BS: Post #2 What is a book?

     What is a book? By definition, it is "a written or printed work consisting of pages glued or sewn together along one side and bound in covers" (Dictionary.com). But I'm going to ask again; what is a book? Is it a time machine, taking us way back into the past or fast forwarding to the future? Is it a little piece of magic that keeps you entranced? Or is it a figment of someone’s imagination? The correct answer is... all of the above. A book can be anything you want it to be.
     For me, a book is a door that opens possibilities I never thought imaginable. It is a way for me to escape reality and travel someplace I've never been before, meeting new people and seeing new things. It leaves you wanting more. The story keeps going on even after the novel is over. It will leave you wondering what happens after the characters have said their goodbyes and the author has typed the last word.
     But is reading a book on a Kindle, iPad, or phone the same thing as reading a physical book? No. Personally, I absolutely despise reading off of them. My mom rented a series from the library off her Kindle and told me that is was absolutely amazing. And I really want to read it, but reading it off a kindle, no thank you. There is something magical about physically holding a book and being able to turn the pages. When I finish a book, sometimes I like to flip back through it and re-read my favorite parts. With a Kindle, iPad, or phone, that is pretty hard to do. And there is just something satisfying about finishing a book, and having something to look back on. Say you picked up a 1,000 page book and finished reading it in one sitting. There is something satisfying about looking at this GIANT book and saying 'I finished that. Do you see how big that is? I finished that in one sitting'. But with a Kindle, iPad, or phone, you have nothing to look back on. It is just a flat tablet, no depth or glory that comes with its size.

     So I'm going to ask one more time; what is a book? But this time, it's is your turn to decide.

Determine a symbol for each of your characters. What tangible item can represent something abstract about them? Explain your reason for your selection.

     The book I am reading is Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. It is about Nora Grey, a teenager that puts her life at risk after she begins to like the new student Patch, a fallen angel with a dark connection to Nora. But little does she know how much trouble that is going to cause her.
     The symbol I would choose for Patch is a pair of dark angelic like wings. One reason I chose them is because Patch is a fallen angel, so dismantled wings seem appropriate. Another reason I chose them is because in the book, before Nora finds out that he is a fallen angel, Patch is a very dark and mysterious character.  Nora proves this by saying, "'He's tall, dark, and annoying.' And eerily closed off. Patch's eyes were black orbs. Taking in everything and giving away nothing," (Fitzpatrick, 19). By revealing nothing of real importance about himself, this causes suspicion within Nora. The more reserved he is, the more she wants to know. And that is why I chose a pair of dark angelic like wings to be the symbol for Patch.
     The symbol I would choose for Nora is a magnifying glass with a crack in it. I chose this because she is extremely curious and always wants to know everything there is to know about a person. She doesn't fully trust them until she does. But even when she finds something, she thinks of the worst case scenario. When out on a "date" with Patch, he leaves to go grab them some food and she take the opportunity to scrounge around his car for clues, "I unbuckled my seat belt and rummaged through the stack of textbooks near my feet, feeling a mysterious smile creep to my mouth at the thought of uncovering one of Patch's secrets...I popped open the glove compartment and sifted through...my eyes homed in on the rusty liquid that had dried at one end of the flashlight. Blood," (Fitzpatrick, 236-237). Taking advantage of Patch's absence, she decides that if he won't tell her anything, she'll just have to figure it out herself. But when she found something, her mind jumped to the worst conclusion and she immediately confronted him. Nora didn't even take the time to think through all the possible reasons for there being blood, or a blood like substance on the flashlight. That is why she is like a magnifying glass with a crack in it.

BS: Post #1 Why I Read

     I read because reading is fun. I like to escape reality and travel to a new place. You can go on adventures and feel like you are really there, even though you aren't. Also, my mom is a Language Arts teacher, so I grew up around books. Right now, she has over 3,000 in her classroom. When I was younger, I would raid her room and take the books back home to read.
     There are so many different genres of books; fantasy, mystery, horror, comedy, realistic-fiction, science-fiction, poems, dramatic, romance, tragedy, comics, historical-fiction, fan-fiction, mythology, non-fiction, Utopian/Dystopian and more. You can never not find something to read. My favorite genres to read are typically fantasy, mystery, realistic-fiction, Utopian/Dystopian, science-fiction, and romance. Sometimes I like to read historical fiction, but only if it is a more tragic experience (i.e. the sinking of the Titanic, climbing Mt. Everest, concentration camps, etc.).
     Sometimes, when I read, I like to put myself into one of the characters' shoes and see if I would do the same thing that they chose to do, or would I do it differently. Or imagine myself as one of the characters, going on all the adventures. I also like to imagine these situations occurring in real life and really make the books feel real. Reading is just something I love to do.