Reflection:

After I finished reading multiple Rick Riordan series- ​Percy Jackson​, ​Kane Chronicles​,

Heroes of Olympus​, the ​Harry Potter​ series, and the ​Wings of Fire​ series, I lost touch with

reading. While reading these books I could read an entire novel within a week, but after I barely

touched a book. I couldn’t find any books that were interesting to me. Reading went from

entertainment to a chore. My goal was to fix this and get back into reading. One way I worked

towards this goal is expanding the genres I enjoy.

When I was a kid I only read one genre, comedy-adventure stories. However, this genre

got old after reading so many titles, but my young self couldn’t take suspense that well. It

caused me to panic and - this is embarrassing - get scared. I am an older and more mature

person and I tried a new genre, mystery in the form of the Da Vinci Code. The book was

completely alien to me. The characters weren’t making cheesy jokes. People were getting killed,

and there were historical references to a religion that is still practiced today. This doesn’t seem

different from the mythology of ancient cultures, but it made it more personal.

The Fourteenth Goldfish was the exact opposite. A nostalgic view of the genre I onced

read all the time. It was almost everything that I liked before. It had wise cracks, a common goal

between all the characters - eventually - and it also had sarcasm. Oh so much sarcasm. It was

nice to go back to this genre, although my ideas on it had changed greatly. I was more critical

on the simple story, but stuff made more sense. I could relate the characters actions to their

ideas. I could also read in between the lines. These are all firsts for me that were either learned

with maturity, I’m actually learning in English class, or it is all the critique videos I have been

watching.

Although I got the quality of reading I yearned for, I wish I had more quantity. I only read

two books. It took me a lot longer to read these books than I wished. If there's a next
independent reading next semester, my goal will definitely try to read double the amount. I

desperately need to increase my reading endurance because I felt like the slowness didn’t come

from the slowness of reading, but the short intervals that I gave myself to read. I used to read an

hour every day, and at my peak in this session, it was fifteen minutes. This needs to change.

The first book I read was a mystery novel ​The Da Vinci Code​. It was five hundred eighty

three pages long. I found this book was very engaging. The historical and artistic references

were interesting. It was really the first time I looked at the religion of Christianity. It also made

me more engaged with art, something I had no interest prior to reading this book.

The other book that I read was a comedy sci-fi novella ​The Fourteenth Goldfish​. It was

240 pages. While this book contains easy to read vocabulary, the theme and motivation of the

characters was engaging. This is mostly because I disagree with them. The I agree with, but the

way it is presented is stupid in my opinion. The theme is endings are sad but beginnings are

exciting. In the story, the ending is death and the beginning is experiences. The problem I have

is that they are bad experiences that are beginning.

The goals that I reached during Gallagher’s “Reading Reasons” is reading is rewarding

and reading makes you a better writer. This session of independent reading was rewarding

because I was able to get myself back into reading. I also got points for reading for this book

report *cough* *cough* I mean Individualized Reading Program. It also gives me an

entertainment option that my mom approves of.

This reading also made me a slightly better writer. I have new knowledge of how to build

character arcs and how many characters I have. Theme building is another skill that I learned a

little bit about from reading. I am still by no means a perfect writer. I am just slightly better.