Back to the Institution

It's a very bittersweet feeling, coming back to school after the holidays. Mostly you're just bored out of mind and brainwashed from far too many hours of staying inside, tapping away at a keyboard- you feel like you've been underwater for far too long.

So you're back at school, you catch up with your friends, hear the latest gossip, and then BAM! Back to the real world. You have assignments, projects, even that test on Friday that you forgot to study for. You can hardly carry your textbook-filled bag, and squeeze it into that tiny locker still invaded by rubbish and smells of that sandwich that the person two lockers over forgot eat for lunch in Term 1.

However, I'm not too far behind on the reading scheme. I managed with great effort to drag myself to the closest local library and borrowed the next two in the Demonata series by Darren Shaw, the first novel in James Patterson's popular Maximum Ride series as well as a battered copy of Wuthering Heights.

Wuthering Heights is still sitting on my untidy desk, lost beneath mountains of schoolwork and half-attempted drawings, still unread. I tried, I must admit. I was able to complete the first page. Then I gave in to temptation and just flipped through the pages to find Bella and Edward's quote from Eclipse. Yes, I am sad. I realized this many, many years ago.

Maximum Ride is a different story altogether. It was recommended to me by another member of my book club (go to http://www.koobians.blogspot.com/ to find most of her insane ramblings) and the copy at the school library was stolen from under my very nose. I absolutely loved the first book, and when in town the next day, I brought the other three books in the series, believing them to be just as brilliant, if not better.

Wrong.

Five hours and forty-five dollars later, I had read through all the books and had come to the conclusion that James Patterson was a very indecisive author. He also never explains anything properly- his books grasp more on the action and the avalanche of the series, instead of fleshing out a logical and believable plot in the first place. Not exactly the best qualities that you want in an author.

I also read Chocolat in the holidays, as promised, and found it a very good and engaging read- and also a job very well done by the screenplay writers adapting it to the big screen. Another good book was the Book Thief a bestseller historical fiction on Nazi Germany that my sister bought as a part of her English homework- she misplaced it for a couple of hours.

Back to school, and I have read Blood and Chocolate after finally grasping it from the clutches of my fellow book lovers. It reads very much like Twilight- the same scenario, but with werewolves instead of vampires, and more alcohol and swearing. Nice read though.

Most importantly, in the light of upcoming release of Breaking Dawn, we have found an alternative to skipping school on Monday. We have arranged- and I kid you not- an excursion to the local bookstore exculsively for the population of the Year 9 Twilighters Fan Club. We're even making t-shirts for the occasion. We even miss out of ten minutes of class in order to catch the bus. I swear, on Monday 4th of August, around lunchtime, I will be in heaven.