Overall, I actually liked summer reading this year. I chose Mockingjay as my optional book. Even though you aren’t supposed to choose a book you have previously read, I did because I am a die-hard Hunger Games Trilogy fan. Naturally as a die–hard fan, I had already read the book, but I did re-read it for probably the 15^th time. I am excited for the discussion tomorrow mainly because I love just talking about the Hunger Games, and I know other fans are in my discussion group. Luckily with a series like the Hunger Games Trilogy, even though Mockingjay is by far the worst of the three, the discussion will still be amazing because of the background plot set by the first two books.  Overall I am just an obsessed Hunger Games fan, so it was great to jus tre-read the book. The first book of the mandatory summer reading books that I read was The Picture of Dorian Gray. Being the first summer reading book I picked up, reading it dragged on and on for me throughout the summer. I never really got into the story until Dorian becomes the vain, selfish person that he is when he dies.  The flaw in Dorian is his impressionability. Originally he starts off, as a sheltered, innocent, and especially attractive boy who basically has not experienced anything the world has to offer. Lord Henry manipulates him as early as their first interaction, but even then I was not interested in the book. The writing style that Oscar Wilde uses seemed to drag on and on for me. I can’t even tell you when I began to not mind reading it. Thinking back I think it was when Dorian’s character and morals had fully transformed, but that might just be my opinion after having read the entire book. Personally I did not think all the description of Dorian at parties with random people was necessary. The connection between people could have been established in less than half the pages that Oscar Wilde used, in my opinion. Next I read the Screwtape Letters. My mentality going into this book was horrible. I had heard from multiple people that it was the worst of the three books. I was dreading reading it, but after I realized what the book was about after the 2^nd or 3^rd chapter, I couldn’t put it down. I have a weird fascination with religious studies, not in the sense of studying the bible, but more like why people believe what they do. I loved “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” and almost everything we read in Ms. Ratliff’s class during the unit involving Puritanism. I knocked out Screwtape in a day, and I don’t think I have any problems with it. Initially I was confused as I am sure most people are about who was who. Because of the perspective, “the Enemy” is God, and I found that fascinating. Almost all of the human tendencies and traits that Screwtape described, I could relate to, either directly or indirectly, in my experiences with religion, and that fascinated me. I loved the book, and I loved how Sckrewtape analyzed the human behavior patterns. The idea of the subtle influence that the Devil’s helpers were using to influence the humans was a topic I have read about, and it was great to see that topic from a different perspective. After finishing Screwtape I started Grendel. I thought Grendel was okay, but I didn’t really enjoy Beowulf, and I didn’t really connect with Grendel either. I am glad I read Beowulf first though mainly because I view prequels as a type of reveal, and I enjoy that a lot. I understood the plot overall about Grendel’s transformation from a sheltered beast to one who terrifies humans. The dragon at first confused me, but then after getting further in the book I realized the significance. Overall for me it was just a book to finish for the test, I didn’t really enjoy it too much. It was just the typical summer reading book for me, and I also think that reading it after Screwtape was a let down.