Book Wishlist

1. Sloppy Firsts

2. Scent of the Missing

3. Stories I Only Tell My Friends

4. The Other Side of Paradise

5.  She Said Yes

Book 3 review

Some memoirs tend to be sappy and it seems like the author is trying to make you feel bad for them. But for Piper Chapman, that is not true at all. Piper extends on her time in jail and all of the struggles she went through. But not only did she talk about her struggles, she talked about jail in a way that made it seem like it was kind of a fun place to be; despite the drama here and there. Orange is the New Black is an intriguing book and definitely makes you want to keep reading. Some say that the Netflix series is more of a ‘can’t stop watching’ rather than the book.

Piper made bad decisions in her early twenties and definitely has some consequences to deal with. She was stupid, just like most people at some point in their life, and definitely was put in a situation that made her make up for it. “I closed myself off, telling myself that I have gotten into this mess and it was no one’s fault but mine.”(21) Being a pretty blonde girl, you wouldn’t think that she would fit into jail. In the beginning, she is nervous and doesn’t know what to expect in any way shape or form. She can’t believe that this is happening but knows that she has to deal with it. Before she goes into jail, she is most nervous about leaving her fiancé and doesn’t know what to expect with that. The only thing that keeps her going is knowing that he’ll be able to visit and she can’t wait for that.

As Piper didn’t know what she was in for when she first got there, she soon found out that she was in for a treat. Nothing can be better than your biggest enemy being in jail with you, right? Luckily she didn’t cause any trouble but that still made Piper felt like she was scared for her life. As the book went on, she definitely got less scared and jail didn’t seem as bad as she thought it would be. She met some friends and some she could be nice to but there were also some that she knew she needed to stay away from. She would call her fiancé every now and then and tell him everything that has gone on. He was always willing to listen but something just didn’t seem right. As time kept moving, Piper noticed that their connection was leaving. She didn’t know what was wrong but something just wasn’t there anymore. She tried to keep talking to him but the visits wore off and soon their relationship was definitely fading.

There wasn’t much that she could do because it was all such a huge change and definitely put a toll on both of their lives. She noticed herself finally feeling more comfortable and finding her niche. Some of the girls were rude and did things to her that she didn’t like. “Once it was clear that I wasn’t her future boo, Crazy Eyes quickly lost interest in me.”(120) At first it really made Piper uncomfortable but as time went on, she got used to it and realized who she needs to keep her distance from and who she can tell things to.

The jail life isn’t what Piper wanted in life; but she couldn’t do anything about it. This story wouldn’t be good from anyone else’s perspective. Piper gave her true and honest input on her time in there and told the story how it truly was. If anyone else were to tell the story, there would be a lot of details missing and it wouldn’t be as interesting and intriguing. Not everyone can make a good jail story, but Piper Chapman definitely did it right.

Post #8

                I think a book has to be semi true to be considered non-fiction. There is definitely a difference between fiction and non-fiction but I also think that non-fiction isn’t as real as a biography. To be considered non-fiction, the context of the book needs to be real and not seem like some sort of thing that could only be real in some imaginary world. I think that half-true stories are okay if the main topic stays real and people can relate to it. If some of the little details here and there aren’t true or are perplexed a bit, I don’t see that being a big deal. Sometimes details have to be exaggerated a little bit in order for the story to be more entertaining and interesting. I think there definitely should be lines between certain genres but I don’t think there should be so many. Usually in a non-fiction novel, parts of it won’t be completely true; which would make it fiction. But when someone writes a biography, all of that information should be completely true and none of it should be made up. Fiction and biographies really can’t relate in any way. Fiction is a made up book and biographies have to deal with a real life situation in some sort of way. Non-fiction seems to be right in the middle of mostly true but also have parts that aren’t true which technically would make it fiction. I don’t think there should be a fine line between fiction and non-fiction but there definitely should be a line between fiction and biographies.

Post #9

Piper Chapman tells her story from a First-Person point of view in the book Orange is the New Black. With this being a memoir, she distinctively gives her input on it but so do all of the other women that are in jail with her. You would think that jail is an intense place and something that was horrible and dreadful but it doesn’t seem too bad in the book. When she was first admitted into jail she was nervous and didn’t know what to expect but it wasn’t nearly as bad as she thought it would be. It seems like the only think that is keep her nerves going is the fact that life behind bars can change; making her worry about her fiancé. I like how the book is told by Piper because I don’t think it would make sense if it were told by anyone else. It allows you to get to know her and how she feels about the situation but also allows you to get to know everyone else that is in there with her. They all become pretty close and good friends which is surprising when you’re in jail. You would imagine that they all hate each other or there are a lot of fights that go on. There is an occasional brawl between two people but that doesn’t happen too often. I like how you get to visualize what it is like to be in jail but I do feel like it is kind of twisted because it isn’t very scary.

Post #7

I think that Readicide is a problem in today’s schools. Teachers focus on so much detail in one book that it takes away the fun of reading. Personally, whenever reading a book and having to annotate or stop for a discussion, it makes the book dreadful to read. It does help us understand the book more and point out specific details but at the same time it takes you longer to read the book, which is a turn off, and makes the book less intriguing. I think that literary fiction and books like Of Mice and Men and Macbeth should still be in the curriculum but it shouldn’t be so drawn out. When we have to stop every chapter to take notes or quizzes, it tends to make the students count down the days until that unit is over. Quizzes over detail that isn’t a main part in the book also takes away from the main plot. Yes it is good to understand everything that is going on and that’s a good trait to learn, but at the same time, the main plot is the main plot and that is what should mainly be focused on.

With the way we read in classes, it tends to make kids not want to read outside of school. It can be dreadful because we have to stop and listen to every little detail when all we want to do is finish the book so we know the whole plot. Learning how to find the plot of books is very important but I think teachers tend to exceed with it. Reading books is very important. Not only does it give you a bigger spectrum on things, but it heightens your vocabulary and it teaches you all different writing styles and techniques. It is important for us to learn this because we need to know how to write in different styles because in almost any type of work force you need to know how to read and write. I feel that teachers don’t make reading as interesting and fun as it should be. If it weren’t for the constant stopping and note-taking or quizzes, I think students would be more intrigued and would want to read outside of school.

Post #5

Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick is definitely a book that I would recommend. It has already been made into a film and so I’ve heard, does not follow the book exactly. From where I am in the book so far, it is intriguing but definitely can be slow at times. It is easy to visualize what the movie would be like as I am reading it even though I have heard that the book does not live up to the movie. I understand that sometimes some parts of the book have to get cut in order to make the film, but I'm curious as to what parts are different.

One scene that definitely has to be kept is the first chapter "An infinite Amount of Days Until My Inevitable Reunion with Nikki". This chapter is really important because you learn all about the main character, Pat. It tells you all of the struggles that he has been going through and some of the things that he has had to do in order to try to cope with them. It goes in to talk about his family and what it’s like when he returns home. It puts the whole main story into perspective so that the other chapters allow you to understand what is going on. With everything that is going on, Pat is not able to see his wife which puts a huge toll on his life along with everything that that he has to deal with.

Even though he cannot see his wife, Nikki, he still thinks about her constantly and does everything in his power to do whatever he can to please her even if she isn’t there. In another chapter, "The Worst Ending Imaginable", Pat reads a book that he thinks Nikki would read or have read. I think this is an important scene to keep because it shows how much he cares about her and will even please her when she’s not around. It is a big part of the book because even if it is something as little as reading a book, it shows that he doesn’t stop thinking about her and how she is such a huge part in his life.

The third scene that I would keep is "Sing and Spell and Chant." In this scene, Pat is at home with his mom, dad, brother and best friend. Even though he is still trying to get into the groove of living a normal life again, it’s hard for his family to accept him with all of the changes that has been going on lately. His brother has been really nice to him and bought him a Green Bay Packers jersey so they can all watch the game together. Usually Pats dad doesn’t pay any attention to him because it is hard for him to accept him with all of the changes that are going on. But on this specific game day, his dad completely changes. As they were standing up and singing the fight song, Pats dad puts his arm around him and they all sing together. This is an important part to keep because it shows how time is heeling everything.

A scene that I think could be taken out would be "If I Backslide". At this part in the book, Pat is talking to his therapist, Dr. Patel. Not that it isn’t important that Pat is meeting with him and talking about everything that is going on lately, it is just an unneeded conversation. For the most part he is talking about a party that he is going to and doesn’t have any clothes that fit him. He goes to a therapist to talk about the struggles that has been changing his life; something more important could have been said.

The last scene that I would cut out is when he takes his friend Tiffany out to dinner. "I Can Share Raisin Bran" is about how he walked to Tiffany’s house, met her there, walked to the diner without talking, ordered a bowl of Raisin Bran, and then walked her back to her house without talking. The scene just seemed unneeded because nothing really went on. Yes he went out with a friend and tried to have a good time, but nothing special happened and kind of made that part boring.