VEDIF 17: Book Review of The Hunger Games

I keep forgetting to post these!

VEDIF 13: My Library

Here I show the books in my room!

VEDIF 6: Book Review

I very crudely made a book review of my favorite series at the moment. The Perfect Chemistry series:

Enjoy!

John Green

It's John Green Week!

Okay. Yeah It has been for the past 5 days.. but I sort of forgot.. maybe. No, don't get me wrong. I didn't forget out The Fault in Our Stars. I've been keeping up with my Vlogbrothers videos. Here, you can watch the author read Chapter One of TFIOS.

On Wednesday, my friend got me a ticket to go to John Green's book signing (Hank's gonna be there too!) I'm very excited.

Am I the only one who thinks at least one of John Green's books should be a movie?

 Looking for Alaska: "Miles "Pudge" Halter is abandoning his safe-okay, boring-life. Fascinated by the last words of famous people, Pudge leaves for boarding school to seek what a dying Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps."
Pudge becomes encircled by friends whose lives are everything but safe and boring. Their nucleus is razor-sharp, sexy, and self-destructive Alaska, who has perfected the arts of pranking and evading school rules. Pudge falls impossibly in love. When tragedy strikes the close-knit group, it is only in coming face-to-face with death that Pudge discovers the value of living and loving unconditionally.
John Green's stunning debut marks the arrival of a stand-out new voice in young adult fiction."-Amazon

Will Grayson, Will Grayson: "One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, Will Grayson crosses paths with . . . Will Grayson. Two teens with the same name, running in two very different circles, suddenly find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, and culminating in epic turns-of-heart and the most fabulous musical ever to grace the high school stage. Told in alternating voices from two YA superstars, this collaborative novel features a double helping of the heart and humor that have won them both legions of fans."-Amazon

 The Fault in our Stars: " Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green’s most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love." -Amazon

An Abundance of Katherines: "When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton’s type is girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact. On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washedup child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy–loving best friend riding shotgun—but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl. Love, friendship, and a dead Austro-Hungarian archduke add up to surprising and heart-changing conclusions in this ingeniously layered comic novel about reinventing oneself."- Amazon

Paper Towns: "Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life - dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge - he follows. After their all-nighter ends, and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues - and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew."-Amazon







I just finished watching John Green read the first chapter of TFIOS on Youtube. And I have to say. I am impressed and very excited. Normally, John Green seems to have the same sort of basic plot. But this one is different and it's really good.

John Green is a really good writer and he has inspired me to write my own story (I'm working on it! I just don't have any time. and I'm stuck. soooo.. after my midterm exams I'll do that.) Love you John Green! See you on Wednesday. DFTBA.

Books I've Read in 2012

In the order in which they were read:

1. Hiroshima by John Hersey **** (a little hard to follow, because of the amount of characters) (1/1/12)
2. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult ***** (1/7/12)
3. The Fault In Our Stars by John Green ***** (1/15/12) [I wrote a post about this]
4. The City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare **** (1/22/12)
5. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky * (not my cup of tea) (1/25/12) 
6. Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles ***** (2/4/12) 
7. Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles ***** (2/7/12) 
8. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins ***** (2/16/12) 
9. Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks **** (3/14/12) [plot, characters, climax, and everything was amazing, but the first 100 pages were a brutally slow read]
10. 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson ****'(3/23/12)
11. The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han ****' (3/25/12)
12. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne ***** (3/31/12) 
13. Macbeth by William Shakespeare ** (4/18/12) 
14. Fences by August Wilson **** (4/19/12)
15. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen ***** (5/28/12)
16. The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith **** (6/25/12)
17. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green ****** (7/14/12) [reread]
18. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls **** (7/29/12)
19. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien **** (8/18/12)
20. Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway ***** (8/29/12) 
21. Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles ***** (10/29/12)
22. Waiting for You by Susane Colasanti **' (11/1/12)
23. Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz ** (11/4/12)
24. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne **' (12/14/12)
25. Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones **** (12/19/12)   

Book Reviews:

This one is on the Perfect Chemistry Series.

This one is on the Hunger Games!




Goal was to read 25 books by the end of the year! YAY! i win.

John Green Week

Hi.
There's this thing called John Green week from January 3rd to January 10th, leading up to his new novel, The Fault in Our Stars, or "TFIOS" as it's known in nerdfighteria.
I have a lot of explaining to do.

"John Green is the New York Times bestselling author of Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, and Paper Towns. He is also the coauthor, with David Levithan, of Will Grayson, Will Grayson. He was 2006 recipient of the Michael L. Printz Award, a 2009 Edgar Award winner, and has twice been a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Green’s books have been published in more than a dozen languages.

In 2007, Green and his brother Hank ceased textual communication and began to talk primarily through videoblogs posted to youtube. The videos spawned a community of people called nerdfighters who fight for intellectualism and to decrease the overall worldwide level of suck. (Decreasing suck takes many forms: Nerdfighters have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight poverty in the developing world; they also planted thousands of trees around the world in May of 2010 to celebrate Hank’s 30th birthday.) Although they have long since resumed textual communication, John and Hank continue to upload three videos a week to their youtube channel, vlogbrothers. Their videos have been viewed more than 75 million times, and their channel is one of the most popular in the history of online video. He is also an active (if reluctant) Twitter user with more than 1.1 million followers."

There. That pretty much explained it all.

Also since I can't explain it better myself: Taken from "Vickiiatoria"

"BROTHERHOOD 2.0: A project undertaken by John and Hank Green, in which they were not allowed to communicate via text for a year. ‘Two Brothers, One Video Blog, 365 Days of Textless Communication, It’s a whole new kind of brotherhood.’

DFTBA: An acronym usually meaning Don’t Forget To Be Awesome, though it has an unimaginable number of meanings. Some of which can be found here. It is often used as a farewell by Nerdfighters. If said to you it should be seen as a compliment, as the person saying it has recognised that you are in fact made of AWESOME. It is also the name of a record company founded by Hank Green and Alan Lastufka that signs youtube artists whose talents may otherwise go unrecognised.

Hank Green

 

HANK GREEN: The younger brother of John Green, musician, co-founder of Nerdfighteria with John Green and co-founder of DFTBA Records with Alan Lastufka. His albums include: So Jokes, This Machine Pwns N00bs and his upcoming album Ellen Hardcastle.

John Green

JOHN GREEN: The older brother of Hank Green, award winning author and co-founder of Nerdfighteria. His works include: Looking For Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns and Will Grayson, Will Grayson. 

NERDFIGHTER: A person who his proud of being a nerd, has taken on the title, nerdfighters are known for watching the vlogbrothers on youtube and doing their best to decrease worldsuck.

NERDFIGHTERIA: Though Nerdfighteria is not a physical location, it is an island where the awesome of all the nerdfighters in the world is joined.  The two rules of Nerdfighteria, and really the world, are 1. Don’t be mean; and 2. DFTBA.

NERDFIGHTER-LIKE: Love between two nerdfighters. A song about nerdfighter like was written and sung by Lauren Fairweather and later covered by Hank and Katherine Green.

THE NERDFIGHTER ‘GANG SIGN’:

 

The Nerdfighter Salute/Gang Sign

VLOGBROTHERS: John and Hank Green’s youtube channel.

WORLDSUCK: All the sucky things in the world combined. Worldsuck has been known to include: malaria, murder and poverty. One of a nerdfighters main aims in life is to decrease worldsuck. Whether it be just being nice to everyone or dedicating their lives to charity."


Now I guess I should do some of my own writing because I have been stealing everyone else's. This girl called Liz publicized the who idea of John Green Week. Click the link on the bottom of this post to see what she said about it. I will definitely spread that whole week rereading his books. I will do my best to make book reviews for each once I finish. At the very least I want to reread An Abundance of Katherines, which was my favorite one.
-DFTBA

Liz's Post: Clicky hereth
John Green's website: http://johngreenbooks.com/
Hank's nerdfighter blog: CLICK
DFBTA: http://dftba.com/

In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer by Irene Gut Opdyke (with Jennifer Armstrong) Review

I finished another book! Click this to see.
Here's my review of it. I chose to journal every few chapters or so as my project for summer reading. I decided to type it up so I would have a permanent record of it forever. Here. (if you read it and want an opinion, or if you don't want to bother reading it.) It was a good read. I suggest you read it too.

Chapters 1-3:
  Before anything else I would just like to say that I am really emotional when it comes to WWII and the Holocaust, especially when it relates to Poland. Since I am 100% Polish I feel I have a direct connection to what happened there in the years 1939-1945. I would like to apologize in advance for messy handwriting and intense reactions.
  I just finished the first three chapters. I know that the instruction say to write every "several" chapters but I couldn't wait any longer.
  It doesn't seem possible for how suddenly the war started. One second Irene was strolling down the street; the next she was taking a train with injured soldiers to Russia. The chapter was called "Lightning War" and with good reason. Everything happened so quickly.
  When someone reads or watches a fictional story, even if it's unbearably frightening or horrid, he or she can just say to himself/herself, "It's just a story. None of this actually happened. There is nothing to worry about." You can't say that with this story. It was real and the person actually writing the novel saw it all happen. A 17 year old student nurse saw blood and gore along the streets of her school town. She had no idea where her family was or how they were doing and with no way to contact them. A 17 year old. That would be two years older than I am now. It is unbelievable, yet 100% true.
  I have a feeling that this may become one of my favorite books of all time.
  "I could not catch my breath even to scream." This quote from the book really made me realize how scared she was. I even underlined that sentence in my copy of the book.
  I absolutely love the title of every single chapter. they fit so perfectly.
  I'm only three chapters in, but I feel like this is the most emotional, graphic, and brilliant book I have read in my life.

Chapters 4-6:
  Irene was only seventeen/eighteen when all this was happening to her. She was on the move every year or so. I can't even begin to imagine what it was all like for her. Where I left off she was on her way to find her family.
  I really liked the characters Dr. David and Miriam. It was reassuring to know that even in such troubled times, there were still good people.
  I wonder if her family will be alright. I hope Irene will reunite with them safely.
  I am still having trouble grasping the fact that this all actually happened. I know it did but it is still unbelievable that some people can be so cruel.
  That's just one concept I never fully understood. How can people kill one another without another thought? Without a shingle of a doubt.
  War disgusts me so much. We are all people and we only have one place to live, Earth. So don't destroy it.

Chapters 7+8:
  I just finished part one.
  All Irene wanted was to find her family. And it took her two years to do that. She was held captive multiple times. It is a miracle how she survived all those times and all the times to come.
  The thing I like most about this book is that it's an autobiography. Irene did everything that she said. She probably did not exaggerate either.
  In this story I noticed that the most important quality for someone to have would be loyalty. Irene showed such courage and loyalty by not giving up Dr. David's and Miriam's names every time she was held captive.
  I almost cried at the end when she finally saw her little sister. I was so happy for her. I only wonder what other horrible adventures await her.

Chapters 9-12:
  I think I have finally reached the rising action of the story. After all, this book is about a Holocaust rescuer! We need some recusing to happen for it to be that type of story.
  When Irene saw what the SS officer did to the Jews in the ghetto through the window, I think something snapped in her. After that she changed as a person. She started thinking about people, other than her family and herself.
  She started putting food under the fence for the Jews. She has watched so many terrible things happens.
  This story is starting to get extremely interesting (not that it wasn't before, but I feel like the plot is starting to brew).
  I didn't understand this line: "But it was not a bird. It was not a bird. It was not a bird."
  I understand that the repetition was used for an effect. However, I'm not sure what the effect was. If it wasn't a bird, then what was it?

Chapters 13 +14:
  I absolutely loved her dream about her picking wheat. It was a good metaphor for what she was doing for the Jews. This was the most meaningful sentence from it, I thought: "I picked faster, grabbing up spilled grain by the handful, my nails caked with mud and my loaded apron tugging at my waist until I thought it would drag me down and bury me in the dirt."
 I saw this phrase as meaning that she was trying to save everyone, but in doing so she would/might get hurt in the process. Or that she may have to pay for it with her life. However, I know for a fact she doesn't because she wrote this book! That's always an encouraging thought while reading this horrid book, is knowing no matter what, Irene will stay alive.
  I was flabbergasted at the part where Irene went to go find Fanka. A young lady only about the age of 20, went on a mission in the middle of WWII to find a friend. The qualities needed for such a journey would be: dedication, courage and loyalty. One would need so much courage to do what she said. I am utterly impressed.
  Everyday people read and write fiction stories about superheroes who can fly or have super strength. What people don't realize is that we have superheroes in real life. They may not fly but they have super courage. Off the top of my head I can think of firefighters, policemen and women, and people like Irene.
  Irene was just a regular person with the human quality of wanting to help. So she did. Most people ignore that part of their human nature or get too frightened to follow it. Irene wasn't one of those people, no matter what it cost her.

Chapters 15-17:
  Irene just never stops, does she? It's brilliant. She smuggled six people into a forest without anyone realizing at all. Now I'm sure she will hide her friends from the laundry room in the basement of the major's villa. I am excited to see how she will accomplish this task.
  The only thing that I don't like about this book is how Irene writes sometimes. Her metaphors are absolutely gorgeous. However, sometimes she writes words in Polish or German and she won't translate them. For example, "'Danke schon, Irene'" is something the major says to Irene in chapter 17. However, Irene didn't say what it meant. I tried using context clues to figure it out but I couldn't come up with an exact definition. What this book needs to be even better would be footnotes. That way Irene doesn't have to change anything in her writing.and the reader can understand what she is saying when she writes in a different language.

Chapters 18-21
  I am still extremely amazed at everything Irene is doing.
  She hid six people in the vent in the commanding officer's bathroom. Now she is hiding ten right under his feet!
  I wish I had as much courage and determination as Irene. She's such a wonderful role model for everyone.
  Will the major come home early one night and discover her friends? Or will they go forever undiscovered until the end of the war? After the war, will Irene find her family? Will they all the alive and well? Irene is lonely now but will she find someone soon to keep her company? To fall in love with?
  This is an unbelievably good story and I recommend it to anyone and everyone, especially those people who are interested in the Holocaust.

Chapters 22-End:
  It turns out that the "it was a not a bird" meant that it was a baby. A German soldier threw a baby in the air and shot it, then shot the mother. I now understand why Irene repeated that line so many times.
  I have to admit this book made me sick to my stomach a couple times. It was horrible what the Nazis did to people, but I think every word in this story was 100% necessary. Ever word, every detail.
  If you read an autobiographical story about the Holocaust it is usually about the survivors and how it was inside the concentration camps. This is the first story I have ever read about a Holocaust rescuer. It was interesting to get another perspective on WWII. It was refreshing to know that there were many good people out there even in such dark times.
  The one part I absolutely hated in this book was towards the end. It was when she went to confess about being the major's mistress to save her 12 friends. The priest told her that he could not give her absolution or forgiveness. He said that this would ruin her soul from being immortal and that the people she was saving were Jewish. I honestly think God would be more happy about the fact that she was saving 12 innocent people's lives, than the fact that she was having premarital sec. And so what if the people who she was saving were Jewish? God loves everyone. Doesn't He? He created all. However, I did like how Irene handled the situation. "But I placed myself in God's Hands all the same." "I had God's blessing. I was never more sure of anything."
  This may sound a tad odd but I feel like Irene acted the youngest with the partisans where she met Janek. It may be that her nickname was Mala, meaning little. Or possibly because this was the first time during the war when she didn't have to act like an adult or a mother for other people. Since the very beginning she had to take care of soldiers, her sisters, her patients, friends, and family. This was the first time in so long where she actually got to relax. She even fell in love, with Janek. Then two day before their wedding day (and her birthday) he was killed during an ambush.
  It is truly a miracle how she survived so many beatings, to her heart and body. Then after the war, she had to wait almost 50 years to see her family again! That is so horrible and heartbreaking. At least all her sisters were safe.
  I loved the ending and her last minute escapes. I also love the title. At first I wasn't so sure that the title fit well. Now I am positive that it is great. I couldn't think of a better one.

The End.
2 days until school and almost done with summer reading. I don't think I have ever waited this long to do it before.

Books I've Read in 2011

In order of which they were read.

1. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare ****
2. The Pearl by John Steinbeck **
3. The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck *
4. Paper Towns by John Green **
5. Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen ***
6. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling *****
7. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling *****
8. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by JK Rowling *****
9. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling *****
10. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green *****
11. Looking for Alaska by John Green ****
12. Vector by Robin Cook  ***' (kind of a pain to read but once it was finished, it was worth reading)
13. In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer by Irene Gut Opdyke (with Jennifer Armstrong) *****
14. Just Listen by Sarah Dessen ****
15. Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles *****
16. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling  *****
17. Holes by Louis Sachar *****
18. Eragon by Christopher Paolini ***
19. Pretty Little Things by Jilliane Hoffman *** (good but creepy)
20. Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella ***
21. Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan ***
22. Perfect You by Elizabeth Scott ****'
23. Boys, Girls, & Other Hazardous Materials by Rosalind Wiseman ****
24. Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr *****
25. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare *****

25 books were read this year!

Renovations (August 14th 2011)

BEDA 7

Today, I spent 10 hours building and fixing my bookshelves for my room with my father. It was so worth it. If you read my previous posts (especially my Library post) you know that I had way too many books to fit in my bookshelves. Now I can even fit many extra books with room to spare. My room looks amazing. Here are some before and after photos:
BEFORE:

Yes my room was very messy. That's because I had to empty all of my drawers. My room has never been that messy before that.

AFTER:




wooooo! It's so pretty! and I have a floating counter O_o Look! Look. I even have so much more room for more books! YAY.
So that's what I spent all of today doing. I wonder what wonders tomorrow brings.

The End.

Library (August 10th 2011)

BEDA 3

Camp was great today. Lots of singing, face paint, and water balloons involved. I had a water hose fight with all the other kids and counselors. It was so much fun!

As you know, I went to Ikea yesterday. At Ikea I got a new bookshelf/dresser because my dresser was broken and my books didn't all fit in my old bookshelf, I had books in drawers and taking over other parts and doubling up in others. (See here in one part of one of my videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfoLOK5OSbE) Today, after dinner, I cleaned out my bookshelf from all the books and I remembered why I wanted a library in my house. I have wanted one for awhile.
A place with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, comfy chairs, and a colorful carpet. This idea first popped into my head when I first watched the movie "Beauty and the Beast". I loved Belle. Her dedication to reading and her love for books. I loved those slide-y ladders that glide across all the shelves. And then I went ballistic during the castle library scene.

Beauty and The Beast. Disney.

My dream. Right there. One day I will have a huge library.... or at the very least work at one. But for now, I will enjoy the new bookshelf that I got with glass doors.

I have tried to convince my parents, multiple times, to get an addition to our house. Just one room. For a library. It almost worked a couple weeks ago. My father said that he would consider it once we had the money. However, he was probably just saying that so I would stop asking him for one.

During the weekend I am thinking about typing up all the titles and authors of all the books that I own and put them in Author-Title alphabetical order. I also want to keep a record of all the books that I own so I know which ones I lent out to other people and so on.

With all this talk of books and reading.. one would think I would have started my summer reading by now.

The End.