Blog Reflection

Over the course of the trimester, I believe my writing improved because it has become more professional. I also believe that my grammar has improved along with my sentence structure. For example, in my earlier blog, I asked a question that didn’t really make sense. The flow and wording of the blog sounds childish now that I read it. The question I was trying to throw out didn’t come across clearly and so the readers (of my blog post) probably didn’t understand what I was asking. In my newer, more recent blog post, I believe that I made my point more clear and explained my book better. Also, I used quotes from the book I’m reading to support my answer and support my reasoning in my newer blog post. The quotes can help the readers understand and get the general gist of the book I was reading. When I put quotes in my blog post, the reader can understand my thoughts on the book. Although my later blog post is shorter than my first, I believe that my blogging has improved.

One thing I struggled with through this experience was trying to find something to blog about. I worked through this struggle by thinking about what the viewers of my blog would actually want to read. I also thought about what would capture my attention if I was a blog viewer. This helped me post interesting things on my blog like: recommendations, books I want to read, books to avoid, books to read, updates on my book, and thoughts on my book. A strength I had on blogging was giving my blog viewers a lot of good books to read. I gave out books to read almost every week. When I posted the books to read, I gave a short summary to help the viewers of my blog decide whether they want to read it or not. I have not reached my reading goal yet but I believe that I will when the 2013 year ends. I used goodreads.com for updating my reading, finding books to read in the future, seeing what other people think about a book so I can decide whether I want to read it or not, looking at quotes, and finding popular books. I improved as a reader over the course of the trimester by being more interactive with my book. This means analyzing what the book means and actually being able to understand what happens in the book (even the small details). I also feel like I have been reading more often this trimester. Overall, my writing and reading has improved over the course of the first trimester.

Some "Not so Good" Books

     As we all know there are those "best I ever read" books and there are those "not so good" books. 

Below are 2 of the "not so good" books I've read. I'm pretty sure most, if not all, of you have read these books.

     1.) Whirligig by Paul Fleischman

     

     The main problem with this book is the plot. The only exciting thing in this book is that the main character accidentally kills someone and has to go on a trip to the 4 corners of the U.S.. Nothing exciting happens after he accidentally kills the girl. Sure, there's good description/imagery and it's told by different point of views, but the at the end of the story, all you're thinking is "So what?". The character travels around to the corners of the U.S. and places a whirligig at each corner in memory of the girl he killed. The End. I truly believe that this book is not worth reading. 

     2.) The Giver by Lois Lowry

     The worst feeling is when a book leaves you hanging at the very end and you have to wait for the next book. In The Giver, it ends with a cliff hanger. Even worse, there isn't a sequel! This will definitely leave you frustrated. Another problem is all the questions you have when you read this book. The main character, Jonas, can see color but everyone else in his society can't. Why is he the only one who can see color? Genetic mutation? What? As you read this book, you'll have so many questions that will go unanswered. Lois Lowry has some good books, but this is not one of them. 

     

What are some "not so good" books that you've read?