Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

This HAS to be the best series I have read ALL YEAR. I LOVE these books so much! I couldn't put it down. I really don't usually like this genre, but this book has definitely made it into my top 10 favorite books. The first book, The Hunger Games, was fantastic, and somehow, Collins has been able to not only keep up the amazing writing, but make it even better! This book was about the protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, after she won the Hunger Games in the last book. In the last book, Katniss and her friend (or boyfriend!?) Peeta find a way to beat the system of the Hunger Games: kill themselves. Being the only two left in the arena, and not wanting to kill each other, they were about to eat poison berries when they were both declared winners. In this book, the government is making sure that this act against the system does not cause a rebellion amongst the people. Katniss must be very careful about what she says or does as she embarks on a victory tour across the country. If she is the cause of a rebellion, she and her family will be tortured, or worse. The plot is extremely interesting in this book. Also, a character is being reintroduced. Gale was Katnisses friend before she entered the Hunger Games, but they grew apart. Now he is a bigger part in the book and a love triangle is beginning to form.... I don't really like this character. If he's so important, how can the author make him disappear for an entire book? Anyway, I would recommend this trilogy to ANYONE no matter what types of books they like. The third book comes out next year...I can't wait!

The Laramie Project Extra Credit

The Laramie Project was a great play. It's about a homosexual man, Matthew Shepard, who was tied to a fence and beaten to death as part of a hate crime in Laramie, Wyoming. The Laramie Project is a play that was produced by the techtonic theater company about Laramie's reaction to this crime. The actors in the play were all very good. There were a limited amount of actors, so the actors had to play more than one character each. It was very clear and they portrayed the personalities of the characters very well. The overall message of the play was portryed well also. The play was funny at times and very entertaining. I would highly reccomend anyone to watch it.

The Year of Secret Assignments by Jacelyn Moriarty

This was a great book. I picked this book to read because it is written entirely in the format of letters, diary entries, and emails. The author, Jacelyn Moriarty, is very successful at this writing style. Each of the six main characters have personalities that really stand out. I like this book a lot because the author was able to give the characters voice and personalities just by letters and written things, in which actions and event can not be shown. I also like her sense of humor. This book is about three girls, Lydia, Emily, and Cassie, who write anonymous letters to a neighboring school for a pen pal project. The letter's recipients, Sebastian, Charlie, and Matthew Dunlop, soon become very close with the girls. Soon after, though, Cassie finds out that there is no such person as Matthew Dunlop that goes to that high school, and the five friends set out on a mission to find him. Overall, this has been a very funny book, and I would definitely recommend it. I have read another book by this author, and it is in the same format.This author is very talented at really just giving her characters realistic personalities. I love this author in general and would recommend her also.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (to the end of the book)

I couldn't put this book down. It was amazing!!! I love the idea that this book takes place in the future. This kind of gives me something to connect with because obviously I live in the United States and the book takes place here. I just find it interesting that the author could make up such a future for America when it seems so absurd today. The author, Suzanne Collins, in this book, explores violence and war. In early in the book, we learn that the people of America rebelled against their government at one point in history. As punishment for this, they made the Hunger Games, in which children from ages 12 to 18 compete in annually. The government makes people watch on national television as their children kill each other. Collins puts specific emphasis on how okay the people are with this, as if it's something that just needs to be done. This just says something about human nature. Overall, this is my favorite book I've read so far this year and i would definitely recommend it.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Pgs 0-139)

So far, I LOVE this book. It's a different genre than i usually read, but it was reccomended to me so i decided to read it and I am surprised at how good it is. The Hunger Games is about a girl named Katniss Everdeen who has to compete in a competition that could mean death. In this government-mandated competition, competitors are from ages 12 to 18 and must fight to the death. Out of 24 tributes that enter the competition, only one survives and is named winner, providing food and luxury for the entire usually starving district of the country that they live in. This book takes place in the future in America, which i find very interesting. Also, this book combines action, romance, and science fiction, so it appeals to a large crowd. From each area of the country, two tributes are randomly selected to fight in the competition. Katniss knows the other tribute that is chosen along with her. This creates a big conflict for Katniss because she is going to be fighting and potentially killing someone she knows and trusts. So far, it is obvious that both characters are trying to decide whether they should try and stay friends or drift apart from a friendship because they know it will have to end, and badly. The Hunger Games haven't started yet and the suspense is killing me.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (whole book)

The Alchemist was an okay book. It was a very simple story which made it a bit boring. The story is about a boy who goes on a journey to find his own personal legend. He sells his sheep, and set off on his quest, only to be robbed and lose everything he has. The boy starts a new life and finally, a year later, continues on his journey to find a treasure. One reason why i didn't like this book was that the main character wasn't developed enough. He didn't really have a personality. Another thing that added to this was the fact that he was always referred to by the author as "the boy". The protagonist's lack of persona makes it hard for the book to be very interesting, because it's hard to connect to him, but it also acts in a positive way. The lack of personality also allows the reader to focus more on the storyline. Overall, the book was not one that I would recommend.

Dry by Augusten Borroughs Pg 121-243

So far, not much has changed for the main character. He is still sober, working on his job, and so on. One of the minor characters, Greer, actually plays a bigger part than i thought in the book. Greer was the person who eventually made Augusten go to rehab in the first place. She is his partner in the advertising business. Greer, although she has a very cold personality, must actually care about Augusten. Although she made him go to rehab to save her own and his job, when he comes back, she is always checking on him and making sure he is okay. Greer keeps Augusten in check. These two characters are foil characters. Greer is hardworking, strict, and put-together, while Augusten is a slacker, and really has messed up his life. By putting these two characters together, Greer's sharpness is emphasized, and Augusten's sloppiness is also emphasized. This minor character adds a lot to the book.

Dry by Augusten Burroughs Pg 30-121

So far, I am loving this book. Augusten is an alcoholic who is sent to rehab by his job. So far, he has made it out of rehab and has been sober for over a month. Now, Augusten is going to AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) Meetings so that he can stay clean. This can be connected to the previous book I read, Fight Club. In fight club, Tyler, an insomniac, goes to random meetings with cancer, parasite, tumor, and other kinds of patients. Listening to how unfortunate these other people's lives were made him feel better about himself and helped him to sleep. In Dry, Augusten realizes from these meetings that his situation is not a bad as a lot of other alcoholics' situations and this drives him to continue to try to stay sober. In both books, the drive for the main characters to accomplish their goals is seeing that if people worse off than them could do it, so could they. I'm really liking the book Dry because it is a true story, so it really shows how people can overcome addictions.

Dry by Augusten Burroughs Pg 1-30

The book Dry by Augusten Burroughs is a memoir about an alcoholic trying to get through rehab. So far in the book, Augusten's job has realized that he has a drinking problem and is forcing him to go to rehab or lose his job. At first, Burroughs is reluctant to go, but after he accepts, he begins to feel as if rehab will be sort of a vacation for him. He drinks as much as possible in the 3 days before he has to go to rehab, trying to stock up on as much alcohol as he can before he has to cut off his drinking. In one moment of the book, I love how the author describes Augusten's bosses actions in comparison with her emotions. After Augusten shows up late to a meeting at work as a result of his drinking, his boss scolds him and gets very angry. As she is leaving, he says "Her heels sound like ice picks on the marble floor." (11) His boss is angry, and ice picks are sharp and usually cold, so I love how he affiliates the two. So far, I am loving this book. It was actually recommended to me by a friend, and I would also recommend it. It only gets better as it goes on.

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk (pgs 95-end)

Fight Club was a great book. I liked the ending a lot. Towards the end of the book, the narrator finds out that Tyler Durden is not real friend of his but in fact more like an imaginary friend. Tyler Durden is in fact a separate personality of the narrator. This other personality, Tyler has created something separate from fight club, something called Project Mayhem. This project is designed to destroy cooperate America, and in this project, Tyler and his followers have planted bombs in the tallest building of the city. When the narrator realizes that his alternate personality has done this, he tries to stop it from happening. This is when the movie and the book get a little different. In the book, the narrator decides to shoot himself in the mouth, the only decision he has control over, and wakes up in a hospital, with his alternate personality's (Tyler) followers waiting for him to continue Project Mayhem. In the movie, when he shoots himself, his alternate personality just dies and he is left standing to watch the building blow to pieces. Personally, I like the movie ending more because it finishes the story more. With the book's ending, I am left wondering whats going to happen. I love Palahnuick's storyline and I love how he made the narrator and the other main character the same person. You can tell that the narrator began to think he was crazy by the end of the book because his narrating style changed a lot. It was a little confusing, but I would recommend this book to anyone who can stand violence and a bit of profanity. I LOVED this book.

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk (pgs 1-63)

When I found out Fight Club was a book I was really excited to read it, because i had just watched the movie a few days before. So far, it's almost exactly like the movie, even word for word, so while I was reading the book I could actually visualize the characters. So far in the book, the two main characters, the man narrating the story (no name given) and Tyler Durden have started a secret club in which men fight. They fight for fun and because it makes them feel like they can accomplish something. Tyler and the narrator develop a strong bond with each other while living with each other. Neither of them have any family, so they keep each other close. Overall, the narrator learns a lot from the fights in fight club. "You aren't alive anywhere like you're alive at fight club." he says. "Fight club isn't about winning or losing fights. Fight club isn't about words." This quote sums up the book into 2 sentences, I think. The narrator is not so successful at his job, or at many other things he does, but when he goes to fight club none of that matters. All that matters is fighting. I love this book because I love how the author has created a club in the book to which anyone of any class, race, or religion can go, and not be judged. I find it really interesting also how the narrator copes with his life, as he seems quite apathetic about it. He basically lives for fight club. I love this book so far and hope that it gets even better!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (Whole Book)

This summer I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. In this book, Harry sets off on a journey to find and destroy his enemy, Voldemort. His two best friends, Ron and Hermione follow him on this very important adventure. Throughout the book, the 3 friends develop an even stronger bond between them, and their relationships with each other begin to change as they become closer. Ron and Hermione even start to date! By the end of the book I couldn't put it down. It was so good! I find it so interesting how J.K. Rowling tied this book to the rest of the series so perfectly. Everything was planned out so that it would all fit together in the end. Personally, I think this is the best Harry Potter book, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy, and even people who dont, because a lot of it is about the friendship and adventure.