My (reading) life

Greetings, my name is Jared Dougall, which rhymes with google and this is google owned software. I was born July 20, 2002 and I enjoy reading books, magazines, articles, social media pages, news papers, comic books and all sorts of things with words. I like to read a variety of books, from sci-fi about Dystopian societies to non fiction books about discoveries in chemistry. I like science and math and I somewhat excel in both subjects, but ELA has always been somewhat difficult for me. Not reading. But writing. I procrastinate, with some frequency, and I only do it when I have to write because I hate writing.

Okay, I know hate is a strong word, and I don't hate writing but all these argument essays that require a lot of planning aren't fun for me for me at all (in fact they actually stress me out, but more on that in a second). The only time writing is fun for me is when I can just write freely, put my ides on the page without having to follow an outline. I like to talk, debate and so on but having to participate in the exercise of writing something that I work hard on, showing it to my parents and having it torn apart and examined at the highest level (both or my parents are lawyers) is not the most fun thing for me to do. I am extremely detail oriented, so I am kind of OCD about some things and it makes me hate writing evermore because my piece has to be perfect; flawless grammar, flawless organization, flawless fluidity etc. This makes writing extremely stressful for me, and I avoid it at all costs.

 I do know writing is a extremely sought after skill in the working world, so I except my fate that I will have to write to make any amount of money. I do want to make money, just like every other 13 year-old kid. In an effort to give me a boost for when I actually need to start thinking about what I want to do with my life, I have been looking at potential careers. Astrophysics, Chemistry, Accountancy (you might expect Accountancy from a Jew like me). Anyway this all ties back to my reading because almost everything I have learned in my life, everything I feel passionate about, I pursue with a book. Whatever small amount intelligence and sophistication I have is entirely from books and reading for countless hours, and I continue to keep reading for as long as I live.

I read many many books this summer, and the most memorable ones were: "I am America (And so can you!)" and "America Again" by Stephen Colbert (I honestly think he is a brilliant man with great comedic sense),  "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury and "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding.

First, the books written by Stephen Colbert were hilarious. Although they were obviously not the most intellectual books, his mocking of certain political views were fantastically funny. The books were extremely immersive and asked the reader questions. The books were almost like you were talking to Stephen Colbert himself. I have many fond memories of this summer where I was reading them in my bug net, late into the night at my sleep away camp this summer.

Second, Fahrenheit 451 was a pleasure to read, It probably ranks among some of my favorite books due to its great descriptive writing, and its fantastic plot about the Dystopian american society that Ray Bradbury warns of throughout the novel. Some of the vocabulary and themes in the book were outstanding and made it a pleasure to read.

And finally, Lord of the Flies, which was a terrifying book and is also ranked among my all time favorites. The island and all of the horrible killings these previously innocent boys committed were shocking and very interesting to me, and I really enjoyed the suspense. William Golding used great descriptive writing and also a very large variety of vocabulary, and this great dystopian novel taught me a lot.

So all in all, reading and writing go hand in hand, as you can see here. I hope that this year I can learn to love them both equally.