Reading

2-4-14

I'm reading a book called All The King's Men written by Robert Penn Warren. I'm but 9 pages into it and I'm already enjoying it. I have noticed, however, that there are some controversial terms used in it, but it was written in the 40s and takes place in the 30s, so I expected as much.

1-31-14

Finished books 4 and 5 of the John Carter series

I've finished book three of the John Carter series, and this one ends rather nicely. John Carter is reunited with his wife after 12 years of separation, and seemingly all is going well. However, there are 8 more stories in this series, so I don't think it's going to stay happy and peaceful.

On the subject of our school-wide "Twitter/MBC Chat": It was... Somewhat successful, but it proved once again that My Big Campus can't handle all that information going in at once, and it lagged for about an hour. Twitter was made to collect lots of information, so it worked just fine.

1-15-14

I have finished book 2 of 11 in the John Carter series, and I must say that I was extremely dissatisfied with the ending,  but it's likely that the author's intention was that we wouldn't like the end and we would have to read the next book. The reason I am upset is John Carter's wife has been imprisoned in a tower with 3 other women, 1 of whom wants to kill her. At the very end of the book the author creates a scene where the evil girl who is with John Carter's wife raises a dagger into the air above her about to strike- And then it pretty much ends.

1-14-14

Last night I didn't read out of my book John Carter of Mars. I read a Wikipedia article on the rap group N.W.A. (link) It was very interesting. If you've not heard of them, I would recommend checking them out. The group was made up of Ice Cube, Dr. Dre., Eazy-E, MC Ren, DJ Yella, and (for a time) Arabian Prince. They are considered the most influential rap group of all time. A movie about them is set to come out this year, which I am DEFINITELY going to see. I should add though, that the music is profane. I've enjoyed their music for years, but it was not intended for kids.

1-13-14

I am reading a book called John Carter of Mars, (written by Edgar Rice Burroughs) a fantasy book about an American gentleman who is whisked away to Mars, seemingly by sheer will-power. While there he befriends several Martian species. Among them are the Red Martians, who are identical to humans in all ways but that they have red skin and they don't give birth, but lay eggs (which confuses me, because John Carter mates with one of the Martian women, and I wondered how species with different reproductive systems could mate). He also meets the Green Martians, who are pretty much as alien a species as anyone could imagine. They average about 15 feet in height, have 4 arms, tusks that protrude from the sides of their face, and green or brown skin. They are a barbaric species, pretty much incapable of emotion, but John Carter becomes close friends with some of them and shows them that they can love. Their leader, Tars Tarkas, is the fiercest green warrior to ever live, but is also the most compassionate and... "Human" in that he is one of a few that has human emotions.
John Carter dies on Mars and comes back to Earth, and that's how the first book ends.