Literature Extravaganza

Recently I read the book Heart of Darkness  by Joseph Conrad. This book is about a whole bunch of sailors on a ship. One of the sailors named Marlow was a captain of a steamship when he was younger, and he tells his story about his experiences as the captain of the steamship. The steamship was a ship that would go to Africa and trade. At the time Africa was not the most well-documented place, so he wanted to learn more about it. The chance he got really invigorated his childhood dream of documenting the "blank space". This trip to Africa shapes how he sees his home country of Britain, and sees how badly they treated the people in Africa. He talks about his crazy experiences while he's in Africa. It revolves around a man named Kurtz that is supposed to be very nice and a wonderful person. However he starts to learn more about this man and his abuse of power in Africa. Overall I enjoyed the book and here are some reasons why I think you should read it. 1. It's messa

By Lukas Perdekamp Recently I finished reading Educated by Tara Westover. This book was published in 2018 and is a memoir of Westover looking back into her past. It is from the point of view of the author in her twenties. Tara was born in rural Idaho into a family of radical mormons. Her parents were Faye and Gene which are pen names, but they were both very conservative. Westover’s father gathered scrap metal which he then sold and was scared of the government. Tara Westover was the youngest of seven and they were never allowed to attend school, get birth certificates, or receive medical attention. In this post I will discuss how Westover was still able to lead a successful life despite all of her setbacks. When Tara Westover was young, her mother Faye worked as a midwife. Unfortunately when Tara was about 9 years old Faye suffered a brain injury in a car accident which was not treated. This led her to work mostly on creating herbal remedies. At the same time Westover’s brother

Emily Chen        Lately, I’ve been listening to self-improvement audiobooks to help me stay motivated, since it has been harder to find inspiration. A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post about  Girl, Wash Your Face,  which encouraged me to continue working towards my goals. Recently, I finished  The Power of Habit , which I had heard great things about. In it, Charles Duhigg discusses the science behind the formation and function of habits, then explains how we can use that understanding to modify them. It also describes how they influence our lives and the world around us. The book is divided into three parts: "The Habits of Individuals," "The Habits of Successful Organizations," and "The Habits of Societies." I found it to be an enlightening call-to-action that helps readers understand the world around us. Duhigg introduces each of his arguments with a story, which makes his book an engaging read. Instead of simply stating facts, The Power

  By Lukas Perdekamp Recently I finished reading Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. This work was originally published in 1937 and is targeted towards people who would like to learn more about success in life. Although the title suggests that Think and Grow Rich is mainly about gaining monetary wealth, it focuses on psychology and philosophy which can be applied in many fields. In this blog post I will discuss two principles in Think and Grow Rich which can help you become successful. The first idea Napoleon Hill discusses in his work is desire. In the first chapter of his book Hill shows examples of how desire plays a major role in success. He provides two prime examples of how desire played out for two people’s lives. The first example is about Edwin C. Barnes who desperately wanted to work with Thomas Edison. In the beginning he was poor and initially had to take a freight train to visit Edison. Once he arrived he attempted to get hired by Edison but he did not want to hire