Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Summer Reading

Over the summer, you were asked to read at least two novels of your choice.

1) Briefly tell me what you read, including the titles and authors.
2) I want to know what you liked about the books, what you learned and, more importantly, what matters to you about the book's content.

*Make sure to adhere to proper conventions and proofread your response. If, for some reason, you did not read two novels, tell me about two novels you have read and answer the above.

35 comments:

  1. I read The Reckoning by Kelly Armstrong and Ruined by Paula Morris.
    What I really liked about The Reckoning would be the fact that it was just as creative if not more than the others before it in the series; it kept my interest very well. I learned some new vocabulary words from reading the book, and what mattered to me about the book's content was the way the writing captivated my attention.

    I like the fact that Ruined was a fairly easy read and didn't really make me think very hard. What I learned while reading this book was that ghost stories don't always have to be scary and I thought that the subject matter was very interesting even though the story was simply written.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I read the book holes written by Louis Sachar. I enjoyed this book because it has lots of action and always keeps you guessing you will never know whats coming next. Also i saw the movie inspiring me to read this book. As i read this book i visualized the movie as i read through the book.

    The fact that the book was an easier to read and comprehend made it much more enjoyable im not one of the stronger readers i still recommend this book to anyone

    ReplyDelete
  3. i read playing for pizza by a guy that i dont know and it was about a bad nfl QB who lost the afc championship game for the browns and then went and played for the panthers in italy and won the superbowl for them and i learned to always keep trying and never give up

    ReplyDelete
  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I read Deception Point by Dan Brown and Band of Brothers by Steven Ambrose. Decpetion Point was a great book. Its about how a NASA satellite discovers a very unique object burried on Arctic ice. The main character (Rachel) is sent to verify if this discovery is authentic or not. She ends up finding a evidence of a scientfic error in this "unique object". This book is great if you love thrillers, has many twists and turns, and has a very shocking ending.

    The second book I read, Band of Brothers is about WWII in such great detail that I have a hard time wondering how the author, who did not participate in the war could explain battle scenes and people so well. I imagine he had many sources. Since im not familiar with very many military terms, it was a tough read a times. In the end, im glad I read this book.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The first novel I read was Monday Night Jihad by Jason Elam and Steve Yohan. I enjoyed the style of writing that was used with the intense plot. I think the authors did a great job by applying grief felt for the characters to the readers. The book made me think about how valuable life is. I loved the constant clash of religions in the book and the deep look into the differences between Christian and Muslim beliefs.
    The next book i read was Blackout. It was the sequel to Monday Night Jihad. I found this book extremely suspenseful. Most of the qualities I loved in the first book came out even stronger in this book. The plot continually questioned how much Americans rely on electricity. It made me grateful for how much we have but sad to learn how dependent we are on electronics.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Over the summer I read Born to run and Flash Forward. The first book Born to run was nonfiction and is about a tribe in the Mexican desert that runs nearly 100 miles everyday. The book follows the writer Christopher McDougall as he attempts to learn their secrets. After he travels far into the dangerous canyon wear they are found he quickly learns their secrets. He discovered that tribe doesn’t wear high arch support shoes like we have, and they eat and drink the most interesting stuff. I highly recommended this book even to people that aren’t runners.

    The second book I read was Flash Forward by Robert J. Sawyer. It is a fictional story about a group of scientists that when doing an experiment accidently cause a time when the whole world blacks out for two minutes and sees them self’s about 21 years in the future. It is an exciting book that keeps you guessing not my favorite one but it was interesting enough to keep me reading.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The first book I read was Maximum Ride by James Patterson. It is a story about a girl name Maximum Ride, who can fly. She has to protect the rest of her gang from half-wolf, half-humans with a taste for flying humans. I really liked this book, because it was intense and kept you wanting to read. I would definately reccomend this book.

    The second book i read was Alex Rider Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz. It is about a young boy named Alex Rider, who does not live with his parents. His mom passed away and he lived with his dad, until he got into a car crash. Or so he was told. While living with his grandpa he went to a funeral for one of his friends. There he saw a limozine pull up with his dad's boss in the car covered by bodyguards. This seemed curious to Alex, so he investigated of course, and soon only to find out that his dad was a secret agent, and that Alex was set to follow his foot steps. I liked this story, because again, it was more action, and more of my style. I would definately reccomend this book.

    ReplyDelete
  9. l read the 2nd and 3rd book of the percy jackson and the olypians series by rick rorden.
    I liked how the books had a lot of action and adventure and a good stroy line that was very exciting.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I read Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer and The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Into Thin Air was a book Jon wrote about his hike on Everest. Rob Hall was a mountain climber and he was the one that hired Jon. After not sleeping for fifty hours because the climb was so dangerous, he made it to the top on May 10, 1996. The book was more entertaining because it was so much harder then he originaly thought. I would recomend the book.

    The other book I read was The Hound of the Baskervilles, a Sherlock Holmes book. It was writen from Holmes' side-kick Watson. As Sherlock solves Mysteries, at the same time he teaches Watson secrets to how to solve mysteries. It starts out when they find a cane left in their office by someone they don't know. Sherlock finds out that the cane belongs to one James Mortimer, and it is conected to something called the "Curse of the Baskervilles." Mortimer has been serching through the history of the Baskervilles and Holmes' needs to find out why. This was a very entertaining book.

    ReplyDelete
  11. The first book that I read this this summer was the book Lord of The Flies by William Golding. This was about a group of young boys that got stranded on an island and the hardships they went through trying to survive and trying to find a way to get back to there homes. I liked this book because I could never figure out what was coming next and the plot was very good.


    The second book I read was Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer. This book was about a young boy who was very brilliant and had a criminal mind. Through out the story he discovers different magical creatures. One of these who is a fairy also is in the story and speaks 1st person. The story talks about there interactions with each other and a troll. I lked this story enough to get through it because of the action and the cliff hangers throughout the book.

    ReplyDelete
  12. The first book I read was Only the Strong Survive by Larry Platt. It was about Allen Iverson who was a sports star, antihero and rap icon. This book was about his life and all the struggles he went through like living a tough childhood in the ghetto. Another conflict he went through was going to prison. This book is about how he got trough all his struggles to get where he is today and is an amazing story about how someone can change their future no matter how dark their past was. I really liked this book and how Allen Iverson never gave up, even through all of his difficulties. I also liked how he work at what he wanted and was disciplined and determined to change his future. I learned from this book that things may not come easy but you have to really work at it with determination to get where want in life. I also learned from this book to never give up and that people can change no matter how dark their past was. What mattered most to me about the books content was that it was interesting and was about basketball.

    The second book I read was Not Without Hope by Nick Schuyler and Jeré Longman. This book was about Nick Schuyler, a 24-year-old personal trainer and how he went on a deep-sea fishing trip with is three friends NFL players Marquis Cooper and Corey smith, and his best friend from college, Will Bleakley. It’s about how their anchor got stuck in a reef 50 miles out in the open ocean of the gulf coast while a bad storm was rolling in. They decided to tie the rope of the anchor to the stern of the boat and hit the throttle to get it off the reef. The anchor didn’t budge and instead the stern filled with water and the boat capsized. This was Nicks story about how his three friends died right next to him from going through a terrible storm and 15 foot seas for 3 days with no food or water. It’s also about how Nick never gave up though this obstacle and how he survived those 3 days on the bottom of the boat at sea. I liked this book because it really shows determination for Nick to survive what he went through. I learned to never give up when you face struggles. I liked this books content because I like books about people overcoming tough situations.

    ReplyDelete
  13. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  14. This summer i read the books, The Giver by, Lois Lowry and, Holes buy Louis Sachar. First, The Giver.This book was about a society that was not like other ones because, everyone was the same. There was no color and the people could not choose anything in life, except for the giver. What i liked about this book was how it is very confusing at the beginning but as the story goes on it gets more clear. I learned that it is important to be differant and to beable to choose what you want to do in life. Second, Holes. this book was about a boy named stanley yelnats. Stanley was falsely accused of steeling a pair of shoes. He then had a choice of going to camp green lake, or jail. He chose camp green lake. In this camp you have to dig a giant hole in the ground every day. I learned that even if things are not going your way you can stay positive and not give up and it will get better.

    ReplyDelete
  15. The two novels read were called Lillies of the Field, and Cosmic. First off, I read Lillies of the Field. This book was written by the author William Barret. I liked the style the author used throughout the book. He did a good job at really helping you understand the position that the characters were in and what they were feeling. I think that the message of the book was that only good things come to those who do good things. For example, in the book when Homer(the main character) decides to build the chapel for the german nunes, at the time when he had thoughts of quiting, all the mexicans by in the town helped. All in all, I thought it was a great book.
    Secondly and lastly, I read a book called Cosmic,by Frank C. Boyce. Although his writing style is quite juvenile because he usually writes for the younger age spectrum, he used very effective writing. The book is about an over sized teen who ends up with 5 kids his age in space because he had won a competition while he pretended to be the father of one of the girls.Long story short, they save themselves using simple logic and reasoning.I would give the book a 60%. I found places in the book that he could have used better writing techniques,grammar usage,etc.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I read Brisingr by Christopher Paolini a book about dragons, elves, dwarves, and men in a great battle to save their races from an evil king Galbatorix. This book appealed to me because there were many battles that took place and it was filled with action and fighting. I also enjoyed this book because of the plot, it was always changing and new problems would appear or old conflicts be solved. What I learned from the book is that sticking together and contributing will help make a difference. The content about this book that mattered to me was how people living in the darkest of times could unite together and help make a turn for the better.

    The second book I read was The Road by Cormac McCarthy. The book was about a young boy and his father’s journey to the coast trying to survive the brutal elements, vicious cannibals, and scarce food all because the human race was almost eliminated by a catastrophe. My favorite part in this book was some of the survival techniques of how the boy and father survived, and also how the book itself is one long road because there are no chapters or character names. What I learned from this book is that we are lucky to have what we have because things could be much worse. The part in the book that mattered to me was how the boy and father never gave up on each other even in the most desperate times.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I relly did not read any books over the summer. I have read books but I do not remember much at all about them. I read Johny Tremain, To Kill a Mocingbird and The other Side of the Mountain but i do not know the Authors of these books. All these books as far as i remember we pretty good becides Johny Tremian that was a little more all the dis like side. Although i did think the other two books To Kill a Mockingbird and The other Side of the Mountain were quite interesting. The inportance of these books both had outstanding life lessons. I learned that no matter who or where you are you ar e not alone. Also that you can't judge a book by its cover.

    ReplyDelete
  18. over the summer i only read one book. The book i read was the outsiders. The outsiders was a very interesting book because it never stayed on the same subject it constantly had a new twist to the story. For example one minute Johnny and Ponyboy are walking home from the movies and then the next minute they are on a train out of the city and to the country side because they killed someone. If i could rate this book out of ten i would probably give it ten because the story was amazing and it was action and drama from start to finish.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I read The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. the book is about the rebellious acts of a high school student in the 1950s. It is sad at points and actually made me laugh out loud in some places.The story takes place from the main character, Holden Caulfield's point of view on life and his surroundings during his adolescent years.

    I also read Number the Stars by Louis Lowery. The story takes place in Denmark and is a story about a family of Jews during the holocaust, and how they risk their lives to help save others. It is a great book and uses a lot of symbolism.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I read five books over the summer. To Kill a Mockingbird, 1969, The Pearl, The Red Kayak, and a Mickey Mantle Biography; but I'll save some time and only talk about The Pearl.
    The great story, The Pearl, sets in a small town by the ocean. When the main character (forgot his name) finds the most expensive pearl the town has ever seen, his quiet life takes a turn for the worst! As if attempting to murder him wasn’t enough, his baby son is stung by a scorpion. With little time to get a vaccine, the family goes on a dangerous adventure to save his child.
    I loved this book. I could never successfully guess what would happen next. It not only kept me on my toes, however, but The Pearl taught me a valuable life lesson. You need to decipher what is most important to you in life, and get rid of distractions.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I read a book called Snakehead, by and author I cant remember. Its about a kid "Alex Rider" who has been contacted his whole life by M16. One day, Alex gets a piece of paper telling him to go to england to "Meet his destiny" with a weird symbol on it that looks like a scorpian. When he gets there he sees a speed boat with the same symbol on it which he decides to follow. It leads him on a giant race all over London when finally it just dissapears. He sees these people which later try too kill him but he escapes. The people find him later and realise who he is, introduce themselves as a criminal group called SCORPIA, and try to recruit him. At first he wanted to totally reject them. When the leader of SCORPIA says his dad who supposedly died in a plane crash worked for them and the M16 actually killed him, He changes his mind.
    I really injoyed the thrill and action, and it is important for me to read books that actually appeal to me.

    To Kill a Mockingbird was a very boring book about a white family, with a black slave. Jem and Scout are the two kids who are trying to meet a kid named Boo Radly who is supposedly a vicious murdurer. When they meet him,he is actually a good kid.
    This book didnt really appeal to me at all.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Over the summer I read two books, Op-center by Tom Clancy and Blockade Billy by Stephen King.Op-center was about a man named Sam fisher working for a top secret branch of the N.S.A trying to stop terrorists around the world. Blockade Billy is about a catcher that gets called up to the majors and is an all star player until they find out his real identity.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Over the summer I read many books. I thought the most interesting two books I read were "Along Came A Spider" and "A Long Way Gone". These books were not only interesting but extremly educational. Along Came A Spider really made me think, it was a mystery but also a thriller. This book was a little dark for some people but it has a great storyline but also many mind bottling plots.
    A Long Way Gone was a memoir, and the author is still alive today. This book was about the hardships of Sierra Leone`s civil war that many Afrikan children were involved. This book was very interesting but a little graphic. I liked Along Way Gone a smidge better, but only because I am interested in memoirs.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Over the summer I read Harry Potter three and Harry Potter five by J.K. Rowling. I liked these books because they were filled with adventure and excitement. Also, I liked how the rising action continued throughout the book until the very end when there was a climax and then a minimal amount of falling action. While I read these books I learned the friendship and loyalty are very important qualities. The friends in the books worked together to help each other in school and with other problems they faced. These books mattered to me because I had seen all of the Harry Potter movies and I wanted to compare the books to the movies. After seeing the movies and reading the books, I conclude that the books are better. But this is only because all the books exciting events have to be condensed into an hour and a half long film. Over the summer I read Harry Potter three and Harry Potter five by J.K. Rowling and enjoyed them both greatly.

    ReplyDelete
  25. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Over the summer I read two books, Op-center by Tom Clancy and Blockade Billy by Stephen King. The book Op-Center was about a man named Sam Fisher that works for a top secret branch of the N.S.A called the third Echeion. The third Echeion is a special program that deals with and ultimately eliminates people causing trouble in the world. If they are caught then they will not be backed up and will have to deal with whoever catches them on their own.
    The second book I read was Blockade Billy. This book was all about baseball and a rockie getting called up to the majors. The rookie that gets called up seems like a regular guy until he plays his first game and is amazing. But later in the book they find out that he is not who he says he is, he is actually the man who murdered the real ball player then took his place until the FBI finds him. Both books that I read this summer were very good.

    ReplyDelete
  27. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  28. One of the books that I read was Wanted. It was about a high school boy with an alcoholic father who lived on a junky, old, run-down boat in a bay. This high school boy goes on jogs regularly and a girl from school sometimes watches him form her deck. After a while, she notices that his running patterns have changed and he now goes further. Then she realizes that at the end of the docks are boulders that he is picking packages out of and he never used to do that. The next day she asks him to meet her in a café near her house and she asks him about the packages, accusing him of being involved with terrorists. After he realized he was caught, he ran away from it all, going to his mother who he hasn’t seen since he was little. The lesson that I learned from this story, was that you should always make sure you know what you’re getting into.

    The second book that I read was called Milkweed. It was about the holocaust and the Jews that were getting killed. But this book instead, focused on a group of stranded Jewish kids who’s parents were all killed. They ran through the streets aimlessly, stealing bread, food, and keeping cover from what they called Boot men (which were soldiers killing Jews). The story is about how these children have to survive in these horrible conditions. What I learned from this book is how mean people were, to kill millions of Jewish people for no reason.

    ReplyDelete
  29. The Wild Blue Yonder is about the 15th air force which was stationed in northern Italy during WWII. The 15th flew the B-24 Liberator although it tells many stories about different crews and what they did, it focuses mainly around one crew George McGovern's. George McGovern was the pilot. George's crew have to emergency land twice with no brakes so they use parachutes as brakes. Theyaccomplished this by tying the end to the waste guns and throwing the parachutes out the window. This slowed the plane just enought so they could land. McGovern and most of the gunners started under another pilot for the first five missions. The rest of the crew joined them by filling in for men who had already completed the required 35 missions. After ten missions of flying over cities with black skies from flak their navigator wanted to catch up with McGovern since he was five behind. So he started filling in for absent navigators but sadly he was shot down. After McGovern and most of his crew completed their 35 missions and finally went home, they got news that the co-pilot, Bill Rounds, had been killed. After the war, George McGovern, ran for President and is accused of cowardice. He is defended by one of his opponents that had also been in the 15th air force. The author's style is to write fact after fact. I didn't take anything away from the book and I highly recommend you don't read it.

    ReplyDelete
  30. This summer i read the book The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. This book is about a boy that never relieves his name, but just rights anonymous letters to the reader about his life, and everything he has been through. Starting the book, he explains to you his feelings about entering High School. After being in school for a few weeks, he meets Sam and Patrick at a football game. These two end up being the anonymous boys best friends, who show him everything.Basically he listens to anything anyone says, no matter what they tell him... he never tells a soul. Or in other words, a Wallflower.
    The other book I read this summer was Go Ask Alice, this book is also about an anonymous girl writing in her diary about her life. She starts out as an innocent girl who just wants her boy friend back, to a drug addict living from place to place selling and taking different drugs. Both were great books and I highly recommend for anyone who wants to learn about drug life.

    ReplyDelete
  31. The second book I read was Flags of our Fathers by James Bradley. Flags of our Fathers is a heroic tale of what the Marines did at Iwo Jima. The book focuses on the six Marines that raised the flag. The six men came from all over the US and had very different childhoods. For example one was a native Czech and one was from an Indian reservation. They all served in the Easy Company, a name that would tease them with irony. For on Iwo Jima the Americans were task with taking the island from the Japanese. This was very difficult and dangerous because the island was a maze of bunkers, machine gun pits and had a underground system connnecting the bunkers so the Japanese could move around without being detected. Additionally the Japanese had taken an oath to kill 10 Americans before dieing because the Japanese knew they could not win so they decided to cause as many casualities as possible so America would demand peace from their government. I really cannot begin to explain the amount of heroism performed throughout the book. But I can tell you that Jack Bradley, the author, received the Navy Cross and never told his family. The flag that went up and is so famous was actually the second flag they raised. Three of the six Marines died on Iwo Jima and the other three promoted War Bonds after the war. I think this is a great book about an actual historical event and you, like me, will be astounded by some of the bravery these men showed.

    ReplyDelete
  32. I read Son Of the Mob by Gordon Korman and Moby Dick by Herman Melville. Son Of The Mob is mainly about love and life in high school. Luca is in love but his girls dad works for the FBI. Luca stuck in a so called vending machine business loses his girl and rummer says hes a lone shark. Moby Dick Is a classic story about capturing a giant whale named Moby. Many men die, but the captain never stops trying to catch Moby because the whale took hes leg.


    Moby Dick is a fantastic classic I really enjoyed. Son Of the Mob I did not enjoy and was very boring.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Over the Summer I read The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger, the book was about a group of men who survived a storm that nearly killed everyone on their boat and destroyed the boat. Along their voyage to rescue they tell tales of men losing life and limb aboard fishing boats, they also tell of facts about the fishing life. I liked this book because it had more than one side to the story, it was told from multiple angles. I learned that when fishing and you catch a Mako Shark you first shot a shotgun round into its head and still the shark isn’t considered dangers until its cut up and put on ice. What matters to me about the books content is the fact that it’s so vivid you can put yourself with those men you survived a struggle for their lives.

    I also read Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer, this book was about a family that was known for crime, but the book takes place after that era has passed and a young genius of a boy is trying to bring his families fortune back from where ever it went. Artemis goes on a journey that includes killing super natural people and kidnapping beast of magic. I learned that even the most complicated of question can have the most simple of answers. What matters to me in the books content is that fact that it’s written in the state of mind of one character. The author only knows what the characters know. At first it’s hard to follow but after awhile you see the story in vivid detail.

    ReplyDelete
  34. One of the books i read over this summer was Schooled by Gordon Korman. I liked this book because as i read it kept giving me clues of what would happen next. The main character in this book was Capricorn anderson. He was homeschooled until the courts made him go to public school because he got arrested. I like him because he shows how he was unpopular when he went to this school and how he got bullied, and then he trys to be class presidant and he makes it and then he gets popular. I like that because he came to school dressed like a hippy and and got bullied and now everyone likes him. I liked this book and the characters because the characters showed alot of inspiration, and the book kept getting better as you read it by it giving you hints of whats going to happen next, and i thought it was a good book.

    ReplyDelete
  35. One of the books i read over this summer was Schooled by Gordon Korman. I liked this book because as i read it kept giving me clues of what would happen next. The main character in this book was Capricorn anderson. He was homeschooled until the courts made him go to public school because he got arrested. I like him because he shows how he was unpopular when he went to this school and how he got bullied, and then he trys to be class presidant and he makes it and then he gets popular. I like that because he came to school dressed like a hippy and and got bullied and now everyone likes him. I liked this book and the characters because the characters showed alot of inspiration, and the book kept getting better as you read it by it giving you hints of whats going to happen next, and i thought it was a good book.

    ReplyDelete