Book Bloggers in the Chat

            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’...