#3 East of Eden John Steinbeck 1952

In East of Eden Adam's wife leaves him after she bares the twins, Cal and Aron. For several years, Adam sinks into a type of depression, and does nothing with either his farm or his children. By the time he snaps out of his stupor the boys have grown up a considerable amount. One day the family is visited by a family and their young daughter, Abra. She begins to ask the boys questions about the mother they never knew and began a spark of curiosity in the two. When they proceed to ask their father about their mother, Adam claimed she was dead and buried on the other side of the country. Lee, Adam's servant, advises him against it, saying that the boys will find out eventually, and that it would be better for them to hear the truth now. I spent a long time contemplating this theory. In some ways I found it true, and false in others. If Aron and Cal were told from the beginning that their mother was a whore it would have always followed them bearing a mark of shame. At least if they were under the delusion their mother was dead, they might be able to use this faulty image to soften the sting of the comments of sharp tongued counterparts. A further advantage might be that when they finally did discover the truth they would be older and better capable of handling the news and why their father kept it from them. Cal is an exapmle of this. He found out the truth for himself and handled it as well as to be expected. The only downside might be the off chance they do not handle it well, as Cal believes Aron might.

#2 East of Eden John Steinbeck 1952

In chapter fourteen, there is a quote that the main character says as he prepares for the future on his newly obtained land, "Remember my name is Adam. So far I've had no Eden, let alone been driven out." He continues on to say that he wants to plant his "garden" for his "Eve", and that, "I'm going to make a garden so good, so beautiful, that it will be a proper place for her to live and a fitting place for her to shine her light on."
It is human nature to dream of some place better than the one we are in. I've known people who dream of the mountains when they are at the beach, and dream of the beach when they are at the mountains. Politicians and different forms of government are constantly attempting to make the world better, or how they believe it should be. I even create new and better worlds for myself when I write.
Adam's dreams are the practical kind. The kind that can actually come true and you can benefit from. This is very possibly the best kind of dream you can have, and the dream that I need more of. With dreams such as this, it would be completely realistic for it to come true. It will not disappoint you so often as the unrealistic fantasies. With a goal in mind you can make these dreams come true. The only thing that would ever be able to stop you is yourself.

East of Eden John Steinbeck 1952

This book has been amazing. I am already in chapter thirteen. For those who do not know, East of Eden recreates the tale of Adam and Eve in the Bible. As of now, I am not yet in the thick of the story. Adam Trask and his scheming, untrustworthy wife, Cathy, have just moved to Salinas Valley, where the rest of the story will take place.
So far, I think what has intrigued me most is the tension between Adam and his brother, Charles. It began with their father, who loved Adam more than his brother. At one time, Charles became so angry he set out to kill Adam. They pushed past the incident somehow but later, while Adam was drugged on his wedding night, he slept with Cathy.
As you may know from reading my creative writing blog, I absolutely love to read (and write) about betrayal between brothers. It is the absolute worst thing you can do to betray someone who has only given you love. It makes for a wonderful story, especially if you were willing to doubt the sunrise before the love of your family. I know that I love my younger siblings more than anything on this earth and would never do anything to hurt them. I would be crushed to find if one of them deliberately tried to hurt me. It is one of those things that you never see coming, and one that hurts you the most.

#4 102 Minutes by Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn 2005

9-11 was an awful, catastrophic event that changed all of our lives. We still hear and talk about it today after eight years. We can no longer even bring liquids onto planes. Anyone who looks fairly Middle Eastern gets treated with suspicion. Paranoia has become the norm in movies, books, and even everyday life. A few days after the attack on the Twin Towers, there was a group of three Americans, Israeli men, who came into a diner in Florida. While they ate, they spoke of the unfortunate loss. The attack was the top of gossip, and the first subject on nearly everybody's tongues. It was a perfectly natural topic. The waitress, of course, called the police after the men had left. They followed the Israelis in dozens of police cruisers. When they finally caught up with them, the took them into custody where they were interrogated for three days before they were realised. It is unfair and unjust, but can you really blame us? Thousands of people had just died and with the failed attack on the Pentagon who knew if they were going to try again? To this day I hold my breath on September eleventh, scared that someone might try and finish what they started.

I regret to say that I do not believe I will be finishing this book. It is a depressing and difficult read that I am not getting much out of. Even most of my blogs came out of my own thoughts and experiences rather than the reading. I feel awful, like I have given up, but reading is something special to me. When reading becomes a chore for me it is time to get a new book. I am happy to announce that I will now be reading East of Eden by John Stienbeck. I hope that this book will be better than the last.

#3 102 Minutes by Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn 2005

When September 11 occurred I was in third grade. They didn't let us watch. They took us out on the black top outside and told us afterwards. I didn't understand the extremity of the occasion. I knew that I was supposed be sad, and I thought that I should be scared. I tried to act both, but I didn't conjure up any real sympathy. I was too young to understand.  

I figured out how terrible of a thing it really was as the years past. But I still do not think I grasped the reality of it. It was a terrible thing that happened years ago when I could not understand it and therefor I still did not grasp the entire concept. It was not until ninth grade did I truly understand. 

I was in Civics class on the anniversary of that terrible day. Our teacher told us that he watched the towers fall on his television with his students. Not a single sound was made. After it was over, he said that he turned to his class and said,

"We have just watched hundreds of people die."

Then it hit me.  It had taken me six years, but now I finally felt as I should have felt in 2001. My empathy had finally caught up to me. Now reading this book unearths all of that again, plus all my shame for having taken so long to realize how awful it was for everyone. it is almost like karma, coming back to haunt me. I didn't give enough of my sympathy then, and so I must make up for it now. 

#2 102 Minutes by Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn

One horrible aspect about September 11 is that fact that so many measures could have been taken against it. In 1993 a terrorist attack was taken against the World Trade center, identifying it as a target. Since then, Firemen and Policeman were encouraged to work and train together to eliminate miscommunication errors. Brand new handheld radios were given to both departments that went unused.  As it was, miscommunication ended up being a large factor in the chaos of 9/11. Nobody could get in touch with those trapped inside the building and contradictory orders concerning the evacuating of the second tower confused things further. May people were being told to stay while others were told to leave. 

In addition, many fire codes were bent or broken during construction of these two buildings to increase profitability. Because of this, fires were everywhere and the poisonous smoke added to the confusion. The crash of the plane had knocked out the water pipes that supplied the water sprinklers and soon the fires consumed several floors. It came to the point where the Firefighters no longer even thought of putting out the fire. The only thing to do know was rescue those whom they could.  

Another fact that makes me the most sick of all was that WE helped prepare the terrorists. They learned to fly here in the United States. Normally, I would not hold this against the U.S., but in this case we were given an extraordinary clue. They told us that they wanted to learn how to fly a plane, but did not care to learn how to land it. 

102 Minutes Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn 2005

This book that I am reading now is about the people who were inside the Twin Towers in the 102 minutes that it fell. I have not gotten to deep into the book itself yet. Right now, it is opening up with the normal routines of ordinary peoples lives. A managing director of a firm is trying to get off the phone with his wife, a secretary begins work as usual.  No one would even think to guess about the catastrophic tragedy that was about to take place. It never occurred to anyone to kiss their wives twice this morning, or tell their kids how much they loved them, because they might not get another chance. It was just another ordinary morning.

Reading this, I was reminded of how fragile life was. I could die today. Just last Sunday a boy at our school was shot. Such tragedies are a fact of life. "In the midst of life comes death," as the quote from the bible says. But we often forget that, "In the midst of death comes life." I know that it is a rather worn point to use, but we must live every day as if it were our last. We have been known to ignore the fragility of life when it no longer applies to us. We leave each other on bad terms and let arguments keep us separated for years. If we should die, do we really want to leave that behind unresolved? Love is the one necessity you have to give away. Never stop giving.

#4 The Lost Symbol Dan Brown 2009

The other day while I was in math class my teacher noticed my book, The Lost Symbol, that I had with me, and asked if I was enjoying it. I replied that I was, and he said that he was reading it too, and did not like it so far. The class found this immensely funny and although I know he did not mean to, I felt as if our teacher had singled me out. I defended myself by saying you had to like mysteries and be able to put up with the pace the characters took. The teacher replied by saying he liked mysteries, and I felt more out of place than ever. Did I just have bad taste in books? I have had what other people have called "poor taste" in movies and food, but literature was the one thing I have always prided myself on. Could I be losing my touch in that field as well?  

It was to my great satisfaction when, the next day, the same teacher confided in me that I was right.  The plot had picked up speed since he last read it and he was now just as interested as I was. 

I allowed myself a moment of joy for my triumph. I was right! The unfolding, baffling clues were not only intriguing to me but to others as well. I still knew a good book when I read it, and, The Lost Symbol has certainly been one of them.

#3 The Lost Symbol Dan Brown 2009

Throughout the book the main character, Robert Langdon, is highly skeptical of the reason he is there. He believes that all the clues he has been given to decipher all mean the same thing: the "portal" he is looking for is metaphorical, not literal. Everyone else around him is convinced otherwise. As Langdon was conversing with another Mason on the topic, the Mason cryptically remarked, 

"There are forces at work tonight that you do not yet comprehend. There is no turning back." Langdon could not comprehend how said "forces" could have been put into motion by what had occurred. When he said as much, the blind Mason replied, "Of course you can't, Professor. You do not yet have eyes that can see." 

This is a very powerful statement. Recently I have gone to Dialogue in the Dark, an exhibit in which they show you just what it is like to be blind. It was a real eye opener, if you will pardon the pun. Everyday tasks nearly become impossible, especially for someone as clumsy as me when they can see perfectly. It emphasized just how important he felt about being open minded, at least on this topic. 

I think it is good to keep an open mind, for without it we would not have gotten the ipod, blue-ray, or lots of other cool little doo-dads our generation can not do without. Skeptics will never make the next big break through in technology, or create the next new fashion. The only ones who will ever progress in our society are the ones who keep an open mind.  

#2 The Lost Symbol Dan Brown 2009

In this book, one of the secondary characters is named Katherine Solomon. She happens to be researching Noetic Science, which is the study of human thoughts being able to control the physical world. Although Katherine Solomon and the extent of her research in Dan Brown's book is fiction, the scientific study is actually real. Katherine explains Noetic Science as such: A grain of sand has an immeasurably tiny mass. But if trillions of these grains of sand came together to form something (such as the moon) its gravity would have the ability to affect physical objects (such as the tide). Noetic Science states that thoughts similarly have an undetectable mass. In theory, if enough people began to think the same thing the gravity of the thought could have an actual effect on the physical world.

I love the idea that our thoughts could have an actual weight upon the universe. It calls to mind the phrase "mind over matter". Although I do not know what kind of effect joint-thoughts would have, nor if the effect would be worth the effort of getting thousands of people to think the same thought, I just like the idea that our thoughts have matter. It is not just some willy-nilly nothingness going in and out of your head. It is an actual thing even though you can not see it. Like gravity. Or the Force. It just gives it a little more self worth to acknowledge that it is there, and that it is not simply some abstract concept.  

The Lost Symbol Dan Brown 2009

This book is about a Professor named Robert Langdon who specializes in hidden symbols. When he receives a call from a friend to speak in Washington he agrees, not knowing that the person who called was not his friend's secretary as he claimed, but rather his captor. Now he is in a race against time to find the "portal to Ancient Mysteries" in order to save his friend's life. It is an amazing book that has kept me turning its pages since I first picked it up. 

One of my favorite parts was a flashback of Professor Langdon teaching a freshman class about the Masons. When one of the students claimed that it sounded a lot like a freaky cult, and Langdon replied, 

"Too bad. If you think that's too freaky for you, then I know you would never want to join my cult." Then he explains, "On the pagan day of the sun god Ra, I kneel at the foot of an ancient instrument of torture and consume ritualistic symbols of blood and flesh." At the classes horrified expression he continued, "And if any of you care to join me, come down to the Harvard chapel on Sunday, kneel beneath the crucifix, and take Holy Communion. Open up your minds, my friends. We all fear what we do not understand." 

Truer words have never been spoken. Whether or not it is because of religion, race, or any other category we almost always judge others by our fears. This same concept was shown in the essay we read in class A Black Man in Open Space. Everyone should cease their prejudice and take Professor Langdon's advice to open our minds.

 

# 8 Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert 2006

While in Indonesia, Liz's friend the medicine man happened to tell her about a spiritual presence everyone has. He calls them the Four Brothers and says that they are with you from birth to protect and look over you. I loved the idea that you always would have these guardian angels, these brothers, to watch your back. Excited at the idea, I closed my eyes and tried to reach out to my four brothers. I felt their presence very easily, as if they wanted to be found. It might have been my overactive imagination, but I hope that it wasn't. I liked the idea of my own guardian brothers. I rather felt as if each had their own personality: the strong one, the sensitive one, the wise one, and the comedian.

The medicine man told Liz that she must have a special name that she referred to herself as when speaking to her brothers so that they would always know it was her. I followed his advice and made myself a nickname too. For personal reasons I do not wish to divulge it, but lets just say it is the equivalent of "Small Birdie". Having given myself this name I felt my brothers should have names too. I almost immediately dismissed the idea. Who was I to choose the names of my angels, and even if I did I probably would not have been satisfied with them. The names would have to be meaningful so that I would not forget. A while after giving up the search of names the names came to me: Charlie (the comedian), Sam (the sensitive one), Rodney (the wise one), and Mick (the strong one). Once again I do not know if this was due to a divine presence or my subconscious, but I really hope it is the former.

P.S This will be my last blog on Eat, Pray, Love. It has been a great book and I recommend it to anyone who really wants to believe in something, even if that something is just yourself. 

#7 Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert 2006

In Bali one of Elizabeth's  friends was an old medicine man whom she estimates is between sixty five and a hundred and twelve years old. Through a certain kind of meditation he claims that he can pass through seven levels of happiness and reach heaven. When Liz asks if he has also visited hell and says that he has. Just as he has to pass seven levels of happiness to get to heaven he needs to pass seven levels of sorrow to get to hell. When she asks what hell is like, He replies, "Same-same. Same in end, so better to be happy on journey." 

Wow. Deep. I do not agree with it on a religious level, but it is interesting to think about. Love and happiness are inevitable so don't waste your time, or anybody else's, with self pity. If you should live by this mid set think of how many people would be happier. They would get up and finally DO something about their misery. But then again they might just let their sadness envelope them, thinking that they might as well finish the path that they were on since happiness is the general outcome anyway. The sadness and sorrow might also make the happiness seem all the more better once you finally achieve it. (218) So which way is better? I can honestly say I have no idea but on this instance I think I will take the medicine man's word for it: "better be happy on journey." 

#6 Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert 2006

Countless times last year as one of my classrooms contently worried about our grades our teacher gave us a mantra to repeat: I am not a number. I am not a number. I am not a number. I came to believe her even if it didn't help so much when the less-than-spectacular grades came back in. So when I began reading about Elizabeth Gilbert's adventures in Bali I was a little surprised when it came to the Balinese names. The four most popular names translate into First, Second, Third, and Fourth. I understand that this is a different culture and all that but, among other reasons, this seems like a very confusing naming system. Can you imagine?

"Hey First, no not you, the other First! Yeah, I was here first!"

"But you are Third!"

"I know but I am first in line and you are second."

"But SHE'S Second!"

Oy vey. The whole situation reminds me of an excerpt from a book called The Phantom Tollbooth. The main character is trying to explain the concept of names to a character called the Dodecahedron. The Dodecahedron replies, "How terribly confusing. Everything here is called exactly what it is. The triangles are called triangles, the circles are called circles, and even the same numbers have the same name. Why can you imagine what would happen if we named all the twos Henry or George or Robert or John or lots of other things? You'd have to say Robert plus John equals four, and if the four's name were Albert, things would be hopeless."

In both situations I can see the point made by having names be numbers but my argument is that it simply does not apply. Just by talking about someone named Third I could be referring to a fourth of the Balinese population. I believe that individuals need to be named individually; not as numbers.

#5 Eat, Pray, Love Elizabeth Gilbert 2006

While Elizabeth remained at her Indian Temple she decided to take on Silence as a devotional practice. She was a naturally talkative person and loved the idea of "emanating a holy radiance of silence" and becoming known as "That Quiet Girl". The very next morning an office administrator called her up and told her that her job while staying at the temple had been changed. No longer was she going to be scrubbing the floors but the Key Hostess of the spring retreats. In other words she is the only person the participants are allowed to talk to while they are in silence. Ironic. I could just imagine God drooping his shoulders and rolling his eyes in exasperation while sighing, "No, don't try to change yourself in order to talk to me, I want to talk to you personally."

Elizabeth quotes a philosopher on saying, "The wise man is always similar to himself." It is a good thing to keep in mind and a great rule to life by. You do not have to be unique or original like all of your teachers have ever claimed. It might help but it certainly is not mandatory as long as you are yourself. If you should say what others want to be said your audience will thank you and smile in your direction before continuing to go about their own business. Should you say what needs to be said your audience will applaud you. Depending on exactly who it is in your audience of course.

To quote the Genie as he buzzed around Aladdin's ear, "Just remember, BEE yourself!"

#4 Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert 2006

This blog is going to be slightly different than usual. The Indian portion of Eat, Pray, Love inspired me to do my own meditation. I was reading before school one morning and read about Vipassana, a form of meditation in which you do nothing. You sit. End of story. You are not allowed to move once you have positioned yourself, not even to scratch. I thought to myself, There is no way I could do that for even ten minutes. And a deeper part of me replied, You will never know if you don't try. It is only for ten minutes. On your mark, get set, GO! No sooner than I thought it my leg began to itch. Ignoring it didn't help. If anything, it made it worse. So instead I focused on it. I discovered that it wasn't that bad. My leg wasn't burning, it had an itch; an insignificant itch. With that I was able to move on. 

After I had my epiphany (It was only an itch! Who knew?) I was able to meditate on the sunlight. I know that sounds a little corny but it was the only thing I could meditate on besides the wall. I found the spots where it pulsed and waited in anticipation for shadows to move and reveal the light behind. That sunlight reminded me of contentment and happiness. It could be disfigured and hidden but it was always there. You can never quite get rid of it.

After my sunlight analogy, I closed my eyes and breathed. In, and then out. While I inhaled I made certain that the air went all the way down to my toes and when I exhaled I reeled the air back up to my head as if it was on a fishing line. I would like to say that I experienced some form of enlightenment but I would be lying. However, it did make me feel peaceful and happy.

When one of my friends finally showed up at school and broke my trance I found to my delight that I had done it! Ten minutes had already gone by. That deep part of my mind said, Good. Now you can try it for three hours. Thankfully, my more conscious mind had the sense to reply, That is so not happening. 

#3 Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert 2006

One of my favorite parts of this book so far is one of her dreams in India. She dreams that she is on a beach with her Guru's Guru (her Grand-Guru?) whom she refers to as Swamiji is telling her to stop the tide. After several failed attempts at doing so Swamiji laughs at her and says, "Tell me, if you would be so kind- how exactly were you planning on stopping that?"

I think that this dream really brought out her insecurities about having to tame her raging mind during Yoga sessions, but I came away with my own and an entirely different message. Somethings you cannot change. Somethings you cannot fix. When we come across these things in life we just need to take a breath and then exhale all of our OCD away. I know there are times when I get so obsessed with my writing that I will get stuck on one word. I will stare endlessly at that taunting, blinking cursor tearing my hair out. I almost need someone to remind me that it is just a tiny little word, and I can worry about it later. Then I can shake off my obsession and return to what I enjoy doing.

Sometimes life is going to be like that puzzle that has had its missing pieces replaced by ones that do not fit. You are going to have to learn to scatter those puzzle pieces we call life around until they become a beautiful mosaic. 

#2 Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert 2006

After staying in Italy for ten days Liz succumbs back to loneliness and depression. Only Liz does not refer to them as "loneliness" and "depression" but as Loneliness and Depression. She personifies them as two cops with whom she was very familiar with after several years of enjoying their company. Loneliness is the nicer cop but is still ruthless and Depression is the brawn of the two. In the night that followed she wrote to herself in her notebook to bring herself much needed comfort. She wrote, "I am stronger than Depression and I am braver than Loneliness and nothing will ever exhaust me." When she awoke the next morning both Depression and Loneliness were gone. 

When I was little I was always the odd one out. I was always targeted by bullies for being over emotional and never had more than one or two friends at a time until I reached fourth grade. Loneliness was kind of a given, and so was depression to tell the truth although I don't suppose I can quite call it that. It was more like continuous sadness. But had my loneliness and sadness became Loneliness and Sadness, I believe I would have prevailed a lot better. I was not lonely, Loneliness was stalking me. I could never be sad, Sadness could only spy on me. It is much easier to fight someone else than yourself and with the superhuman strength all children have, Loneliness and Sadness would have never stood a chance.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert 2006

I could summarise this book in six words: THIS IS THE BEST BOOK EVER! But since each of these blogs have to be at least two hundred and fifty words, I might as well give you a bit more background information. This book is an autobiography of Liz Gilbert, a woman in her thirties who has everything she is supposed to want in this world except happiness. After a painful divorce and an equally disastrous love affair Liz decides to travel the world for a year; four months in each India, Italy, and Indonesia in order to help and more importantly discover herself. 

By page thirteen of this book I decided I liked this woman. By page fourteen I decided we were soul sisters. On such said page thirteen Liz began to talk about her religious views and I briefly had to put down the book for a moment. While I was gone I started thinking about my religious views. When I came back and read the following page Liz had written the exact same thing I had just thought to myself. (Insert Twilight Zone music here) We both believe that God (or whatever your head god is called) does not care who you are, what religion you study, or what your ethnicity is. As long as you devote yourself to a life time of humility, kindness, etc. This is exactly what I felt about my own beliefs and the exact problem I have always had with Christianity. I have always had many non-christian friends and countless times I asked the question, "What about the people who don't believe but are still good? What about them?" and never have been able to find a satisfying answer. She explains her religion as taking all of the best qualities from each god and applying them all to one. The answer she gives to those who ask her about her beliefs is, "I believe in a magnificent God." 

#3 Star Trek by Vonda N. McIntyre 1986

I would like to announce that I have finished Star Trek. *bows at the applause* Thank you, thank you all very much. Star Trek no matter how nerdy it sounds was a very good book. It put a very big emphasis on the value of our differences and uniqueness.  At the closing point of the book Federation Space (a.k.a the good guys) and the Kilngon Empire (a.k.a. the opponents) came to a temporary truce in which the interstellar circus the Enterprise was carrying preformed. The Klingons were both appalled and offended by the 'witchery' in the magic act to the point where they did not enjoy the rest of the show. But the very last act, a modern rendition of a scene in Hamlet that the Federation found less appealing than the original, was adored by the Klingon Empire. That one, seemingly insignificant, act very well saved the two places from an act of war. It might be a cliche to say that small things can make the biggest difference but that is what applies here.

 A mixture of entities and characters are essential for the checks and balances necessary in smooth operations. Captain Kirk said himself that the reason he and Commander Spock made such a good team was the fact that they were so different. One person can preform a job that another one can not and this helps structure the way we live. Our dependence on each other goes far beyond the people we know. Being good at one thing does not mean we will be good at another. The last line in this book illustrates this when Spock tells doctor McCoy  on behalf of the circus's illusionist, "You are a doctor, not a magician."

#2 Star Trek by Vonda N. McIntyre 1986

One of the best underlying messages I see in Star Trek is the acceptance of culturally different people. Being a xenophobe is enough to get you kicked out of the Starfleet and all different forms of beings have to coexist. Mr. Spock is always trying to decipher human emotions and one of the more predator-like crew members was outraged at the fact one man kept a wild cat as a pet. One secretary took her nervousness to the extreme but once you realize that she had a troubled past, was trying to support her two younger brothers, and hiding the fact that she was really three years younger than she said she was, that nervousness becomes understandable. 

Closer to the end of the book the Enterprise stumbles across a species no one has encountered before. They travel in a far more advanced ship; one that takes on the form of a small world. Their kind did not build it and nor does anyone run it. There are no leaders either, they live their lives as the please. Communicating is difficult because neither species can make sense of the other. 

Understanding others is what I pinpointed as the books theme.  Even in ordinary situations and every day conversations it is essential to know the character of the person whom you are speaking with. Otherwise offence could be taken from things not intended to be offensive or the point you are making meaningless. Like everyone would always tell you when you were little: It is good to be unique. We each add something different to the world that makes our lives run as we know it.

Star Trek by Vonda N. McIntyre 1986

I know that Star Trek is not the 'insightful' book I need to be reading for AP Language and Composition but this was the book I was reading at the beginning of the year and it is the book I am determined to finish. 

The book is about Captain James Kirk's first mission upon the U.S.S. Enterprise. James is given the honor of Captain after a brilliant (and completely reckless) move at the battle of Ghioghe. But the mission he gets is not exactly what he had in mind: ferrying an intergalactic troupe of circus performers. But Captain Kirk can't just simply go out into space without an adventure. An outlawed renegade named Koronin acquires a ship when she kills its owner in a duel. She then makes way for the Federation Limits... exactly where the Enterprise is heading. I predict that James Kirk will finally prove himself to his skeptical, unwilling crew as he shows them that he is capable of the necessary leadership. I think the book has done a very good job with pacing itself. I have seen other forms of Star Trek with Captain Kirk's unwavering faithful crew and it is nice to see just how that trust was formed. It is also paced well in its plot. It keeps you interested and content. All the while it pulls you in because you know that the climax is yet to come and has to be bigger and better than all of which came before it.