Global Posts

ABOUT ME

GOODREADS TUTORIAL

BOOK REVIEW: Grace and Glory

TRAVEL EXPERIENCE

PHOTO ESSAY

WORKS CITED

Hello everyone! My name is MacKenzie, and welcome to The Life of a Reader. Together, we will look through the eyes of a reader and escape our reality like they do. We all have a reader inside of us, but it only comes out when you find the right story to get you started. Once you find the right story, you never seem to stop finding new ones. Here is a very brief look into my reading preferences:

For me, the right story to get me started was Percy Jackson & The Olympians. While this series began my journey as a reader, Little Women is my favorite book. My favorite author is Jennifer L. Armentrout. I like romance and supernatural stories the best. I read other genres including historical fiction and romance, but my favorites consist of worlds unlike ours. This allows me to be a dreamer and imagine what it would be like to live in a world where I can fly, fight aliens, or be a demigod. When I read, I AM in those worlds.

In this blog, I will specifically review books as well as give book suggestions. Images of readers and book will be consistent, and I will provide a tutorial on how to set up and use my favorite book tracking app, Goodreads.

Let the journey begin!

This video is a short tutorial on the app and website Goodreads. It is a great way to track progress on books a reader is currently reading as well as receive recommendations tailored to a reader’s past genres and books they have read. It is completely free and easy to access.

Grace and Glory by Jennifer L. Armentrout

As I mentioned in the beginning post entitled “ABOUT ME,” Jennifer L. Armentrout is my favorite author. She writes amazing stories in all subgenres of fiction and romance. The first series I ever read by her was the Lux Series. It involved aliens and alien-like creatures, but it was not the stereotypical book about aliens. In fact, they looked like humans.

Enough about that series though because I just finished the last book in the Harbinger Series. This series was a spinoff of the Dark Elements Series, but it focused more on two other characters: Trinity and Zayne. Zayne was one of the main characters in the first series, but Trinity was completely new for this series. Throughout the first two books, we learn about Trinity’s past and discover the love connection between her and Zayne. We learn about her father being the archangel Micheal, and we still see the same characters from the first series. They overcome a lot of obstacles except defeating the Harbinger.

This last book was a rollercoaster of emotions. I do not want to give any spoilers for those interested in the series, but the second book ended on a very emotional scene that picked up at the beginning of the last book. Trinity is battling a traumatic and heartbreaking experience involving Zayne. After a few days, she realizes that her beloved can still be saved, but she needed help. The first half of the book was a struggle for me to read because I like romance, and it was not there for a bit.

The second half of the book is where it picked back up. Everything is back to normal; except, they still have not defeated the Harbinger. Trinity and her friends recruit an unusual pick for saving the world, but was it enough? You will just have to read to find out. Armentrout does an amazing job with bringing her characters to life. Her character, Roth, is my favorite of all the book boyfriends that exist. He was the love interest in the first series. She has a way with words that make the reader want more. I can never seem to but one of her books down. This particular book took me a while to finish because of my transition to college life, but it was an incredible read nonetheless. This book was full of plot twists I never would have predicted, and they went all the way to the last chapter. She never fails at making me laugh. She always has that one snarky character that will make the reader laugh until they cry. This is one of the many reasons that I love her books. In this particular series, there were two characters like this: a demon named Cayman and a ghost named Peanut.

To finish off this book review, I will be suggesting many books written by Jennifer L. Armentrout. A few of the series I would highly recommend are among the following: The Lux Series, The Origin Series, The Covenant Series, The Dark Elements Series, and The Harbinger Series. She writes individual books too including The Problem with Forever and If There’s No Tomorrow. I love all of these books and highly recommend them to anyone who likes to escape our world. The standalone books I have mentioned are more realistic than the series, but I love them all. I hope everyone will read any of these books and come to love them as much as I do.

On November 10th, I went back home to Atlantic Beach, North Carolina to see my family and go to a community lead version of The Addams Family play. The play was on Saturday the 11th. Nothing interesting happened on Friday. I went to my classes, and afterword, I drove four and a half hours home. As soon as I got to my house, I ran straight in, passed all of my family, and gave my dog the biggest hug. They were not too happy about it. We ate dinner and went to bed eager for the play on Saturday. The play was an hour from my house, and my sister and mom were with me.

The actors in the play were from the community, and they did an amazing job. We went to the theatre and got some popcorn and soda. We sat in the second row, and there was fog around us and on the stage. My sister and I got a picture with Lurch; he was ushering people to their seats.

I am a big Wednesday Addams fan, and the actress did an amazing job with keeping her facial expressions even when there were funny parts of the play. I highly recommend to everyone reading this to go see this play anywhere. The songs were amazing, and the local talent embodied their characters perfectly. Morticia and Lurch looked like they came right from the original show. The day after the play, my family and I went to church

After church, I left to come back to school. It is a four-and-a-half-hour drive. Sometimes it takes me five hours. When I finally got off the interstate, I heard a screeching sound like metal scraping together. I pulled over into a Family Dollar and Dollar Tree parking lot and called my dad. After listening to instructions on how to look around for anything broken, I was still confused. I sent a bunch of pictures to him, and he told me that if I drove anymore, I most likely would not have brakes. I had to leave my car in that parking lot for my uncle to pick up the next day. It took me a while to hide my key under my car because the bumper was so big.

I had to call my roommate to see if she could pick me up. I waited for an hour and a half to get picked up. It took us an hour and a half to get to our dorm room. Once we got to our room, I called my parents to let them know we were back.

On Monday, my uncle looked at my car and said there was nothing wrong with it. It no longer made the screeching noise that it had before. We have assumed that a rock had lodged itself somewhere in the parts of my car. I have gotten my car back, and if anything, it drove better than before.

The faces of a reader

A true reader reads with expression. If you watch a reader, it can be quite interesting. I always have an expression on my face when I read. I will relate this photo essay to the book review by showing the type of expressions that appeared on my face while reading this book.

It started out with a happy face much like this one.

After my happy face, I normally go into my focused and serious face.

My next reoccurring and personal favorite is my confused face. I like to call it my “Did I read that right?” face.

My angry face or “I’m going to throw this book across the room” face is next.

I am not emotional, but some books make me cry.

Whenever there is a plot twist, this face is sure to appear.

While these pictures were staged, the faces I make when reading look exactly like this. That is how you know it is a good story.

Armentrout, Jennifer L. Grace and Glory. 2021. inkyard press.

“Goodreads.” Goodreads, https://www.goodreads.com/. Accessed 21 Nov. 2023.

MacKenzie Harris – YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXmDFsPogpy3g9MOa9hRbFA. Accessed 21 Nov. 2023.

Unsplash. Best 500+ Reading Pictures | Download Free Images on Unsplash. https://unsplash.com/s/photos/reading. Accessed 21 Nov. 2023.

This Fox News article from back when Tucker Carlson was their poster child is all about how climate change isn’t real. Carlson and his interviewee claim that every aspect of climate change, such as an increasing amount of hurricanes and heat waves, is fabricated by liberal politicians, which is false. Climate change is real, and it hurts people, plants, and animals. Let’s take a deep dive into the misinformation this article spreads.

The article begins with an appeal to ethos in the title, “Physicist to Tucker Carlson: Climate change is ‘fiction of the media’”. The title of “physicist” certainly sounds smart, but this job has nothing to do with the weather. The physicist, Steven Koonin, goes on to claim “that government officials like Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg are unqualified to raise the issue to such an extreme” as to call it an “existential threat” (Koonin). Not only is Koonin no more qualified to speak about climate change than a politician because his job also has nothing to do with studying the climate, but it is strange and likely homophobic to specifically bring up Pete Buttigieg in reference to climate change; there are many politicians who are part of the battle against climate change, and some of them are even more hated by Carlson’s audience than Buttigieg, but Koonin begins his denouncement of liberal politicians by mentioning Buttigieg nonetheless. If he had begun by mentioning someone that Fox News viewers hated more, like Bernie Sanders, who he does mention later on, he would have captured the attention of the viewers even more. However, he chooses an option that may not necessarily be less strategic, but, if it is as strategic, it is only because of homophobia that this is so.

Koonin goes on to encourage “the scientific community” to speak out against the politicians who fight against climate change. This is another vague appeal to ethos that is not actually related to the climate, and it serves as the article’s call to action. Seeing as this call to action only applies to scientists, which is not Tucker Carlson’s core demographic, it is not actually intended to bring about change, but rather to increase feelings of anger and resentment in those who do not believe in climate change. In doing this, Fox News gets to keep its core audience angry without actually doing anything, which is the main goal of this article. Unfortunately, the article spreads misinformation in the process that prevents people from changing the world to a better place.

Many people love the Pokémon franchise, but most do not consider the lessons taught in the Pokémon games. However, many such games, particularly those of the series’ fifth generation, teach a variety of valuable lessons. PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond, for example, teaches about the powers of friendship, and the primary lessons in Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version are about the importance of both truth and ideals. In this essay, I will focus on a less explored lesson that these two Pokémon games, colloquially referred to as “Pokémon BW”, teach: the lesson that people can be friends with Pokémon and, by extent, pets.

The primary conflict in Pokémon BW occurs against an organization that works to separate Pokémon from their trainers due to their belief that keeping Pokémon as partners hurts them. The king of this team, N, uses Pokémon to battle as a means of separating other Pokémon from their trainers, but he releases his Pokémon after each battle so that they can continue to be free. Eventually, however, the player character and their Pokémon partners show N through their friendships that Pokémon and humans can get along and that Pokémon do not have to be removed from their trainers to be happy.

This lesson extends beyond the world of Pokémon into the real world when seen through the lens of pets. However, one must ask this question: if we apply what Pokémon BW says about Pokémon to real pets, is it still accurate? That is to say, do pets and their owners need each other just as much as Pokémon and their trainers do? I believe that the answer is “yes”, but only on the condition that the pets are domesticated and that we consider only pet ownership and not breeding. Pokémon breeding is merely a side feature that a player can choose to use if they wish, and it is never mentioned in Pokémon BW in terms of its morality. This is most likely because there is no way to depict animal breeding as moral, certainly not in a game for children. As for whether or not Pokémon BW sufficiently explores the difference between human relationships with wild animals and those with domesticated animals is up for debate. The difference between these two types of animals is never mentioned, which may lead people to believe that Pokémon BW encourages the ownership of wild animals. However, Pokémon are implied to be inherantly domesticated, which makes the message about the relationship between Pokémon and humans more applicable to that between pets and humans. It would be preferable for that particular message to be a bit clearer, but, regardless, I believe that Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version depict the relationship between pets and humans in a positive, realistic, and beneficial way.

(This is my dog, Gracie. She is a westie. Feel free to leave lots of nice comments about her!)

Welcome to my e-portfolio, a digital showcase of my journey as an international Division 1 student athlete at Longwood University. I am Aine Martin, and I invite you to explore the intersection of academics and athletics that defines my unique educational experience.

As a student athlete, I have embraced the challenges and victories that come with balancing the demands of academics and sports performance, while also being in a foreign country away from my family. This e-portfolio serves as a testament to my commitment to both academics and athletics.

Within these digital pages, you are invited to delve deeper into my life history, from my experiences in education and sport and the personal growth that I have experienced throughout my life so far. I will share an insight into my demanding schedule and the immense pressure that student athletes are under.

The main focus of this e-portfolio is the achievement of playing Division 1 golf, an accomplishment that not only represents the skill, dedication, and hard work that I applied to golf but also the invaluable experience gained, and connections made through the pursuit of success.

Join me on this journey and thank you for taking the time to explore my e-portfolio.