Smart is so Uncool

Here I go again. Not blogging for weeks. A girl friend of mine just showed me her blog today and I remembered I need to stop by here. So let's start off with Goodreads is down right now or something for some reason. This is not okay. What am I supposed to do with myself if i can't check up on the latest books and reviews? Well lots of things but most of those I would rather not do. So instead I am here talking to myself. (and maybe someone somewhere out there [under the pale moonlight] reading this)
In my English class, American Lit II, we cover the time period 1880-1950 in literature. Right now we are reading The Awakening by Kate Chopin. It is a relatively short read and covers women's roles in society in the 1800's before the women's suffrage campaign. I am surprisingly enjoying this read and was really looking forward to discussing it in class. However, I forgot two important pieces of information. One, I'm not in an Honors class anymore. 2, not everyone likes to read as much as I do. Now let me set something straight, I like to read but not usually school books. I was in honors English class for the past couple years and rarely did I actually read the books assigned. But still we had great conversations about what we were reading. There were always some kids with a genuine interest in the text. But as my teacher began asking questions about the reading I realized that almost no one around me was really enjoying this book. Okay I'm not judging but seriously only one other person seemed to really be experiencing the book like me instead of just reading it and scanning for information that might be on the quiz the next day. Most of the student's came in the room and said something along the lines of, "I don't understand what they are trying to say," "It's all just gibberish" or "why can't they translate these books into modern day English." I just didn't understand the first two comments. This book was extremely easy to comprehend. It is very light writing and fresh for the time period. Try reading Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights  and then come back and tell me Kate Chopin is hard to follow. The last comment up there about translating old books I just found offensive. I don't want to be hypocritical, I used to wonder that same thing when I was younger but Once you open you mind to the classics your mind is forever changed. There is such a beauty and an elegance to older works like this one by Kate Chopin, or Jane Austen or the Bronte girls. How could you ever want take the beauty of their writing and dumb it down to a reader's digest form of writing so these lazy kids will read it? It would be a crime. I hate to say it, because I do read a lot of contemporary lit, but there is a class in the older pieces that you just can't find anymore.
So this really put a damper on my day. Not only did I not get my discussion on the book like I wanted but I looked like one of the loser over achievers in class cause I gave to many answers on the book and raise my hand too many times to give my opinion. I hate it how it is so uncool to be publicly smart. This is something I know a lot about and it really troubles me. It is uncool to raise your hand more than 3 times in a class period because then people mark you of as an overachiever and will mock you for it. It is uncool to read books in school during free time  instead of playing on your phone or talking. As a person who does this a lot I know what this is like. I am constantly written off as a bookworm. I read a lot and I read fast. I don't make a big deal out of it, in fact I try not to bring it up at all. But when I am with some people  and I relate something to a book or something I always get a "of course you read this in a book" or a "How fast did you read that one?" It can really get old. I'm not ashamed of my reading, I just hate how my reading for fun in Highschool is such a BFD. If I said I saw it on tv nobody would give me any crap about it but the fact that I am literally looking at letters on a page... So lame.
And don't even think about bringing your kindle to school. This is one of the worst rookie mistakes. The act of bring a kindle to school shows 2 things: 1) that you read enough to use a kindle [aka you are a nerd] 2) you look like you are wanting attention. People think you are trying to show off and give you crap when really you just wanna sit down and read you effing Ebook. Excuse you that it was cheaper and fast to get in on amazon than drive over to Barnes&Noble. Oh and that part about wanting to read your ebook.. yeah you can forget about it. If you are seen reading from your kindle people who have no manners or respect for someone trying to escape into a book will rudely interrupt you and  say "Waoh! is that a kindle?" no dumbshit it's a piece of boiling lava I'm reading off of. Then they will ask,"So how do those things even work?"  Well you see I wear rubber gloves since it is hot lava. and I bang it against my head when I want to turn the page. "do you like it" Not I hate it and that's why I continue to read off it. Or you get the second option of response to seeing your kindle, "OMG you are sooo cool with your little kindle." Okay thanks for that sarcasm. Can I please get back to my book now?
To sum up this rant of a post: I am pissed off and saddened by the treatment of young readers and Students who show interest in an unpopular topic. I don't know how but I feel that the view of reading and literature for young people in our country needs a change. I joke with my friend about how she thinks reading is too hard or boring and I try not to judge her but if it was anyone else I would be thinking  That is is really lame and pathetic that you feel that way. Only a person who is trying to not enjoy a good book can possibly find it boring. And as for hard, well sure maybe if you didn't pass 1st grade phonics but come on people. Just because you have to physically hold the book and use your imagination instead of sit in front of the TV and have it tell the story to you free of effort, doesn't mean it's hard. It just means you are too lazy to try.

Got me Running around in Circles

School has begun. Summer has left us and took my reading time with it. Therefore the reason why it has taken me a while to finish The Maze Runner By James Dashner.

The Concept of this book is a bunch of teenage boys are all trapped in a maze. They don't remember anything about themselves or how they got there, they just know they have to get out. Every month a new kid arrives in the "the box", supplies come in it every so often as well. After two years of searching high and low for the door out they boys have gotten no where.  But when Thomas arrives in the maze he has a feeling he is different. and his theory is proven when the very next day a girl, the first one ever, and Thomas feels like he knows her. Like, if he had his memory she would be important. As if having a girl in their male populated prison isn't a bad enough sign, she also brings news: She's the last one.

So Thomas, Newt, Minho, little Chuck and this mysterious new girl are left to find an escape. Filled with Boys gone crazy, wild stinging hunks of metal on wheels Grievers, and Great new slang (klunck, shuck-face, slint-head, shank) this book of finding the truth is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

I enjoyed this read a lot. As a (super) fan of the Hunger Games i found myself quickly adapting to the ways of life of the Gladers. I thought the book had a great story line. Although when reading it you have to keep in mind that this is the 1st book in a trilogy, and so much of this book was simply setting up for the others. or at least thats how it seemed to me. the first 2/3 of this book was almost all background information, which i do greatly appreciate because it adds a lot of character growth to the book, but i also wanted to get on with it.

 Most of the  important information to help you understand what is really going on is not revealed till the end, which kept you guessing but also made it frustrating to try to follow the story. This approach makes sense because the book is told in the POV of Thomas the new kid and we learn about the maze as he does but it can still be irking at times.

 I for one would have enjoyed reading this story from Newt (one of the Glades leaders) point of view or Minho (the keeper of the runners) or even little Chuck. once again i understand why Dashner wrote in Thomas Point of view he is the hero after all but it makes parts of the book awkward to read. If it was told by Newt or Chuck or Minho i think we would have gotten alot more information from the start and had an easier read. 

So that is my critical review. I really enjoyed this book but it was just one of those that i had different ideas for than the author. but then again i dont know what lays in store next for these guys im sure there is a method to Dashner's riveting madness!