Semester 1 Reflection

“A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.” - Ayn Rand

Over the past few months, I have been exposed to many new genres of books that I never thought I would pick up on my own. Before starting this blog and independent reading unit, I really only read fiction, fantasy and science fiction books. But now I've read memoirs like Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah, and definitely my favorite book this semester, Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10, by Marcus Luttrell. I also read 2 biographies about 2 topics that I love, Technology and Soccer. One about a man who changed technology forever, and 1 about the best manager of a soccer team of all time. When making my blog, I did not want all 10 blog posts to be about a fiction book. To be honest it would be boring to read, and in fact too boring to make. So, I expanded my range of genres into biographies, Utopian style books, and the most shocking one, memoirs. In fact, as I said before, my favorite book of the semester was Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10, a memoir. I was also shocked that the book made me tear up while reading it. With all the talk about The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner and the Divergent series, I had to explore the genre. For that reason, I read Divergent and then an hour later watched the movie. All in all, this idea of blogging about the books I read really let my mind wander and explore new genres I never thought I would read on my own. 

Another positive impact this blog has given me is that I improved how to explain a topic or give a brief summary of the book. If someone were to read the blogpost I did about Feed by M.T. Anderson, and then the blogpost I did about Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 by Marcus Luttrel, they would think it was a totally different person. You could notice it by the length. Now, I put more detail into my posts than before. I emphasize my thoughts and back them up with reasons why. Before, I would use a sentence or two to explain the quote. Yet, now I use more because I have learned that that is the most important part of a paragraph. Before, I would not have said that my blog posts were of the highest quality or, superior. 

As with everything, there is always room to improve upon when doing or working on anything. One of the main things I would like to improve upon is organization. Throughout the semester, I rarely updates my Goodreads account on the books I was reading and my reviews for them. During 2nd semester, I would like to change that my making it a weekly hobby where every Saturday I update it with the blogpost. Speaking of blogging, I almost never did the comment portion of project. Just like my first goal, I want to be more organized with my comments than 1st semester because of my lack of organization. Thirdly, I want to always have a quote with analysis on my posts. My main reason for doing this will be to add more foundation to the point I am trying to make about the book I am reading or have already read. Since I am new to TIQA, I also want to see if I can implement that into my posts and see how that plays off. All in all, theses three goals all tie back together into being more organized and responsible with my blog in general. hopeful, I will follow these goals when 2nd semester rolls by!

Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10

“I will never quit. My nation expects me to be physically harder and mentally stronger than my enemies. If knocked down i will get back up, every time. I will draw on every remaining ounce of strength to protect my enemies and to accomplish our mission. I am never out of the fight.” - Marcus Luttrell

Lone Survivor is Marcus’ memories and inside story of a mission in Afghanistan where he was the only survivor of his four man team. After the first chapter, it was obvious to me that he did not write this story to get famous or gain money, but to tell a story about the bravery of his three partners who didn't make it back to tell it themselves. As the only survivor of the failed mission, Marcus made sure that the world would never forget about his brothers-in-arms anytime soon. Lone Survivor is a great book choice for any reader looking for an emotional, insightful memoir by a true American hero with a story worth telling, whether you are into the army or not.

Lone Survivor is not just the story of the mission, Operation Redwing. One of the reasons it was such a good book for me to read is that Marcus keeps you going with the suspense of what they are gonna do next. He gives his own personal opinion on how the war should be fought based upon his own experiences serving the most elite military unit in the world, the Navy SEALS. Today Americans often see only one side of the war through newspapers and internet, and therefore a lot is not understood by those who haven’t been there. Yet Marcus gives the other side of the war and the negative aspects of the media, which is why I loved this book so much. 

His style of writing kept the book interesting and fresh so that by the end, I read about his life from birth to the present, literally. The book jumps around to different parts of his life. For example, the book starts with Marcus and his team on a plane flying to their mission in Afghanistan, and then transitions to Marcus’ childhood, then to SEAL training before the mission and back to the plane to Afghanistan. Throwing in his insights and opinions, the story is written very well. The style is very conversational, as if Marcus is just talking to a friend and recounting things as they come to mind, and by the end, I really do feel as if I am good friends with him.

Lone Survivor took me on an emotional rollercoaster where one page had me smiling at one of Marcus’ humorous comments or a story about one his friends. But by the next page, I had tears rolling down as he wrote about his fallen comrades and the tough job he gave himself of visiting each and every one of their families and loved ones after he came back from the mission. The way Marcus writes about his partners’ last acts and words made me think of my own family and loved ones. It is amazing that a battle hardened Navy SEAL can write with such affection about his fallen brothers. I would never be able to. 

I categorized Lone Survivor into a group of autobiographies by people who truly have accomplished or experienced something worth writing and reading about. Today, it seems as though anybody who has done something even remotely out of the ordinary will write his or her memoirs in order to make money and gain some fame, but books don’t compare to this amazing, inspirational story by an American hero. I definitely enjoyed this book more than A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. Lone Survivor is a must read for anyone who wants the side of the War on Terror not shown by the media, or wants to be happy and sad in the same day.

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

"Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me." - Steve Jobs

Yes. I know. "Alex, your last pleasure reading book was also a biography!" But, I mean its Steve Jobs. I've always wanted to learn about his life. So why not?

Since 1976, the world of technology, arts & media changed as the world knew it. And it was all thanks to one man. Steve Jobs' work has touched the lives of everyone all over the world. Steve Jobs passed away on October 5, 2011, yet his legacy is still alive today.

As a child, Steve Jobs was never really into school or what they were teaching. Jobs' first intro to computers was in the summer he spent at Hewlett-Packard in Palo Alto, California. Here, he met the other cofounder to be of Apple, Steve Wozniak. Even though they were both talented, they dropped out of their colleges soon after they met. As Walter Isaacson stated, "Jobs quickly became bored with college. He liked being in Reed, just not taking the required classes. In fact, he was surprised when he found out that, for all of its hippie aura, there were strict course requirements." (Isaacson 40). After Steve's 21st birthday, he talked about an idea he had with the other Steve. Jobs told Wozniak about inventing a personal, user-friendly, home computer. Wozniak was the biggest electro nerd Steve new so his job was to help make Jobs' dream become a reality. And, in 1976, the Apple I was released. Since then, Jobs has helped develop tools and machines that have affected the lives of millions.

Jobs was not only famous for his technological talent, but also for being one of the most captivating communicators at the time. All of his keynote addresses (these were the events where he announced a new product) were talked about globally because they were done at such a high level. People would line up outside the auditoriums in which they were being held a week before so that they could get a good spot.

In addition, Steve Jobs revolutionized the mobile phone, more specifically the smartphone. Apple was the first company to have a touchscreen on a mobile phone and no plastic keyboard on the phone. This affected the smartphone forever because now companies like Samsung, Android and Nokia could put touch screens on their phones. It also led the way for the iPad and other future tablets. Alongside the iPhone, Jobs also created the App Store where people from all over the world could create apps that anyone with an Apple device could download. Today, there are over 500,000 apps on the App Store.

Finally, Steve Jobs impacted the world, and myself included personally. Jobs' personality and ideologies have had a massive impact on my life. He always had a unique and magnificent way to inspire and impact the lives of the people around him. The best example of this was his 2005 Stanford Commencement speech, where he told the college students to pursue his life dreams. And he told them to follow their heart and intuition first when making a life changing decision. Since I heard about this, I have always done exactly that for everything.

Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier; Connection to Society

“Shooting became just like drinking a glass of water.” - Ishmael Beah

Many countries in the world have some issues with their government, or the country itself. In the Democratic Republic of Congo for example, a war which has already taken 3 million lives, has become worse and the women of the country are on the front lines of the army. Women are treated so badly, that the UN investigators have called what men do to the women as unprecedented. Many women are dying because of the effects of the war, but more are dying from HIV infections and at the same time, have to look over their children alone. One of the many responsibilities is getting food and water to support the family, which they have to now risk their lives for. Not like here in the United States where we can get in our car and buy the food we need in minutes. The Republic of Congo doesn’t have a lot of money or modes of transportation, therefore being unable to escape the country.

From reading, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, by Ishmael Beah, my partner and I have both realized that countries like Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo, do not have the luxuries and opportunities that we have here in the United States. If we are in the middle of a serious war, we would first send men and women, over the age of 18, who have signed up to be a soldier, to fight the war. Not forcing women and children like Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo. According to the Washington Post, by the beginning of 2012, 25 countries in the world use child soldiers, Sierra Leone being one of them. Living in an advanced society has its advantages and luxuries that other countries don’t have.

In A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, Ishmael and his friends leave their village to go to a rap competition and when they finally get to where they are going, the next day rebels attack their home village. They quickly start heading back but stop and start going from village to village. Over the course of the story Ishmael had many encounters with rebels and had escaped but one of the times, he didn’t and he was forced into becoming a child soldier. Later he came to the United States and finished his high school education that he wasn’t able to finish back in his home country of Sierra Leone. Ishmael later went on to college in 2004 and wrote the book of his memories.

When we first started reading this book, my partner and I had absolutely no clue where Sierra Leone was located or what was really happening with the rebels. We discovered, through research, that the main rebel group was called the Revolutionary United Front. Their purpose was to have control of the entire West African area, and that is where Sierra Leone is located. Looking for diamonds and lots of objects of rich value, they are described like, “Notorious for hacking off limbs and indoctrinating children into their struggle…” (CNN). After looking further into the issue, we discovered a page written by Encyclopedia Britannica about the civil war. The most shocking discovery was that Revolutionary United Front was led by the former Sierra Leone army corporal. This was one of the main reasons that the civil war started in the first place. The war stretched from 1991 - 2002 and Encyclopedia Britannica states, “An official end to the civil war was declared in January 2002. By that time, it was estimated that at least 50,000 people had died, with hundreds of thousands more affected by the violence and some 2,000,000 people displaced by the conflict.” (Encyclopedia Britannica).

But, the best source for what happened during the book, is the author of the book. Therefore, above, you can see an interview conducted with Ishmael about his life experiences in Sierra Leone. Also, below we have the links to the articles we used incase you want to know more about the Civil War at Sierra Leone.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/08/world/africa/ishmael-beah-child-soldier/

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/543356/Sierra-Leone/274792/Civil-war

Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography

“I’ve never played for a draw in my life.” - Sir Alex Ferguson

As most of you may know, I love soccer. Playing it, watching it, and even teaching it. Every male, and even some of the females, in my family played soccer for a club, team, or even their high school at some point in their lives. It's basically tradition and part of our lifestyle.

Today, I really had nothing planned in my mind of what I wanted to do. And, for me that's not normal. What's even crazier is the fact that I went to my dad's bookshelf, grabbed a book, and dove in to read. Lately, I haven't read that many non-fiction books because they aren't my favorite and most of the time, don't interest me. But, this one was different. 

In life, we face many problems and obstacles. It can be something as big as failing a final assessment of a class, or something as small as forgetting to hand in a homework assignment. But that doesn't matter as much as what you do about it. Do you just forget about that homework assignment, or do you work hard to hand it in the next day and at least get some credit on it. This book covers part of that. And just like my main quote states, "I've never played for a draw in my life." (Sir Alex Ferguson). Even though this quote is implemented in soccer games, it can be taken differently. You have to do everything to the best of your ability. If your swimming in a competition, do you swim at 50% of your total ability, or 100%? If your in a football game, do you throw the ball with 50% power and accuracy, or 100% power and accuracy? Or, if your working on a project, should you do it to your best ability, or average ability? 

Sir Alex Ferguson is one of the greatest soccer managers to ever roam this Earth. This book was the story of how all that came to be. He went from a bartender in Scotland who had a passion for soccer, to the manager of a British soccer club which is also one of the most successful clubs in soccer. This autobiography isn't just a story about his life though. Along the way, he offers lessons and quotes he heard along the way, some even being his own, shown above.

To the right I have a video of his final speech at the Home Stadium of Manchester United before his retirement.

One of his most memorable moments was the soccer season of 1999. When he first took over Manchester United, they were an average club that were doing just fine. But after a couple of years, 1999, something sparked with him and that team. They won all 3 tournaments that they participated in, The Champions League, The Premier League, and The FA Cup. Even today, this is very impressive and is extremely rare in a team. Another thing that is very rare is winning as many tournaments and trophies that he did in his managerial career.

I wanted to read this book to see how he did this and the steps he took to be successful in life. Now, I'm not saying that I want to be just like him, well maybe I do. But, the important part, like I said before, is the will to be successful in life. Whether you're a doctor, lawyer, or teacher. Don't play for a draw in life. Play for the win.

The NSA and Digital Fortress by Dan Brown

“Everything is possible. The impossible just takes longer.” - Dan Brown

It's all over the news. The NSA is doing this. It's unconstitutional. They're invading my privacy. They aren't allowed to do this. But what is the NSA? According to Vocabulary.com , it is the United States cryptologic organization that coordinates and directs highly specialized activities to protect United States information systems and to produce foreign intelligence infor

mation.

Recently in my Speech and Debate class, we had to pick a debate topic and research it thoroughly and have a 30 minute debate within 2 weeks. Therefore, I deemed it appropriate to pick a book that is of the same mind. After doing some research, I found the book, 'Digital Fortress' by Dan Brown. He is the author of numerous bestselling books that includes one of the bestselling books of all time, The Da Vinci Code. Some of his other novels include, The Lost Symbol, Angels and Demons, and Inferno. The Digital Fortress, apparently being another one of his popular books, is becoming adapted into an ABC TV series coming soon!

Now to get to the good part. What's this book about! In the United States, one of everyone's biggest fears about the NSA is that the information they gather will one day be hacked and released into the world. Things like your credit card number, social security number, or any other personal information can fall into the wrong hands. Another fear is that the NSA will one day find something that they can't decipher, or can't catch someone who is trying to break in. These things are exactly what happens in this book.

[SPOILER ALERT]

I would first like to start off saying that the way Dan Brown started this book made any other hooks or attention grabbers seem like nothing. The first lines stated, "It is said that in death, all things become clear; Ensei Tankado now knew it was true. As he clutched his chest and fell to the ground in pain, he realized the horror of his mistake." (Brown 1).

In, Digital Fortress, there is a code-breaking supercomputer named TRANSLTR encounters a new and complex code, named Digital Fortress, that it can't break. Therefore Commander Trevor Strathmore calls Susan Fletcher, the head cryptographer to break it. After spending some time on the code, she finds out that it was made by A man named Ensei Tankado, who we later discover was a former NSA employee who was displeased with what many people are displeased with today... the NSA intruding on people's privacy. The villain's intentions are to auction the code on his website and have his partner release kit for free if he dies. So, the whole book is essentially the agency trying to stop Digital Fortress from becoming a threat to the world's national security.

Personally, I would rate this book a 5 out of 5 stars. This book has a bunch of cliffhangers that want to make you keep reading until its finish. then you finish he book and your like, Where's part 2?? This book is like a mix between a Techno-thriller, Mystery, and Science-fiction book. It's one of those book where you have to keep guessing and reading until you find out that you were right or wrong. This is also one of those books where some chapters are told by a different perspective than others. Therefore you can get a more full look at what is really happening in this book.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone willing to dive into a mystery.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner: First Look

“If you ain’t scared… you ain’t human.” - James Dashner

As most of you can probably figure out by now, I love dystopian themed books. From the Hunger Games, to Divergent, to Feed (the book I just finished reading) and now the new book I am going to read, The Maze Runner. As I was in the movie theater getting ready to watch The Giver, which is another dystopian book, the trailer for this movie came up (shown on the left) and I was like: 'I have to watch that movie!'. Later on, I figured out that it a movie based on a book, and I was like: 'whoa, guess what is the next book I am going to read!', and for the looks of it, maybe even become my next favorite book.

In the beginning of the book there is a kid who wakes up in an elevator with no memory of his past except that his name is Thomas. After roughly half an hour, the top door opens and he sees a bunch of teenage boys doing what seems to be like mocking him. One of them says, "Nice to meet ya shank ... Welcome to the Glade." (Dashner 4).

In my opinion, the author does a really good job at describing the first scene. "A courtyard several times the size of a football field, surrounded by four enormous walls made of gray stone and covered in spots with thick ivy." (Dashner 5) We are then introduced to Alby, who seems to be the leader of the 50 teenage guys. Although he seemed mad that Thomas showed up, he yelled at the other boys to stop taunting him. 

Throughout the first couple of chapters, you have to keep in mind that Thomas has no memory whatsoever. Even a little hint of his age or something of the sort would help, but no one would talk to him. Another new character named Newt shows him to his room and explains the basic daiy routine. But, after he leaves, Thomas collapses and wishes that he can wake up from this "dream".

Feed by M.T. Anderson: Titus and Violet

“My idea of life, it's what happens when they're rolling the credits.” - M.T. Anderson

Every book or novel that exists in the world has a main character, also known as the protagonist. It can either be a well thought out character, or a poorly made character. In my case, the book Feed has very well thought out character. The main character in this book is Titus Boyus Ordinarius. The name says it all, Ordinarius. Titus is a very ordinary, normal character as opposed to the other characters in the book. He is a very-good looking boy and has many friends. As mentioned in my second blog post, in the book Feed, almost everyone on Earth has a feed implanted in their brain, and of course Titus is one of those people. 

And just like any many other books, Titus also has a love affection for some girl he has never known. Her name is Violet and she is the main reason for this whole story to unfold. Just like in the very famous books The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and Divergent by Veronica Roth, someone does not agree with the way that they are living and they revolt against the currently placed government. Building on the parallels, the Katniss and Tris in this book is in fact, Violet. 

"They're also waiting to make you want things... it's all streamlining our personalities so we're easier to sell to... they try to figure out who you are, and to make you conform to one of their types for easy marketing... and gradually, everyone gets used to everything being basic, so we get less and less varied as people, more simple. So the corps make everything even simpler and it goes on and on."(M.T. Anderson 97). I think this quote shows that Violet is starting to figure the feed and the government out. The corporations like things easy, and they like to be able to standardize their products, which makes it easier to sell things and implant them into the feed. 

Eventually, people will take what's offered without thinking about anything. Think about McDonald's. They have the same menu in every restaurant, no matter if you are in Maine, Nebraska or California. Yet, they are one of the most successful restaurants in the US. This is what the government in Feed is essentially trying to do. For now I will close by saying that Titus joins Violet and we will see what they will now do together. 

About the Author: M.T. Anderson

"It's insulting to believe that teens should have a different kind of book than an adult should. If we're going to ask our kids at age 18 to go off to war and die for their country, I don't see any problem with asking them at age 16 to think about what that might mean.”

For the past two blog posts, I have talked about the books I have either read, or I am reading. So know, I want to mix things up a bit. Therefore, I am going to give you a little background information on the author of Feed, M.T. Anderson. M.T. Anderson is a 41 year old author who is mostly known fro his children and young adult books. He was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and attended Harvard College and the University of Cambridge. His most famous book, Feed is the one I am currently reading. He won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature in 2006 for The Pox Party. Before becoming a writer, he had other jobs like a burger flipper, a department store cashier, and a radian DJ. He has written over 60+ books with Feed being his first young adult book. Some of his previous books include Thirsty, a book about vampires, and Burger Wuss, a book about revenge on fast food. As you can see, these books were based off of his previous jobs. They were essentially his "inspiration". No one would ever think someone who is flipping burgers would eventually be as successful as this man. The most extraordinary and spectacular book he ever made is probably Octavian Nothing. It is a two-volume young-adult novel that runs 900 pages and is about the American Revolution. He also put the story in 18-century English. He really made it like it was from that time period. As you can see, this author is arguably one of the best in the young adult genre these days, and is constantly defending teenagers' intelligence level as appose to adults.

Feed by M.T. Anderson Part 1 (2)

“We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck.” - M.T. Anderson

This week, I began reading Feed by M.T. Anderson. I have always been interested in books about dystopian societies, so this was the perfect book for that.

The book is first introduced by Link and Marty who tried convincing people to go to the moon for the weekend. Once they got there they found out that it was horrible. The main reason they went to the moon in the first place was because it was so boring at home, and they needed a place to go for spring break. After a lot of talk and discussion they decided to go to a low-gravity place on the moon called The Ricochet Lounge and they asked a few people to go with them. In the beginning of the book, we are also introduced to the Feed. While flying up to the moon, their Feeds gives them information and recommendations on where they should stay and what they should eat when they get there. From this, we can conclude that the Feed is like an internet implanted into your brain.

A line really jumped out at me as I was reading the first couple of chapters. "The Rumble Spot: an ocean of chaos in the Sea of Tranquility." This painted a picture in my head and really lifted the meaning of the paragraph from which this was derived. I was able to really put myself in Titus' spot.

While reading the first chapter of the book, you still aren't fully aware of who the narrator / main character really is. He does try to take a nap on the plane to the moon to be fully awake when he does get there. But, his friends kept annoying him on the trip there. While going to the moon, he has the mental note to try to have as much fun as he can when he gets there. As the narrator and his friends get off the ship, their Feed start transmitting loads of ads about things to do and eat at the moon. On all the ads however, it shows a beautiful, sparkly, white moon. But when he looks around the moon is streaked with black and is all but beautiful. After that, we learn the narrators name is Titus and his friends are Marty, Link, Calista, Loga, and Quendy. After eating at a popular restaurant, they try getting into a college party but they have no luck. When returning to the hotel they are staying at, Titus sees a girl he is attracted to walking by. At the end of Chapter 2, we are left with the fact that Titus thinks that she is awesome.

Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin

“It takes strength to be proud of yourself and to accept yourself when you know that you have something out of the ordinary about you." - Abigail Tarttelin

For my Summer Reading Project, I decided to read Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin. To be honest, you don't see books like this everyday. In this novel, there is a "boy" named Max Walker. He is what I like to call the perfect stereotype for a boy. Max is the most popular kid in school, star of the county football team that plays at his high school, and is one of the smartest students in school. But as the world knows, nobody is perfect. In this particular case, he is also intersex. By dictionary definition intersex is, "the abnormal condition of being intermediate between male and female; hermaphroditism." Basically what this means is that you are half boy and half girl. You have some male private parts and some female private parts. Max and his family knew that he was intersex, but they didn't want the world to know because his parents are very popular with their town's newspaper.

When Max discovers that he is pregnant due to his female parts, his one and only goal is to find out what intersex really is. "I make a mental note to drag out my old textbooks at home and look up intersex diagnoses online...Studying for a medical degree in England, our curriculum never went into much depth about intersex disorders." (Tarttelin 51) This quote clearly demonstrates that Max is in fact trying to figure out more about his disorder. Before that time however, he only had a broad idea of what it really was.

He develops over the whole story because he knows he has to deal with the fact that he is a pregnant boy, in a school where everybody thinks he is a perfect boy. Like everyone in this world, if you are pregnant at age 16, high school just becomes 10x harder. He can't concentrate on his work, so his grades go from skyrocketing to failing. He can't do contact sports, isn't the star player of the football team anymore. In addition, he becomes less popular because now, he can't do what he used to do with ease. This is something else that develops the plot stated above.

Something else that I liked about this book is that it is set up exactly the same way as Wonder by R. J. Palacio. For those of you who haven't read it, each "chapter" is the point of view of a different person. Golden Boy is set up the same way. These types of books give you a more direct view of what is really happening in the story.

Below, I have found an article from the Austin Chronicle that gives you yet another overview of the entire novel and some characters. It also includes a review by the author and his reason why.

Book Review: 'Golden Boy'

Last but not least, I discovered a Youtube video of Abigail Tarttelin giving you an inside look at Golden Boy.