You read 3 (or more) books this past summer. Which book from the summer reading list did you find to be the most "interesting"? In a paragraph or two, tell me what it takes to make a book interesting (in your opinion) and how the summer book you chose met the standard of "most" interesting. If NONE of the books qualified for that title (again, in your opinion) tell me where and why they fell short of your standard.

Finally, tell me what things you read OTHER than assigned books? Did you read magazines, other novels, travel guides for a vacation, instructions for how to work something, whatever? Think it over, this could be a longer list than you first imagine! Which of these other things was the most interesting.... did you use the same standard as you did for paragraph one? If not, why not?

     The most interesting book that I read this summer was CATCH 22. What made this book so interesting was the variety and complex characters that came together to contribute to the main characters pursuit of escaping the military. To make a book interesting it has to have action, suspense and a set goal that the protagonist pursues. In Catch 22 there was action through the combat missions and the threat of characters dying everyday. The goal of Yossarian (main character) was to get out of the military by completing a set number of missions but was unable to complete this task do the constant increase of missions made by the commander.  This leads me to the next quality of a book, that in my opinion, makes it interesting.  I believe that the main character needs to have many obstacles in his path to complete his goal.

     I read ESPN magazine and numerous travel guides to get around Hollywood.  I had to read directions to fix my xbox and also to activate and use my new phone.  The most interesting reading in this list would be the ESPN magazine because it involves a form of action which is included in sports.  Otherwise my other readings were just done because they had to be done.

** Ahh! an action fan! Good! Who's your favorite author in that department? Do you read Tom Clancy?

Consider the novel you read for the theme SELF-DISCOVERY.

What exactly was it that the novel's main character discovered about himself/herself? Explain how this discovery was an integral part of the novel's substance or core.

How was this discovery applicable to you as the reader? In what sense could it be applicable to ALL readers? What did you learn about YOURSELF as you watched the character change within the novel?

     In Catch 22, the main character Yossarian, is paranoid of everything

that is around him.  He is a pilot in the military and has to complete a set number of missins before he can be sent released.  This is a problem because the 

commanders keep on raising the number of missions to be completed.  So at this point he believes that not only the enemy is out to kill him but also his own comrands and commanders.  He starts to believe that his life is useless because all he can do with it is fly dangerous missions and soon die doing it.  He believes there is no possible way to get out of the military.  This attitude changes when he sees how his friend Orr escape, by running away.  This makes Yossarian realize that he can have control over his life and make it meaningful and more relaxing instead of risking it in the military everyday. He had the desire and now knew he had the power "to save his life." 

     This discovery made by Yossarian, was an integral part of the novel's core for a variety of reasons.  Throughout the book Yossarian believed that he would never get out of the military cause he had no control over it.  This dealt with the "catch 22." A theme that ran throughout the book was that through hard times there is always an aternative way out.

     Through reading this novel I learned that when I go through a tough situation I too, like Yossarian, can find another way out to improve my situation.  This can be applied to all readers who find themselfs in a sitaution can't seem to find a way out.  If there is one thing that i learned about myself it would be that I need to make the best of everything and when i find myself in a tough situation, I should not give up and find a way to get through it.