Alé Salamán -- LMST345

W1- Frankenstein - Mary Shelley (6 points)  W2- Interview with a Vampire - Anne Rice (6 points)  W3- A Wild Sheep Chase - Haruki Murakami (6 points)  W4- Uzumaki - Junji Ito (3 points)  W5- Annihilation - Jeff Vandermeer (6 points)  W6- Akata Witch - Nnedi Okorafor (5 points)  W7- The Hobbit - J R R Tolkien (6 points)  W8- Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman (6 points)  W9- The Martian - Andy Weir (5 points)  W10- Dune - Frank Herbert (5 points)  W11- Ghost in a Shell - Masamune Shirow (3 points)  W12- Dawn - Octavia Butler (5 points)  W13- Beloved (5 points)  W14- Hitchhikers Guide (6pts)  W15- A song for a new day (5points)  CLASSES ATTENDED: 13/14 (1pt per class)  Points: 78pts 78 + 13 = 91 (A-) 

 This book reminds me of our current world. Maybe not in the same way as it's not a pandemic but in this world, Luce struggles with not being able to go outside due to some incidents and everything such as performances get simulated via Virtual Reality. The world is kind of moving in the direction of digitizing all interactions but in order for those virtual interactions to work some people have to work in the real life to make entertainment happen. Overall its a good novel about living IRL and URL and what the duality of those states looks like. 

 I listened to the audiobook, I like the radio format. It's cool to think about stuff like a radio play.  I usually don't really engage too much with listening mediums as I feel like I lose engagement but this was honestly not too bad. There was quite a lot in this story and I'm glad it was in the grey line of serious but fun. The plot follows Arthur Dent as he's trying to save the earth from Aliens. There are these super intelligent mice that are commissioned to build a 2nd earth since they don't think Earth 1 can make it.  I just like how the story never really takes itself seriously and it just is one big adventure you can listen to. 

 I read Toni Morrison's Beloved. I think it's quite a strange story about former slaves being haunted by their past actions in a way. Sethe was forced to kill her child while she was a slave due to the fact that they can't own any possessions. A woman comes to 124 Bluestone and stays because Sethe thinks it's her daughter that's come back to life and grown so essentially the house ends up haunted by her daughter. It's quite the story packed with mystery and a strange sense of haunting. This book is like a longer version of what the Yellow Wallpaper makes me feel by the end of reading it, just a lot of inadequate post read feelings.