Summer Reading Blog 4

Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler. Why we broke up... Why we broke up. Not many people would write something describing why they broke up. Breaking up isn't fun, it hurts, it's devastating. The fact that the book's title is "Why We Broke Up" drew my attention, the description got me even more, then I read the comments about this book. I found myself really excited to read it, so I bought is. I was excited because the description had reminded me of an other book I read a few years back, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, and I was and still am in love with that book.

Although I have been in multiple breakups in my life, I can say the only personal connection I have to this book is the fact they I have broken up with someone. Someone I would recommend this book to would have to be anyone who loves books about love/hate moments, or someone who has been in a break up recently and feels like they're doing it alone, this book will show them that others have bad breakups before, some that don't even make sense. Nobody needs to feel alone.

Summer Reading Blog 3

I feel as though, the first few lines of this book were the most hooking to me and my sister, "Dear Ed,
In a sec you'll hear a thunk. At your front door, the one nobody uses. It'll rattle the hinges a bit when it lands, because it's so weighty and important, a little jangle along with the thunk, and Joan will look up from whatever she's cooking. She will look down in her saucepan, worried that if she goes to see what it is it'll boil over. I can see her frown in the reflection of the bubbly sauce or whatnot. But she'll go, she'll go and see. You won't. You won't, Ed. You wouldn't. You're upstairs probably, sweaty and alone. You should be taking a shower, but you're heartbroken in bed, I hope, so it's your sister, Joan, who will open the door even though the thunk's for you. You won't even know or hear what's being dumped at your door. You won't even know why it even happened...
I'm telling you why we broke up, Ed. I'm writing it in this letter, the whole truth of why it happened. And the truth is that I goddamn loved you so much." (Handler, Loc. 10).

The quote I have chosen is just about the whole first chapter. that chapter is explaining the events taking place throughout the whole entire book, like the fact, throughout the book Min is writing the letter, explaining the 42 reasons why they broke up and how everything went down to the very point of her dropping the box of reasons and the letter at Ed's doorstep. She tells us at the end of the first chapter, 'I'm telling you why we broke up, Ed... And the truth is that I goddamn loved you so much.' Min told us the reason, the main reason, in the beginning and gave us the details of their relationship and all the cute memories they had. For any teenage girl that reads this, I'm sure they'll be thinking something along the lines, "This Min character is crazy for breaking up with a guy that spent all his days changing his ways to become a perfect boyfriend figure to her and doing everything she wanted, someone who made her so happy. Why would she break up with him because of their amazing memorizes together? Why would she break up with him if she loved him so much?" That right there, that's what I was thinking throughout this whole book... she definitely has a different mind set than I do.b

Summer Reading Blog 2

Although, I don't think I'll finish this book within this week, like I had as a goal in the last blog, I think I'll be able to finish up the book before the end of the month. 

In this blog, I'm going to talk about only two characters, Min and Ed. These are the main characters and their desires and wants are very well exposed throughout the book so far, though, Ed's are still more a mystery. Min throughout the story she's tell wants Ed, she wants a relationship with him, even though she knows they aren't going to get married, she still wanted a relationship with him. She wants to show him the world from her eyes, the eyes of someone "different" as Ed would say. Ed, also wanting a relationship with her, he changes his routines for her just to make her happy. They both desire a relationship together, and we're both happy together, but the little things add up to make them break up. 

At the end of the majority of chapters Min writes "...and that's why we broke up." I find that very interesting because the chapters that's written on are the chapters that are filled with the cute romantic scenes, you'd never think that event would ever be a reason to break up with someone! Handler's structure of writing really gets to me. The way that one sentence can run on for half a page, or how he jumps from one thing to an other, two things not really needing the other around. It's a bit annoying to me, that's why it's taking me longer to read this book than I thought it would. Great story, just wish the structure was a little bit more relatable.

Summer Reading Blog 1

This summer, summer of 2015, the summer before my sophomore year, has been a summer of reading. Along with many other books, I've starting reading a book called Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler. Although, I have just started reading this book, I have a feeling I'm going to be rather attached to it by the end. Well, that's in the future, right now I need to focus more on this blog. The book, so far, has mentioned four names, Ed, Joan, Min, and Al. Min is the one telling the story, through her letters, she's also the girl that is breaking up with Ed. Ed is the, now, ex-boyfriend, the one the letters are directed to. Joan is Ed's sister, so far has no true meaning to the story. Finally, Al is Min's friend, he's helping Min deliver the box of Ed's stuff to Ed's house. There was a mentioning of a deal Min and Al had, Min said, "'Yeah. My end of the deal, right?'" I'm thinking this means she's keeping her end and is trying to make sure he's going to keep his end, even though he avoiding her question. Unfortunately, that's all the information I currently have about this mysterious deal. Is this deal they had the true reason behind Ed and Min breaking up? Min had said she loved Ed. I feel as though Al, even though he's portrayed as the good guy, will end up being the bad guy that broke up Min and Ed. 

When I first read the description of this book, instantly I thought of this book I had read before called Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. That book was about a girl who killed herself for thirteen different reasons. She made thirteen tape recordings and put them in a box, she sent that box to the first person mention in the tape, the first reason she had to kill herself, and then committed suicide. The box got passed from one person to an other until the end. Much like that book, Min sent Ed a box, but instead of there being tape recordings she placed multiple items in the box. Each item was collected over the time Min and Ed were together and symbolized a reason, of many, that Min broke up with Ed. I enjoyed reading Thirteen Reasons Why so I'm hoping this book will be just as enjoyable.

Blog Post 8

The Lying Games

This week I started to read The Lying Games again, now I'm almost finished with the book. A refresher, for those who hadn't read my last post about this book- this book is about these identical twins that were separated while they were babies, and they just now found each other right before their 18th birthday. Emma got the short end of the stick when it came to their separation, she moved from foster house to foster house and always seemed to get blamed for everything and get in trouble a lot, even though she is a good, respectful, responsibly girl. Sutton got adopted right away and she lives in a large house in a great town and has a lot of friends and people that care for her, even though she is a trouble maker that is rude and inconsiderate. Sutton had lived the life Emma has always dreamed about. Sutton had gotten herself into a bit of trouble and a video of what happened was posted online, just so happens that Emma's foster brother found that video and that's how Emma found out about her sister. They agreed to meet up, although right before they met up something bad happened to Sutton... she was murdered.

Now, I know what you're thinking, none of what I said up there fits the title, right? Well here's the thing, Emma had already set out to meet Sutton before she knew Sutton had died, and now Emma has to pretend that she's Sutton or she'll die. The killer of Sutton has been watching everything Emma is doing. Emma found out that her sister was dead before she had even met her, and now it's her job to take her sister's place- Emma finally gets to live with a real family, in a good stable place- it's everything she's ever wanted. There's only one catch, Emma can't be Emma, she has to be Sutton and do everything that Sutton would do. Everything.  Emma the good, respectful, responsibly girl has to pretend to be her evil twin sister, that is the complete opposite of her. You tell me how she's going to pull that off without getting caught. Not only does Emma pretending to be Sutton fit in how she's playing a game with the killer by lying to everyone, but there was something twisted that Sutton and her friends love to do, they love to pull pranks on people for their "Lying game" and Sutton keeps a "Lying Game" box with everything they've done written down, inside of it. They all go out and pull serious pranks on each other and anyone that messes with them, serious as in, they-could-go-to-jail-for-some-of-the-stuff-they-do serious. Along with all of this there are rules to follow, "1. Don't tell ANYONE. Telling will be punishable by expulsion! 2. Only three people allowed in the club at one time. (But someone had crossed out three and written four above it.) 3. Every new prank must be better than the last. Those who outdo another earn a special badge! 4. If we're really in trouble. if it's not a prank, we will say the sacred code words: 'Cross my heart, hope to die." This means 9-1-1!" (page 201).

Read The Lying Game by Sara Shepard to find out what happened to Sutton, what's going on with Emma and to find out the lying game pranks they pull.

Blog post 7

So, I just finished reading Killer Cupcakes by Leighann Dobbs. The ending was definitely nothing that I ever imagined it to be. In my mind, I had the wrong person being guilty of the murder, I imagined a completely different way of the bad guy being put away for their crime, and I never imagined the "her" to be a "him" (you will only understand that if you read the book, and I will not spoil by telling the meaning behind that, because then half the plot is ruined), I even imagined the outcome differently. Although, despite how surprised I was at the end, I feel as though the ending could have been way better than it was. The ending really fell short and was really sudden, the epilogue should have been the actual last chapter to that book. That would've made more sense and been a smoother ending. I don't think that I'll be reading any of the other books in that series. I do recommend the book to anyone and almost everyone that likes mystery books. I say almost everyone because there are a lot of people out there that would be even more disappointed with the ending than I was and I don't want to recommend a book to someone just to disappoint them. But for those who want to read it, its a great book, I loved the characters, the book kept me on my feet and I did feel like I was apart of the investigation (except for the breaking plot twisted end). Overall, I couldn't say I wasted any time of my life reading this book. Check out Killer Cupcakes and other Leighann Dobbs books!

Blog Post 6
So, this last two weeks I've been reading Killer Cupcakes again, because I hadn't finished it before I started reading The Lying game. I still haven't finished the book yet, but it's gotten more intense and has put me more on edge about what's going on.
A little reminder about the book: it's a mystery book about how Lexy's ex boyfriend, Kevin, had died because a cupcake he got from Lexy's bakery was poisoned. Lexy claims that she had no part of that, but she's been questioned and had her bakery inspected. But now she's taking matters into her own hands, and is being a detective, herself. She has gotten further than the real detectives have and, hopefully, soon she'll be able to crack the case. There's only one downfall to all of this, the detective on this case is Lexy's neighbor, Jack, and they both have feelings for each other.
Lexy has been getting packages from Kevin, even though he's supposed to be dead. So, now, reading this book I've been on edge trying to figure everything out, but none of it makes any sense. Reading this book, for me, has been really enjoyable, and I recommend it to anyone who likes to be on edge while reading, and also likes a little romance in books.

Blog Post 5

This weekend, along with the rest of Mrs. Bross' english class, i read the first 14 pages of the columnist packet. I felt that all of the stories were a little pointless and i did not enjoy reading any of them other than the last two, showing how different men and women are. I didn't enjoy the other columns because the topic did not appeal to me or was a topic i had no idea about, or all in all had no care for. The column about hockey bored me, because i had no idea who or what they were talking about. The column about the Boston Marathon made me a bit frustrated because they were jumping all of the place talking about basketball and football and baseball, then talking about certain people, nothing really about the Boston Marathon itself, which i found completely pointless, speaking that the title made it seem as though the column would be about the Boston Marathon. "An image a little too carefully coordinated" felt very dragged on. I didn't understand the overall point to the column at all, it talked about different people wearing clothes then something about meeting the president in sandals, there is no literal meaning or reason for that column- for me, anyways. The column about Kate Middleton's dress wasn't even about her dress, just designers she could choose from to design her dress or even about someone else's wedding dress, i didn't see the point to that column either. I found the last two articles to make the most sense out of all of them, only because i can really relate to them, when it comes between my father and my arguments about little things, and how different opinions could be just between the different genders. 

Overall, i find the columnist unit, so far, to be a bit confusing and somewhat pointless, especially when the topics aren't even about what they're supposed to be about. 

Blog post 4

Individual Self-Expression is Important

Lauren Thomas, Alexander Amaya, Alexis Branscum, Courtney Cavallo & Rachel Stapleton

Bell 3

Quotes

• “They want to know what I do with all my time. I tell them that I sit and think. I won’t tell them what.” (Bradbury 20)

• “After all, when we had all the books we needed, we still insisted on finding the highest cliff to jump off of. But we do need a breather. We do need knowledge. And perhaps in a thousand years we might pick smaller cliffs to jump off. The books are to remind us what fools we are.” (Bradbury 86)

• “We never burned right…” (Bradbury 113)

Individual self-expression is important to our understanding of the story because we’re able to identify characterization throughout the story as well as understand the different point of views between the multiple characters. 

Individual self-expression in our society today plays a major role in helping people get their ideas everywhere to help change the world in a positive way. It is important for us to study and be aware of this theme so that this is made possible. 

Timeline

• Montag’s encounter with Clarisse.

• Woman refusing to leave her burning house.

• Faber’s conversation with Montag.

• Montag’s final scene with Beatty.

Blog post 3

A year or so ago, I started watching this T.V. series called The Lying Games. The show got cancelled so I decided to start reading the book that went with the show. I'm almost finished with the first book of the series. At the very beginning of the book, I absolutely couldn't stand it because it was different than the show I had just watched. I stopped reading it for a few months, then when I picked it back up to try again, after I had forgotten some stuff about the show, it started getting really interesting to me. It's honestly been a little hard to even put the book down now.
This book is about these twins, who get separated as babies, and didn't know about each other until just before their 18th birthday. The twins, Emma and Sutton, had just gotten ahold of each other and planned on meeting. Once Emma got there, things started happening- people where mistaking her for Sutton. Emma soon figured out, by a note, that Sutton had died and that she had to keep pretending to be Sutton or she'd die as well. Sutton and Emma had lived completely different lives so it's really hard for Emma to get used to all this or the fact she wasn't able to tell anyone about what happened. The twins' birthday is just a week away at this point, and no one has noticed that Sutton is missing, nor does anyone care that Emma left her foster home. Emma is doing everything she can to figure out who killed Sutton and why they did it, and so far she has thought of a million reasons why it could've happened.
This book has me on edge about any last detail that happens, even with me knowing most of the outcome because of the T.V. series. I recommend this book to anyone and everyone that likes reading mysteries and trying to figure things out as it goes, also I recommend it if you haven't seen the show at all, or in awhile. Although, the show is definitely a must see- if they'd continue it again..

Blog Post 1- 2nd semester

      So, I've been reading this book, Killer Cupcakes by Leighann Dobbs. At first, when I was reading it I didn't understand why they called the book "Killer Cupcakes," I thought maybe she made really good cupcakes? But I was wrong. The book is titled Killer Cupcakes, because the cupcakes that Lexy makes ended up killing her ex boyfriend, Kevin. Which begins the murder mystery.

      Lexy and Kevin dated for a few years then had a really bad break up, 2 years later, after Lexy's bakery, The Cup and Cake, finally had a location in her old town, Kevin mysteriously dies because of a poisoned cupcake from Lexy's bakery. No one knows who killed Kevin or why they killed him, but Lexy is certain it wasn't her doing. So, to prove herself she sets out to see her grandmother, Nans, and then goes on a hunt to figure out who killed her ex boyfriend and their motive to do it. Lexy, Nans, and the Lady's Detective Club, a group of elder women who "solve" mysteries, all got on the case and started putting pieces together about this mystery. Along with all of this Lexy is just now moving into Nans old house, whiles she in the retirement center, and the good looking neighbor next door has Lexy feeling things she's never felt before. Too bad Jack, the neighbor, is the detective in charge of Kevin's murder case. Lots of trouble and a ton of suspicions and confusions going on in the makings of this book. Read on and find out what happened to Kevin, who did it, and why they'd do that and make it look like Lexy did it.