Uni High Book Bloggers

“To realize one’s destiny is a person’s only obligation.” - The Alchemist  The Alchemist was written by Paulo Coelho and published in 1988 and then was later translated into English. It took Paulo Coelho 2 weeks to write this book, he claimed it was because the book, he says, was already in his soul. The Alchemist is a book of magic, lessons, and an amazingly sweet character.  Summary  The book starts in Spain at a church and a tree with our main character Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd, who just wants to travel and see the world. However something has been making him uneasy lately, he keeps dreaming about a treasure buried under a pyramid. After consulting a fortune teller in a nearby town, he decides to seek out the treasure. He meets an old man named Melchizedek, who says that he will help Santiago find the treasure he dreams of. Melchizedek explains to him what a Personal Legend is, something the person wants to accomplish the most in their life. For Santiago, findi...

Have you been a dog lover your whole life? Then you should check out My Life in Dog Years . My Life in Dog Years is a memoir about Gary Paulsen's life through his relationship with his dogs. Each dog represents a chapter in Gary Paulsen's life from his childhood to dog sledding in Alaska. With many heartwarming tales about his dogs, this book explores the bond between a man and his dog. I always love dogs and that is one of the main reasons I loved this book. I liked learning about the different dogs he had and about them. The author also does a good job of giving a human type of feeling to the dogs with each one having a different and unique type of personality. Another thing I liked about this book is the way the dogs represent how Paulsen has evolved as a character. I also think that this book would interest people who don’t love dogs. The main reason for this is that this book talks a lot about loyalty, life, love, and companionship, and you may enjoy reading about that re...

     Recently, the topic of book bans has been on the rapid rise. Books have been banned mostly due to parents wanting to protect their children from LGBTQ+ themes, political ideologies, sexually explicit scenes, and many more reasons. In 2022, the number of book bans has doubled compared to the previous year. Many communities and organizations are working to prevent the banning of books. One notable organization is the American Library Association. To fight this rapidly rising conflict, Illinois has passed a law that bans the banning of book bans. The law was signed on June 12, 2023. However, this law will not take place until January 1, 2024.      This recently passed law requires that public libraries must adopt the ALA's Library Bill of Rights, or they must make their own statement that prohibits book banning. The ALA's Library Bill of Rights states that "materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing...

     The story of how I stumbled across this book is less than enthralling. I finished the winter reading program at The Urbana Free Library and had the opportunity to choose two free books of my choice. The bright colors on this novel caught my eye, yes, but what intrigued me the most was the author’s name written in large bold letters: Carl Hiaasen. I’ve read a couple of his books before and they were up there with my absolute favorites. When I took this practical chunk of gold home I was almost buzzing with excitement… and was taken aback by the amount of profanity that the book contained. Pretty much every other sentence in this novel is locked and loaded with enough curse words to make your parents faint. Nevertheless, I turned each page with eagerness… Squeeze Me is about Kiki Pew Fitzsimmons, an important member of high society, mysteriously and suddenly disappearing from the pinnacle of Palm Beach’s charity ball season. Kiki Pew was a founding member of the Potu...