BeecherJames' Blog

Dear Mr. Chase,                                                                                                                                       6/10/10

This week has been exciting in terms of reading. I have lots and lots of new questions flowing through my head at this very moment waiting to write about in the blog you are reading right now. As you may already know, I have continued to read the Pendragon series, and I am currently starting to get addicted to it since it’s so good. It’s suspense is just meant to pull you into the story, and it’s never meant to take you out until maybe the very end of the series. Aren’t books supposed to do that? I always thought that reading was just something plain and simple, but now I know as a fact that there’s a ton more to it. There’s strategies to writing the book, ways to see the writing, and for a bad book(opinion), there’s problems, just leaving you hanging on something at the end of a whole book(not series), or ways to solve all the problems that a book might have. This week has been extremely fun and exciting with the trip to Lake Compounce receiving a new adventures on new roller coasters that you’ve never ridden before. One thing I’d like to do in this edition of reading blogs is that I want to list the steps to creating a book. If I leave a part out, just fill it right in on the comment you send to me. 

So, the first thing that I’d like to list on my actual reading portion of my reading response blog is the steps to making a book, because I find it sort of fascinating how much effort and time that this process needs in order to actually complete the book, let alone a good book. I have already sort of felt how hard this is, and how annoying, or frustrated the author of a book can sometimes get, but that’s just publishing a ten-page book. The authors out there have to deal with a hundred-paged book. Trust me, it makes a difference. First, you have to take some notes on the topic whether it’s non-fiction, or fiction. Then, you’ll have to write the draft of the long book. Next, you have to mail it to your reviser which may take a week or so depending on how far away your editing and revising person lives. Also, you have to wait a while for them to read through the piece of writing thoroughly and edit and revise any part that need editing and revising. Once they’re done, they’ll need to send it back to you which will also take a while, and then, you’ll have to look over all the little notes stuck on the sheets of paper with writing on them, and fix all the errors you created while writing your draft for your book. After that, you will have to send the revised, and edited draft of the book back to the editing, and revising person to see if there is still some thing that the author has to correct, or fix. At that part, there is two routes in which you can go: if no errors are found in the text, then, you’ll receive the draft back, and will have to type the final copy of the book that you are making. However, if more errors are found(which is likely), then, you’ll have to fix all errors, and send the pieces of paper back to the editing and revising person again to find things that need to be corrected, or should be added. By now, the author probably doesn’t have any mistakes left in his writing, and will go ahead and type up the hundred-paged book that the author wants to publish. After that, you have to send it to a publishing company to make copies and send them all over the world to be sold. This whole process most likely will take 6 months, if not, more. I can now see the difficulty a writer may go through while publishing books. I never could have realized this if I didn’t think about strategies of a writer while reading my books in which I should thank you for getting me involved in. I have also come to notice that I rarely talk about what’s happening in the book that I am currently reading more than about 4 lines, if not, less. I remember at the beginning of the year, I used to give paragraph summaries, and well, at the beginning of the year, I didn’t type this much, so I guess a lot has changed between my beginning of the year blogs, and my middle/end of the year blogs. That’s it for this blog. Bye!

Your Reading Companion,

James

Dear Mr. Chase,                                                                                                                                  6/2/10

Wow! That is all I can say about the Pendragon series. D.J. MacHale is just such an unexpected writer. You never know what to expect from his books. Also, a lot has been going on in my little world of reading this current week. One exciting thing that has happened this week is that my brother had taught me a reading lesson that probably explains why us kids like the Lightning Thief, Stormbreaker, Harry Potter(sort of), and lots of other series that kids all around the world enjoy reading. I will do my best to explain the lesson, and hope that you will understand his point. I think that it is true. Let’s just go onto another journey while we still have the time. 

This current week, as you may know, I have learned a valuable lesson in reading that I will keep in my head forever. That very lesson in reading is that most of the books such as the Lightning Thief are these books are mostly for us kids. The books all take a large imagination to write, but they are mostly only enjoyed by the kids. My brother said that the books are simple. I think that he means that they are all just books that are written, not that the author uses some kind of crazy new technique in his writing that no other author has ever done before. I think that that is what he means by the books are simple. And I think that that explains the reason why you didn’t like the Lightning Thief when you read it. The books are really fun to read, but they’re not actually good books in the sense that they are really well-written as the best book/series known to man. I can understand that now. The books are only fit for us youngsters to read since we are all still young, and are still learning things that other people such as adults have already learned. Do you understand this?  The more I think about this “fact,” the more I think that it is true. While I am writing/typing this week’s edition of reading response blogs, I am rethinking the whole concept over, and I am starting to think that my brother’s right. I do feel like the books are all pretty simple in the way that it doesn’t have great author’s crafts, but it is definately not simple in the way of imagination as we know that every writer, or author needs to write a book that every single reader will enjoy as we have learned, or confirmed from the 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear. Next, let’s talk about the series of books that I am currently reading which are Pendragon. I have been stunned by the fifth book’s creativity. You know what the world is like on the territory that they are on which is called Eelong? The “humans” are cats, and humans are treated like animals just like a cat is treated like here on Second Earth as the pendragon books say that they are. I also wanted to talk about something else on my blog. The thing that I wanted to talk about on my blog is that I never realized writing a book could be so much work. What I mean by that is this: First, they have to write up a script, or draft of what the book is going to be like which will most definately in my opinion, hurt your hands a lot, then, they have to send it to the reader who reads your script, and revises it which would possibly take about a week. Then, you’ll have to get the script back to you, and correct all the errors you made, and retype the whole thing, and then, it’ll go to your reviser again, and again over and over until there are no mistakes, and is ready to be published. But before you have to write everything, you might have to actually do some research on the topic that you are writing about. After the whole process which might end up taking multiple years, the book might not even end up getting sold to places in which you will have to write another book again which will take lots of time. I’m just saying that I have never realized how tiring being an author can be. That is all I have to say about my reading adventures this week. Bye!

Your reading Companion,

James

P.S. Remember to read all of my other blogs too!

Dear Mr. Chase,                                                                                                                                  5/27/10

Another fabulous week of exciting reading has just past, and now it is time to share what I have found once again. I am sorry for writing/typing this blog so late. I usually have this on a routine, but I think that all the band things just got me distracted, but at least I am writing my blog, and let’s just get to this point of this whole blog homework assignment thing. Let’s go!

Well, this week I have been reading Black Water, the fifth book in the Pendragon series, and I have to say it is fantastic, but I am finding something rather odd, and bad happening. It is that I am running out of words to say on my blogs. I have done so many blogs on the Pendragon series, and well, I don’t have the usual mouthful of words to say about the book anymore. Now, it’s gone to just about a small line of words. I hope that it’s only, because I’m writing about the same series every single time, and not about how school’s almost over. I guess we should just talk about my book now. Well, I am finding that Saint Dane is making the problems on the places that he goes to a thousand times bigger, and much harder to solve. Also, he has to lure things from other territories to do it which is a bad idea since that’s what Bobby’s Uncle Press had said, and from what Bobby, and I know, Uncle Press is right. But the fact that Saint Dane is going to different territories that have already past the turning point on the place to make the turning point on that territory happen on another territory is pretty weird since Saint Dane most of the time, plays by the rules. i know. It’s hard to believe that a super villian that’s trying to destroy basically the whole world is playing by the rules. But he is. Also, Saint Dane is sort of  doing more of the dirty work that he usually makes others do, and he is doing it himself. For example, he is confronting more people, and actually going to the mass murder attempt that he has to see is he could fix it if anything went wrong. But also this is a sign. It’s a sign that he’s growing desperate since he’s lost so much. The Travelers have had so many big victories over him that made him grow more and more desperate. Before, you couldn’t really tell if he was really desperate for another win, but in this book, I can definately see it. I can see that Saint Dane is working a lot harder than he usually does, and is trying to make the territory crumble into its own pit of doom. But one thing that I so far fail to see is that Saint Dane basically never does the work he makes other people do himself yet he’s doing it all alone, and he’s still able to make the whole area or territory do whatever he wants. I find it fascinating though that the author is still able to build up the intensity and suspense up a notch, because it’s already at the second highest level you can be at. Has this ever happened to you in your adventures of reading? Have you ever seen the difference between the intensity of the other books in the series, because I am definately noticing a huge change in all the writing strategies that D.J. MacHale uses. Also, half of the time, Bobby talks about something so terrifying that it sort of hurts your eyes to see it, or you just can’t believe it, but the thing is most of the time, I can find it truthful, but it’s not because the writing is bad, but it’s because we are all used to the world we live in. We’re all used to rivers, oceans, and all that stuff. So, that’s basically the changes I notice in the higher books in the series compared to the earlier books in the series. Also, I now have almost no idea what to expect is going to happen next in any moment of the book. That’s how good he is. And just so you know, the “people” on Eelong, the territory that he is currently on, are all cats. Hard to believe, I know, but it’s the truth. That’s all for this week’s edition of reading response blogs from the one and only James He. Have a nice week!

Your Reading Companion,

James 

Dear Mr. Chase,                                                                                                         5/19/10

This fantastic reading week has had me reading my favorite series once again. As you may know, I have been reading the fourth book of this series this week, and I am finding that I so far, like this book the best. I love how the author makes the people of Veelox, the setting the book is in, all live in an imaginary place, because it really helps with your picturing. I am finding that I usually like the books better in a series as I read farther and farther on into the series. I guess that it’s time to start embarking on a journey once again, nothing new, except for the fact that you’re in for an adventure for your life. Let’s go!

Well, as I said before, the people in the territory of Veelox is deserted, abandoned, and any other synonyms to abandoned, and deserted. The only reason that i like this book the best is that I am really starting to doubt myself in predictions of what’s going to happen next which is about half of the fun of reading a book apart from just reading and enjoying it. I can’t say that I get predictions right, but a lot of them are pretty obvious, and easy to make such. I’ll give you an example of one from the book Streams to the River, River to the Sea. In the book, the scene where they are playing the hand game, I instantly knew that Red Hawk was going to lose, because that is just something very common that you read in books. You just know sometimes that something like Red Hawk losing the Hand Game while he never loses is just going to happen, because it helps to build up the excitement in the book, and in the reader. Don’t you think so though? Don’t you think that by making it so that one thing happens that doesn’t usually happen just make the book a whole lot more interesting? I personally think so, and I’m sure that a lot of other people think so too. Back to the book I am currently reading, I don’t think that I have ever said anything really negative about this series of books, but I think that I just found one. In a few places of the book, the author sometimes makes the book sort of boring when it isn’t supposed to be. But at the same time, he makes some of the non-interesting parts of the book seem interesting. So, basically, the two would cancel each other out, and make the books that this apply to a good book(s). I think I like this series so much mostly because you don’t exactly know what to expect on a territory. Would you? Would you expect what you would see in a place on Mars with living organisms? Would you? I personally would not, and I bet that 95% of the other people in the world would be fascinated. That’s what it feels like reading this series. I find that I am eager to read the other books in the series as I finish one, and I am also very eager to read the next paragraph in a book, because it is so intriguing. I see the genius behind lots of books, but I am finding that even a guy like me just not being able to believe my eyes while I believe a lot of things if I see it. It’s just that I would never expect to see my “uncle” come to my house, and take me to a faraway place called a flume that’ll take you to another time and place. I would be pretty freaked out if I just saw my uncle standing in front of my house, let alone seeing him ringing the doorbell telling me to got to a flume to save the world basically mainly because he lives in China, and as far as I know, he doesn’t know the address to my house, he doesn’t even know English farther than the, and yes. Wouldn’t you be a little freaked out if you saw a foreign relative out on your front yard ringing your doorbell, or knocking on the door unexpectedely telling you to go save the world. It’s as simple as that. That is probably hard to comprehend at that moment. Well, that is all for this week, and I hope that you have a good week. Goodbye!

Your Reading Companion,

James

Dear Mr. Chase,                                                                                                                                5/12/10

This insanely exciting week has been one of my best reading weeks. I have finished the third book in the pendragon series which is starting to become the best series known to man in my opinion of course. I know this is basically what I say just about every blog, but it’s only, because I actually mean it. If I were to have a list of my favorite all-time books, or series, this series would most likely be at the top. I believe that this series deserves to be a best-seller, and I think that I know the reason(s) why it is a best-selling series in the book world. The reason(s) that it is a best-selling book will be revealed to you in just second in the next paragraph. Here we go again!

First, I would just like to point out that I am mostly reading my favorite genre of books which is fantasy this year mainly, because I sometimes find non-fiction books sort of boring, and realistic fiction books not really anything new. What I mean by the part that the realistic fiction books are not really anything new is, because realistic fiction is obviously realistic which means that it could happen in real life, and it probably has happened in real life. That’s why I like to read fantasies. In fantasies, you never know what to expect. I would have never expected your “uncle” to just come by your house at the worst possible moment to tell you that you have to go to some other far away place to save the people that are doomed there without your help along with like twenty million rules that you can’t break, or else you’re just going to make it worse, and are very unreasonable. Unless, readers are psychic, then, I don’t think that they would have predicted that to happen. Would you? Don’t you think that sometimes fantasies are just the more exciting book to read. I understand if you don’t think so, but I know I definitely would say that sometimes fantasies are just more enjoyable that other kinds of books. Now let’s talk about the reason(s) why the Pendragon series is a best-selling series. Well, the plot is just like I said before not something that you would expect mainly, because we are used to our lives here on Earth where realistic fiction becomes like you know everything that’s going to happen later on in the book. Back to the point, I honestly just wouldn’t expect someone in my life to just appear at my front door ringing the doorbell to ask me to go with them to go save the dimensions from the terrible doom that they were going to reach right before you go to a very important basketball game. Would you expect that to happen? I definitely wouldn’t unless I have the biggest imagination in the whole entire world, and just expect every single possibility. Also, I find myself always wanting to read on in this book not only at every chapter, but also all the paragraphs. ANother thing that D.J. MacHale did was that he kind of twisted the rules, and events that happen in the book of the series that I am currently reading. Normally, Bobby Pendragon would arrive at the territory that Saint Dane, the evil guy, goes to, and try to stop him. He always goes at the same time Saint Dane goes. But in this book, Saint Dane is already done with the territory by the time Bobby gets there, and Saint Dane has already travelled to another territory to turn into a horrible turing point. To be honest, in this series, I actually thought that the Travelers, the people that save the territories, always win, and do win against Saint Dane until the tenth book which is probably when a huge battle happens between all the Travelers, and Saint Dane. But once again, D.J. MacHale went into a reader’s mind , and saw the predictions that they made, and changed it, so that readers will read further on into the series now completely unsure of what’s going to happen. But that’s what a true writer does, and because D.J. MacHale is a true writer, that’s what she did, and the result came out to be exactly what she wanted which is to read on and on further and further on into the series. I find that I am completely lost sometimes about expecting what might actually happen later in the series in the other books. However, despite all the good things about the book, I actually find it a bit cheap with the powers that Saint Dane has, and other Travelers don’t have, but I guess Saint Dane is alone on his little quest of destruction, but he is also a Traveler, and Travelers save territories, not lure them into their own turing point in life, and bring them to their downfalls to conquer the places. There is also one thing that I wonder about the book. Well, there can only be one Traveler form each territory, and obviously Saint Dane is a Traveler, so what happened to the other traveler in the territory that Saint Dane is in. So, if there is a younger Traveler in the territory that Saint Dane was first in, doesn’t that mean that he, or the other person would die. After all, that’s what had happened to Bobby’s uncle. The whole thing about how the younger Traveler just becomes the Traveler as soon as they realize the stuff about Travelers is sort of like the lady in waiting back then with king Henry the eighth. By the way, i just said that example, because I know that your strong point is social studies. Bye!

Your Reading Companion,

James

P.S. Remember to read my last blog, and do what I wanted you to do. Bye!

Dear Mr. Chase,                                                                                                                                   5/5/10

This week, I have finished the second book in the Pendragon series, The Lost City of Faar. One thing that I have noticed in my previous blog responses is that I have been barely summarizing the books that I have been reading which may not help to get you interested in a book that I want you to read. So, in this week’s reading response, I will give you a brief summary of the book, The Lost City of Faar, and tell you the answer to my problem. I have to admit that you did a pretty good job on my game which was hard, and I probably wouldn’t have figured it out if i were only given those clues, and one false one. Well, we can sit here, and talk all day, or we could start reading in another’s mind.

Well, the answer to the game thing was that the author used more than one chapter on one journal entry was, because when we read it, we are basically Mark and Courtney, Bobby’s friends, so when one chapter ends, that is when Mark and Courtney take a break from reading, or just stop for a few seconds to absorb the meaning of the passage that they had just read. This may not be the real reason the author did what he did, and he might not have been trying to do that on purpose, but trying to make the chapter end with a cliff hanger, but if the author were actually trying to make the journal more than one chapter, then that would probably be the reason why he would do that. You made a pretty good guess about it, and I thought that if the clues that gave away the fact that Mark, and Courtney was basically us when we were reading the journal entries, then yours would be the real reason. Now, I am going to give you a very brief summary about the book that I am reading.

The Lost City of Faar is mainly about how Bobby Pendragon, and his Uncle Press(both Travelers) travel to another territory known as Cloral. The thing that I find the most interesting about Cloral is that everything is surrounded by water. What I thought was the coolest thing is that they actually have inventions that allow you to breathe underwater for as long as you want, and talk with clear words underwater. They also have something like water cars. This is all in the beginning of the book, and it has already captured my attention. Now, when you think about books, usually the beginning is a good one, but then, the middle is just absolutely amazing, and can’t be topped. Well, I couldn’t think of anything that could possibly beat this in capturing attention. One thing I also wonder is that in each book, Saint Dane(the enemy) is someone else than what he is supposed to be, but the wondering I have is how do the people in the book know Saint Dane’s new form so well while he has just arrived there? Doesn’t this book just seem to have so much that hasn’t been covered that readers are wondering about? I actually think that it is a clever device used by the author. I think that he/she is using the questions that you are wondering to lure you deeper into the story, so that you will read on and on in the series. What I don’t think that he/she thought about was that what happens if it actually pulls you away from the fact of reading on and on in the series which could possibly happen in this situation with me. Don’t get me wrong, I find the book quite fascinating. The only thing is that the author will sometimes leave some holes that the reader may discover which could possibly mean the end of reading the series any longer. Although the author leaves so many holes that definately need to be filled, I think that the author: D.J. MacHale should be a very successful one from this series. I also kind of want a brain teaser to answer for my next reading response, so I am asking you to give a puzzle like the one I gave you in last week’s response. If you do that, I will be very happy, and will be looking forward to my next reading response. That is all for this week’s edition of reading responses from the one, and only James He. Have a nice week!

Your Reading Companion,

James

P.S. Do you have any plans for summer vacation, and when is your birthday again?

Dear Mr. Chase,                                                                                                                                  4/29/10

This long week full of dreadful things that I have to overcome, and have yet to overcome has been a great reading week for me too though. Well, I have finished our book club book, “Streams to the River, River to the Sea,” and I thought it was a really good book compared to From the “Mixed-Up Files of Basil E. Frankweiler.” I have also continued to read on and on, deeper and deeper into the one and only Pendragon series, and I am currently on the second book, a great, and compelling one. Well, I guess it is now time for our trip around the world to a certain book, and to discover it, so then, let us begin!

First, I would like to talk about our book club book “Streams to the River, River to the Sea.” This book was the first book club that we have read all year in my opinion. I felt like the author had used a piece of history that many people in the world that are not social studies people would find boring, but i thought that Scott O’Dell made it a book worth reading, but at the same time an education worth getting. Cool, eh? Some things that I thought was strange about this book was that the author did not exactly leave all the chapters as a cliff hanger which I find very odd, and peculiar. And I love to read things that are odd and peculiar, so I gave the book a try, and I thought that this was a good book. Now back to the fact about the no cliff hangers thing. Some chapters were just left with the reader actually already down the cliff other than on the tip of a cliff. Normally, in books like Pendragon, all chapters would end up as cliff hangers. I find myself almost always reading on and on into the story, but for this book, it was mostly, because of it’s peculiarness, and oddness. I thought that this was a clever device used by the author to lure you deeper into the story, and it was successful at doing just that. Next, I would like to talk about Pendragon, The Lost City of Faar which is the second book.

Last time i told you about a book in the Pendragon series, I had mentioned a problem that I could most certainly not solve back then, but can solve now. The very question that I was asking about was that I did not understand why the author sometimes used two chapters to talk about one journal entry. Well, I now have the reason why. but I have decided to make this response blog more exciting, and seeing if you can guess it on your reply back to me. Here’s how the game works: I will give the problem, then I shall read to you all the clues needed to solve  the problem except for one clue that might throw you off track. In addition to making the game much more exciting, I will also have one false clue. Once all the clues are given, you will try to find the answer to the problem. Now, allow me to reveal the problem again. The question was “Why does the author sometimes use two or more chapters too describe one journal entry?” Here are the clues: Clue #1 In the book, the journal entries are pieces of writing that tells about Pendragon’s adventure in the new territory he is in. Clue#2 All the journal entry are sent through a magical ring that only the Travelers, the people that can travel from one territroy to the next, can use. Clue #3 Every single journal entry are the colors of the paper on the territory. Clue#4 Whenever Mark or Courtney, Pendragon’s friend, start reading the journal, you do too, and you usually have the same thoughts as them. Clue #5 The number of pages of each journal entry have to do with a pattern of pages. For example: One entry could be 17 pages, because he is left alone, one could be 12 pages, because he is left in a bad situation, one could be 20 pages, because he is left mad from the previous events, one page could be 19 pages, because he met a new character. That is a pattern of numbers. Clue#6 He is usually left in a bad situation, or met by a new person. Those are all the clues except one that you need to figure out the answer to why the author sometimes use two or more chapters on one journal entry. Next week, I hope that I can get a guess from, and I will tell you if it is right or not. That is all for this week.

Your Reading Companion,

James

Dear Mr. Chase,                                                                                                                                  4/21/10

This week has been an exciting week in reading. I have read one of the best books that I will ever encounter in my childhood, but you never know whether it is, or it’s not. This book is also the book I am using for my choose-an-ending book project. So, this week’s reading response from me may not be the easiest to write since I cannot give away any part of the ending, or else I will not have a good chance of stumping many people in the class. So, since you can also log into my account, if you see even one aspect of the ending of the book, please delete it. This week I have finished the book known as Peter and the Sword of Mercy which you may know is a part of the Peter and the Starcatchers series. Let’s just jump into the world of Peter once again.

Now, you may be familiar with this book/series already. Well, this book, I noticed something that I have noticed since the first book, but this book that has the noticing in it also has confirmed that my noticing is something the author planned to do. However, I feel that noticing is like none other, because it sort of  has two parts to it, but it was only in three of the books not all of the books. That very noticing is that at, first Peter starts out in Mollusk Island, and a problem soon eventually builds up there  that doesn’t always concern the starcatchers. After the problem is built up, there becomes a starcatcher problem along with Molly, George, Leonard Aster, and the Lost Boys. Then, after the problem is built up, Peter and the Lost Boys leave the island to help solve the problem with Molly, George, and Leonard Aster. But the thing that I find the most peculiar about this is that two problems start at the Mollusk Island, but one eventually goes somewhere else involving the starcatchers. It’s like the problem just flies away from the other problem creating what seems to be two separate problems in two different places that everyone is familiar with, and the natives on one of the places just seem to not be able to help the other place’s problem. It’s almost as if one problem is trying to lure the two problems apart from each other so that it will be easier for the bad guys, the Others, to win the battle. I think that the author wasn’t planning this, but just had it happen.Do you know what I mean though? Doesn’t it sort of seem like that the two problem creators are sort of in cohoots with one another, and planning on separating everybody, so that it makes everything easier to solve? I think that this is just a coincidence from when the author wants to keep the reader more entertained with two places having someone attack them at the same time. I definately feel that this is a great strategy to use in stories like Peter and the Starcatchers, and in any other pieces of fiction. I feel that it allows more excitement to build up in our brains, and want us to read on. I think that this is one of the most successful strategies ever too though. I have read countless books that use this strategy to keep readers entertained, and I think that I am being kept entertained by this strategy. Now, I feel that I have really developed my reading mind. The thing is that I now feel that reading, and writing a book is going to have to require lots more thinking than I thought it would have. What I mean by this is that I am finding that there are more clever strategies that authors use in their books to make them so compelling, and great books. I never would have thought that there was a strategy like the one I just told you in my blog. All I knew before I started my fifth grade year was the reading strategies, and the devices that the authors use in their writing like similes and metaphors. I feel that this year was the key that I actually learned how to write the best stories ever. However, one thing I still can’t do that writers can do with ease is writing long books. I can barely write a 3-paged writing prompt. I feel that it seems like writers just have something that allows them to write so long stories. I think that mostly it is because their stories are much more detailed than ours right now. But still I can’t see someone take out all the details in a book like Harry Potter, and have three pages. That is one thing that I can not visualize. So, right now, I am asking you if you know the answer to how the authors of books write so long compared to our books. Haven’t you ever wondered about this? I could take the plot of Harry Potter, and make it into a 3- page long book that is almost a replica of harry Potter’s plot. I hope that you are successful finding an answer to how the authors write so long, and get the answer back to me as soon as possible. Bye!

Your Reading Companion,

James

Dear Mr. Chase,                                                                                                                         4/14/10

I can see that you still haven’t replied to my last response, but I think that I will just go ahead with this week’s special edition of James’s Reading Response Blogs. Well, over vacation I am staying home all day, so that leaves lots and lots of time to read for my book project, and my reading responses. So, this week, I have had some pretty exciting things happen in my books that I am reading. Well, the first, and only book that I have finished over vacation is known as the fourth book in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series: Outcast by michelle Paver. Well, this book is truly amazing, but I think that Zevdawg is even more amazing since he recommended the book to all of us, and he got our interest first. I have also come to notice something. that very noticing is that every single week, now, I am always describing a good book that I like in my reading responses when before, I sometimes did not talk about all the books that I liked, and some books that I most certainly did not like. I think that the reason for this is that every single week, I am reading a book out of a series that I am recently involved in, and it is one of the series that I like. I think that this is a good thing for me to have since sometimes when I am out of books to read that I know I want to read, I will spent days, and hours to find a good book that I like, and will keep me reading for a very long time. Once again, let’s start embarking in to the world of Torak, Renn, and Outcasts.

Well, this week in my book, I realized that some people in their world can be much much much much much stronger that other people. For example, the soul eaters. They can appear out of nowhere, cause pain in less than a millisecond, and cause death in the same amount of time it takes them to cause pain. Did I mention that they can make you paralyzed. Yep, they can, and I am talking about the no moving thing, and having no control over your own body thing for a long pretty long time. Obviously, these soul eaters are so weak, right? All right, you caught me, they are not. My point is that how is anyone supposed to be able to defeat them. One soul eater in this week is able to take down several clans of people, and that’s a lot of people compared to how many people we have in our families that we are living with. However, in this book, the soul eater did die, but that is only one of the soul eaters out of a group of 3. If one soul eater could do that much to a large group of people, think about how much 3 soul eaters could do to that group of people. These soul eaters can just eat your soul up in less than you can say the really fast, and some people in the clans do not even know how to hunt, or can not hunt very well. Do you see my point? Doesn’t it seem like  nothing even has a chance of defeating the villians in some books? That is how much power I think that the author gives the bad guys in the story. However, not only is this a negative, but it is also a positive. It is also a positive, because it can also cause lots and lots of excitement in the book while you are reading it since the power of the villians are so strong, it will be a challenge for the good guys to defeat the villians which could make it a very interesting book. I know this from experience though, not just thought. I have read the Peter and the Starcatchers series, and the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness that fits these descriptions of the power the villians have in the book, and I like both books a heck of a lot. I think that in some books like outcast, and Peter and the Starcatchers, the fact that the villian is almost invincible is not such a bad thing since it builds up more excitement, and joy when you read the book. After all, the whole plot of the books that are like that are to try to defeat the villian. Some books that have these go on for more than one book! For example, I am reading the series Pendragon right now, and it is already in to the second book that has the plot of the main characters trying to defeat the real big villian. Of course, in Pendragon books, little things are won in each and every book, but the characters mostly go after the really big villian that will someday cause world destruction, or get world domination which we do not really want since we want to be free, and equal people, if somebody doesn’t stop the big villian dude with power equal to as much money there is all over the world. Well, that is all for this week’s Reading Response Blog from James, and I hope that you have a great vacation, and reply to my other responses that you missed as soon as possible. Bye!

Your reading Companion,

James

Dear Mr. Chase,                                                                                                                                 4/7/10

This current week, I have read one of the best books that will ever enter my lifetime, because I am truly astonished on this book more than any other book on how good the writing is, and how good the plot, and other parts of the book are. I know that I have said this many times in the past, but this time, it’s really true, and I think that I will stay on this series until I am finished with it instead of finishing one book in the series, and then, reading another book of a different series, and going  back in forth between each and every one of the great series of books that are out there, and putting my mind in to overtime, and frying it out, so that I can not do anything else that I need to do, and want to do. That very series is well known as the Pendragon series. And this week, I read the first book in the series which is called The Merchant of Death. Let’s start embarking on a journey like no other once again in my vast(half a year) experience with blogging.

Well, I have a lot to talk about with Pendragon The Merchant of Death. First, I would like to talk about some of my confusions about the book, and let us see if you can find out the answer to why the author did what he did inn the making of the book. First, I’d like to say that I do not think that you will find a good answer to this question, because I think that it a question only the author can answer with reasonable details as we do in our RARE responses. My very first question may require a little information about the book. I find this book quite fascinating with it’s one unique feature that every book should have to make it fun to read. Well, you know how the first sentence of the book sometimes feels as if the author is trying to communicate with you not the characters in the book that the characters do communicate with later on in the book. Well, in this book, the author does something I find quite clever. To not reveal that he’s not trying to make the main character talk to the reader, he makes a sort of name for you that is a character in the book, but in the journal entries that the main character writes to tell his friends what is happening in his world, to their world, he basically is talking to you, but at the same time to a character in the book. This may be a bit confusing at first, but you will get it real quickly since you are so intelligent. Don’t you think that that’s really clever, cool, and confusing all at the same time? However, I don’t think that D.J. Machale was aiming for you to try to discover this, but I think, or suspect that this is something like a coincidence that just sort of happened, and that the author did not purposely do for you to become the character in the book, and the reader at the same time, and making it seem as if it was the main character actually trying to talk to you instead of the character that he is talking to, and want to talk to in his journals. This may be a lot to soak in to your brain, but you will get it eventually like I did. And sometimes in the journal that the main character writes, there is a sort of a smaller journal, or another journal inside that big journal that the main character is writing. Now that I am done with the background information part of my first confusion about the book, let us start talking about the actual confusion that the background information starts to lead to. That very confusion that I have, and have been trying to explain to you is that why does the author use a whole chapter on the continued part of the big journal that the main character is writing. Doesn’t that seem kind of weird to you, and in a way unreasonable? Now, I was unsuccessful in finding a solution to this problem as you have to in every single crime, and math problem in the world, but I think that if we put our minds together, then, maybe we could find a solution to the problem. This was something that I was thinking throughout the whole book, and still couldn’t find a single reasonable, and good answer to why the author did what he did in the journal entries the the main character, Bobby, has. And once again, I am recommending a book to you, but this time, it’s not only for to see how good the book/series is, but to also see for yourself what i am talking about, and to see if you yourself can find a solution to the very problem/confusion that I have in this book, and have talked about in this reading response. I guess this is all for this week’s reading response, and will try to write as soon as I can to you about my next reading adventure held in the next book that I plan on reading. Bye! Have a great April vacation!

Your Reading Companion,

James

P.S. Are you doing anything for April vacation?