Blog Project #2

I chose this "Blood of my Blood" by Barry Lyga because its a series I've been waiting to finish for over a year and have been reading books by this author for years. I started reading it because I like murder suspense books and this one had a twist that I'd never seen before. Plus the other books of his that I've read were very good "The Astonishing Adventures of Fan boy and Goth girl", "Goth Girl Rising" and "Boy Toy". That's what made me want to read this series.


My Book Review:

"Blood of my Blood" by Barry Lyga

The "I Hunt Killers" trilogy by Barry Lyga is about a boy named Jasper Dent who's father is a notorious serial killer. Not only did his father terrorize the country by torturing and killing over one hundred women but took Jasper with him. Teaching him everything from dismemberment to hiding evidence that is till his father gets caught and sent to prison. Fast forward a few years and there is a new killer in in town and Jaspers the prime suspect as he works to clear his name. There are many twists  in this gripping series and everything will be answered in the end of book three "Blood of my Blood" by Barry Lyga.

Published Reviews:

"Lyga's burial of the I Hunt Killers trilogy cements it as one of the most ambitious thriller series in YA history and the absolute cliff from which teen readers can dive into the grueling world of adult crime procedurals."-Booklist (amazon)
http://www.amazon.com/Blood-My-Hunt-Killers/dp/0316198706

"The mystery pulls you in from the fist pages, and Jazz in a more chillingly charming protagonist than Dexter Morgan."-Cassandra Clare, author of the Mortal Instruments series (back of the book)

Bio:

Barry Lyga was born on September 11, 1971 and currently lives in New York. He majored in English and received his BA at Yale University. He has written 13 graphic novels and books with another due to come out in August. He has a blog that he uses to update his fans on new books, signings, free looks at essays and short stories along with how to contact him for advice on writing. He also has a Facebook at Barry Lyga and Twitter @barrylyga.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Lyga
http://barrylyga.com/novels/

This book is similar to his other books in that it has a shock value in it. Something that I've noticed in his other books is that there not the run of the mill story about teens still in school there stories about murder or suicide or another more taboo subjects . Its different in that it has suspense and life and death situations unlike the other that I've read. The ideas are different than most books in this genera in that most murder suspense novels it doesn't involve the murder's families.

This book is important because it not only is an entertaining story but about coming of age and becoming more than our parents. It relates in culture because of the books target audience, late teen to early 20s. It targets the age group that is coming into their own. Take social media accounts for example, its were people connect with other outside their families and creating their own opinions, ideas and rebellions, the character's defiantly represent that. The book also has a deeper meaning pointing out our consumerism and herd mentality and how that can get you killed metaphorically and physically. Lyga does this to provoke the reader into thinking about their role in society."Blood of my Blood" is a well written novel that captures the reader in unusual but realistic situations.

Personally I loved this book and a couple of hi other novels and while there all different there all good and to the same high standard. Its memorable because its not like the other murder mystery's I've read that that's saying something because I've read a lot of them. Also because of its intensity and captivating story.

I enjoy Barry Lyga's writing and sadly haven't been able to pick up another one of his books but I will when I get the chance. There's one that I'm looking at, its a comedy called DE 'souled. Its about a man who sells his soul to the devil, it looked good on Amazon. I lent my copy of "The Astonishing Adventures of Fan boy and Goth girl" she really liked it. She has my copy of "I Hunt Killers" (the fist one in the series) now so hopefully she'll be as hooked as I was.I learned a lot about Barry Lyga in that I knew nothing about him other than he wrote books that I've read. And that its important to look for the deeper meanings in books even if there just for fun.

Week 6

        I would read a newspaper if it contained things that I would be interested in. Like what is happening in my school like tuition rates raising or different program that are being picked up or dropped because of costs. Those are important to me because I am going to Linn Benton on a Scholarship kind of program and I wouldn't be able to go to school without it. And if something like that got cut I defiantly would want to know about it, along with a lot of other people to. But beyond programs being cut things like new classes being offered or books that weren't bought by buy back advertised by the owners how want to sell them. Things like that would get myself and other collage students more interested in a newspaper.
    
       Also things like what to do in Albany on a budget or for free would be something else that would make me want to get a newspaper. Things like the annual jazz festival or movies in the park during the summer are wonderful for collage students because there free and easy to get to. Something my family and I didn't even know about until it was the year after we moved to Albany. Along with things like bowling coupons or a few dollars off food would be another good way to get the people who are on a budgets attention.

     From what Jeff Jarvis has said and from the Page One video it doesn't look good for newspaper companies if they don't get their act together. From getting on board with social media and the app world to have a constant stream of information. Waiting for the next day to get out information worked before I could look up the tweets about the Kardashian vs. Rose debate while it was still going on just so I could understand my twitter feed. While this is complete trash that I'm horrified I know about at least I'm in the loop now and that's . That's what newspapers lack is the urgency and news right now. This could be rectified by having people scanning social media very few hours for the newest information. While this seems ridiculous it is one of the few ways that will put the newspaper business back on the board. This goes along with the app in that  people would not have to go buy or wait to receive a paper in the morning. This would accommodate their views needs and schedules making them more popular and their own form of social media.

Plog post 5

Freedom of speech is important aspects of life from having choices in how you can vote for to being able to have ay kind of conversation that you want. Freedom of speech is important to me because I like to be able to say what I think. Like when I'm doing things for SkillsUSA such as recruiting or handing out fliers and I'm able to do that with freedom of speech. I think that commercials have gone to far with freedom of speech, using it to bend the truth and press all sorts of fake promises down possible consumers. They do as much as possible to force themselves on to people so that they can make a sale. I have gotten to the point that I don't even watch cable because I cant stand all of the commercialism junk that I'm being forced to watch. Now it's not all products that get to me its the ads for lawyers who will use any excuse to get clients or the ads for the elections spewing all sorts of crap about what there going to do (bought for them by them), Or even better them slandering each other like its going to win my vote. They should be limited to speaking only the truth about what there doing or what they will do for you. Simple as that.

Week 2

     I have had social media for years and twitter is no different. I use it for multiple things such as pure comedy and staying informed on current events. Some of my favorites are @Banksy who post about harsh truths, @Girlposts because their hilarious and @Heforshe so I can watch the progress of women's equality. The picture to the left is an example of one of @Banksy’s posts. Social media can have two different affects on people, it can either inform or blind its followers to the real problems in the world.

 
 
 

    The most impact that I've seen from a tweet recently was one that talked about the expectations we have in out society about how we treat women. This boy did what he assumed would be the norm but the fact that he was wrong in heartbreaking. Social media is not always used in the best ways from tweets about the latest drunk celeb or a nip slip. But in cases such as these it shows how much we need to improve as a whole.

   I do believe that social media has helped me more then if it wasn't around from becoming more informed about the world around us but also in doing smaller things . Second to twitter my Pinterest account is what I use the most because I can learn so much more the if I had to use word of mouth or take a class. For example I use recipes that I can then use to sell baked good to people or make crafts for friends. One of my most recent challenges is that I taught myself how to knit and yes its getting better each time.