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Best Books of 2019🎉

I’ve realized that the only things I blog about are my books. I’ve also realized that I’m kinda obsessed.

I made it to 83 books this year ✨ 🎈🎆🎉!!!!! I beat my 2018 record by 22 books. I’m truly thriving, but my wallet hates me, even though most of the books I read were rereads. Overdrive, the library app, has become my best friend. Also Goodreads! I love being able to see my progress and rate the books I read. I can give authors the respect they deserve by rating good books but also destroy a book’s reputation. I’ve never felt more powerful. 2019 has been all about books for me, so I’m excited to see what 2020 brings me.

I felt like making a post for the best books of 2019 because my actual book summaries are locked, but I still want to share the love. And I really love making lists. So, drumroll please,

Katie’s Favorite Books of 2019!!!!!

January

Zero Repeat Forever by G.S. Prendergast
This book was really different from anything else I’ve read. It’s a YA sci-fi thriller, and both of those are foreign to me. It was different from the fluffy fantasy I usually read so it was enjoyable. The sequel, Cold Falling White just came out in October and I’m excited to read it.

February

Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas
This one is a reread, but it was the best from February so it belongs on this list. I read it to read the next book in the series, but I never got around to it. I really like the book though, I like how it deals with disability and healing.

March

[I’ll be real, nothing I read in March was worth it. I reread some mediocre series, a new book that was really lackluster, and the Twilight series for the experience so we won’t talk about that]

April

To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo
This is the only one so far that deserves to be on the list. A siren and a pirate have to work together to save the kingdom or something. I expected a fluffy mermaid book but it was very, very dark. The siren, Lira is exiled because she murdered a sailor before she was allowed to, so she is turned into a human. As a human, she joins Elian, the pirate who is trying to find her and kill her (sneak 100) so she can get revenge on the sirens that exiled her. They become pals. Kill stuff. Pirate adventures. I have a soft spot for mermaid books so I was truly thriving while reading this book.

May

Nothing good happened in May 😦

June

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
A reread of one of my favorite series. It started my love for contemporary YA fantasy/magic realism. Teenage pals. Best buddies. A curse. Searching for dead Welsh kings. Certain death. Sentient forests. A family of psychics. All good things.

July

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
I LOVE IT!!! LGBT RIGHTS!! MAGIC!! CHOSEN ONE TROPE!! YEEESSSSSSSSSSSS!! SO GOOD!

August

Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
So wholesome! Contemporary and romance and LGBT. All of my favorite things, including enemies to lovers which is worth Gold.

September (oh man, the best book month)

The King’s Men by Nora Sakavic (book 3 of the All For the Game series)
Favorite series of all time. In this book, everything hits the fan. Torture! Romance! More torture! Sports rivalries! The mafia! Murder! SLOW BURN ROMANCE THAT LITERALLY KILLS ME! I can only describe how much I love it. Its like my combined love of black olives and fruit candles and limeade and colored pens and puppies. The characters are incredibly relatable despite their tragic backgrounds, and every character is flawed deeply. I saw myself in several characters, which really connected me to the story. My life was changed with this sad, gay, sports book
A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab.
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I loved the main character Kell and how he was an implied strong tough guy but everything he did was so gentle. He is a really well developed character, with his close relationship with his brother conflicting with his small acts of treason. He wasn’t the perfect, strong, chosen one main character, even though he is pretty much the chosen one. He is on my list of favorite characters. The story was fantasy but “modern” enough that it was easy to read. Initially, I was turned off by the overlapping worlds because that’s just too much to deal with. The author compensated for that by making the events take place in London, so I didn’t have to worry about elves 400 different countries and kingdoms and all of that intense fantasy stuff, which was a blessing in disguise. The book was so good that I bought the boxed set, and it held the spot of my Favorite 2019 book for about a week before I discovered The Foxhole Court. It really restored my love for fantasy novels.

October

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell
The sequel of Carry On, mentioned earlier. This book wasn’t as interesting as the first, but the way it dealt with grief and recovery was outstanding. I appreciate when authors don’t solve their characters’ problems in a couple of chapters, and this book was entirely based on the characters’ internal conflicts. It wasn’t the action-packed romantic story I wanted, but it was definitely a book I needed for dealing with life.
Autoboyography, by Christina Lauren
This was a treat. It’s a book where a character has to deal with alienating themselves from an intolerant religion and family, and it barely ends happy. The character isn’t magically healed by talking to a friend, and I live for realistic coping. It shows the tension between conformity and self-expression and it was really sad but heartwarming. It wasn’t a fluffy fantasy book like I usually read, it dealt with real issues that LGBT teens deal with daily. Long story short, it was enjoyable and enlightening.

November

Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat
This one was crazy. I loved it. It had the high fantasy vibes without different creatures and magic and all that jazz. Just several kingdoms fighting for power. I love when in books the main character has an enemy, but then they both realize that there is a greater evil and fight against it together, and this series did that and more. The main characters Damen and Laurent had such different personalities and they absolutely hated each other at first, but they came together to defeat the real issue of Laurent’s abusive uncle who stole his throne. 10/10, very good

December

I read maybe 3 books this month but they were all pretty unremarkable. December is on this list as a courtesy, but it doesn’t deserve the recognition

And that concludes the list! I found a way to link my Goodreads down below, so if you truly care, everything I read will be recorded down there. I’m planning on destroying my 80ish book record this year, so stay tuned.

Senior Year Review

Remember when I said I was ready for Senior year to end in January? Yeah, I didn’t really mean it

This is a PSA: I really miss school and seeing my classmates and teachers and actually learning things.

My favorite assignments were the poetry one where we made a presentation about a poem and forced our classmates to analyze poetry, and the blogs. I didn’t expect to enjoy the blogs as much as I did. I had a lot of blogging momentum the start of spring semester, but being away from school really killed that for me. They’re fun though! I also liked doing the vocab cards and tests (with the scratch and sniff stickers), and doing the book projects. They were a lot of work but I loved ripping apart the characters and symbols to figure out what the books were really trying to say. Job shadowing was also a blast. I was dreading it at the beginning of the year but it’s probably my favorite thing that we did. Job shadowing really helped me figure out what I want to do in the future, so that will probably help me in the years to come. The random assignments like the literary techniques and archetype and APA worksheets will probably be helpful as well.

I didn’t like all of the AP prep, but only because the days we did that always aligned with the days I wanted to sit down and do nothing 🙂 I also didn’t like that a lot of assignments were due on the same day, like if you assigned a couple of things in a week, and it was a little bit alarming to finish all of them on time. Other than that though, I l absolutely loved your class!!!! In my other 3 years of English, I hated that there wasn’t a balance between reading things and learning technical things and doing fun things. This class had all of that, and I really looked forward to going to your class each day (except for when we had to write AP essays).

To all 2021 seniors, Howdy! I don’t know if anyone but Mrs. R will read this, but its the thought that counts 🙂

My advice is to enjoy the year while you have it. Take those random classes that always looked interesting! Participate in spirit week! Go to some of the games! Join a club with your pals! Keep in touch with your favorite teachers! Go to prom with your friends! Apply for scholarships if you’re thinking about college! Take the time to do fun things! I never realized how many activities I went to (and missed) until they were all cancelled. Its unlikely that school will be cancelled again next spring semester, but take this year’s event as a reminder to do the things that you’ve been putting off, because there’s a chance you won’t be able to do them again.

I don’t have much advice for the AP exam since we haven’t taken it yet, but take the multiple choice prep and mock essays seriously. Sometimes you aren’t in the mood to write or think hard about a passage, but it will be a lot more beneficial to deal with it and learn in January than cramming for the test in May.

Also turn your work in on time, because you do Not want to be spending your last week of school overloaded with late assignments to turn in. (This is hypothetically speaking, of course. I’m totally not 5 art projects behind). If I could go back in time 4 months and slap myself, I would gladly do it.

Don’t let the Senioritis win.

Katie, out ✌️

(also some final memes)

Macbeth and the Suspiciously Moving Forest

Petition to rename the entire play to this blog title

Alright I read Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” for quarter 4.

So Macbeth is the Thane of Glamis, and he and his pal Banquo stumble upon three witches. The witches tell Macbeth that he will become King, and they tell Banquo that he will never be king, but his children will sit on the throne. Macbeth starts to obsess over his prophecy, and writes a letter to his wife, Lady Macbeth (a legend), to tell her of the prophecy. She knows that he is a little bit of a coward, so she works to convince Macbeth to take action to become king (I can’t spoil). After doing this, Macbeth becomes king, and he feels Extreme Guilt over his actions (which Lady Macbeth convinces him to ignore), and loses his marbles. Macbeth takes more action to secure his throne. His people become suspicious at all of the death happening. Macbeth returns to the witches for reassurance, and he is reassured by their twisty witch prophecies saying that he will live. An epic final battle happens, where the English Army decides to impersonate a forest, and all of the prophecies come true. The end.

I think I would change (spoiler) Lady Macbeth dying because she was a legend. I loved her. She was the man in the house when Macbeth failed. She did so much of Macbeth’s dirty work, like entertaining people at the feast when Macbeth was seeing Banquo’s ghost and returning the murder weapons to the scene of the crime. She deserved better honestly.

I think Macbeth would be beneficial for seniors to read to get more experience with Shakespeare. I liked Hamlet more because I felt like there was more going on with the plot and the characters than with this. Lady Macbeth makes it worth it though, she delivered some Killer soliloquies about being more determined and manly than Macbeth. The play taught a lot about how guilt can be hard to shake and also how being power-hungry is pretty bad. I wouldn’t not recommend it, but I wouldn’t put it on my reread list either. Neutral feelings.

In the graphic novel the illustrations of the dead people might be alarming, as well as the several murders that happen (spoiler alert, I did Not like the way they drew Macbeth’s severed head). But other than that nothing stands out as difficult to read.

I think I would rate it 3.5 stars with my handy dandy star icon.

It’s not exactly a book I would read for fun, but I liked Lady Macbeth being a determined legend compared to Macbeth being a coward. Also the part where the army decided to deceive Macbeth by holding branches to make them look like the forest was Superb. Imagine thinking an entire army of 1,000 people was just a forest. Can’t relate. That part alone made the book/play worth it.

Prose Again

I bet you thought you’d seen the last of me

It stuck out that all of the prompts usually follow a pattern, like the author name/title and then analyze, and they’re usually about relationships between characters. I feel a lot better about the AP test now since most of the prompts follow the same formula.

I usually use personification or repeating words/letters in analysis. I feel pretty good about using sound devices so I will probably use those in my essay. Sibilance was something new, and also synecdoche, which I don’t know how to pronounce. I’m hoping to use those since I know them pretty well. I’m hoping that for the essay I can use my packet of narrative techniques to help me write.

I feel really comfortable with writing the AP essay!! All of the mock essays we’ve written in class have been really helpful. I feel 100% better about my essay writing now 🙂

Protected: April Reads

Protected: March Reading

Prose

I couldn’t think of any wordplay for Prose so this is a boring title. Sorry to let you down.

I never thought to have prepared questions/literary techniques ready to go before taking the quiz. It’s genius, but I have a hard time using that method. I struggle with picking out questions to use in an essay without knowing the context of the piece though, like trying to analyze setting when the passage is about characters. I’m still learning how to use the questions wisely. I also like the part about analyzing chronologically. I haven’t done it before this but it makes so much more sense and my writing flows so much better. With the two times essays we have written, I’ve filled up one page with a paragraph on the back, which is much more than my previous timed essays. Everything flows so much better. Another new thing is reading the passage once to understand and section it off and then going back to annotate literary devices. I like it. Everything is coming together.

I like to ask myself “what image of humankind emerges from the work” or “how do the charcters affect the MOWAW,” along with “how does the theme affect MOWAW” or “How does conflict affect MOWAW”. I’m getting pretty good with those questions. And MOWAW. I do struggle though with relating those questions to the essay prompt, so its rough.

I feel amazing with prose now, especially with recognizing literary devices, but I still need to work on tying everything back to the theme. I really dislike using the questions, but they’re really helpful so I need to work on that too.

Crashing Planes and Taking Names

Disclaimer: No planes were harmed during this job shadowing experience. I did not crash any planes or even attempt to something I shouldn’t have. I was an angel.

From my job research, I learned that there are lots of jobs within the aviation field that I find interesting, like air traffic control and commercial aviation. I also learned that it can be really stressful, so I am trying to remain optimistic with my future career choice. The APA job research really helped me with being confident in my college major choice, and it helped me find a bunch of back-up plans if I fail at becoming a pilot.

I was pumped for the job shadow because I love aviation, and I was really curious to see how Overland Aviation worked tandem to the airport. After learning about the different jobs that people can have at an airport, I was excited to see the jobs in action. I was excited to just be at the airport, and to experience the numerous airport jobs, like fueling planes or towing them into hangars, from the other side of the fence. I was also excited to see the behind the scenes work because all of those people are legends and I like officey sit down work and the logistics behind those jobs.

I had an amazing time at the airport for job shadowing!!! My contact for the business Tanner was out of town so I was hanging out with April for a good portion of the day. I started at the Overland Aviation building, which is a tiny modular because they are waiting for their actual building to be finished, and talked to April about her job as she showed me her routine. She showed me how they track flights going to the airport, and it was wacky because they use the same flight-tracking website that I use on my phone. After I bonded with April for an hour, their mechanic-in-training Ty took me out to the ramp where the planes unload and fuel up. They made me wear a bright yellow vest like a real airport worker and I felt so important. I got to talk to a Fedex pilot and Then we used the big boy airport tug car (it’s tiny) and we pushed the airplanes into the hangar. The planes are BIG (obviously) and I felt so cool sitting in a tiny car and pushing a really really big plane. Ty then showed me all of the small planes in the hangar and the engines he was working on. Everything he told me was really informative, and although I am not interested whatsoever in mechanical things, he kept me interested for the hour he had me and I gained much more respect for mechanics. He is a legend. After that I talked to Diane in the office (she took over April’s shift) and she was also a legend. She used to own a small airport and she kept telling me about the plane crashes she witnessed, so I learned a lot about management but also safety. It was pretty intense with Diane.

Then I drove over to the airport ops building? I don’t remember what it was called BUT I got to see the equiptment they use at the airport. The airport firefighters who are all ABSOLUTE LEGENDS showed me and the other senior (we met up for this part) the bright green firetrucks and it was my favorite part. They drove us down the runway in the trucks and we watched a Delta flight take off from the taxiway (which was SICK) and they demonstrated the water turrets they have on the truck. It was sick. One of the firefighters actually went to UND for Commercial Aviation, like I plan to do, so it was comforting knowing that there are employed people in Williston who made good use of their majors. They also hypothetically let me drive the firetruck but I’m not sure how legal that is so I’m not going to elaborate on that further than IT WAS SO COOL!!!!! Then, the legend airport ops man Rahul gave me a full tour of the airport terminal, and I got to see the front where you check in for a flight, and then he took me back to the gates and he introduced me to Tons of people and I fully utilized my handshake training. I even saw the basement and all of the random pipes and storage down there. And then we drove back to the airport ops building (we drove down the runway, it was sick) and saw the snow plows and other operation stuff and then I left. As said by the boy in The Incredibles,

See the source image — I’m fully utilizing WordPress media with this post

It was really exciting that I got to take a full tour of the terminal and go onto the ramp to watch everyone do their jobs and work with airplanes. I thought I would be sitting inside all day, but I did so much stuff around the airport it completely caught me off guard, and I was go glad I brought my tennis shoes. Overall, it was a great day, and the experience has made me 1000% more confident in going to school for Commercial Aviation. I am much less nervous after seeing all of the different ways that someone can work in the aviation industry. 10/10, would job shadow again.

Protected: February Reads!

The Thrilling Adventures of Ham and Dadlet

Are all of our books about daddy issues?

I know that its a stretch to consider this a daddy issue book, but everything Hamlet did was to get revenge for his father’s murder. Things Fall Apart was influenced by a father that Okonkwo was ashamed by. Oedipus Rex was a mess because of the father abandoning Oedipus. I don’t even remember a father in Crime and Punishment. All of the fiction we have read in this class (except for Beloved maybe, I haven’t finished it yet) have been influenced by daddy issues and I can’t handle that knowledge. Why do so many authors write about this? Are dads just horrible? I will never know.

Speaking of fathers, I changed Old Hamlet’s name to Dadlet for comedic purposes. That’s just what it is now.

Other than the looming knowledge that literature is based on problems, this unit made me much more comfortable with reading Shakespeare’s writing. It still invokes fear, but not the intense amount it did before. I feel much better about analyzing characters and plot for the AP exam too.

A lot was going on in the play, with a lot of themes and motifs and changing characters. I didn’t realize how much was happening until I worked on the soundtrack project. Death and suicide and incest and madness and misogyny and ears? (according to Sparknotes). And Claudius killing for power but then regretting it, and Ophelia being level-headed until her father dies, and Hamlet (affectionately referred to as Ham) deciding to get revenge and acting insane until he does nothing and actually goes insane and then dies. They all die. It was alarming.

I love Hamlet because of how dramatic and useless he is. He keeps saying he will get revenge or kill himself but he doesn’t dare to do either. In act 4 when he was inspired by Fortinbras’ army, he decided to be more violent, but he did nothing. It was both annoying and entertaining. Some of the drawings made me laugh, like when Gertrude poisoned herself and then King Claudius was just sitting there depressed. I lost my marbles (just like Hamlet). Peak comedy. I frequently had to stop reading to take pictures of ridiculous pages to send them to my friends.

I liked the To Be or Not to Be speech, only because I never knew that it was about Hamlet contemplating suicide. “To be or not to be, that is the question. Whether tis nobler to suffer the torments that fortune slings your way, or to take arms against those afflictions, and by opposing them, end them forever.” It’s ironic because Ham only contemplates his death and doesn’t do anything about it. He is a coward that is trying very hard to not be a coward but failing miserably. It adds to the meaning of the work because it shows how conflicted Hamlet is with suicide and how to carry on after Dadlet’s death, but it also shows his cowardice and inability to make decisions. His indecisiveness and cowardice remained throughout the play, which made him decide to delay killing Claudius, which ultimately caused his own death. This relates to a lesson of not putting things off by overthinking, and also that revenge isn’t always worth it.

Also I found this very accurate Tumblr post on Instagram that I must share so don’t mind the format.