Blog Reflection

Blog Reflection

Throughout this trimester, I have grown as both a reader and writer. My first blog post was titled The Fault in Our Stars by JohnGreen. This blog post was very short and straight to the point. One example from my first post is “When times get tough they stick together and their love for each other only gets stronger.” As you can tell, this sentence is very bland, does not have much description, and doesn’t sound like overall high school writing. In my most recent posts, I have really worked to improve that area of technique in my writing. An example is from my recent post-named Thirteen Reasons Why- Suspense Factor; “This first seen creates an immense amount of suspense. You, as the reader, want to know what these tapes are about and how this story links back to this first scene.” I believe that this quote supports that I have grown as a writer because the quote contains much more structure as well as an overall sophisticated sound.

This trimester I have finished about two books (almost done with the 2^nd). I read Thirteen Reasons Why and An Abundance of Katherine’s I do not believe that I meant the goal that I was striving to achieve. Although with the given time that I have had track and loads of homework, I am pleased to have been getting all my blog posts in as well as finishing two books. For the incoming future trimester, I plan on reading 3 books.,

The only struggle that I had while blogging/ reading were getting able to leave time to read and finish each blog. It was hard for me to complete blogs in class on the computer because I didn’t feel like I was giving my best work and I could concentrate a lot better at my house. Because of this reason, in class on blogging days I improved other blogs as well as the design of my blog. In able to achieve reading goal on a daily basis, I made a note in my planner reminding myself to leave time for reading around my busy schedule.

While trying to find a new book, I often turned to friends for suggestions on what to read next.  My best friend Haley Redwine said that she really enjoyed the book Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher and recommended that I read it. She lent me her copy and I ended up loving the book and recommending it to others. I also used Goodreads to see what other classmates read and rated high. This is how I ended up reading An Abundance of Katherine’s by John Green.

John Green

Author: John Green

      Out of all the books I’ve read from all the different authors I have to say that John Green along with Max Lucado are my absolute favorites. The way that John Green writes really impacts the way I “see” the scene in my head. Green was born in Indianapolis to his dad Mike and mom Sydney Green. Three weeks after he was born, his family moved to Orlando, Florida. In 2000 he graduated from Kenyon College with a double major in English and Religious Studies. After college he spent five months working as a student chaplain in a children’s hospital. He intended to become an Episcopal priest, but after working in the hospital with children suffering from life-threatening illnesses inspired him to become an author, and this later inspired the book The Fault in Our Stars.

           Green lived in Chicago where he worked for the book review journal Booklist as a publishing assistant and production editor while writing Looking for Alaska. He critiqued hundreds of books including books for The New York Times Book Review. Green later lived in New York where his wife Sarah attended graduate school. Sarah and John have two children; Henry and Alice as well as a puppy. Green has stated that he is a Christian.

            As of today, John Green has written a total of 4 books; Looking for Alaska, The Fault in Our Stars, An Abundance of Katherines and Paper Towns. He has also accompanied David Levithan in writing Will Grayson, Will Grayson. All of his books have gotten a rating in-between 4 and 5 stars which is outstanding. Many of his books have also received multiple awards. An example would be The Fault in Our Stars, it gained the #1 spot on various bestsellers lists. As of January 2013, there are nearly 1 million copies of the novel sold.

An Abundance of Katherines

                         

          I recently finished the book Thirteen Reasons Why and decided to pick up a new book. I looked through many, many books and came to An Abundance of Katherines by John Green. I chose this book because I’ve heard many good things about it from friends and I also love the author John Green and the previous books I have read by him. I seem to understand his writing better than other authors and books that I have read. Some of the books I’ve read by John Green include The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns.

            I am very excited to start reading this book. So far what I know about An Abundance of Katherines is that the main character Colin is interested in girls named Katherine because they are ‘his type’. Colin has been dumped 19 times by 19 different Katherines. He is on a mission to prove that someday another girl named Katherine will fall in love with him eternally. When I first read this I thought that it was another typical ‘search for love’ book but when I started reading I realized that it is not cliché storyline.