Everyone's Favorite Summer Activity

Ah, summer reading. Mandatory, teacher-assigned summer reading, that is. Exciting, no?

On one hand, reading is exciting! Especially during the summer. I, personally, would read over the summer even if I didn't have to.

On the other hand, the books that teachers assign are often (not always, but often) a huge yawn, and are also often depressing. And they wonder why so many kids don't like to read.

What say you? Is summer reading a delightful opportunity for exploring literature? Or does it hinder you from sinking your teeth into other books that are more to your taste? Also, what summer reading (if any) have you been assigned, and what is your opinion of it?

Yours,
Tay

Coincidences

Something very weird happened to me last Wednesday. I experienced not one, but two (quite unrelated) coincidences that day. Here are the four events, in chronological order:

1. On the way to school, I listened to a podcast of NPR's Sunday Puzzle. One of the puzzle solutions was "Cats cast," as in, the cast of the musical Cats.

2. Upon arriving, I frolicked off to chemistry class, where I engaged in a spirited discussion about fate and predetermined destinies.

3. After school, my mom picked me up, and announced that she had spontaneously purchased tickets to the musical Cats for that night.

4. At home, I logged on to my computer and posted a comment on Gabriel's post about fate and predetermined destinies.

Coincidentally yours,
Tay

Cats was very good, by the way.

Shorties!

Short stories are, in my opinion, an extremely underrated genre. They are quick to read when one does not have much time, generally have interesting plots, and tend to be quite philosophical and/or thought-provoking. A lot of action is squeezed into a small space- as a result, plots are usually fast-paced and don't lag. As an added bonus, short stories are often combined into one bigger book, along with other stories about similar topics. They are, in short (no pun intended) the instant gratification of the literary world.

What do you think about short stories? Are they fun to read, or do the ideas tend to be underdeveloped? How does reading short stories compare to reading novels? Any thoughts on writing short stories? Or any good ones you might have read?

Shortly yours,
Tay