Just made itttt =]

Going in order, first the Catcher in the Rye, if I had to rate this book out of five stars; I would give it a two. There are some ideas from the book and Holden’s ideas that I agree with, for example believing in the innocence of children and sheltering them from the adult world because I do think children are innocent and it’s important that they aren’t exposed to the real, cruel world too fast. Also, the relationship between Holden and Phoebe was sweet, how he was a caring, protective brother, who would do anything for his little sister. However that’s about where my liking of the book ends. My dislikes about the book is Holden’s annoying voice, his limited vocabulary, and the ending. I get that the author was trying to create Holden’s voice (which kudos for her because I found it very irritating), I did not like that he swore way too often and he was very whiny and also very hypocritical. Also, the ending of the book seemed lame compared to the rest of the book because Holden doesn’t tell us where he actually is, or explains what happened after his mental breakdown, he just says he doesn’t want to tell us anymore which I think if he wasn’t going to tell us the end, he shouldn’t have told us the story. Finally, the story of the book wasn’t something I was interested in or could relate to because I rather not read a book about a wealthy teenage boy and his problems about refusing to grow up because that is to be honest annoying and it just makes me want to tell him to just GROW UP. Overall, I would say Catcher in the Rye wasn’t painful to read but wasn’t the most pleasant read either.
Next First they killed my Father, I must say this book was one of THE slowest reads ever. I’m going to be honest and say I wasn’t too thrilled to be assigned a book to read over break and so I tried to start reading it before break, in hopes of finishing it before break. Unfortunately my plan failed, because I just could NOT get myself to read beyond page 60 without falling asleep. The topic of the book was interesting and something you really can’t be boring about, however I felt like Loung dragged on with the story and like Olag said the title was misleading. I expected from the title for Loung’s father to die first and that would be the start of her horrific experience through the genocide, but her father’s death was past the half point of the book and it wasn’t even too terrible compared to the other things Loung saw or experienced. First They Killed My Father, is definitely not on my books to reread list, but I can’t deny that the book did make me cry at certain parts and educate me on the Cambodian genocide.
Third book on the list is Inherit the Wind. This book is my favorite book/play we’ve read so far this year. It was a quick read and I like the fact it was based on a true event or trial. In addition, the book gave me a new view on the topic of evolution and religion because I used to wonder if evolution was true because I am a Christian and I believe that God created the earth and we’re created in his image and not monkeys. I feel that the idea of evolution and Christianity don’t mix or fit together, however after reading this play and about the trial the two ideas makes more sense and even if I don’t agree completely with Drummond, it’s interesting to read about a different (and very brilliant) way of analyzing the story of creation.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, was definitely better than Romeo and Juliet, but it wasn’t the best book. I really enjoyed listening to the play because I love seeing plays and hearing MND read by actors and the special sound effects made it more realistic and easier to understand. But if I were to read the play on my own, I think I wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much because it was a “seen that done that” kind of a book. I bet when Mr. Shakespeare wrote it, the ideas in novel was new and exciting, however over the course of 400 years, plots like forbidden love, running away, magic, and fairies have become too common. My general opinion on the book is it was a nice change from the more realistic novels we have read, but nothing special or extraordinary.
Lastly My Antonia, I cannot say I enjoyed reading this book. In general I don’t like books about prairie life like Little House on the Prairie because I find them a bit boring and My Antonia was no exception. After finishing reading the book it made me say “so what?” what was the point? The book did not impact me in any way or give me something to think about and also it was a very bland book with barely any excitement. Also, the only slightly interesting event in the book, the suicide or murder of Mr. Shimerda wasn’t even clearly solved. Furthermore, My Antonia reminded me of a rainy, grey day because it wasn’t full out crying sad but it was just unhappy. All in all I don’t have much to say about My Antonia because it was one of those books without a definite climax, and if I had to describe the book in one word it would be gloomy.