Fan Experience

The book of lost things

John Connolly

Do you want your very own book of lost things? Somewhere to put your very own items and stuff? Stuff that no one else should ever see? Or stuff that you’re afraid of? Everyone should buy this book, because “They say the king has a book, The Book of Lost things. It is his most prized possession.”   You can make your very own book! Get a blank book from us, leather bound and hand detailed, all you have to do is fill it with your very own stuff. For example, maybe you are afraid of Werewolves, just as the king in The Book of Lost Things was. You can draw a picture, or print one out and put it in there, and look at it every day until you realize there is nothing that scary about them. All you have to do is overcome that fear. And to do that, this book can help you. Just as it helped the King, “The book has value to me.” He says. Or it could help you memorize things; you can write down stuff that you need to know for school, work, or just life. You can put pictures of lost and loved ones, old places that mean a lot to you. This book, the book of lost things, is yours and only yours. It’s yours to keep and look at every day. This book could potentially contain your entire life.  Maybe your mother died when you were little, and you want to remember her forever, take a picture of when she was really really happy, or whichever picture best describes her, and put it in the book. You can remember her forever and always with a picture rather than a memory. Or maybe your mother is still alive, but you live far far away from her. You can take a recent picture of her and write a note to call her underneath it. You can talk to her every day because a book reminded you to do that. This book has the potential to start so many things in your life. Or if you choose not to do any of these things, you could put everything you hate, everything that has ever been wrong, anything that frightens you, and lock it away forever. You could burn it too, but the book is your life, every book in some way is alive, we just wake them up with the stories we put in them. So you can put your story in the book. You can fill it to the rim, all 200 pages, and set it free. It’s your book; it’s your life story. If you’re a parent with young children you could have them draw pictures in it, that way you can remember they will always be your baby. Or have a picture with them when they were a little baby, just born perhaps. You can do whatever you want with the book of lost things. It’s your book.

This Book would sell because it provides a state of mind for the people, it helps them to remember, it helps them to do whatever they want it to help them with. The audience this Book sells to would be the ones who have read The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly. This would help bring the book alive even more; you could do whatever you want with it, just like the king did. “He remembered the old king, and the loving way in which he had touched The Book.” The king put his everything in the book, everything he was before he became king, and all the things he never wanted to forget. The people could do this just the same and have the same effect that the king has.  The Book has the power to help change your life forever.

Post 2: What is a book?

What is a book?

A book is a book. A book is different to everyone, what it means and what it is. There is no one set thing for what a book is. A book is anything you want it to be, an adventure, an escape, or just a plain old story. In my opinion, you should be reading real book, not e-books. A real book is better than an electronic book, because of the weight in your hands, the feel of the rough paper, the smell of a brand new book, the history of a book passed down. A book is anything you want it to be. You can write in it, change anything you want to with your imagination and a pencil. A book can be everything you want it to be. The cover of the book can influence your opinion, sure, but the book itself makes you feel anticipation as you flip to the next page hurriedly and get a paper cut from the page. I’m not saying that e-books are bad because they don’t give you paper cuts; I’m just trying to say there is nothing like the experience of reading a hard book. You know how much you have left to read by the thickness of the book. The thrill of knowing what you have left to read until you get to the very last thing the book tells you, is beyond amazing. Books are alive; they can speak to you in unimaginable ways. Books are not alive unless you choose to make them alive.  A pair of wide eyes with a flashlight reading the books at night, sitting in the library, or even in the chair under the blanket your grandma made for you. You can make the book alive. If you use an e-book, you don’t get the experience of sitting under a blanket with the flashlight and book, you can sit anywhere and read it. The thrill of reading a book under a blanket is more so the thrill of knowing you should be in bed, and your parents think you are, but really you’re watching a movie, in your head. The book is an essence to make your life more creative, and fun. The fact that you make up what the characters look like and what you think is everything that matters. A real book is one made with paper, one that the author slaved over for years at a time.

Why I read

Why do I read? I read because I can make a movie from the book in my head. I like to make my own movies because I can make my own characters and think by myself what they look like. In my opinion when you watch a movie that was based on a book, it ruins the book because you're image of what each character looks like is ruined, or portrayed differently. When I pick up a book, it is actually very hard for me to put it down. For me, its like stopping a movie just before the good part, but every part is the good part. I also read to just take up time, whenever I am bored, I pick up a book and read. Sometimes I can manage to get 2 books or so done in one day. I wouldn't say that I am a fast reader, I just don't take the time to do anything other than read. When I am reading a book, I see no other purpose for that day. I will pretty much only drink water, I will eat a little bit of food, but I like to stay in my bed and finish that book. I read because it stimulates my brain, not like watching a movie. When I read a book I can come up with solutions, even with not reading on. Sometimes its like a little game, if I guess what happens next correctly or not. So thats why I read, why do you read?

Book Recommendations

Some books i would like to suggest reading are: 13 Reasons Why, by Jay Asher; Chomp, By Carl Hiaasen(or any of his others, Flush, Scat, or Hoot); or Swindle, by Gordon Korman. All of these books are very good, but i would like to specifically talk about chomp. First i would like to say I give it a 20 out of 10. I read the entire book in about five hours. The book was amazing, it perfectly portrayed life in Florida for an animal training family in modern times. The main family in this book, the Cray's, is having a hard time getting money lately because the father was put in the hospital when a frozen iguana fell on his head from a tree. The family has many animals in their backyards, including a large 14 foot alligator. The alligator plays a big part in this book because a TV survivalist comes to the Cray's looking for some Florida animals. The man wants to wrestle with the alligator, what do you think? Will the Cray's let him wrestle their most prized possession? Click here to read the first two chapters online. I do highly recommend to read, i feel like the first two chapters explain the book I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did!

Theme and summary

I read a poem the other day, I have been thinking a lot about it lately. Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. This poem is about leaving behind a bad place, and going into the unknown. 

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

I think my favorite part of this poem is where it says "let us leave this place where the smoke  blows black" I think that is saying that you have to let the past be in the past and not worry about it, you have to move on and forget about it. The real life issue illustrated in this poem is showing how it may be hard to leave the past, but you have to keep moving forward and keep your head held high. I think it is also saying that we follow the path that is marked out for us, because we don't know any different. We are taught to go where we are told, so that is what we do. The poem has an underlying meaning that is saying "don't go with the forsaken path." Or in other words, it is ok to go where ever you want in life, and make your own future. But in real life, people are afraid to make their own choices, so they follow the ones that are already set for them.  

Characterization

A book I have recently read is Evermore, by Alyson Noël. I'm going to talk about characterization in this book. The characterization was written amazingly. The main character, Ever, was a dynamic character. I know this because in the beginning of this book, she did not care for a new student at her school at all. She said she hated him in fact. Then at the end of the book, she was actually the new students girlfriend. So you can see how her perspective on him changes if she starts dating him. Some quotes to support my idea is on page 74, the beginning of the book. "I don't like him! I mean, how else can I convince you I that? Just tell me and I'll do it!" In this part of the book she was talking to her friend who liked the new student Damen. Her friend thought that Ever liked him, when she didn't. That's happened in the beginning of the book. "'I love you,' I whisper. 'And I love you.' He smiles, his lips seeking mine. 'Always have. Always will.'" That quote came from the very last page of the book, 301. From the first quote to the second quote, it shows how Ever's though changed about Damen. Because in the beginning she did not like him, then by the end of the book she was saying she loves him. That shows Ever is a dynamic character, because she changed throughout the book.

short story meanings: characterization, diction, analysis

I have recently read a short story, it is called it all started with a dance. The way the writer picks his words was amazing. every word was perfect for the situation, and they were thrown in elegantly. He picked his words as if a teenager were really speaking, but he used big words. words that the main character might have learned from studying for the SAT. I found the short story very, the whole meaning behind the story was that if you wait to long for something, it can be gone in the blink of an eye. The underlying message was very clear, it was just not as implied as some might think. The whole time I was reading it, I was thinking that the main character should not have waited as long as he did to tell the girl he loves her. Then when he finally does, the girl accidental gets lost in the city, and ends up running into a drive by shoot out. She gets shot and dies about 2 hours after the main character confessed his love for her. I didn't really like the ending to it, but the message behind it is a very important one to learn. In my personal opinion, there is no reason to wait, if you wait then you may regret it, and if you don't wait, there is no time for regret. Throughout the short story, i was thinking about how little detail there was, everything in the story just moved so fast. The author had some detail, but only the most important things. There was no room for any smaller detail than what the characters look like, or how the think about other characters. The story had a nice meaning behind it, but it just did not seem realistic with the limited amount of detail and the restricted view into the setting. The author was never told outside of the story, but i am pretty sure that it was a man. He was the narrator, and his name was never ever said. I found it quite interesting how a "love" story could be told without the lovers saying names. In the end, I did not care for this short story. Yes, there were some good parts, but the book was so ephemeral and the details were so scarce. I think the author should go back and reevaluate his writing. I'm sure he had a cause in mind, and wanted his story to be told, but his writing skills were not all that great. The characterization of this story was not well thought out. The narrator kept switching, it was nice to get more views and input, but it was very confusing.

poems

I recently read a poem, the poem was about being alone.  here is the poem if you want you can go read it, but I cant control what you do. Being alone is a hard thing for people, because you will have no one to fall back on, no one to catch you when you fall. It feels like everyone hates you, but you know that's not true. I think the author wrote this piece to show how hard it can be when you are alone, as the poem says:

Imagine yourself
Alone in your head
You're hanging, dangling
From a silver thread

Empty, alone
With the monsters within
Internally screaming
You just want to give in

I think the way this part of the poem is written, the author is trying to say how hard life can be for the people who have no one to turn to, no one for them to talk to when times get hard. the poem talks about how it is to try and tell someone, but they don't listen. It tells what it is like to watch all the people you use to have, leave. sometimes understanding the true meaning of a poem can be hard, but the message in the poem is very loud, and very clear. The poem is saying that when you are alone, life can be hard, extremely hard. Everyone needs someone to help them get through the hard times in life. Everyone needs someone.

The interlopers

Today we read the interlopers, by Saki. My partner, Julia Allen, and I were not satisfied with the ending of the story. We rearrange the story line. We cut up the story and placed the different parts in a random order, trying multiple different orders, until we found one that suited us. The order we finally chose was 2,3,7,6,4,5,1. We imagined Ulrich Von gradwitz dreaming if what might happen if the two men actually met in the woods. We found this a better ending for the story, even if in the end they are still not friends. We added different sentences that made a clearer transition into the story. In the end we were satisfied with the story line we created.

CPR book

A book that I have recently read is Bad monkeys, by Matt Ruff. The theme in this book is along the lines of deceiving roles. I was very confused at the end of the book, because the main character is almost like a double agent playing a double agent. I was getting very confused, even after I read the ending about 10 times. The theme of the book goes along with telling lies, also. When you lie, in the end nothing good will happen. In the end of the book, the main character is forced to lie again, just to get out of the current situation she is in, and she's ends up getting killed. We then found out that all along they had been testing her, to see how the life of a double agent would effect someone. So to sum it up, the main character thought her whole life was really happening, but it was actually just a big lie. The thing about lying is, that in the end nothing good ever comes out of it. Even if you think something is real, you always have to look at true messages and realize that there will always be something in your life that is not real, whether it be love, or your personality, something will be there. Some people do not realize this until it is too late. I think the message of this book is saying that you have to open your eyes wide enough to realize what is going on around you and see that anything in your life could be fake. In this book, I dont think the main character saw this, and because of that fact she was not aware of how fake and unrealistic her life was. She was only concerened with how she completed 'missions' or how she could get promoted. Because she was so unblisitly consumed by her job, she failed to reakize that her job adn lie was completly utterly fake. I feel that if you just take time to stop and realize what is going on every once in a while, you can stop something before it has the chance to reach out and hurt you.

Text structure

1: the similarity between all texts is each one starts with an example, or story, that either strengthens or illustrates their theme or meaning of their cause.
2: Craig Wilson's use if this technique helped illustrate and introduce how he came to the understanding of his theme. The story provides imagery for the reader.
3: this technique could benefit our own writing because it will help demonstrate our them throughout our narrative and provide structure for our story-line.
4: we think the writing standard is using examples to support a speakers or writers theme or am important detail thought the story.

summer reading

I would rate my book, 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher, a 10. I really enjoyed reading this book, although the meaning behind it is very sad. Clay Jesen recieves a set of casset tapes on his door step one day after school. He goes into his garge to play the tapes, and its the voice of Hannah Baker. The girl who killed herself, the girl he liked. She said on the tapes tha if you were listening to the tapes one of two things happened, one you are one the reasons why she killed herself, or two, the 13 people did not pass on the tapes and they were sent out to the police, media, the world. In the end all be all, this book is about suicide, more specificllay the suicide of Hannah Baker.