My artistic padlet by Anna Li https://padlet.com/annal0603/5xsvvdh0komi Made with a stroke of good luck en-us 2017-03-20 19:39:37 UTC 2017-03-20 23:51:59 UTC hello@padlet.com In Cold Blood by Truman Capote annal0603 https://padlet.com/annal0603/5xsvvdh0komi/wish/161314574 Summary:
In Cold Blood tells the true story of the murder of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas, in 1959. The book is written as if it were a novel, complete with dialog, and is what Truman Capote referred to as "New Journalism" — the nonfiction novel. Although this writing style had been used before, the craft and success of In Cold Blood led to its being deemed the true masterwork of the genre. For Truman Capote, it was the last in a series of great works, which included Breakfast at Tiffany's, Other Voices, Other Rooms, and The Grass Harp. In Cold Blood was originally published in four parts in The New Yorker and then released as a novel in 1965. In Cold Blood took six years for Capote to research and write, and it took an incredible toll on Capote, personally — so much so that he never published another book again. In Cold Blood is said to have been his undoing.
https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/i/in-cold-blood/book-summary
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Yes/No: I wouldn't read this story because although the work does seem captivating in terms of plot, I'm not as interested in paranoia or murder. ]]> 2017-03-20 19:42:30 UTC https://padlet.com/annal0603/5xsvvdh0komi/wish/161314574 Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides annal0603 https://padlet.com/annal0603/5xsvvdh0komi/wish/161315856 Summary:
Middlesex, a Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Jeffrey Eugenides, spans the lives of three generations of the Stephanides family. Protagonist Calliope (Cal) Stephanides undergoes a spiritual rebirth as he comes to terms with his family’s history and how it inevitably led to his hermaphroditic birth. The story takes place in 1922 in Bithynios, Greece. Lefty and Desdemona Stephanides, brother and sister, have lost their parents in the recent war with Turkey. They have an unhealthy attraction to one another. When the Turks move to reclaim their village, Lefty and Desdemona flee, traveling first to Smyrna and then sailing to America. Along the way, they pick up an Armenian, Dr. Philobosian, who lost his entire family in the Turkish invasion. Being anonymous on the ship, Lefty and Desdemona act out an elaborate courtship and get married.
https://www.amazon.com/Middlesex-Novel-Oprahs-Book-Club/dp/0312427735
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Yes/No:
I would be interested in reading this book because of how it explores the grey areas of sexual identification, which is more of a recent topic in the modern era. ]]> 2017-03-20 19:47:10 UTC https://padlet.com/annal0603/5xsvvdh0komi/wish/161315856 The Sun Also Rises by Earnest Hemingway annal0603 https://padlet.com/annal0603/5xsvvdh0komi/wish/161315949 Summary:
In its depiction of the group’s journey from l’entre deux guerres Paris to Pamplona for July’s fiesta, The Sun Also Rises captures a war-shaken culture losing itself in drink and drama, and eschewing all but the occasionally comforting illusion of meaningful experience. Quixotically irascible, Robert Cohn dramatizes the romantic hero’s final crash into absurdity, as he cultivates a disruptive infatuation with Jake’s former lover, Brett, who shares neither Cohn’s intense affection nor his fraught-with-significance outlook (though she does share his bed).
https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Sun-Also-Rises
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Yes/No:
No, I wouldn't read this book because I'm not particularly interested in reading books about overly complicated relationships for my outside reading book.]]> 2017-03-20 19:47:29 UTC https://padlet.com/annal0603/5xsvvdh0komi/wish/161315949 Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston annal0603 https://padlet.com/annal0603/5xsvvdh0komi/wish/161316008 Summary: 
This novel is the story of Janie Crawford's search for love, told, as noted earlier, in the form of a frame. In the first few pages, Janie returns to her hometown of Eatonville, Florida, after nearly two years absence. Her neighbors are curious to know where she has been and what has happened to her. They wonder why she is returning in dirty overalls when she left in bridal satin. Janie tells her story to her friend Pheoby Watson, and after the story is over, the novelist returns to Janie's back steps. Thus, the story, which actually spans nearly 40 years of Janie's life, is "framed" by an evening visit between two friends.
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Yes/No:
I won't read this book as an outside reading book because although the plot is very well rounded and constructed, I don't have much interest in reading books about the search for love.
]]> 2017-03-20 19:47:39 UTC https://padlet.com/annal0603/5xsvvdh0komi/wish/161316008 The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath annal0603 https://padlet.com/annal0603/5xsvvdh0komi/wish/161316165 Summary: 
The Bell Jar is the story of 19-year-old Esther Greenwood, the breakdown she experiences, and the beginnings of her recovery.
The year is 1953 and Esther Greenwood, having finished college for the academic year, has won a one-month paid internship at Ladies Day magazine in New York City. She and eleven other college students, also contest winners, are set up in the Amazon Hotel and juggle work with the scheduled events the magazine has created for them. Esther's manager at Ladies Day, Jay Cee, is a hardworking, hard-hitting, homely professional who expects much of Esther. Esther's primary friend during this month is Doreen, a glamorous platinum-blond student who chain-smokes, dresses provocatively, and does not take her work seriously.
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Yes/No:
The plot of the book seems very intriguing, but I am already sold on reading middlesex for my outside reading book. However, I will read this book after for sure!
]]> 2017-03-20 19:48:14 UTC https://padlet.com/annal0603/5xsvvdh0komi/wish/161316165 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou annal0603 https://padlet.com/annal0603/5xsvvdh0komi/wish/161316241 Summary: In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou recounts the story of her life up to the birth of her child. Though she faces many hardships in her life, including being raped and living in a junkyard, she's able to find love and happiness as a mother.
https://www.enotes.com/topics/i-know-why-the-caged-bird-sings
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Yes/No:
I wouldn't read this book because I'm not as interested in reading about the hardships of raising a child. ]]> 2017-03-20 19:48:33 UTC https://padlet.com/annal0603/5xsvvdh0komi/wish/161316241 This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald annal0603 https://padlet.com/annal0603/5xsvvdh0komi/wish/161316306 Summary:
In the summer of 1919, after encouraging him to perform two revisions, Scribner's finally signed a contract with the unknown author F. Scott Fitzgerald to publish his first novel. Fitzgerald sold his first major short stories while waiting for the printing, but This Side of Paradise was his major debut, an immediate success that marked both the dawn of the Jazz Age and the dawn of Fitzgerald's turbulent career. An insider's satire of the American aristocracy and the social hierarchy of Ivy League universities, the novel turned Fitzgerald into a daring symbol for the Jazz Age, caused a sensation in the older generation, and inspired many in the younger generation to rush out and buy a copy.
http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-thiss/#gsc.tab=0
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Yes/No:
Although F. Scott Fitzgerald is a very talented author, I would rather take the opportunity to read something quite different from The Great Gatsby as my outside reading book. ]]> 2017-03-20 19:48:48 UTC https://padlet.com/annal0603/5xsvvdh0komi/wish/161316306 Tortilla Curtain by T. C. Boyle annal0603 https://padlet.com/annal0603/5xsvvdh0komi/wish/161316352 Summary:
T. Coraghessan Boyle’s sixth novel, The Tortilla Curtain, addresses the clash of cultures inherent in the contemporary Mexican American experience. The novel’s title refers to the border separating Southern California and Mexico, which Mexican immigrants cross illegally in search of work. One such immigrant, Cándido Rincón, is crossing a highway in suburban Los Angeles when he is struck by a car driven by Delaney Mossbacher, a resident of the nearby upper-middle-class community Arroyo Blanco Estates. When the bumbling Delaney offers help, Cándido asks for money and receives twenty dollars. The transaction cynically defines the novel’s ethnic identities: Americans are valueless exploiters who purchase peace of mind with money; Mexican immigrants are desperate victims who sell themselves cheaply in order to survive.
https://www.enotes.com/topics/tortilla-curtain
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Yes/No:
Although the topic of immigration and the hardships of labor is interesting, I would rather read topic that is less traditional. ]]> 2017-03-20 19:48:57 UTC https://padlet.com/annal0603/5xsvvdh0komi/wish/161316352 Empire Falls by Richard Russo annal0603 https://padlet.com/annal0603/5xsvvdh0komi/wish/161316404 Summary:
It is sometimes difficult to tell if Richard Russo's intent with Empire Falls is to describe the human condition in a story about the fate of a small town in Maine or to describe a small Maine town in a story about the human condition. In any event, Empire Falls is a once-prosperous industrial town ruled by four generations of the wealthy Whiting family. Empire Falls has fallen victim to a cheap international labor market with greed on both sides of the labor-negotiating table. Miles Roby, the central contemporary character, is the manager of the Empire Grill with his brother David. Miles has worked at the diner since he was in high school. David is a recovering alcoholic who sobered up after crashing his truck destroying one of his arms and rendering it useless. Mrs. Whiting, the widow of C.B. Whiting, has been uncharacteristically generous with Miles, promising to transfer ownership of the grill to him after her death with the condition that he will continue to manage it until then. Tick, Miles' teenaged daughter, also works at the diner. Miles is wholly devoted to her. Janine is Miles'estranged wife who has promised to marry Walt Comeau. Walt, known as The Silver Fox, is an aging wannabe playboy who owns the local health club. Walt is a braggart who loves to rub salt in Miles wounds about Janine. Janine is a former middle-aged fat middle-aged lady who discovered the tortures of the Stairmaster at Walt's club. Now that Janine has developed a knockout body, she has found the joy of sexual fulfillment in Walt's bed. Janine joins Walt in the torment of her husband with no end of sarcasm about his lack of sexual prowess. The novel is a snapshot in the life of Empire Falls and its fascinating tableau of characters. Everyone is waiting for Mrs. Whiting to die to see where she leaves her fortune.
http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-empire-falls/#gsc.tab=0
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Yes/No:
I would rather not read this book because I'm not as interested about the industrial age as opposed to other topics. ]]> 2017-03-20 19:49:08 UTC https://padlet.com/annal0603/5xsvvdh0komi/wish/161316404 The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood annal0603 https://padlet.com/annal0603/5xsvvdh0komi/wish/161316425 Summary:
In The Handmaid's Tale, Offred lives in a dystopian world where a theocracy has taken the place of the United States government, and women have lost all of their rights. Offred has been forced to become a Handmaid, but dreams of escape. In the end, it's unclear if she is rescued or arrested.
https://www.enotes.com/topics/handmaids-tale
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Yes/No:
I'm not as interested about situations in which men and women don't have equal rights. ]]> 2017-03-20 19:49:14 UTC https://padlet.com/annal0603/5xsvvdh0komi/wish/161316425 The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan annal0603 https://padlet.com/annal0603/5xsvvdh0komi/wish/161316484 Summary:
The Joy Luck Club is divided into four parts of four stories each, totaling sixteen stories in all; in the beginning of each part, a short parable introduces a common theme, connecting the four stories that follow. Each story is told by one of the seven main characters, and these stories are all woven together into a larger narrative about the complex, and often misunderstood, connection between immigrant Chinese mothers and their American-born daughters.
http://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-joy-luck-club/summary
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Yes/No:
Although the cultural discovery,  differences and integration is very interesting, as a first generation child I would rather read about a fresh topic for the outside reading book. 


]]> 2017-03-20 19:49:27 UTC https://padlet.com/annal0603/5xsvvdh0komi/wish/161316484 Native Son by Richard Wright annal0603 https://padlet.com/annal0603/5xsvvdh0komi/wish/161316519 Summary:
In Native Son, protagonist Bigger Thomas takes a job working for the wealthy Dalton family. He accidentally kills Mary Dalton, the daughter, and attempts to destroy the evidence by burning her body. In his attempt to flee Chicago, Bigger descends into guilt and fear, which dehumanizes him even further. His story illustrates the devastating effects of racism.
https://www.enotes.com/topics/native-son
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Yes/No:
Although the effects of racism in society is interesting, I would rather take the opportunity to read about a less popular topic as an  outside reading book. ]]> 2017-03-20 19:49:35 UTC https://padlet.com/annal0603/5xsvvdh0komi/wish/161316519