The Scorch Trials (James Dashner)

I have had a great week supply teaching and some of my days even included a bit of prep time (or at least a quiet lunch break) that were ideal reading times.  I also think it's important to add in this post that in the elementary classes I was in this week, I saw "The Maze Runner" (the first book of this series) in the hands of at least three students.

I discovered this series of books by James Dashner after reading The Hunger Games.  I enjoyed The Hunger Games so much that I wanted to find another series that was similar. The first book in this series was The Maze Runner, which I had said I enjoyed, just not as much as The Hunger Games!  (I think the key here is to not compare it to The Hunger Games, since they are about entirely different things.)  I started The Scorch Trials, not entirely sure what to expect out of it after the ending of book one, but I really enjoyed it.  

Thomas and the rest of the 'shanks' who survived from his life in the Maze (see description of The Maze Runner!) are in a new facility.  While they think that they are finally free of this life of chaos, they are forced again to take part in a trial for WICKED (the World in Catastrophe: Killzone Experiment Department).  In this book, the boys have a new member thrown on them (Aris) and in two weeks, they must make it 100 miles north through this desert.  Along the way, they meet (and must fight) Cranks, people who have the "Flare" and are basically crazy in the head, as well as a second group of girls who have been going through similar experiments and trials.  There are a variety of "variables" in this trial, so different individuals have different motives throughout the journey.

It sounds weird, but it was really exciting.  The descriptions are wonderful and you can picture everything that is happening along the journey.  Along with 'seeing' the landscapes and the people, Dashner does a great job of making you really feel the emotions that Thomas is feeling throughout the book. 

This is the second book in a series that currently has 4 books, one of which is to be released this summer.  I've been trying to decide if this book could be a standalone book, or if it should be read after the first book.  I think this book is better read in the order it was intended.  While there are some reminders in this book of things that occurred in The Maze Runner, I think a lot of the terminology and experiences that happened in the first book would make you enjoy The Scorch Trials that much more.  

Similar to the last book, it leaves you satisfied at the end, but more so this time, I just want to pick up the third book, The Death Cure, and start it right away.  I would recommend this book, especially for the Young Adult and teen audience.  (And I'll add that after talking to a student at one school this week, the teens are enjoying this series as well!)

"What Should I Read Next?" - Too Cool Not to Share

This post is not a book review, but I promise it will be worth it.

I have recently become hooked on Pinterest... And even though sometimes I feel like it takes up way too much of my time, I agree with the quote, "You're not wasting time if you're enjoying it."  And I enjoy it.  (For those of you who don't already know, Pinterest is basically an online bulletin board... You can "pin" ideas you find on the internet onto various boards and you can browse things that other people have found.  It's really neat.)

What I love about Pinterest is that if you don't have time to go on and browse on any given day, it's ok.  It's not like twitter, which I feel I need to check at least once a day in order to keep up with everything.  There is no way you will ever see everything that is pinned on Pinterest - which is kind of the point in my mind.  You should be pinning things that interest you. That being said, it's a lot of fun to spend some time browsing the overwhelming amount of cool stuff that other people have pinned.

Today, on Pinterest, I found this awesome website called "What Should I Read Next?"  This being a blog about books, I just had to share!  All you do is type in the name of a book that you really enjoyed and it will provide you with a list of books and authors that may be right up your alley.  Kind of cool, eh?  Give it a try!

This image is from the "What Should I Read Next?" website. 

The Lucky One (Nicholas Sparks)

I loved this book.  I know some people are not into Nicholas Sparks and his style of writing, but I couldn't put this book down. 

"The Lucky One" is basically the love story between Logan and Beth.  Logan was a marine and while he was in Kuwait, he found a picture of this beautiful girl, which from that point on, his friend Victor claims is his "good luck charm."  Logan survives many dangerous moments, which they both believe is because of the photo.  In an attempt to "balance" everything, Logan goes in search of this beautiful woman when he is back home in the United States.  He finds Beth and starts working for her family.  He decides it's better to not tell Beth about the photo he finds.  As he becomes closer to the family (and to Beth), both of their pasts start to come forward.  Add to this the fact that Beth's ex-husband, Keith, is a police officer in the town (and kind of a bully) and it makes a really interesting story!

Each chapter focuses on the thoughts of a different character.  It was nice to see what was going on in everyone's heads and I found that it all fit together really nicely.  Nicholas Sparks does a great job developing the characters and reveals specific pieces of information at really good times throughout the book. 

Like I said, I couldn't put the book down once I started it.  It was an easy read and it really kept me interested throughout.  (I came home after the 9:15 p.m. Hunger Games movie and read this book until the wee hours of the morning!)  There was just something about the relationships between Logan and Beth, and Logan and Ben, and Keith and Beth, that kept me intrigued.

My book had the steamy picture of Zac Efron and Taylor Schilling, who are the stars of the upcoming movie.  (I love Zac Efron from way back in his "High School Musical" days... Don't judge!)  After watching the preview again, I notice that there already seem to be a few things that are different from the book.  (But I'm sure it will still be good!)

The Lucky One hits the big screen on April 20th.  I hope I enjoy the movie as much as I enjoyed the book!

The Hunger Games - The Movie

Because of how much I hate being in crowded places, I had intended to go to see "The Hunger Games" movie in a few weeks, once the crazy lineups had died down.  However, stuff happens and I decided to brave it out last night.  We showed up at 8:00 p.m. for a 9:15 p.m. movie and, after waiting in line for almost an hour, we got prime seats!  (Go us!  We were teasing that we should have dressed up and brought my copies of the book, but we're not that hardcore.)

I thought the movie was amazing and that it stayed true to the book.  There were some parts that I think would be a bit easier to understand after having read the book (like, for example, how they determine how many times your name gets put into the draw), but all in all, it was a good movie and I found they did a good job with the characters and the story.  Obviously, being the Hollywood film that it is, you don't need to have read the book first.  Personally, I think it helped.  

It was exciting, it had my shoulders tensed up part way through (even though I knew what was going to happen), the music really helped to make you feel various emotions, the costumes were great, and I thought the acting was good.

My mom told me of one bad review that's still sitting right front and center in my mind, where the guy said that he thought they were playing it "safe" in the movie.  I found that they had just enough "gore" and that how they showed the "excitement" (if you want to call it that) in The Hunger Games was tastefully done.  It could have made people feel uncomfortable if there was more to see visually, and, like I heard a young fan on Canada AM say one morning this past week, "It was done in a way that you knew what was happening."  You know someone is dying.  You didn't have to see it all, but you could feel it and it still hit home. 

I'm excited for Catching Fire now.  And I kind of want to re-read the books.

Lover Eternal - The Black Dagger Brotherhood (J.R. Ward)

If you haven't already read my embarrassing post about how I started the series "The Black Dagger Brotherhood," you can read all about it here.  If you need a laugh today, that could be it!  Checking "Lover Eternal" out of the library was a little bit less embarrassing than my first J.R. Ward library experience, but it still caused a bit of blushing at the check out counter!

The Black Dagger Brotherhood is a series (there are ten books in all) about a brotherhood of vampires.  The terminology and concepts are much different than those used in Twilight books - that is, there aren't werewolves, but instead there are lessers, and their rules for eating and whatnot are different.  But all in all, they are still vampire books and they are a bit more "grownup" than Twilight.

Lover Eternal by J.R. Ward is the second book in The Black Dagger Brotherhood series.  The first book, Dark Lover, focused on the relationship between Beth and Wrath, whereas this book focused on two different characters, Rhage (vampire) and Mary (human).  I would go so far as to say that this book, though dealing with the same group of vampires and same concepts, is different enough from the first book that you could read this one without having read the first one.  In fact, Beth and Wrath (the stars of the first book), make only a few short appearances in this novel. 

The storylines in this book: The first problem with their relationship is that Rhage is a vampire and Mary is a human.  He falls in love with her instantly, but it's against the rules for him to be dating a human.  Then, enter the fact that Rhage has been cursed - he has a "beast" inside of him, a beast that he's worried will harm Mary someday.  Finally, add in the fact that Mary has leukemia and it seems like all the cards are stacked against them. 

I found this book was exciting, just like the first novel.  There was obviously a romance side to the novel (as the title suggests), but there are many other topics addressed.  There was a lot more interaction with the other vampire brothers in this novel, which was nice, there were the cancer issues, and there was still the fighting with the lessers.  The end of the novel hints that the third book will focus on yet another vampire, Zsadist.  

I liked the book, almost better than I liked the first novel, Dark Lover.  If you're into vampires, I would still recommend this series. 

Rafa (Rafael Nadal and John Carlin)

Again, I've been busy, so it has taken me way longer than it should have to get through the book Rafa by Rafael Nadal and John Carlin.  (Sorry!)  Thanks to a four hour car ride to Toronto this weekend (and four hours back), I was able to finish it up (and start another book)!  (My car rules - you're allowed to read a book as long as you're not the driver or have shotgun.  It's the person in the front passenger seat who is required to keep the driver company.  Back seat is fair game for iPod listening or reading if the backseat passenger so chooses.  Which I did.) 

Let's start by saying that I'm a huge Rafael Nadal fan.  I've seen him play at the Roger's Cup in Toronto (awesome!) and he's great.  I don't need to tell the ladies that he's gorgeous, but in addition to that, I love how calm he seems out there on the court and how nothing seems to phase him.  Other tennis players seem to lose their tempers and whatnot, and one of the things I love about Nadal (and Federer) is that he's never really "lost it" on the court.  I remember hearing before, about Nadal, that if you were to try and find "dirt" on Nadal, all you would find searching the internet is information about Rafa playing tennis on dirt.  There are no scandals and there's not much bad press out there about him. 

One year at the Roger's Cup, my mom and I pre-ordered our tickets one year in advance and we were rewarded with an awesome Rafael Nadal (fake) signed photo, which is now hanging in my bedroom.  Also, Nadal was nice enough to let me pose with his life size poster him. 

See, my picture with his poster him.

 Also, he was nice enough to pose with me in real life.

For reals, y'all!  He's the dot in pink!
Notice how I'm smiling from ear to ear - SO AWESOME! NADAL!

Ok, finally, about the book!

I thought the layout of the book was interesting.  In each chapter, there are two sections - one written from the point of view of Nadal and the other written from the point of view of (I assume) John Carlin.  In the sections written by Nadal, he breaks down and describes two big matches for him in his career (Wimbledon 2008 against Federer and the 2012 US Open against Djokovic).  In the other portions, there are some more personal details explained through interview with various family members, as well as some of his personal history. 

I think the book really shows the hard work and dedication that is involved in being a professional athlete, especially a tennis player.  You watch a tennis match and you know that there is a lot of hard work involved, but I think we often overlook how much of this work is done by yourself.  For some people, it would be really difficult to get motivated to go work out and hit balls by yourself for hours on end. 

There were so many things in this book that I found interesting, including his details of his pre-match rituals (which I never really noticed until they were pointed out to me) and details about his injuries over the years.  I'm a tennis fan (and I love watching Nadal), but I'm not hardcore enough to go do research on why he wasn't playing in a certain tournament.  This summed up many of these things for me (no Google search required!)

If you're not a huge tennis fan, I wouldn't recommend this book to you.  There are lots of details about specific points and matches that wouldn't necessarily interest you.

If you are into sports and don't mind reading about some "sport" instead of all the personal details about his life, then read it.  I enjoyed the book and am even more excited to (hopefully) see Nadal back at the Roger's Cup in Toronto this summer.  He's pretty hardcore and I think he's got quiet a few more wins in him.

Shine (Lauren Myracle)

I've been meaning to get this post written for a while, but it's been a busy few days.  Now that I can finally enjoy my March Break, here are my thoughts on Shine by Lauren Myracle.

I've had my eye on this book for a while.  First, we had a "judge the book by the cover" kind of relationship - I saw the cover and I liked it.  In an effort to save money, I left it there.  When I saw it on the top list of Teen books, I decided to give it a try.

(Fun fact about this book: It was nominated as a National Book Award finalist for Young Adult literature, but apparently there was a "miscommunication" and Myracle was asked to withdraw her name from the running.  I guess a similarly titled book was initially supposed to get nominated instead of "Shine."  I liked the book and find this whole situation to be a little bit ridiculous and Myracle should have been able to keep her nomination.  Her book was good!  Read about it all here.)

Patrick is the victim of an antigay hate crime in his small community of Black Creek.  He's assaulted and basically left there, dying.  Because of the closeness of the community members, the police don't want to do too much investigating.  Cat, Patrick's best friend, takes it in her own hands to figure out who is responsible for the crime.  She has been through her own rough patches with some of the community members and so she has her own suspects in mind.  During her detective work, Cat gets to face some of her own issues that have been haunting her for years.

It's really hard for me to imagine this all happening the way it did since I didn't grow up in a "small" town like Black Creek.  It's hard for me to accept that a justice system would basically stand around and do nothing while a young boy is laying in a coma in a hospital bed.  I'm thankful that I didn't grow up in a situation like this!

The issues that are discussed in this book are serious ones, and I think it's great to open the eyes of a young adult audience to these topics.  The one major topic is that of the antigay hate crime (and bullying), but they also touch on drugs and alcohol, depression and rape. 

The story was a good little mystery, and I think it's a good read for Young Adult readers.

If you haven't already read my post about Peter Katz and the Matthew Shepard Foundation, you can find it here.