The Maze Runner: Book Review

I’ll admit it, the only reason I read this book was because I heard that it’s similar to The Hunger Games. But as it turns out, the similarities are quite small. Basically Thomas, the protagonist, wakes up with his memories wiped and finds himself in a place called the Glade – a village of sorts,…

Book Review: A Song of Fire and Ice

Over the past summer, I started reading the Song of Fire and Ice series, by George R.R. Martin after browsing through the library one day. An epic fantasy that currently spans five of a planned seven books, A Song of Fire and Ice paints the picture of a fictional society split into two continents –…

Book review: Flowers for Algernon

Recently I had been recommended a book called Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. At first I was hesitant to pick up the book because the first page I saw was full of spelling and grammatical errors. Flowers for Algernon is a first-person narrative told by Charlie Gordon whose innate IQ is an exceptionally low 68.…

Life of Pi Book Review

I had heard from others that this book was great; in fact, I’d even heard it being described as a masterpiece. So there was really not choice in the matter, I had to read this book. But then I found out that this would be one of the books assigned for English class, so I…

Volunteering at the Calgary Public Library

There are many libraries spread out across Calgary, and at each of them they offer numerous volunteer opportunities. I have been a part of a few of the libraries volunteer opportunities and was delighted by the time I spent volunteering with the children there. A couple of the programs the public library offers for the youth are…

New Start! Read!

The second semester is coming soon! And many of us may have great individual plans for a new start, especially Grade 12 students. As an ESL student myself, I would like to focus on a big tips for English. Read a lot!!! We have to be flexible readers through skimming and scanning. Skimming is an…

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

I have read many books that involve friendship. But I don’t recall reading a book with friendship as its central theme, until this week. I would have preferred the book to be more modern but that would be an absurd demand. So this book takes place in the 30s and follows two traveling workers (George…

My Top 10 Novels

I’ve always wanted to figure out what novel is my absolute favorite, but since I’ve read so many books, I always end up with a huge list and I just can’t seem to pick my favorite. So this week I decided to compile a list of my favorite 10 novels. The list is constructed in…

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Last week I reviewed a novel called “I am the messenger” by Markus Zusak. I decided that since that book was so awesome, I would read and review another one of his novels. So this week I’m reviewing “the book thief” by Markus Zusak. This novel is narrated by “death”, I found that quite interesting.…

I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak

Often, the authors of youth novels write stories that are relatively depressing and lacking in any conclusion. This is done to add a realistic edge to their story. They often do this by exploring the ugly side of people and society; this results in a de-motivational but realistic story. It is rare to find a…

The Giver by Lois Lowry

This week I’m reviewing a novel for a younger audience. Here’s a novel that raises an interesting question. Is it possible to create a perfect society and what should be sacrificed if this was to be accomplished? The story follows a protagonist named Jonas he lives in a world of sameness and obliviousness, a world…