Semester 1 Reflection

Independent reading this semester was very very disappointing. And I have a number of excuses, but they're all pretty stupid. I almost feel as if I've lost interest in reading. I read a total of 4 books this semester which is probably the least amount of books I've read in a span of 4 months. They are The False Prince, The Book Thief, The One, and The Runaway King. The way I select books is usually just by recommendations. I'm usually reading new young adult novels because that's just what most teenagers read. They're easily understandable with the writing styles and vocabulary at least. It's not exactly a good thing as I should be challenging myself more. My favorite genre is science fiction and fantasy. I just love reading about other worlds and how they compares to our real one.The False Prince and The Runaway King were fantasy novels which I lovedddd. Nielsen had amazing characterization and very engaging plots. They're aimed more toward younger ages but I thought they were just fun reads. The Book Thief was brilliant. It's a historical fiction novel about WWII and the writing is beautifully crafted. It has a much more mature topic and Zusak has a very interesting perspective of the world and humanity.The last book is The One which was...pretty bad... It's a science fiction novel and my opinion is that it's cheesy and the dialogue especially seems awkward and fake. 

I don't know if I can say whether my blog posts have evolved over the course of the semester. I think certain ones are just stronger than others.Overall, I'm pretty proud of my blog. I suck at posting on time, but I'm a perfectionist and knowing that my writing is going to be put online where anyone can read it makes me want every post to be exactly how I want it. The process takes awhile and if I feel unsatisfied with a draft I'll scrap it and start over. Most of my posts meet the requirements for the highest-quality blog. I try and make them all focused and actively engaging for a reader. One of the requirements that isn't always met is the specific textual details from the book. I don't always use them to support an idea I have. My writing also can use some work. There's a few posts when I start becoming jumpy between my ideas because there's just so much I want to say. It's usually unified and have a coherent sequence and structure in my writing though. My blogging prompts usually aren't just summary writing. I try to expand to write about an important theme or just something really meaningful I took from the book that I can apply to my own life. I guess I just want to tell the reader why a book is worth reading and if I learned from the experience. My writing voice is present in all of my posts. I make sure it sounds casual but still informational, like if I was talking to a person. I always reread a post to make sure there's correct grammar. Another requirement that I struggle to meet is consistently including links, pictures, and videos. I don't always want to go and search for an outside source that connects with what I'm presenting in my own post. But despite some of the missing requirements, I'm extremely happy with how my blog turned out.

Three goals I have for blogging and independent reading during second semester are to fine books from a variety of genres, include more quotes as support from the book, and to make more connections to other online resources. Reading from a variety of genres allows me to step out of my comfort zone of science fiction and fantasy. It becomes more interesting for me as a reader and writer. Including more quotes in my posts allow me to explore the syntactical structures and diction of the author's writing. This can really enhance the analyzing I do with books. Making connections to other online resources allows me to relate books to real life. I can see other people's opinions of the book or just similar stories to the topic. I think blogging was a great experience and I hope I can make some improvements next semester.

The Runaway King

The Runaway King is the second book of the Ascendance Trilogy by Jennifer A. Nielsen. And it's amazingggg. I would really really recommend this series as it's one of my favorites. Everything about the writing; the plot, the characterization is so incredibly well done. I've already talked about Sage aka Jaron on this blog. And again in The Runaway King, he is the extremely intelligent, sarcastic, selfless, rebellious boy I came to loveeee. Nielsen is just brilliant, her style is flawless.

Since Jaron's character is one of the best things about the book, I want to focus on that. More like I just want to share the parts I thought were hilarious, not sure if you will think the same, but I laughed.

"Her eyes scanned the dark skies. 'Did it rain? Why are you all wet?'
'A nighttime bath.'
'Fully dressed?'
'I'm modest.'" (pg. 12)

It's pretty obvious that Jaron is a very sarcastic person, which I like even more.

"'You wouldn't want to be king of my country,' I said.
'Why is that?'
'Well you're rather fat. I doubt you'd fit onto my throne.'" (pg. 242)

C'mon, Jaron is pretty good at this. You got to admit.

"He put a finger to his face while he studied me. 'You’re such a young king. I barely remember being your age.'
'Then clearly we’re talking about how old you are, not how young I am.'" (pg. 18)

Another clever comeback of Jaron's.

So this post was more of a fun one for me at least. These quotes are just examples of how little pieces of dialogue are so important when it comes to the characterization of a character. It's clear what Jaron's personality is like. He's funny in his own way. Immature but still there's just something about him that you can't help but like.

Overall, I just think everyone should read this book and series. It has phenomenal writing and a very exciting storyline. I'm very excited to read the last book.

The One

So I finished The One by Kiera Cass and... I don't even know what to say about it...

The One is part of a series about a girl named America and this competition for the prince's love. The setting is all completely imagined, as I would hope we never drop so low to have such an unjust caste system. And also I would feel horrible for the poor prince. The Selection is just stupid. Love don't work that way.

I'm sure many girls have read this series. They're typical teenage romance novels. And it's not a horrible story, but definitely one of the worst... (That didn't make it sound any better). But my point is that the writing style is just so juvenile. It's ridiculous how cheesy most of the book is. And I would love to pull out some specific scenes but unfortunately I returned the book right after I finished it. It's kind of difficult to get some quotes.

I think the book lacked an exciting plot. Like all I got from America was: "Maxon loves her, not me :( But today I was really feeling something from him." Yes, life is cruel. It's somewhat of a conflict but not anything that really stood out. And Cass does add in a climatic event that is actually not about the romance, but the character, America herself, seems to be more focused on winning Maxon more than anything. That leads me to the most annoying part of the book. Literally, the competition could have been over in the first book if either Maxon or America said "I love you!" But no, they were too scared and a whole fight erupted out of this. "You should say it first!" "No! You should!" Ugh, it just annoys the crap out of me.

Overall, the book is kind of worth reading. I don't think you're going to get anything out of it because it never really showed what real love is. But there are many times when girls may find Maxon sweet and America to be admired. Rare times, but they exist.
For example, "Break my heart. Break it a thousand times if you like. It was only ever yours to break anyway.” (I don't know the page number, it was found off goodreads quotes)
That was sweet wasn't it? Yeahhh. So you should read the book for more of these sweet cliche lines:)