Figmentator Naja

    As you might know, I am a member of a website called figment.com, where you can read free short stories, poems, etc. written by other members. I have a list of stories from there I like somewhere on my blog, but I would like to feature a really good writer: Piper Simmons. As far as I know, she's only written a few things. Click here to access her works.
  
     I am also going to recognize another talented writer on Figment, Liesel Bobbysocks. This is an interesting name, no? The "Liesel" part, I know she got from The Book Thief  by Markus Zusak. The origin of her chosen surname, I have no clue. Anyway, Liesel writes poems, mainly about her homosexuality and suicide. I haven't spoken to her in a very long time, and I am not sure of her whereabouts: I don't know if she killed herself or if she just doesn't get on Figment anymore. On this day, December 8, she emailed me and told me that if I didn't hear back from her by 8:00 P.M., could I please give one of her friends (another Figment user), a note. Now, I'm not going to post it on the internet, because that's just not a very smart thing to do, but I hope you will not be surprised when I tell you it was a suicide note.
     I never had to send it because she did in fact email me back after I sent her a reply to the email she sent me with the suicide note. But it has been a year now, and I have emailed her, and I have tried to contact her, but she has not answered. And as I'm writing this, it's 10:50. So I sent the note to Liesel's friend, whom we'll refer to as A.S.M Michellins. I just hope she isn't dead. Click here to access her works.
    

On the Subject of Paper Towns.

I finished Paper Towns by John Green. I plan on re-reading it- I don't want to provide a review on it yet because I don't really get it much. I actually found it quite dull.

What I Plan To Read Next.

So as you've probably already guessed, I'm a little bit obsessed with John Green. So far, I've read almost all of the books he's written alone. These are the ones I haven't read yet:

1. Paper Towns.

2. Will Grayson, Will Grayson (With David Levithan. Also debuted at #3 on the New York Times bestseller list for children’s chapter books, the first book starring gay characters ever to appear on the list.)

An Abundance of Katherines.

NOTE: I will NOT be including a link in the cover photo, because I don't advise anyone to read it. But whoever won the cover design contest, they did a hell of a good job.
NOTE: I did not really like this book. maybe it was all the math, maybe it was because it was boring, I don't know, but I didn't like it. So, instead of taking the time to actually write a maybe-halfway-decent-review, I will simply post the one from Wikipedia. There, I don't think that it's plagiarism now.

_________________________

Colin Singleton is an anagram-loving seventeen year old boy who has become depressed because though he has maintained his status of a child prodigy, he has not yet become a “genius.” He wishes to accomplish this goal by having a Eureka moment. As well as not being the genius he hopes to be, his girlfriend, Katherine 19 (over the span of his life, Colin has dated nineteen girls named Katherine, all spelled in that manner), recently dumped him. In these relationships, Colin remembers only the Katherine dumping him.
After graduating from high school, and before college, Colin's best and only friend convinces him to go on a road trip with him to take his mind off the breakup. The friend is Hassan Harbish, a funny, lazy, Judge Judy-obsessed Muslim. After driving for a while, they come across the alleged resting place of the body of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. There, they meet Lindsey Lee Wells, a “paramedic in training.” She is the tour guide for those seeing the tomb of the Archduke. After a short time, Colin and Hassan find themselves employed by Hollis, Lindsey’s mother and the woman running a local factory that currently produces tampon strings. They live with their employer and her daughter in a rural town called Gutshot, Tennessee.
As time passes, Colin finds himself becoming attracted to Lindsey, though matters are somewhat complicated by her on-again, off-again boyfriend Colin (he and Hassan call him TOC, "the other Colin"). Our Colin, the prodigy, attempts to become a genius by having his Eureka moment. He chases this goal through his theorem, which is meant to determine the curve of any relationship based on several factors of the personalities of the two people in a relationship. It would predict the future of any two people. His theorem eventually works for all but one of his past relationships with a Katherine. But it is later discovered by Colin that he had dumped this Katherine (Katherine the Third), rather than the other way around. The graphs all make perfect sense at this juncture.
As Colin’s story is revealed to the reader, we find that K-19 was also the first of the Katherines, “Katherine the Great.” While the backstories of Colin’s life play out, Hassan gets a girlfriend, Katrina, a friend of Lindsey’s. The relationship is cut short when Colin and Hassan find her having sex with TOC in the graveyard where the Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s corpse is. A fight between TOC and all of the surrounding acquaintances begins when Lindsey finds out that he’s been cheating on her. While recovering from a kick to the groin, Colin anagrams the Archduke's name to dull the pain, and discovers that it is actually Lindsey's great-grandfather, named Fred N. Dinzanfar, that is buried in the tomb.
Colin finds Lindsey at her secret hideout in a cave that she had shown him previously, where he tells her the story of every Katherine he ever loved. Lindsey tells him that she feels so self-centered, claiming that she does not feel sad but instead slightly relieved by TOC's affair. They then confess their love for each other. But when Colin applies the Theorem to him and Lindsey, it calculates that she will dump him in four days. Lindsey then slips a note under his door, four days later, stating that she cannot be his girlfriend because she is in love with Hassan. But she leaves a P.S. stating that she is joking. Colin realizes that his theorem cannot predict the future of a relationship. It can only shed light on why a relationship failed. Despite this, Colin is content not “mattering”. Hassan also states that he is applying for two college classes, which Colin has been trying to convince him to do throughout the book. The story ends with the trio driving to a nearby Wendy's, with Lindsey saying they could just "keep going and not stop." Colin takes her advice, as a transcendental and ecstatic feeling of "connection" with Lindsey, Hassan, and everyone not in the car surges through him. He has finally found peace and happiness via connection with other people, rather than from the pursuit of distinguishing himself from everyone, feeling "non-unique in the very best way possible."

Looking For Alaska Review.

     I am going to start by saying that, 1) I think I might start reviewing again and 2) I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE John Green. Now, The Fault In Our Stars is usually all I need (I didn't want to push my luck with the whole perfect-book thing. Because An Abundance of Katherines? Well... WHOLE 'nother story), but I'd heard tons of great reviews, so I decided to try it.
       Looking for Alaska is, in a nutshell, what one would probably call a 'coming-of-age' story. But I don't really like that term. So I'll call it  'grows-on-you-and-with-you' story. Anyway, the book doesn't really have chapters; each "chapter" is labeled as " _____ Days Before." Like, the first "chapter" is "one hundred thirty-six days before." Then, in what I guess is supposed to be Part Two, instead of counting down to the crazy, kickass, absolutely MIND BLOWING event that I will not disclose, it goes on from the days after the crazy, kickass, absolutely MIND BLOWING event that I will not disclose.
     The book follows a boy named Miles Halter, whom everyone calls "Pudge." He is obsessed with famous last words and, until he goes to boarding school, he has no friends. Upon enrolling at Culver Creek Boarding School, he meets Chip Martin, whom everyone calls "The Colonel," Alaska Young, whom everyone calls "Alaska," Takumi, and Lara, who becomes his girlfriend in the later books. Pudge and his friends get into crazy antics that involve setting the Dean of Student's ass on fire, smoking in the woods, and "Climbing up Strawberry Hill," referring to the brand of cheap pink wine they drink throughout the story. Like I said, the book is basically split up into two parts, and if you don't like sad books, I would advise that you do not read past page 133. That is all I will say.
     Looking for Alaska made me cry. And not just that, "And a single tear trickled down my cheek." I mean some all-out sobbing was going on. And it has been hard to make me cry about books and movies since I saw E.T.  the second time, and cried my eyes out for the second. Time.
     In conclusion, I would give this book an A plus, but this is the type of novel that can go either way, depending on if you like this kind of plot; you know, the sad, dramatic, romatic type stuff that chicks like me enjoy.

Mobile Version?

It's eleven o'clock at night and I'm writing this from my iPod.... Wow, 111 page views. I'm so proud.

The Fault in Our Stars Video Review!

I really liked the written one better, but I tried my best, so...

The Chain Letter Book Trailer

The trailer is finally here! The whole class worked really hard on it, so thanks for your participation and support! You can also find it on YouTube. Click here to redirect to YouTube.

Pretty Little Liars

What would you do if you blinded someone? And saw something horrible? Spencer, Aria, Emily, Hanna, and Alison are best friends. They do everything together. So on one night, when a neighbor, Toby, is seen looking through their window while they're changing, they want to get revenge together, too. So Alison sneaks out to Toby's treehouse with a firework. She sees something horrible, and it surprises her so much that she sets off the firework. She blinds Toby's stepsister Jenna. It is not revealed until later why Toby kept Alison's secret and took the blame.

Years later, Alison has disappeared, and the girls have drifted apart. Then, problems arise and they start getting frightening text messages, emails, and notes from someone named "A." Then people start dying. And eventually, the old A dies, too. But then, a new one is coming.... It is revealed that Alison was actually Alison's twin, Courtney. Courtney was in a mental hospital so she pretended to be Alison while Alison got sent back. Alison wanted revenge. She dies in one of the books, but did she really die??

When I first heard of this series, I was a bit skeptical, because I don't really like mystery. But this book was good because there was normal teen drama as well a serious drama. I would recommend this book because it is interesting.

Modelland!!

I really want to read this book! I had heard abut it and initially was reluctant to pick it up, but I read the first few pages on a preview, and it was really good! I had no idea that Tyra Banks could write. It is on my summer reading list and I will definitely pick it up at Barnes & Noble soon!

My Summer Reading List

My Summer Reading List (Books I Plan to Read While Lounging on the Beach.... Or Pretending to Lounge on the Beach):

1. Modelland by Tyra Banks
2. Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Biography by Lemony Snicket
3. Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

That is all I've gotten to so far, but I'LL BE ADDING MORE!

The Fault in our Stars by John Green

"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings."

Hazel Grace Lancaster is sixteen years old. She has terminal cancer and has been diagnosed with clinical depression. She goes to support group for other kids with cancer. It is there she meets Augustus Waters, who had osteosarcoma. They bond over a book, The Imperial Affliction, written by Peter Van Houten. The book ends mid sentence, so Augustus writes to the author and asks him what happens after the story ends. Van Houten then answers that he couldn't tell them in a letter, that they must come to Amsterdam (where he lives), and that he will tell them there.

So they travel to Amsterdam. They find that Peter Van Houten won't tell them anything and that he is very rude and offensive. Hazel and Augustus go back to their hotel, where he tell her that he has a tumor. He knows that he is dying.

When they get back to the States, Augustus asks Hazel and their friend Isaac to have a prefuneral, so that he can watch it. He dies eight days later.

Augustus always told Hazel that one day he would write an epilogue An Imperial Affliction.

The Fault in our Stars was sad, but it was also something more. It was something special.

Chain Letter Movie Trailer

Note: The movie is VERY different from the book.

Chain Letter by Christopher Pike Summary/Review (SPOILER ALERT)

What if you and your friends did something very, very bad last summer? What if someone found out? This is what happens to Alison, Joan, Fran, Brenda, Neil, Kipp, and Tony, as someone called "The Caretaker" sends them letters and messages in the classified ads in the newspaper and tells them to do dangerous dares. Throughout the book, each one of them must complete a deed. The group notices a pattern in the deeds they must do: They all have mean something important to them. For example, Brenda has a role in the school play, You Can't Take It With You. The caretaker says that she has to tell the director of the play that he is the worst teacher in the world. She gets kicked out of the play. Also, Fran drew a picture of the school mascot, which is a bear. The caretaker says that she must spray paint the picture in black and red to make it a goat. This being said, it is clear that the Caretaker is someone close, or watching all of them, all of the time. Near the end of the book, Neil dies with a green ring on his hand, which seem to be the only indication it is him. But then the story takes a turn for the worst. It in  fact isn't Neil, it is the man they accidentally killed last summer. But Neil had taken the ring. And he had claimed it as his own. The day before he "died," he told his best friend Tony to give that emerald ring to Alison, with whom he had been in love, and who was dating Tony. At the very end, it is revealed that the Caretaker was Neil. He dies and never gets to graduate with the rest of his group. A lot of other crazy stuff happens too, but I can't tell you everything! There is a sequel, which I haven't read yet but hope to get to soon. This book is not your average, cookie-cutter mystery. It had a lot of depth to it and was very sad but happy, too. I tink anyone who loves mystery or horror with a twist will enjoy this book.

And Now For a Reading Interview with Myself

Naja: Hello Naja, good morning. I would like to ask you a few questions about reading.

Me: Okay, sure.

Naja: My first question is: what do you like to read? Describe what you read and why.

Me: Well, I enjoy reading fashion magazines. I also like to read fiction books. I don't have a real reason behind what I read, I just pick up what looks good.

Naja: Funny, that sounds like something I would do also. What are your favorite books? Why?

Me: My favorite books are I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Chain Letter by Christopher Pike, and The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins. I like all of these books because they are very poetic, depressing, and slightly nostalgic.

Naja: Thanks for that. I can tell you sad books. It's interesting, because I like sad books too! Anyways, what is your favorite genre?

Me: My favorite genre is young adult.

Naja: And how often do you read?

Me: I read all the time. In the car, in the bathroom, in the shower, at night when I'm supposed to be asleep....

Naja: List a few of the book you've read in the last year.

Me: I've read the Hunger Games Trilogy, The Clique Series, a few Sara Dessen books, the Twilight Series, and Slumber Party by Christopher Pike.

Naja: What books are you interested in reading, but haven't had a chance to read?

Me: The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan.

Naja: Imagine the perfect book you'd like to read this summer. What's it about?

Me: I'd say it was a fictional story about two best friends who fall in love.

Naja: Well, that just about wraps it all up. Thanks for talking.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (NOTE: CONTAINS SPOILERS)

     The book starts with Marguerite around seven years old, in church wearing a purple taffeta dress.  From then on, we follow Angelou's life up until she is almost graduating high school. We watch her and her brother grow up, from living in Stamps, Alabama with her grandmother ("Momma" she was called), to living with her mother.

     Maya encounters all sorts of problems, for example, she gets raped, and after the rapist's trial, he gets killed. Maya has to deal with the guilt she has. Also, she has some questions about her sexual orientation, so she decides to have intercourse with a boy to prove that she is not a lesbian and ends up getting pregnant.

     Marguerite is a very strong person and it is quite evident that she is a compassionate person. You can tell because of the guilt and shame she feels for herself and the man who raped her after he was found dead.

    I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was a beautiful story. I cried a lot but I also laughed. While the story is often depressing, there are hopeful bits in it also. I enjoyed it and believe that anyone who wants to understand one of the greatest writers of the 20th century should read this.