The Jane Austen Book Club

Recently in my Readers Choice class, we watched The Jane Austen Book Club. I wasn't really a fan of the movie, but I didn't hate it either.  It did a good job showing how a book can change a couples lives, from good to bad.  It also did a good job how they find unexpected wisdom and guidance from reading the books.  It did not like how I knew nothing about the books they were talking about, and I would of like it if they would of explained it more.  I would recommend it to a person that is part of a book club or a person that reads a lot. This is because they should have connections they could make to similar experiences.

I feel as though when life imitates art is something we don't thing or hear about a lot.  I feel sometimes when reading a book I come across a something I would like to do in the future, and get motivation from reading about it to make it happen.  I felt this when reading The death of Ayrton Senna.  This is because I have always had a passion for cars, and racing.  Reading about Senna's career I felt motivated to get into racing cars, or go-Karts, where he started, in the future.

Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone

Daniel James Brown is a author I haven't heard about until I read one of his books, Boys in the Boat.  To start off I am yet to read a story focus sports, they just haven't appealed to me.  Having friends that go to another school and compete in there rowing programs, I thought it might go well, knowing people that know the sport.

I was very surprised on how good the book was.  I really liked it, the book told the story of nine Americans starting there freshman rowing season to there gold in the 1936 Berlin Olympic games.  I like the journey it told of the team and how hard they worked up there way to the top of there game. I really enjoyed reading this book, it had some good cliff hangers, on how they were going to do in a race or what was next for the team.  

If not for the assignment,  I would not have got a love for the genre.  I am glad I had to force my self in the beginning to start reading it, now that I am finished with the book.

Author Visit

Its not every day you get to meet the author of a book you read, a few weeks ago I got that opportunity.  In my English, class we read Orphan Train, Telling  telling the story of a orphan Train rider.  The Author Christina Baker Kline, then came to our school to give a talk about the book.  The Kline talked to us about the amount of time she spent doing research on the book. She she attended Orphan Train reunions, and interviewed the last of the Orphan Train riders.  The book ended up having some connections I didn't ever realize that would be in the book.  These mostly came from Jane Eyre and The Wizard of Oz.


It was very interesting for me to be able to hear an author talk about her book. This is because she talked about the work she did prior to writing the book, and how she did her homework to make sure the end product is very good.  Also, it was great to have the opportunity to communicate with an author, and relate to it.  You were also able to ask them questions that can not be answered  through reading the book.


Her presentation had some influence over my interpretation of the book. I felt with the knowledge I gained through her presentation I was able to relate to the book, and figure out why some things happened the way the happened.  I thought it was very interesting how some passengers on the trains thought that they were the only train ever going to the mid west with orphans, and never really talked about cause of embarrassment.  This changed how I felt about a few point in the book.    

Overall, I enjoyed listening to the author about her presentation on the book, Orphan Train.

Science Fiction

My favorite genre is Science Fiction.  Science fiction is a literary genre of fiction that contains a heavy plot focus on futuristic science and ideas. The science found in science fiction books is always based on studied theory and the prospect of futuristic science. What I like about it is the futuristic part of it. The fact that what I am reading about might be possible in the future, I find very cool.  I also like the highly scientific and theory based part of it.  It is also very broad, so you never know what the range in plot is going to be. This is because Science Fiction is a very broad genre with many sub genres.

  
The book The Martian, by Andy Weir, is my favorite Science Fiction books. It is referred to as one of the best science fiction books in a while, by The Wall Street Journal. The book seems like it is almost completely scientifically accurate. Weir seem to have done a lot of calculations and research to make sure all made sense.  The way the author told the story, was very well done. Being that the chapters are not too long and there are cliff hangers from chapter to chapter at time made it a page turner.

The Book Ender's Game by, Orson Scott Card is one of my favorite Science Fiction Books. It is set in Earth's future, the book starts out with two conflicts with two different alien species.  The main character, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, is bred to be a genius, is drafted to Battle School where he trains to lead the century-long fight against the alien Buggers.

Orphan Train Reaction

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline was an interesting book.  The book starts out from the perceptive of a foster care teen, Molly, she needs to get service hours at Vivian house to keep out of Juvy.  The book goes back and forth from being told by Vivian's early childhood and Molly.  At times especially in Molly's perspective it can become very boring; I fell asleep reading it.  In Vivian perceptive, I felt that it can become a page turner, and interesting at times.  The chapters are short, which makes it easy to just say one more chapter.

The Art of Racing in the Rain

I decided to read The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein.  This book was recommended to me by one of my friends. He said I would like, it because I like dogs and cars.  He said that it was a fast and enjoyable read. With those comments about the book, I decided to give it a try.

When I first started reading this book, I thought that it was going to be boring, but I was wrong.  It was a great read, with funny and sad parts.  The point of view from the book is told from a perspective of a dog, named Enzo, which I liked a lot.  The book just had a few boring parts, but they were quick.  Besides that it was a great book, I would give it a 4/5.

Yes, I would highly recommend this book to a friend.  The type of person that would enjoy this novel the most would be a dog lover.  This novel was a great read for me, and would be worth the read to someone else.

Boys and Reading

Boys will be boys, as the saying goes.  The books they read in school gives them there respect for books.  If they read the books for school and like them they are more likely to read books out of school.  They would have some respect for books and want to read more.  If the don't gain the respect for books, they fail to develop entry points for books, and run the risk of missing out on a lifetime of ideas and personal growth.

Some also don't have the motivation. They would now rather be outside playing a game, or inside playing a video game, because they are more enjoyable for them instead of reading a book.  If they want to read they they would find time.  Reading is also no fun for them, teachers need to make reading fun, in order for them to want to read more.