Reading Report 2: Of Mice and Men

     Up to this day, I am very fond of the book. I have read two chapters of the book, and I cannot wait to continue reading it. The two main characters of the story are George and Lennie, two immigrants who are looking for a job on a ranch. At first, it was quite hard to read their lines because their grammar and vocabulary are quite informal and vulgar, but now I am used to it and I have realized that in some parts the words are written as they are pronounced. For example: "Yeah, what ya want?", "Where we goin’, George?", "So yon forgot that awready, did you?”, etc. 

    George is a slim and smart guy who is looking for a job for himself and his friend, Lennie, a big guy who always forgets what he has to do and that is why he is not considered a smart person. After a long trip, they arrive at a place in which they sleep under a tree before arriving at the ranch. The next day, they are received by the boss’ son, Curly, but by the way he treats the two friends, they perceive that it is not a good place to be and Lennie starts getting nervous. However, George encourages him to work for a time and get some money. 

    Personally, I felt identified with Lennie. Not because of the lack of his intelligence, but by the way he feels supported by George. I usually feel that way with my dad, my brother and with two close friends, one of them is Diego. I truly see them like the Georges of my life. I appreciate it when they help me control my emotions and encourage me to continue working on my projects to reach my objectives in life.  

Patricia Contreras Escareño

299 words

Reading Report 1: The Couple Next Door

Title of the book: The Couple Next Door

Author: Shari Lapena

Genre: Thriller

   Shari Lapena was born in 1960. She is a Canadian writer, author of bestselling thrillers such as The Couple Next Door, A stranger in the House, An Unwanted Guest, among others. Lapena used to work as a lawyer and English teacher before becoming a full-time writer. She published her first novel, Things Go Flying, in 2007, but it wasn’t until 2016 with her first thriller, A Couple Next Door, that her writing career really took off.

   The reason why I chose this book is because I wanted to get out of my comfort zone. Usually I like to read romantic novels and last semester I read a non-fiction novel with zero romance which I really enjoyed, so this time I was determined to read a totally different genre.

   Looking for recommendations of what I could read on Youtube, I noticed that The Couple Next Door was mentioned in a lot of videos described as a page-turner, many people said that they read it in one sitting and, considering that it is not a short book, that really grabbed my attention. 

   This is my first time reading suspense, that's why I wanted to start with something I’m sure I'll enjoy. One of my concerns with this genre was that the story would have a slow start, but this book gets interesting since chapter number one.

   The novel is set in upstate New York. It follows the story of a couple who left their baby asleep in their house to go to a dinner party next door, but when they came back home the baby was no longer there. It is a contemporary book.

285 words

Claudia Leticia Mendez Caamal

Reading Report 1: The Old Man and The Sea

 The book that I would be reading is called the Old man and the Sea. This novel has the genre of literary fiction and was written by Ernest Miller Hemingway. He was born on July 21, 1899 and died on July 2, 1961. He was an American novelist, short-story writer, journalist, and sportsman. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the mid-1950s and he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. He published seven novels, six short-story collections, and two nonfiction works. Hemingway maintained permanent residences in Key West, Florida and in Cuba. He almost died in 1954 after plane crashes on successive days, with injuries leaving him in pain and ill health for much of the rest of his life. In 1959 he bought a house in Ketchum, Idaho where, in mid-1961, he died by suicide with a shotgun.

    One of the main reasons that made me decide to choose this book was because I have heard a lot of it from my sister, who actually this is her favourite book. After she finished it she told me that it was excellent and some day I should read it too. I´m not exactly a reader but now I got the opportunity to read a new book. I believe that this can be a perfect opportunity to finally read it. I have the book at home and in the english version, so I believe that now is the perfect time. 

    The book takes place in Cuba, somewhere near the coast of Havana at a small fishing village off the coast, but the bulk of the novel takes place in Santiago's boat as he floats about the sea. And the time is in September of 1950.

Víctor Mauricio López Espadas

290 words

Wikipedia (2021). Ernest Hemingway. Retrieved from link. On March 7th, 2021.

Report 1: The Rising of The Shield Hero

Title: The Rising of The Shield Hero (Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari)
Author: Aneko Yuusagi
Genre(s): Dark fantasy

    The Rising of The Shield Hero is a series of novels written by Aneko Yuusagi. It is the author's debut and has been really controversial because of the crude nature of the story. However, an animated version of the books was made and premiered in January of 2019, rising the novel's popularity. It has to be remarked that these novels have been officially published in English, which has made this review possible.

    The plot takes place in the kingdom of Melromarc where our protagonist called Naofumi Iwatani has been inexplicably transported to. Nevertheless, not only him, but other three young men have been summoned to that kingdom. These four guys are called heroes, and are supposed to bring peace to the world by defeating "The rifts".

    Now, what started as a normal fantasy story turns bleak when Naofumi, the Shield Hero is framed by the princess Malty Melromarc, being accused of rape and hated by everyone in the kingdom who he was supposed to serve, our protagonist gets exiled. Since then, he starts his journey to clear his name but with the greatest obstacle a warrior could face... Naofumi is unable to attack any monster because he is attached to his holy weapon, a shield and is unable to pick even the lightest sword.

    The Rising of The Shield Hero is a top-selling book in Japan, and everyone in my circle of friends is a fan of the animated version. However, I am not very fond of this one, which led me to give this story an opportunity.

Written by: Diego Santiago Cervantes Chi
258 words

Reading Report 1: Of Mice and Men

    The book I am going to read for this semester is Of Mice and Men. This novel was written by John Steinbeck and published in 1937. He was an American writer who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962 with another of his books, The Grapes of Wrath. Although he started studying at Stanford University, he dropped out of school to work as a mason and farmworker. Most of his literary works talk about the life of the minorities, such as immigrant people, women, and the working class. 

    I chose this book because I read it is a mandatory novel in the schools of the United States and one of the most important books of American literature. Besides, I found it quite interesting that the story was based on the author’s own experience working on a farm and having met some immigrant people in his life. I think reading this book will be helpful for me as a teacher of English as a foreign language because it will introduce me a bit more to the story of the United States, a country where English is an official language. 

    The story develops in the United States, particularly in California during the times of the Great Depression, a worldwide economic downturn that started in 1929 and lasted until about 1939. Some of the consequences this event caused were the global economy shrinking, unemployment of people, and homelessness increasing (Amadeo, K. 2020). In the book Of Mice and Men, the story revolves around the experience of the main characters, George Milton and Lennie Small, who are looking for a job opportunity being migrant ranch workers in the United States during this global crisis. 

Patricia Contreras Escareño

282 words

Amadeo, K. (2020). The 9 Principal Effects of the Great Depression. Retrieved from link. On March 6th, 2021