October 2011 Archives

If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.

-Oscar Wilde

My career as a reader has been amazing. I have been reading since I was in junior kindergarten.              

I didn't like reading when I was young. I was in India when I started reading and the school didn't have many short stories and the students were not allowed to go to the library so my mother took some short story books and some Walt Disney books from Canada. At school teachers would force me to read books or poems but I would start getting frustrated because I didn't enjoy the books they made me read. So I used to make my mother read the stories for me and I enjoyed it more when she read them.

But after a while, I started to read the Walt Disney books. My first Disney book was the Jungle Book and I liked Snow White and so on. I liked the way my mother read these books because she read them with expressions. When I started to read I tried to read the way my mother read to me and imagine the story in my mind. I always used read the book first and later watch the movie. One of my favourite books from Walt Disney is of course the entire Princess collection, especially Cinderella, and my other favourite is Peter Pan. I have always liked to read these books as I recall my memories. These books really put me in an imaginary world. I love the bright colours and the dresses the princesses wear. These books take one away from reality for a little while and put you in a whole new world.

Now that I'm older, I enjoy reading books but I don't like reading for school because some books are not that interesting. If the book is really boring I will read the end or check the summary on the internet. If I really have to read it, then I skip through the chapters. I like reading before I go to bed and if I find the book interesting I will sit there four hours until I finish my book because I get so curious to find out what happens next. I like reading mystery books because they always keep you guessing what's going to happen next. I also read fiction books. I have also read some Shakespeare stories like Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet. It took some time to understand the language but I did like the stories.

I like to read books for fun but most of the time I read magazines. I just find magazines more interesting because they have the latest information about what's happening in the world and also because it does not take a lot of time to read them. Magazines also have more exciting stuff to read.

When I'm travelling, I do take a book with me, especially if I am going somewhere far.

One of my favourite collections is Harry Potter. I have read the first four parts but after that I used to like watching the movies as I found it more interesting and also because it doesn't take a lot of time to find what happens at the end.

One of the books I read for school this summer is Black Like Me and I found that very interesting. I read this book in three days as I was very keen on knowing about the story. This gave me a reflection of the world where people were not treated equally. This is the first history related and also non-fiction book that I have read. This made me more interested in the subject of history.

I have always wanted to read The Lord of the Rings but I have never gotten a chance to read it as the book has a lot of pages and I find that I won't be able to finish it. I usually do not buy book that are very big in size because I find it hard to read them and I don't want them to be sitting in the shelf and not being used.

I got a library card last year but I usually don't get time to borrow books because of the school homework but in the summer I do go to the library to get some books so I can pass some time.

Last year when the class had to read Touching Spirit Bear, I only read the pages that had answers to my assignment or question sheet because there was a lot to read and a lot of assignments on that book so I wanted to finish it as fast as I possible but I did understand the story. If I don't find certain parts of the book interesting, I would skim the boring parts and get to the next chapter.

So far, my experience as a reader has been going well and for me, reading books is a good way to pass some time. Books are also good to gain some knowledge because a lot of stories have lessons in them, which makes it more interesting.

Introduction

Evolution

volution! It is the soul of survival; it is the arms of fate and is the key to life and death. If humans had not evolved, life on earth would not exist; their home planet would be a hollow, dried out husk floating in space. Evolution unlocked the doors to magic and created an entire new civilisation based on its mythical power.

Human evolution happened slowly at first, but on the year 2012, human evolution took an enormous leap. It was the time when the entire planet was under a heat wave, with temperatures ranging from 89°f to 120°f all over the planet. People and animals ran for higher ground as the water level rose, but the aquatic life swam merrily around to explore the submerged homes and forests with great interest.

 Perhaps it was the life or death situation, or it was a freak occurrence; but it seems at this time the magic locked within all creatures was tapped and used. For as they ran, people, animals and plants started to form together, a bird and a ferret would weave together to create a fethen. Or a fallen human would sink into a nearby fish to create a merrow (merfolk). A human and a tree would fuse and create a dryad.

 For many years, all beings went back to the old ways with no electricity and other modern tools. After a long time, all the different creatures started to make clans which then turned into guilds. There were many guilds and many still just clans, but the four most recognized guilds were Fayni-Tal (the fairy guild), Tredon fortuse (the dryad guild), Sazarm zee (the merfolk guild) and Bladboless (the vampire guild). The Bladboless were a fierce, naturally blood-thirsty people and the cause of many wars that were waged at the time for power and land. The wars that were fought were gruesome, violent and caused many deaths on all sides. By the time the year 2963 had passed there were less than five-hundred-million life forms on earth and many of them were insects.

As the people on earth were slowly being decimated, the battles were fewer and farther apart until there were no more wars to wage. The people began to multiply and by 2978 the world was thriving again. Unfortunately, the peace did not last and once again conflict arose. These battles were more complex than the wars after the "New Beginning"; there was treachery, assassinations, and as the beings started to master the art of magic they began to control other beings (mostly they would target an opponent) and use them to attack their enemies.

The year 3052 was the year the fifth guild was created, Combontuss Etthin. It was organized by a fairy named Eridnor, who was made an outlaw at the young age of nine, which is only two and one quarter human years. She had been possessed by a sorcerer and was made to kill the most peaceful fairy queen Zerra-Tal.

"It is a dishonour to all phae and those who are possessed are therefore outlaws."

-a reading from the fairy bible

Page 65

Eridnor had a great knowledge of warfare and knew what it could do to all things so she created a peaceful guild, one that would not go to war against anyone. Her guild soon grew into the most recognized guild on earth for its pacifism. After only two years, the wars had ceased and all the guilds signed a treaty with all the other guilds, clans and tribes. Eridnor's guild didn't just bring peace and prosperity, but also re-discovered scientific research for those who had lost the power of magic.

Electricity was reinvented in 3057 and then things began to roll; 3068, space travel was accomplished, 3096, the entire galaxy had been traversed. 3245, portal transportation is mastered, 3427-3915, planet colonization, 4016, present day with new things to discover.

I believe that I first began to read at home when I was five years old. The

thing that really got me interested and wanting to read was quite unusual. I started

reading because I wanted to know what my Pokémon cards said. I didn't really play

with Barbies, so this seemed to be the next best thing. I used to spend all of my time

sounding out the names, and eventually I could read them all.

I usually read because I need something to do or because I've been

recommended a book. I like to read fiction and sci-fi because I like to use my

imagination to create the new worlds and creatures. I find that non-fiction books are

a bit boring, because you don't get to do that. I also read some magazines if I don't

have any books on the go at the moment.

I never cheat when I'm reading a book. I just don't see the point. You're going

to get to that part eventually, so why not just find out what happens when you're

supposed to? I know a few people who cheat, and I'm trying to break them of

that habit.

The only time I re-read my books is if I don't have anything to do, and they

have to be comics or graphic novels. I find that a normal book takes too much time,

and you already know the ending, so why bother? The thing I like about graphic

novels is that they don't take too long to read, and they don't take too much

brainpower. I also like that no matter what title you choose, it will almost always be

a sci-fi book. That's sort of what got me started on them. My cousin was a huge

influence too, and gave me lots of great books that I seem to have read about one-

million times.

I tend to start books but not finish them. This has always been the case, and

probably always will. I started Breaking Dawn, got halfway through, and put it

down, probably making me the only girl on the planet to not finish the Twilight

series. I also started The Half-Blood Prince, and put it down. It's still sitting on my

bedside table, and I intend to read it, but I haven't for months. Some of the books I

really like, too. But if I don't read a bit every day, then I tend to not finish it. So right

now, I guess you could say I have about five books on the go.

I must own a million books. I have a huge bookshelf in my room, and I'm

starting to have a hard time trying to find space to put new ones. There's everything

from Junie B. Jones to Harry Potter. I also subscribe to a magazine called The

Magazine, and have about 20 issues of it.

I have a library card for the library in Fergus. I hardy ever use it though,

because I like to buy books instead. That way, if I ever need to do a report like this, I

can easily list off some of the books on my shelf, instead of having to remember all of

the books that I took out of the library.

Some of the greatest books I've read are graphic novels. My favorite series

would have to be The Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way. One day, at exactly 9:38

PM, forty-three children were born to women who had had no signs of being

pregnant. A certain Sir. Reginald Hargreeves then adopted as many of these children

as he could possibly find, giving him 7 new minions. Spaceboy, number one, a part

ape, part man hybrid; Kraken, number two, who has the ability to breathe under

water; Rumor, number three, if she says anything, then it becomes true; Séance,

number four, who is able to communicate with the dead and fly; Number five, able

to venture through time, into the future and into the past; Number six, part human

part squid; And Vanya, number seven, with no powers at all, apart from being able to

play the violin. When Mr. Hargreeves is asked why he adopted so many of the

children, he simply responded; "To save the world". They were really great books,

although hard to follow at times.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my career as a reader as much as I enjoyed

the memories this report brought back.

As is well known, books teach us to learn life, truth, science and many other useful things.

.In other words, they are our best teachers and wisest friends. This is the reason why our parents always encourage us to read more books.

When I was two years old, I can't really say complete sentence. At that time, my mom always read different type of books for me, through the every story to educate us. But, I was real begin to read at Grade 1. At that age, I think most children like to read children's books, like Snow White、Cinderella. Sometimes sitting on the grass to read, the reading is not called reading, as watching cartoons on television, and read book only interested the illustrations.

When I can know some words I often sat on the sofa reading. If this book appealing to me, I will forget to eat. Now I like to read fashion magazine or the pursuit of entertainment gossip, but I never spend a lot of time to see, just read at the way to travel.

In fact I do not like reading. At first, I thinking reading is a waste of a lot of time, no extra time will allow me to do more interesting things. However, I gradually came to love reading, because I feel different types of books give me a different feeling, gives me a different inspirations. I an not particularly careful every words, On general, I like skim the boring bits, if I see the pieces I particularly like, I will to read several times. Whenever I love a book, I also spotted several time and to feel. Even when in a dream i am the characters in that book.. I think I have a good habit to read books, I never see end of the book first, because I think the process is the most important in every book.

Now I was in puberty, do not know what is love, will often see that a book about romantic love story, want be the hero and heroine in a book, sometime I see the plot of the book will be cry. In China, Many Chinese girl like to see that type of book, we always chat that after-school or on MSN, but the Chinese teachers not allow us to read, they think we will not make a good studying. Then we are just reading that once a month..

I remember, there was time I love to read ghost stories and suspense novels. I like to see the kind of terrible stories, and can't sleep at night. I always sitting under the table to read, if the stories scared me, I will hide in the bedroom. I also wrote ghost stories in my blog, my friends say I wrote the stories terrible than others. Now, I have at least 30 horror book and suspense book. But, just read that one time.

 I like reading, but I never been to the library, and I never got a library card, I don't like borrow from library. I would like to buy it, then to read. I think that I will have a sense of pride, the knowledge on the book will become my own. My friend always said I would be a waste of money to buy such a book, but I think I pay money to buy the book and to collection is the good idea.

In China, we believe " Have oneself in the book the gold room, have oneself in the book YanRuYu". Anyway, read more books is a such a good thing, can improve a person's temperament and content, I was so longing.       

I don't really have a clear recollection of the exact moment I began to read. But I do remember a set of books my dad read to me when I was little. I then started to read little comics such as Garfield, captain underpants, and many others, which were easy to read.

            I did really enjoy reading for a long period of time. My dad then told me I had to start reading proper books because I was getting ready for school. When the books had no pictures and words that were beyond my 5 year old vocabulary, I began to dislike reading. In grade three the reading tests began. They were basically tests to see how high your reading level was. For example a teacher would snatch you out of the class for a second and make you read a chapter. After that they would give you your reading level. This I disliked very much. Every now and then a book would come up that would intrigue me. A book our teacher read to us in grade three "Gregor the over Lander" was a book I did really enjoy.

Looking back at it today and the book with the size one billion font was unbelievable. I can't believe I used to read books with such large letters. During grade five I encountered my first book, which appeared to be huge to me at that time. The teacher said it was normal for us to be reading books at this level. I really did not want to read it because of the size of the book. The book was called "The Giver".  I found that I really did enjoy the book. It ended up being one of my favorite books of all time. This was the time that I started to pick up on reading.

            The thing that pleases me most about reading is finally getting to the end. Now this may make it seem as if I wanted to get it over with. But for some odd reason I just like pushing through to the end. So in this case I do read quite quickly. I never read before bed, I just can't focus. Normally I read around noon. My favorite spot is on a couch in the front of my house. The sun shines directly onto the couch through these big windows, which stare out onto a field. I find I do enjoy reading the most while in the sun. Whenever I'm in the sun I find I will read for hours on end. It makes me much more into the book.

I am not always reading, I will go periods of time without reading a book. But then I will find one I like. I will read it within the time span of a week. There are lots of books I have read and a great many I have enjoyed. But there are about three that I would have to list as my all time favorites. The first one is a book called "The Giver" it was about a city that was trying to create a utopian society. To do this they remove all differences and make it so that everyone is the same. The main thing they remove is colour. There is one person called the receiver. The receiver would keep all the knowledge of the previous world in his mind. He was the only one who knew this. Then one day he takes the main character as an apprentice. Which then turns him into the giver and all his knowledge is transferred to the main character. This takes a long period of time. The main character slowly starts to learn about the outside world. He then escapes because he wants to see the outside world. He is almost dead when he sees a sled on a snowy hill, which he saw in his dreams. (Which the giver sent to him) He then falls onto the sled and slides down the hill. He then sees light, but they have colour. A Christmas tree, but with colour. That is how the book ends. The ending kind of disappointed me but this was really my first favorite book.

My second favorite book was called "The Book Thief". It is about a girl's family who is German. (This all takes place during World War 2) They live in Berlin and an escaped Jewish person appears at their doorstep. They then decide to hide him in the basement. It proves more challenging as time goes on. The searches get more detailed. They eventually get caught and they try to escape but the girl's parent's die. The Jewish man escapes to safety. In the ending a bomb drops on Berlin and ends the girl's life. This book I found quite sad.

My third favorite book is called "I am the Messenger" it is by the same author as "The book thief" Markus Zusak. It is about a man who has a crappy job. He is a taxi driver and he gets a note in his mailbox. The note tells him to deliver. It only says that he must deliver a message, and the only other thing that is in the package is a gun.  He then struggles with what to do with it. Later two random guys beat him senseless. He then receives another note telling him to deliver or else. He then goes to the person of interest and holds the gun up but he can't do it so he just shoots around the victim. He then receives a note on how the person he shot at changed. And how he was a better person and was living every day of his life to the fullest. He then realizes what he is doing. And why it is good.

These were my three all time favorites and I will probably have many more to come. I find I read to enjoy, relax and to have fun. It helps me get away when I need to. I'm sure I will have many more journeys to come.

I haven't the foggiest idea of when I began to read, but I'm sure it was before I was in SK. Before that I troubled my father every night before bed to read me a quick Berenstein Bears story, my favorite book. I did this so I could go to bed a bit later and also because I really liked those books. By the time I was in grade one I'm sure I read almost all the Berenstein Bear books out there and all the Dr. Seuss ones too. The Dr. Seuss books really amused me; I thought he was a very funny poet.

Whenever I decide to read I read at night on my couch in my living room under a bright lamp or I go outside on a warm day with a light breeze by my pool, sit under the sun and read. I find it easier to read like this because there are no distractions and I can be alone and really connect with my book.

                             The books I most enjoy are books that are non-fiction; this is because I find it is easy to relate to. To be more specific I like non-fiction books that are filled with action or are full of facts. When I was younger I liked the fiction books like Berenstein bears, Midas touch to books about dinosaurs. When I became a bit older, about 4 or 5, I liked books about science and the solar system and also books about skateboarding.

                             My favorite book so far that I have read was The Outsiders. I found this book quite interesting because the author was a girl who turned an essay into a book and got it published.

                             I am a single reader because I find it difficult to remember what has gone on in the book if I'm reading more than one.

                              I'm not too big on reading, but when I find a book I really enjoy I'll read it about 5 times, over and over again. This has only happened 3 times and the books where: the outsiders, magic skates, and to kill a mocking bird.

                             I learn a lot of information by reading books, whether its textbooks or non-fiction books. Learning math, science, geography etc. I'm reading a textbook to learn. I also learned lots from books like To Kill A Mockingbird which it takes place during the depression.

I have a library card to the KPL library, which is very convenient because it is not far from my house; in fact it's within walking distance. When I was younger I'd go there a lot with my dad to borrow books. That's when I was a big fan of Dr. Seuss and Robert Munch. I haven't used my library card for quite some time now.

What I like to do is, if there is a movie about a good book I have read I see the movie after and compare the stories to see the similarities and differences between the movie and the book. Most of the time I like the movie better then the book but that's because I can see what happens.

                  I don't like reading books that are really short but I also don't like reading books that are about 300 pages or more so it doesn't bore me. I manly like books that are in the 200-page range.

                  When I was in grade three my favorite book series was Goosebumps. I'm not sure why I liked it so much but I think it's because it was interesting and it scared me. There were two books of the Goosebumps series that I would never read because they seemed too real to me. They were about dolls or stuffed animals coming to life and attacking people(I know this because I read the back of the book). I was so scared of it that I threw it in someone's garbage bin during garbage day so it wouldn't come back to me if I threw it out in my garbage bin. By the end of the faze of liking that series so much I had about 30-40 books of the Goosebumps.

                  Over my lifetime I have read many books of the following genres: thriller, murder mystery, ghost, fiction, and non fiction.  I have boxes full of books in my closets.

            The reason I read is so that whenever I need to read in class I can read smoothly and not choppy. I also read because I like learning about history or a certain subject and leaning new words. The more I read the easier it is to read the next book.

            These are all the reasons why I like to read, where I like to read, what I read, and the books I like to read.

My love of reading started from a very young age. When I was just a baby, my parents would read to me. They later introduced me to children's books by Robert Munsch and the series called Jillian Jigs. I loved them. At first, I didn't really read them of course! I just flipped through the pages and looked at the pretty pictures instead. I would learn the words from memory and pretend to read by myself. I would read them over and over again. I even read them to my stuffed animals and dolls, like how my parents read to me! Of course, later I read them truly on my own and I still have many of those first books today. As time went by, I couldn't get enough of reading. I started reading all genres of books and wasn't sure which ones I liked more. They were all so interesting! However,  now as 9th grader, I must say that fantasy fiction books would have to be my favourite, especially ones that are about animals and mythology. I am an animal lover (always have been, always will be) and I find mythology very interesting, especially the similarities and differences between different cultures, like the Egyptians to the Greeks to the Norse.

I find that reading is not only a very fun thing to do, but something that can help me relieve my stress from my life and help me relax. Usually when school is giving me heck because I have so much I have to attend to, I take my book outside or downstairs (somewhere other than my room) and read there for about half an hour. After that, my mind is clear and I'm able to finish the things I need to do without being overwhelmed.

Over the years my style of reading has changed. When I was younger, not only was I more impatient when it came to reading but I was somehow able to read many novels at the same time. I would often check to see how many pages/chapters there were and while checking, I would manage to catch a few snippets that would totally give away an important part of the plot. If this happened, I would then wonder how the plot lead up to this certain part and read on. Spoilers don't irritate me as much as some people. After finishing a chapter, I would then switch books. However, as I grew and the books I chose were more detailed and involved, I found I was only to read one at a time. I do, however, still keep a stack of books I want to read beside my bed waiting for when I am finished my current read!

Its very hard to choose favourites since most books I have read are fairly good and hard to compare to others. Some of my childhood favourites were the Geronimo Stillton books. I kept rereading them well up to Grade 7 and heck, even if people call me childish, I still love them now!! A book I have read recently that I really liked is a book called Beastly. It is a mordernized version of the fairytale of Beauty and the Beast where an arrogant teenager named Kyle is turned into a beast when he cruelly makes fun of a witch in disguise. He has two years to make a girl fall in love with him and if he doesn't, he will remain as a beast forever. Not only was the fairytale a favourite of mine, but the overall characters and plot are so great that I can't help but reread the book just so I can see the interactions and feelings in the story. It's also very interesting to see the change in the main character from a handsome but shallow teenager, to a sullen and ugly beast, to an overall kinder person. You can really feel for him sometimes, no matter how arrogant he was ,and I think that makes him a very good character. Right at this very moment, I'm enjoying the I Am Number Four and the Evil Genius series. I Am Number Four tells the story of a boy named John who is an alien who landed with five others to train on Earth so they can save their planet from the Mogadrions. However, three of the nine have already been killed and it's up to the others to unite and fight the enemy before it is too late. Evil Genius is a tale about a teenage boy by the name of Cadel who is blessed with a super intelligence but has neglectful parents. He is then raised by a mysterious man named Thaddeus Roth. He is taught some of the harsher ways to look at the world. He is then turned into a cruel genius once he's enrolled at the Axis Institute for World Domination. However, he soon realizes there is more to his teacher and his life than it seems. This series is a very good read if you're looking for something different. I highly recommend it.

Growing up with a family that highly encouraged reading was not the only thing that has increased my love for reading. At my public school, my teachers would often read to us, encourage us to visit the library daily and let us have free reading time often. My Grade One teacher, Mrs. Guckenburger, was the main teacher that did this. She was nice, patient and loved her job. She made reading fun by acting out the books or dressing up. She was there to support my reading and would often help me with problems I had. I still remember her now and I often think of her when I'm reading certain books.

As you can see, it is very obvious that I love to read and I just love books in general. I have gone through many stages in my life and not only has reading improved my life, but it has improved me. I don't know who I would be if I never learned to like reading since it is a huge part of my character. I'm very grateful for the support I've had over the years and because of that, I will continue being the bookworm I am to the day I die.

Logan Carragher

Mr. Newman

ENG1D

Sep/23/11

My Journey Through the Universe of Books

I have to say, reading is one of my favourite things to do. It always helps me to relax after a long hard day by transporting me into a completely different world. It so exhilarating to be fighting against Darth Vader or alongside Percy Jackson as he battles his way to save Olympus. Even casting the most basic spells with Harry Potter is so much fun.

My parents started reading to me when I was about two. Of course I can't remember any of it, but it must have been stories like Mr. Brown. I started to read on my own in grade one, when I was about seven. I was very proud when I finally read an entire novel on my own when I was eleven. The novel was called "Gobbolino the Witch's Cat"; it was about a witch's cat that had white paws and blue eyes, not a normal witch's cat. He was cast away by his witch and sent to learn how a normal witch's cat should act. The book is about how Gobbolino tries to fit in with the other normal house cats and what happens when he returns to his witch.

I always read on the way to school, and after all my homework is done. My Dad still reads to us before bed and sometimes in the mornings on the weekend. I'll read anywhere I can if it is relatively quiet. Over the years I have covered every type of literature, though I generally read history-fiction and Sci-Fi novels. I always read from the beginning of the book and never read the end then start from the beginning, because I'd lose interest in the book if I did.

I think I have only ever had two books on the go at the same time and never any more, though I don't enjoy reading two books at the same time because I get the two mixed up with each other. I have never reread a book; I don't really like reading a book if I already know what happens in the end. I've read a lot of novels, comics and magazines and a few that a really liked were the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, the Harry Potter series and the Bleach manga series. I have a library card though I don't use it that much. I only use it to take out research books from the library.

My very first teacher I had always read to us before recess. His name was Mr. Dairy. He would usually read Dr. Doolittle to the class. I loved that story. I loved the push me pull you I loved Dr. Doolittle's adventures and I loved the way that Mr. Dairy read to us. He seemed to be able to make each and every one of us a character in the story. He had a way of pausing at a cliff-hanger, we'd all be at the edge of our seats listening and waiting for him to continue. He would then close the book and say that it was time for recess. We'd all cry out for him to read on and he would, he always would. He had to leave in grade four because he needed to look after his two new kids. We were all sad when Mr. Dairy left and I have never had a teacher read with his skill or a teacher that made reading a fantastical art.

I learned a lot from him reading to us. I learned respect for the others in my class and strangers on the streets. I learned that I should be grateful for everything I am given and to not exclude others because of their appearance. Mr. Dairy had a way with books that he didn't need to find a specific book to teach us these lessons. Even just reading out the bad guy's line made me feel that I really didn't want to be that person, but to be a better person than them and to not harm anyone. I would love to hear him read to me one more time.

I think Dr. Doolittle is one of the few books that have a significant place in my heart that should be mentioned. It brings back the memory of Mr. Dairy reading to us; the memory of him reading about Dr. Doolittle's fantastical assortment of animals and all his amazing adventures.

I have way too many books. They range from fiction to history and from manga magazines to Wild magazines. Most of these books are fantasy and sci-fi novels, but some are true stories and myths. The magazines that I have are Wild magazines, Airliner World magazines and Shonen Jump magazines.

I think there's one book that I'll never get to reading or I won't be able to read it for a long time. It's called The Restaurant at the End of the Universe; it's the second book in the Hitchhiker's Gide to the Galaxy trilogy of five. I've read the first book but it's taking me so much time to go out and buy it. I think I may go out and get some time in my seemingly far off future but you never know, I may get it sooner. As my journey through the universe of books continues, I'll try to read it and get my old teacher to read to me one more time.

As a young child I can remember being an avid reader and always having books around somewhere. Even before I was in school, my parents would always read to me before I went to bed. This, as well as the fact that I went to a home daycare with a great teacher, probably contributed to the reason why I was such a good reader even at a young age. I was recently sorting through old school work and found a sheet from Junior Kindergarten about my reading level. In every category I had scored very high. I enjoyed reading very much as a young child until about grade four.

Before I was in school to around Senior Kindergarten I loved to read picture books (I still do sometimes), but as I grew older I began to read more challenging books. One of my favourite series was the "Junie B. Jones" series by Barbara Park. I thought that the books were very funny and I enjoyed reading them very much. I also loved to read books by Roald Dahl who was my favourite author at the time. Another one of my favourite books was "Sometimes I Like to Curl up in a Ball". It had a picture of a Wombat making a hilarious face, and every time I turned to that page I would laugh so hard that I couldn't breathe.

Around fourth grade I began to think that reading was boring because I couldn't find books that interested me. There was a period that lasted from this grade four until March Break of grade six that I was not reading at all unless I absolutely had to. The only time you would find me with a book was if we were assigned homework where we needed to have read a book. In grade six I got hooked on reading again when my friend lent me her Twilight series. It had been so long since I had read an actual book just for the fun of it that I went through the series very fast (it took me only a week to get through all four books). I know for a fact that if it hadn't been for the Twilight series I still, without a doubt, would not enjoy reading.

Nowadays, it is hard to find me without a book on the go at any given time. If I am in the middle of a book, you can find me on a Saturday with my nose stuck in it from the minute I get up to the minute I fall asleep. I will read anywhere I can sit for a long period of time, such as the couch, my bed, an airplane, and pretty much anywhere else, but my favourite place to read is in the rocking chair that currently sits beside one of our large windows. It is very relaxing to sit in the sun with a book in hand. I also enjoy reading on the beach in a tropical area, but I don't get that opportunity very often.

I used to take a long time to finish a book because I would read every single word, but I can now read in the same way, just at a much faster pace. If the book I am reading is one I find interesting, I am usually able to get through it in a couple of days. I have to admit though, that once I get to the exact middle of the book I will flip to the very end and read just the last sentence of the book. Most of the time the sentence will make no sense, but I do it anyway. Afterwards, I end up regretting it because it makes no sense without reading what comes before it, but I can't stop myself from repeating this old habit. Since I sit down and read for hours at a time, it is hard for me to read two books at the same time. The only reason I would be doing this is if I have been forced to read a book from school and have a book of my own on the go at the same time. I try to refrain from doing this though, so if I know that we will have to be reading a book at school, I will not start another one of my books until we are done studying the one from school.

I do admit that I haven't reread very many books that I own. The reasoning behind this is that there are always so many new books that I want to be able to get through, that by the time I finish those ones, there are more new books that I want to read. The only books that I reread more than once are my picture books and children's poetry books. I think that even as an older child and adult, there are still lessons and messages that you can learn from reading children's books that you may not have gotten if you had read them at a younger age. An example of this would be in Ms. Gallagher's Language Arts lesson last year where we were reading picture books but we were able to see them all in a new way and get a deeper meaning out of them.

I have several books on my shelf that I always mean to get around to reading but never seem to because they don't seem as interesting as other books that I have. I have no doubt that they are good books, it is just that other books that I find just seem so much better. One of these books that I never get around to reading is "Danny the Champion of the World" by Roald Dahl. I don't know how many years that book has been on my shelf. When I first bought it, I had been reading every Roald Dahl book I could get my hands on, but it seemed that as soon as I bought that book, my favourite author switched and I was on to a new type of book. I just never seemed to go back to read that last Roald Dahl book that I had bought.

My recent obsession with reading has made me want more and more books. My mom thought that it would be a good idea if I got myself a library card, so I went out and got myself one. As a young child, I had a library card that my home daycare provider had gotten me because we used to go to the library every week to get books to read until our next visit. That card however, had long since expired, so I got a new one. I love my card because it allows me to read as many books as I want without ever having to pay for any of them! Last year for Christmas I was also lucky enough to get an eReader from my parents. It is awesome because you can carry around thousands of books, when in fact the eReader itself doesn't even weigh half as much as a single book. It is also great for reading outside on windy days or at the beach because you don't have to worry about the pages blowing around or sand getting in the book. My eReader is definitely one of my favourite things that I own.

I have to say that reading is one of my favourite activities. If I could I would get a huge amount of books and just read for the rest of my life (while I traveled the world). Of course though, this is not possible, so I settle for reading whenever I get the chance.

           It is eleven P.M. and there is no way I am putting my book down without knowing what happens at the end! My dad comes in and tells me it's lights out, but I still keep reading. I just can't put the book down! This happens at least every other night; I am a bookworm, and I am proud of it.

            My first "legit" series was Harry Potter. Ironically enough, my mom practically forced the book into my hands and told me to read it, although I did not want to read it no matter what. After about three chapters, I was hooked. J.K. Rowling's magic really works on everyone. I haven't met one person who did not enjoy the Harry Potter series. I, for one, not only liked it, I loved it. I read each and every book four times or more in the course of two years. I started the series when the seventh book came out, and finished all six before the last one came out.

            I have read many fantasy novels, including Twilight, Vampire Kisses, The Mortal Instruments series, A Wrinkle in Time, and many more I can't name. I also loved reading the Glass Castle and The Little Princes. I am really into books about world issues and changing the world. My guilty pleasure is reading about summer romance, and it drives my mother up the wall. "Why do you read about boys and summer so much Emilie? At least read some romance novels with depth!" However, like I said it is my guilty pleasure and I like reading novels with valuable information and a great message.

            My other reading guilty pleasure is reading the back of the book before finishing. That is how I judge if I really want to read that particular book. If the first couple of chapters are boring, I read ahead and make sure it gets exciting or interesting. That is why I kept reading Harry Potter even though the first couple of chapters were boring.

            When I read my silly summer romance novels, something strange happens. I usually tend to fall in love with the main boy character. They usually end up being extremely sweet and romantic, and I fall for the boy every time I read a great summer romance novel. Something that I never do is become jealous of the main girl character. She is usually a spoiled brat who has everything in life she could hope for, and her biggest problem is that she can't get the best looking boy. That is one reason I read those books, so I don't end up like those girls and realize there are bigger problems in the world besides boys and popularity.

            That is when my world issues books come in. I recently read a book called the Little Princes, about a man who goes to Nepal to work at an orphanage for three months, and ends up living there for a long time. I got to read about issues in Nepal, family importance, and there was even some romance! It was the perfect book for me, so I could feel joy, sadness, and realize it is really possible to change the world even by doing a small action.

            One of my favourite reads was the Glass Castle. It was about a family who had an alcoholic father, and a mother who didn't want children. The children had to live through drunken beatings, poverty, homelessness, starvation and much more. The kids pushed through and somehow lived through it all, and got out into the world to live a happy rest of their lives. It was funny, but also made me realize how some people actually live, and how fortunate I really am.

            I used to buy all my books at Chapters, and spent a lot of money there every week, until I realized I could borrow my books from the library. Now, I can go to the library whenever I want and take out as many books as I desire without worrying about money. The only con about getting books from the library is that I can't reread my books, which I love doing. Yes, I could borrow them again, but it doesn't feel the same. Of course, I own books, mostly the ones I like the best, so I can reread them whenever I want, without having to share my precious favourites.

            All in all, you can see I read a variety of books, from fantasy, to world issues, to summer romances. I have been a bookworm since day one and always will be, whether I have time to read or not, because if I have to stay up all night to read a book, then that's what I will do, because I love reading and will never give it up.

A World of Adventure

            It all began when I was 3 years old. In pre-school, I was able to read and understand written words, and by the time I hit Kindergarten, I moved to full books. Chapter books like The Magic Tree House were a part of my reading routines by the age of six, and from there I just kept reading. My initial writing styles were based purely on the adventurous genres I loved so much to read, and since then fiction and fantasy have remained a big part of my reading career. I remember days in grade one when I would sit down at my desk, write a story, read it, write another story, and read them again (I still do that sometimes!).

            I am very picky about where and when I read my books. If it is a story I don't care for, then wherever is perfect, but when I am trying to delve into a different world of words I must be curled up on my bed surrounded by soft pillows and blankets (because that is where all great worlds begin). I usually read whenever I have time to, which is more often than not right before (or while) I go to sleep most nights. I read for many different reasons: because I am able to, for something to do in my spare time, to educate myself about different writing styles, to learn new vocabulary or facts in general. I read for ways to bring excitement into an otherwise uneventful day, and for a chance to look into the minds of others and see how they think.

            I like reading fiction fantasy or adventure novels, but I read all different genres all the time. Non-fiction is my best friend when it comes to research, historical fiction gives me an empathic view of historical events, and sci-fi allows me to glimpse into the "future" of reading. I read by going over every single word (multiple times if I need it) to absorb each detail of a story or article so that I am better able to understand what is happening at all times in the plot. I also prefer to read for longer periods so that my mind can focus solely on what I am reading, and so the story is remembered as a whole instead of little puzzle pieces I need to reassemble anytime I go back to the book. I only ever skip to the end of a book (to just read the last page, nothing else) if it is required reading with a plot that I am not excessively fond of, so I can entertain myself by trying to figure out what will happen to get from point A to point B. When I have to read something that I really do not like I turn it into a kind creativity/probability game so I can make the most out of every book. I am not particularly fond of stories with extensively irrelevant details because, in my opinion, that portrays the entire text as an unimportant plot.

            Often times I read only one book at a time, but every once in a while several stories catch my attention, and I am not able to wait until I complete one before continuing onto another. There are so many novels that I want to read, but when I try getting through them all at once I have found some stories get lost in my mind while others seem confusing because I read them whilst thinking of a completely different plot. I rarely ever reread a story unless I am very interested in the author's writing style, or have not read it in 5 years. For example, I need to reread the Harry Potter series to watch the last movie (and refresh my memory as to what has or is happening in the last book).

            A book that I have been meaning to read for at least a year now is the last instalment in the Inkheart trilogy: Inkdeath. I loved reading the series but I got into too many other books along the way so I had to drop that one. Though I have tried reading it again, I am not as familiar with the plot anymore, and there is always another book to be read. In addition, the series just does not come across as that appealing to me nowadays so it has proved that it does not want to be read anymore. It makes me sad not to know how the series ends, but what happens, happens.

                        Some series that I've read and enjoyed are: Harry Potter, Inkheart, The Hunger Games, The Five Ancestors, Warriors, Silverwing, Darkest Powers, Twilight, Wolf Brother, Uglies, The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, -Ology, Artemis Fowl,  Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have to Kill You. Some individual books that I have found to be particularly interesting are: Fablehaven, Chu Ju's House, Flygirl, The Supernaturalist, The Wish List, The Sword in the Stone, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, The Book Thief, and The Chrysalids. These are just the most recent books that I can remember reading, but I am confident that there are hundreds more of my old favourites lying around somewhere.

                        I have learned millions of things just from reading. Not just expanding my vocabulary, but there were times in elementary school when I was obsessed with non-fiction fact books, Greek mythology, and the periodic table of elements (I'm no boron, I was just studying ahead of the curriculum!).  I do not have my own individual library card; I use my mom's whenever I need to use the local public library's resources. My house is home to a miniature library of books from children's fiction to University textbooks, so I usually have no need to get a book from the library anyway.

                        Many pages, and many words later, I have arrived at the most current stage in my career as a reader, and I can't wait to uncover where books will take me next!

The first time that my father read me a book, I was just a baby. He read Good Night Moon  to me in my bed. And every night before I went to bed he would read me the same book. My brothers Matthew and Mackenzie's first books were Good Night Moon as well, which is why Good Night Moon is now one of my family's favorite books. Whenever there is a new addition to the family, like a new cousin, we always give them Good Night Moon as a present, because we want to share with them how much we love this book. 

Our family has many books that we all share together. One of the books that we share together is Twas the Night Before Christmas. We read Twas the Night Before Christmas every Christmas Eve. Every year we alternate who reads it. Since we read it every year I can say that poem from memory. When I was little I looked forward to Christmas Eve not only because it is almost Christmas Day but because I got to hear Twas the Night Before Christmas. We were not allowed to read the book any other time of the year.

Some of the other books that our family enjoys are books by Doctor Seuss. In our family library we have almost every Doctor Seuss book you can imagine. But my favorite book is Oh The Places You'll Go. This book is my favorite because when I read it before bed it made me dream about the places I would go. I dream't I went to a castle in the  cotton candy clouds,  or a magic forest in an undiscovered land. 

Now that I don't read Doctor Seuss or Good Night Moon as much I read a lot of different books. One of my favorite recent series is Harry Potter. When the first couple of books came out my dad had to read them to me, but as my reading level increased I could read them by myself and I couldn't put them down. After I read all the books I saw every movie, and I own them all. The Twilight Saga was the same. I loved those books and it was another series I just couldn't put down. 

I read in many different places. I read in my bed, in my house library, in my living room, and on my window seat. But my favorite place to read my book is at my friend's cottage. At her cottage there is nothing to do but walk in the river and read your books. I sit in front of the river and listen to the sound of the river water as background noise to my book.  At her cottage there is a hammock that is right beside the river, which is another one of my favorite places to read.  When I go to the beach I never leave my book behind because after going in the water and using all of your energy it is nice to lie in the sand and hot sun and just read your book. When I read I mostly read for fun, but I read for school too. I like reading for fun the most because I get to pick what books I read because I like certain types of books.

There is one book that I have never gotten around to reading but I have always wanted to, Dear John. I have seen the movie many times and it is one of my favorite movies, but I have never read the book. 

There is one book that I read that is not the usual type of genre I read.  The book Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin is one of my favorite books. I usually read books that are fiction but the Three Cups of Tea was a great change. This book is about Greg's dedication to reduce poverty and poor education for girls in Afghanistan. My mother had this book on her bedside table one night and I asked her what it was about. Once she explained the plot of the story I knew I wanted to read it. So when my mom finished the book I was inspired to read it. I am usually a slow reader, but this was such a excellent book I read it within 2 weeks. One day I want to read the sequels to this book Stones into Schools and Promoting Peace with Schools not Bombs. 

"Judy can pat the bunny. Now YOU pat the bunny." Sound familiar? This was my first and favourite book as a child, Pat the Bunny. I used to love reading the book over and over again, flipping to the page in the book where you got to feel the "bunny's" soft fur. Pat the Bunny was a great book for me as a child because I loved to feel things, especially soft things.

The first time I read by myself was when I was in preschool, so I was about four or five years old. All I remember was that I loved to read picture books. In preschool during naptime, we were allowed two picture books under our mat in case we wanted to read... but I would sneak about fifteen extra books. I loved to read picture books wherever I could and I never got tired of them. Of course, my favourites were the princess books. Any story with a princess in it, I would read as soon as I got my hands on it.  

I started to read more novels when I was in grade three. At the time, my favourite author was Kate DiCamillo. She wrote my favourite book - the Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. The story is about a china rabbit named Edward Tulane who was given to a little girl named Abilene by her grandmother. An unfortunate incident finds him falling overboard while vacationing on an ocean liner. Edward spends endless days in the ocean, until a passing fisherman pulls him free. Edward is passed from hand to hand of a series of life-altering characters. Edward's journey not only takes him far from home, but even farther from the rabbit he once was. Edward is eventually broken and then repaired in a doll store. Later on, he is bought by Abilene, who is much older now, for her daughter and they are reunited once again. During his travels he learns the value of love and loss and the undeniable message that loving and losing is better than never having loved at all. This book taught me a great lesson that I still live by.

Currently, my favourite books are the Pretty Little Liars series. I love books that are unpredictable and always keep you guessing. I also love thriller mysteries, which is exactly what Pretty Little Liars is. This series is about the disappearance and murder of a girl. Her four friends are brought together to try and solve the mystery of their friend's death. However, there is someone stalking their every move and every time they get close to an answer, their stalker gets in the way and something goes terribly wrong. Something about the series makes it so much better than the rest of the books I have read. Nothing I read compares to Pretty Little Liars. It is so eerily creepy and mysterious, and I love it!

My second favourite series is The Hunger Games. I also love science fiction-based books, especially ones that take place in the future. These kinds of stories help me to expand my imagination, because anything can happen in just a few years from now. The story introduces a sixteen-year-old girl named Katniss who lives in the country of Panem, formerly existing as North America. Panem is separated into twelve districts and controlled by the Capitol, which annually holds a television program called the Hunger Games. From each district, a boy and a girl are randomly chosen to participate in the Hunger Games. Every man is for himself in this game and it is, ultimately, a fight to the death. The final person standing wins eternal glory and praise. Katniss volunteers herself to participate in The Hunger Games in place of her sister. Her experience in the Hunger Games, gains her new friends and enemies. It is a story that mixes intensity with romance and friendship and it truly is a great read.

The genres I am interested in include thriller, mystery and science fiction. I like the stories that keep me on the edge of my seat, the intense stories. Those are what keep me reading. The problem is that I can't really find many books fitting that description that I like.

I have to say I have a bad habit when it comes to buying books. I have a very big collection of books; most of them are ones that I haven't read yet. I want to read them, but I can never find the time to. Whenever I think about reading all those books, it becomes overwhelming and I feel like I can't read them all. Whenever I go to the bookstore, I always seem to buy a book because there are so many good books out there, but I never read them. It has really started to build up and now I am left with more and more books I have to read. This leads to me being a multiple reader. I start to read one book, but then a new book comes out and I can't wait to read it, so I start that one. The most books I have read at one time, I think, were about five books. What adds to it is that I am also a very slow reader, which discourages me even more to read my books. In the big picture, I do not consider myself a very "strategic" reader, so I am hoping that maybe I will be able to moderately read books without overwhelming myself.

Tommy Lupinacci

Mr. Newman

ENG1D

23 September 2011

Reading In My Life

My mom tells me that I started reading at a young age, around the age of four to be exact. I started reading individual words like "the" or "and" around the age of three, but I really started being able to say and read a sentence around the age of four. I enjoy reading, but with school and extracurricular activities, sometimes it is hard to find the time. One thing I always try to do is read before I go to bed. Whether it's for five minutes or for half-an hour. Another thing I enjoy doing is reading magazines, which I mostly do before going to bed. Most of the magazines I read are about sports, which is one of my main interests. As far as books are concerned, I like to read almost anything, except for sci-fi and fantasy. One of the genres that I enjoy reading the most is comedy. My taste in literature is the same for movies, where I prefer comedy as well 

One of the first series that I read were the Magic Tree House books. These were my absolute favourite books, for a number of reasons. The first reason was that they were really short, which meant it didn't take very long to read them so I wouldn't get bored. Another reason I liked these books were because there were so many of them to choose from that you almost never ran out of options to read. Finally, I loved these books because they were all about different things. For example, one of them would be about space ships and aliens, and another one would be about knights and medieval times. This made it so there was always something to read about, no matter what your interests. 

I have always been amazed by people who can have multiple books on the go at once. In all the years I have been reading, I don't think I have ever had more than one book going at once. I think I would find that there is too much going on in my head if I had to switch my mind from one book to the other. One of the main reasons I prefer to only be reading one book at a time is because I can focus only on that one book and not be worried about getting it confused with another book that I am reading at the same time.

One of the clearest memories I have of reading is when I was in grade three. At this time I was reading the Harry Potter books, and because of my age, it took me a while to get through them. I clearly remember being at school, and I only had about 20 pages left. It was last period and the teacher told us to grab a book and go to the grade seven room to read. While we were walking to the room, I remember being so excited because I might be able to finally finish the book after a couple of months of reading. Everyone in the class was sitting together on the desks chatting amongst themselves, but I was sitting alone at the front of the room on the floor, trying extremely hard to finish the book. To this day, I can still remember the feeling I got when I finished that last page, I just took a deep breath and smiled, oh so very proudly. I'm not sure why I remember that experience so clearly, but I think it will be one of those memories that will be with me forever.

My favourite book that I have read is "Jerk" by Jonathan Friesen. I read this book over a March Break a couple of years ago. This book was about a boy who had tourettes, and the book was about his struggle to fit in and find love. The boy eventually runs away with his girlfriend and discovers some things about his life. I liked this book because it is a very real story that could happen in real life. This is one of the things I look for in a book I am thinking about reading, whether the situation in the book could happen in reality. That is why I like reading mystery and comedy better than science fiction or fantasy.

I really enjoy reading for pleasure, and I think it is a great way to spend time. Although I spend the majority of my time reading in bed at night, I also like to read outside in the summer. I find it peaceful to be able to enjoy a beautiful warm summer day, and be able to read as well. 

In conclusion, I love to read, and it is one of my favourite things to do. I am really excited to continue reading in my life and see what kind of books I come across. So far I have read a lot of interesting books, but I think the best is yet to come and I hope that through my school years and beyond I get the opportunity to become a better reader and learn to love reading even more than I already do.