Should I jump on the Hunger Games Bandwagon? (#15)

This book is the new must read! It has been made into a movie and everyone who has read the book is super excited! People say it's an addicting book and they just can not put it down!

I have jumped on the bandwagon of must read books before:

- Twilight
- Pretty Little Liars
- Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants

I won't lie I most likely will this time too, but I hope it's as good as everyone says!!

My Favorite TV Show (#14)

Season 9 Cast

One Tree Hill is my favourite TV Show. I first watched an episode on the Much Music channel, because there was nothing else on. That episode made me want to watch them all! That Christmas I received the first four seasons on DVD. My birthday brought more seasons and from there it continued until I had all eight seasons! One day, I was on Facebook and the One Tree Hill page posted that they were super excited for the new season to start! That was when I realized I was caught up to the aired season and I had to PVR the newest season! The only problem with being caught up to the aired season is that I have to now wait a week until the next episode!!

Reading Reflection #3

James' Iphone (A Million Little Pieces Character)

IDRUG: Need a drug fix, call up a dealer.  
James is drug addict who abuses drugs and can find them easily just like an app.
NEWSMILE: A mirrored image of your mouth to check your beautiful new smile.
James had surgery on his teeth and mouth which gave him a new smile.
IBOOKS: Read your favourite books right on your iphone
James loves to read.
BROWNSFANS: Updates on the Cleveland Browns for those hardcore fans.
James' farther used to take him and his brother to the Browns games when he was younger.
IFIGHT: Fighting techniques to be used on others.
James fights when he is angry and acts like a tough guy.
TAO: Tao quotes are always accessible on this app.
James always read a book called Tao when he needed to believe in something. It acted like his bible.
EYECOVER: It mirrors your image and covers your eyes if you can't face what hides behind them.
James has trouble facing what hides behind his green eyes and can not look it into them.
IALCOHOL: All the types of alcohol in one app for those addicts who crave new alcohol.
James is an alcoholic who drinks too much and sometimes craves specific drinks.
FOOD: Recipes and food chain phone number for when one needs to fuel the rising fury.
James used food to fuel fury that rises when he was craving an addiction while he sobered up.
PHONE: Call friends and family to catch up.
Lucinda, Bob, Mom, and Dad are people James catches up with on regular bases.
MUSIC: Soothing sounds of the clarinet when a little on edge.
Sounds of a clarinet always calm James.
PHOTOS: Pictures of nature to sooth oneself when on edge.
After a couple of minutes of being surrounded by nature James becomes calmer.

Winter, I miss you... where were you? (#13)

Assiniboine River 2010 taken by myself, Breanne

Winnipeg is known as "Winterpeg," but this past winter we had maybe snow from December to early March. I was very disappointed, because I am a winter lover! During the winter I partake in many winter activities. For example walk the frozen river, skate the frozen river, sledding, skating at the community club outdoor rink, and work in the skating rink canteen!  This photo was taken last winter and is of the Assiniboine river. There was a lot of snow last year and winter lasted forever! I was in my glory and Christmas really felt like Christmas! Today is March twentieth, the snow is all melted and I am wearing summer clothes. Hopefully, next winter is a real Winnipeg winter!

The Controversy of A Million Little Pieces (#12)

After reading the memoir of James Frey, I did a little research. I researched the controversy on A Million Little Pieces. Why? It started when my English teacher recommended this memoir and another student in the class asked "isn't that book a lie?" Therefore, I chose to read the book and following my completion, research if the book truly involves lies.

Over a millions copies of the book sold, because of Oprah Winfrey. This quota was taken from the article "A Million Little Lies - exposing James Frey fiction addiction" from the website smoking gun. (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/celebrity/million-little-lies)

"In an October 26 show entitled "The Man Who Kept Oprah Awake At Night," Winfrey hailed Frey's graphic and coarse book as "like nothing you've ever read before... Frey's runaway hit, which has sold more than 3.5 million copies and, thanks to Winfrey, has sat atop The New York Times nonfiction paperback best seller list for the past 15 weeks. Next to the latest Harry Potter title, Nielsen BookScan reported Friday, Frey's book sold more copies in the U.S. in 2005--1.77 million--than any other title, with the majority of that total coming after Winfrey's selection."

So why the controversy? Turns out James Frey embellished some parts of his novel. Here is a quota from James Frey himself found in the article "A Million Little Lies - exposing James Frey fiction addiction" from the website smoking gun. (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/celebrity/million-little-lies)

"I was a bad guy," Frey told Winfrey. "If I was gonna write a book that was true, and I was gonna write a book that was honest, then I was gonna have to write about myself in very, very negative ways."

My interpretation of those words means he indeed lied about some parts of the book. I read the book and than the lies.  Personally I agree with Frey's words and what he told Winfrey on her show. (http://www.oprah.com/showinfo/James-Frey-and-the-A-Million-Little-Pieces-Controversy - View this link for all of James responses to Oprah's questions.) The lies are not big and at the same time help keep other characters unidentifiable. The real controversy is; should the book be called a memoir when there are lies. I liked the book and believe it's a memoir even if some of the truth is embellished. The story is of personal memories of James as an alcoholic, drug abuser, and criminal who overcomes his addictions. Therefore, to me, it is a memoir.

Final Report (#11)

Fellow Bloggers!!

I have finished reading A Million Little Pieces by James Frey! Earlier today I posted a reading reflection on the book and I talked about how I about how I was finding it difficult to put the book down! Turns out as I got home I was drawn to continue to read. I finished the 83 pages I had left!

This book did take me a while to get into, but in the end lived up to the great reviews. I read this book, because my two English teachers both recommended it. This book was the first memoir I ever read and I recommend it now, because of how well it was written. This book is not my usual type of read, but I thought I should give it a try. My usual types of books are stories that are about fictional teenage girls and fantasy books.  Is your taste like mine and are not sure you will like James' memoir? If yes, I urge you to try reading it and you might be surprised. My only suggestion is read for at lest 200 pages.

Now, that I have finished reading A Million Little Pieces I would like to research all of the controversy that this book involves. I heard that some parts are not true and I can not wait till I discover the truth vs. the lies.

Until my next personal addition, "The Controversy of A Million Little Pieces!"

Writing Reflection #4

In this past week we started writing personnel moments. I chose to write about the first time I felt freedom from my parents. I feel the story is well written, but I do not think there is a message. So my goal of the upcoming week is to find a message that will end my moment. When we wrote our moments we were allowed solitary confinement. I really enjoyed that because our classroom sometimes gets to hot and some kids do not know how to use time wisely. The distractions were less and it was a change of scenery. I have been writing a lot of personnel additions into my RWN, but I feel I should start adding some to my blog. That will be another goal of the week to add personnel additions to my blog. I have more time to update my blog, because all my winter sports are ending and than spring break will give me a whole week too!  Therefore, watch for an increase in posts!