Silver

Okay, maybe it's dumb to write a blog  post about a book I'll most likely never finish.  Too bad, because it's really good too.  But when we were a my aunt's house, I had nothing to do so I picked up a book sitting on my cousin's pencil case and started reading it.  It was pretty good- it's called Silver.  There's a bunch of kids at a boarding school, and after a science experiment goes wrong a disease spreads around campus that turns people into cyborgs within hours.  Then, it's like an outbreak of intelligent zombies.  I got far enough into the book that the climax has already happened, and some of the main characters are being infected, but not far enough for it to end.  This really bugs me!  I want to read the rest of it!  Maybe it's at the library...

Crunch

I'm going to start this post out with a slightly annoyed disclaimer.  Stop making fun of me for the book I'm reading, people!  No, it's not a third grader book!   Ever heard of 'don't judge a book by its cover'? Jeesh.  I will say that it is probably more of a middle school than high school book.  But that doesn't mean I can't read it!  The only reason I am is because the author, Leslie Connor, wrote the only book I've been able to read four times and still enjoy.  It's Waiting for Normal, by the way.  I figured I'd read another one of her books.  Don't eat me.
I just had to get that out.  I'm really enjoying this book, Crunch, so far.
I'm only on page 28, but it's already interesting to me.  There is no gas, for whatever reason, in the United States, and Lil and Dewey's parents are stuck out of state, meaning they have to care for their younger siblings.  It's kind of like science fiction meets realistic fiction: I'm not quite sure how to describe the genre, actually, because even though I've been thinking about it a lot the question is still hanging in  my mind.  No gas in the US, or maybe, the world?  Sci fi.  But the intimacy of the family connections makes it sound more like realistic fiction, especially when you look at quotes like this: "We cook together tonight at your place?  Pop and I took the boat out early this morning...'" (Connor 23) Life is going on as usual, just... no gas.  Almost as if the shortage is a subplot, and the main thing is kids taking care of their younger siblings.  It's an interesting perspective, since the gas shortage sems like such an outlandish thing you'd think it was going to be the main plot.  But again, I'm not that far into it yet so maybe I really can't say.
But you know what I can say?
Not.  A.  Third.  Grader.  Book.
Give me a break, people.

The world is not a wish-granting factory.

I'm putting down Shadow of the Hegemon.  I just can't take anymore disappointment from Orson Scott Card!  I told myself I would finish the series, and the book I was reading in my last post, but honestly, I can't anymore.  The whole series went downhill after the focus was off Ender's time at Battle School.  If you're going to read the Ender's Game books, read Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow, A War of Gifts, and STOP.  Don't fall into the commercial trap, only created to make Card money when his writing had gotten lazier and less exciting.
Anyway, I need to stop bashing poor Card (it's not his fault he needs money; honestly, this is modern day America we're talking about here), and start praising John Green.  Awhile back, a friend said John Green was one of his favorite authors and so I started looking him up.  Then, I started hearing all these great things about a book called The Fault in Our Stars.  So I looked it up, as is my nature.  I am one with Google.
It turned out John Green wrote it!
Let me just say how impressed I am with his writing style.  It's new, and refreshing, after reading Card for so long.  I can't even crack a joke about it; that's how much in awe I am.  At one point while I was reading, I came to a realization.
All.
These.
Different,
Wonderful,
Philosophical,
Incredibly real,
Characters.
Were brought to life...
By one person.
One man.
This man.

He's... just an ordinary guy.  How is it possible?  I'm nearly envious.  Is he real? He is. 
That picture is the picture of a very real, very talented man.
Can anyone ever work to write as well as him?  To make characters just float off the page and into your life?  When I write, I certainly try.  But my characters blend, they become too much like myself.  Maybe one day, I'll be able to write like him.
But today, it is amazingly unreachable.