Elisabeth Martin, Campus Carrier Features Editor

Jamison Guice, Campus Carrier Asst. Features Editor

 

“The Ranger’s Apprentice” by John Flanagan

“My favorite series is ‘The Ranger’s Apprentice.’ I like it because it combines some elements of realism to it with a more or less fictional world. It definitely mimics the real world in terms of locations and what not, even if they are not named the same. There are some that are very obvious, like Skandia for instance. My favorite character is Halt, who is a ranger. Rangers in the series are effectively the secret service, so they tend to be kind of sneaky. He is definitely getting on in years but he can still fight with the best of them. He is kind of snarky with a dry sense of humor and is not afraid to ‘fudge’ the rules when the situation calls for it. I am rereading it now and I like it more. I am doing creative writing as my major so I have a lot of that experience backing that. I am seeing the little details that I may not have seen.”

– Senior Kayla Fuss

 

“All the Pretty Horses” by Cormac McCarthy

“My favorite book is ‘All The Pretty Horses’ by Cormac McCarthy. It is a coming of age story of a 16-year-old who runs away with his best friend and dreams of living life as a cowboy. The story tells of his adventure as he goes on a journey to Mexico, where he lands at a ranch and works for a while until he comes home to see that his ranch has been sold, and there is nothing left for him in the states. It has an open ending, and it’s just a great story.”

– Sophomore Buddy Johnson

 

“The Giver” by Lois Lowry

“My favorite book is ‘The Giver.’ I read it in elementary school, and it was the first book that was a required read that I actually enjoyed because I thought there was a plot twist. Jonas is the main character and he is given the special job in the community. He is the one that is seeing where he can push his boundaries and where he can make changes and his life better. After reading it in high school, it was a little bit different. It was a little less exciting the second time I read it because I knew what was going to happen. It was still very interesting; I could pick out different details I hadn’t seen the first time.”

– Junior Kaylin Kaun

 

“Animal Farm” by George Orwell

“My favorite book would probably be ‘Animal Farm.’ Just watching everything slowly snowball into utter chaos evoked such a visceral reaction out of me that I have yet to encounter again.”

– Freshman Trinity Staats

 

“Becoming” by Michelle Obama

“I’m in the process of reading ‘Becoming’ by Michelle Obama. I’m loving it because it’s very real and genuine, but it still inspires me. The book is all about her life, and I think she’s amazing.”

– Junior Bailey Dingley

 

“The Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien

“My favorite series is ‘The Lord of the Rings’ because it is epic. I just like the detail in the stories and the journey, the new details that you find every time you read it, and the mythology behind it. Gandalf is awesome. He is powerful and he can basically save everything but that’s not his job. He is only there to guide everyone, which I think it is cool. He holds back because he has to. When I was in middle school, it was kind of harder to read and I didn’t catch as much stuff and it was just the overarching story, trying to get through it: like a seventh grader trying to read it. If I read it now, I would probably catch on to a lot more things that are written in the books, because there is always something new to catch.”

– Sophomore Ben Sinatra

 

“The Problem of Pain” by C.S. Lewis

“I just finished ‘The Problem of Pain’ by C.S. Lewis. It is a discussion of pain and Christianity and it addresses the question, ‘If God, why suffering?’ and provides some pretty good answers. I love C.S. Lewis and I read ‘Narnia’ when I was little, but now that I’m older I’m more into his theological books.”

– Senior John Catton

 

“The Black Cauldron” by Lloyd Alexander

“My favorite book is ‘The Black Cauldron’ by Lloyd Alexander. When I was in high school, my English teacher, every single Friday would read us a chapter of the book. It was kind of our escape from the stress of high school and graduating. I have a lot of good memories associated with it and the plot is just really good. It is very much an epic fantasy, but in a way that you can enjoy it whether you are five or 105, which is something that not every traditional epic has. It has a lot similar features to a traditional epic, like a hero who goes on an epic adventure, but also has really relatable and lovable characters.

– Sophomore Em Nicole Kenney

 

“The Black Prism” by Brent Weeks

“My favorite book would have to be ‘The Black Prism’ by Brent Weeks. It is one of the best magic systems that I have ever seen. He does a really good job with world building. [The characters’] magic is based on light so each person can do a different color of light, and each property of magic, depending on the light, has different properties. So, maybe it is sticky or combusts really quickly and it is just really cool. I read it in like three days and it is like 700 pages, so I really loved it.”

– Freshman Merissa Henager

 

“Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens

“I have to say that my favorite book is “Great Expectations,” but I don’t really know why. I just like the way it is written, the story. The main character, Pip, starts as an orphan and he goes up in rank. There are also other characters who are not really portrayed in a good way, so Pip is really the most friendly character.”

– Sophomore Timothy Belin