About the Author: Louis Zamperini

Around two weeks ago, I watched the movie, Unbroken, with my brother.

The movie poster for Unbroken

I had seen the trailer a lot of TV so I was really curious about the movie. When I watched it, I was amazed. I decided to pick up the book after watching the movie. I started the book pretty recently, so I'm not too far along in the book. But, since the book is based around Louis, I thought that I would talk about him.
There are two different books on Louis Zamperini, but the one I am reading is titled, "Don't Give Up, Don't Give In" written by Louis Zamperini and David Rensin.

After watching the movie, I wanted to learn more about Louis Zamperini, a man who had gone through very difficult situations, yet managed to stay strong.

If you aren't familiar with who Louis Zamperini was, he was an Olympic runner. When he was 17, he set the high school interscholastic world record for the mile with a time of 4:21.2. After graduating high school Zamperini made the U.S Olympic Team for the 5000 meter race.

The black and white photo is an actually shot of Louis Zamperini running.
The colored shot is a picture of  Jack O' Connell running, who played as Louis in the film.

Zamperini volunteered to be a solider for the army when WW2 started. Louis worked as a B-24 bombardier. While he was on a rescue mission, his plane went down in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Only he and two other members of the plane had survived the crash. They were stranded in the ocean and remained on a small raft for 47 days. After surviving 47 days in the ocean, he was captured by the Japanese. For over 2 years, Louis was tortured and faced psychological abuse in prisoner of war camps.
When he returned to America, Louis suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and alcoholism, but he would go on and eventually return back to Japan to forgive his captors and preach to them as well.

Louis Zamperini passed away last summer on July 2, 2014. He lived to be 97 years old, and will always be remembered for his courage and strength for generations to come.

Louis Zamperini with Angelina Jolie, who was the director of the film.

Pictured above is Louis Zamperini

About the Author: Loung Ung

Loung Ung is the author of the memoir I read called: First They Killed My Father.

Although the memoir described part of her childhood, it made me curious about what happened to Loung after the book ended. The epilogue provided a brief overview of what her life was like, but I wanted to know more.

So, thanks to Google, here's what I found:

- She currently lives in Shaker Heights, Ohio {located in Cleveland!}

- Loung married Mark Priemer in 2002.

- Ung has written a total of three books:

• First They Killed My Father
• Lucky Child
• Lulu In The Sky

- Loung is a human-rights activist and lecturer. She is the national spokesperson for the Campaign for a Landmine-Free World.

Alright, that wraps up my findings of Loung Ung. I highly suggest everyone to read one of her books. I feel as if not a lot of people are aware of what the Khmer Rouge/Pol Pot regime was. Reading Loung's experiences about this will not only educate you on what the Pol Pot regime was, you can also see on how it effected others, and what people went through- based on Loung's perspective. 

Here is a Youtube video of Loung Ung. It talks about Loung, and she also shares her experiences.
Loung also has a Youtube channel, here's a link to it:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO1VVwJuz57ITeef6uRR66w/videos

Text to Society: First They Killed My Father

The memoir I am reading is called, First They Killed My Father, by: Loung Ung.

It is about Loung's experiences during the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge is the communist party in Cambodia. They took over Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, and this is known as the Khmer Rouge/Pol Pot regime - (Pol Pot was the leader of the Khmer Rouge).

According to History.com, "...about 1.5 million Cambodians out of a total population of 7 to 8 million died of starvation, execution, disease or overwork."

This picture is from the monument in the village of Choeung Ek, and it is a memorial for the victims.
I actually have gone to this memorial, and it leaves you stunned and speechless because you are surrounded with skulls, and photos of victims are covering the walls. You can also walk around the fields and see the bones of victims still in the ground.

One central idea/ realization from this memoir is the fact that experiences can impact you and change the way you think and see the world. In the book, Loung experiences many different changes. She grew up in a middle class family, and then all of a sudden, one day she has to evacuate the city with her family. Her experience of starvation, homelessness, and many other extreme losses changed Loung completely from the start and to the end of the book.

Many events can change the way we think and see the world. Events such as the death of a loved one/close friend, near death experiences (ex: car accident or surviving a natural disaster), homelessness, rape, and abuse are only some examples of many events that can impact us.

One example is the 9/11 attack. Thousands of people were affected by this tragic event. Not only were the the victims affected, but also their friends and family members. 

If you want to read more, here is a link to the website. 

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/08/29/120875/from-grief-resilience-for-victims.html

This site has a collection of stories about how 9/11 impacted them and their friends/family. One story is about Christie Coombs. Her husband, Jeffrey Coombs died aboard the American Airlines Flight 11. This impacted the Coombs family tremendously. 

Because of this, Christie started the Jeffrey Coombs Memorial Foundation. 

She felt that she "needed to put all that negative energy from 9/11 into something positive." The money goes to other 9/11 victims' families facing financial predicaments. 

Coombs said that the tragedy, "changed my appreciation for what other people go through on a daily basis."

This is only one example of how events and experiences can influence the way we think/see the world.

About the Author: Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell is hands down my favorite author. I am currently in the process of reading one of his books called 'Outliers'. In the mean time, I thought it would be interesting to learn more about the author. So here's what I found:

-Malcolm Gladwell was born in England, and moved to Canada when he was six.
-Was born on September 3rd, 1963
-He is a non-fiction writer and journalist

One interesting fact I learned about Gladwell was that he was a middle distance runner in high school. He won the 1500 meters title at the 1978 Ontario High School Championships with a time of 4:05.2 seconds, at the age of 14. According to Runner' World, "In college, Gladwell ran 3:55 for 1500 meters, which is the rough equivalent of a 4:13 mile." (Which is amazing!!)

Malcolm Gladwell is also a staff writer for The New Yorker and was formally a business and science reporter at the Washington Post.

That's a quick summary on Malcolm Gladwell! I learned a lot of new facts about him, and if you have never read any of his books, I highly recommend that you do! Even if you don't normally go for non-fiction books, give one of Gladwell's books a shot. I normally prefer fiction over non-fiction, so I was super surprised when I saw how much I enjoyed reading his books. One of the main reasons I enjoy reading Gladwell's books is because it makes you think and look at the world in a different way. Most of his points are things I haven't thought about before, and I absolutely love how much evidence and examples Gladwell always puts in his books. My two favorite books of his are: Blink and The Tipping Point.

Who's your favorite author? I love reading new books so if you have any recommendations comment them down below! :)

Here's a link to an interview Gladwell had with Runner's World:

http://www.runnersworld.com/celebrity-runners/a-running-conversation-with-malcolm-gladwell?page=single

In the picture above, Gladwell (right) is racing Dave Reid (left), who would eventually hold the Canadian record in the 1500 meters. Gladwell had actually beaten Reid in a few races in middle school and high school.

Book Review: Pizza, Love, and Other Stuff That Made Me Famous

My first post is going to be a review on the book: Pizza, Love, and Other Stuff That Made Me Famous. The book is written by Kathryn Williams, and overall, I would give it an 8/10. I give it an eight because I felt as if the author did not put enough details in some parts of the story. I also think that the title is misleading because Sophie, (main character), did not get famous because of pizza or love.  But I really liked how the book contained some recipes that were made in the book. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a light and quick read, and also if you are interested in cooking because I have learned quite a few cooking tips from reading this book!

The book revolves around Sophie Nicolaides. Her dad owns Taverna Ristorante, which is an Italian-Greek restaurant. One day, her best friend Alex tells her about Teen Test Kitchen, which is a reality cooking show. In order to get on the show, you have to try out by cooking a meal for judges. Sophie wins over the judges with her rosemary lamb chops, and is now one of the eight contestants on the show. Sophie is flown to Napa, California, where she spends seven weeks at the National Culinary Academy (NCA), prepping for the final round. The show winner will receive a scholarship to the NCA, and also an apprenticeship at Om, the restaurant owned by the show's  judge-producer and top chef, Tommy Chang. In the book, Sophie has to deal with drama and friendships while being on the show.

Attached to this post is a video with Kathryn Williams, the author. She talks about inspiration for the book, and why she wrote it. If you want to watch the video, I would skip to 0.24 seconds because that's when she starts to talk about the book! :)