I can't believe we are coming to an end already! The older I get the more time seems to fly by. Well, I'd better get started. My first picture is a forest, and the photographer is lost off the trail. I chose it because nearly everyone values forests. The second part, being lost, is the kicker. Reading is a lost joy to me, a problem that I'm trying to rectify. I felt like I ran out of books. I am an avid Harry Potter fan, reading the series seven times, and I've read the Eragon and Percy Jackson series multiple times as well. I had over a thousand AR points in sixth grade or whenever we did that sort of thing. Then, last year, reading dropped dead. I have never found another series like Harry Potter, something that I was so taken by I can read it again and again. Other than spikes, usually when I just needed out of life for a while or just picked up a new book on occasion, I havent read nearly as much as I'd've liked. Im hoping to slowly ramp it up as I find more time.

That's blogging for me. I mean, it was a cool experience, but it was also hard to remember to do, especially when you realize you haven't read a book in two weeks the day before the post is due. I never had good luck with these posts, I kinda just winged it when i remembered to do them.I mean it keeps me on my toes, and helps me develop my thoughts about a book, which I've never really cared to do in the past. I think its been good for me overall.

I'm still learning. I've grown a lot this year, I know that much. It doesnt matter what others say, I have good friends and i laugh at myself often. I learned to love the little things in life. I learned that yes, I do care, about others, more than I ever thought. I've been through good, bad and ugly, but I like who I am as a person as I keep finding out more. I know where I am weak, finding that and trying to build has been a challenge, and my friends help, as I help build them. I found my community of people i can rely on is expanding. I know none of this is very academic, but I feel like this year is the year I've stepped into who I am, not so much as a student but as me, and that's important too. I do want to thank everyone who helped me grow, and that does include the teachers who helped me on the way. Thank you for a great year!!!

Jack Davis

Hey guys, hows it going? This might be a bit of a weird one, bear with me. I've been reading Calvin and Hobbes. For those who don't know, they're comics about a six year old boy and his stuffed tiger, Hobbes. They are HILARIOUS. Of course you think, that's not very smart reading. Yes, while I read them for fun, and they're all brought home by my eight year old brother from the library, I actually discovered that there is a lot of satyr in them. Hard to believe, but i was pleasantly surprised, as it allowed me to write about it. They use a lot of veiled critique about how we all rush around and never stop for anything, endlessly working for our own ends. Of course, as a six year old, Calvin lives for fun. He sits in trees and reads books, plays outside or uses his extremely vivid imagination. Basically, he does what i never see anyone else doing anymore: Has fun, appreciates the little things, enjoys nature, even if it is in a slightly sarcastic way. Its nostalgic yet funny at the same time. It reminds me of me. I love being outside, and I ALWAYS try to enjoy the little things, weather I'm at my friend's place playing wiffle ball or just cruising around town on my bike. If there's anything I've learned from the advice old people always give, its enjoy it while it lasts.

Hey guys, I didn't get much reading in recently, although I did go back to Fahrenheit, so I'll post about that. It was a good read overall on all counts. The diction and plot were elevated enough to seem intelligent but the book was still a fun read. It had some really chilling implications of where we could go, however. Ironically, I had started reading 1984 around the same time as we started Fahrenheit, which caused a lot of connections I might not have made before. Both had repressive governments, and the combination really emphasized how much we rely on books and other writings to be intelligent people. In 1984 the government had ministries devoted to making everything ever written agree with minute changes made by "Big Brother." In Fahrenheit everyone were empty idiot shells with no meaning or need to live. people didn't know how to interact, even know that they were being oppressed. its a haunting sad image. Its been good to get back to reading, I unfortunately have read very little this year, despite my almost addiction to reading. Thanks for reading, and I hope you always have a good book and time to read it.

Hey hows it goin people? Hope yall had a relaxing spring break and good reading. OK now the lazy bored weird is done i can get serious.

I took Mrs. Leitsch's advice and read a few columns for ideas on the upcoming paper. I got all of them from the onion, and i enjoyed a variety of columns, from more serious ones about serious issues to ridiculous little ones about the most random things. I did enjoy the humor in many of them, and picked up on how they did it, but i can't use it, as my topic is homelessness, and that's just insulting. So I picked up on tips from the serious ones, I learned how to stay serious and keep it relevant. And while some are on a more sincere note, others were just plain mockery. If I was to make it mocking it is also a bad thing, so its a fine line. I feel like I have to make a good impression if I'm going to make an impact on people. The whole idea for this whole column came from a retreat I went on a few months back with my church where we were homeless for a day. It inspired me to make a difference, so why not start here? I don't quite know where I want to go with it but if i can do something it would be great. So my column has to be top of the line and inspiring. I looked into a few techniques such as starting with a story, real or made up, that makes you feel just wrong. I also looked into how to use powerful yet simple words to make a greater impact on people than if i went and used big words and fancy diction. I suppose this is a diction choice, using low diction. One last thing I noticed is all the authors chose to use the most owerful line last, to keep you thinking about it. If anyone has suggesions, feel free to drop then in the comments box. Thank you for reading, and keep at it!

Ok hold on folks 'cause this is gonna be a long one; it will include the first three posts I missed (I've been rereading...) plus the one due today.

To start, I'll go with the last two books of the Maze Runner series. I got The Death Cure and The Kill Order for Christmas, so I did a lot of reading over break. I'll start with The Death Cure.

The Death Cure was the concluding book to the series. While it was a pretty good book, i think most people agree the ending was bad. Throughout the book the pace was expertly throttled up and down, right from the start. There was plenty of action to go around, but as with most apocalyptic plots, it was fraught with loss, pain, and desperation. I won't give any spoilers, but it was a sort of situation you hate to watch, but can't tear your eyes away. It was quite a ride all the way up until the end: after that i feel like he lost his touch, or tried to rush the ending. It does fit the apocalyptic theme, but the costs are immense on all counts. It threw me for a twist at every turn, and it was hard to put down. Overall, 3/5, maybe 3.5/5. The series on the whole deserves at least a 4/5, mainly in the first two books, but oh well. It was a good read.

The Kill Order is a prequel to the whole series. Again, right off the bat Patterson has you thinking and throws in plenty of action. The plot starts with a teenager in the ravaged little town in what uses to be unsettled areas in the Appalations. The solar flares forced people away from coasts and into the mountains. The conditions are miserable, but at least the worst of it is over. Or is it?n,  Now we are plunged into the story behind The Flare, the terrible bio-engineered disease that eats away everything that makes a person human, attacking the brain, or killzone. In a matter of days or sometimes weeks, it can make a perfectly healthy person become a raving, bloodthirsty lunatic who's only goal is survive and kill as many things as they can. As if the world needs more problems. Well, they get a few million of them very quickly. The rest of the book is tracing the people who caused it, to find the cure that exists only questionably at best. Mark and a few allies and friends set out to solve the most deadly mystery of all time. Again, a really good book, 4.5/5 stars. give it a read.


During the time for the second missed post I got my hands on The Blood of Olympus: the long anticipated ending to the Percy Jackson spin-off series. I absolutely loved it, especially since I've been reading this series since what, sixth grade? Anyway, I've been trying to get my hands on a copy for weeks. So when my brother bought it, I was dying to get my hands on it. unfortunately, he reads reeeeealy sloooow. But at long last, I got to finish the series. Riordan did not disappoint. Right away there was action (notice a trend going on here? ;) that was intense for the beginning of a book. And it only escalated. The group was reunited once again, a very important detail to their power. But then it started getting kinda strange; I realized that none of the old characters perspectives were being shown. That immediately took away from the book, and then, coupled with the fact that Riordan portrayed the gods as strangers and so distant didn't help, plus they ended up splitting. I thought Riordan didn't perform as he usually does. Rating by my standards for Riordan, 2.5 or less. by any other standard, tho, 3.5/5. Its still a good read, just not my favorite.


I read 1984 for my history teacher, Mr. Reid. now this was one of the older books I've read, and had some... questionable ideas and themes, to say the least. It had some interesting ideas when it was appropriate, though. It was a good read about a totalitarian state, and why and how that might work and feel. It was a dark and twisted plot, where Big Brother is always watching you, and even in the best of times, all but the top officials were poor. But no one realized it. Everyone knew the terrible things the government did, but they did nothing. It was a perfect totalitarian state, where everybody knew what happened in the torture chambers, but supported it, through some twisted logic. we follow one of the few exceptions, but he didn't do anything about it. He meets a girl who understands what he feels. They do fall in love eventually, especially to defy the state. When they are discovered, that's where it all falls apart, and comes out, how the state can be so successful. The government always changes what they say, but leave no record of the truth. They are always right, always the superior, unstoppable force. They can MAKE you see it their way. Its very complicated, but id recommend it. Its a hard book to wrap your mind around coming from such a perspectiver as the one we have, but it has some interesting ideas,




Now onto the third missed post. I didn't have very much time in this time, plus an utter lack of books. I managed to re-immerse myself in The Hunger Games, a long-time favorite of many. I have never read this series analytically before, so i figured what the heck. plus, with Snow Week, I was REALLY bored. I knocked out the whole series in three of four days. I'm just going to talk about the series as a whole. When I looked at the plot development overall, it didn't take much to figure out how expertly paced the plot was, with enough twists to keep a reader into it but not enough to make it too confusing and messy. It was a good reread for me, as an analytical read, as I picked up on many strategies for my own writing. She had good plot, twists, but not enough to make the story ridiculous. the writers craft is very good, yet casual. That is the style of writing I would attempt to emulate, so my readers don't have to over-think things to get the meaning. Obviously there are no research papers or anything. its a read purely for fun. if anyone hasn't read it, I'd certainly recommend it.


WHEW! Long post. I don't know how my grammar does throughout the post; sorry for any typos! Anyway, give me a review, maybe a comment? Have a nice day, hope you always have a book in your hands and time to read it.

Dover Beach Post

Mrs. Phelps stormed out of the Montag's house and briskly rushed home, not trying to hide the tears that kept puring down her face, despite her best efforts before she left. She let them fall, didn't know why they came or how she felt, weather it was sad or moved or upset or something else. The haunting lines echoed through her head, making it hard to organize herself. "With tremulous cadence slow, and bring the eternal note of sadness in..."Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow of human misery..."  What did it mean? The only thing stopping her from rushing to the fire department right away is the silly idea that it all might mean something greater than herself, but of course that was ridiculous. That's all life is about, yourself, not your husband or your kids or your friends or any family at all, not strangers or kin are as important as you. Or are they? for the poem also said "Come to the window, sweet is the night-air!" as if to someone else, just as important. 

But what is she thinking? that's why this was outlawed in the first place, wasn't it? To protect them from this sort of thinking. She wasn't used to actually thinking outside of the entertainment on the wall-TV. And now she is even more confused, because for a second she actually thinks she likes thinking like this, doing something more with herself other than mindless meandering... Perhaps that's why the tears still flow, she thinks as she steps through the door to her house. And instead of going to the parlor to turn on the family, as she did most every day, she went to the bedroom, pulled out the one thing she didn't know like the back of her own hand in the whole house... a book left by a grandfather or some such thing. She had never touched it other than to hide it, but was told she mustn't loose it. And as she started leafing through it, she realized how valuable this was. she brushed off her husband when he tried to ask what was going on. she was too busy to answer. she heard him leave abruptly. The rest of the day seemed to come in eights- eight hours to finish the book, all 300 pages, because she'd never read so much in her life. Eight hours from when she got home until her husband finally reported her... Eight minutes to loose it all: her house, her family, her book, her freedom, and most of all everything she treasured in her life... And eight seconds to want out.

Sadly, prison didn't have a way out.

Hey guys,
Over the weekend I got into The Maze Runner by James Dashner. I spent the weekend at my grandparents house, so it meant a lot of reading! I ended up finishing it in two days. For anyone who hasn't read it, I will not give away important details of the book. The quality of the writing was superb, with its own eccentric twists and words. James Dashner did not waste any time on huge vocab words, but used words most teenagers would use, which helped add to the mood, because it is set all around a bunch of teenagers locked inside a maze. He expertly mixes terror, mystery, and action into a masterpiece of writing, always keeping me turning the pages. His craft is also unique: he throws the reader for twists, and shows just how unusual Thomas is to the Gladers. The whole book builds, keeping you hooked, and once you get to the end you want more. In short, it's exactly what every avid reader wants. Hope you're interested enough to give it a read!
P.S. I found a link to a sample of The Maze Runner. Happy reading!:) https://www.barnesandnoble.com/signin/popup