BSchultz19 Posted October 31, 2013 Author Share Posted October 31, 2013 The Grapes of Wrath I enjoyed reading this book and read it a lot quicker than I expected. It is about a family in the 1800s that is run out of their home and off their land. They have been told that California is full of jobs and beautiful land, so the family heads west. They encounter many problems along the way, and when they reach California they discover that it is not what they expected. Because of their high expectations, the Joad family is disappointed and has to learn to live off of very little money. Many different conflicts come up and in the end the conflicts are not resolved cleanly. The reader is left wondering what happens to the Joads. When I read the last paragraph I was left thinking that the family was going to survive and be okay, but others might assume different things. It was a very good book and is the second or third book of Steinbeck's that I have read. I enjoy his style of writing and the way he tells the story. He is descriptive but uses unconventional ways of writing which I enjoy. 4.8/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSchultz19 Posted October 31, 2013 Author Share Posted October 31, 2013 I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it . I have most books by Dickens on my shelf (I think?), I've yet to read any as classics intimidate me. I'm hearing good things about Dickens though so when I'm in the mood for it I' might pick up Oliver Twist, because it's not so big and because I know the story of it a bit. You've written a lot of stuff about the book! Did you have to analyse it for themes etc? We didn't analyze for themes because it is a writing class. We had to write about the style of the author and the tools of description that he or she used. Because I chose Dickens, there was a lot to say about his style and description. Lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobblybear Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 I'm reading The Grapes of Wrath now. It has lingered on my bookshelf for about 15 years so it's high time I got around to it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSchultz19 Posted November 1, 2013 Author Share Posted November 1, 2013 I'm reading The Grapes of Wrath now. It has lingered on my bookshelf for about 15 years so it's high time I got around to it! I really enjoyed it. When I got the book and began reading it I thought it would be a typical classic. Great writing, but a little bit harder to get through than other books. I was happily surprised when I got into the middle of the book and couldn't put it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSchultz19 Posted November 6, 2013 Author Share Posted November 6, 2013 I reallly realllly realllly loved this book. The worst part about reading this book is that I wanted to read it at all times. Unfortunately my schedule did not agree. It took me less than a week to finish, but if I had all the time I wanted I could have finished in less than a day. If you haven't heard of it or read it, it's about a girl named Margo and a boy who used to be her best friend next door neighbor named Quentin. Margo and Quentin spend one great night together, but she disappears the next morning. Quentin goes on a long journey to find the girl he thinks he is in love with. He does find Margo, but more importantly, he finds himself. This book has been bumped up to one of my top five all time favorite books. It's the first John Green that I've read so I look forward to reading more from him because I absolutely loved it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 I'm glad to hear you liked Paper Towns! It's on my shelf but I haven't read it yet. I loved The Fault in Our Stars though so I have high hopes for this one. Nice review . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobblybear Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 I really liked Paper Towns as well, but wasn't as fond of The Fault In Our Stars, although most people seem to prefer that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSchultz19 Posted November 9, 2013 Author Share Posted November 9, 2013 I have been reading The Catcher in the Rye and I'm not too far in yet, but I carry it with me to school so I can read during any free time I have. So far three or four people have asked me why and how I am reading it because either they didn't like it, they heard it was bad, or they couldn't get into it. Personally, I like it so far. There is a lot of unnecessary use of the word damn, but I understand why it is used considering the narrator is a 16 year old boy with a terrible attitude about life. It gets a little annoying though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 It's on my wishlist, I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it so far . I think the overusage of the word damn would bother me as well, glad it's enjoyable aside from that though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSchultz19 Posted November 17, 2013 Author Share Posted November 17, 2013 The Catcher in the Rye It was an enjoyable read for me, but I never really understood the point of it all. I get that Holden is supposed to represent the typical teenager striving for independence in a world that doesn't make sense. I just don't see a plot line in the book. There is no conflict, no climax, no resolution or ending. To me, it seemed more like a character description or something. I liked reading it, but would have liked it more if it had an actual plot line that I could follow. The entire book I kept waiting for the conflict and climax to happen. Then I realized I had 10 pages left and I still hadn't seen any real plot. I would LOVE to hear (read) your personal thoughts about this book. As a teenager, I felt a small relation to Holden, but I also consider myself an overachiever in academics sort of the opposite of Holden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSchultz19 Posted December 5, 2013 Author Share Posted December 5, 2013 The Sun Also Rises I enjoyed this book very much. I love Hemingway's style. It's great prose but also very easy to read. It had a good plot and some very interesting characters all entwined in one story. The book is about a man named Jake and is set in the early 20th century. Jake fought in the war and suffered an injury which is never directly stated as but seems to hint towards the fact of him being impotent. Jake and a woman named Brett are in love, but for the obvious reason she cannot be with him nor him with her. She is married in the book, but also engaged to another mane. Needless to say, she gets around. Another man named Robert Cohn is pretty much a class A douchebag writer who ends up hooking up with Brett once and becoming obsessed. The entire group goes to Spain for a bull fighting festival. Brett falls a young bullfighter with a great amount of skill. Because of her being "attached" to so many men chaos ensues. It was a really good book and I would definitely recommend it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSchultz19 Posted December 5, 2013 Author Share Posted December 5, 2013 Looking For Alaska This book was amazing amazing amazing, but incredibly sad. I found myself near tears more than a couple times throughout the book. I won't give away anything in case anyone reading this has not read the book. So basically the book is separated into two parts. The first half of the book is titled "before" and the second part is titled "after" and the chapters are titled as the number of days before or the number of days after. There is a big event that happens in the middle so I'll just talk about the before part of the book. A skinny kid from Florida goes to boarding school and gets the nickname Pudge from his roommate. His roommate has a friend named Alaska who is hot. Pudge immediately likes her, but she has a boyfriend. A lot of typical high school activity goes on throughout the before part and Pudge falls deeper in love with Alaska. She is, however, deeply depressed. Pudge doesn't care and only sees Alaska in the light he wants to. Until the big event happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marie H Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 This book was amazing amazing amazing, but incredibly sad. I found myself near tears more than a couple times throughout the book. I won't give away anything in case anyone reading this has not read the book. So basically the book is separated into two parts. The first half of the book is titled "before" and the second part is titled "after" and the chapters are titled as the number of days before or the number of days after. There is a big event that happens in the middle so I'll just talk about the before part of the book. A skinny kid from Florida goes to boarding school and gets the nickname Pudge from his roommate. His roommate has a friend named Alaska who is hot. Pudge immediately likes her, but she has a boyfriend. A lot of typical high school activity goes on throughout the before part and Pudge falls deeper in love with Alaska. She is, however, deeply depressed. Pudge doesn't care and only sees Alaska in the light he wants to. Until the big event happens. Well, it's on my wishlist now !. Sounds like I will need a box of tissues handy though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 Nice reviews! They both sound intruiging . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted December 11, 2013 Share Posted December 11, 2013 I bought Looking for Alaska as a gift for a friend today, so good to hear such a glowing review! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaraPepparkaka Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 I have only read "The fault in our stars" by John Green. I definately liked that one. Nice to see there might be more books by him to read! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 B -- A couple comments ,as far as Catcher in the Rye, I agree. Totally pointless. I never "got it " . I read it maybe a few years ago ,so I'm WAY past my teen years, but it never clicked for me ... I know some people really like it ,and that's ok with me, it just didn't do anything for me .. A BLANK . As for Grapes of Wrath : LOVE Steinbeck .I like East of Eden more than this one, but this was good. Now for the ending : The ending paragraph has always bugged me .. The entire book was a downer, but it can't hardly be Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm considering the time frame of the book .The ending kind of made me drop my grade on it a bit .. Just ODD .I sorta took it to mean that they probably would go on to survive, but that they would continue to be ..ummmm,how to word this in proper manner ... LIFE would continue to physically drain the life out of them .Sorry, if I were wording it in my Hillbilly way, I would have worded it a bit more graphically .. I'm an old lady ,so I have to behave myself . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSchultz19 Posted December 14, 2013 Author Share Posted December 14, 2013 B -- A couple comments ,as far as Catcher in the Rye, I agree. Totally pointless. I never "got it " . I read it maybe a few years ago ,so I'm WAY past my teen years, but it never clicked for me ... I know some people really like it ,and that's ok with me, it just didn't do anything for me .. A BLANK . As for Grapes of Wrath : LOVE Steinbeck .I like East of Eden more than this one, but this was good. Now for the ending : The ending paragraph has always bugged me .. The entire book was a downer, but it can't hardly be Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm considering the time frame of the book . The ending kind of made me drop my grade on it a bit .. Just ODD . I sorta took it to mean that they probably would go on to survive, but that they would continue to be ..ummmm,how to word this in proper manner ... LIFE would continue to physically drain the life out of them . Sorry, if I were wording it in my Hillbilly way, I would have worded it a bit more graphically .. I'm an old lady ,so I have to behave myself . Yeah, I am in my teens and never understood the whole idea of the book. It doesn't even have a plot really. I kept waiting and waiting for some sort of plot to show up, but it never did. Also, I agree. A very odd ending, but not bad. It allows the reader to think more about the book and characters even after finishing the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSchultz19 Posted December 26, 2013 Author Share Posted December 26, 2013 I just finished reading The Fault in Our Stars a couple minutes ago and my immediate reaction after finishing the book was literally "wow" after which I just sat on my bed thinking about the reading experience I just went through. The Fault in Our Stars is unlike most of the other books that I have read. It is a very realistic story about teenagers just like the other two John Green books that I have read recently. The only difference is that the two main characters in this novel have cancer. Now I personally have never had cancer and hope I never do although the odds are against me, but this book really makes a person think about themselves. It addresses the, excuse my language, bullshit that people say to those about to die. It's amazing that a writer can even go into the depths that Green went into. It was a great novel and I would recommend it to anyone. Its not the best book that I've ever read, but its message is great. It also has some of my favorite quotes ever. Here's a couple: "I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, then all at once" "My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations" "But it is the nature of stars to cross, and never was Shakespeare more wrong than when he has Cassius note, ‘The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars / But in ourselves." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 I'm glad you loved The Fault in Our Stars, I loved it too ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSchultz19 Posted December 31, 2013 Author Share Posted December 31, 2013 Finished the first Sherlock Holmes novel, A Study in Scarlet a few days ago. I'm slowly working my way through the entire Sherlock Holmes collection. I enjoyed the novel and look forward to reading more of Sherlock's adventures. I can tell that it's only getting started. I finished The Perks of being a Wallflower yesterday and really liked it. I love the way it so accurately represents life in high school for a kid that doesn't really fit in. He's got a lot of problems and in the end of the book, the reader discovers why. I love how the book is so honest and not afraid to talk about the topics that sometimes seem difficult to address. I've never experienced anything quite like any of the characters in the book, but I think I understand what they went through. It was a touching book. I am looking forward to watching the movie in the near future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 I'm glad to hear you liked both books ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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