Reading for Pleasure

During the course of the semester ,I  have grown as a reader.I enjoyed having the time to just read in class . It was a class where I could just relax and enjoy myself.This is the first time I a long time I've read so many books in such a short time.In the beginning I thought this class was going to be hard but in the end, It was one of my easies classes.My reading experience has also improved. I try to do more then just read the book. Before I would just read a book and the next day not remember what I read the night before.I've also tried to read a variety of different books.In English class, we were reading The Kite Runner and I thought I was not going to enjoy it but I did. It even made me want to read A Thousand Splendid Sun which is set around the same place as The Kite Runner.I have truly enjoyed this class and would like to take it next year and I will continue to grow as a reader and expand my horizon.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

A Thousand Splendid Suns is written by Khaled Hosseini and tell the story of women in Afghanistan . The two main characters are Laila and Mariam. Mariam is older and is more of a a traditional woman.Her mother was a servant until she became pregnant with her.The father was the master and he was forced to send her away because his three wives were not very happy about the situation.He built them a little house  outside of the city  and forced his legitimate sons to bring them food every week.Her mother always told her that her father was a coward and was ashamed of her.But Mariam always put him on a pedestal.He would visit her every week and tell her stories about his theater and the exciting thing in the city. Mariam died  to e able to go out and spend time with her father.She even started turning against her mother believing everything her father told her. he even runs away to go see him.When she arrives at is house they wont even let her in and she ends up sleeping outside.In the mourning, they send out their drive to take her home. After struggling she ends up going home and find that her other has committed suicide.She is filled with remorse because all her mother every did was try to protect her and all she did as hurt he mother. She is sent to live with her father who arranges her to be married.he really starts regretting what she has done.I will post more next week.

Betrayed

As Katniss continues through the Forest she here's the horrifying shrills of the other tributes getting slaughtered.She checks her bag and she finds a thin sleeping bag,a pack of crackers,a dried beef strip,a bottle of iodine,a bx of wooden matches,a small coil of wire,a pair of glasses,and  half -gallon plastic bottle with a cap for carrying water that was bone dry,,She has still not found a water source .She considered going back to the beginning ,where their way a lake but it would be guarded by the career tributes.She decides to start looking for camp.She picks a tree that conceals her.She ties her self down by wrapping her belt around herself and the sleeping bag so she wont fall while she sleeping.As night come the anthem that is then followed by the death total. It show the faces of the all the dead tributes who did not make it through the first day.She is relieved that Peeta is still alive.Suddenly she gears the snapping of twigs.Its the tributes from one and two and a undefined person.They are coming from killing another tribute and a re arguing about if they had killed her.The undefined person turns out to be Peeta. Katniss is in total shock and cannot believe Peeta has joined the tributes. She feels slightly betrayed.Why would Peeta join the enemies? All they will do is kill him as soon as they can.Do you think this will only help or hurt him?

Let The Hunger Games Begin Part 2

The next day she is whisked off to get her hair and make up done by her styling team. The head stylist is Cinna and she somewhat found a friend in him because he seems to care a little bit about her.As she makes her way towards the dome of the Hunger Games, Peeta comes up beside her and takes her hand. They have to make it seem like they are lovers and that they are going in together. This will make the Capitol go crazy !!! They are then separated and are propelled further in to the dome which is controlled by the gamemaker. he controls whether it rains, hail,snows, if their is and explosion to make sure some one dies everyday so the people of the capitol will be entertained . The tributes are finally let loose and run to claim one on the bags scattered are the front which each contain something valuable to surviving the games She goes to crab one but so is another boy. He is taken out by another tribute and Katniss finds herself covered blood and two pair of evil eyes staring at her ready to kill.She makes a run further into the Forest in search of a water source.She stops to check her bag in hope of something valuable.

Let The Hunger Games Begin!!!!!

The games are right around the corner and Katniss must physical and mentally prepare herself for the most horrifying and challenging things she will ever face in her life.She has gone through a week of training to somewhat prepare her for the games. Two things I think she has an advantage at is he archer skills and her made up romance with Peeta.The people of the Capitol are just falling in love with the idea that a couple is going into the games and will fight till the end to save each other.She has the Capitol on her side I guess you could say. She Katniss"the girl on fire".But that does not change the fact that she has a huge target on her back because she scored the highest during the training week. Even Peeta is a threat because he did quiet well for a boy who decorate cakes and works in a bakery.Tomorrows the big day and she is so stressed about everything. For ones she lets go of all her emotions and cries for half the night.After a while she goes on to the roof where she finds Peeta thinking. They talk for awhile and soon realize that only one person is coming out alive and even though they wished each other good luck,they both were secretly hoping they wouldn't have to kill each other.They finally go back to their rooms to get some sleep and be awake for tomorrow.

More Hunger Games

As You know Katniss and Peeta are the tributes of district twelve. They will first go to they local justice building where they will get to say goodbye to their family and friends. It must be so overwhelming and slightly disturbing to know that you may never see your family again to go participate in something rather stupid. Afterwards, they are put on a train with their Haymitch an Effie Trinket. Haymitch is a former winner of the games and now is Katniss and Peeta's life line in the games, He determines when and if  they get food , medicine , and etc, during the game. Katniss has no faith in him because he is just a drunk bitter fool who will be nothing more of a obstacle in Katniss's way to survival. Her and Peeta try to form some sort of a " relationship" because they will most likely have to work together to survive .That is of course  until the have to kill each other. At least they get to eat all the food they want and get some sorts of training before they are thrown into the dog pit. Katniss is and expert when it comes to a bow and arrow.Peeta on the other hand is kind  of coming in with absolutely nothing she thought. For a week the get to go to the training center in the capitol to learn survival techniques and also to scout out their opponents. A lot of the other tributes are coming in with so sort of training with knives and  all kinds of dangerous looking objects. At the end of the week they are rated on a scale of one through twelve . Most of the tributes scores are average,but Katniss scores a perfect twelve and that just gives the other tributes more reason to try to kill her. Next week I will Post on the first couple of days in the Hunger Games.What do you think will happen next?

The Hunger Games

This week is will start posting my second book, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.This book is set in the future where in the middle of North America lies the nation of Panem.Their are twelve districts which are controlled by the capitol.The capital dictates the districts forcing them to send in one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to fight in the annual Hunger Games. The Hunger Games forces the kids to fight to the death on live TV. I think this is such aterrible thing to happen.The main character is Katniss Everdeen , a sixteen year old girl who lives in district twelve.Distrct twelve is respondsible for providing coal for the Capitol. Each district provides a resource to the capitol and are forced to work for little or no money for hours a day.Her father was killed in a coal mining accident and she has beenproviding for her family since she was twelve.Her mother had fallen into a depressiion and over the years she's gotten alot better. Katniss's relatioship with her mom haswas destroyed along with her father.She and her best friend Gale go hunting beyond the perimeter's of the district(their not suppose to!!!) and sell or trade what is left to the locals.IT is the time of the year for another Hunger Games. The disctrict meets up at the town square for the reaping.When Effie Trinket picks the slip from the glass ball it is not Ktniss name.It is her little sister Prim.Katniss is so full of shock that she cant even speak.Out of nowhere she jumps up volonteer to take her spot as a tribute and as the rule state she can. She will not let her sister go in defenseless to be slaughtered.Katniss a few things about survival that it is second nature.The boy chosen as a trbute is Peeta Mellark.He is the son of the local baker. Her and Peeta have only had on run in and that wa when he gave her bread to feed her family.Now she is being taken away from her home, being forced to fight for her life for someone else's entertainment.

A Happy Ending

While Nettie was in Africa ,Celie was  back home after her so called father 's death.She learns that her father was killed and that her mother kind of went insane and soon died after .the guy she called her father was a friend of her birth father.After his death she is told that the house ,store and land all belonged to her. this is the first time she has had a place to call her own. She has been living with Sugar Avery for quiet some time now. Shug feel she need some time to go out and be free and Celie does not understand. Shug has a crush on the 18 year old bot who works for.Celie know that it wont work out for them but she lets Shug go anyways.She know she will come back anyways.It would be many years and lots of letter later before she see shug again.She been out discovery herself and trying to make a fresh start.Celie has turned her fathers store into a pant shop. Making pants at first was a hobbie but soon flourished into a business.During this tome she and Mr.____ have created somewhat of a relationship.The one thing they have in common is that the both love them some Shug!!!!Some times the just sit around and talk about memories they have had with Shug.After so much pain and suffering she has gone through she finally is happy.She has forgiven Mr.___,forgiven the man she called her father.,and now feels like she's got nothing holding her back. One day she sees a car pull into her yard and it is Nettie and her children, Olivia and Adam.They haven't seen each other in years and neither one of them can believe their eyes. Finally everything she wants and need is here with her.Next week I will be posting about the book The Hunger Games. Think i have fallen in love.

The People of Olinka

Its been awhile since the last time I updated my blog and I have read so much.The book is one hundred times more better than the movie. I've got a few more short chapters to read and then I'll be on tho the next book.Anyways, back to the book. As you know Mr.____ kicked Nettie out of the house because she don't want him. well she ends up meeting a preacher and his wife.Their names are Samuel and Corrine. what no one will know until later is that they have been raising Celie's kids,Adam and Olivia.She ends up going to Africa with them as missionaries and along the way she gets to experience life out side her small town. Samuel and Corrine teach her and she help take care of the kinds. They end up in a small village  of Olinka where Olivia befriends a girl named Tahsi. The villagers welcome them with open arms with their help and education but believe that only boy should be educated and girl should stay and tend to their homes. Olivia the only girl but she teaches Tahsi everything she know and Tashi tell her tribal stories.During this time ,the Europeans are building a road and at first the people of Olinka treat them with hospitality but then when the find out the road will continue they realize that it will go right through their village. Also Corrine has been thinking that Adam and Olivia are Nettie's children  and their father is Samuel. This is all going on while she is battling a sickness and she keeps getting weaker and weaker .Nettie had early discovered that the children were Celie's but decided it was best not to say anything.Finally everything is let out in the open on Corrine's death bed.My next posting will be about what's happening with Celie while her sister and children in Africa.

Beginning The Color Purple

 I started to read  this book about a week ago and I am almost finished. I have seen the movie about a hundred times and never knew it was a book at first.Celie is the main character  .She has had at least two children by her father and is now worried about her sister's safety; Even though her father has remarried.When she gave birth to her children her father took them and she has never seen them since.She has always kinda been the care taker since her mother had become sick so she did all of the house chores. Her sister Nettie has always been prettier and smarter than her.A man  named Mr._____ come to her fathers house wanting to marry her little sister.Her father say she to young but I think he just want her for himself .He offer Celie to him instead.Mr.____ don't want Celie but after a few months he decide to accept the offer only because he need somebody to take care of his kids.Upon arrival at Mr____ house she realized that she got her work cut out for her. His children are rude,dirty, nappy headed children.The one thing Celie was not looking forward to was sex with Mr.____.She just closed her eyes , hoping it would go by faster.She work hard around the house trying to create some what of a suitable home for herself even though this is the last place she wants to be. She getting alittle happier now that her sister Nettie coming to live with them.But she worries that Mr.___ Might try to pursue her.

Reading for plaesure contract.

I , Joy Gilchrist will read a minimum of four books and make a conscientious effort to meet my individual goals inside and outside the class . I plan to blog weekly about my experience of  " Reading for pleasure". The four books I plan to read are:

1. The Color Purple, By AliceWalker
2.The Hunger Games (Hunger Games Series #1)  ,By Suzanne Collins
3.Catching Fire (Hunger Games Series #2) , By Suzanne Collins
4.Mocking jay (Hunger Games Series #3) ,By Suzanne Collins
5.Thirteen Reasons Why, By Jay Asher