AWESOME

So in a previous post I mentioned a man named John Green. I'd like to take a moment to now mention his brother Hank Green (also a video blogger) and this awesome new website that he has launched:

www.readit1st.com

Check it out and decide if you are up to making the pledge:

Books in Rochester!

It's a shame that I find out awesome book related things after I move away from a city. So I stumbled across this blog today which you should definitely check out because it's pretty cool and has some neat info for Rochester, NY area folks. Rochester Area Book Sellers.

Just Finished Reading...

Still Life With Woodpecker by Tom Robbins

This is the definitive book on love, the purpose of the moon, and being an outlaw. Every person should read this book.

Just Finished Reading...

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

This book is about two high school guys named Will Grayson who meet and are changed forever by the experience. It's a totally excellent book. Both writers are really amazing at portraying their particular Will Grayson, I absolutely recommend this book to everyone.

Summer Reading!

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

John Green is a young adult writer and a videoblogger. As part of his video blog he has given a reading assignment to his viewers. I know he can be a bit overwhelming at first, but John Green makes books look cool, so I wholeheartedly recommend reading The Great Gatsby and following along with John's videos. I know he talks really fast, and maybe it would be good if we could play it in slow motion... sooo good luck keeping up!!

Introduction to writer John Green! Where he answers some questions from his vlog viewers, gives us The Great Gatsby as a reading assignment, and says some really awesome things about the power of books!

John Green discusses the epigraph of the Great Gatsby, as well as giving you several chapters to read for further discussion.

Discussion on the first chapter of The Great Gatsby, and summary.
Rapid-fire discussion of Great Gatsby

Just Finished Reading...

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud

I had a hard time getting through this one, especially since it was just a young adult book. It is about a  young apprentice magician named Nathaniel who hopes to get revenge on another Magician for humiliating him. In order to do this he summons a Djinni, who must do his bidding, albeit not very well. In the end his quest for revenge leads him deep into a plot against the government and in way over his head with only an unruly Djinni to help him. The book was ok, and I don't really feel that I need to read the rest of the trilogy.

Books Read July 1st 2010 to June 30th 2011

Every year I try to read about 50 books (or about a book a week). I find it's a reasonable goal and keeps my reading skills sharp. My tenth grade English teacher gave me this idea, except he set the somewhat more ambitious goal of 100 books a year. Since these past 12 months were ridiculously busy for me, I had a little trouble meeting my deadlines for this year's 50 books and had to read more than my usual number of young adult books in order to keep on schedule. However, I'm hoping my number for this next year will be somewhat higher, I'm aiming for 60!

1) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
2) Dear America: West to a Land of Plenty by Jim Muphy
3) Dear America: Voyage on the Great Titanic by Ellen Emerson White
4) Dear America: A Journey to the New World by Kathryn Lasky
5) Dear America: My Heart is on the Ground by Ann Rinaldi
6) The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams
7) Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
8) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
9) Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
10) The Sleeping Beauty by Mahlon F. Craft
11) I Sing the Body Electric by Ray Bradbury
12) Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
13) The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
14) Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
15) Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle
16) An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
17) Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
18) Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
19) A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
20) The Road by Cormac McCarthy
21) Atonement by Ian McEwan
22) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
23) Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
24) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
25) Looking for Alaska by John Green
26) A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
27) Ways of Seeing by John Berger
28) Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit
29) Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
30) The Hanged Man by Francesca Lia Block
31) Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
32) Z is for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien
33) A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck
34) Dogsong by Gary Paulsen
35) Politically Correct Bedtime Stories by James Finn Garner
36) Stones in Water by Donna Jo Napoli
37) Jedi Apprentice: The Rising Force by Dave Wolverton
38) All I Need to Know I Learned from Watching Star Trek by Dave Marinaccio
39) The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
40) 101 Dalmatians by Dodie Smith
41) Demian by Hermann Hesse
42) Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
43) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
44) Tithe by Holly Black
45) Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block
46) Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
47) Into the Land of Unicorns by Bruce Coville
48) The Forgotten Door by Alexander Key
49) A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
50) Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie