Reading Update #3!

I can finally say that I've read and completed Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen! I did mention in my previous reading updates how much I admire Catherine Morland, the protagonist. Towards the end of the novel, Catherine endures many hardships that I truly sympathized her for and wouldn't want to be in her shoes. However, by the end, things work out well for Catherine and the book tied together greatly! Overall, I can say that I immensely enjoyed this book and would recommend it for anyone who wishes to embark on a Jane Austen works journey!

Next, I plan to read Hamlet by William Shakespeare. I know it may be difficult to get past the difficult Shakespearean diction, but I will try my best to use resources to help me go through the play. I have read Othello and Julius Caesar by Shakespeare before and I've enjoyed both of them, so I hope to enjoy Hamlet just as much!

Reading Update #2 - Northanger Abbey

   Hello! I'm here again with another reading update. I'm still reading Northanger Abbey, and is it possible that I love it even more than the last update? I am usually a quick reader and would have finished it sooner had it not been for all the schoolwork. However, I do plan to complete this beautiful novel this weekend (even though I would hate to part with it). 

   Since my last update, Catherine has met more people, some of whom have become her close friends, and her interactions with them are still as enjoyable as ever! Because of my fondness of Catherine, I really hope things go well for her and that the book ends on a good note.

   Also, I found out about the movie adaptation of the book today, and I'm definitely going to watch it as soon as I'm done with the book. The casting is amazing, and the actors are almost as I envisioned the characters.

   I hope everyone has a great weekend and happy reading!

Reading Update!

I will try to update on my reading from time to time. Currently, I'm  reading Northanger Abbey by the lovely Jane Austen. The novel follows a young girl, Catherine Morland, who  moves from her mundane home to Bath, a sophisticated town and is in pursuit of becoming a "heroine". I am only a few pages into the story, but I've already grown extremely fond of Catherine. She has a charming personality, and her interactions with the various people she meets are very enjoyable. The reason behind my strong admiration for Catherine's character may largely be the fact that she fervently reads and enjoys books, much like myself. Having read Pride and Prejudice by Austen, I can't help but recognise her oddly charming sense of humour in both these novels, which has added to my enjoyment of Austen's writing. I hope to enjoy the rest of this novel as much as I enjoyed Pride and Prejudice. I would recommend this book to fans of Jane Austen or anyone who wishes to read her works for the first time (which you should).

Narration

A week ago in English class, we watched some suspenseful snippets of several movies. We were then paired up and each pair chose one movie to narrate a short story based on the snippet. Here is the story my partner Dima and I came up with for the snippet of the movie Speed.

"Everything was normal on the highway that day, until a bus came hurtling down on the wrong lane. Chaos ensued; cars swerved to avoid the bus, streetlights crashed to the ground, and at one point, a baby’s trolley flew off the road. The bus driver’s main objective was to keep the vehicle’s speed above the 50 mph mark so that the bomb planted on the bus doesn’t go off.

The driver was burdened by the fact that she had to get all the passengers to safety. Taking many risks, she crosses red lights, swerves between lanes, and turns to unfinished roads. Then she takes a larger risk that ensured little success by attempting to jump across a 6 feet wide gap. After successfully landing on the other end of the road, she makes her way to the airport, an emptier spot where they can’t cause damage to civilians. They end up circling the airport’s runway multiple times while trying to dismantle the bomb. While making their way around the runway, they spot an empty airport bus driving past them. One of the passengers signals for the driver to align one of the bus’ doors with theirs at the same speed, and the passengers start moving from one bus to the other. After all the passengers safely board on the second bus, the bombed bus is steered away. When the speed of the bus goes under 50 mph, the bomb detonates at a distance from the second bus, and all the passengers are safely rescued."