Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

This week I read Stiff. It is a non-fiction book about all of the different things that happen to people after they die, including organ donors in crash tests and decay studies, cannibalism in history and composting, the newest alternative to cremation. It also looks at how these scientists view the morals of their experiments, such as attaching a puppy's head to an adult dog.
I loved it. It was the most interesting non-fiction book I've ever read and I liked the writing style. The author had a humorous tone during parts of the book but it was delivered very well so it was never disrespectful. The descriptions were disgusting which made it very interesting. It is 303 pages, so not unbearably long. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who isn't grossed out easily.

Slice of Life #2

We left the house a 7:36, just six minutes after our goal, which is pretty impressive considering my dad was the one to drive us. The faded ink on my left hand depicted a donut in purple and black to remind me. It seemed necessary at the time, but I guess the act of drawing it on implanted it in my brain. The donut shop, a small independent one was only blocks from my house but as soon as we saw the traffic half a block away, we knew it would take more effort. It was a perfect storm of stress and chaos, with my siblings screaming, the dog pacing in the backseat and my dad leaning on the horn. He complained about people who were too old to be driving, people texting and people half-asleep at the wheel. Perhaps more people than he realized were innocent, good drivers in his position, just less assertive in their tiny cars. I just sat silently, knowing that we would make it because he wanted to beat the 'bad drivers'. He had a goal, a clear objective and he was going to win. Win the donut game.

Slice of Life

Forming words to a certain mold seems so normal now, now that I know that the molds come in different shapes and sizes. I found myself testing them again yesterday, adding and removing syllables to make the puzzle fit together. The first time I tried, the ends of the letters poked out of the mold and the little gaps in the middle reflected my lack of practice. I turned them over in my mouth because they didn't quite taste right, but the faces of my classmates proved that I was not the only one. I spat them out, grooming my inflections and my tone to quench the dissonance of the phrases. I couldn't wait to get that over with, my classmates' vision pressing into my cheeks and making them hot. I finished, I repeated my words with only a couple of stumbles and was met with the mandatory, yet irritating, snap-clapping.
The molded words are poetry and while reading my first poem was awkward, I've gotten over it. I'm better at shaping my sentences so only an end or the dot of an 'i' pokes outside the lines. After all, poetry, while maybe not a valuable life skill, will always be a part of my life at Logan, so the best I can do is to just get over it.

Limericks

Bagel Heads

There once was a man in Japan
Who had low self esteem 'cause he drove a minivan
So he filled up his head
but soon he was dead
Because he got saline from a hobo man

Winter Break

Winter break, soon set in the boredom
Numbing my cranial organ
Staring blankly, I drool
Because when resumes school
It surely will be post-mortem

Logan

There once was a student from Logan
Who was always much too outspoken
He yelled out in class
So they stunned him with gas
And finished him off with a blowgun

Tomato: My Occasional Poem

He did it, the unthinkable
completely outside the box of imaginable
it was a suicidal action, for sure
or so they thought
but without him we wouldn't know differently

Pioneers come in a lot of packages
but for a powerful package,
his action was awfully small

But he did it first
on the courthouse steps
and that means a lot
because without Colonel Johnson
I would have never
ever
eaten a tomato

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

This week I read Thirteen Reasons Why. It is about this kid who gets tapes in the mail from Hannah Baker, this girl who killed herself, and each tape has stories about people that were part of the reason why she died. He also gets this map of places where she recommends he go as he listens to the tapes, and when he's done he is supposed to pass them on. It is only 336 pages, and the way it's written makes it an easy read, but the content matter is hard.
There were parts of this book that I really did like and parts that I didn't. Hannah had a really clear voice and she was a likable character even though she died before the book took place. The author did a good job of personifying a teenage girl, which surprised me.The main character, Clay Jensen, was really boring. He didn't really do anything except for listen to the tapes and sob. A little more character development would have been nice. My other problem was that each story was really similar to the other ones, and I think towards the end the author was having a hard time coming up with more stories. The main reason I kept reading was to find out why the boring main character was on the tapes, but once I found out towards the middle, the rest of the book was a lot less interesting. I would recommend this book to pretty much anybody (especially if you don't pick a book until Thursday).

Jellyfish: My stream-of-conciousness poem

Sometimes I wish that I were a jellyfish
Enveloped in the cool, clear blue
I wouldn't be concerned with a smartphone
or politics
or the state of my toast because my toaster is broken
or how I look
Some of my tentacles would be smooth and thin, and some would be
thick and
textured like a feather duster and
twisted into a long, loose spiral that holds its shape
I'll wait until my toes turn to tentacles
and my brain numbs and melts into the gelatin of my body

Cursing the Self-checkout machines

May your creator be forced to shove spaghetti up his nose,
May you rust in the landfill
and kindle a bonfire of useless electronics.
May you relive the pain of a thousand shoppers
and the face of the perky attendant erased from the universe. 

The Pact pt. 2

I thought that The Pact ended well. All three graduated from medical school and began practicing medicine. In the epilogue, they talked about the strategies that they used to fulfill the pact. I really enjoyed this book, which I was surprised about because it was chosen for book groups. The Pact was really inspiring and I would definitely recommend it.

Raw Chicken: My Free Verse Poem

It comes very tightly sealed like it's unstable, which it probably is.
As soon as that packaging comes off, the danger is disregarded.
Gloved hands squeeze it, cut it and make it into something it's not.
Food,
Flavorful and appetizing, though some can't shake the memory of what it once was,
In fact, just a minute ago.
Or even worse, a week ago.
It had a pulse,
A circulatory,
respiratory,
musculoskeletal 
nervous
and excretory systems,
all painfully unaware of the garlic and butter in it's future
and just how slimy it's flesh really is. 

The Pact by George Jenkins, Sampson Davis and Rameck Hunt

My book group book is The Pact. It is about three doctors who grew up in Newark, New Jersey. Their home lives were not stable, their families were poor and they lived in a rough neighborhood where it was uncommon to get an education past high school. They become friends and make a pact to each finish medical school.
This might be the only book group book I've ever liked. The story is really interesting and I like how it's told from each person's perspective because they all offer different perspectives that add a lot to the book. Some of the writing isn't very good, but I don't think that it detracts from the story. I would recommend The Pact because it's nonfiction but not boring and it makes you think about what Logan kids are not used to.

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

This week I read Outliers. Basically, it's a nonfiction book about people that found success and the circumstances that helped them in their careers, why certain countries have more plane crashes, what makes small businesses successful and the correlation between IQ and success. Like I said, this book is nonfiction, just over three hundred pages, and while not a hard read, it didn't go as quickly as the books that I usually read.
I liked it. Each chapter was interesting and different, and the scientific evidence was as well. My only problem with Outliers was that it was so heavily scientific that it was hard for me to read a lot in one sitting. I would recommend this book for anyone who likes nonfiction, science or wants a unique book.

This week: The Pact

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

This week (finally!) I read Allegiant. It's the final book in the Divergent Trilogy, and I really can't say much about what happens for obvious reasons. The entire series is dystopian fiction, and this book is over 500 pages, but it's a really fast read. It was so exciting and fast-paced that I finished it within a couple of days.
I really liked it. I liked the entire series, and while the first one was the best, they always are, the second and third were also great. I would highly recommend this series and this book to anyone who hasn't read them.

Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

This week I read Night Circus. It is about a circus that is only open at night and travels around the world. The circus is maintained by two magicians, Celia and Marco, who are competing, but the circus eventually begins to fall apart. This is a fantasy book, and it's about 500 pages long. It was a little harder than most of the books I've read this year.
I really enjoyed it. The writing style was great, especially the author's use of interesting vocabulary. The descriptions and the imagery were all really good. I liked the format of Night Circus because there were a lot of small chapters relating to different story lines, but it all came together in the end. I would recommend it to anyone.

Next book: Allegiant!!!

Claire Ange by M.A. Kirkwood

This week I read Claire Ange by M.A. Kirkwood. It's about a 17-year-old piano prodigy that gets kicked out of her house with most of her stuff and not nearly enough money. She has to find a place to live and hopes that she can find work playing piano.
I really enjoyed this book. The writing style is fantastic, and it switches off from Claire's perspective to an unnamed spirit observing her. That was one of the most interesting parts of the book. All of the characters are fantastic, and many of the supporting characters are actually more interesting than the main character. The setting, New Orleans, was a really good choice because it adds so much to the story. My only complaint is that it's a little slow at the beginning. This book is almost 300 pages, so not a 2 week book, and it is realistic fiction. I would recommend it to pretty much anyone in our class.

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen

This week, I read The False Prince. It is about a nobleman who takes four orphans planning to train them to be princes, then choose one to act as the prince of their country. Sage, the main character tries to beat the others and win the title, because the boys who lose will be killed.

I liked this book. The setting, an fantasy world with no real locations, was typical of this kind of book, but the plot was something entirely different and very original. The character descriptions and personalities were sometimes good, but some characters were not described at all. The writing style wasn't great, but the plot completely made up for it because it was interesting, and it kept me hooked up until the end. I don't know how many pages it is, but it's pretty short, definitely a one week book. I would recommend it for anyone who likes fantasy.

City of Bones: The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

This week I read the first book in the Mortal Instruments series. Even though this is a series, this book works pretty well on it's own. I didn't even realize that there were others. This was a fantasy book, and a fairly easy read. City of Bones is about Clary Fray, who lives with her mother in New York City. One night, she discovers that she can see demons and shadowhunters, the people designated to kill them.

Although I don't usually read this genre, I liked it a lot. It was a good combination of reality and fantasy, which made it a lot easier to read. The main thing that I don't like about the fantasy genre is having to learn all of the rules and terms of the fictional world, and I thought that this book made them very clear and easy to understand. The writing style was good, the characters had multi-dimensional personality and the plot eventually became clear. The ending was relatively satisfying. I would recommend this book to people of pretty much any age who like fantasy.

Blink by Ted Dekker

This week I read Blink by Ted Dekker. It is about a Saudi Arabian princess who is being forced to marry a guy who is planning to overthrow the government. When she flees the country, she meets a college student with the highest IQ in the world. They try to escape the people that are hunting her down. This was not as easy as the other books that I have read this year. It's 389 pages, so it probably could be a two week book, but I read it in one. It could go either way.

I really liked it. The writing style probably could have been better, but the plot was unique and very cool. My only problem was that it dragged a little bit in the middle. I would recommend Blink to anyone in our class, keeping in mind that it has some mature themes and is not always an easy read.

Next Book: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Flygirl by Sherri Smith

This week I read Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith. This book is historical fiction, 275 pages and a pretty easy read. It's about Ida Mae Jones, a black girl who lives in Louisiana during World War II. She wants to join a group of military pilots called Women Air force Service Pilots (WASP), so she uses her pale skin to pass for white.
I really liked it. The writing style was good, and the dialogue was written in a way that showed the characters ways of speaking. It gave me a good idea of what the time period was like, and I learned a lot about women's role in WWII. The characters were all well developed and had multidimensional personalities. My only complaint was the ending. It didn't really seem to make a point or go anywhere. This book is still worth reading, and I would recommend it to pretty much anybody.

Next Book: It could be pretty much anything on my list. Depends on availability.

A Mango Shaped Space by Wendy Mass

This week I read A Mango- Shaped Space by Wendy Mass. This book is about a girl who has synesthesia, a blending of the senses that makes her associate colors with numbers, words and sounds. It causes her trouble with schoolwork, and she has a hard time diagnosing it. This is realistic fiction, and it was a really fast and easy read. I would recommend it for pretty much anybody, but 6-8 grades would probably relate to it most.
Overall, I liked it. The plot was good and very clear, and the writing style was descriptive. The characters all had personality and a good level of development and balance. I did have a few problems with it, though. First of all, I think that the story would have been better off if the author hadn't disclosed (spoiler) that Mango dies. It was confusing to me that she gave that away just by looking at the cover. My biggest problem with this book was the portrayal of Mia, the protagonist's, condition. I also have synesthesia, and it surprised me that it was so much of a problem for her, to the point of having to see a neurologist. I've never thought of it as a disability. I realize that the author is not a synesthete, so I'll let it go. A Mango- Shaped Space was pretty good, and is worth reading.

TBR:

See You at Harry's
Shooting the Moon
The Naming
Unremembered
The Green Glass Sea
The Book Thief
The Mortal Instruments
Eragon etc.

Next Week:

The Book Thief or See You at Harry's

A Few of my Favorite Books

Hello. My name is Etti and I'm an 8th grader this year. My favorite kinds of books are dystopian fiction and I usually don't like fantasy-type stuff. I love things that are weird and a little disturbing, like the tapeworms that I've had since 3rd grade (don't worry, they're dead and in jars). Well, that's pretty much my entire personality in a nutshell.

Some of my favorite books:

1. Zombies: Encounters with the Hungry Dead edited by John Skipp
I'm not sure if this counts as a real book, but I read it over the summer and it was amazing. The book is 700 pages of zombie stories, some of them written by famous authors like Stephen King and Ray Bradbury and many of them aren't typical zombies.

2. The Hot Zone by Richard Preston
This is a non-fiction book about the discovery and research of Ebola virus. If you're bothered by blood, don't read it. There's quite a bit of gore in the first chapter, but it was really interesting and informative.

3. Divergent by Veronica Roth
Like The Hunger Games, but a little less predictable. Divergent is thought-provoking and original with really good character development. For me, it was a really fast read. I couldn't put it down.