Catcher in the Rye

Related to the other book "Perks in being a Wallflower" I discovered an almost similar book. "Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger.

Set in the 1950's we begin with the main character is called Holden Caufield, a seventeen-year-old boy with a lot attitude, explaining to us "this madman stuff" that has come to pass last Christmas.

We begin at Pencey Prep School of Pennsylvania, where Holden has been kicked out for failing all of his classes apart from English. However, throughout the book he explains that being kicked out of school is not something new to him, and that the Prep School in Pennsylvania is in fact his fourth school.

Holden is informed that he is to leave the school and that he is to pack his things and leave. However, he was only due back to Manhattan on Wednesday.

Other than having many problems, and having problems of being calm when he is provoked, Holden seems to have shared quite a troubled past.

Throughout the book he shows his character when he writes about his younger brother, that passed away three years earlier from leukaemia. Holden shows his anger, and explains that on the night of his brother's passing he broke all the windows in his garage with his bare hands.

I will not continue to explain anything more about this book, (as not to spoil). However, as I have read Perks of being a Wallflower, i find that Charlie is a more sensitive, and misunderstood teenager in a very depressed way. A way that makes the reader feel pity and sadness for Charlie, while Holden is an aggressive teenage boy that is also misunderstood, however he has a grand attitude and quite a stereotypical view of how a relationship with a girl is, while Charlie sees it as a very soothing and calming thing.

Comparing these two books actually helped me understand both of them in a greater depth, comparing the two boys, and showing that even though they have different personalities, they are more than similar. Even though the book is quite old, being published in 1951, seeing the two present day and early 20th century meet made the book very interesting.

Even though this book might have been originally published for adults, it became very popular with teenagers all over the world. I found out about the book from 'Perks of being a Wallflower', because Charlie related himself to Holden in his own way. However, many people have been talking about the book, and I was very curious to read it myself. Personally, I wish that I had read this book first, and then read the other one, because my idea of Holden in the beginning was a little influenced by the character from the other book. Later on, I managed to make a difference between the two.

The book was very engaging, and I found it a very good read. Even though it is the second book I read talking about a boy's troubled life, it was very interesting, and I find it something that people should read.

"Perks of Being a Wallflower"

Annabelle recently gave me the book "Perks of Being a Wallflower", and after literally devouring the book in the airplane flight back to school, I decided to write a book report on it as well.

From my opinion the book was very interesting from two key points. The first point is that the entire thing is written like a letter to an anonymous person (being the reader), and the second point is that, he involves the person he is writing to in such a way that you feel that you are becoming part of his life. The books gives you the idea that you are giving Charlie, the main character, a sense of closure. 

Charlie is a fifteen year-old boy that has been through a lot throughout his life, and no matter how much he tries to cope with it, his past haunts him, stories of his depressing past always seem to linger around him no matter what.

As the book begins, we encounter the death of Charlie's best friend,  the suicide of Michael a teenage boy that was actually one of Charlie's only friends. Charlie is very shaken by the event and does not know how to cope with it. As he begins his first High School year Charlie finds that the girlfriend of his passed away best friend, was now no longer wanting to talk to him. Therefore, alone, in the "wild high school veldt", Charlie finds that he feels out of place, and that many people find him 'weird' and a 'freak'. Some people do try to talk to him, however, those that do, eventually give up, since they do not want to be seen talking to the 'freak'.

As time goes by and Charlie tells the story of his past, and what has happened to his aunt. However, we never really know why Charlie blames himself for her passing until the very end, causing a slightly more gloomy tone his diary entries. The fact that he constantly remembering, and thinking about everything he has done, every action done by the main character, he reflects on it. Every time he concludes his diary, he ends on either a very thoughtful, sad, or happy note, never anything other than that. His emotions are conveyed very well through these endings, therefore causing the reader to know more from the next letter or diary entry.

Going farther into the book Charlie finally meets two seniors that will change his life entirely. Charlie begins to hang out with them. Each of them having their own reputation throughout the school, they begin to talk and get along. As they all begin to talk and go places together, one of the key moments is when they are all staying together, some of them smoking drugs, and drinking, however, they describe him as as wallflower.
The official definition of a wallflower is: A person who has no one to dance with or who feels shy, awkward, or excluded at a party. 
They find that Charlie is a wallflower, but a beautiful and unique one, and therefore the title derives from this moment, that there are perks in being a wallflower. 

I do not want to spoil anything else in the book. However, personally I found this book very touching and emotional. Seeing the complicated ideas and way of thinking of a teenage boy that clearly had his fair share of traumas in his life. This book shows the cruel reality that nothing everything is just perfect. That there are always problems, everyday, its just with what attitude you answer with these problems. Charlie is a soft, caring boy, that has a difficulty in understanding the raw reality, therefore creating his own wonderland as closely related to reality as possible. In the book this wonderland is presented as metaphors to the actual happenings in his life. It was inspiring and made me look at everything with different eyes, and that there never actually is a guaranteed bright side to everything. 

                                                              Naughts and Crosses    

In the world of Noughts and Crosses, Noughts are Black and Crosses are white. The Noughts have all the rights over the Crosses just like 1960s America.
 The main characters of the story is Persephone Hadley (Sephy) who is a cross and the daughter of the president Kamal Hadley, the richest man in the country. Then there is Callum who is a nought and in a family of five. The two meet on the nearby beach a lot and slowly they start to fall in love. Callum who puts hard work into his schoolwork gets to go to the same school as Sephy. As you can imagine Callum
gets a very hard time, with the students and the teachers.
 Then Callum saved Sephy's life, when his father who was a member of the Liberation Militia (A terrorist organisation that are Noughts) set a bomb in the Dundale shopping Center and Callum had saved her life by dragging her out of the bombs reach. His Dad was eventually found out and was sent to prison and Callum's brother, Jude, had something to do with the incident and left before the police got to him. Then four days later, Callum's Dad was killed when he tried to escape from the prison.
 Sephy than writes a letter to Callum to run away with her, but Callum received the letter twenty minutes before she was leaving to boarding school and he had just missed her as she was being driven to school.
Three years later, Jude found Callum and said for him to be in the Liberation Militia. Callum accepted this offer because his life was becoming lonely and his mother was becoming depressed. His mission for the Liberation Militia was to capture Sephy to get her father to pay a lot of money or they will kill her and he had to this with Jude and three other high class members as he was. This was hard for Callum because he still loves Sephy, but he was grieving over the fact that her father got his father killed when he sent him to prison. When they capture her they lock her in a prison cell and force her to do a video about her father giving money to them or she will be killed if he declined. When the group went out and Callum was left with Sephy, they had sex and when they came back she started crying and Callum and Jude got into a fight and she escaped. They chased after her and Callum found her and sent the others in the wrong direction and told her how to escape.
 Sephy found out that she was pregnant and Callum that heard on the radio that his father admitted Sephy was pregnant than went out to find her. They met in the rose garden discussing about what the name of their daughter would be and Callum decides if it is a girl the baby will be called Callie Rose and if a boy Sephy would call the baby after his father Ryan. Callum then gets knocked out by one of the guards and sent to prison.
 Sephy had a choice between keeping the baby then Callum gets hanged, or Sephy has an abortion. Sephy wanted to keep the baby and Callum would not be aloud out of prison, so she decides to keep the baby.
 Callum then gets hung in front of the crowd and Sephy screaming to him of how much she loves him and Callum the same.
Callie Rose was then born at midnight later.

Ready or Not by Meg Cabot

Top ten things Samantha Madison isn't ready for:

10. Spending Thanksgiving at Camp David

9. With her boyfriend, the president's son

8. Who appears to want to take their relationship to the Next Level

7. Which Sam inadvertently and shockingly announces live on MTV

6. While appearing to support the president's dubious policies on families, morals, and yes, sex

5. Juggling her new after-school job at Potomac Video

4. Even though she already has a job as teen ambassador to the UN (that she doesn't get paid for)

3. Riding the Metro and getting accosted because she's "the redheaded girl who saved the president's life," in spite of her new, semipermanent Midnight Ebony tresses

2. Experiencing total role reversal with her popular sister Lucy, who for once can't get the guy she wants

And the number-one thing Sam isn't ready for?

1. Finding out the hard way that in art class, "life drawing" means "naked people.

I did not enjoy this book because it does not have so much of a story. This book talks about how the main character, Samantha Madison saves the President's life by taking a bullet for him and breaking her arm (we don't know any details other than that) and then starts dating the President's son, David. 

Her boyfriend, after dating for several years, asks her to join his family for Thanksgiving which makes Samantha immediately assume that he wants to take their relationship the the next level. There is this whole build up of tension and on the day it's self, she has prepared herself to let him down nicely and to tell him she is no ready, he does not come so she barges into his room. They end up having sex. 

This book, in my perspective, was a real let down because I liked some of Meg's other books so when I heard about this one, I didn't bother reading the reviews. I definitely should have because this book was not enjoyable to read. 

Notes from a Big Country by Bill Bryson

This book was written in 1998 by Bill Bryson, a man who, after living in England for twenty years, moves back to his homeland, America and finds that things are very different from England.

I have been reading this book in class. This is a very good book to read because it is a book that has no beginning, middle or end and it usually takes the time that we are given in class (ten minutes) to read one story. You can simply open this book at a random story and read from there. It is written completely with a sarcastic tone about America and all of it's quirks.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

This book is all about two magicians, Prospero the Enchanter and Mr. A.H., (we never find out his full name) that enjoy showing off their skills though competitions that involve their apprentices, Celia Bowen and Marco (he is an orphan that was never given a last name). 

Their arena for this competition is the enchanting Night Circus. This circus seems to never end and is always adding on new tents. 

The details of the competition are never clear right up until the very end but they mainly consist of these two apprentices to battle up until their deaths. However, Marco is the only one aware pf the fact that Celia is his opponent. Celia is oblivious. Sadly, these two characters fall madly in love. 

Will they be able to live together? Or will they one, or both of them, perish?

I enjoyed this book because it is extremely captivating and gripping. The author keeps the suspense right up until the very end.