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I think I definitely benefitted from doing blog posts on my reading this year.  Mostly because I actually thought a lot about my reading.  Doing blog posts made me look deeper into every book I posted about, and discover things I never would have otherwise.  

Writing online is a bit different from writing in a notebook.  When I write in a notebook, most of the time only I am seeing what I write, or maybe a few other people.  When I write online, I think more about what I am writing and how other people will perceive what I am writing.  Even when writing an essay or some type of project, I know who is going to be seeing it.  But when writing online, anyone can see what I am writing.  

Even though I might write slightly differently online, and make sure whatever I write is okay and acceptable, I wouldn't say it feels liberating or limiting.  Rarely while posting about my books this year have I come across any topics or issues that I would not want to share my opinions completely.  The only way it might limit me would be that I would feel uncomfortable writing about very personal things online; but I’ve never had or wanted to write about personal things online.    

I think people can be both more real, and project the best of themselves when writing things online.  When writing our blog posts I do not feel like I am doing either, although my writing might be slightly better because I am proof reading it before publishing.  I'm not really writing about anything that I think would show who I am.  When writing otherwise online, I think it can go either way.  If a person believes that no one they know or care about will see their online writing, they might put exactly what they honestly think; or they might use that as an opportunity to recreate a new online identity, that could be what they see as a better version of themselves. If someone is writing online and they are conscious of the fact that what they write is accessible for anyone to view, they might actually limit themselves and what they write by not sharing their complete views and ideas.  I think for many people, writing online does not feel as real as literally writing or saying something to someone.  This leads to people putting whatever they want online, which can have bad consequences.  

My answer to the previous question actually led me to begin to answer this question, but again, I think teenagers do abuse the freedom to say what they want online.  It just feels different to write something online than it does to say something right to a person's face, resulting in mainly teenagers saying very harmful things online that they would never actually say.  In my opinion, it is actually worse to say something bad online than in person.  Online anyone can see what you write, and it is there forever.  You cannot erase or take back what you say online.  I think that it is bad that teenagers abuse the ability to say whatever they want online.  Yes, it is someone’s fault if they say something bad, but it causes people to say things they would never say in person and might not actually mean.  

I do not think I am going to continue this blog.  Although it would help me to continue to look deeper into the books I read, I will not continue it.  I might create a tumblr or something, but I doubt I will create a real blog.  I think if I tried to create a blog, I would probably really work on it for a  while, and it would be good, and I would enjoy, but eventually I would forget about it.  I doubt my blogging experience would last too long.  In general, I think blogs are great and I love looking at other peoples blogs.

The Kite Runner

    I just finished The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, and I loved it.  The book is mainly about the life of Amir, the main character.  He was born in Afghanistan, and at a young age he began to see the first signs of the Afghanistan he knew basically collapse.  One of the hardest things in Amir's life is his home being destroyed completely, which happens over the course of his life, and the book.  Even more important than the history of Afghanistan and how it relates to Amir, are the relationships between Amir's family and friends, and how they change.  Amir grows up always believing that his father, Baba, never truly loves him.  He and his father are very different.  Amir is not the strong courageous man his father is and hoped that Amir would be.  Amir actually is a good person, and he proves this in the end, but he is very unhappy for much of his life because of this.  Amir grew up in a huge house in a wealthy Kabul neighborhood, with Baba, and their two servants Ali and Hassan.  Amir and Hassan grew up believing that Hassan was Ali's son, and their families only stayed together for so long because Ali had been Baba's servant when they were growing up.  Hassan and Amir always thought of each other as basically being as close to brothers as two non-related people could get, but in reality they were always brothers.  Baba's wife died while giving birth to Amir.  Ali's wife had a cheated on Ali and had a child with Baba after this.  Then Ali's wife ran away, leaving only Baba, Amir, Ali, and Hassan.  Because Baba was a prominent businessman in Kabul, and Ali's wife was just a Hazara who had cheated on her husband, Hassan was not socially acceptable as Baba's child, so he grew up as Baba and Amir's Hazara servant, and Ali's son.  Amir and Hassan were never told any of this.  This led to problems because Baba had one son who he could never truly love, and he had seriously betrayed Ali, who had always been a bit like a brother to him. I think that this is a main part of why Baba can never truly show his love for Amir, and he might be taking some of his sadness or anger for not being able to really be Hassan’s father out on Amir.  

I thought that the main problems in the book arose out of Amir and Hassan’s relationship.  From the day Hassan is born he loves Amir more than anyone else in every way possible.  Only after Amir finds out that Hassan is dead does Amir truly appreciate that no one will ever love him like Hassan did.  In the beginning of the book, there is a quote that I think describes why this love becomes problematic.  Hassan loves Amir most, but Amir is always more concerned with getting his father to love him.  Amir ends up making one huge mistake and completely betraying Hassan.  After this, Hassan and Ali leave Baba and Amir, but as Hassan’s one last act of loyalty, he does not give Amir away to Baba and tell Baba the terrible thing that Amir did.  

I loved this book, but I also thought that it was incredibly sad.  I liked how in the end, the author kind of hinted at happiness, and Amir finally redeeming himself.  

Godless

I am about to finish the Godless, by Pete Hautman.  So far I have really enjoyed reading it.  Godless is about a teenage boy named Jason, and the religion he creates with help from his friends.  One day, Jason is out looking for snails with his best friend Shin.  Shin is incredibly nerdy, and gets bullied all the time for enjoying things like looking for snails to keep as pets in his free time.  While Jason is helping Shin look for snails under the water tower (they look under the tower because of the moisture in that area,) Henry Stagg comes up to them with his three cronies.  Jason says in the book that he could easily beat Henry up, he is far larger, but Henry just doesn't care what happens to himself, and that is a big part of Henry's personality.  So under the water tower, Henry ends up punching Jason, and knocking him down. While Jason is still kind of shaken up from being punched by Henry, he looks up at the water tower and first says that was, "when it hit me [Jason] just how important that tower was to St. Andrew Valley."  He keeps thinking while looking up at the water tower and eventually comes up, "with the idea of the water tower being God."  This idea ends up going pretty far, and this is the beginning of Chutengodianism.  In Jason's new religion, the water towers are god, and the one in their town is called "Ten-Legged One".  They live in a tiny little town where the water tower actually is the largest structure in the surrounding area, and is very important.  

Jason's mother has an obsession with health issues, while his father wants to make sure his son’s soul is okay.  His whole family is very Catholic, meaning that Jason's father especially expects Jason to be Catholic as well (part of making sure his soul is good).  I think that this is part of why Jason started Chutengodianism.  He does not actually believe that a water tower is god, he just needs a way to rebel against his parents.  Jason does not believe in Catholicism any more than he believes in Chutengodianism, he is not sure about his religion (if he is even religious).  I think that he might be challenging the people around him with Chutengodianism.  He argues that every religion was persecuted at the start, and might have seemed crazy when it began.  He also challenges why his dad believes in a certain god.  Why is his fathers god any better than Jason considering water god?  I think that these are all reasons Jason might have started Chutengodianism.  

Problems really arise with Chutengodianism when things become too serious, and when Jason realizes that one of the group members really believes in Chutengodianism.  The original Chutengodians are Jason, Shin, Henry, Magda, and Dan.  Slightly before where I am in the book, Henry decides to start his own rival religion.  I haven't really gotten into this yet, but I think it might cause some problems.  An even bigger problem is that Shin really does believe that the water tower is god.  Practically from the start of Chutengodianism Shin really believed in everything.  He believes the water tower is god, and has been writing a very long religious text explaining the origins of everything through Chutengodianism.  Shin believes that the water towers are speaking through him, and that they have always been god, but only now have the Chutengodians discovered this.  Jason recently discovered Shin standing on top of his roof, I think because Shin thought the "Ten-Legged One" wanted him too.  When Shin knows that no one else is serious at all about Chutengodianism, I think that Jason's relationship with Shin will be hurt, and even worse, that Shin might still believe in Chtuengodianism.  

When Jason created Chutengodianism I do not think he realized the repercussions that trying to create a new religion would have.  Jason never believed in Chtuengodianism, but he never told his friends that, he just assumed that they would know.  He did not realize that people might actually listen to what he says, and he should be careful with that power.  No one else is taking Chutengodianism as lightly as Jason is.  His parents are upset, and a bit worried, and Shin completely believes it all.  Jason should have used his power more thoughtfully, and considered that others might have taken what he said differently than he did.  

I like how this book explores some controversial questions and ideas about religion, without going into specific religions.  Jason uses Chutengodianism to challenge other religions and gods.  This book also made me think about atheism.  In conclusion, I am really enjoying reading Godless, by Pete Hautman, and I cannot wait to finish it.