. The feeling the characters get when they do this is described as a suffocating feeling and they feel filled with panic. To me, this seemed like a song for that as they're rushed through space and time. The other two reasons have to do with the lyrics to the song. Which are very hard to understand, and so people have come up with two different sets of lyrics for the song. Giving me two different connections to the book. One of the sets says the little voice is singing about a nightmare, over and over again. This connects to the book because the girl, Meg, does seem to be in a nightmare. Her father is gone, she hates school, and so many strange things keep happening to her. The other set is saying that the voice is singing about wishing it could go back in time to a certain night in their life. Again, this connects to Meg. I connected this to her because she misses her father being there, and I'm sure she'd want to go back to the days when he was around. Another thing was that with some people helping the characters travel dimensions, they could take Meg back in time to the days where he was around.
Another song I would use is Fly Me To The Moon by Frank Sinatra (hereee). I would use this song because it's sort of from the POV of this guy who's really happy and has a special-someone. Guess what? It connects to Meg! Meg just so happens to have a special someone in the book (Calvin) and this song could literally be about them. Just look at the lyrics. Another thing is that the song also mentions flying the guy to the moon and that he wants to play in the stars and stuff. There's actually a part in the book where the characters are on the back of this creature that is flying them up into the sky and even higher than the tops of the nearby mountains. The scene is described as beautiful because they can see everything, including the stars. The parts in the song about the sky and stars really reminded me of the book.
The third song I would use is Nine In The Afternoon by Panic! At The Disco (hereee). If you've been going through this post without listening to any of the songs and simply judging by title, I suppose you're thinking this is a song about a time of day. If you're thinking that, you're partially right. This song is also about where memories begin. In particular
, memories with the person or people you love. This connects to the book because of the couple-ish couple in the book. It's like Calvin and Meg are a couple, but they haven't come out and said it. I connected this with the song because of the memories they've made together so far in the book.
The next song I would use is Just A Girl by No Doubt (hereee). I'd use this song because it's about how girls are treated like they're much more fragile than we really are. Again, Meg connects to this song. She is a girl who gets into a lot of fights and obviously isn't weak like a stereotype often plastered on all girls. Since this song is going against the idea that people have of women being weak, I thought this was like Meg because she seems to be the exact opposite of weak like the stereotype on women says. I think that if someone were to call her a 'weak girl', she would definitely defend herself like they do in this song.
The final song I would use is Que Sera, Sera by Pink Martini (hereee); an oldie, but a goodie I think. This song is about a girl who doesn't really know what to expect in the future, so she asks the people around her. I connected this song to the book because the girl in the song doesn't know what she should expect for her future. In the book, a lot of the characters don't know what they should expect. For example, Meg doesn't know if she'll have her father in her life anytime soon or far away. Her little brother doesn't know what will happen with his powers or the old women guiding him with his powers. So, the characters in the book are much like the girl in the song; they all can't know what their futures hold.
One of the songs I would include would be First Of The Year by Skrillex (hereee). I think that this song connects to the book in three different ways, which I wouldn't normally expect since this is a dubstep song. But. Whatever. If you go and listen to the song, you'll of course notice the general sound of it. The sound of the song connected to my book because, to me, this sounded like the song that could play during a couple scenes in the book where the characters are traveling through dimensions. The feeling the characters get when they do this is described as a suffocating feeling and they feel filled with panic. To me, this seemed like a song for that as they're rushed through space and time. The other two reasons have to do with the lyrics to the song. Which are very hard to understand, and so people have come up with two different sets of lyrics for the song. Giving me two different connections to the book. One of the sets says the little voice is singing about a nightmare, over and over again. This connects to the book because the girl, Meg, does seem to be in a nightmare. Her father is gone, she hates school, and so many strange things keep happening to her. The other set is saying that the voice is singing about wishing it could go back in time to a certain night in their life. Again, this connects to Meg. I connected this to her because she misses her father being there, and I'm sure she'd want to go back to the days when he was around. Another thing was that with some people helping the characters travel dimensions, they could take Meg back in time to the days where he was around.
Another song I would use is Fly Me To The Moon by Frank Sinatra (hereee). I would use this song because it's sort of from the POV of this guy who's really happy and has a special-someone. Guess what? It connects to Meg! Meg just so happens to have a special someone in the book (Calvin) and this song could literally be about them. Just look at the lyrics. Another thing is that the song also mentions flying the guy to the moon and that he wants to play in the stars and stuff. There's actually a part in the book where the characters are on the back of this creature that is flying them up into the sky and even higher than the tops of the nearby mountains. The scene is described as beautiful because they can see everything, including the stars. The parts in the song about the sky and stars really reminded me of the book.
The third song I would use is Nine In The Afternoon by Panic! At The Disco (hereee). If you've been going through this post without listening to any of the songs and simply judging by title, I suppose you're thinking this is a song about a time of day. If you're thinking that, you're partially right. This song is also about where memories begin. In particular
, memories with the person or people you love. This connects to the book because of the couple-ish couple in the book. It's like Calvin and Meg are a couple, but they haven't come out and said it. I connected this with the song because of the memories they've made together so far in the book.
The next song I would use is Just A Girl by No Doubt (hereee). I'd use this song because it's about how girls are treated like they're much more fragile than we really are. Again, Meg connects to this song. She is a girl who gets into a lot of fights and obviously isn't weak like a stereotype often plastered on all girls. Since this song is going against the idea that people have of women being weak, I thought this was like Meg because she seems to be the exact opposite of weak like the stereotype on women says. I think that if someone were to call her a 'weak girl', she would definitely defend herself like they do in this song.The final song I would use is Que Sera, Sera by Pink Martini (hereee); an oldie, but a goodie I think. This song is about a girl who doesn't really know what to expect in the future, so she asks the people around her. I connected this song to the book because the girl in the song doesn't know what she should expect for her future. In the book, a lot of the characters don't know what they should expect. For example, Meg doesn't know if she'll have her father in her life anytime soon or far away. Her little brother doesn't know what will happen with his powers or the old women guiding him with his powers. So, the characters in the book are much like the girl in the song; they all can't know what their futures hold.
Sunday, April 20, 2014
A Wrinkle In Time
Week of 4/16/14
Pages Read: 1-38
Three chapters in and I'm still not sure how I feel about A Wrinkle In Time. I'm still not very sure on what it's about (yes, I read the summary) but excluding that, I don't think I like it very much. It's not because it's a classic, as I've read slightly older books that I've really enjoyed. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I think it might be the character development and the dialogue of the characters that cause me to not enjoy this. For the character development, I can't even name exactly what bothers me about that! I think the characters are developing really really fast and so...it's weird?
The first character we meet is Meg, the main character (yay Meg!). Meg is your average something-age-kid-because-the-author-doesn't-tell-you kid. Well, she does seem realistic. At the beginning of the book, Meg goes through a possible hurricane and she is very. Very. Scared. This makes her realistic because she has realistic fears. Very often, we see characters that aren't afraid of anything. This makes them unrealistic and I don't want to hear a word about how your not afraid of anything. Not a word. But, Meg was afraid of it, and that was great. She was also realistic because two other reasons. One is her school life. She isn't a good student and often gets into fights. There are actually a lot of people like this, so I took this into account. The other thing was that her father hasn't been around for a year. This made her realistic because there are also many people that sadly, do not have their dad in their life. All those kids and adults who don't have a dad went through a time when their dad was gone for a year, like Meg.
The next character I'd like to bring out is Charles Wallace, Meg's little brother. Is he realistic? No. Why, you ask? Well, think of it like this..How many six year olds have you seen that can speak in clear, complete sentences, know middle school words, kind of know what people are thinking, and whose parents let them use knives. If we're similar, you thought none. Or one, if you've read this book. Charles Wallace seriously does all of those things. For example, right at the beginning of the book when Meg is afraid of the hurricane, she goes down to the kitchen to have some cocoa to calm herself. When she gets down there, Charles Wallace says, "Hi, I've been waiting for you." He then goes on to say that he knew she'd be down. So he's a psychic six year old. Average. What really really makes him unrealistic is the fact that his first name is Charles Wallace. Not his full name, but his first name. I mean.
Seriously.
Forget the psychic part.
The next character I'd like to bring out is Charles Wallace, Meg's little brother. Is he realistic? No. Why, you ask? Well, think of it like this..How many six year olds have you seen that can speak in clear, complete sentences, know middle school words, kind of know what people are thinking, and whose parents let them use knives. If we're similar, you thought none. Or one, if you've read this book. Charles Wallace seriously does all of those things. For example, right at the beginning of the book when Meg is afraid of the hurricane, she goes down to the kitchen to have some cocoa to calm herself. When she gets down there, Charles Wallace says, "Hi, I've been waiting for you." He then goes on to say that he knew she'd be down. So he's a psychic six year old. Average. What really really makes him unrealistic is the fact that his first name is Charles Wallace. Not his full name, but his first name. I mean.
Seriously.
Forget the psychic part.
So far, the cover has proved to
be more interesting than the actual
book itself. Just look at that pony guy.
Sunday, April 13, 2014
I Was Told There'd Be Cake
Week of 4/9
** Draw 4 objects that represent your reading. Write a sentence for each, telling what each item says about what you’ve been reading.
Pages Read: 53-END
I drew this unicorn to represent the first chapter in this book. In the first chapter, the author talks about how she got a pony, horse, Pegasus, etc, toy from each of her boyfriends. She kept her toy collection under her sink until she finally couldn't live with them under there anymore. She stuffed them all in a garbage bag and left them on the subway. Sloane imagined a woman seeing a sketchy bag on the subway and becoming horrified at the idea that it's most likely a bomb on the train.
When Sloane was a kid, she would often say "Skyblankeyspeechkim". Yes. All one word. She explained that each of the words actually meant something to her, and that's why the whole mess of words became something she said frequently as a child. Sky, short for Skyler, was her beloved childhood cat. Kim was her imaginary friend, blankey was her favorite blanket. Speech, didn't really mean 'speech'. It symbolized the end of the day when she would line up all her toys and talk to them about her day. In my drawing, I drew all these things the way I imagined a kid might draw them. All in different colors, all next to each other, and the weird in-the-corner-and-triangle-sun. I drew "Speech" as a sun because she would tell her toys about her day, so that seemed to fit.
I drew a thermometer that reads 2057 degrees because of the last chapter in the book when she has a health/death scare. I chose this chapter because she talked about how, when she thought she was going to actually die, she did absolutely nothing. When she found out she was going to be OK, she was relieved, but she was also disappointed in herself. The whole week, she did nothing exciting even though she was positive death was near. I chose to draw that thermometer because she mentioned how she once faked a fever as a child. She put the thermometer in the microwave and gave it to her mother in hopes of staying home from school. Sadly, the temperature was 2057, and she had to stay home.
As you can probably already tell, this final picture is of 9/11. Sloane talks about how the twin towers were both attacked when she was quitting her job as an apprentice to a fashion magazine writer. Near the end of the chapter, the towers are hit and everyone at the office watches it happen on TV. Since 9/11 is a significant date in history and I also really enjoyed this chapter, I decided to draw the TV the office workers were watching.
** Draw 4 objects that represent your reading. Write a sentence for each, telling what each item says about what you’ve been reading.
Pages Read: 53-END
I drew this unicorn to represent the first chapter in this book. In the first chapter, the author talks about how she got a pony, horse, Pegasus, etc, toy from each of her boyfriends. She kept her toy collection under her sink until she finally couldn't live with them under there anymore. She stuffed them all in a garbage bag and left them on the subway. Sloane imagined a woman seeing a sketchy bag on the subway and becoming horrified at the idea that it's most likely a bomb on the train.
I Was Told There'd Be Cake
Week of 4/2/14
**Do you like what you’re reading? Why or why not?
**Do you like what you’re reading? Why or why not?
Pages Read: 1-53 (Short Stories: "The Pony Problem" "Christmas In July" "The Ursula Cookie")
I Was Told There'd Be Cake is the third essay book I've read this year. One of these books was a scifi theme, and the other was comedy. It's easy to tell what genre I like better when you look at the genre of I Was Told There'd Be Cake. Drumroll...It's a comedy. Of course. The essay book i read before this one was Me Talk Pretty One Day, and I found it incredibly enjoyable and funny. Because of this, I was expecting a lot from this book as well, since it had an attention grabbing title and someone had told me that it was a really good book. So, to move on with it, here's my current situation with I Was Told There'd Be Cake.
When you have an older sibling (like I do), you get very used to hearing people say stuff about your older-whatever and then compare you to them. And as random as that might sound, it actually has to do with what I want to say about this book. As I mentioned before, I read an essay book before this that I enjoyed so much that I fully expected the same from this book. Of course, I didn't want the writing to be the same or the stories to be shockingly similar (as that would suggest something of this writer), but I wanted it to be as funny. Now that I think back to it, this may have been wrong for me to do, since it sort of kind of not counts as judging a book by its cover. Anyway, I don't mean to sound like some horribly mean critic, but I think I rose my expectations to high for this book. Again, I don't mean to sound as mean...as that sounded. But that's honestly how I feel.
So, why do I feel like my expectations were to high? Well, frankly, I don't find this book very enjoyable. I mean, it is enjoyable, but not as much as I hoped it would be. Some parts of this book are really very funny, but those parts haven't been very common throughout what I've read so far. Another thing was that some of the essays would drag on and become less interesting as they didn't have many parts that I found funny. And then that ties into the fact that sometimes, things that were meant to be funny didn't really make me laugh or smile or anything. But, that's just my opinion on some of those jokes. Yet another thing is the very common talk about the author's religion (or just religion as a child). Throughout a lot of the essays I've read in the book so far, her religion was talked about a lot. I didn't really mind at first, since at first, she brought up her religion for the purpose of making the part of the essay funny. But then later on, a whole essay was about her religion and Christianity, and it wasn't talked about for the purpose of making her audience laugh. After a while, it got a bit repetitive and even made it drag on a bit.
Pretty much, I'm enjoying this book, but equally, I'm not. Fifty-fifty, really. Don't get me wrong, some parts of her essays are actually really funny. And some parts are equally, not as funny. Then again, it's really only the beginning of the book. I have much to look forward to.
**Sorry this is so late! I wrote it and somehow forget to actually publish it. HERE IT IS ANYWAY!
I Was Told There'd Be Cake is the third essay book I've read this year. One of these books was a scifi theme, and the other was comedy. It's easy to tell what genre I like better when you look at the genre of I Was Told There'd Be Cake. Drumroll...It's a comedy. Of course. The essay book i read before this one was Me Talk Pretty One Day, and I found it incredibly enjoyable and funny. Because of this, I was expecting a lot from this book as well, since it had an attention grabbing title and someone had told me that it was a really good book. So, to move on with it, here's my current situation with I Was Told There'd Be Cake.
When you have an older sibling (like I do), you get very used to hearing people say stuff about your older-whatever and then compare you to them. And as random as that might sound, it actually has to do with what I want to say about this book. As I mentioned before, I read an essay book before this that I enjoyed so much that I fully expected the same from this book. Of course, I didn't want the writing to be the same or the stories to be shockingly similar (as that would suggest something of this writer), but I wanted it to be as funny. Now that I think back to it, this may have been wrong for me to do, since it sort of kind of not counts as judging a book by its cover. Anyway, I don't mean to sound like some horribly mean critic, but I think I rose my expectations to high for this book. Again, I don't mean to sound as mean...as that sounded. But that's honestly how I feel.
So, why do I feel like my expectations were to high? Well, frankly, I don't find this book very enjoyable. I mean, it is enjoyable, but not as much as I hoped it would be. Some parts of this book are really very funny, but those parts haven't been very common throughout what I've read so far. Another thing was that some of the essays would drag on and become less interesting as they didn't have many parts that I found funny. And then that ties into the fact that sometimes, things that were meant to be funny didn't really make me laugh or smile or anything. But, that's just my opinion on some of those jokes. Yet another thing is the very common talk about the author's religion (or just religion as a child). Throughout a lot of the essays I've read in the book so far, her religion was talked about a lot. I didn't really mind at first, since at first, she brought up her religion for the purpose of making the part of the essay funny. But then later on, a whole essay was about her religion and Christianity, and it wasn't talked about for the purpose of making her audience laugh. After a while, it got a bit repetitive and even made it drag on a bit.
Pretty much, I'm enjoying this book, but equally, I'm not. Fifty-fifty, really. Don't get me wrong, some parts of her essays are actually really funny. And some parts are equally, not as funny. Then again, it's really only the beginning of the book. I have much to look forward to.
**Sorry this is so late! I wrote it and somehow forget to actually publish it. HERE IT IS ANYWAY!
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