Shot Clock: A Review

DUH SPOILERS

Hello everyone, I’m back with another sports book blog review! This review is on Shot Clock, which follows a teen basketball statistician Tony (or Tone), and his season on a Milwaukee AAU basketball team. I have the impression that everyone on this 14 and under roster (including the statistician) would cook anyone from Uni, considering they end up in the national tournament, and that this book is written by a former NBA player (Caron Butler).

And I’m telling you, the odds were stacked against them. The team was affected by the death of Dante, one of the top high school prospects in the nation and a team member’s brother before the season started. He was shot by a white cop, and being African-American, this incident shows all the signs of racism. Much of the book is spent trying to get the cop in jail for his wrongdoing (Dante was innocent). Also, Tony’s mom seems to have a form of depression or something, because she leaves the house to “get better” for months on end. And finally, the team’s best player switched teams to their cross-town rivals after getting his ego hurt.

Despite all the odds, the team managed to come out on top. And I think the ending is predictable but satisfying. It’s halftime of the national championship against their cross-town rivals, and multiple players are injured. Tony has to step in so they can run 5 players. At the very end, Tony hits the game-winning shot to make his team the national champions. If you like lots of actual basketball gameplay and statistics, then I recommend this book to you. One of my favorite scenes is tryouts, where Tony talks a lot about his own and other players’ stats. I also enjoy Tony’s game style. He isn’t focused on hitting threes or driving for layups, but passing is his strong suit. I think that goes to show how selfless he is as a player and person. So if you like a good sports book and easy read, I recommend Shot Clock for you!

Luke

1960

 Hello Everyone!

Today I want to talk about yet another nonfiction book. I recently finished a book called Countdown 1960  by CNN news anchor Chris Wallace. This recently published book focuses on the Year 1960 as hinted in the title but also relates it to modern-day society. 

In the year 1960, a lot was going on within the United States but the main focus was the presidential race. It all starts on January 2nd when John F. Kennedy announces that he is going to be running for President. The book goes through a lot of decision-making that went into Kennedy's run to the Whitehouse such as his selection of Lyndon B. Johnson as his running mate. 

Although wanting to give a historical background, Countdown 1960 doesn't just focus on the surface politics of the presidential race. Wallace introduces influential characters at the time such as civil rights activists, Hollywood actors, and other world leaders. He uses these characters to further explain the significance and show the many factors impacting the election of 1960. I feel he does a good job of using these important figures as a way to add analysis to the book about the election.

I definitely enjoyed reading this book although there are many books out there about this topic and nothing major stood out to me about Countdown 1960 compared to what other books about this topic have presented me. I would recommend this book if you are interested in history as I think it is an informative read. Furthermore, if you are interested in history books this book is part of Chris Wallace's "Countdown" series which includes Countdown to Bin Ladin and Countdown 1945. I haven't read these books yet but I will definitely try to get my hands on one of them for a nice spring break read.

Thanks and have a wonderful day, Jameson

Hidden Figures Book Review - Brandon Lee

This blog post will be on a book I recently read called Hidden Figures, by Margot Lee Shetterly. This book is an amazing true story about three African American females who worked at NASA and greatly assisted their early exhibitions to space. despite the odds of segregation, they fought with will and determination to pursue their dreams and set societal milestones. Kathrine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson were able to share their own personal stories about suffering against racism and sexism. Their contributions not only impacted themselves but also people all around the world inspiring and setting a role model to students and adults all around the world. This book widely recognized the actions and contributions of these three hidden figures who have not been given enough recognition for their actions. 

While reading this book, I really enjoyed the auto-biography like theme of the story. Showcasing the individual points of view of these three people really made this book interesting to read. everything from the story to the foreign settings for these women also made me want to finish this book quicker to see how the other mathematicians would view and accept her when she was heavily discriminated against at the beginning of the book. There were multiple instances of them being segregated like having to use an old and dirty coffee pot that everybody would treat poorly and having to use a "Colored bathroom" which was about half a mile away. They were also denied help and were often handed all of the extra work while getting paid less than most of the other Men. However, one of the aspects that I enjoyed about this book was the few characters who were able to support these three people. Interestingly enough, these few people were not people who worked alongside them, but people like the astronauts and their bosses who recognized this book. Overall, I really enjoyed this book which inspires many students and adults around the world to fight with determination and perseverance against the odds and would recommend this book to people who are interested in non-fiction books this this.

To Kill a Mockingbird

 Hey everyone! Welcome back to my blog and today I will be reviewing a book I read last year for the banned books project, To Kill a Mockingbird.

To Kill a Mockingbird was written by Harper Lee and published in 1960. The book is set in the 1930’s in a fictional town Maycomb County (despite being a fictional town- it’s supposed to be in the Southern United States.) The story is written through the lens of Scout, who at the start of the story is 6 years old (the book continues for a few years, at the end she is likely around 8 by the end). At the beginning, Scout enjoys spending time in the summer playing outside with Jem (her older brother, who is almost 10) and Dill (a friend of hers who is also 6) who regularly comes to visit. Another hobby of theirs includes watching Boo Radley- a mysterious neighbor who is known for only leaving the house at night which has fascinated these children. However, this summer is not like any other when an innocent black man in his 20’s named Tom Robinson gets sent to court after being accused of raping a white 19 year old woman, Mayella Ewell. Regardless of the way this court case goes, everyone understands that there will be plenty of conflict afterwards. The conflict is increased when Bob Ewell attempts to hurt Scout and Jem because their father Atticus Finch is defending Tom Robinson in court. This sad, chaotic, and extremely abnormal summer causes Scout to realize the devastating impact race had on society at the time.

Overall, this coming of age story was certainly worth reading despite the fact it’s been banned a lot due to the language and themes of the book. The story tackles a sad, yet true theme of racial injustice. The characters in the story are depicted well and while reading I understood the type of person who they were, which then would come to play an important part. The book was well written and had plenty of descriptions and detail. If you haven’t read it yet, I definitely recommend it. Overall, I would rate it a 9/10. Thanks for reading my blog!

-Naomi

How the World Ran out of Everything

     Recently I read a nonfiction book about a new book that came out in 2024 called How the World Ran out of Everything. This is a book about the supply chain and how the year 2020 and the Covid-19 pandemic affected it.  

 

    The author Peter Goodman talks about the many sections and goes into the details of the supply chain including international shipping, ports, trucking, railroading, manufacturing, and the role of large corporations.  

 

    On top of talking about the supply chain issues and the different sections, Goodman writes about how he feels this could have been avoided. Goodman spent part of the book arguing that the shipping and supply chain world focuses too much on short-term profits and minimizing inventory to reduce the risks. Instead of having low inventory Goodman argues that if more companies could increase their inventory, it would leave them less vulnerable to these sudden surges in demand.  

    I enjoyed reading this book as it increased
my knowledge of why everything that I ordered was taking forever and why prices were increasing and I recommend that you all check it out!

-jameson
 

 

 

 

A Wonderful Tragedy

  

Olivie Blake, known for her atmospheric, detailed writing and complex characters, introduces readers to a fresh retelling of the classic Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare with her book One for My Enemy.

Here is the official description:

“In New York City where we lay our scene, two rival witch families fight to maintain control of their respective criminal ventures. On one side of the conflict are the Antonova sisters, each one beautiful, cunning, and ruthless, and their mother, the elusive supplier of premium intoxicants known only as Baba Yaga. On the other side, the influential Fedorov brothers serve their father, the crime boss known as Koschei the Deathless, whose community extortion ventures dominate the shadows of magical Manhattan.

After twelve years of tenuous coexistence, a change in one family’s interests causes a rift in the existing stalemate. When bad blood brings both families to the precipice of disaster, fate intervenes with a chance encounter, and in the aftershocks of a resurrected conflict, everyone must choose a side. As each of the siblings struggles to stake their claim, fraying loyalties threaten to rot each side from the inside out. 

If, that is, the enmity between empires doesn’t destroy them first.”

            -(copied from GoodReads)

While the idea for this story can by no means be considered truly original, Blake almost immediately encapsulates readers despite the plot being repeatedly done. With ever-alluring intergenerational relationships, depicting the subtle horrors of entrapment within a self-inflicted cycle of failure, it becomes nearly impossible not to get swept up by the wonder and pure drama of the story. At first, seemingly only two sides are introduced to the decades-long conflict, but the farther one reads it's apparent that not only is each respective family drowning within secrets, but each generation as well. While the youngest members of both families are forced to become nothing more than collateral damage to their older sibling’s fight for a chance at redeeming their lives lost to familial duty, the matriarchs are forced to reassess whether they indeed acted correctly all those years ago. As the novel progresses, with everyone fighting for their own chance at a happy ending, characters ultimately reevaluate even the morals and loyalties which had previously governed their every decision. And though myself and many others find issues with the not fully developed magic system, or inconsistencies in plot near the end, I would still highly urge anyone looking for a well-written tragedy to consider One for My Enemy, as I entirely find it to be a wonderful book for entertainment.

-Karina Berceanu

Why Nintendo should make a Super Smash Bros Ultimate book guide

Hello everyone, I’m back with an unusual twist of subject matter for a book blog: a video game. And I know you’re probably thinking, “Wait a minute! He can’t do that!” Oh but I can. I am going to argue on why Nintendo - the company that created the Nintendo Switch and my favorite game, Super Smash Bros Ultimate (or SSBU) - should create a guidebook on playing the game. First, let me give you some background information.

SSBU is the fifth rendition Nintendo has created of Smash Bros, following some amazing and some not-so-amazing games, such as:

1. Super Smash Bros 64 - this game started it all and therefore did mostly well, but didn’t garner a large and dedicated fanbase due to unbalanced characters and being unable to customize most aspects.

2. Super Smash Bros Melee - This Gamecube game really set of the series, gathering much attention and enjoyment from fans. This is the only version of Smash still with large tournaments besides SSBU.

3. Super Smash Bros Brawl - The Wii version. There isn’t anything too crazy about this game; I own it and can’t think of anything worth mentioning. It has a very small fanbase and known for some of the worst matchups in Smash history.

4. Super Smash Bros 4 - This game was run on the 3ds and the Wii U and had a great run, but died shortly after Ultimate’s release.

SSBU is a fighting game with playable characters from many common franchises you can recognize, including Mario Brothers and Legend of Zelda. This game features 89 playable characters that can battle up to 8 at a time on different fighting maps. Many different aspects go into what makes a character good, such as attack damage/speed, air/ground speed, and even weight/flight angles. I think a book could help sum up most of the relevant information needed to best utilize SSBU, so people don’t have to gather all of that info themselves, there not being a good source online.

1. Increase Play

• Releasing a new mainstream book of a 7 year old game would gather more fans to buy or play more of SSBU, resulting in an increase of revenue for Nintendo not just from the book sales, but from video game sales and extras. I legitimately think this would be a great money move to make.

2. Increase player knowledge

• A SSBU book on how much damage and knockback your favorite character’s strongest move deals would add some useful knowledge to that player’s game style, making them eventually better at the game and enjoy it more. The book can and should also include the best stage a character can play on, helping you either school your friends or gain tournament info.

3. Tier list

• The smash bros community has made many tier lists themselves, but none would have the prestige of an official Nintendo Tier list of characters. This can assist in deciding which character you most want to play and/or learn how to beat. Just remember you should play whatever character you enjoy most, not just because they’re good. I main Kirby, one of the worst characters in the game, but love playing him! (I also believe Kirby is better than the unofficial tier lists say, which is why I’d appreciate a Nintendo-made one.)

There you have it folks! Maybe Nintendo will take notice of this blog due to our amazing previous posts that you should check out and create an amazing Smash Bros guidebook (doubt it). I hope I’ve encouraged at least someone to try my favorite video game. Just give it a chance! Thanks for reading!

Catch-22

Hi all, spoilers ahead!

Last year we were all assigned to write an essay on a banned book. Well, I chose a book called Catch-22.

Catch-22 is a book written by Joseph Heller. Joseph served in World War Two so he had first-hand experience with the rules and sadness of war.

Joseph Heller's book brings up the absurdities of war such as the name of the book Catch 22. This rule states that a soldier may be relieved from serving in the war as long as they are mentally insane or unfit. The catch that the book is built around is the fact that the same rule states that if someone requests a mental evaluation they are sane enough to serve so there is no real way out and it is just an infinite paradox.

The main character of the novel is a man named Yossarian. Yossarian gets introduced to this paradox when he spends his time trying to get relieved from the army. He tries to stop his friends him from flying a mission by actually asking to fly the mission since anyone who wants to fly such dangerous missions must be insane and is therefore forced to be grounded from flying. But since he asks to be relieved from duty he is seen as sane and thus is not. It's confusing since it's supposed to be confusing.

One of Yossarians friends Milo Minderbender who is a mess officer is more than what he seems on the surface. Instead of just doing his job he also is trying to make income by running a black market trade for food and other services and he sells to both sides of the war. Taking his black market scheme even further he rats out his own base to the enemy getting them hit with an airstrike all to just create a need for his products that he is selling to make him even more money.

Catch-22 is seen as a classic must-read novel about the absurd and realistic points of war. Joseph makes no move to glorify war as he does the opposite. Finally, last year when I wrote my essay on this I realized why this book has been challenged many times. There is pretty intense language and some gruesome descriptions of war and violence.

I would recommend this book to most mature readers as there is some merit in the reasons that the book was challenged. Further, the character development and plot development along with the more funny aspects of this book are what caused me to love reading this book.




-Jameson

The mysterious benedict society blog post - Brandon Lee

    The mysterious benedict society is was one of my favorite books growing up and I had recently found a copy of it while cleaning my bookshelf so I decided to do a blog post on it. The mysterious benedict society by Trenton Lee Stewart is a and mystery book following 4 main characters. These four students have been selected through multiple phases of tests set in place by Mr. Benedict to carry out a missions and stop a secret organization. These four students must go through training in order to stop an evil mastermind who is trying to control everyone's minds and take over the world. This book sets a great example On how everyone must use their strengths as a team and collaborate to reach the destination of the journey. 

    

    All of the creative missions and puzzles throughout the book really made it fun to read as well as the comedic aspect. Also, all of the characters have really fun characteristics that almost portrays the opposites of each other. This wide range of personalities is what really made this book stand out to me. Even while re-reading the book recently, I really enjoyed it because it has been a long time since I have read the series, or even any fiction mystery book like it. Finally, even though it might be seen as a children's book to some people, I recommend check it out for the charismatic plot of the book.

Red: The Fairly True Story of Red Riding Hood - Book review by Naomi

 Hi everyone, today I would like to review the book Red: The Fairly True Story of Red Riding Hood. This book is pretty entertaining and interesting and there's various things I enjoy from it. However, to begin I would like to give a summary of the book.

Red: The Fairly True Story of Red Riding Hood. This book is quite good. It’s about Red (little red riding hood) and her journey to find something that will prevent her grandmother (granny as she calls her) from dying. In doing so, she runs into Goldie (Goldie Lox). The book starts by displaying their different traits and how that goes, well downhill… Red isn’t always the nicest or most patient person to be around and she can be quite intense or rude in the way she expresses herself. Meanwhile, Goldie is really annoying and basically everything she does at the start bothers Red. Especially because Red is looking for a potion or magic of some sort to save granny (who is a witch) and Goldie wants a love potion. I mean, seriously Goldie? You want a love potion and her grandmother's dying? However, as the story progresses she begins to get along better with Goldie, especially as she begins to see why Goldie behaves the way she does and what she really wants. They end up going on a bunch of mini quests to find magic to save granny after Red pulls a dwarf by a beard. While on their quests, Red finds a huntsman and a wolf which ends up having interesting impacts on the story which I will not name for the sake of not spoiling the book. Anyways, by the end of the story Red finds a shocking truth and realizes a very important lesson.

So now, what do I like about the book? Well, there are various things about it so I’ll start with the 5 things that do not spoil the book. First off, I thought it was an interesting yet important twist on fairy tales which I thought was cool. Red isn’t just depicted as some little girl who’s trying to give food to her grandmother and then gets attacked by a wolf. Rather, she’s depicted as a brave young woman who would do anything to save her grandmother. Second off, I enjoyed the different quests they went on. They were described with great detail and it was really fun to see the outcome of them. Thirdly, I enjoyed the character development and how every character had a story and a reason for being there. Every character plays some role in the story and the majority have a story attached to them. This is displayed through the names (since it is believed names say a lot about someone and their future), their actions/impact on Red, and even stories or details the author gives about them. Fourthly, I enjoyed the descriptions. The story and its setting was entertaining to imagine, which I always love in books. It was made even more fun with all the detail presented! Lastly, I really liked the lesson at the end (which I will not share here to avoid spoiling, but if you want to know read the spoiler paragraph). If you do not wish to read any spoilers, skip the next paragraph.

SPOILER ALERT - Further examples on points previously made:

So the character development is probably my favorite thing about this book. One of the ways character development is depicted is by Goldie and Red’s relationship. As mentioned in the first paragraph, Goldie really wants a love potion and Red is bothered by the fact that her grandmother is dying and all Goldie cares about is some boy. Well, that is until Red realized the love potion isn’t just for some boy who she’ll forget about. It’s for Goldie’s mother because Goldie doesn’t think she loves her anymore. I personally was not expecting Goldie to say that, but the reasoning for why she believed this (her name is Goldie so she should be good at finding gold however there wasn’t much more gold in the mountains) was not only sad but also connected well with the story and the importance of names in the story.

The quests are fascinating because in one of the quests Goldie’s memory gets wiped (a little, not everything) and she starts being a jerk to Red which makes Red realize she should be nicer to Goldie. I thought this was good because although I’ve always thought Goldie Lox (the one from the actual fairytale) was obnoxious and that Goldie in this story was also annoying, I didn’t think Red’s reactions were always the most rational/sympathetic towards Goldie. I also thought Red constantly hating on Goldie’s actions was kind of ridiculous because even though she’s obnoxious she doesn’t deserve all that, so I’m glad Red decided to be nicer to Goldie because seriously at the start she made it sound like if Goldie breathed too loudly she’d get mad and that’s just absurd.

So, the final spoiler I’ll give is probably the most crucial one because it’s the ending, so here it goes. At the end, Red confesses to granny what she had been doing. Granny tells Red that she isn’t actually going to die soon. Red is really confused by this but granny basically says that she said she was dying because, well technically, you’re always dying. However, you can’t prevent that. This may seem like a depressing way to view this, but honestly I thought it was a good lesson because death is scary but we can’t escape or magic our way out of it.

END OF SPOILERS!

So, overall, I would rate this book an 8.75/10. If you enjoy books that aren’t too challenging to read or are just looking for a fun twist on a fairy tale, this book is definitely one to check out sometime. I thought there were a lot of cool elements to the story, but I wouldn’t consider this to be my favorite book or anything. Thanks for reading my blog, I hope you enjoyed it!

The Issue(s) With Sarah J. Mass

Sarah J. Mass, Best known for her ACOTAR (A Court of Thorns and Roses) book series, began exponentially growing in popularity shortly after the creation of the “BookTok” hashtag (see my previous post), with an increase in 86% more purchases. Her career as an author began in 2012, when she published “Throne of Glass,” (TOG) a romantical fantasy which, as of 2024, has over 40 million copies sold worldwide in over 38 languages. Typically, her books include a relatively standard plotline featuring female heroines with copious amounts of trauma as they fight their way through wars and relationships, and are primarily intended for entertainment. Her books have set a sort of standard for other similar YA or even NA (young adult or new adult) novels, and have therefore contributed to the issue of an increasing number of copy-paste books (again, see my previous post). While I believe there is nothing wholly wrong with capitalizing upon something clearly favored by a certain audience, it could be argued that it’s not really doing anything ‘good’ for the book community either. Furthermore, her three series contain many of the same elements as each other, following similar plot twists and even character development. And lastly, there have been huge online debates about the lacking inclusivity of race or poor representation within her novels.

 

While there is nothing to do about her influencing other authors to create similar books (cus like- she can’t dictate their choices and it's not as if what she’s doing can even be considered genuinely wrong- like she’s just writing books- and arguably good ones considering how many have purchased them (myself included)), I do find it odd how each of her series follows the same primary themes, and nearly identical or elementary characters. For example, when comparing the main characters of her three series, there are stark similarities. Celaena from TOG likes music and is a rambunctious assassin raised by the cruel King of Assassins. Feyre from ACOTAR likes painting and is a rambunctious self-taught hunter trying to support her family in poverty. Bryce from Crescent City likes dancing and used to be rambunctious until she had to navigate her new dysfunctional family dynamic and recent death of her best friend. *SLIGHT SPOILER ALERT* Towards the end of ACOTAR and TOG, both main characters also decide to settle down, despite their fighting for the right to fight for the past 5-8 books (there’s also the issue of the main character in TOG losing her powers at the end, which also began a large debate, but this could take up an entire blog post so I’m only briefly mentioning it) *END OF SPOILER*. But anyway, see what I mean? They all have a relatively common hobby and some sort of trauma alongside a rambunctious personality. But what’s wrong with this? Isn’t this what other books do as well? Well, yeah. Practically all books contain some sort of conflict and defining characteristic for a character. But what annoys me about her books is that when consecutively reading her series, there’s no getting around the similarities—the same applies for her mmcs (male main characters). (Theoretically, it could also be intentional considering her last few books have been aimed towards connecting the ACOTAR and Crescent City universes, also hinting at bringing in TOG into the mix- but I still stand by my opinion that she could do slightly better at making more individually unique characters).

 

And not only are her characters so similar to one another, but some aren’t entirely developed. For example, Morrigan from ACOTAR is arguably one of the most important characters in the series when considering her position in the “inner circle” (basically a group containing the most influential and powerful ‘people’ of the most powerful region, (they’re not people but I’m not gonna get into describing fae or illyrians) her vital role in politics, wars, and so much more. She’s also largely why Feyre (the mc) is able to overcome her fears and trauma (won't be specified bc of spoilers), and helps transform Feyre into the powerful character she becomes in the third book/ end of second book. However, despite her essential contributions to other characters and the plot, she's incredibly underdeveloped. Her powers being the main example. They’re said to be incredibly powerful and deadly “truth” abilities, but are never exhibited or further described. Even her backstory has less focus than other similar characters, such as Cassian and Azriel (other inner circle members). But Morrigan is not the only character lacking these details. In Crescent City, most characters are just as underdeveloped as Morrigan (in my opinion), but honestly, I think that series is another mess, which I won’t get into.

 

Anyway! Online discussions concerning Sarah J. Mass’ lacking inclusivity of race or proper representation surfaced around 2021/2022. Around that time, readers began pointing out that one of the only primary non-white characters within her TOG series was murdered, therefore removing some of the only racial representation. Many individuals then brought up how they felt her books having the large majority of characters be described as white (I’d say about 95% of characters were described as having traditionally white features (eg: red hair, blond hair, light skin, blue eyes, etc.)) was an issue; others argued back, saying the fact had no matter when considering her books took place in a purely fantasy world without any real-life racial constructs or negative stigma concerning race. As response to these critiques and backlash, Mass made more of an effort to include racially diverse characters within her newer novels (Crescent City), but has overall kept racial discussions out of her books, likely because the worlds within those books don’t contain the same historical context as real-life. But, should that mean it’s unnecessary to ensure characters reference all real-life races when you’re already clearly using one as reference? Is it possible to completely remove any traces of real-life influence from books? Mass also already uses social structures and social norms based on real-life, and many of her wars or societal issues largely reflect those in real history (eg: the slave camps  and colonization in TOG (based on citizenship/ species), the politics in Crescent City, the prejudice and subjugation of humans in ACOTAR, etc). So, with everything mentioned in mind, it’s quite unclear where Sarah J. Mass is drawing the lines between what she will include from real life, and what she won’t. But, based on how much she’s already drawn from (mainly Western) history, I’d say she should broaden her character’s cultural backgrounds to incorporate more than just Western influences. For example, The Cruel Prince too draws from real historical contexts, yet manages to incorporate different races without drawing away focus from both plot and the absence of real-world racial ideologies, showcasing exactly how possible it is to simply include more representation within a series.

 

ANYWAY GUYS I THINK THAT'S ALL I HAVE TO SAY THANKS FOR READING!! BYE BYE NOWWWWW

-Karina