Book Bloggers in the Chat

 In Sag Harbor summer is so separated from the rest of the year that Benji divides the year into Summer and "the rest of year". The first chapter "Notions of Roller-Rink Infinity" features multiple instances of transition between different states. The most obvious is the transition of Benji's year from "the rest of the year" into the summer. This change is surrounded by other associated changes too. Because the family leaves so early in the morning, to miss traffic, the transition from night to day also takes place as they enter Sag Harbor. The trip to Sag Harbor also features the transition from buildings and development of NYC to the woods and nature of Long Island and Sag Harbor. Both the night to day and the concrete to trees transitions demonstrate how Sag Harbor is not just a little bit different from NYC but almost the complete opposite.      Not only is Benji in a state of transition, but so is the town of Sag Harbor itself. Because the town i...

       Despite his frequent rants against the phoniness of everyone else Holden is at times a bit of a phony himself. While he is constantly telling the reader all of his thoughts and how he's upset that more people don't speak their minds, there are a few circumstances where he hides his true thoughts.  One of the times when Holden is the most phony is when he is talking to Ernest Morrow's mother on the train to New York from Pencey. Holden harbors very negative feelings for Ernest and calls him " doubtless the biggest bastard that ever went to Pencey, in the whole crumby history of the school" but despite holding such disdain for Ernest he still cannot bring himself to talk bad about a child directly to his mother. In fact Holden goes further than just not talking bad about Ernest but actually reassuring Mrs. Morrow that her child was a great guy who everyone wanted to be class president. You could argue that Holden is playing the long con just to me...

Recently, I read Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler. Judging by the name, I thought it would be an old timey book similar to classical literature but it’s actually set in the dystopian future. Not too far away either, the events occur over a couple of years but it starts in 2024. The book is actually a journal written by the main character, Lauren, who tells us all the events in the story. Each chapter is also prefaced by a short poem or verse, describing God as change.  The story starts out as Lauren, her family, and her neighbors in a gated community with a wall trying to get by. Water is expensive, it’s difficult to get food, and it’s violent. All the good dystopian stuff. The format the book is written in makes the reader feel like they're getting flashes of that life. One day things are normal and the next, someone’s dead. It’s very glaring and you don’t get details of events happening in the moment, just recounts given by Lauren. Through the book, you can see Laurens t...

 The frontier is a rather frequent location in quite a few sci-fi, fantasy, and historical fiction stories. When talking about a frontier I do not necessarily mean the wild west, just the far edge of any civilization, be it magical kingdom, galactic empire, or a boomtown in the Yukon. These settings are generally characterized by scarcities of food or water, problematic weather (magic poison fog, deserts, extreme cold), rampant crime, a mean populace, and limited public services (with the general exception of the mail).        Using the frontier as a setting for a story allows the author lots of latitude in what the characters can legally get away with without requiring a massive suspension of disbelief. The lack of law enforcement makes the frontier an ideal setting for stories that involve conflict between different criminal elements without having to expect the interference of the law.     In addition to the criminal element that a frontie...

By: Grace I started reading this book without knowing what it was about; the book cover was really cool, with flowers and vines and a nice orange glow to the title. I assumed it was going to be another cool fantasy novel. However, I was very very wrong. As a warning, the book includes / mentions sexually explicit scenes, rape, self-harm, mental and physical abuse, suicide, and animal harm. Despite the triggers, I think the book was really captivating and well written, and sends a clear point throughout the book.  The novel starts out in Prince Emory's point of view, where he is going to rescue the "damsel" in order to wed her and become the king. The rest of the novel is in Ama, the damsel's, point of view, who wakes up and doesn't remember anything about herself. She knows nothing except for the things Emory tells her; he gives her a name and tells her she will be his future bride. As the novel progresses, Emory, who seems to be represented as the hero who saved ...

Empire of Dust is the second book in the Blood of Gods and Royals series. The series continues the story of Alexander and his journey in becoming the new ruler for the kingdom as he starts to make bigger decisions. Hephaestion is rejected by Alex because he kills the wrong person, a vital part of his original plan. He then finds a secret prophecy that he must conceal from Katerina as they are sent on a dangerous mission. Jacob, Kat's ex-lover, tries to discard his emotions and rid of the blood magics. Lastly, Princess Zofia tries to find the Spirit Eaters in order to change her fate so that she can be with the one she loves.  I reviewed the first book, and although I didn't like it that much, the world intrigued me and I decided to try and read the second book. In my opinion, I thought that this book was much worse because it made me really frustrated as I read it.  The perspective changes between the seven characters were more annoying than in the first book. It was hard for...

    History books are some of the most popular nonfiction books, and they are my favorite type of nonfiction books. The scope of these books can vary wildly, and they can focus on the most minute details of a historical event or they can give the entire story of a region, country, or period. The wide variety of topics covered in different history books means that there is a wide variety of writing styles, but I have separated these styles into two broad categories: Novels and Textbooks.     History books that I would call a novel are called that because of how the book is written as a story. Writing a historical book as a story mainly means that like a novel there is a setting, plot, and many times a few central people who are essential to the story and quoted frequently. These types of books are usually about a specific project or group of people, and are about more recent events (~1900-present) because the record keeping is better and more quotes are avai...

I know my last post was dogging on sequels but hopefully this one will be better than the first tier list. Last time I ranked the 1st 20 fairy tales and this time I will rank tales 21-30 (Because I feel like 20 would make this post really long). I’ll write a brief description of the tale and write a sentence or two on my initial thoughts on the story.  Starting off strong we have a classic, Cinderella. Cinderella wants to go to the ball but her stepmother does not allow her to go with her two step sisters. With the help of birds, Cinderella is able to get 3 beautiful gowns for each night of the ball and the prince is infatuated by her. All three nights she escapes before the prince can catch her but on the 3rd night her shoe got stuck on the staircase covered in pitch. The prince is trying to find the girl who can wear the shoe. The 2 step sisters try to fit into the shoe by cutting off their big toe and heel but the birds tell the prince. Cinderella fits the shoe perfectly and she...

By Walter Kraatz       The use of a book as the premise for a movie has happened since the beginning of film with early 20th  century adaptions of Frankenstein and Cinderella being prime examples. The comparison of a book and its movie is a popular point of discussion and contention between book nerds and film nerds. This comparison between a book and film, while fun, is inherently flawed because of the differences between the two mediums.     The most obvious and important difference between a book and a film is the visual element present in a film that is absent in a book. Even if a film is based on a comic book or graphical novel the amount of detail that can be shown in a film exceeds the book because of the movements and expressions of the actors and the detailed background images that can be limited by print quality in a comic book. Because of the lack of a visual element in a book the author must provide a description which can be interpreted b...

 By: Grace To Legacy of Kings, the first book in the Blood of Gods and Royals series, is a historical fiction fantasy book centered around a character based on the historical Alexander the Great and his teenage years. The story is written in the perspective of a lot of different characters (seven in total): Katerina (Kat), Jacob, Alexander (Alex), Hephaestion (Heph), Olympias, Cynane (Cyn), and Zofia (Zo). The character and their stories begin to come together as the plot unravels. Jacob and Kat have known each other since childhood and develop feelings for each other until they have to separate as Jacob is chosen to participate in an arena battle, where the last man standing wins. Alex is the heir to Macedonia and has grown up with Heph after bringing him into the palace. Cyn is Alex's half-sister, seeking a type of magic that her mother once pursued. Finally, Zo is a Persian Princess who desperately wants to change her fate so she can be with who she loves.  First, there are...

            Sequels especially movie sequels often get a bad rep for being boring money makers and they never seem to live up to the original content. Some examples of these sequels are the ones that Disney makes for many of their franchises. But there are also sequels that aren't so bad, such as a book I recently read, Parasite Pig. So I wondered, what makes a sequel good, and what makes them bad?     I think first we need to take into consideration the difference between sequels and series. Sequels usually come after a story that was already wrapped up. The main plot was resolved and usually, nothing needs to be added. In the original content, there's not just story telling, but world building and character development. These things are usually lost in sequels because they are simply not needed, but without them, the story turns out to be rather lackluster. Also, in most cases, sequels just do not need to exist. The original story is f...

By: Grace To The majority of quarantine consists of you sitting in your chair for 4+ hours and listening and talking to you teachers and peers. What's better than having a nice bath with candles, a drink, and an interesting book to heal the body aches from sitting in zoom for hours on end? There are a lot of ways you can spice up your reading adventures and relieve stress at the same time. I'll show a few examples, but let your imagination take you the rest of the way. Read with your pets. They can provide lots of comfort and something to occupy yourself with to get through the boring parts of a book.  If you have younger siblings, you could read a book to them. It could be a nice time to forget about everything else and bond with your sibling and just talk and interact with another human being. Try to read a physical book. Considering how much time we already spend in school, it's probably best to rest your eyes from the bright screen and not have to remind yourself of the...

     Almost 43 years ago a space opera was released in theaters and quickly became one of the highest grossing films of all time. The success of Star Wars spawned eight additional films, ten television series, and a thriving fan-art community, but one of the most impressive results of Star Wars' success is the hundreds of books that have been published. The first publication of the Star Wars franchise predates the movie and was released as a novelization of the film over a six months before the film was in theaters.         Star Wars has both a Canon and an Extended Universe (Legends). Both Canon and Legends consist of many different forms of media, but for the sake of simplicity this post will focus on the print aspect of it. Legends consists mainly of pre2014 books that were released under license as well as a few books released after Star Wars was  purchased by Disney. The hundreds of legends novels that were published show not only ...

Interstellar Pig is a sci-fi book written by William Sleator. A teenager named Barney is on vacation on a beach with his parents and 3 peculiar neighbors moved into the cottage next to their rented house. The neighbors are oddly obsessed with a board game called interstellar pig and the history of Barney’s rented house. Barney was intrigued by the neighbors and the board game, but his curiosity caused him to be dragged into a complicated mess holding multiple alien species at large risk. I’d say it’s an average read, not spectacular, but not terrible. You can read it pretty fast and it’s not hard at all. It’s like one of those books that you forget about after reading them and there isn’t much that sticks with you after you finish. There is just a mystery, a climax, and a resolution.  Despite its slight blandness, the premise of the story is pretty interesting and there is a lot of foreshadowing and clues written into the story in a way readers can pick up on them and think about w...

 By: Grace To Caraval,  by Stephanie Garber follows Scarlett and her sister, Tella, embark on a long-dreamt adventure as an escape from their abusive, controlling father with the help of a mysterious sailor. They go to Caraval, a show happening only once each year and anticipated by many, where the audience participates with the performance. Upon their arrival, Tella is swept away and kidnapped by Legend. The show this time happens to be centered on rescuing Tella. As Scarlett tries to save her sister, reality starts blurring with magic and the preformance and she becomes entangled in love, heartbreak, and magic.  I found the plot and storyline captivating. It made me want to read more and figure out what happened next as she started to figure out how the show worked but got progressively more confused as to what was real and what was part of the "show". I continued to read the next book in trilogy but I never finished the last one.  I think Scarlett as a character w...

  The Alchemist  by Paulo Coelho follows the journey of a young man, named Santiago, as he travels throughout Spain and North Africa in attempt to find treasure. Finding the treasure is Santiago's personal legend, or his destiny. The journey is sparked by a recurring dream and a encounter with magical king who convinces him to act upon the dream because it is his personal legend.      Santiago travels throughout North Africa in attempt to find the treasure that he believes to be in the desert near the pyramids of Giza. During his journey from Spain to Tangiers to Egypt he learns about the Language of the World, the Soul of the World, and how all things conspire together to help someone realize their personal legends. Santiago is accomponied throughout his journey by a variety of characters who are intstumental in helping him both understand the world and realize his personal legend, however I don't feel that it would be right to reveal all of them as it would sp...

     It’s pretty easy to slack off on independent reading, especially now when a library isn’t as accessible as it used to be. However, there are other ways to read a wide variety of books.      One easy way to read at home is to use a Kindle. The Kindle Paperwhite is a tablet like device that is used for reading books. It can carry multiple books at once and you can connect it to wifi to buy books directly on it from Amazon. There are also a couple free books you can buy and you can download free books from the internet. I don’t know how my mom downloaded the whole Harry Potter Series but she did. Is it legal? I don’t know, and I don’t need to know.       But you may think, I don’t want to spend so much money just to buy books for my Kindle and to be honest, the free books are quite mediocre. I’d much rather go to a local library with free loans for a wide selection of books. That’s what I thought too until the pandemic hit. Now, I don’...

 By Walter Kraatz      Artemis by Andy Weir is set in Artemis, the only city on the moon. It follows a smuggler named Jazz Bashara who sneaks contraband into Artemis. The contraband is mostly things that are flammable, like cigars and soundproofing. Flammable things are contraband because fire is extremely dangerous on the moon because people can't just go outside until things stop burning. Jazz says that she has standards on what she will smuggle into the city (hard drugs, plants, weapons), but is still endangering the residents of the city by smuggling in things that have the potential to kill quite a few people. Jazz's smuggling operation only used as expostition and backdrop and is the least ethically ambigious part of the story.     The main part of the plot of the story concerns Jazz's work for a billionaire as an industrial saboteur. Artemis is home to an aluminum smeltery that is also the source of the city's oxygen supply. The smeltery pr...

By: Grace To The first time I picked up a book from the Ranger's Apprentice series was in the 7th grade. It was just another Sunday visit to the library. I walked into the teen section with the intention of borrowing a book. A couple of steps brought me to the first shelf. I stopped and lazily scanned the rows of books, not exactly sure of what I was looking for. A title caught my eye. Correction: titles. In the bottom left corner of the bookshelf was "Ranger's Apprentice" written across several books stacked next to each other. I felt a sense of déjà vu and I suddenly remembered my sister sitting on the kitchen chair with the book in her hand with the same title.  Making a decision, I picked up the book, wanting to give it a try after watching my sister binge the series a few months before.  The Ranger's Apprentice series centers around Will, an orphan abandoned in the front doorstep of Castle Redmont. Knowing near nothing about his family, Will is convinced that...

I read the first 20 stories from the Grimm's Fairy Tales and put them on a tier list. For those who don't know, a tier list is a way to rank things. S tier is the best rank and F tier is the worst. Each tier is also individually ranked from best being on the left, and worst being on the right. These rankings are just based off my personal opinion. I judged these stories based off of how much I enjoyed the story and how interesting I thought it was. From reading all of these fairy tales, I found some similarities between some. For example, many fairy tales involve a King or Prince falling in love with a Maiden or Princess. Similarly, there are fairy tales involving a Princess and a suitor of some sort. I found many of these kinds of stories average and a little plain unless there were more interesting elements, such as in “The Three little Men in the Wood” and “Faithful John”. One particular story I enjoyed was "T he Story of the Youth who went forth to learn what Fear was....