Adventures at Post Oak High

For starters, this book is certainly for a particular kind of people. Those kind of people who enjoy science in all of its many different forms, and who are eager to learn new equations and various things about particles and such. It is meant to be as accessable as possible for someone who knows next to nothing about quantum theory, and even physics in general. And in that respect, Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw do as good of a job as they possibly could in terms of explanation. However, because quantum theory deals with the concepts of everything possible happening and things being in multiple places at once and how there are particles that have no size and all of that stuff. Ultimately, everything that they are saying has not been conclusively "verified" yet. The point is, if you're someone who takes a perverse thrill in understanding extremely complex equations and concepts, read this. Everyone else, stay away.

Well, here we are. Out of all the reads of the year, my favorite by far is the Great Gatsby. Simply put, it is the greatest work of fiction that I have ever had the pleasure of reading. The tragic tale of a man simply wanting to impress a girl is absolutely timeless, and hits home for a lot of people, making it extremely meaningful. However, on the flip-side, I could never really get into The Merchant of Venice. It may be a meaningful commentary on the time it was published, but it was simply just too boring for my tastes. There are certainly better Shakespeare reads out there. Anyway, I think this was a year filled with great reads. Here's to sophomore year!

A common appraisal of The Great Gatsby is that it is "the greatest American novel ever written". Does this book really deserve that distinction? The short answer, as I always say, is yes. This book is the Great American Novel not necessarily because of how well it is written, or the characters (after all, every character is pretty unlikeable). It is the Great American Novel due to the fact that the book itself represents America, and the flaws that plague its delusional image of grandeur. The very story of Gatsby is something that so many Americans are familiar with, and so I feel that in many ways it is an utterly timeless story that is poignant and relatable. It's great because of its message, not the technical details of the novel.