Cinder: Book Report.

Hey guys, it's Adventure Van here with a blog about the book Cinder, which is a sci-fi type of redo of Cinderella in some ways. It was an interesting premise, and it was well done in the way the stakes rose, without being overly dramatic or 'boom, sudden thing'. It was a great read, and I enjoyed it overall. The book itself isn't very serious, being competently fiction and somewhat based on Cinderella.

The book starts off by introducing us to the main character, Cinder, who's a cyborg mechanic who works in a market place. Things go rapid-fire from there, introducing us to a large amount of characters and one of the main things in the book, a 'plague'. As the book goes on, you gain the feel of the book, and the story line and plot that very loosely resembles Cinderella in a 'inspired, not rip-off' way. Seeing how it's at least a 4 book long series, it doesn't end with a 'happily ever after', but instead goes on to a second book, which will invariably have it's own base story.

This was a really great book, and I'm glad to have read it. I'd recommend grabbing it if you got the chance.

That's Adventure Van, signing out.

Merry Wives of Windsor

Hey guys, it's Adventure Van here with a blog about one of the more lighthearted plays that Shakespeare wrote. The Merry Wives of Windsor was a play made as a spinoff for a character named John Falstaff, and it was a comedy based around a very real punishment, which made it even more funny. It's centered around Falstaff and two wives whom he thinks he can con into having an affair with him, making them give him money. They catch on, though, when he sends 2 identical love letters to them. One of the husbands finds out, and attempts to get Falstaff with his wife to prove how adulterous she is. However, the wives make fools of both Falstaff and the husband, first tricking Falstaff to hide in a bucket of Laundry, which is tossed into a river, then tricked into dressing like a 'Witch' and getting beaten, and finally sending him out into the forest to be tormented by a group of people joining a wedding. Both the Husband and Falstaff learn their lessons and it ends happily.

That's Adventure Van, signing out.

what they found, love on 145th street: Book Report

Hey guys, it's Adventure Van here with a blog about the book 'what they found, love on 145th street', a book filled with short stories about living Black on '145th' street. A very small amount it comedic, but the majority is just true. The book has 15 stories, some related, some not. Overall, it was a much less dense and shorter read and I really enjoyed it as a whole.

As much as the book is a collection of stories, they all happen as the same group of people. While time passes and others become the main characters, they still end up being set in the same area, except for the last one. You follow thru tragedy, hope, love, hate, and racism and prejudice, and there's no bias. Some people are jerks, some are nice guys, and as much as skin color is one of the main things, it's clear that the author went to great lengths to keep everything real.

This was a great book to read, and it wasn't as dense as some of the others I've read. I really enjoyed it overall, and the fact that everything got tied up was well done.

That's Adventure Van, signing out.

speak: Book Report

Hey guys, it's Adventure Van here with a blog about the book 'speak', which is about a girl dealing with a horrendous party that started off the school year which did hundreds of damaging things. As it goes on, we go from disliking the main character to sympathizing with them as the story goes on. It's a serious book, and I liked it as a serious read over other, funner books. I also believe that the materials in it help others in the same situation.

The book is about Melinda, a girl entering as a freshman into high school. After busting up an end of school party by calling the cops, everyone hates her, including her former friends. We follow as she goes thru the school year, as the quarters go by, with her making one new friend, dealing with everyone who hates her, doing schoolwork, skipping school, losing her one friend, and dealing with someone she only refers to as It. As the book is separated into 'quarters', there's only 4 chapters, but they are huge. At the end of the second chapter, it's revealed that It, also known as Andy Evans, raped her at the party, which is why she called the cops. As it goes on, she slowly gets more support thru minor means, and it comes to a startling conclusion at the end.

This book was a sad but happy book that struck some nerves, but it's something that some people have to deal with without it being fiction. The sources at the end are helpful for making sure the same situation doesn't happen to someone you know, or you yourself.

That's Adventure Van, signing out.

Th1rteen R3easons Why: A Serious Book.

Hey guys, it's Adventure Van here with a blog about the book 'Thirteen Reasons Why', which is about a girl who kills herself and sends a series of 13 tapes to everyone she blames for it. Reading it, we follow the story of Clay who is sent these tapes, and watch him react and deal as each tape tells a different story about why she killed herself. We end up seeing two stories played out, both in realtime but one without any way to change the events.

The 13 tapes are the 'chapters', each working as Hannah, the girl, talks thru the tapes about her story before she decided to end her life. Meanwhile, Clay, a person who was sent these tapes thru the mail, listens to them in an emotional hurricane of feelings, while going to places that the story's events happened. As the tapes go on, you get to see from her view point everyone she met, including Clay himself. As much as they're the tapes of someone who would kill herself days later, you can see the humanity shining thru, laughing and crying with both Hannah and Clay.

 It's an awesome book, heartfelt, and with the two different endings doing entire twists to the story. Since it's also an Netflix series, you can even watch it if you're too lazy to just read it yourself. It's a pretty dense and serious read and series, though, so don't expect it to be light hearted.

That's Adventure Van, signing out.

(This blog was done for the Mayor's Reading Challenge.)