Clemente, By David Maraniss-The Complete Book

Being a baseball fan, and being fascinated by the history of the sport, I found this book very interesting. While I admit the book was boring at times, it tells a truly great story along with all the facts you can possibly imagine. David Maraniss also does a great job of giving a detailed summary of all the important games and world series. I also like how at the end of the book, he tells about different people's reactions to his death--from fans of Roberto Clemente to close friends and family.

The book tells the story of one of baseball's greatest players. What makes Clemente so special is the adversity he had to overcome. Being one of the first Latin American players to play in Major League Baseball, Clemente experienced a lot of racism from fans, players, coaches and others. However, he was still able to be successful and even won an MVP award. On top of all this, he was one of the most generous athletes in the history of sports, constantly donating and doing what he could to help others in need. In December 1972 for example, Managua, Nicaragua was hit by an earthquake. For days, Clemente worked tirelessly on the relief effort. Eventually, Clemente personally got on a plane from Puerto Rico to Nicaragua to deliver supplies. Unfortunately, the plane went down, and Clemente as well as the other 3 people in the plane were killed. Clemente was 38.

Deception Point, By Dan Brown-#7

As the book builds up to its climax I am shocked with what has just been revealed. I am amazed by who in fact is the controller, and also by the involvement in the plot of other characters in the book. I find Dan Brown's writing skills unbelievable. He completely steers the reader in the wrong direction, so much so that when the secret came out, I had to re-read the line over and over again to make sure I actually read it correctly. It is amazing how off all of my ideas and predictions could be. Thinking back on it however, I am really not surprised. I knew the whole time that no one was exactly as they seemed after reading other Dan Brown books when he did similar things with the characters. But still, I did not expect that it would be this extreme. Now that I think about it though, I do not understand why they needed to track Rachel's call when Pickering already knew where she was. I was also impressed by Rachel's quick thinking, getting the controller to give the ship power for just long enough to send out the fax to her father. I also wonder what Gabrielle's role will be throughout the rest of the book. My prediction is that she goes to try to save the senator's daughter because from what it seems like he may not. In addition, I was amazed with Senator Sexton's reaction to the whole thing and I am eager to find out what he will do. I know that he and Rachel do not have the best relationship but I was still shocked when the book said that he even thought about the political advantages of his daughter dying because of the sympathy he would get. I know that he is not a good person, but that is still extreme. And, that is why I predict that Gabrielle will try to save Rachel. Gabrielle knows Senator Sexton and knows that he will probably not try to help her especially by the fact that he dismissed her, saying she was of no more assistance to him. Plus, she clearly won't just disappear from the book. I am very eager to finish the book.

Quarter 1-Blog Reflection

So far, I have found the experience of using a blog for independent reading very interesting. I think it is a good way of getting ideas out and reflecting what you have read. I have noticed that I talk a lot about what impressed things that the author did as well as other very general things about the book. I would like to get more specific about the book. I have also made a lot of connections about different parts of the book to other books by the same author.
In future blogs, I hope that I can be more specific and also I would like to ask more questions and make more predictions about the book. So far my posts have been extremely general and I would really like to work on being more specific with my comments about the book. I think that while my comments are insightful, they are not necessarily about the right things. I have written too much about the style of the author and not enough about the conflicts and plot of the book. Overall, I hope that I can make my blogs better, with more information in the future.