Kaitlyn's Blog

         Honestly, I'm pretty relieved that this book is finally over. It's not that I thought it was bad because I think Anne Bishop wrote a good story and did a good job at letting me be able to visualize what's actually happening, but it just wasn't my style of book. Even though I read people connections they made with the book and the real world, I still can't really get into fantasy writing.          Chapter 56 tells us what Elayne's diary actually says and that got me thinking again about how she was murdered and I wish the book told us who did it. She did write in her diary though, "I tossed Nicholas Scratch out on his stinky ass. I packed his bags and had them sitting outside the apartment door." Nicholas Scratch seems like one powerful guy, and I just get the impression from him that he doesn't like to be embarrassed. I'm assuming that this situation sort of embarrassed him because who wouldn't be embarrassed in a situation lik...

         The middle of this section of reading was probably the most exciting part of the whole book so far. Right when Meg fell on the stairs and had her prophecy and said Simon was in trouble, I knew it was about to get good. Then, on page 380, the part that really stuck with me was right before the fight when Kowalski said, "We're police officers! Put your weapons down now!" but then a man shouted, "Humans first, last, and always!" The humans came at Simon. That scene bothered me because the police officers are humans, and the humans just acted like they weren't. Just because they're helping the terra indigene doesn't make them any less human.          Also, even after they found the diary of Lizzy's and said what was in it, I still don't get why the humans care so much about it and they're willing to kill for it. Maybe it's just me or maybe I misread but I didn't think what was written inside of the diary was that big of a de...

         Reading the next several chapters helped me get a way better understanding of the book and what's going on. I'm still a little confused on some things that are happening but I'm sure my questions will be answered at some point within the rest of the book. I still don't think I would ever read this book for fun just because it's not really my style, but I am glad that it's starting to pick up and get really interesting.          I think the part that stood out to me most was on page 220 and all the food went bad. Burke asked Tess if something was wrong with the refrigeration system and Tess replied with, "No, something is wrong with the humans in this city." I know that there's always been tension between the humans and the Others, but I just felt like this intensified it so much more after the humans cut off food for the others, and for Meg too even though she's a human.  I feel like at this point if you're not part of the...

         From the beginning I didn't really know what to think about this book. I didn't really understand the first three chapters and all the different groups until we talked about it on class last week. Making a list of the characters helped me get more of a visual of who was who. Now, I'm starting to understand more but there's still a few things I'm confused about. I understand what's going on, but I don't really understand the point of why it's happening, like chapter 5. It stars on page 54 by saying, "The girl stumbled along the side of the road, looking for something, anything, she recognized from the binders filled with training images." Then by the end of the chapter she ends up dying by getting hit by a truck. I knew the Cassandra sangue girls were roaming around by themselves but I guess I really don't understand why this is happening or how everything connects. Like how does the girls wandering connect with Lizzie, or how does ...

         One of the things that stood out to me throughout the entire book was Nikki's mood swings. One day he was depressed and asked many questions about why things happened and wondered if anyone would even notice if he was gone. When he was off the drugs, he was usually happier. Not saying he wasn't still depressed, because I think that even when he was off the drugs he was still depressed. But he could tolerate each day off the drugs more so than when he was on the drugs.          I think it's interesting that everyone keeps telling Nikki he's going to die if he doesn't stop, and he really doesn't seem to care. On page 384, Li told Nikki, "He (the fortune teller) says if you don't change your ways you won't live until the end of the year." All Nikki said to that was, "Thank you... that gives me a week longer than I expected." I feel like this was Sikki talking more so than Nikki, but it caught my attention. I thought about it af...

         I enjoyed reading this section more than I have the previous sections. I think it was because Nikki finally got off the drugs (for a while) and he even claimed to be happy at some points which I was a little surprised by. I think the first shift I saw in Nikki was on page 208 when he said "The guys are going to a strip club, I just know if get in trouble if I go. I'm gonna work on some music..." That stood out to me because normally when Nikki is on drugs he's all about strip clubs and alcohol, but now he knows it's trouble and he didn't want anything to do with it. Another part that stood out to me was on page 268 that said "He's (Robbin) is coming over to pick me up and we're gonna catch a movie." When Nikki was on dope before, he never would leave his house. He'd always stay locked up because he didn't want to be social and it scared him. Now that he's off drugs he's actually getting out of the house and socializin...

         "I can't feel my soul. This darkness has become my only friend. My new addiction is drinking tons of water right before I shoot coke, then puking it all up in the Jacuzzi as my head explodes into the stratosphere. Why? Why not? I'm engaged in a dance of death in this house..." Many parts in this section on page 62 stuck out to me because of just how disturbing they were, but this is the one that stuck out to me the most. I know it's sad, but I like how he words "I'm engaged in a dance of death in this house..." I feel really bad for him because of how messed up his childhood was. It's hard to know what exactly happens because his mom will say one thing in the interviews but then Tom will come in and say the complete opposite and talk about just how messed up Nikki's mom was.          Also, in class we talked about the whole Sikki vs. Nikki situation. On page 48 we see Sikki because he's trying to write in his diary right after ...

         On Thursday we had our in class socratic seminar and I really enjoyed it because a lot of people had different opinions on a lot of the questions that were asked in class. I think the one that stood out to me most was when someone asked if they thought Light was killing in order to make the world a better place still, or was he doing it to protect himself and because he was addicted. I definitely think that he's doing it to protect himself at this point because he's killed a lot of innocent people now too and not just criminals. And I think he'd addicted because on page 327 when he realized Naomi gave him a fake name, he freaks out and thinks to himself "I have to get her real name and eliminate her. Less than three minutes left... I'm running out of time... I've got to do something." I think that was his first sign of panic when his little plan didn't work.          Also, even though we know through Ryuk's little hints that Li...

         There were a few things that caught my attention in this section of the reading. The first section is when Light is sitting with his family at dinner and his dad is telling them about the Kira investigation and how Kira killed 12 people from the FBI. On page 218, you can see the reactions on all their faces. Light's mom and sister both have exasperated looks on their face and they're completely shocked to find out this information. Then when you look at Light, he's just sitting there calm as ever telling his dad that he's proud of him. I feel like Light should've at least tried to look a little more shocked because personally I think he was way too calm for that situation.          There were also two things that confused me in this section. The first is on page 234 when it's explaining the rules of the Deathnote. It says, "Even if you do not actually possess the Deathnote, the effect will be the same if you can recognize the p...

         To be honest, I was a little nervous to read Deathnote at first. Reading isn't my favorite thing to do in the first place, and comic books and anime are a completely new genre for me as well. It didn't seem like anything I'd be interested in. Now 128 pages in, this genre isn't necessarily my favorite but I really like the story line and I think it's a cool and unique way of reading.          I think the story really started to take off at chapter 2 when this new L character that nobody knows is introduced. When L set up Light and pretended he was Linden L. Taylor to see if Kira would kill him, I thought that was pretty clever. L is also doing a good job so far at making connections and figuring out who this Kira person actually is. When I was reading it, I actually compared L to Wade from Ready Player One for a second because they're both anonymous people and no one actually knows their real identity, and they're both really sm...

After finishing up the last couple of chapters of Ready Player One, so much went through my mind. I really enjoyed reading this book, but I also can't get over how intelligent Cline makes Wade's character. The part that stuck out to me the most was on page 356 when Wade said, "Over the past six years, I'd watched Holy Grail exactly 157 times." Like how does someone just remember that off the top of their head? There were more little things like that throughout the book that made me have thoughts like this as well, but this was the one instance in this chapter. I also thought the ending of this book was very predictable. The main character reaches his goal and becomes incredibly wealthy, gets the girl in the process, and defeats the enemy. I'm glad Wade ended up finding the egg over the sixer's though. Maybe it's just me, but I still think it would've been cool if Parzival, Art3mis, and Aech all ended up winning together instead of Art3mis, Aech, ...

Things within the OASIS have definitely intensified since the first ninety-nine pages of the book. Not even with just the hunt for the egg, but with relationships among gunters as well. I wasn't surprised at all when Parzival was the first to find the Copper Key. After all, it said back on page 9, "After five long years, the Copper Kay had finally been found, by an eighteen-year-old kid living in a trailer park on the outskirts of Oklahoma City. That kid was me." I also wasn't really surprised that Art3mis found the Jade Key first, and Aech found it second. I sort of predicted that. What did surprise me a little is that the Sixers found the second gate AND the Crystal Key before either Art3mis, Aech, or Parzival, even though he was slacking. During these set of pages, I actually gained a lot of respect for him and I also feel bad for him. He was willing to give up these past years of his life searching for the billion dollar reward just so he could be with Art3mis...

After reading the first 99 pages of Ready Player One by Ernist Cline, I still can't tell if being in a world like an OASIS would be really cool or not. I think the idea of living life online could be really convenient but it could also be really boring. It would be helpful because the main character, Wade, attends school online. I think that's a neat concept because if something happens where you're not feeling well or you just can't make it to school one day you could still attend school in the OASIS. Plus having the OASIS would be a nice way to escape the real world for a while if you needed to. I think fully living life in the OASIS would be boring though because although I need my personal space, I don't want to physically be alone all the time like Wade is. I think that if this book were real life and the OASIS and Halliday's egg really did exist, then this would be a reflection on how the lower class lived their life. Wade isn't from a wealthy family...