Thinking About My Reading Experiences

Reading is probably one of my favourite activities. Ever since I can remember, I've been reading. Doesn't matter what it is, I'll read it. Signposts, posters, the nutritional information on the back of food, and, of course, books. Books have made me what I am and I'll never stop reading them.

1. My favourite place to read would either be my bedroom or my rec room. I love my rec room because it's open and lets in natural light, which is very relaxing. In contrast, when I read in my room I draw the huge curtains shut and create a small cave where I can read in peace.

2. I usually enjoy reading in the late afternoon or at night, as I feel like there could be other things I could be doing during the day. It's also a lot more relaxing in the late afternoon, and it feels good to relax with a book.

3. I have a huge selection of favourite authors. My top 5 would probably be Douglas Adams (The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy), George R.R. Martin (A Song of Ice and Fire), Stephen King (only his fantasy books, like the Dark Tower saga), Matthew Reilly ( Temple, Scarecrow, Hover Car Racer), and Derek Landy (Skulduggery Pleasant). I like Adams and Landy for their witty way of writing, as the merge a lot of humour into their books. Reilly is the author who I go to for fast-paced, action packed thrillers, and Martin and King are the epics, the long hauls, the series so complicated it feels like your heads are going to burst from the abundance of characters and plot twists. For all of these authors, I've pretty much enjoyed all of their titles. I don't know why this is, but it's probably because of their quality of the writing, and how each book is better than the last.

4. A lot of people do recommend books to me to read. The top 3 would be my cousin Phoebe, Mrs Buckley the librarian and my mum. My cousin and I share similiar tastes in reading (she was the one who introduced me to George R.R. Martin), and Mrs Buckley is a good judge of reading ability, as she always knows what books we will like. I have recommended a few books to different people, mainly my friends and my cousin. To my cousin, I gave the Hunger Games, and she's finished the series and really enjoyed them. She said it was a good read, if a bit depressing. To my friend was a Game of Thrones, and he loved it.

5. This semester I've mainly been reading George R.R. Martin and Stephen King. These two authors are quite similar, as they've both written absolutely HUGE epics, with Martins "Song of Ice' and Kings "The Dark Tower". I love these kind of books, where you can absolutely immerse yourself in the world. Both Martin and King are American, and are born quite close to one another, with King being born in 1947 and Martin in 48. Both also share the same affinity of killing off very important characters, particularly the one I like!

What's In A Title?

1. Taking into account my book, Ostrich Boys, I believe that the author has chosen the perfect title for the book. The reason for the title is a huge spoiler for the plot, so I won't reveal it in case any of my readers want to read it, but let's just say it concerns a common habit for ostriches when confronted with something they can't deal with. It's true to say that all the boys were keeping their heads in the sand, but to say how would ruin the book.

2. As for alternative titles for the book, one of the ones I would use would be The Amazing Adventures of Three Boys and A Corpse. The other one I probably would consider would be The Trials of Friendship, for the boys friendship is tested in many ways throughout the book.

3. So, for the sequel for Ostrich Boys, I would call it Getting Along. It would probably show the aftermath of the boys escapade to Scotland. Kenny and Blake must return to Cleethorpes and deal with the trouble from their parents and the law, seeing Sim at school, the people whose houses they graffitied, the media saying they had a suicide pact, and the revelation of (SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!) Ross' suicide. For the third book in the series, Coping with Life, I would probably have Kenny, Sim and Blake attending university, how they deal with the still continuing emotional toll of their friends death, and trying to repair their friendship.

A Song of Ice and Fire

One of the best series I've read, A Song of Ice and Fire is George R.R. Martins epic. And epic it is. It's probably one of the most complex saga's (perhaps excluding The Dark Tower saga, and the Lord of the Rings trilogy) that's ever been written. But trust me, it's good. The series follows the war of the 5 kings, and the effect that the war takes on the land and different people within it. The first book, A Game of Thrones, follows Eddard Stark, the patriach of the Stark family, along his job of Hand to the King, and the mystery which unfolds around the children of King Robert Baratheon. After the first book, it gets a lot more confusing, as a huge spoiler kicks off the war between 5 individuals claiming to be king. These 5 are Stannis Baratheon, Robert's elder brother, Renly Baratheon, his younger brother, Balon Greyjoy, the King of the Iron Isles, Rob Stark, Eddard's eldest son and King of the North, and Joffrey Baratheon, Robert's son, and secret bastard of Cersei Lannister, the queen, and her brother Jamie. Other notable characters include Tyrion Lannister, a quick witted and sharp thinking dwarf, who is brother to Jamie and Cersei, Daenerys Taegaryen, the rightful queen of the land, who fled to the islands across the east with her brother Viserys, after her father, Mad King Aerys was killed by Robert's armies. The reason I like this series is probably mainly the characters, as each are intriguing and interesting, even the ones I don't particularly like.

My First Blog

So this is obviously the first blog I've ever done. Ever. What I'll mainly be talking about is books, because that's the assignment, but there also might be some pop-culture stuff. So, yeah, stay tuned for that stuff. Anyway, one of my favourite books/series ever, and the inspiration for this blogs incredibly humble name is the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, written by Douglas Adams, and the 6th book is written by Eion Colfier. These are probably my favourite books in the world (closely followed by George R.R Martins epic series A Song of Ice and Fire). This is probably because of the insane nature of all the books. They follow the misadventures of unfortunate Englishman Arthur Dent, one of the last two human beings left in the universe. When Earth is destroyed to make way for a Hyper Space bypass, Arthur is saved by his best friend/alien, Ford Prefect, who is from a small planet in the vicinity of Betelgeuse 6. This is the start of a huge misadventure across space and time, leading from the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, to a planet called Krickit. Along the way, Arthur will encounter the incredibly dull Vogons (do NOT let them read you poetry), hyper intelligent shades of blue, and a creature which he's killed many, many times before. And there is that small matter of him, albeit reluctantly, saving the entire universe. He'll also stumble across the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything, which isn't nearly as important as the question.