To Read or Not To Read

Wild Geese Response (12/1/15) Here, everyone belongs, no matter how lonely. No one is intentionally left out, but never try to back out of kitchen duty because somebody (most likely Camille) will find out you're not doing the dishes. The lights in the house are bright, seldom replaced and seldom remembered to be flicked off. There are more bodies than beds and more blankets than legs. The tree in the living room is a colorful pine , dozens of candles shimmer bright in the dull window in the dining room , and there isn't a lot of food in the kitchen fridge , all the holidays addressed . Pots and pans bang as Camille decides to make dinner again, more paint and ink finds itself on the surface of the kitchen table due to Henry and Willem and dirt is streaked in patterns by all doors that lead outside because Alice and Lee don't know how to clean up after themselves. But all that's okay It's not like their parents ever imagined living in a mansion, with immaculate fl...

Yay! I made it through another quarter!! But now is not the time to talk about how excited I am for winter break (which would be veeerrryyy much!!! ), but instead is the time to talk about books, and talking about books makes me just, if not more, as happy as talking about winter break. So let's do this. You might find some really good books on this list. This quarter, I finished 27 books. Last quarter I read 22, so this is five books more. The list of books I have read is as followed: Carry On - Rainbow Rowell Six Months Later - Natalie D. Richards My Secret To Tell - Natalie D. Richards Everything, Everything - Nicola Yoon Hello, Goodbye and Everything In Between - Jennifer E. Smith Happily Ever After - Kiera Cass Let's Get Lost - Adi Alsaid Never Always Sometimes - Adi Alsaid Mosquitoland - David Arnold My Heart and Other Black Holes - Jasmine Warga American Sniper - Chris Kyle It's A Wonderful Death - Sarah J. Schmitt All American Boys - Jason...

The burning question on everyone's mind. Did Shakespeare really  write his plays? I know that at least one of these plays look familiar to you, but did the author listed actually take the time to write them? Through this post, I will give you both sides of the argument, tell you my opinion, and then let you decide for yourself. Today, I research extensively, trying to find anything that will tell me more about Shakespeare's life as an author. As I  read through an article , I find a very interesting piece of information that could prove that Shakespeare didn't write his plays. People have been searching for any written document about Shakespeare and have found only a few signatures, a record of his marriage to Anne Hathaway, a three-page will, papers detailing business transactions (unrelated to writing) and two portraits. Nothing about his schooling or any of his manuscripts. This would throw me off, and it does. I keep reading through the article and find that there h...

For my choice memoir, I have decided to read American Sniper by Chris Kyle. This book, by far, is engaging, inspiring, surprising and has become one of my non-fiction favorites. To the left, you will see a symbol that I drew (I know, right?!) that went along with my book. It might confuse you, and I don't blame you, but throughout the post, I will explain exactly what it stands for to the point where it will be like you read the book. (But, like, you should. Read the book I mean.) Some background first: Chris Kyle is a Navy SEAL who has been in Iraq for more than 2 years while married to his wife, Taya. Back home, Chris has two kids, a son and a daughter, both of which he hasn't been there for. His kids don't know him very well, and that really bothers Taya, explained through excerpts of the book where she has a say. The long separation has put a strain on Chris and Taya's marriage. So let's go back to my picture. There is a brick wall, labeled "Resent...

To A Daughter Leaving Home Response (9/15/15) The safety of four wheels was hard to leave behind. The rusted red bike looked bigger now, without its support. It didn't stand up, but leaned against the ancient garage door, waiting to be played with, waiting to be circled around the block and beyond. Once the small girl jumped on the cracked leather seat and rode it by herself the first time, she knew she would fly. She mounted confidently, helmet gleaming in the afternoon sun. Her teeth, some missing, flashed as she smiled, twisting her hands on the handlebars, nervous. "I can do it," she said, more to herself than to anyone else before setting off down the driveway cautiously. She went slowly until she got the rhythm and gained speed. The wind howled in her tiny yet pierced ears so she didn't hear her helmet clasp snap away. Nor did she hear her parents' cries to slow down, to stop! So it wasn't until the bike wobbled underneath her that she knew this was th...

From middle of August to the beginning of October, I have read a total of 22 books, 9 in August, 11 in September and 2 so far in October. This number is not unusual to me, although now that I track my reading progress (both on Goodreads and in my notebook), I can see how many books I've read and I really enjoy that. I will admit that a few books out of my 22 are rereads, due to the fact that I haven't seen them in a while (they were all in boxes and I haven't seen them since February!!), such as The Beginning of Everything (Robyn Schneider) and The Infinite Moment of Us (Lauren Myracle). A lot of the books I read in August were on the summer reading list and on the list of my "Want To Reads", so I was able to convince my mom to get them for me. Some of those books include Why We Broke Up (Daniel Handler), Just One Day & Just One Year (Gayle Forman) and Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (Jesse Andrews). One of my favorite books from the list (other than Rainb...

Small Victories! - Eric Cockrell small minds, small dreams, small prayers, small God. small thoughts, small answers, to questions not small! playing the race game, the salvation game, the mine and yours game, the right and wrong game. like cattle herded unknowingly to slaughter. every body a ticket, to pay the fare. bigger picture, bigger concepts, bigger than i and me! bigger risk, bigger world, bigger choices, small victories. The theme of my narrative is that, even if you don't win, there are small victories. The first place in my narrative where I believe this stands out is when I realize that, even though we weren't recognized at the award ceremony, we were going to be displayed in the standings on the website. This realization comes after coaches delivered news to the team, telling us that we'd got tenth place and were classified as National Champions in our division, even though we weren't first or second place, where we originally wanted...

                                   "We live and breathe words. It was books that kept me from taking my own life after I thought I could never love anyone, never be loved by anyone, again. It was books that made me feel that perhaps I was not completely alone." My favorite book quote is a quote about books. I am not sure how many people out there are familiar with this quote, but it is pretty popular within Cassandra Clare's following. Cassandra Clare is the author of the Shadowhunter Chronicles and Magisterium, the author of the character who said this. The character who said this, William Herondale, in The Infernal Devices, was "cursed" and believed that everyone who loved him would die. He extracted himself from his family and ran away to people who learned to love him even though he made himself as horrible as po...