Well, I finally understand people saying they've got no time to read in college! :gonk:
I've been trying to find the time to work through Erak's Ransom though! And I'm reading a short story anthology for creative writing and Arthurian Romances for European civilization, so that's been nice. Besides that, it's just scholarly readings. :P Which I don't really mind, I'm interested in the subject matter of the classes I've got to read for, but they do take such a long time to read... :no:
I've only read the first book of The Hunger Games, I haven't been able to get a hold of the second book yet. I really liked it, though, it was a fun read!
KatMagenta:
Remember how I asked you all for poetry recommendations for my poetry essay? Kat-- I went with your recommendation of Simon Armitage and wrote on "I Say I Say I Say." The assignment also had a second component: we were all meant to present a very brief oral argument to our class, convincing everyone to read the poem we chose to write on. The person with the most convincing argument, by vote, would present his/her poem to the class, then everyone would write a poetry journal on it.
:) Today, in class, we all read "I Say I Say I Say" and wrote about it.
Your recommendation ended up influencing a college writing course with 26 students! And you completely helped my grade. Thank you! :hug:
So I'm finally getting to read The Sword of Truth books, thanks to my boyfriend who has the first three (at least) and I'm 200 pages into the second one. :yes:
*Dramatic stance* I accept your challenge Knerd! Starting from this day till one year later I will have read 50 books! Starting now with...
Date Started 10-14-11
1. The Hobbit
I went to the school's library today and got six books on life in medieval and Renaissance Europe. One is about society, one is about popular culture back then, one is about how people lived in general, one is specifically how people lived in cities, one is a travel guide for 1492, and one is about life on a barony. One had not been checked out since '95, and had not ever been checked out, the rest have been sitting on the shelves there for four to seven years without being borrowed. Poor things! I doubt I'll have a whole lot of time to read them, but they looked too interesting to be left alone.
Kitami- How are you liking them? :3
Usbeorn- Woohoo, The Hobbit and a flair for the dramatic! I like you already!
I like them very well. :yes: I've wanted to read them for quite a while, because I liked the show (Legend of the Seeker) and I missed a chunk of it, so I was complaining, and my friend was like "You know they are books, right?"
And I was like.... "No, I did not. :headdesk:"
But now I has them!
I was just thinking today - Would any of you guys be interested in a NaNoWriMo hangout? It would be nice to have one around here before November started, that way everyone would have a place to chat and discuss their plans. I could have sworn that there was one last year, but it doesn't seem that it stayed active.
Kitami- I didn't know there was a show!
I wanted to watch Game of Thrones, and found out it was a book series because someone else said something about wanting to watch it and then having a friend tell them it was a book. :P
Knerd- I could go for that! I'm not sure how well NaNo will go for me, since I need to be writing my final portfolio piece for my creative writing class come November, and obviously I'll need to devote a ton of time to quality over quantity. I still want to try Nano out again, though, and a discussion thread would be awesome. :yes:
Iltu:: :lol: Yeah it is a show, but my boyfriend said they only made it a fraction of the way through the series.
He also told me that once I read the books, I won't like the show anymore, because they left a lot out when they adapted it to TV.
I was interested in Game of Thrones too, but I don't have any way to watch it, so I decided to just put the books on my mental to-read list.
Aw, that stinks! But that's just the way it goes with books to screens, huh? :lol: Only, for a show, you'd think they'd be able to keep more stuff in.
I've only read the first two books so far, but they are fantastic. I'm now terrified to watch the show because I loved the book so much. :lol: But I heard that, aside from what had to be cut out, they did their best to stay true to the book, except for adding a few scenes to make implied points more clear and to add to character motivation and whatnot.
I'm getting unreasonably excited about NaNoWriMo and just feel like talking about it with everyone. Maybe I'll make that hangout today just so that I can start gushing. :lol:
Colors, I'm glad your computer is back on track! Viruses always make life ridiculously complicated.
Colors, glad you could fix it! My iPod and I do that scenario on a fairly regular basis. -grumbles-
Knerd: I am too! I've actually been making up character sheets when I have nothing else to do at school, and in my free time, so hopefully I'll make it past the 10k I managed last year. :3
Once you get into it, I've found NaNoWriMo to be relaxing. It's something fun that you can do at the end of a long day. I'm sure it would easily turn into work if you didn't like your story or ran out of ideas, but the whole process and sense of teamwork helps to uplift me. It's really not so much writing if you break it down piece by piece. :yes:
*sporadic comment* I've now completed all five of the Song of Ice & Fire books, and they were FANTASTIC!!!! I couldn't stop reading!! :XD I literally read all five books in a span of three months. I watched Game of Thrones last spring and was convinced to read them. I had friends recommend the books to me years ago, and at the time I tried to read GoT, but it had too many characters and I couldn't keep everything/everyone straight. Watching the show really helped me better understand who was who, and what plots were going on behind the scenes. It really did help when I started reading the books.
So yeah, read the first book, then watch the show. Then you can read the second book and watch the second season which will start in the spring. XD Then you'll have a full grasp of everyone involved and reading the other three books will be easy. XP
Since I was on a series kick after those books, I read the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series. And now I'm starting in on The Hunger Games series, since I saw the first book at Target for really cheap yesterday, and couldn't resist buying it. I'm already sucked into the story... and I find it hard to believe that it's supposed to be a book for adolescents! XD I mean, the writing is nothing special ~ It's pretty straightforward compared to the other books I've been reading. But the themes ~ Serious business.
The book is surprisingly violent, isn't it? I'd think twice before recommending it to anyone under the age of 13 or so. I had expected Collins to gloss over or just ignore the worst parts, but nope - she pretty explicitly describes every death. It would have freaked me out as a kid.
You'll go through the series quickly, I'm sure. The second and third are a bit slow moving, but they've got pay off at the ends. Just don't expect too much in the first few chapters. :lol:
The book is surprisingly violent, isn't it? I'd think twice before recommending it to anyone under the age of 13 or so. I had expected Collins to gloss over or just ignore the worst parts, but nope - she pretty explicitly describes every death. It would have freaked me out as a kid.
You'll go through the series quickly, I'm sure. The second and third are a bit slow moving, but they've got pay off at the ends. Just don't expect too much in the first few chapters. :lol:
Actually, you'd be surprised. The average reading ten-year-old seems to handle it fairly well. I've got a whole crop of them with whom I interact with frequently, and they love the books. Think back to what you read, what you knew, and what you dealt with at age 11...
:) There's a whole rant hiding in there somewhere-- collectively had by my children's literature class when we were discussing appropriateness levels of books for kids. :lol:
The imperative thing is having someone to talk through the book with, so that you can cope/understand.
Think back to what you read, what you knew, and what you dealt with at age 11...
That's exactly how I reached my conclusion. :lol:
I work with high school kids. I know that a lot of them would have difficulty fully processing the material. They'd be able to read it and would probably laugh over the action, but understanding the impact of each death and dealing with it in a healthy manner is different. Many would brush it aside and use humor in order to avoid actually thinking about it.
I do believe that YA books are different from the "classic" literature kids read in school. When you pick up something on your own time that talks about kids your own age and written in a way that you can understand, it's going to hit you a lot harder than material that has to be interpreted and explained by a teacher. The Hunger Games are going to stick with young kids, I guarantee it. That material would have given me horrible nightmares as an 11/12/13 year old. I still needed happy endings then.
And just so that everyone knows, the NaNoWriMo thread is up and running. :)
Colors; Technically, yes, you can do nano during school. I tried to fit it in around finals week though, and so got not very far. It does push you to see what you can do though, and I would recommend participating even if you don't reach the goal. It's a good learning experience, and it helps you to see if you really do enjoy writing to the degree that being an author would require.
I don't know that I buy that set of intellectual and emotional limitations on high school students, or even middle school students. I went through four years of high school with a large group of peers more than capable of processing The Hunger Games series; we were more than capable of processing classic literature on our own, as well. Admittedly, my friends were honors-track English enthusiasts, but that doesn't imply emotional intelligence or experience. Many of us also dealt with trauma as kids; however, even the most (and very) sheltered among my friends did then and do now handle heavy realities without mentally short-circuiting.
That's the crux of it, really: even young kids deal with traumatic, difficult concepts every day in their own lives. Kids adapt to process difficulty, and with adult guidance can accomplish even more. To imply that students in their middle teenaged years can't handle the breadth of human cruelty or the fact of death seems condescending. Writing in The Hunger Games is very accessible, the themes are direct, and the communication fairly honest. Middle school students will understand the books at a less advanced level than older students, but can manage ably.
Lord of the Flies is recommended for 6th and 7th graders. The Hunger Games is no more advanced. The Giver has similarly brutal concepts, though less thoroughly described. These books all share an age-range.
I believe that young readers should have a guided reading experience for certain concepts. Still, the kids I know are capable enough to read The Hunger Games. Some of them are admittedly advanced. I know two fourth graders reading the series with the guidance of and at the behest of their teacher. One fifth grader reading it at the suggestion of her peers. I read the series as a high school Junior, my friends all did the same... :)
My children's literature professor will be leading us in a section on The Hunger Games in late November. I'll let you guys know when I read through the series again.
I hope this comes across as respectful. Ultimately, I want to teach, and censorship has always been a particular issue of mine.
I'm on 15 units plus one incomplete to finish this semester-- I don't think I can do NaNo. It may be far wiser for me to concentrate on good grades/not dying by semester's end... :P
Has anyone ever read Villette by Charlotte Bronte? I'm currently sneaking chapters in between assignments... :)
Last edited by colorsbold; 10-21-2011 at 01:01 AM..
Colors: I totally understand. I had a similar load last year, and this year, but there's less to write class-wise this year, so I'm sure going to try.
I have it on my Kindle, but the library just enabled checking out books on said device, soooo... >_>; It's further down my list than it was. I do like the Bronte's writing as a whole, for all of them.
