Hall - Assignment 2 - Book

I'm not going to give a list. I'm going to talk about a few of the books I read over the summer or that I like in general, because I promise you that I can't remember the books I've read in the past year that haven't been forced.

A book I read over the summer was Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. I almost don't know how to describe this book. The main premise is that this kid was forced to befriend a girl from his past because she was diagnosed with cancer. Her condition worsens throughout the book, and the protagonist (if I could remember his name, I would use it here.) doesn't know how to deal with it. Because she hadn't been important to her before, and she was becoming an important presence in his life while she was fighting for her own. I identified with the protagonist, as he made jokes to avoid feeling the sadness, grief, and inescapable turmoil of his own emotions, whilst attempting to cheer up and be the rock for the dying girl (what is her name? I don't know.). I have a similar dynamic with one of my older friends, where I feel obligated to stay her friend and be her rock, and therefore don't share any of my problems with them and joke about my own issues. I originally read this book based off of a recommendation on social media, thinking that this book wasn't going to affect my being at all. Generally, when authors try to depict things like this, such as The Fault in Our Stars or other books involving sickness or suicide, the authors push too hard and end up romanticizing and idealizing the struggles to the point where it is laughable. This book was not the case, and I was admittedly in tears when I closed the cover.

I used to read the Oliver Nocturne series, but I was, and honestly still am, upset with the ending of the books. Notice how I am not talking about the plot, that's intentional. The ending felt short-changed. In the series, there was tons of character developments, internal struggles, interesting descriptions, and plot twists that kept me hooked and interested throughout the series. But the ending was unfathomable. It felt like there was so much effort and potential put in and then wasted. That the character would ignore his previous struggles and character development simply to choose a girl over his entire family and friends is absurd. The entire book series basically revolved around him choosing option A or option B and he really just said "C, none of the above." And if I'm honest, I'm getting irritated just typing this, and so I'm going to quit talking about it.

A book series I really enjoyed was Croak and its sequels. It was about this girl, Lex (short for Lexington) and her twin sister Cordy (Concord). Lex becomes a Grim Reaper, living in this grim reaper town with grim reaper people and grim reaper puns and it was all very interesting. Anyways, Cordy dies midway through the first book and Lex is forced to take her soul to this book's version of the afterlife. I enjoyed the series and honestly want to reread it.

Reading this book was off brand for me. Generally, I enjoy reading sci-fi, mystery, or supernatural books. I'm not going to list very many, because I'm honestly slightly insecure about it. I enjoy the Michael Vey books, and the Blue Bloods books. When I was younger I enjoyed the Goosebumps books and the N.E.R.D.S. series. Sometimes I even go to reread them just for the nostalgia. Honestly, most of the books I have on my bookshelf are there for nostalgia, because I mostly read for the escapism.

When I read from sci-fi or supernatural genres, it generally contributes to my perception of anything being possible, or that it's simply fun to believe and self-indulge in silly ideas just because you can.

When I read mystery books, it challenges me to think ahead and be detail oriented. The smallest detail mentioned in one chapter could end up being the most important plot point in the book. I like to try and predict the

When I don't finish books, it's because I wasn't interested. The book failed to hook me and keep me reading, and I, as a reader, didn't have the patience to keep putting time and effort into attempting to care about what I was reading when I legitimately just couldn't get myself invested. Sometimes I unintentionally don't finish books if I am stressed or overbooked, because I genuinely don't have time to relax and invest time in reading anything not schoolwork or directly beneficial to my education or extracurriculars. Most times I end up picking these books back up, or I forget that I was in the middle of one book and start another. Now that I write this out, this is the same thing I do on streaming networks, extracurriculars, and sometimes with other people, too.

As a reader, as a watcher, as a person, if I do not find the book/show/person interesting, meaningful, or beneficial to my life in some way, I move on. I'm bored easily, and I like give-give relationships. I give a book/show/movie my time, it gives me a good quality plot and entertainment. I give an extracurricular (acting, lacrosse, fashion, Young Dems, JJOA, etc.) my effort, blood, sweat, and tears; it gives me mental/creative/physical stimulation of some sort. I give a person my time, my effort, my friendship, they give me their friendship in return. If it's a give-take relationship, and I give and give with no results, it's got to go, as it is just wasting my time and resources at this point.