Dover Beach Narrative Story

Mrs. Phelps had taken the long, peaceful walk back home from Mildred's house hundreds of times but none had been like this. The trees screamed Shakespeare's greatest works at her and the bushes: lines from the Bible. The sidewalk and the sky closed in on her, gradually increasing the volume in which they recited Faulkner's most famous novels. Her whole world was spinning. The passage that Mr. Montag had read brought about beliefs she didn't know she believed. The past 30 years suddenly caught up with her. Their world was once bright and knowledgeable, but now, their intelligence was running from them. It never seemed to matter until she realized her education had gone to waste. The TV had drained a piece of her that she had once prided herself on. First in her class then and now she couldn't remember the atomic number of lithium.

Mrs. Bowles' panting brought her back to the cemented alley she was currently trudging down.

"Are you alright?! What a horrible man that Montag freak is. He is so stupid the way he made you cry like that. They need to lock him up in a crazy house or burn his house for having books or something to get back at him for being such a disgusting man..." she ranted as she caught her breath.

Mrs. Phelps wanted to say that Montag wasn't stupid, he was actually far smarter than their brain washed society. She tried to butt in and defend Montag but Mrs. Bowles never took a pause long enough to let her squeak out a word. Finally, Mrs. Bowles concluded and Mrs. Phelps jumped in.

"I need to go home and lie down for a while." Finally she could get away.

She arrived home and tore every book she owned out of the box in her attic containing the things from her scholarly past. She reread her 10 favorite books then shoved them away, hidden. The only person who knew she had them was her current husband who was away at war and didn't truly love her anyways. She called in the alarm and waited for the mechanical hound to come; to finish off what was left of society's monster that they had created out of an innocent, young girl, to end the life of a woman who had nothing left here for her, as well as to end the life of someone who truly wanted to die.

A Stone in My Hand

This book is historical fiction. It takes place in Palestine in the 1988-89. It is set during an intifada which is a group of strikes and street demonstrations against Israeli soldiers. An 11-year old girls' father goes missing and she is devastated. There are multiple challenges this young girl faces due to this harsh time period. I am about half way done with the book and following her difficult life is interesting yet upsetting. I have gotten to a point where I am fighting for her because I want her to succeed.

I have never been a person who enjoys reading historical fiction. Realistic fiction was my thing, or so I thought. Until I picked up this book. I chose it for its intriguing plot line and unusual characters. I highly suggest this book for anyone who is looking for something knew. I had become bored with all the girl drama in my books so trying something new showed me a side of my interests I never knew I had.

Fahrenheit 451

I normally don't read any science fiction. That's probably why I was so extremely freaked out as I read the first five pages of this book. As I read about this snake devouring everything in it's path my mind instantly believe that this snake would be our main character and his name was Montag. I began with my mind set on the fact that this book was centered on animals. Not people in the future. Snakes living and talking, or so I believed they would, created a connection in my mind to the second Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

The whole future thing was terribly confusing until we met Clarisse McClellan. She totally transformed my interpretation of this book. At first I thought this was going to be just another random book that would have no meaning and I would hate it. Knowing that this is how society could eventually end up is kinda scaring and makes this book a hundred times more interesting.

I'm not sure where this book is going. Mrs. Leitsch already said that Clarisse is no longer in the book after these first 40 pages which is super upsetting. I viewed her as the most central protagonist besides Montag. She was the voice inside his ear that changed his entire perspective and I thought she would be by his side in over throwing the government and giving people their knowledge back. Without Clarisse i'm not sure where this is headed. I guess i'll just have to read and see.

Second Semester Reading

In the second semester I am really hoping to find books that I really enjoy reading and that speak to me. I have been struggle to find a book that matches those requests. If anyone has any ideas, that would be greatly appreciated! I have mostly been reading magazines to keep up with my reading but you can only read juicy, gossip articles for so long. There comes a point when you're tired of hearing about the break up of the Bachelorette and her chosen fiancee. I tried reading more of the Private series but that's become to much unneccessary, annoying drama. So many obnoxious, spoiled, rich kids get to your head and make you want to punch a wall due to their stupidity.

I enjoy reading magazines because I love how I can read multiple stories just shortened into smaller parts. If I don't like the writing style of an author, I can move onto the next article. I also like the imagery from the real life stories that are told in magazines.
I am still looking for a good book to read but until I find one that can really have an impact on me I guess I will continue boring myself with the drama of other people's lives.

Final Post

One reason that I struggled to complete all of my blog posts is that I just honestly forgot. When I read, I finish a book and move directly to the next one. Books that I didn't enjoy as much, I don't often think about them again. There are some books that I read this semester that I can't even remember the names to. If I didn't enjoy it then I wouldn't think to write a blog post about it. I have had some trouble lately finding books that really connect to me and pull me in. Partially I believe that the added stress of 7 classes a day, 2 sports, multiple clubs, and just the crazy drama of high school made me leave behind something that I loved and that helped me through a lot in my life: reading. I love to read because it lets me forget about my crazy, stupid problems and focus on someone else's for about an hour each day. Lately, I have been lucky to get 20 minutes of reading in without falling asleep from pure exhaustion.

Next semester I definitely plan to find more books that I will enjoy and be motivated to read. Since I have had so much homework each night I have been treating independent reading as almost an optional thing but really, reading keeps me sane. I love sitting down and just being by myself in silence, losing myself in a book every once in a while. Since I have taken so long to get used to everything, I plan to be better next semester keeping up with my blog and my reading.

Movie VS Book

At this point I have seen and read If I Stay. I can honestly say that I prefer the book over the movie in this situation. While I usually prefer the visual, more emotional version (the movie), I strangely found that the book was emotional enough and liked it more. In most cases where the book was slightly slow for me, such as The Hunger Games, I liked the version that took me under 3 hours instead of under 3 weeks more. I liked the book more in this situation because of some of the relationships. First the relationship of Mia and her best friend Kim. In the book they are so close. Kim gets in fights to see Mia, she calls Mia's boyfriend when none of her family would've known to, and she stays calm, knowing that her best friend can make it through this. However in the movie, their relationship is slightly more vague. They have about half of the important conversations in her flashbacks compared to that of the movie. Another relationship that I feel was not shown enough is Mia and Adam's. He basically attacks nurses, devises plans, and gets thrown out by security guards in the book. In the movie he doesn't go to such lengths to see Mia and from my understanding of their relationship, he would go to those lengths for her. I enjoyed both the book and the movie but I prefer the book if I had to choose one.

If I Stay

I just finished the book If I Stay. I found the plot of the book very enticing however after the climactic point in the book where the car accident happened, I struggled staying interested. The setting was mainly the same and I became bored, I just wanted to know whether or not she would survive. The book made it very clear that her fate was up to her and I feel that decision was drawn out for too long.

Towards the beginning I enjoyed the periodic flashbacks and the sudden jumps back into reality. Over time I grew less curious about the past and solely wanted to read the parts in the present. Author, Gayle Foreman, did an excellent job with her imagery. Since it took place in a rainy town on a rainy night, I could practically feel the rain drops on my skin when she was describing Adam raining into the hospital. This is one of the reasons that I plan to read the second book of the series, Where She Went, that and the way that the ending drew me back into the book. Mia's story is long and at times boring but this is truly a great book if you stick with it through the end.