Undomesticated Words

     If you're looking for a book with crime, drama, and a ton of suspense, then you've come to the right place. Little White Lies  by Jennifer Lynn Barnes is about a girl named Sawyer who is only trying to figure out who her father is but ends up getting caught up in a lot more drama than planned.       Sawyer Taft starts the story living in her mom’s house. However, her mom is off on a vacation they can’t afford. Her mom was often gone, and Sawyer had to support them. Then, Sawyer’s grandmother, Lillian Taft, shows up at her house with a contract. It proposes that if Sawyer comes to live with her for a year and participates in the events (ex. debutante balls), Lillian would give Sawyer a quarter of a million dollars. This intrigues Sawyer because she wants to be able to pay for college. She also knows that her dad's family lives near her grandmother's family, so she wants to find out who her dad is because her mom has been rather secretive about...

     Book club is an interesting place. The books can be of any genre and any depth. Sharing opinions is also a great part, and if you agree, it helps you connect with people. If you disagree, it provides you with a healthy debate that can really challenge your thoughts. Uni has a book club that is in partnership with Spectrum Club. The book we most recently finished is called I Wish You All the Best  by Mason Deaver. The book club leaders even got the author to join our Zoom for a Q & A!     I Wish You All the Best  is about a kid named Ben. They are non-binary but aren't out to anyone. After gaining the courage to come out to their parents, they were kicked out of their home. With no one else to go to, they called their sister who they hadn't spoken to in ten years. However, she still took them in and let them live in her house with her husband, Thomas . Ben had never met Thomas before, though, so their relationship was a little awkward at first...

(WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS) Introduction:         Hello, everyone, and welcome to the last blog post of the year! Wow, this has been a challenging year for us, but we're almost there! This post is going to be about (*drumroll*) another Spy School  series book review (I know, so unexpected of me)! This book is titled Spy School Goes South,  which is perfect to read during this time of year since it is summer-themed. This book is the sixth out of a total of eight spy books. There is actually a ninth one coming up soon, and I believe it is called Spy School At Sea . This book is full of suspense, action, and adventure. Summary:         Benjamin Ripely was activated on Operation Tiger Shark, attempting to thwart SPYDER once and for all. One of the CIA's prisoners, Murray Hill, offered them to tell Ben their secret headquarters' location ( implied by the title...oop ) in return for his freedom. He suspected something susp...

    The SCP Foundation: it's an internationally spanning project/wiki that's been thriving for years. Their website functions as a base for all things SCP-related, with Youtube channels, podcasts, and webcomics run by fans expanding its reach and audience. In the cannon of the SCP universe, the Foundation spans internationally, though it's definitely rooted centered in the United States (as shown by many SCP archives and descriptions detailing difficulties with Soviet Russia).      The letters stand for Secure, Contain, Protect and the organization's goal is to do those things to abnormal objects that are referred to as SCPs. Now, what exactly makes up an abnormal object? In simple terms, something that seems magical to the common person. For example, a tree that is able to grow almost any object (SCP-038). Many of them hint at many forces beyond our reach being at play, such as a group of god-like brothers, and even biblical figures. Also literal God. They have...

 William? Not doing a book review? No... it can't be... Well, believe it or not, dear reader, I have decided to spend my final blog post not writing a book review. Instead, this post will be dedicated to parts I found particularly interesting in Atlas Obscura by Joshua Foer. This book is quirky and unique in that it's sort of like an atlas in that it takes you through interesting and notable places around the world, but the twist is that they are relatively.... obscure (do you get it? Because the title is "Obscura"? Really clever, I know). So without further ado, here are some places I found particularly interesting. Warning: Contains Minor Spoilers, although what do they really spoil? Real life? There isn't any "plot" to the book, except maybe the plot of real life? I feel like I should be able to describe it better but yeah.   Longplayer, London, United Kingdom   Longplayer is a song composed of six short pre-recorded pieces of Mongolian throat singin...

Introduction: (WARNING: This post contains spoilers)         Hello, everyone! This blog post will be about the fifth book in the Spy School Series, which is Spy School Secret Service  by Stuart Gibbs. Have you ever heard of the Secret Service? Well, I was not aware of this before reading this book. If you are not aware, the Secret Service is a federal law enforcement agency that protects politicians of the United States (and deals with some criminal investigation). This book is going to mention the Secret Service numerous times, so I just thought it would be nice to make you aware of this. If you already know this, then good for you!          In the next section, I will talk about what I enjoyed and disliked about this book. What I liked:         1. The evil organization's plot is very stunning.  Compared to the other books in the Spy School series, the evil organization's (a.k.a SPYDER) plot is distinctly differ...

This blog post is going to be a little bit different than ones I've done previously. It isn't going to be a book recommendation, or a book unrecommendation, but something in between the two. I'll be talking about a few books that I think are just... meh... and how to improve them or how I would have liked to see them written instead. Disclaimer : The following are entirely my own opinions. While my opinions are always factually correct, I can't force you to agree with them (yet). If you think I'm right, great. If you don't, that's alright. My point is, you can enjoy whatever books you want, and if you really liked or disliked one of the books I mentioned, that's totally fine. Scythe by Neal Shusterman  This book feels like several books ripped up and glued together. Maybe I'm not sophisticated enough for it, but it just feels like the author tried to squeeze too much into too short of a book (and the book is a pretty fair length as it is, at around 4...

 Movie adaptations of books are hit or miss. They're more often than not catered more towards the general public than what the books catered to, which can cause some changes in the plot. Most of them are considered 'failures', 'jokes', or even 'non-existent' to the original fandom of the books just because of how bad they're considered. But why? Here's why.

  Introduction: (WARNING: This post may contain minor spoilers)         Hello, everyone! This blog post will be about the fourth book in the Spy School Series, which is Spy Ski School by Stuart Gibbs (you've guessed it, it involves skiing). If this is your first time reading the blog posts about the Spy School Series, then I would recommend you to read the first book review (Spy School). As always, the author devotes the first chapter as a refresher of the previous books in the series. I think it is a good thing for him to recap the major events in the previous book. However, this may be monotonous for some of us.           In the next section, I will talk about what I enjoyed and disliked about this book. What I enjoyed:         1. The plot is full of humorous scenarios.  This is one of the reasons why I like his books. He incorporates a sense of humor, even through critical times tha...

Normally I don't like nonfiction. But these are not normal times (in case you hadn't noticed) and this isn't a normal book. Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World-and Why Things Are Better Than You Think , by the late Hans Rosling, is an excellent read during strange times like these, and a great read for more normal times as well. Without further ado, here's why you should read it as soon as you can, and what you can expect from the book. A lot of famous people like it I don't want to spend too much time on this subject since it's relatively trivial, but the book has a lot of glowing reviews from famous people, including Bill Gates and Barack Obama. While I don't like it when books brag about all the famous people who've read the book, I think that does speak to something. Below are their respective reviews: "A hopeful book about the potential for human progress when we work off facts rather than our inherent biases." ―Barack...

The Promised Neverland is one of the best mangas I've read. It's incredibly unique, in its style, organization, story, and more. The manga itself is a psychological horror that centers around three orphans: the 11-year-olds Emma, Norman, and Ray who live with their many siblings at what they believe to be an orphanage. One day, however, they discover that they aren't actually at an orphanage, they're at a farm and are being raised like cattle to feed demons. They hatch a plan to escape, escape after a few technical difficulties, and begin their journey to the human world. However, they soon learn that their world is not a world ruled by humans, but by the demons they were being raised to feed and begin to plan another escape, this time into the separate world of humans. There's an anime adaptation to this as well, but seeing as it's skipped a very action-filled arc, the manga is worth a read.   So, without further ado, here's what I like about this manga.  L...

    Five Feet Apart  is a book written by Rachael Lippincott with Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis, which was turned into a movie directed by Justin Baldoni. Five Feet Apart  features two characters, Will and Stella, who have cystic fibrosis (CF). Cystic fibrosis is a genetic respiratory disease that causes your lungs to fill with mucus. Most patients are put on a lung transplant list and are given treatments like pills and Afflo vests before they hopefully receive new lungs. Their lifespan is much shorter than the average one, even with treatments. As of now, CF has no cure. What most people think of as minor illnesses like fevers or colds can be very serious for CF patients. CF patients also spend a lot of time in hospitals.      Will and Stella have CF, but Will also has b. cepacia. This means that Will's CF is even more serious than Stella's. People with CF (CFers) can't come within six feet of each other because that is the distance a cough trave...

  Introduction (WARNING: There are some spoilers.)         Welcome back! Hope you had a great Winter Break, and are having a great start for second semester. This blog post will be about the third book in the Spy School Series , which is Evil Spy School by Stuart Gibbs. The series could be interpreted as mystery, action, (maybe horror) simultaneously. When I first read the title, I had an urge to read it immediately. However, it took some time for me to retrieve it from the library. The good thing about Gibb's writings is that he devotes the first chapter as a refresher of the previous books in the series. I know this could be aggravating and monotonous for some us (even for me when I read the next book right after finishing the last one). I recommend reading the first chapter quickly, and only pay attention to the new events.           The author's style in this book (actually, in every one of his books) seems to be straightfo...

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages, I present to you possibly the most creatively named sequel in history, the successor to Ernest Cline's  Ready Player One ,  it is  Ready Player Two ! You have to give it to the publishers for letting him be so creative in this area of the novel. But how does the rest of the book stack up against the first one? Is it worth the read? What is the ratio of Lammas to goats in the contiguous United States? Two of your questions answered below! Things I Like: It's witty and fun One thing that stood out to me reading the book was all the witty banter, especially during tense moments and fights. If you've ever watched a spiderman movie or read one of the comics, you've probably noticed how quick and humorous the dialogue can be, which is pretty similar to the vibe I got from the dialogue in this book. Plus, Wade Watts' (the main character's) narration is smart and insightful, painting just enough of a picture to get the r...

So, 2020, am I right? It's been one he- I mean one rollercoaster of a year. We started with such high hopes, and with less than 50 days till the end of it, those hopes have been proved very wrong. We all thought it would be like the infamous Roaring '20s of the 1900s, but we forgot about the pandemic that swept through around that time. History really does repeat itself, doesn't it? Anyway, I'm going to be analyzing the lyrics of "Roaring 20s", a song with the upbeat instrumentals we wished reflected this insane year. However, you may be thinking "This isn't a book, why are you making a blog post about it?" Well, reader, it's for a very simple reason. I feel like it and have close to no other inspiration. Also because I'm considering this as a poem instead of a song. Will I be overthinking every word in this? Of course.  However, overthinking is a skill I tend to excel at, so get yote. This is all my own opinion, so feel free to combat my...

Welcome back to Undomesticated Words for more nostalgic reads! Last time, I listed and briefly described six novels that I found nostalgic, and this time I list seven more with a little section at the end of more throwback books that I didn’t quite have time to include. Enjoy! The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi: This series was recommended to me by a friend, and I instantly fell in love with it. It narrated the adventures of three siblings who could see magical creatures through a special eyepiece that they discovered in the creepy house they just moved into. The kids find that these creatures live in the same world as humans, humans just can’t see them. After this fascinating discovery, they end up going on quite a few adventures and fencing turns out to help them in an unfriendly setting.  The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein: Although very short, I feel that this book can be remembered by many of us. I remember reading it with my family and feeling tou...