Blog Reflection

I really enjoyed blogging as I have in the past. I love reading and believe I am a good reader. I think having to do these blogs as even strengthened my reading skills. I usually read a lot in the summers, but then in the school year I get caught up in the homework and everything involved with school and don't feel like I have time to read. Having to read as homework keeps me reading. I know some people didn't like blogging, but I still think is something that should be done. I would not stop having your classes do them. I think they are beneficial for everyone and can help the not-so-good readers stregthen thier reading skills. In the future I plan on continuuing to read. I love to read right before bed and think that I will feel like I have more time once I don't have homework all the time. I think that I may even use this in my classroom. I think it would be really neat if I could have my students read and then write about their reading in a journal. I would not grade what they write, but I would grade it for participation. I think it would be useful for helping my students improve their reading skills and their feelings about reading. The reading blogs have really taught me a lot and I hope I can do the same for my own students.

Week 13

This week I read for about two hours from the book, The Man Who Loved Clowns by June Rae Wood. The book was so good! I read it in one sitting because I could not put it down. It was about a girl named Delrita and her Uncle, Punky. Punky has Down syndrome so Delrita is always trying to hide him from the world. She loves her uncle so much, but she is also ashamed of him. Together they go through a lot of life changing events. Delritas parents, which are punky's sister and brother-in-law, die instantly in a car accident so they have to live with Punky's brother and his wife. This is a big change for them and they have trouble adjusting to it. In the end Punky also dies just months after Delrita's parents died. Delrita was very upset, but learned a lot after his death. At the burial site a parade of people came to grieve over Punky. They showed Delrita that there are people who saw Punky as more than a man to make fun of. She realizes that Punky opened his wings and made a life for himself and now she needed to do the same thing. There were parts of the book that made me want to quit reading, but I never did. When Delrita's parents died I cried and thought to myself that this book is depressing and that I didn't want to read anymore, but I could help but read on. Then, at the end of the book when Punky died, I felt like that was the end of the book. the story went on though, so I too kept reading. This is a book that I am going to buy. I think it would be a good one to add to my class library even though not all the students in the age group I want to teach will be able to read it. I think it shows that there is more to a person than how they look on the outside.

Week 12

I read for about 3 hours this week. In the reading, many changes took place. Macy still hates the library job, but is loving working for Delia. She helped Delia make a bunch of sandwiches when Delia was in a bind and found out all about how the company started. Delia's sister, which was Bert and Wes's mother actually started the business, but Delia took it over when her sister died from Cancer. So, Macy found out about the boys' mother and about Wes's past problems. He was a troublemaker until his mother got sick and then completely turned around. Macy has a major crush on Wes so I think it was good for her to know she can relate with him because they both lost a parent. She hadn't told anyone about her father, but everyone found out one night. Macy was always invited to go out with her coworkers from Wishbone Catering but always turned them down. One night she decided she needed change and went out with them. They went to a popular hang out and she ran into a girl from her highschool. This girl blabbed about Macy's dad so everyone found out. Nobody reacted weird though which is something Macy isn't use to. She always gets the "poor thing" look and nobody gave that to her. Later it's just her and Wes and they both talk about the deaths of their parents a little. I think this is good for macy. She has always felt like she couldn't talk about her problems, but has now found people she could talk to. She even told the girls about her and Jason and they made her realize he wasn't all she thought he was. She really needed some good friends and I think she has found some. She relied on Jason and all of his friends, but never had any of her own. i have seen people like this and I just feel bad for them. I don't really understand how a girl can be so dependent on a guy and basically revolve her life around him. Next week I will probably take a break from reading The Truth About Forever so that I can read the book The Man Who Loved Clowns. I have to read a novel about an exceptionality for class and last year I was told that this book was really good and put it on my reading list, so I figure now is the perfect opportunity to read it.

Week 11

This week I read The Truth About Forever for a little over two hours. Macy had started her job at the library and hated it. The other two girls who worked there treated her poorly and acted as if she could only answer questions about nonsense. May emailed Jason telling him about this and he got defensive and said her problems were juvenile and that she needed to work her problems out, not tell him about them. She emailed him back saying she understood what he meant and at the end she said "I Love You." They had never said this to each other before, but she really felt like they said in nonverbally. When Jason emailed back he broke up with Macy. Macy didn't tell her mother about this and pretended like everything was okay. Macy was really upset and decided to go driving and she rain into the Wishbone Catering van. Since Delia, the owner, had previously offered her a job she decided to follow it. Delia put her to work that night. This was fun and out of the ordinary for Macy. She began workning more often, while still working at the library. I left off with Macy's older sister visiting and trying to convince their mother to fix up their dad's beach house. It had been sitting unoccupied since their dad died. I didn't find out a decision, but I am hoping to find one out in this next week. I think Macy's mom is way too absorbed into work and Macy is too absorbed into studying that it would be a nice break for both of them. I really enjoy how this book is so realistic. All of the things can and probably have happened to real people somewhere. I think it is neat to think about that as I read.

Week 10

So this week was a little interesting when it came to reading. Lasto t week I started the book Along For the Ride but I left it in Wichita when I went home. I didn't read at all Monday through Friday because I didn't have my book. When I went home on Friday, I couldn't find my book. I asked my husband, DJ if he had seen it and he said he thought he might have packed it. We are getting ready to move out of our apartment in Wichita since he is getting deployed and he packed up the book case and all the random books around the apartment. I decided I would just open the box and get it out, but then found out he had taken a small load Park City, which is where we are storing our stuff, that day. So that left me in a bind. It was already Friday and I hadn't read for the week, so I went to Borders. I bought a new book, also by Sarah Dessen, and the name of it is The Truth About Forever. I only read for the required 90 minutes this week since I wazs on a time crunch, but I am enjoying the book so far. It is about a girl named Macy. It starts off with Macy telling how she had trouble communicating since "it happened." She could barely read and write anymore and she even got the letters mixed up in her own name. Then she met Jason who broke Macbeth down into terms she could understand. From there on out the became good friends and are now dating. Jason was leaving for camp and Macy was taking over his job at the library for the summer. She talks a lot about how perfect Jason is and how she too is striving to be perfect. Then she talks about what had happened that was so traumatizing to her. Her father died in a race that she and he were running. She saw him die and her life changed after that. I have never experienced a traumatic death in my family so I can't even begin to imagine what she is going through. I have had a grandpa die and a couple of great aunts, but nobody in my immediate family. It really makes me feel bad for her even though she says that everyone looks at her in a "you poor thing" way. She doesn't want people to know her as the girl whose father died. I didn't get real far into the book, but I remembered to bring it back to Winfield with me this week. I will have to check Along for the Ride out after I finish this book so I can read more.

Week 9

I finished the book Gifts this week and started a new book called Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen. I read for an hour and a half this week. Gifts was pretty much more similiar stories, so I don't really have a lot to say about it. I haven't gotten very far in Along for the Ride, but it is interesting so far. It starts with a girl named Auden as she is reading an email from her stepmother, Heidi. Her stepmother is about to have a baby and invites Auden to come visit. Then it goes on to talk about what her mother thinks of Heidi and her marriage with Auden's father. Auden's mother seems to be bitter about the divorce still. The divorce is what lead Auden to become an insomniac. Her parents would be up fighting really late and Auden didn't want to listen to it so she would slip out and go to Ray's Diner and have coffee. This became a habit and now she is an insomniac. I really liked the part in the story where she talked about how she had seen many of her friends' parents split up and all of them handled it differently. My parents are going through a divorce right now and I look at my two sisters and myself and we all are handling it in our own unique ways. Auden really didn't feel anything when her parents split up. She wasn't surprised and was almost relieved. One day a girl show's up with a gift for Auden and it turned out to be her brother's girlfriend. He had gotten her a frame that said "Best of Times." She had just graduated and this gift encouraged her to go to her dad's for the summer. That was about all I had read so far. It seems pretty good though. I like that Sarah Dessen's stories are always about someone people can relate to in some way.

Week 8

This week I continued reading from the book Gifts and read it for about an hour and a half. Many of the stories are pretty similiar, but they are all pretty interesting. I like that they are real life struggles because it makes me feel for the parents of these children. They talk about the financial burdens, losing faith, the thought of abortion, and many other things that go along with having a child with Down syndrome. Before reading this book, I didn't realize all the health problems that are common along with Down Syndrome. This book tells about these problems and all the time and money they take. The book also addresses how others react towards these children and sometimes its not always positive. Some schools and programs even refused children because of their disability. I think this is horrible and would hate that feeling if i were the parent. I use to have a misconception about people with Down Syndrome, in that they couldn't do the same things that I could. Reading this book has taught me that they can do things just as I do, it just may take them longer to do it. I am glad I am reading this book. It has really taught me a lot. I plan on finishing the book this week.

Week 7

This week I read for about 4 hours. I finished the boo, Lock and Key and started the book Gifts: Mothers Reflect on How Children with Down Syndrome Enrich Their Lives. So much happened in Lock and Key. Ruby and Nate were sort of dating for a while. They weren't official, but they met every night by the pond and spent any spare time with each other. Ruby found out that Nate's father was hitting him and yelling at him all the time and tried to help. Nate wouldn't let her help and kept saying he was fine, so Ruby ended things with him. Later she realized she needed to be there for him and went to talk to him but found out he had run away. She ended up finding him and he gave in to telling someone. He stayed at Cora and Jamie's house until he left to live with his mom in Arizona. When he left, Ruby gave him her key that she always wore around her neck to help him remember her. Ruby graduated and got accepted to the U, which was a college near by. The book ended by Ruby describing what a family is, now that she really experienced having one. Gifts is a book that consists of letters that mother's write about their child who has Down Syndrome. It is amazing how parents' feeling towards Down Syndrome change once they have a child who has it. Most of the stories start with the day they found out their baby had or would have Down Syndrome. All of the parents cried when they found out but now realize that it was a blessing. In a lot of the stories the doctors recommended patients terminate their pregnancy if they found out before birth. I was really shocked by this. I think that is a decision for the parents to make and that nurses, doctors, and others should not try to influence those decisions. One story even said that the doctor who did the sonogram informed the patients OBGYN that they wanted to terminate when the patient never even said that. I would be so mad if that happened to me. I really hope that when I am ready to have kids that I will have kids without any complications or disabilities, but I think reading this book may help me accept any problems a little better.

Week 6

I read for about two hours this week and so much happened. The day Ruby skipped school Olivia dropped her off at her old school, Jackson, where she met up with her freinds ex boyfriend. While with him she drank alcohol and smoked pot. She got stupid and went to her ex boyfriends house and caught him with her best friend. She left in a hurry and ended up passing out in the woods. Olivia was smart and told Nate where she dropped Ruby off and he went looking for her. he found her and took her home, but Cora and Jamie were furious. Jamie was really hard on Ruby and wouldn't even talk to her for days. Ruby and Olivia became really good friends and Olivia helped Ruby realize that Nate is her friend when Ruby tried to deny it. She told her that he wouldn't have came and got her out of the woods if he were not her friend. Later in the book Cora and Jamie were getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner and Cora was freaking out. It was the first time she would be preparing the food for his whole family. This experience showed Ruby what it was like to be a family. She had never experienced this before. It really makes me sad to think that not everyone knows what a family is. I grew up in a very family-oriented home and could not even imagine it not being that way. Even though this book is fictional, it is helping me realize that not everyone comes from a home like mine. This is something I will need to remember to think about especially when I start teaching. There could be days I am talking about family and all students will have different opinions about what a family is based on their home lives. I am jsut about done with the book and plan to finish it this week. I will also be starting the book Gifts this week for my exceptionalities class.

Week 5

This week I only read for about 30 minutes out of Lock and Key, but I read the book Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, which took a little over an hour. I had to read this book for Exceptionalities and didn't think I would enjoy it, but it was actually really good. It is about a boy who has AD/HD and his struggles through school. His teachers don't try to help him, instead they send him out of class, tell at him, and eventually send him to the Special Ed classroom. He does some pretty crazy things like sticking his finger in a pencil sharpener and swallowing his house key, and eventually he accidently cuts the tip of a girls nose off with a pair of scissors. this was the last string and they sent Joey to a doctor and special classes to get help. The doctor puts him on a patch, which continuously releases doses of medicine. After he is finished in his special classes and on the patch he is allowed back to school and teachers realize he is a good kid. This book really hit home with me because I could have students like this in my own classroom someday. If I do I will not treat them the way Joey's teachers did. I will do everything I can to help him succeed. It is so sad he had to go through all of that just to get people to realize he isn't a bad kid. The part of Lock and Key I read was really interesting. As far as Ruby knew, Cora moved away to college and forgot about her. That wasn't what happened at all. She found out the Cora had searched for her for years, but Ruby's mom was constantly moving and using fake names so that Cora couldn't find them. She was afraid she would lose Ruby too. This is a lot for Ruby to take in and she didn't handle it very well. I left off with her skipping school the day she found out about all of this. I am looking forward to finding out what will happen next.

Week 4

I read for about 2 hours this week. I was a little disappointed that Nate and Ruby are still just friends. I was so sure that they would end up dating or liking eachother or something. Ruby rides with Nate to and from school every day, but they are just friends. Ruby sort of made a deal with Jamie that she wouldn't completely decide against going to college for a while. She agreeed she would still apply to some colleges jsut in case she changes her mind that way she would have options. I think living with Cora and Jamie has changed Ruby for the better even though she had only been there for a few weeks. She is really starting to understand what it feels like to have a family that cares about her. Ruby met Nate's exgirlfriend at the landscaping store when she was trying to pick out a fish. Jamie had decided to build a pond in their backyard and let Ruby pick a fish that would be all hers to go in there. Ruby was surprised when Nate's ex, Heather, was super nice to her. There wasn't a lot of exciting highlights in this weeks reading. The book is still good, but it is just everyday school and home stuff that is taking place right now. I am about 3/4 of the way done with the book so I am hoping the last quarter of the book gets more exciting. I will probably get this book finished this week.

Week 3

I read for about two and a half hours this week. The book is really getting interesting. it turned out that I was right and Nate, the boy she met, did come back and play an important role in the book. He lives right behind Ruby's sister's house, so Jamie thought it would be a good idea for her to ride to school and back with Nate. She gets to know him a little and he gets to know her. He even took her to her old house to get some of her things, but never really said anything about it, even though the house was a wreck. Ruby ended up giving up on the idea of running away because she knew it was not the best thing for her. She got a job at the mall even though Cora was not so thrilled about it. She wanted Ruby to focus on school. Jamie and Cora want Ruby to go to college and Jamie brought it up to Ruby, but she had no interest whatsoever to go to college. I am really enjoying this book and am about half way done with it. This book and the other Sarah Dessen books I have read have made me curious about something. I want to know how many people actually read these books before they are published. In all of her books I have found at least two errors. I would think a lot of people read these before they are published, so i don't see how things like that are missed. Sometimes I think I am just reading them wrong, but I have showed my roommate, Liz, the errors in this book and she agrees they are definitely mistakes.

Week 2

This week was a lot busier than last week so I did all my reading yesterday and today. I read for about two hours altogether. This book is getting better and better the more I read it. Ruby is now at a new school called Perkins Day. It is a school where all the rich kids go so she doesn't think she will fit in. While she was enrolling with Jamie, her brother-in-law, she found out that he was teh CEO of the UMe website. This is a social network that is comparative to Facebook. Ruby had no idea what he or her sister did for a living until the school visit. Ruby and her sister, Cora, don't really talk much or seem to get along, but Jamie is really nice and caring towards Ruby. I think this is showing Ruby what she had been missing out on when she was living with her mom. Her mom didn't seem to really care about Ruby or want to talk to her, so this is a good change for Ruby. She is going through so many changes, but at least she ended up in a home that will create positive changes. Ruby also met a boy while trying to run away and I am assuming he will come back later in the book. I am excited to keep reading and find out if this guy plays more of a role in this story.

Week 1

I'm starting my blog all over with week 1 for this semester. Over the summer I read a few books and two of them were by Sarah Dessen. I really enjoyed the books by her, so I decided to read another one of her books to start my blog. It is called Lock and Key. It is about a 17 year old girl, Ruby, who gets taken away from her home by child services after her mom abandons her. She lives in her home by herself for quite some time before anyone even realizes she is alone. When child services take her from her home, they place her in her older sisters home. She wasn't in contact with this sister, so she really didn't know her sister or her sister's husband. Things completely change for her the. Even when her mom was around, she took care of herself and was usually alone. Now she is in her sister's house and has to learn how a household runs with rules and responsibilites. So far this book has been really interesting. I always try to imagine myself in the caharacter's position. In Ruby's case, I don't think I would handle the events happening in such a calm manner, but she does. She seems very tough emotionally. I read for about 2 hours this week. I am pretty busy most of the time but i always find time to read before bed. I usually read for 15-20 minutes right before bed and it helps me relax and fall asleep faster.

Week 13

I read for about about two hours this week. I could not believe what I read! Bella is pregant. I didn't think that could be possible. When she found out Edward arranged to go home and have Carlisle "take care of it." I do not know waht it would be like to be pregnant with a vampire's baby, but it kind of made me mad. They were planning on abortion basically. Bella did not like this idea, but she never said anything. I guess it could be harmful to Bella, especially since she couldn't be more than 17 days pregnant and was already feeling the baby kick. Maybe the vampire baby grows at an accelerated rate and would grow too large for Bella's stomach and would end up hurting her. If that's the case than I understand why Edward and Carlisle would want to take care of it. I do not know if Bella stood up for the baby or not. The book is divided into different perspectives. I ended with knowing Bella and Edward were headed home and then picked up with Jacob's story. I really like that the book is set up this way but it just left me hanging. It makes me want to flip through the pages until I find something mentioning the baby. Jacob's part of the book has been pretty boring so far. There isn't a lot of excitement, just him worried and wondering about Bella. I'm hoping that Bella comes back and he tells his side of waht is going on with the preganacy. I cannot wait for these next two weeks to be over so I can just sit down and finish the book without having to manage my time with homework. I am excited to find out what happens. I am hoping that there is some way that Bella can keep the baby. I decided that when I finish this book I want to read Gathering Blue and Messsenger by Lois Lowry. I read the giver, which is the first book in the trilogy. I didn't know it was part of a trilogy until I had to research the author to write a paper. I liked The Giver so much that I am sure I will enjoy the other two.

Week 12

This week I read for about two hours from Breaking Dawn. I finally found out where Edward took Bella for their honeymoon. He took her to Esme Isle, which was an island that Carlisle gave Esme. They stayed there for several weeks. The things that they got to do would be amazing. She got to go snorkeling, swimming with porpoises, and so many other exciting activities. Edward held up his end of their compromise, but he ended up bruising her body and did not want to do anythign again. Bella, however, wanted that part of being a himan. She made a deal with Edward that she would wait a semester at Dartmouth before being changed into a vampire if he gave her the human interaction she wanted. I think the deals that they make are a little silly. They seem to make everything into a compromise. There isn't a lot going on in this part of the book. The chapters I read are pretty much all about sex so there isn't a lot to reflect on.

Week 11

This week I read for about 3 hours, but I read The Giver instead of Breaking Dawn. I had to read The Giver for my responsibilities class. Most books that i have to read for class are books that I don't really want to read. This one was really good though. I had heard it was really good and everyone was saying that they had read it in the second grade, but I don't think I ever have. If I have read it, I don't remember doing so. I started the book not really knowing what to expect, but once I started, I couldn't put it down. The book seems so crazy to me. I could not imagine living in a world where everyone was the same and weather didn't exist. I also could not live without color! Jonas had seen the color red, but had no idea what he was seeing until the Giver gave him the memory of red. I think Jonas is very brave for recieving the memories. If I were in his situation, I would be done after the first painful memory. The good memories would probably help cover the bad, but after a while I think it would be unbearable. Oh and I hated all the rules. It's ridiculous that you can't ride a bike until you are a certain age and your hair had to be neatly tied in ribbons. I also didn't like that they had to tell their dreams every morning. Some dreams would be personal and I wouldn't want to share them all. Overall, I really liked the book and am glad I had to buy it. Now, I can add it to my collection of books that I can put in my classrooom library someday. As for Breaking Dawn, I didn't get to find out where she went for her honeymoon, but I am going to pick up where I left off last week.

Week 10

I read for about 3 hours this week. I found that it is getting harder and harder to make time to just read. As the semester gets close to the end I get more and more stressed and I read less. I love getting wrapped up in a book, but it is hard to do when I know I have a million other things to do. This week's reading was probably one of my favorites. I read about Bella getting married and it was so descriptive that I could picture what it was like. I thought it was weird that Bella didn't want to get married at first. Don't all girls dream of their wedding day? She was so against it at first, but when it actually happened she was happy. The way the wedding was described made it sound so perfect. Alice put a lot of time into decorating the house and getting Bella ready for her big day. It makes me hope that when I get married I have someone great like Alice to help with all the plans! I was glad that Jacob showed up to the wedding. It made Bella feel a lot better, but then she told him that she and Edward planned on having an "actual honeymoon" and Jacob got mad. I was a little mad that Bella chose to share that with him. It was personal information and she should've known it would make Jacob mad. It made things end badly between her and Jacob. I am hoping she gets a chance to patch things up before she is turned into a vampire. I am excited to keep reading because I want to know where Edward is taking Bella for their honeymoon. It is a surprise for her but I really want to know!

Week 9

I read for about 3 hours this week and finished reading Eclipse. In my reading, Bella realized she loved Edward and Jacob. I was beginning to get frustrated with her. I thought she should have just told Jacob that Edward was "the one" for her and spare him the run around. Instead, she kissed him and admitted that she loved him. That just makes things harder for everyone. I also read about the the fight with the newborn vampires. It was so intense! I was reading and began to tense up and get worried. Then Jacob got hurt and i didn't know anything else. I didn't know if he lived or died and it really freaked me out. I figured there was no way they would have killed him off, but at the time I was still a little worried. I am really excited that Bella agreed to marry Edward, but i hope she doesn't back out. I thought it was really sweet that he gave her his mother's ring. He has a ton of money and could have gone and bought a ring, but it is more meaningful for him to give her his mother's. I am really curious how Charlie and Renee are going to react to this engagement. I can't start reading Breaking Dawn so I can hopefully find out!

Week 8

I am almost finished with the Eclipse, but not quite there yet. This week's reading habits were a lot different than my usual reading habits. Usually, I have free time during the day and I just read and read. This week it seemed as though there wasn't any spare time to read so I did all of my reading at night before bed. I read right at 90 minutes this week. That is not much for me compared to other weeks. I like reading for hours at a time, because I get so wrapped up in the book. I just couldn't manage to do that this week. Reading right before bed also made me have crazy dreams! One night I was reading and I left off on the part where the werewolves and the Cullens are planning their fight with the newborns. That night I dreamed about vampires and werewolves fighting newborn vampires. I have no idea what the newborns look like, but I dreamed they were nasty and dirty. Their clothes were rags and they looked so evil. In my dream the vampires fighting the newborns were not the Cullens though. They were my friends and family. It was so weird! I woke up in the middle of the night several times , but as soon as I went back to sleep I was dreaming about it again. I wasn't really scared when I woke up in the middle of the night, just a little weirded out.

Week 7

I completely forgot to post my blog for last week! The beginning of Spring break has already been pretty busy and it just slipped my mind. I did read a lot last week though. I started on Eclipse and am already over halfway through the book. I read for more hours than I can count! I only read Monday, Tuesday, and a little on Wednesday. The end of the week became very busy so I didn't get any reading in. I am guessing I will finishr the book by the end of this week, but not certain. I am working over break and when I get home i am always so tired. That job seriously just sucks the energy out of me! This book is so much better for me than the other two. The other two books I watched the movie before I read the books, so I already had an idea of what was coming up on the book. This book is completely new for me so it makes me want to keep reading even more just to see what is going to happen. Bella is sort of making me mad in this book. I don't like how she goes to see Jacob and holds his hand and stuff when she is with Edward. I think she just needs to make up her mind which one she wants already. This book is also a lot more mysterious than the other two. Someone was in Bella's room and took some of her stuff, but they still don't know who. I am very curious who it was. The Cullen's are also dealing with the idea of fighting some young vampires so that the Volturi doesn't come. I really want to keep reading to see what happens. I get so wrapped up in the book, that just reading about the possibilities of the fight I get all tense. Today is my day off so maybe I should get started on reading and maybe I will get it finished this week.

Week 6

I read for several hours this week and finished reading Oryx and Crake. I didn't think I liked the book at first, but once everything was revealed it was a lot better. It was so confusing and I couldn't figure out why Jimmy was the only human left, only he wasnt really the only human. All of this became clear towards the end of the book. Speaking of the ending, I hated it! It totally left me hanging. He found these other three humans and is trying to decide what to do, but the book ends and you don't find out what he did. Does he kill them? Do they share stories? I don't like when book ends that way. There is a sequel to it, so I might read it just to see if it says what he decided to do. I'm not really in to these kind of futuristic, science type books, but the way Margaret Atwood structures the story, it left me wanting to know more. It frustrates me to not understand what is going on, but I don't think I could have read it if it didn't leave me curious. Oh and I was so mad that Crake killed Oryx! He slit her throat right there in front of Jimmy, so Jimmy shot him. I was rooting for Oryx and Jimmy, not Oryx and Crake. Crake was a horrible man. He released the plague on purpose and left Jimmy all alone with the Crakers. The only good thing he did was give Jimmy the vaccine to prevent him from getting the plague. I really liked the stories that Jimmy came up with to tell the Crakers. He was very creative about them. The part about Oryx laying two eggs, one with animals and one with words, was confusing to me until I realized it was just a story he told them. If I were in his place I would not know what to tell the Crakers about anything. I am very excited to be done with this book so I can start on Eclipse!

Week 5- Oryx and Crake

This week I started reading the book Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. I read for about two and a half hours and am not really sure I like it. It leaves me so confused that it actually makes me want to keep reading just so i can figure out what's going on. I'm not exactly sure what has happened, but I will try to summarize what I imagine is happening. For some unknown reason this guy Snowman (his real name is Jimmy) is all by himself in the woods. He has no clothing, just a sheet to cover his "manhood." He does not want to Craker kids to see it. The craker kids are some new species of humans. I'm still not quite sure what this species is, but they are said to be the perfect person and they were created by Jimmys friend Crake. Crake is very smart, but he kind of make me mad. Jimmy has flashbacks of when they were younger and when they would play games together Crake always had to win and was always right. He seemed a little annoying to me. This book is full of cursing and sexual references and I don't really like that. Conner said this book was SO good and I just don't get it. I still sort of want to continue reading it because I want to know what is going on, but I may just give up on it. The book is very futuristic in many ways. There are companies in Jimmy's flashbacks that make hybrid animals such as the rakunk (raccoon+skunk). They also have an animal called a pigoon which is like a very big pig. They used this pigoon to grow lungs that could be used for humans. Jimmy's parents both worked at one of these companies for a while then Jimmy's mom quit. She became depressed and eventually left the compound and nobody knew where she went. Jimmy received postcards from an aunt, but it wasn't really an aunt. He assumes they were from his mother. The last part i read was about Jimmy in his little tree platform. He couldn't sleep so he got down in the dark, which was dangerous, to go to his concrete slab to get Scotch. He drank the last of what he had. Then he tried to call Oryx to embody him basically. He wanted her to live through him in way so that she could please him instead of him pleasing himself. It is very WEIRD! Oryx is a girl that i am still confused about but he told the Craker kids a story about her. He said that she layed two eggs. One was full of animals and the other was full pof words. The words hatched first and all the Crakers ate them before the animals could. That is why the animals don't talk. I don't really understand this but it doesn't seem like just a story he was telling the Craker kids, because he said that he couldn't eat rabbits because they were the children of Oryx. That really sums up what I have read so far. I am going to try to read more of this book, but I may end up putting it away because it is so weird and confusing.

Week 4

I finished the book! I read for 2 hours and 15 minutes split between last night and this morning. I left off with Bella, Edward, and Alice on their way to see the Volturi. They make it to the Volturi and Aro asks Edward again if he wanted to join them. He refused, so then they asked Alice. She also refused. He even asked Bella, who also refused. Bella and the Volturu found out that Bella is the one exeption to the vampires special powers. Just as Edward could not read Bella's mind, other vampires also could not use their powers on her. Aro thought it would be great to have someone like her join them. She, of course, would have to be turned into a vampire. Edward would not let this happen and Aro knew this. He told Edward that he could do it himself as long as he meant it when he said he would. Aro would know whether or not Edward meant it using his power. Alice convinced Aro that it would happen by letting him see her thoughts and see that she had a vision of it happening. They were allowed to leave after Alice did that. The rest of the Cullens met Edward, Alice, and Bella at the airport. Rosalie apologized for everything and Bella accepted her apology. They took Bella back to Charlie's and Charlie was very upset. He told Edward he was not allowed in the house. Edward convinced him to let him get Bella in bed then he would leave. After Edward left he snuck in Bella's window. When Bella woke up she thought she was dreaming, but Edward finally convinced her she was not. They talked for a long time about everything. He told her what it was like to be apart from her. Then they talked about the Volturi's decision that she must be changed. He told her that he had a plan and she got upset and wanted to go see the other Cullens. Eward ended up taking her to see them. When she got there she made the family vote whether or not to change her, so she could be a part of their family. Tne votes were in her favor, but Edward convinced her to wait until she graduated. She agreed to that and Carlisle gave her his word that he would change her then. When they got back to Bella's, Edward asked Bella to marry him. He asked her becasue he wanted to be married before she was changed. he also said he would change her himself if she waited longer and married him. She was very skeptical about this marriage thing. Renee doesn't think a person should get married until they are thirty so she knew her mom wouldn't like that. She ended up waking Charlie up, so Edward hid in the closet. Charlie and Bella talked about Edward and how Charlie did not want her to see him. She told him that she was going to see him or else she would move out. Bella was grounded because she left with Alice, but Edward was still allowed over during specific hours. One day when Edward was taking Bella home he knew Charlie was going to be mad at her. Jacob had taken Bella's motorcycle to Charlie's and told him it was hers. As they were pulling up to the house Edward said that Jacob was in the woods and wanted to talk to them. They went there and Jacob reminded Edward about the treaty, and that if the Cullens were to bite a human, it would break the treaty. Bella reacted to this showing Jacob that they were planning on it eventually. Charlie saw Edward's car and started hollering for Bella. They hurried out of the woods to Charlie's, but that is where the book ended. I do not know what Charlie said or did. This book ended strangely. I really wanted to know how much trouble Bella was in. I'm sure I will find out in Eclipse, but I don't think I am going to start reading it right away. I am going to read Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood next.

Week 3

Last week I read Chapters 7-20, which totalled somewhere around six hours of reading. I got addicted to the book and read it any chance I got. So much happened in 13 chapters, that it is so hard to sum it up, but I will do my best... Jacob and Bella continued to hang out everyday and they finally got the bikes finished. When Bella rode hers she got startled by Edward's voice and wrecked and gashed her forehead open. They decided to take a break from the bikes so that Bella wouldn't end up in the hospital everytime she hung out with Jacob. Bella decided she wanted to go hiking to try to find the meadow that Edward had taken her to, so when they weren't riding bikes they were looking for the meadow. Bella invited Jacob to go out with her and some friends to a movie, but it ended up only being Mike, Jacob, and Bella. Mike got sick so they left early. Jacob was burning hot to the touch so Bella tought he might be getting sick too. When Jacob didn't call when he got home, Bella called him and Billy answered and said that Jacob was sick. Bella also got sick that night with the stomach flu. When she was better she called Jacob, but he was still sick. She was told that Jacob had Mono and she wasn't allowed to go over there. Bella decided to go hiking without Jacob to try to find the meadow and ended up running into Laurent. He said that Victoria sent him to scope out the land and that she was going to be disappointed that he killed her instead of her. They talked as he inched towards her and she thought she was going to die. All of a sudden a pack of HUGE wolves appeared and chased Laurent away. Bella later found out that the wolves killed Laurent. Bella still hadn't seen or talked to Jacob, so one day she decided to show up at his house. He was there hanging out with Sam and his "gang." They ended up having a small argument and she left. Later that night Jacob came to her room while she was sleeping and told her he couldn't tell her why he was hanging out with Sam. He said she already knew and that she needed to think back to the tiem he told her legends on the beach. She couldn't think of what he was talking about, so he left and she went to sleep. She had a dream that answered everything. Jacob was a warewolf! She went and talked to him the next day and she was upset because she thought they were killing innocent people. Jacob explained they only killed vampires and that the vampires were the ones killing the people. Jacob described one vampire and Bella knew right away that it was Victoria and that she was after her. This helped Jacob and the other warewolves. One night when Jacob took Bella home he smelled a vampire and knew it was in Bella's house. Bella saw Carlisle's car and insisted on going inside even though if it was Victoria, Jacob could not do anything because of the treaty. It ended up being Alice. Alice cam because she had a vision of Bella jumping off the cliffs and thought she had died. Alice stayed over there for a couple of days. One day Jacob came over and he and Bella were talking when the phone rang. Jacob answered it and said that Charlie was not there and that he was at the funeral. It ended up being Edward and Edward had found out about Alice's vision and wanted to see if Bella was still alive. Jacob's response made him think that Bella really did die and he decided to provoke the Volturi so that he could die too. Bella and Alice left go to Italy to stop Edward. They took a plane and then stole a car, but they made it to Volterra. Alice saw a vision that Edward would reveal himself at noon under the clock tower. Bella had just minutes to find him, but she did. Edward had not yet revealed himself but was still forced to go back to see the Volturi along with Alice and Bella. That is where I left off, and I am sure I missed a lot of information, but it is way too much to include all the details! I only have 3 more chapters and the epilogue left, so i plan on finishing the book this week.

Week 2

This week I read chapters 3-6, for a total of about two hours. A lot happened in these three chapters. Edward decided because of the incident with his family and Bella, that he was not good for Bella. He went and told Bella that he and the other Cullens were leaving town and that he would never see her again. Bella spent the next several months depressed and lifeless. Charlie decided she should go live with her mom, but Bella refused. To make her dad happt she went out with Jessica to a movie, but still constantly thought about Edward. That night she started to walk toward some strange men on motorcycles and she heard Edward's voice warn her not to go. From this point, Bella realized she had to do things that were reckless and stupid to keep Edward in her life. Bella ended up getting two motorcycles for free. They did not run, but she had an idea. She decided to ask Jacob Black to help her fix them. She went to Jacob's house everyday to work on the bikes, but they did it secretly so that Cahrlie and Billy would not find out. They decided that they had to spend at least two nights a week doing homework, rather than working on the bikes. Working with Jacob was something that Bella actually looked forward to. She was "normal" when she was with him. She didn't have to pretend to listen or smile, it just happened. Even when Bella was not with Jacob, she was better than she had been. She was actually talking to her old friends again. She still had nighmares and thought about Edward, especially in her free time, but she was getting better.

Chapters 1 & 2

This week I started reading New Moon. I read Twilight last semester, so I thought it was appropriate for me to keep going with the series. I was a bit skeptical about this series at first, but so many people had such great things to say about it, that I decided to give it a shot. I was glad that I enjoyed Twilight and was hoping that New Moon would be just as good. Sure enough, I am already hooked! I read the first two chapters and they were pretty exciting. Bella turned 18 and the Cullen's decided to throw her a little party. While Bella was opening a present she got a paper cut from the wrapping paper and things got chaotic! Jasper smelled the blood and tried to attack Bella. Luckily, Edward was there to shove Bella out of the way. Bella was thrown onto the table which was covered with plates and the cake. Bella ended up landing in a mess of shattered glass and cut her arm pretty bad. This made it hard for all of the Cullens except for Carlisle. He was able to stitch Bella up without any trouble. While Bella was getting her stitches she asked Carlisle how he managed to be around blood and not seem to be fased by it. This question led into why he decided to change Edward into a vampire. He explained it a lot better, with more detail than Edward did in Twilight.