BSchultz19

Common Sense by Thomas Paine Summary Published anonymously in 1776, the year of the American Declaration of Independence, Paine's Common Sense became an immediate best-seller, with fifty-six editions printed in that year alone. It was this pamphlet, more than any other factor, which helped to spark off the movement that established the independence of the United States. From his experience of revolutionary politics, Paine drew those principles of fundamental human rights which, he felt, must stand no matter what excesses are committed to obtain them, and which he later formulated in his Rights of Man. (from goodreads) Opinions This book (if you could call it that) was alright. I really only read it because it was on the College Bound reading list and I had studied it a little bit in American History. Over half of it was the introduction, which I found quite interesting. It detailed the history surrounding the writing of the pamphlet and gave a brief biography of Thomas Paine. The actual pamphlet was alright, but I felt like during most of it I was thinking BLAH BLAH BLAH. All his thoughts had good premises, but I just felt like it went on and on. The cool thing about reading this was knowing that people all over the 13 colonies read it and it affected change in their lives. Because of this, independence went from a radical opinion of few to a widespread idea in the whole country. The common people were the ones mainly addressed for one of the first times. Now they could understand politically what was going on between England and the colonies. In the end I would say that I didn't like the writing, but the historical aspect of the pamphlet really interested me. Rating

The series is great! Except the last book is a little weird and different from the other two. But I hope you enjoy them

I have not read that one. I'm just now getting into that genre, but it really interests me. Both of those will be on my list I wonder if he has read the book "What if" (I think it's called that). It is a collection of essays by a historian that goes through different events in history and writes what if. . . about the certain event.

From the little I do know about her, I know that she was feminist before feminists really existed, which is kind of cool. I'm haven't decided what book I'm reading next, but I'm going to start it today. I was originally planning on The Kite Runner, but I just got some more library books today so it might be one of them. I got: Common Sense Plain Truth The Rosie Project

Wow that book sounds really good!! Definitely adding it to the list of books I want to read. This type of fiction intrigues me so much.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (This not the actual cover, but couldn't find the picture of the edition my library has.) Summary Orphaned into the household of her Aunt Reed at Gateshead, subject to the cruel regime at Lowood charity school, Jane Eyre nonetheless emerges unbroken in spirit and integrity. She takes up the post of governess at Thornfield, falls in love with Mr. Rochester, and discovers the impediment to their lawful marriage in a story that transcends melodrama to portray a woman's passionate search for a wider and richer life than Victorian society traditionally allowed. With a heroine full of yearning, the dangerous secrets she encounters, and the choices she finally makes, Charlotte Bronte's innovative and enduring romantic novel continues to engage and provoke readers (from goodreads) Opinions Although it took me longer than I would have liked to finish, it was an enjoyable read. The plot was great and kept me interested the whole way through. One thing I could say against the book is that some things could have been said in a more compact way, but I could also feel this way because I just recently read Hemingway and he is the exact opposite. Also I have read books that are worse in this area, so it wasn't really that bad. I really liked the character of Jane Eyre. She is a great strong female character that, although she falls in love, is also independent throughout the entire book. Even in her relationship she doesn't fold to his will, but stands her ground which is one of the things that he likes most about her. I found this interesting because at the time the book was written, women were supposed to serve and submit to their husbands in all aspects. Maybe Bronte was using this characteristic of Jane to speak out against that? Or maybe it was an attribute that Bronte herself had that she wanted to be more acceptable? I don't really know that much about Bronte herself, so I don't know. Anyway, I really did like the plot of this book. It was extremely interesting, but also realistic with the amount of tragedies that do occur during a person's life. I also really liked that it had a happy ending, but not an outrageously happy ending where everything is perfect after a couple hundred pages of everything going wrong. It was realistic in the fact that the characters end up happy, but not with perfect lives. Great work. Rating

Now that you say that about only the footnotes getting larger makes me think that kindle thinks each page is a picture. Which would make sense considering the type of book it is. I'm sure if you downloaded the Guiness Book of World Records or something similar it would be the same way. Good advice for anyone wanting a book like that. Do not buy on kindle

That's so weird that they would change it like that. Especially considering that all kindles are relatively small. And if it still looks small on a computer screen that is awful. I wonder if there is some sort of contact that you can complain to?

Because it's an informational book, I could see that happening. Is there not any settings that could change that? If I do buy it, I will definitely buy it as a physical book now that I know this is a problem. I'm sure it wasn't cheap either, because these types of books never are.

YES! I love spreadsheets full of data. It's kind of exciting

I can just imagine the things that Leslie would say in a book about Pawnee. Just another reason that Amy Poehler is one of my favorite people ever

I've spent a couple hours so far tonight logging all the books I have read on excel, which was one of my goals for the year. I'm hoping to finish tonight, but at the moment it is pretty basic. I hope to add page numbers and other info in the end. Right now I only have title, author, real/kindle, owned/libary, and rating. I also have dates added but only my 2015 reads I actually know the date I read them. I hope to finish this project soon

WHAAAAT?!! That's so awesome! I have to read that I also want to read her other book, which I think is an autobiography. edit: by her I mean Amy Poehler not Leslie Knope

Wait her husband was Robert Browning? I didn't know that. I'm hoping to start reading the poems soon. Have not been very motivated lately...

I wasn't necessarily looking for just dystopian; I just wasn't sure what genre they were and know that you have posted a lot about dystopians. Thanks for the tips

This book sounds really interesting! I have seen many people posting about it and I was curious. Now that I've read the synopsis, I think I'm going to see if it's available at my local library

Wow thank you for all these suggestions. I think it's awesome that indie and self-published authors have so much opportunity because of technology. I would not mind supporting someone like that either. Are all of these dystopian or a bunch of different stuff?

Yes I suppose that is true. In our "real world" it's so big that after schooling people spread all over the place. There isn't so much spreading in the magical world and that contributes to their closeness.

I think for me I prefer to read the classics as real books because they are so many editions and that way I can choose the edition I want and because the classics were written before the whole e-era, I feel like it connects me more to the people who have read the same book in the past. I wish I loved kindle more because it is really convenient, but I just love holding books

In the books, I definitely preferred Ron and Hermione to Harry and Hermoine. However in the movies when Ron leaves them during the 7th movie(?) there is a lot of chemistry between Hermione and Harry that made it seem like they might actually be good together. I also thought the final chapter seemed superfluous. It seems odd and unlikely that they would all get together and stay together after going to school together. Certainly, just like in the real world, school (high school or university) relationships often don't last.

I have been reading Jane Eyre for about a week now and I'm quite enjoying it. Most of the week I haven't had time to read it because I've been so busy, but as of yesterday I'm on spring break! So hopefully I can finish out the book in the next few days. The plot is awesome

All three sound like good reads, are they available for free anywhere or did you purchase them? Just curious because they are sort of an awkward length between book and short story.

Mine is always way behind or totally wrong. Like I'm not even sure what is down there right now. Its such a pain to go and change it every time I start a new book. And I kind of forget about it a lot. . .

Yes. And I have not read much in that area, but the whole idea of it intrigues me, so I'm looking forward to it.

I don't know why but that review made me feel like it was a book that a twelve year old girl picks up at the school bookfair because her parents tell her to buy a book