Each week on my blog at http://writingisconversation.blogspot.com I post one or two book reviews that I’ve written. Read at least three of them (scroll down, or click on Blog Archive on the left side of the screen to find the entries with titles that begin “Recently Read”).
Notice that I usually give some background (why I like the author or type of book. Is this book is part of a series? Is this an author I read often or a new one to me?), a brief summary of the plot and characters, and my opinion/advice on the value of reading the book.
After you’ve read my reviews, write your own review of something you’ve read, seen, heard or attended. You can review a book, a movie, an event (like a sports game or concert), a TV show, a CD, or anything that would suit the requirements of this assignment. To effectively write your review, you’ll be using at a minimum the rhetorical strategies of narrative and reflection. You may use more. Your review must be one to three paragraphs and contain:
- Background information (do you usually see this TV show? Did someone recommend the movie to you?)
- A summary of the plot or action. Remember what you’ve learned the past few weeks on how to summarize content.
- Your opinion (do you recommend it? Was it boring? Should someone else skip it or see it?)
14 comments:
I’m reading a book called “The Winds of War”, by Herman Wouk. It’s over a thousand pages, and I’m about half way through. It takes place in the first 2 years of World War 2. Its main characters are the Henry family. The father is a naval Captain, and his two sons are also involved in the military. The book takes you through the adventures of this family and also does a great job introducing the main players in the war. Hitler, Mussolini, Goerring, Stalin and of course Churchill all come into direct contact with the father. It is very interesting and close to the “truth”. So far I would definitely recommend it, if you have the time.
The book I recently read was "Tuesday's With Morrie." It was written by a sports writer named Mitch Albom. Mitch had gone to high school and remembered his favorite teacher Morrie Schwartz. He promised Morrie he would come back to visit, but he has been so caught up in his job that he forgets what it is important. He then sees on TV that Morrie is diagnosed with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease. Just so I don't give this all away, I'll tell you that Mitch makes a visit to see Morrie, and it changes the way he sees life, and he records all of his learnings in this journal. the journal was then turned into this novel. This book is very inspirational, and it is a very easy book to read.
I just recently finished reading "The Jester", by James Patterson. I have read and enjoyed several books by this author. It has been a while since I have had time to just sit down and enjoy a good book, so I was a little excited about this one. I had heard it was good, and happened to come across it at a yard sale. I found the book to be very interesting, and was not disappointed at all. This story takes place in time of the "crusades". Throughout this story Hugh, the main character, is always on some sort of mission. He is either fighting for his freedom or searching for a lost loved one. All the while he is facing many physical and emotional hardships. Throughout his journey he makes many great friends, and even greater enemies. I would definately recommend this book if you enjoy a good story that will keep you guessing what will happen next.
I read this book several years ago, but have read it several times. The author is George Orwell and the book is 1984. The book is supposed to be written about the future, but since I was only one year old in 1984, I read it after the futuristic part of it was gone. The book is about war, social politics, self believes, government power, and the human will to interact with other humans. This is a great book and if you enjoy this one you must read Clock Work Orange, and The Catcher and The Rae.
The book that I have read several times and the sequels also is The Child Called It the authors name is Dave Pelzer. I find these disturbing yet fasinating stories. They are narratives in the way the stories unfold but also reflections in the way it refers to the past and supports itself. It is a very abusive and horrible life he led as a child and somewhat into his adulthood. It does however through his sequels have a happy ending so to speak.
I recently finished the movie, The Departed. It starts you out with two just-graduated officers from Massachusetts State Police Academy. William Costigan (Leo Dicaprio) comes from a family of crooks and is assigned to work undercover with the Irish mobster Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) to get evidences to arrest him. Costigan’s true identity is only known by his superiors Dignam (Mark Wahlberg) and Oliver Queenan (Martin Sheen). Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) is promoted in the Massachusetts State Police and is the informer of Costello. Through out the movie Costigan and Sullivan try to figure out who the real “rat” is, and I was trying to figure out who’s the con and who’s the cop.
I have recently read What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Pre-Menopause by Dr. John R. Lee. I found this book at a garage sale (being a true garage sale junky). There is a great deal of good information in this book not only about pre-menopause but also birth control, PMS, fibrocystic breasts, irregular periods and cancer. Dr. Lee highly recommends using a natural progesterone cream for many of these issues. Dr. Lee does not sell progesterone cream and does not endorse any one brand but he does recommend certain brands as being better. All the brands he recommends can be bought over-the counter. He does not recommend prescribed progesterone or estrogen usually used in hormone replacement therapy because they are usually synthetic and can cause cancer. I thought the book made a lot of sense. I already had some natural progesterone that I had used and quit using at one point. I not only started using natural progesterone again, but I switched brands after calling the manufacturer and finding that the brand I had initially was not recommended by Dr. Lee and that the jar said it could cause cancer. I would recommend this book to any woman struggling with these issues.
The movie “Knocked Up’ was recommended to me by several people. The two main characters in the movie are Alison (Katherine Heigl) and Ben (Seth Rogen). Knocked up is about two people who meet at a bar, have too much to drink, and end up spending the night together. Eight weeks later Alison starts getting sick and realizes she may be pregnant. Ben and Alison are two complete opposite people who learn during the nine months of pregnancy that they need to grow up and take responsibility for their lives. They work together to rise above their problems and give birth to a baby girl.
The movie was advertised as being hilarious. It was not as funny as advertised. It was boring for me to watch and I did not care for some of the offensive words in the movie. It will be hard to recommend this movie to any one
The last book I read was "The Gaurdian". It is a book by Nickolas Sparks, who is one of my favorite authors. The book is telling a story about a mans live after his wife had died. It is a mystory and a love story combined. It had many turns in the book, tricking your thoughts. It goes into details about what the man does everyday and how he loved his wife. There were times I had to scan previous pages I had already read. I found out it was important to completely understand what goes on. They were a popular couple in town. Many more people knew them than he thought. It turns out to be a surprise ending. I thought this was an excellent book. It will make you wonder about the end.
I went to my little sister’s valley ball game for the first time. She was good for never playing valley ball before. It being her first time being on the valley ball teems this year. She was never been on a sports teem before.
They wan the first, second and forth games that they played that day. They worked as family better then the other teem that they played did. My sister’s teem paid more attention and called the ball so that they did not run in to each other more then the other teem did.
The book I am reading is Q is for Quarry, by Sue Grafton. In this book, it tells about how a young private investigator and a retired police man are trying to solve a murder that happened eighteen years ago. They are trying to solve it for one of the policeman’s friends, who worked the case from day one. He is dying from cancer. The book tells about how they start from the beginning, interviewing all the witnesses again, and using the new technology that is available to them to try to solve the case. This book is based on true events. I can’t tell you how it ends, because I am not finished reading the book.
The way I came to find this book was Tim Stanton referred the author, Sue Grafton, to me. I am so glad that he did, for she is a great murder mystery author and I look forward to reading more of her books. I would refer this book and others written by her to anyone who is interested in a suspense filled, and keep you on the edge of your seat book.
The last movie I watched was "Reign Over ME" which stars Adam Sandler as someone who has trouble getting a hold of his life after his family is killed in the September 11 tragedies. The movie takes place a couple of years after the plane crashes when an old college roomate gets back in touch with him and help him through his troubled times.
I would recommend the movie. It was something different from Sandler's usual comedies and was very heartfealt.
“Superbad” is the most recent movie I have seen. I would have to say it is the funniest movie I have ever seen. I can’t really explain it by myself, but I have a movie review from http://www.rottentomatoes.com and it is exactly what the movie is about without spoiling the end.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/movies/327878_sbad17q.html
The day-in-the-life adventure sends high school seniors and lifelong best buddies Seth (Jonah Hill, "Knocked Up") and Evan (Michael Cera, "Arrested Development"), misfits on the bottom of the high school pecking order, on a quest for booze to impress the girls of their dreams.
Their odyssey encompasses the ludicrous fake ID ("I am McLovin!") of their even geekier third wheel Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse, impressively comfortable in his spazziness) and a pair of staggeringly gullible cops. Officer Slater (Bill Hader, "Hot Rod") and Officer Michaels ("Knocked Up" star Seth Rogen, who co-wrote "Superbad") turn out to be grown-up geeks with guns.
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