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.

The Other Wes Moore to If I Stay

I am now finished reading The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore. The book ends with a lack of closure. The successful Wes goes to South Africa to learn what it means to truly be a man, while the other Wes remains in jail. The successful Wes becomes quite a big deal, he speaks exactly 45 years after MLK Jr. and hours before Barack Obama accepted the nomination for president, while the other Wes remains in jail. The successful Wes gets married and lives happily with his wife, while the other Wes remains in jail. The other Wes Moore rarely got to see his children and family. Their fates were nearly exact opposites. When Wes got a second chance, the messed up again, killing another person. The author, Wes, didn't need a first chance like Wes, he decided that he was going to be successful at the being of his life.

Overall it was a pretty good book. I would only rate it about a 3 and a half though because I didn't see much purpose to writing the book. I personally enjoy books that have a motive or purpose. Such as If I Stay, which I plan to be reading next.

I am very interested in reading If I Stay because I think it has a very interesting and unique plot. I hope the author uses good imagery and craft to really develop the scene of the car accident which I have seen so many times in the commercials for the movie. I hope all that I know about the movie already only makes it better, because a lot of movies aren't as good as the book. I can't wait to find out how it ends/ what happens in the next books and get hooked on the relationship of the main characters (who's names I don't know yet!).

The Other Wes Moore

I just recently started reading the book The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore himself. Well, one of them at least. According to what I have read so far, there are two men named Wes Moore that both lived in the same town, about a couple streets away from each other. One is very successful, and the other is in jail. Wayyyyy different fates. The successful Moore found out about the criminal Moore's situation and decided to write him a letter, expecting no reply from the assumingly stressed and rude jail goer. He was taken by surprise when our criminal friend replied kindly and quickly. The business man Moore isn't sure what propelled him to write to the criminal in the first place. After all, they had never met.

As I read on, I am hoping that the motives of the first letter will become more clear. I am interested to see how they actually are related, why the have the same name and never met, and if they know some of the same people. I am also interested in the authors purpose in writing this book. The book was given to me along with tons of other stuff my sister didn't want to take with her to college.

If I had to guess what may happen next, I would go with something about how the successful man helped to prove the bad guy innocent or get him out of jail somehow. But since this is a true story and not just realistic fiction, I am not sure the happy ending I expect will actually happen.