Ever since I was a junior in high school, I've had a Summer Reading List. Last year I was still taking classes, so I flaked out and didn't do it. I had a list all made out and everything but it just wasn't working out. I had too much to do with classes, Chi Alpha (the young adult Christian group I was in at the time), and preparing to graduate to accomplish much pleasure reading.
The Summer Reading List started because one summer I challenged myself to read every Jane Austen book I could get my hands on. I even read a collection of stories that she wrote probably when she was in her teens, which I'm sure she never meant to have published. Ever since then I've made a list. Sometimes it has a theme, sometimes not. I always have a couple categories inside of it. There is usually a graphic novel series that I'm supposed to finish or catch up to the most current one of. There's the summer reading challenge which is a really long book (at least six hundred pages) that I'm to finish by the end of the summer. The last three years my friend, Elie and I have been reading a book together each summer. At the end of the summer we get together talk about it. We read to each other our favorite parts. The first two years it was a Jane Austen but this year it's a children's science fiction. So, that's an exciting change.
It's funny to have a Summer Reading List when I'm not in school anymore. I usually did it because summer was the time to catch up on that pleasure reading I couldn't do during the school year (I still read but not as much as I wanted). I often put off reading certain books until summer came just so I could enjoy them more and finish them in the speed that I like. This spring I had a Spring List which just contained seven fiction books from one of the Young Adult Library Services Association(YALSA) lists for the year 2010 (if you don't know much about YALSA or nothing at all, just look them up). This summer I decided to revolve the list around some children's books that have been widely popular. So, there are some of those but there are few extra too.
So the list is below:
Summer Reading List 2010
Montana Marriages Series by Mary Conneally
- The Husband Tree
- The Wildflower Bride
Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster
Extras by Scott Westerfield
Will Grayson/Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
Looking For Alaska by John Green
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Graphic Novel Series: Monkey High by Shouko Akira
Summer Reading Challenge: Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
Dear Dumb Diary #1 by Jim Benton
Ivy and Bean #1 by Annie Barrows
Among the Hidden by Margaret Peter Haddix
Amelia Rules by Jim Gownley
Vol. 1-4
How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell
Frog Princess by E.D. Baker
Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (This one I'm reading with Elie and our friend, Stephanie)
-Nichole
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
6/29/10
6/24/10
For Every Girl Who has Never had a Boyfriend- The Rant
I would call this entry an essay but I'd be lying. The only real essays I ever wrote were for school. I never liked them either. I prefer to rant.
For the last few weeks I've been thinking about writing this story (not Pentecostal. Someday I'll write that...someday) about a girl who doesn't date while she's in high school. It's not about a dating commitment. It's not because no guy will ask her out (though no guy ever does). It's for more selfish reasons. Just like why most teenagers now do date.
The story starts with the main character (let's name her for the heck of it), Jamie, realizes her best friend has no time for her. It's not just because her friend has a boyfriend either (though, that's part of it). Her friend is also part of marching band, French Club, Major's Beautification Committee, takes way too many honors classes, etc. In other words, her life is way too cluttered. Jamie also has two older sisters who have had terrible boyfriends. Some smoke, others have cheated, most lie, one was abusive; the list goes on. All around school there are these girls. Some of them have horrible boyfriends, like her sisters and others just spend too much time with them, like her friend. Deciding life (or just really high school) is too short to waste on boys...At least in the fashion of a boyfriend.
This story will not end in with her getting a boyfriend after graduation. She may in the future of her life, but that's another story, which I will not write. Jamie may or may not get asked out in the story (though I wrote before that she won't). She'll turn whoever asks her out down, though. She'll face much criticism. It won't become a popular trend nor will she change her high school or the world with this mission. This story isn't that stereotypical.
Jamie is just like any other teenage girl. She's insecure, vain, and wants to know who she is. She decides, though, that finding out who you are doesn't need to be through a guy (how mature). She doesn't come to this conclusion right away, though. She learns it. By not dating? You may ask. Yes!
I've been told several reasons why girls want boyfriends and I had my own as a teenager. I honestly thought I was missing out on something. This story is about what you might miss by having a boyfriend. There is disadvantages to being single, yes, but there's also disadvantages to being part of a couple. I'm not against dating. I'm just against dating while in high school.
I know alot of teens. I work with them at the library and teach Sunday School at my church. They're too young. At least the ones, I know are, to be looking for a soulmate. In my opinion that's what dating is for. So, you can find out who you are to marry. When you date you're giving bits of your heart away. That's a serious thing. Most relationships (especially dating ones) require some emotion and love to survive and thrive. Dating should be romantic, otherwise it's not dating. It takes some serious heart to do that. I'm not the expert or anything but we got to be careful who we give our hearts to. Most of the teenagers I know can't take care of themselves on their own. What makes them think they can take care of someone else's heart. I love teenagers, that's why I work with them any chance I get, but they don't know who they are. At all. It's my opinion that you should have a good idea of who you are before you date. This way you don't compromise and do things you'll later regret.
High school is a time that is all ready filled with too much experimenting. Experimentation can be a good thing but not when it involves doing a lot of wrong. One can do a lot of wrong by dating too soon.
I've ranted long enough. This entry isn't even part of the entries I had planned for this week. Consider it extra. It only costs your time.
-Nichole
For the last few weeks I've been thinking about writing this story (not Pentecostal. Someday I'll write that...someday) about a girl who doesn't date while she's in high school. It's not about a dating commitment. It's not because no guy will ask her out (though no guy ever does). It's for more selfish reasons. Just like why most teenagers now do date.
The story starts with the main character (let's name her for the heck of it), Jamie, realizes her best friend has no time for her. It's not just because her friend has a boyfriend either (though, that's part of it). Her friend is also part of marching band, French Club, Major's Beautification Committee, takes way too many honors classes, etc. In other words, her life is way too cluttered. Jamie also has two older sisters who have had terrible boyfriends. Some smoke, others have cheated, most lie, one was abusive; the list goes on. All around school there are these girls. Some of them have horrible boyfriends, like her sisters and others just spend too much time with them, like her friend. Deciding life (or just really high school) is too short to waste on boys...At least in the fashion of a boyfriend.
This story will not end in with her getting a boyfriend after graduation. She may in the future of her life, but that's another story, which I will not write. Jamie may or may not get asked out in the story (though I wrote before that she won't). She'll turn whoever asks her out down, though. She'll face much criticism. It won't become a popular trend nor will she change her high school or the world with this mission. This story isn't that stereotypical.
Jamie is just like any other teenage girl. She's insecure, vain, and wants to know who she is. She decides, though, that finding out who you are doesn't need to be through a guy (how mature). She doesn't come to this conclusion right away, though. She learns it. By not dating? You may ask. Yes!
I've been told several reasons why girls want boyfriends and I had my own as a teenager. I honestly thought I was missing out on something. This story is about what you might miss by having a boyfriend. There is disadvantages to being single, yes, but there's also disadvantages to being part of a couple. I'm not against dating. I'm just against dating while in high school.
I know alot of teens. I work with them at the library and teach Sunday School at my church. They're too young. At least the ones, I know are, to be looking for a soulmate. In my opinion that's what dating is for. So, you can find out who you are to marry. When you date you're giving bits of your heart away. That's a serious thing. Most relationships (especially dating ones) require some emotion and love to survive and thrive. Dating should be romantic, otherwise it's not dating. It takes some serious heart to do that. I'm not the expert or anything but we got to be careful who we give our hearts to. Most of the teenagers I know can't take care of themselves on their own. What makes them think they can take care of someone else's heart. I love teenagers, that's why I work with them any chance I get, but they don't know who they are. At all. It's my opinion that you should have a good idea of who you are before you date. This way you don't compromise and do things you'll later regret.
High school is a time that is all ready filled with too much experimenting. Experimentation can be a good thing but not when it involves doing a lot of wrong. One can do a lot of wrong by dating too soon.
I've ranted long enough. This entry isn't even part of the entries I had planned for this week. Consider it extra. It only costs your time.
-Nichole
6/22/10
Reading Log
I haven't updated in almost a month! There wasn't much to say. I had hard trouble thinking of what to put on here, really. This week I'll make up for it. I have had three entry ideas. So, here's the first.
Ever since I was in a junior in high school I've kept a reading log. I realized that sometimes I would start a book series and not finish it right away. Usually it was because sometimes you get to the middle of the series to realize that the next book isn't coming out for a few months. While you wait for the next one, you read other stuff and you forget. Then the next one comes out and then a couple months later another one comes out. Before you know it, you see a book of the series in the library and remember that you were reading that. You decide to pick up on the series again but first you have to remember where you left off. This is where the reading log comes in. It happened a lot with manga series. Also I couldn't remember if I read certain books that I saw. I read so much it was hard to keep track what I had borrowed from the library and hadn't.
At first the reading log listed the Title, the author, Genre of book, Date I started, Date I finished, and how many pages the book had. Then I had another problem. I often forgot to record the books right after I finished them. So I'd forget the start dates or the finish dates. After awhile I decided to just keep with Title, Author, and Genre. I call it "Tagging" a book (the initials of Title, Author, and Genre spell TAG).
It's really helpful. I use a really small notebook for it. Each page holds five entries for me. Stores now have reading logs that all ready set up, you know. I think the inspiration was Booklust by Nancy Pearl. I've seen one in Barnes and Noble with the title on it. They include a section for comments on the book too. It's much cheaper to use a normal notebook though. By using it I also know how much I've read in a year (which is always in the hundreds, by the way).
Next Entry: Find out what I'm reading this Summer!
-Nichole
-Nichole
Ever since I was in a junior in high school I've kept a reading log. I realized that sometimes I would start a book series and not finish it right away. Usually it was because sometimes you get to the middle of the series to realize that the next book isn't coming out for a few months. While you wait for the next one, you read other stuff and you forget. Then the next one comes out and then a couple months later another one comes out. Before you know it, you see a book of the series in the library and remember that you were reading that. You decide to pick up on the series again but first you have to remember where you left off. This is where the reading log comes in. It happened a lot with manga series. Also I couldn't remember if I read certain books that I saw. I read so much it was hard to keep track what I had borrowed from the library and hadn't.
At first the reading log listed the Title, the author, Genre of book, Date I started, Date I finished, and how many pages the book had. Then I had another problem. I often forgot to record the books right after I finished them. So I'd forget the start dates or the finish dates. After awhile I decided to just keep with Title, Author, and Genre. I call it "Tagging" a book (the initials of Title, Author, and Genre spell TAG).
It's really helpful. I use a really small notebook for it. Each page holds five entries for me. Stores now have reading logs that all ready set up, you know. I think the inspiration was Booklust by Nancy Pearl. I've seen one in Barnes and Noble with the title on it. They include a section for comments on the book too. It's much cheaper to use a normal notebook though. By using it I also know how much I've read in a year (which is always in the hundreds, by the way).
Next Entry: Find out what I'm reading this Summer!
-Nichole
-Nichole
5/24/10
Playaways
I was on a walk yesterday when I thought of this entry. I work in a library in my hometown as a shelver. In the library we have these new materials called playaways. A playaway holds one audiobook on it and looks like a MP3 player in some ways (for more go to the link attached to this post). We don't have a lot of them at the library, yet, but they're growing number. The problem is that they don't circulate alot. The patrons are still proned to check out audiobooks on CD. I thought maybe some advertising was in order. Playaways are cooler than CD audiobooks and here's why:
1. The lack of bulk. Audiobooks on CD (I'm going to just call them audiobooks from here on out even though playaways are audios as well) come in a box containing usually at least five CDs. A playaway is just a small little box. So it's more compact.
2. You need less extras. For an audiobook you need the following: A CD player, if this CD player is portable you need batteries and a headphone, if not portable you need to plug it in somewhere. The playaway kit comes with battery already included (it's true you'll eventually have to replace that battery if you own it but not if you're checking it out from the library; they inclue an extra battery at my work in case the battery already in the playaway dies). You don't need a player, the playaway is it's on player. The only extra you need is headphones and who doesn't have headphones lying around these days (if you don't have them, they are cheaper than a CD player).
3. The playaway can be used anywhere with little inconvience to you. When I got my current vechile, Sidney (yes, I name my cars), she came with a stereo system that included a CD player, radio, and an auxillary outlet. The auxillary outlet (for those who don't know) allows you to hook up audio devices very easily (like your mp3 player). About the sametime I got my car, I got a new CD player for my room. This also had an auxillary outlet. I bought a cord (which costed me $13.00) and was able to play my ipod in the car and in my bedroom without using headphones. Well, when I got into playaways I discovered I could attach those to the cord and listen in the car and in my room. I have earphones, of course, and I take the playaways on my walks. You can keep the playaway in your pocket while you walk around. It's true with an audiobook that you can play it in the car and on your CD player. You have to admit that it's inconvient to put it in your pocket, though. A portable CD player is bulkier than an audiobook.
4. No changing up CDs. You know when you're in the car and you're listening to Anne of Greene Gables on audiobook, then you hear the narrator say: "This is the end of disc five"? Changing to disc six in the middle of driving isn't always safe nor is it reccommended but you want to hear more of the story! So, you change it. It's a hassle and last week you got in a wreck because of it. Well, no more! The only exchange you'll probably have to make with a playaway is in battery when the current one dies. In my experience, to get through the whole book you only need one battery and it doesn't usually use the whole battery.
There you have it. Four reasons to use a playaway instead of an audiobook. Do I still use audiobooks? Yes. Not all books are on playaway yet. There are still more books on CD. If I have the option, though, I go with a playaway over an audiobook. Always I prefer the good old traditional hardback or paperback, though. Nothing better than curling up on my bed, couch, or favorite chair with a good old fashioned book.
-Nichole
http://www.playaway.com (I had to type this in myself because I can't figure out this inserting link thing they have.)
1. The lack of bulk. Audiobooks on CD (I'm going to just call them audiobooks from here on out even though playaways are audios as well) come in a box containing usually at least five CDs. A playaway is just a small little box. So it's more compact.
2. You need less extras. For an audiobook you need the following: A CD player, if this CD player is portable you need batteries and a headphone, if not portable you need to plug it in somewhere. The playaway kit comes with battery already included (it's true you'll eventually have to replace that battery if you own it but not if you're checking it out from the library; they inclue an extra battery at my work in case the battery already in the playaway dies). You don't need a player, the playaway is it's on player. The only extra you need is headphones and who doesn't have headphones lying around these days (if you don't have them, they are cheaper than a CD player).
3. The playaway can be used anywhere with little inconvience to you. When I got my current vechile, Sidney (yes, I name my cars), she came with a stereo system that included a CD player, radio, and an auxillary outlet. The auxillary outlet (for those who don't know) allows you to hook up audio devices very easily (like your mp3 player). About the sametime I got my car, I got a new CD player for my room. This also had an auxillary outlet. I bought a cord (which costed me $13.00) and was able to play my ipod in the car and in my bedroom without using headphones. Well, when I got into playaways I discovered I could attach those to the cord and listen in the car and in my room. I have earphones, of course, and I take the playaways on my walks. You can keep the playaway in your pocket while you walk around. It's true with an audiobook that you can play it in the car and on your CD player. You have to admit that it's inconvient to put it in your pocket, though. A portable CD player is bulkier than an audiobook.
4. No changing up CDs. You know when you're in the car and you're listening to Anne of Greene Gables on audiobook, then you hear the narrator say: "This is the end of disc five"? Changing to disc six in the middle of driving isn't always safe nor is it reccommended but you want to hear more of the story! So, you change it. It's a hassle and last week you got in a wreck because of it. Well, no more! The only exchange you'll probably have to make with a playaway is in battery when the current one dies. In my experience, to get through the whole book you only need one battery and it doesn't usually use the whole battery.
There you have it. Four reasons to use a playaway instead of an audiobook. Do I still use audiobooks? Yes. Not all books are on playaway yet. There are still more books on CD. If I have the option, though, I go with a playaway over an audiobook. Always I prefer the good old traditional hardback or paperback, though. Nothing better than curling up on my bed, couch, or favorite chair with a good old fashioned book.
-Nichole
http://www.playaway.com (I had to type this in myself because I can't figure out this inserting link thing they have.)
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