I finished in time!

For the last few days I have been pondering what makes the difference between a good book and one of my favourite books. I liked To Kill a Mockingbird. I really liked it. Maybe loved it. But will it be added to one of my favourites? Maybe. Okay, I loved it.

To try and make this clearer, I will be compiling a list.

Favourites:

• the Harry Potter series


• Paper Towns


• The Mortal Instruments series


• Pride and Prejudice


• Just Listen


• The Book Thief


• The Hunger Games


• Going Bovine

Those are the top ones I can think of.

And now for some books that I think are well written or that I really liked:

• Jane Eyre


• Looking For Alaska


• Speak


• Liar


• The Penelopiad


• The Messenger

There's tons more of those, but that's all I could think of off the top of my head.

So there it is. The one outright noticeable difference? My favourites have happy endings whereas the ones I thought were well written (but didn't make the final cut) mostly didn't. There's exceptions, of course. Some were happy, some were neither happy nor sad, some were happy/sad and some where just sad. But that's endings for you.

All of the listed are great books. They all have wonderful stories and believable characters. But the point here is that there are two lists. Books that made me think and books that I fell in love with. That makes the first list sound sort of vapid. Let me just say that all the books made me think. Every book I listed has some sort of underlying current of intelligentness**. To conclude this paragraph, if you can convey a theme/message with witty dialogue, quirky characters and preferably believably romantic romance, you've completely won my heart. But back to the point...

No, I didn't completely devour TKAM in one sitting. It didn't grip me and, most of the time, there were no tears. There was no swooning, either. It was a pretty mellow book for the most part. So at the time, no, it probably wasn't a favourite. Looking back, however, I can happily add it to the first list. How else could I rate a book that is about not wanting to grow up and listening to everyone's story and just overall acceptance of others?

Now I could try and delve into the themes and morals of TKAM but I'm not going to. The reasons are that 1. I probably couldn't explain it in a way that would capture the brilliance that the book is due and 2. Matt did it and he was really awesome doing it and I'm not going to just parrot everything he said when I can just post his video...



Excellent book. And not only that, it was a great story and very well told. Next book will be revealed tomorrow, or when I decide.

*At first, I typed google book. I thought you should know that.

**I love irony.

I finished in time!

For the last few days I have been pondering what makes the difference between a good book and one of my favourite books. I liked To Kill a Mockingbird. I really liked it. Maybe loved it. But will it be added to one of my favourites? Maybe. Okay, I loved it.

To try and make this clearer, I will be compiling a list.

Favourites:

• the Harry Potter series


• Paper Towns


• The Mortal Instruments series


• Pride and Prejudice


• Just Listen


• The Book Thief


• The Hunger Games


• Going Bovine

Those are the top ones I can think of.

And now for some books that I think are well written or that I really liked:

• Jane Eyre


• Looking For Alaska


• Speak


• Liar


• The Penelopiad


• The Messenger

There's tons more of those, but that's all I could think of off the top of my head.

So there it is. The one outright noticeable difference? My favourites have happy endings whereas the ones I thought were well written (but didn't make the final cut) mostly didn't. There's exceptions, of course. Some were happy, some were neither happy nor sad, some were happy/sad and some where just sad. But that's endings for you.

All of the listed are great books. They all have wonderful stories and believable characters. But the point here is that there are two lists. Books that made me think and books that I fell in love with. That makes the first list sound sort of vapid. Let me just say that all the books made me think. Every book I listed has some sort of underlying current of intelligentness**. To conclude this paragraph, if you can convey a theme/message with witty dialogue, quirky characters and preferably believably romantic romance, you've completely won my heart. But back to the point...

No, I didn't completely devour TKAM in one sitting. It didn't grip me and, most of the time, there were no tears. There was no swooning, either. It was a pretty mellow book for the most part. So at the time, no, it probably wasn't a favourite. Looking back, however, I can happily add it to the first list. How else could I rate a book that is about not wanting to grow up and listening to everyone's story and just overall acceptance of others?

Now I could try and delve into the themes and morals of TKAM but I'm not going to. The reasons are that 1. I probably couldn't explain it in a way that would capture the brilliance that the book is due and 2. Matt did it and he was really awesome doing it and I'm not going to just parrot everything he said when I can just post his video...



Excellent book. And not only that, it was a great story and very well told. Next book will be revealed tomorrow, or when I decide.

*At first, I typed google book. I thought you should know that.

**I love irony.

PART TWO!

PART TWO! Hooray!

I really have nothing to say other than last night I turned the page and there were only two words on the next one and they were part two.

Perhaps I shouldn't be revealing this. Perhaps I should be pretending that I'm more than a third of the way through so you can have some faith in my reading abilities.

Whatever, I'm going to go ahead and hit publish anyway.

PART TWO!

PART TWO! Hooray!

I really have nothing to say other than last night I turned the page and there were only two words on the next one and they were part two.

Perhaps I shouldn't be revealing this. Perhaps I should be pretending that I'm more than a third of the way through so you can have some faith in my reading abilities.

Whatever, I'm going to go ahead and hit publish anyway.

It's not lost, it's *misplaced*

It's been a while. Hello there. I have been reading. Not diligently, but sporadically. You know, three chapters while riding the bus, thirty pages before bed when I'm actually in bed before I want to pass out. It's not a very good system, and I'm not particularly proud of it, but I still have like what? Eight days left? Nine? Seven, maybe? It's fine. We're all good. Even if I don't read any of it before my EXAMS on Thursday I can still race to the end in the remaining 2 days of the month. Not that I will end up doing that, but it's always there, as an option. What's two hundred pages in two days to a home schooler? Pfft.

Today, an important question will be questioned and possibly answered or at least skirted around. According to my Language Arts mentor, I am good at skirting. I have honed this skill. Why provide a real opinion on an assignment when you can pick both sides while sounding very persuasive. Don't you just love writing essays?

The question: What is a classic?

This question is immediately easy for me to answer. In my humble and extremely important and noteworthy opinion, a classic is a book that was written a reasonable amount of time ago (for instance half of the time Edward has been seventeen. And sometimes shorter) that is still remembered today. For example, The Great Gatsby. I have no idea what it's about. I don't know anything about the book but it's title. And recently I learned there's someone named Daisy and a metaphor to God. Other than that, nothing. Yet, that is.

But I have heard of the title before. Even though it was written ages ago, the invention of the printing press has managed to connect us to an entirely different generation and way of thinking. Classic, yes?

This has been rather short and I don't think I got my point across entirely but I shall save it for another time because I've been non-writing for a while now and clearly anything else I say is going to be lamer than what I've already said.

Now, I shall go retrieve my book. Or submit an essay. Or something like that.

It's not lost, it's *misplaced*

It's been a while. Hello there. I have been reading. Not diligently, but sporadically. You know, three chapters while riding the bus, thirty pages before bed when I'm actually in bed before I want to pass out. It's not a very good system, and I'm not particularly proud of it, but I still have like what? Eight days left? Nine? Seven, maybe? It's fine. We're all good. Even if I don't read any of it before my EXAMS on Thursday I can still race to the end in the remaining 2 days of the month. Not that I will end up doing that, but it's always there, as an option. What's two hundred pages in two days to a home schooler? Pfft.

Today, an important question will be questioned and possibly answered or at least skirted around. According to my Language Arts mentor, I am good at skirting. I have honed this skill. Why provide a real opinion on an assignment when you can pick both sides while sounding very persuasive. Don't you just love writing essays?

The question: What is a classic?

This question is immediately easy for me to answer. In my humble and extremely important and noteworthy opinion, a classic is a book that was written a reasonable amount of time ago (for instance half of the time Edward has been seventeen. And sometimes shorter) that is still remembered today. For example, The Great Gatsby. I have no idea what it's about. I don't know anything about the book but it's title. And recently I learned there's someone named Daisy and a metaphor to God. Other than that, nothing. Yet, that is.

But I have heard of the title before. Even though it was written ages ago, the invention of the printing press has managed to connect us to an entirely different generation and way of thinking. Classic, yes?

This has been rather short and I don't think I got my point across entirely but I shall save it for another time because I've been non-writing for a while now and clearly anything else I say is going to be lamer than what I've already said.

Now, I shall go retrieve my book. Or submit an essay. Or something like that.

In which I disclose a secret about a cat, a washing machine and a huge mistake.

I had that whole resolution thing to not go on my computer past 10 o'clock but this is super important and so I'm blatently ignoring it from this point forward. Now that I've made that clear I should probably try to hook you into reading this blog because if I don't irony strikes seeing as how I'm writing this about hooks. Hopefully, the title will do it for you. The secret is a lie, as is the cake.* You won't be getting any of either.

I'm about 70 pages into To Kill a Mockingbird and I realize I should be farther as tomorrow marks the midpoint of this month but alas, I am not. I come to you today to talk about hooks and why they are more important today than they were in 1960.

I think there were probably less books published 50 years ago but that is purely based on my assumption so don't quote me in your thesis papers. With there being a smaller selection, I'm thinking there would be a little less competition than we apparently have in the book selling market today. Therefore, good books didn't have to immediately pull the reader into the story, they could do it slowly with more tact and skill, knowing that even if the beginning was a tad slow, the reader wouldn't put it back on the shelf after the first page.

I broached this idea to my mother and she said that not only were there less books, people had a longer attention span in 1960 (generally speaking). Today, we are bamboozled with ads and television and computers and technology and books seem somewhat dimmer in that light to some people. We seem to have less time than ever, despite all the technologies that are made to make our lives easier. And so when one is wandering the aisles of a bookstore, if one doesn't immediately feel compelled to read the novel in one's hand then one doesn't, because one already has enough to do and read (i.e. The Penelopiad for English).

To Kill a Mockingbird didn't start out with all the adults in town disappearing *coughGonecough* but I have more stock in it than I did with Michael Grant's novel. I have a feeling that I hold something excellent in my hands with To Kill a Mockingbird (only not right now because I'm typing and that's not practical).

Isn't that a positively profound thought I just documented? Will someone please record this in the history of my life so that I can go back sometime in the future and be like, "Yeah, when I was fifteen years old, I was SMART!" Oh wait, I kind of already did that. With this blog. Yes, I realize that was a bad joke. Sometimes, they just have to be made. Sorry about that.

So, no, the first chapter didn't exactly grab me but am I still going to read it? Yes. That's kind of beside the point, as the reason for this blog is so I can read books and pretend someone cares what I have to say about them. But yes, I'm still going to read it.

I have an urge to say 'stay tuned' but I won't other than to tell you that I won't be saying it.

*I don't understand that saying and yet I use it. Maybe it's a smart people thing.

In which I disclose a secret about a cat, a washing machine and a huge mistake.

I had that whole resolution thing to not go on my computer past 10 o'clock but this is super important and so I'm blatently ignoring it from this point forward. Now that I've made that clear I should probably try to hook you into reading this blog because if I don't irony strikes seeing as how I'm writing this about hooks. Hopefully, the title will do it for you. The secret is a lie, as is the cake.* You won't be getting any of either.

I'm about 70 pages into To Kill a Mockingbird and I realize I should be farther as tomorrow marks the midpoint of this month but alas, I am not. I come to you today to talk about hooks and why they are more important today than they were in 1960.

I think there were probably less books published 50 years ago but that is purely based on my assumption so don't quote me in your thesis papers. With there being a smaller selection, I'm thinking there would be a little less competition than we apparently have in the book selling market today. Therefore, good books didn't have to immediately pull the reader into the story, they could do it slowly with more tact and skill, knowing that even if the beginning was a tad slow, the reader wouldn't put it back on the shelf after the first page.

I broached this idea to my mother and she said that not only were there less books, people had a longer attention span in 1960 (generally speaking). Today, we are bamboozled with ads and television and computers and technology and books seem somewhat dimmer in that light to some people. We seem to have less time than ever, despite all the technologies that are made to make our lives easier. And so when one is wandering the aisles of a bookstore, if one doesn't immediately feel compelled to read the novel in one's hand then one doesn't, because one already has enough to do and read (i.e. The Penelopiad for English).

To Kill a Mockingbird didn't start out with all the adults in town disappearing *coughGonecough* but I have more stock in it than I did with Michael Grant's novel. I have a feeling that I hold something excellent in my hands with To Kill a Mockingbird (only not right now because I'm typing and that's not practical).

Isn't that a positively profound thought I just documented? Will someone please record this in the history of my life so that I can go back sometime in the future and be like, "Yeah, when I was fifteen years old, I was SMART!" Oh wait, I kind of already did that. With this blog. Yes, I realize that was a bad joke. Sometimes, they just have to be made. Sorry about that.

So, no, the first chapter didn't exactly grab me but am I still going to read it? Yes. That's kind of beside the point, as the reason for this blog is so I can read books and pretend someone cares what I have to say about them. But yes, I'm still going to read it.

I have an urge to say 'stay tuned' but I won't other than to tell you that I won't be saying it.

*I don't understand that saying and yet I use it. Maybe it's a smart people thing.

Ta-da!

I know you've all been waiting with bated breath and so before anything drastic happens (or the month ends), I will announce the book I will be reading. With a picture, no less.



If you're wondering what that indented looking pockmark on my book is, that's where I peeled the price sticker off. It left a mark. If it makes me seem more ghetto, I could tell you it's a bullet mark from when I was walking down the street and had to defend myself and the only thing available was the Pulitzer prize winning book by Harper Lee, but they* say honesty is the best policy.

So I went with the democratic process even though my sister didn't want me to. She thought that I should start with something light and though she's never read The Great Gatsby she thought that was the ticket. Hi Maddy. Love you. Of course I didn't just choose this book because Vita told me it was her favourite, over Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows no less, and I do whatever Vita tells me to do. Don't be ridiculous.

It took me a while to find this book. You see, it sat on my shelf for a couple months and then I decided that I'd just move it because my shelf has precious little space and I need to fill it with other books that I'm never going to find the time to read. So it went and sat on my mother's shelf for a while until very recently when it was misplaced. So even after majority ruled, I still wasn't sure if I'd be able to follow through on my promises.

Luckily, my mother is amazing** and she found it and here we are tonight. Page one, bring it on.

Hook sentences fascinate me. I mean, "When he was nearly thirteen my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow" doesn't seem particularly hook-y to me. Also, shouldn't there be a comma between thirteen and my? Am I an over user of commas? Maybe. Am I right? Yes. Right? Right?

So I haven't actually read anything but the first sentence so I will definitely do that now. Bye!

Oh, and I'm wondering is anyone going to read along with me? I know Maddy is. Hopefully. Just curious. That would be super awesome.

*They do rule over my life after all. But the question is, who are they?

**And no, she definitely didn't tell me to write that.

Ta-da!

I know you've all been waiting with bated breath and so before anything drastic happens (or the month ends), I will announce the book I will be reading. With a picture, no less.



If you're wondering what that indented looking pockmark on my book is, that's where I peeled the price sticker off. It left a mark. If it makes me seem more ghetto, I could tell you it's a bullet mark from when I was walking down the street and had to defend myself and the only thing available was the Pulitzer prize winning book by Harper Lee, but they* say honesty is the best policy.

So I went with the democratic process even though my sister didn't want me to. She thought that I should start with something light and though she's never read The Great Gatsby she thought that was the ticket. Hi Maddy. Love you. Of course I didn't just choose this book because Vita told me it was her favourite, over Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows no less, and I do whatever Vita tells me to do. Don't be ridiculous.

It took me a while to find this book. You see, it sat on my shelf for a couple months and then I decided that I'd just move it because my shelf has precious little space and I need to fill it with other books that I'm never going to find the time to read. So it went and sat on my mother's shelf for a while until very recently when it was misplaced. So even after majority ruled, I still wasn't sure if I'd be able to follow through on my promises.

Luckily, my mother is amazing** and she found it and here we are tonight. Page one, bring it on.

Hook sentences fascinate me. I mean, "When he was nearly thirteen my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow" doesn't seem particularly hook-y to me. Also, shouldn't there be a comma between thirteen and my? Am I an over user of commas? Maybe. Am I right? Yes. Right? Right?

So I haven't actually read anything but the first sentence so I will definitely do that now. Bye!

Oh, and I'm wondering is anyone going to read along with me? I know Maddy is. Hopefully. Just curious. That would be super awesome.

*They do rule over my life after all. But the question is, who are they?

**And no, she definitely didn't tell me to write that.

A Need to Quote Anastasia

My past as a blogger, though not wildly professional, is there and yet I've never done anything quite like this. Plans and themes have evading me and so I'm rubbing my hands together and ready to get started on this gem of a mind concoction.

I will now distract you from the clumsy beginning to this challenge by quoting from one of my favourite animated movies, Anastasia.

I feel like we are strangers, starting out on a journey. Never dreaming that our dreams (of literary abandon) would come true. Now here we are, and I'm suddenly standing at the beginning with you.

At this point I'm not really sure what we're looking at here. I think there'll be from 1 to 2 posts a week depending on how guilty I am that I'm failing at reading my current selection. I'm not even sure what these posts are really going to look like. There's a fuzzy draft in my mind that's sort of ruling over me and hopefully all will become clear as the weeks unroll. Hopefully you'll still be here.

The idea of reading one book a month for a year does not seem too onerous at this time but I am also factoring in that I have additional books to read for my book club, my English class and maybe a bit of leisure reading? You also have to add in all the time procrastinating, because I try to be honest with myself and procrastination is a vital part of my creative process. Okay, so maybe it's not vital, but it's definitely a part.

On to business: I need to pick January's novel. If you still think I was in any way prepared at this point, now you will probably give up hope. I did not decide on what I'm reading when, as I prefer the spontaneous method of planning. I was going to start with Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights for the single reason that's it's Bella and Edward's favourite book and when did that ever lead anyone astray, but my dear sister thought it was a little too dark for a beginning. How about a good old fashioned vote? Please comment below on which of the three following I should start off this marvelous year with and I will reward you with some imaginary cake. Pineapple upside down cake. How can you resist?

• The Great Gatsby


• Wuthering Heights


• To Kill a Mockingbird

A Need to Quote Anastasia

My past as a blogger, though not wildly professional, is there and yet I've never done anything quite like this. Plans and themes have evading me and so I'm rubbing my hands together and ready to get started on this gem of a mind concoction.

I will now distract you from the clumsy beginning to this challenge by quoting from one of my favourite animated movies, Anastasia.

I feel like we are strangers, starting out on a journey. Never dreaming that our dreams (of literary abandon) would come true. Now here we are, and I'm suddenly standing at the beginning with you.

At this point I'm not really sure what we're looking at here. I think there'll be from 1 to 2 posts a week depending on how guilty I am that I'm failing at reading my current selection. I'm not even sure what these posts are really going to look like. There's a fuzzy draft in my mind that's sort of ruling over me and hopefully all will become clear as the weeks unroll. Hopefully you'll still be here.

The idea of reading one book a month for a year does not seem too onerous at this time but I am also factoring in that I have additional books to read for my book club, my English class and maybe a bit of leisure reading? You also have to add in all the time procrastinating, because I try to be honest with myself and procrastination is a vital part of my creative process. Okay, so maybe it's not vital, but it's definitely a part.

On to business: I need to pick January's novel. If you still think I was in any way prepared at this point, now you will probably give up hope. I did not decide on what I'm reading when, as I prefer the spontaneous method of planning. I was going to start with Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights for the single reason that's it's Bella and Edward's favourite book and when did that ever lead anyone astray, but my dear sister thought it was a little too dark for a beginning. How about a good old fashioned vote? Please comment below on which of the three following I should start off this marvelous year with and I will reward you with some imaginary cake. Pineapple upside down cake. How can you resist?

• The Great Gatsby


• Wuthering Heights


• To Kill a Mockingbird

Chaos surrounds you

We're still under construction here, but I hope you will call again tomorrow or perhaps the next day would be best. I promise lots of awesome.

Chaos surrounds you

We're still under construction here, but I hope you will call again tomorrow or perhaps the next day would be best. I promise lots of awesome.