One of the hardest things to do right now is pass the time. Once you figure that out, then it's equally hard to to be invested in something that you actually enjoy and benefit from. Thankfully, by mere coincidence I had a lot of books from the library before the big break. While I like literature a lot, I needed a change in genre. Thing Explainer by Randall Munroe (the same man who created the online comic xkcd and wrote What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions)  isn't a story, but rather closer to a textbook about how things work. Literally, it lists the inner workings of different inventions. It meticulously labels everything about something, from the parts of a car's engine to even the parts of a tree. On paper, this sounds boring, but there's a catch: the entire book is written in with the 1000 most common words in the English language. That means that every explanation of something is brutally simple. For example, a helicopter is called...

I know a lot of us are probably bored at home right now, so I’ve put together a list of seven fun literature-related games that you can play by yourself or with family or friends if you’re looking for something to do that’s fun, takes little to no equipment, and is somewhat educational. The first game, and one that I’ve had a lot of fun playing with my sister, is the say-the-same-word game. It’s based off an old video I found while browsing youtube ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sP1DqyagXE ), which I think was originally meant to advertise an app that no longer exists, but it’s more fun to play in person anyways. To play, find a partner, count to three, say a random word, and repeat the process with a word that relates the previous two words. For example, one game I played with my sister started out with “food” and “ocean”, then became “slug” and “salt”, and finally ended with “death”. Depending on the people and starter words, some games can last pretty long! Another ga...

By Kate A. Hello, and welcome back to the blog. If you're anything like me, you are stuck at home with no books to read because you've already read everything you could find. All the libraries are closed, so I thought I would tell you guys about some websites you can go to if you want to read some new books. All of these websites are free, easy to access, and some of them don't require a library card! If you don't already have a library card, you can sign up for a virtual library card  here  if you live in Champaign or here  if you live in Urbana. A virtual library card will allow you to access online books and audiobooks for 90 days, but it won't allow you to access everything at the library. 1. Project Gutenberg : Project Gutenberg is a collection of full text eBooks in the public domain. Most of the books in the collection are older works with an expired US copyright. It is the oldest digital library and was created by Michael S. Hart with the goal of making...

     During quarantine, I have been doing many things I don't usually get the chance to, like writing, reading superhero comics, practicing Karate, watching Anime ect. What I haven't been doing enough of, however is reading. That's why I am only about halfway through Heartless right now. Anyway, here are my thoughts.       Heartless is a book about a world that is based on a deck of cards. There are Kings, Jokers,  Jacks, ect.. The book takes place in the Kingdom of Hearts, where there is a King, but no queen. The story follows Catherine, who is a normal citizen of the kingdom, who's dream is to open a bake shop with her maid and best friend, Mary Ann. She learned to bake from many cook books in her mansion, and has gotten very good at it, gaining attention from the King himself, who wants to marry her. Catherine's  mom wants nothing less than for her daughter to be the queen, and would do anything to make this a reality. Catherine however...

What with having much more free time nowadays, I decided to explore some books I have known about but have never particularly appealed to me. Among these books was The Call of the Wild , written by Jack London in 1903. It follows Buck and his slow, sad, but sure transformation from a harmless form of entertainment for his owners to an entirely wild dog. Initially, Buck is living his best life with a family that has shown him nothing but love and care. Within the first few pages, this happy part of Buck's life is driven to a halt. He is soon kidnapped (or dognapped) and sold off to dog traders, who throw him in a train for days without food and water. Buck becomes savage towards the dog traders but receives beatings to learn how to obey. He eventually arrives to Canada, where sled dogs are urgently needed due to gold hunting there. He is exposed to savage dogs, and eventually becomes a stronger, fiercer shell of the gentle sheepdog he used to be. He even takes down the leader of...

By Marlow Tracy For many of my elementary school years, The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart was my absolute favorite book. It had everything: solvable puzzles, engaging narration, quirky characters, and an adventurous plotline. Recently, I gave the book a re-read to see if it actually lived up to my childhood self’s admiration. The answer is a definite yes. The Mysterious Benedict Society begins when Reynie Muldoon, an orphan with a knack for solving puzzles, finds an advertisement in the newspaper that leads him to take a series of mind-boggling tests. Upon completion, he learns that he, along with four other children, has been recruited by a man called Mr. Benedict to infiltrate the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, or L.I.V.E, an academic institute with seemingly sinister intent. He joins Sticky Washington, a runaway who remembers everything he reads, Kate Wetherall, an acrobat with a red bucket, and Constance contraire,...