Dear Readers,
I apologize for the long wait, I have been creating a new blog that needed my attention. This is a fashion blog I have created, if anyone wants to read it here is the link: http://cutfromsamecloth.blogspot.com/
Anyway, I wanted to make a post about my favorite childhood books and book series.These books are the ones that I read in elementary school mostly ( except the 5th one which I read in elementary and middle school) Books were a large part of my childhood and I wanted to make a post to share with you my favorite books and book series of my younger years. So lets begin:
5. Judy Blume Novels
While that may be a strange place to start, I remember my love of Judy Blume from when I first read the Fudge books. Later I moved onto the classic "Are you there God, It's Me Margret" (Aka a book that I believe almost every preteen girl in the read at least once in their life) and my personal favorite "Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself."Judy Blume is someone who I grew up reading, from her fudge books to Forever ( did not read that until High School). She is an author who will always have a special place in my heart and on my shelf.
4. Magic Tree House Series
When I was younger next to my number 1 book pick this was the series I read most in elementary school was The Magic Tree House series,The series is about two children who find a tree house in the woods that is filled with books. Once inside they realize that the tree house in magic and that all that books in the tree house can transport them to different times and worlds. They can open a book about dinosaurs and be transported to the Jurassic age or open about space and be transported to the moon. The stories and possibilities were endless and I loved it. My favorite I think was the one with Pompeii, it was educational, interesting, and adventurous all at the same time. I also liked the Shakespeare one and how they kinda change history by making Annie be able to play one of the roles even though girls were not originally allowed to be in plays during that time (at least I believe that is part of the plot of the book). This series is definitely something that I will always remember from my childhood
3. The Polar Express
Polar Express is one of my favorite books I ever read when I was little and something I always have to read and watch every Christmas time. The book is about a magical train that comes on Christmas eve to take kids to see Santa. There, Santa will choose one child and ask him what he wants for Christmas and they will get their wish. The book is a sweet book, with beautiful painted illustrations to go with the words. It is a Christmas classic with a pretty sweet message at the end ( won't spoil it for people who are interested in reading the book). I recommend giving it a read this holiday season to a younger child, sister, brother, or even just yourself.
2. The Kissing Hand
If there is one picture book I remember as a child it is The Kissing Hand. The book is something that my mother read to me the first day of kindergarten. The book is about a raccoon and his mother. The young raccoon is scared to leave his mom to go to school, so the raccoon's mother kisses the palm of her child's hand and says that he know has the kissing hand. This means that whenever he misses her he can look at his palm and remember that his mothers kiss is there and that she is always with him. My own mother actually did the same thing with me on my first day of kindergarten. So while this story has sentimental value to it for me, it is also a cute and nice book with beautiful full page illustrations to accompany the story. If you ever want to know what to read a child on his or her first day of school, I would definitely recommend this book.
And My #1 book series or book as a child...
1. Junie B. Jones Series
As surprising as it may sound I was not always a reader. I used to have to be bribed by my mother to read for 15 minutes when I was younger. Then I discovered the Junie B Jones. The book series changed my life. It was a series that started off my love of reading. The books are about a young Kindergartner by the name of Junie B. Jones, she is cute, funny, annoying at times, and totally relatable to me. I believe that the reason I first did not enjoy reading is because I could not find a book I could relate to and really enjoy. This book I immensely enjoyed and would spend afternoon after afternoon reading. For my birthday, Christmas, and even just random days I would ask my dad or mom to buy me one if we were in Walmart. I think I probably got everyone out of the library and god, I even went to a Junie B. Jones smelly Bus tour ( which had an actress dress up as Junie B. Jones and her kindergarten bus driver and talk to us) at a book store ( which I would like to thank my parents for taking me to even though the book store was most likely an hour or so away because I had never been to it). This book series set off my love of reading and for that I am eternally grateful.
-Jessica
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Friday, September 12, 2014
James Frey, Full Fathom Five, and Why I am Torn
Dear Readers,
Note: Sorry this is later than expected, school work has been hell but here is the post I promised.
So you know that song Torn by Natalie Imbruglia. That song pretty much describes how I am feeling about James Frey, Full Fathom Five, and his new book.
Jame Frey
James Frey is a very controversial author who has published a book A Million Little Pieces. The book was a hit after Oprah started supporting it and slapped her book club sticker on it. The problem, the book was sold as a memoir but actually was mostly fictitious. James Frey had lied about the events in the book and was even called out about it live on Oprah's show. It seems after you have been publicly humiliated and outed as a impostor of a writer on live TV you would have the decency to apologize and not do anything like this again, but with James Frey it gets worse.
The Full Fathom Five
The Full Fathom Five is a publishing company that is basically, in my opinion, a scam and sweatshop for authors. Full Fathom Five is basically a company that publishes books and is in the package publishing business. The book packaging business is not new and has been going on since like Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books were published. Book packaging is pretty much a group of ghost writers. Now I do not have any problems with book packaging companies itself, this one in particular really gets under my skin. Full Fathom Five basically is a company that signs new writers who dream of having their names in print and on the cover of a book. The problem: They only pay the writers about 250 dollars to complete the book and a percentage of the revenue from the book like any movie deals (40% is idea was thought up by author and 30% if it was Frey's idea from the beginning). The writer does not own the copyright, but does have to deal with any legal action made towards them even if they don't own the copyright. The writers also do not have any control over their publicity, biographical content, or photographs. The writers associated with the company also are not allowed to admit publicly to working with company without the Full Fathom Five permission or they will receive a 500,000 dollar fine.
Why I am Torn?
While I do not like James Frey and believe Full Fathom Five is taking advantage of young hopeful writers who usually sign with them because they want to get their work published, I really am interested in a book that James Frey is coming out with. It is called Endgame: The Calling by James Frey. The book seems at first like a knock off of the hunger games books ( which after looking at the synopsis I can see why people would believe that), but the twist is the books actually are interactive. Inside their are puzzles to complete for the readers. The reader reads the book, but also solves the puzzle. I have even seen and heard some people getting little clues sent to them from the company like puzzles to solve to find more clues. The readers will play along with the game and solve the puzzles to find more clues, the grand prize for the first person to complete all the puzzles and win the competition: 500,000 dollars in gold coins! Now some of you may be saying to yourself: "Screw what Jessica is saying, I am gonna pre-order this book so I can win 500,000 dollars." I advise you though not to do that ( reasons being what I have said previously about James Frey and Full Fathom Five as well as the fact that chances of winning those contest are maybe around or a little better than the chances of winning the lottery). The pros of these books I will admit are appealing, the puzzles and interactive aspect seem new and interesting to me and of course the grand prize is probably something that some people could only dream of obtaining. The cons though are the fact that Jame Frey has proven to be a sketchy and not always trustworthy in my opinion. I have also read that the book is a knock off of the hunger games and is somewhat poorly written ( these are from mixed reviews at goodread.com from people who had gotten early copies of the book). Some have said it is good but many have mixed reviews or negative remarks to say about it. So while the interactive aspect of the series does appeal to me greatly, I am still unsure about purchasing this book and completing the interactive elements because of my dislike for James Frey and Full Fathom Five, as well as the fact that I may just not like the book when I read it.
Decision:
I think I am gonna spend my money elsewhere and wait till the book has been out for a while and see what others think. If the book turns out to have a positive reaction by society, I then may decide to possibly give it a go ( If I can let my dislike for James Frey and Full Fathom Five go, which will be a pretty hard task). For right now though I think I am going to be sticking to reading and purchasing other books that are not from the Full Fathom Five.
-Jessica
PS. Here is a link to a list of books Full Fathom Five has published if anyone is interested in boycotting them like I am ( which is kinda a shame because I was planning on reading one of the books called Dorothy Must Die)
Full Fathom Five Book List Link: http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/45872.Full_Fathom_Five
Sources:
Note: Sorry this is later than expected, school work has been hell but here is the post I promised.
So you know that song Torn by Natalie Imbruglia. That song pretty much describes how I am feeling about James Frey, Full Fathom Five, and his new book.
Jame Frey
James Frey is a very controversial author who has published a book A Million Little Pieces. The book was a hit after Oprah started supporting it and slapped her book club sticker on it. The problem, the book was sold as a memoir but actually was mostly fictitious. James Frey had lied about the events in the book and was even called out about it live on Oprah's show. It seems after you have been publicly humiliated and outed as a impostor of a writer on live TV you would have the decency to apologize and not do anything like this again, but with James Frey it gets worse.
The Full Fathom Five
The Full Fathom Five is a publishing company that is basically, in my opinion, a scam and sweatshop for authors. Full Fathom Five is basically a company that publishes books and is in the package publishing business. The book packaging business is not new and has been going on since like Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books were published. Book packaging is pretty much a group of ghost writers. Now I do not have any problems with book packaging companies itself, this one in particular really gets under my skin. Full Fathom Five basically is a company that signs new writers who dream of having their names in print and on the cover of a book. The problem: They only pay the writers about 250 dollars to complete the book and a percentage of the revenue from the book like any movie deals (40% is idea was thought up by author and 30% if it was Frey's idea from the beginning). The writer does not own the copyright, but does have to deal with any legal action made towards them even if they don't own the copyright. The writers also do not have any control over their publicity, biographical content, or photographs. The writers associated with the company also are not allowed to admit publicly to working with company without the Full Fathom Five permission or they will receive a 500,000 dollar fine.
Why I am Torn?
While I do not like James Frey and believe Full Fathom Five is taking advantage of young hopeful writers who usually sign with them because they want to get their work published, I really am interested in a book that James Frey is coming out with. It is called Endgame: The Calling by James Frey. The book seems at first like a knock off of the hunger games books ( which after looking at the synopsis I can see why people would believe that), but the twist is the books actually are interactive. Inside their are puzzles to complete for the readers. The reader reads the book, but also solves the puzzle. I have even seen and heard some people getting little clues sent to them from the company like puzzles to solve to find more clues. The readers will play along with the game and solve the puzzles to find more clues, the grand prize for the first person to complete all the puzzles and win the competition: 500,000 dollars in gold coins! Now some of you may be saying to yourself: "Screw what Jessica is saying, I am gonna pre-order this book so I can win 500,000 dollars." I advise you though not to do that ( reasons being what I have said previously about James Frey and Full Fathom Five as well as the fact that chances of winning those contest are maybe around or a little better than the chances of winning the lottery). The pros of these books I will admit are appealing, the puzzles and interactive aspect seem new and interesting to me and of course the grand prize is probably something that some people could only dream of obtaining. The cons though are the fact that Jame Frey has proven to be a sketchy and not always trustworthy in my opinion. I have also read that the book is a knock off of the hunger games and is somewhat poorly written ( these are from mixed reviews at goodread.com from people who had gotten early copies of the book). Some have said it is good but many have mixed reviews or negative remarks to say about it. So while the interactive aspect of the series does appeal to me greatly, I am still unsure about purchasing this book and completing the interactive elements because of my dislike for James Frey and Full Fathom Five, as well as the fact that I may just not like the book when I read it.
Decision:
I think I am gonna spend my money elsewhere and wait till the book has been out for a while and see what others think. If the book turns out to have a positive reaction by society, I then may decide to possibly give it a go ( If I can let my dislike for James Frey and Full Fathom Five go, which will be a pretty hard task). For right now though I think I am going to be sticking to reading and purchasing other books that are not from the Full Fathom Five.
-Jessica
PS. Here is a link to a list of books Full Fathom Five has published if anyone is interested in boycotting them like I am ( which is kinda a shame because I was planning on reading one of the books called Dorothy Must Die)
Full Fathom Five Book List Link: http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/45872.Full_Fathom_Five
Sources:
- http://nymag.com/arts/books/features/69474/index2.html
- http://www.coastreporter.net/photos-videos/james-frey-s-new-young-adult-book-project-includes-gold-coin-payouts-of-more-than-500-000-1.1127640
- http://www.snugglyoranges.com/2014/01/full-fathom-five-boycott-books/
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (and other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling Book Review
Dear Readers,
I know I said I was going to do a review for the book Firecracker, but I had to write this review for an amazingly hilarious book I just read. That book is Mindy Kaling's memoir/biography "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (and other concerns). The book is written by Emmy Nominated writer and actress Mindy Kaling. Mindy has written and stared in shows such as The Office and The Mindy Project. In the book Mindy recounts memories from her childhood, how she got into comedy writing and acting, her journey so far in the acting business, and even little bits about Mindy and her opinions about everything from men to how she wants her funeral to be. Mindy is honestly a hilarious and funny writer. The book had be laughing out loud which not since The Fault In Our Stars have I laughed out loud while reading a book ( I laughed at some funny parts of TFIOS, so if you are wondering why I was laughing at a book that is known for being sad, but good that is why). I really wish I could write more on this book but It honestly is a speak for itself kind of book. You have to read it yourself to really understand how entertaining this book really is. I love Mindy and cant wait for Mindy Project to return (one more week after new girl season premier, my favorite TV show by the way) as well as see any new TV shows, movies, books, etc. that Mindy may be completing. All in all it was a really good book and I hope you readers think so too.
picture source link: http://lifeofafemalebibliophile.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/is-everyone-hanging-out-with-me-and-other-concers.jpg
4.5 stars out of 5.
-Jessica
PS. There is a second post I will probably be making today or tomorrow. It is about being torn about James Frey, Full Fathom Five, and this book that he is publishing that I am torn about reading. If you don't know about James Frey you can google him and the controversy surrounding him and the Full Fathom Five ( which I will explain in my post but if you want to do some research before you read my post by all mean please do). Please leave comments as well about your opinion on this post and the post I will be making later today or tomorrow.
I know I said I was going to do a review for the book Firecracker, but I had to write this review for an amazingly hilarious book I just read. That book is Mindy Kaling's memoir/biography "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (and other concerns). The book is written by Emmy Nominated writer and actress Mindy Kaling. Mindy has written and stared in shows such as The Office and The Mindy Project. In the book Mindy recounts memories from her childhood, how she got into comedy writing and acting, her journey so far in the acting business, and even little bits about Mindy and her opinions about everything from men to how she wants her funeral to be. Mindy is honestly a hilarious and funny writer. The book had be laughing out loud which not since The Fault In Our Stars have I laughed out loud while reading a book ( I laughed at some funny parts of TFIOS, so if you are wondering why I was laughing at a book that is known for being sad, but good that is why). I really wish I could write more on this book but It honestly is a speak for itself kind of book. You have to read it yourself to really understand how entertaining this book really is. I love Mindy and cant wait for Mindy Project to return (one more week after new girl season premier, my favorite TV show by the way) as well as see any new TV shows, movies, books, etc. that Mindy may be completing. All in all it was a really good book and I hope you readers think so too.
picture source link: http://lifeofafemalebibliophile.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/is-everyone-hanging-out-with-me-and-other-concers.jpg
4.5 stars out of 5.
-Jessica
PS. There is a second post I will probably be making today or tomorrow. It is about being torn about James Frey, Full Fathom Five, and this book that he is publishing that I am torn about reading. If you don't know about James Frey you can google him and the controversy surrounding him and the Full Fathom Five ( which I will explain in my post but if you want to do some research before you read my post by all mean please do). Please leave comments as well about your opinion on this post and the post I will be making later today or tomorrow.
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Apology
Dear Readers,
Hey guys college just started so I am gonna be super busy with homework and classwork. I am however currently in the middle of a good book called Firecracker by David Iserson. He has written for SNL and my favorite TV show New Girl. When I have time and finish the book I will be posting a review of it. Please BTW comment below about this blog or the books you recommend I should read or whatever. I will hopefully be able to post my review of the book in a week or so but that is at the earliest.
Thanks for understanding and please comment below with questions, concerns, positivity, constructive criticism, or whatever you want.
Thanks,
-Jessica
Hey guys college just started so I am gonna be super busy with homework and classwork. I am however currently in the middle of a good book called Firecracker by David Iserson. He has written for SNL and my favorite TV show New Girl. When I have time and finish the book I will be posting a review of it. Please BTW comment below about this blog or the books you recommend I should read or whatever. I will hopefully be able to post my review of the book in a week or so but that is at the earliest.
Thanks for understanding and please comment below with questions, concerns, positivity, constructive criticism, or whatever you want.
Thanks,
-Jessica
Friday, August 15, 2014
College Book Haul
Dear Readers,
Ahh college...an average of four years of schooling that cost thousands of dollars and will in return provide you with a piece of paper that can hopefully help land you a job, I digress though, I am not saying all college is bad. I mean I am one of the people going to it so why would I bag on it so much. These are honestly what I believe are normal thoughts of an average kid who is going to attend college these days. This post is not to list the pros and cons of college though. It is to discuss books. College books are books that I don't actually want to buy. Now before you freak out and call me a hypocrite let me explain why and what college books I actually do want to buy. Now I am someone who rarely passes up the option to buy a book, if I am at a Barnes and Nobles or a consignment store, the chances are I will end up purchasing at least one book if I have money. College books though are different. The books have rental options and because college is expensive as it is with tuition alone and unless it is a book you really will need/want ( like for your major) or have no other option but to buy it, most people will rent their books. I did a mixture of both for my first year at community college ( I will be here a year or two before I transfer to another school to get my four year degree), I hope to be able to rent most of my books next semester to help save money.
Anyway, I want to talk about my college books and what I got. I know many of my readers may be wondering what is so interesting about college books. The answer is that the books I got are not actually all boring, dull, text books, but plays, guides, memoirs, and books I feel I can actually use in the future of my writing career. Let me first star off by saying I am a Communications/Journalism major. So I am gonna be really exited and intrigued by the writing books I purchased or rented, rather than some people may. I'd also like to get the "boring books" that I deemed not very topical or worthy of long explanations. The first was my math book. I am going to be taking Math 011 and had to purchase a new book for it. At first I didn't understand exactly why I needed a new book and why my only option was to purchase it new rather than having options to rent or purchase the book. I learned today when my books came that It was because it was a workbook that my assignments would be in. Oh and I purchased a calculator Yeah...I told you it was boring.
For my English stuff it gets a bit more interesting. I rented two books and bought the third one. The two books I rented were both novels that seem fairly interesting. The one book is Girl Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen, which I have already read and seen most of the movie. I thought it was decent when I read it. I am excited to read it again though. The only problem is if you do rent or buy used, just remember you may have to deal with pen or highlighted areas in the book. That is the issue with my copy, it has many pages with pen markings and side notes on it. While I would not mind a few pages or just highlighting throughout my book, it has at least 50% of the pages with markings on it. It will be a bit annoying, but it is not that bad considering It is a used rental that I paid way less money for compared to if I had bought the book. The second book I rented for my school was a play called The Elephant Man by Bernard Pomerance. Though I have not read it, the book looks interesting and as far as I can tell is about a man who has some kind of deformity and while in the hospital meets someone who tries to help them in life. That is a rough description, but a somewhat accurate one I believe. It seems to remind me of the musical My Fair Lady ( which was based on the book Pygmalion by the way). The copy I got look almost new, even though it was used which can be a fun surprise for some who are renting or purchasing used books. The final book I got for English was an English Writing reference guide. It is a spiral book I bought used that was made specifically for my school. The book is spiral bond and includes tabs that when you turn to certain pages will tell you about how to write in MLA or APA format or about researching, word choice, sentence structure,etc. I bought the book because in the future I think it will be a good reference guide for me to look at for writing, especially if I will be taking more writing courses.
My favorite books I got are definitely for my communications major. The first class I got two books. One I bought and the other I rented. The book I bought for my first Communications class was The Associated Press Stylebook. This book I recommend to anyone going into journalism or PR or some kind of news/media writing career. In the book the first is like a journalism dictionary. You can find almost any word and the description will tell you if you should capitalize it, explain it for the readers, don't have to explain it for the readers, how you should word something,etc. At first glance this stuff may seem like common sense, but you would be surprised when it comes to how certain words should be written to be professional.The book also talks about media law, terms I should know, and resources I can use in my writing or to learn more. I purchased the book because I believe it would help me not just during my college years, but after I graduate and could be used as a reference for later on in my career. The book I rented for the class was the book Writing for the Mass Media. The book is basically self explanatory, It goes over writing in all different forms from newspapers or twitter. It talks about how to write news stories and different kinds, guidelines to follow when writing, and exercises for writing practice, as well as helping you to become a better writer. For my second Communications class I just needed to rent one book entitled Key Readings in Media Today. The book again tells me the types and ways to write news stories, but also is filled with research about different news and media in the past as well as today. All the books I bought or rented for my communications classes seem fascinating and I can not wait to read them.
College is a new experience and so far I am excited about the subjects I will be learning (well except math, but at least most of the math looks algebraic which I am pretty good at). The books, I hope will help me in my journey to becoming a real writer that can hopefully one day see there name on the byline of the front page of a newspaper or byline of a magazine story (or internet news story depending on how technology and print news are in the future).
Thank you
-Jessica
Ahh college...an average of four years of schooling that cost thousands of dollars and will in return provide you with a piece of paper that can hopefully help land you a job, I digress though, I am not saying all college is bad. I mean I am one of the people going to it so why would I bag on it so much. These are honestly what I believe are normal thoughts of an average kid who is going to attend college these days. This post is not to list the pros and cons of college though. It is to discuss books. College books are books that I don't actually want to buy. Now before you freak out and call me a hypocrite let me explain why and what college books I actually do want to buy. Now I am someone who rarely passes up the option to buy a book, if I am at a Barnes and Nobles or a consignment store, the chances are I will end up purchasing at least one book if I have money. College books though are different. The books have rental options and because college is expensive as it is with tuition alone and unless it is a book you really will need/want ( like for your major) or have no other option but to buy it, most people will rent their books. I did a mixture of both for my first year at community college ( I will be here a year or two before I transfer to another school to get my four year degree), I hope to be able to rent most of my books next semester to help save money.
Anyway, I want to talk about my college books and what I got. I know many of my readers may be wondering what is so interesting about college books. The answer is that the books I got are not actually all boring, dull, text books, but plays, guides, memoirs, and books I feel I can actually use in the future of my writing career. Let me first star off by saying I am a Communications/Journalism major. So I am gonna be really exited and intrigued by the writing books I purchased or rented, rather than some people may. I'd also like to get the "boring books" that I deemed not very topical or worthy of long explanations. The first was my math book. I am going to be taking Math 011 and had to purchase a new book for it. At first I didn't understand exactly why I needed a new book and why my only option was to purchase it new rather than having options to rent or purchase the book. I learned today when my books came that It was because it was a workbook that my assignments would be in. Oh and I purchased a calculator Yeah...I told you it was boring.
For my English stuff it gets a bit more interesting. I rented two books and bought the third one. The two books I rented were both novels that seem fairly interesting. The one book is Girl Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen, which I have already read and seen most of the movie. I thought it was decent when I read it. I am excited to read it again though. The only problem is if you do rent or buy used, just remember you may have to deal with pen or highlighted areas in the book. That is the issue with my copy, it has many pages with pen markings and side notes on it. While I would not mind a few pages or just highlighting throughout my book, it has at least 50% of the pages with markings on it. It will be a bit annoying, but it is not that bad considering It is a used rental that I paid way less money for compared to if I had bought the book. The second book I rented for my school was a play called The Elephant Man by Bernard Pomerance. Though I have not read it, the book looks interesting and as far as I can tell is about a man who has some kind of deformity and while in the hospital meets someone who tries to help them in life. That is a rough description, but a somewhat accurate one I believe. It seems to remind me of the musical My Fair Lady ( which was based on the book Pygmalion by the way). The copy I got look almost new, even though it was used which can be a fun surprise for some who are renting or purchasing used books. The final book I got for English was an English Writing reference guide. It is a spiral book I bought used that was made specifically for my school. The book is spiral bond and includes tabs that when you turn to certain pages will tell you about how to write in MLA or APA format or about researching, word choice, sentence structure,etc. I bought the book because in the future I think it will be a good reference guide for me to look at for writing, especially if I will be taking more writing courses.
My favorite books I got are definitely for my communications major. The first class I got two books. One I bought and the other I rented. The book I bought for my first Communications class was The Associated Press Stylebook. This book I recommend to anyone going into journalism or PR or some kind of news/media writing career. In the book the first is like a journalism dictionary. You can find almost any word and the description will tell you if you should capitalize it, explain it for the readers, don't have to explain it for the readers, how you should word something,etc. At first glance this stuff may seem like common sense, but you would be surprised when it comes to how certain words should be written to be professional.The book also talks about media law, terms I should know, and resources I can use in my writing or to learn more. I purchased the book because I believe it would help me not just during my college years, but after I graduate and could be used as a reference for later on in my career. The book I rented for the class was the book Writing for the Mass Media. The book is basically self explanatory, It goes over writing in all different forms from newspapers or twitter. It talks about how to write news stories and different kinds, guidelines to follow when writing, and exercises for writing practice, as well as helping you to become a better writer. For my second Communications class I just needed to rent one book entitled Key Readings in Media Today. The book again tells me the types and ways to write news stories, but also is filled with research about different news and media in the past as well as today. All the books I bought or rented for my communications classes seem fascinating and I can not wait to read them.
College is a new experience and so far I am excited about the subjects I will be learning (well except math, but at least most of the math looks algebraic which I am pretty good at). The books, I hope will help me in my journey to becoming a real writer that can hopefully one day see there name on the byline of the front page of a newspaper or byline of a magazine story (or internet news story depending on how technology and print news are in the future).
Thank you
-Jessica
Monday, August 11, 2014
Reviews: Dangerous Girls
Dear Readers,
I'm Baaaaack!
Good morning or afternoon or night wherever or whenever you are reading this, I just got back from my vacation to Cape Cod and it was awesome. Got to see the movie Lucy (which was pretty good), went shopping, ate lots of sea food, and especially read and finished 3 books on the trip. I was able to finish Gone Girl and Prisoner of Night and Fog (please write comments below about which one I should review next), but also buy and read in about a few hours this book that was so full of twist and turns and WTH moments that I just had to write a review to tell all my readers about it. The book is Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas.
Premise: Basically, the book is about a group of teenager on spring break. Anna, the narrator, Tate, her boyfriend, and Elise her best friend are all on spring break along with their other friends. When going back to their room they find Elise killed in her room. While the others are able to go free, Anna is being held on trial for the murder of Elise. Throughout the book we are shown into the case of the murder as well as what is happening behind the scenes, flashbacks to Anna's life when she met Elise or started dating her boyfriend or during spring break before the murder,other evidence including text messages and maps of the beach house, and even into some of the news interviews on both sides about Anna on either the opinion of how she is a murderer or how she is innocent depending on the point of view of the interviewer. The book has a lot of twist with who you think the villain is, I feel that because of the fact the reader is so focused on the murderer seeming like one person or another, we as readers do not realize the biggest plot twist of all, who the murderer was all along.
This is where I leave all you spoiler free people.I will be making huge spaces in the next few lines to show that I wrote above major spoilers. If you want to see my closing arguments you can read so at the bottom next to words "closing statements:"
Anyway...SPOILER ALERT TO END OF BOOK! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
Spoilers: So I want to talk about the ending of the book cause it is kinda huge. So like I said before all this time you are thinking one person or the other had committed the murder. We start to get hints of the real true murderer in the 2nd to last chapter and finally the last scene and line of the final chapter. First let me remind you the narrator of this first person book is Anna. It is being told from her perspective. So when you find out the murderer you really are shocked to discover Anna was the one who murdered Elise. This is because most people including myself didn't even think of this as a possibility. There were some clues in the book, but most reviews I have seen seem to agree that they had no idea that Anna was the murderer of Elise. The clues in the book were as I said hidden, but the biggest ones were in the last two chapters of the book. The first is when she is going to the grave to put down the necklace that Elise and her each had identical ones to. This necklace is a pentagram (which was mentioned earlier in the novel) and if that does not give you a clue, when she bends down Elise says "I win." When I read that I will admit I was a bit confused because I did not fully comprehend the fact that Anna could very well be the murderer. Then I got to the ending. And that ending...well what can I say but "What did I just read?" I honestly did not comprehend it at first when I read it. I admit I had to look up exactly if she really was the murderer because honestly it felt I was lied to. It felt like everything I had just spent the last few hours reading was a lie. Then I realized that was the point. It was supposed to show us how Anna was such a crazy and psychopathic person that she had been able to trick even the people she was telling the story to (aka us the readers) that any other possibility,besides her being the murderer, was possible. I think that is honestly brilliant on the writers part because it was creative, unique, and unexpected to the reader for the most part. I have never read a book where the murderer was the narrator and did not flat out say it. That twist still has me baffled and I can not wait to read the book again to try to see more signs of Anna actually lying to us because I am sure there are more hidden in the story I have yet to see.
Ending Statement: Alright, if you read the spoiler part thank you and if not thank you still for reading my review. This book is a sadly underrated book I really hope more and more people read This book has an interesting premise, good story line, and a twist ending you don't see coming. I highly recommend this book and give it 4.5 stars. It is not the best book I have ever read or anything, but it is really good and I definitely want to re read the book.
**** 1/2 stars out of *****
- Jessica
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| Dangerous Girls Paperback book cover picture link:https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX0GIRCzJXn0sGGs5pdUtjyTrcTJcS0HHvrKqWqLfBTY_Dwdsh5Z0EvSgs88lPAM7ToZD7L1fupmcO6vT1yABksnxNBUrdorYvkiYqMnDSDbCoDxWCabJZFVnk5QDOpf6HLKUKavhUxbbz/s1600/dangerous+girls+pb.jpg |
This is where I leave all you spoiler free people.I will be making huge spaces in the next few lines to show that I wrote above major spoilers. If you want to see my closing arguments you can read so at the bottom next to words "closing statements:"
Anyway...SPOILER ALERT TO END OF BOOK! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
Spoilers: So I want to talk about the ending of the book cause it is kinda huge. So like I said before all this time you are thinking one person or the other had committed the murder. We start to get hints of the real true murderer in the 2nd to last chapter and finally the last scene and line of the final chapter. First let me remind you the narrator of this first person book is Anna. It is being told from her perspective. So when you find out the murderer you really are shocked to discover Anna was the one who murdered Elise. This is because most people including myself didn't even think of this as a possibility. There were some clues in the book, but most reviews I have seen seem to agree that they had no idea that Anna was the murderer of Elise. The clues in the book were as I said hidden, but the biggest ones were in the last two chapters of the book. The first is when she is going to the grave to put down the necklace that Elise and her each had identical ones to. This necklace is a pentagram (which was mentioned earlier in the novel) and if that does not give you a clue, when she bends down Elise says "I win." When I read that I will admit I was a bit confused because I did not fully comprehend the fact that Anna could very well be the murderer. Then I got to the ending. And that ending...well what can I say but "What did I just read?" I honestly did not comprehend it at first when I read it. I admit I had to look up exactly if she really was the murderer because honestly it felt I was lied to. It felt like everything I had just spent the last few hours reading was a lie. Then I realized that was the point. It was supposed to show us how Anna was such a crazy and psychopathic person that she had been able to trick even the people she was telling the story to (aka us the readers) that any other possibility,besides her being the murderer, was possible. I think that is honestly brilliant on the writers part because it was creative, unique, and unexpected to the reader for the most part. I have never read a book where the murderer was the narrator and did not flat out say it. That twist still has me baffled and I can not wait to read the book again to try to see more signs of Anna actually lying to us because I am sure there are more hidden in the story I have yet to see.
Ending Statement: Alright, if you read the spoiler part thank you and if not thank you still for reading my review. This book is a sadly underrated book I really hope more and more people read This book has an interesting premise, good story line, and a twist ending you don't see coming. I highly recommend this book and give it 4.5 stars. It is not the best book I have ever read or anything, but it is really good and I definitely want to re read the book.
**** 1/2 stars out of *****
- Jessica
Monday, July 21, 2014
Book Haul!
Dear Readers,
I was gonna be writing a book review for Conversion maybe or another book, but I wanted to make a post before that with all the books I got lately. I am gonna have to go on a book buying ban soon cause I can't buy anymore books because I already have like 8 I have to read. Anyway this is just a list of books I will be reading and If you guy could suggest which one of these books I should do a review on after reading that would be great.
1. Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman
2. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
3. Why we Broke up by Daniel Handler
4. 10 rules for living with my sister by Ann M Martin
5. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
6. A Girl like Moi by Lisa Barham
7. the summer i turned pretty by Jenny Han
8. The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson
9. 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
I think those books will probably be enough to last me about the rest of the summer. I hope that they are at least, anyway please write to me and tell me what books our of those you want a review on. I will try to write the review and choose the book according to what you readers say in the comments about which book you want me to read and review. Anyway I will try to post more soon, but I must warn you my life is kinda a little hectic right now with all the stuff I have to do so please be patient.
Thank you
- Jessica
I was gonna be writing a book review for Conversion maybe or another book, but I wanted to make a post before that with all the books I got lately. I am gonna have to go on a book buying ban soon cause I can't buy anymore books because I already have like 8 I have to read. Anyway this is just a list of books I will be reading and If you guy could suggest which one of these books I should do a review on after reading that would be great.
1. Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman
2. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
3. Why we Broke up by Daniel Handler
4. 10 rules for living with my sister by Ann M Martin
5. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
6. A Girl like Moi by Lisa Barham
7. the summer i turned pretty by Jenny Han
8. The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson
9. 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
I think those books will probably be enough to last me about the rest of the summer. I hope that they are at least, anyway please write to me and tell me what books our of those you want a review on. I will try to write the review and choose the book according to what you readers say in the comments about which book you want me to read and review. Anyway I will try to post more soon, but I must warn you my life is kinda a little hectic right now with all the stuff I have to do so please be patient.
Thank you
- Jessica
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