The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Funny thing about this book, I had ordered an advanced readers copy of this book from a Shelf Awareness email, and set it aside with my other tons of "to-read" books. Forgetting about it, I saw the book sitting on a table in the break room at the bookstore and picked it up to read. I get home, and I go to write it in my notebook where I keep track of what I'm reading, and found the other copy I'd already had. I ended up taking the copy from the break room back to work and keeping it in my locker to read on my breaks. Well, after Wednesday night's break, I wished that I'd brought it home to read because it was getting to a really good point. So, I picked up the copy I'd gotten in the mail and finished the book up yesterday.

Basically our main character is Thomas. He wakes up inside an elevator one morning and can't remember anything but his first name. He is in what they call the Glade. There are a bunch of boys around his age there, and none of them remember anything before they woke up in the elevator the same way. Once a month a new boy shows up. Weekly there are supplies that show up in the elevator. All the boys there work in some way, farming, taking care of animals, cooking, etc. Some boys are Runners. You see, the Glade is surrounded by a giant maze with 8 entrances. The runners go out looking to see if there is a way to escape in the mazes. The mazes change every day, and they map them looking for any clues. The doors to the mazes close every night at dark. In the mazes are creatures called Grievers. If you run into one, they either sting you, or kill you if you're left there over night.

Unusually, the very day after Thomas shows up, a girl is in the elevator with a note about how there will be no one else showing up. First thing that's weird is that it is a girl, there are no girls in the glade. She's in a coma when she gets there. Everyone assumes Thomas must have something to do with her since they arrived so close together. Thomas does feel like he's been there before, and he wants to be a runner as soon as he learns of them, even though runners are very brave, and only boys who have been there for awhile usually get that job.

Soon Thomas learns there are secrets he must remember. Getting stung by the Griever seems to bring memories back, so he has to consider that. Anyway, it's a good story, keeps you interested all the way through. Only issue I have, it leaves off on a kind of cliffhanger, so you know there is going to be a second part. I'm just wondering, can't anyone write a novel that is a stand alone novel for kids anymore? I know some stories are just going to lead on into more than they can fit into what may be a normal size kid's novel, but look at the size of Eragon. I think 3 parts the size of the Maze Runner could all fit in that book, and maybe it could all be read in one book. I get so tired of waiting anymore for books that leave you hanging like this. Not that these books aren't good, I just kind of like to be done and move on to something else when I finish the book. I mean, look at the Stephen King novel I just finished. All done in one, yes - one VERY big book, but still done in one book.

Oh well. Good book.

Supernatural: Nevermore by Keith R.A. DeCandido

I love the CW series Supernatural. I actually stumbled onto the books based on the show on one of my regular searches I do at the bookstore every couple of months when I have some extra time at work, like covering the customer service person's break. I like to plug in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and look for any new books about that series. Well, disappointingly, other than graphic novels, which I'm not a huge fan of, there aren't any new books. But one thing I always do is to click on the authors names and see what other books they might have out. Keith DeCandido has written one or two Buffy books, and I enjoyed them, so when I clicked on his name and found a Supernatural novel, well, I immediately went to the SciFi section to find it. And I bought it of course.

I like how this book was set between two episodes of the show, instead of just totally recapping an episode like some tv show novels do. What's also great is that they tell you what two episodes it is supposed to be between.

Anyway, as you might have guessed from the title, there is a supernatural mystery having to do with Edgar Allen Poe. First there is a murder when a person is bricked up inside a wall and left to die. Then an orangutan kills a person. While the boys are there, they catch the suspect in the act of burying body parts under the floorboards of an apartment. All these are part of a supposed ritual proposed by a "fake" psychic guy to raise the dead, in this case, trying to raise Edgar Allen Poe. At the same time, they're helping out a friend of their friend Ash, the computer geek back at Jo and Ellen's bar. He's an old hippie/rocker guy who has a ghost in his house every night after his band has a gig. So they're staying with the guy, instead of their normal cheap motel room, trying to find out who his ghost is and get rid of her.

The story was good, and did have some of the normal humor. But unfortunately, what is so good about Dean's humor on the show, is his facial expressions and the way he delivers the lines. While I can kind of see that in my head as I read, it's just not the same. After watching a new episode of Supernatural last night, and enjoying Dean so much I literally laughed out loud, I understood just where the book came out flat. I do have 2 more books based on the series, and I will enjoy reading them too anyway. Don't think they're both by this same author, but I'm sure they'll still be good.

Separation Anxiety by Karen Brichoux

For chick lit, this was very depressing. Yeah, you know the girl is always going to have issues, and the book will start that way. But this chick had a totally messed up life and we got to see all the dirty laundry. And you don't quite get why she has to separate herself from her best friend Jonz. He seems like an awesome guy. I know, I know, part of it is the girl finding out what she's lost and going back in the end, but it's just really hard to sympathize with the main character in this book. While some of her thought processes do resonate with this single girl, too depressing for me to really enjoy. I did finish as I wanted to know if there would be any happiness. And it did have a pretty good chick lit ending.

Not much else to say.

Under the Dome by Stephen King

Finally finished all 1074 pages of this huge novel. Really, it's actually about the size of another Stephen King novel, It, my favorite King novel of all time. It's longer than Breaking Dawn, or any of the Harry Potter novels as well. It was good once I got into it, and it isn't that it was hard to read that took me so long, just that it was so hard to hold! As I got halfway through I got to the point where I wanted to be reading it during commercials and not just at the table when I was eating. I even brought it to school one day this past week to read during my lunch break. The story was really good, and I didn't think that the early on hints that it was aliens would actually be what it turned out to be. I kinda thought maybe the "Chef" guy who ran the huge secretly town funded meth lab would be some kind of inventor who created that. And the thing about a Stephen King book is that every time you think, finally a break for the good guys, nope, there's a bad guy/thing there ready to spoil it and close that door. You just keep going and going and the last 400 pages are like htat over and over it seems.

So, I definitely recommend this. It reminds me a bit of one of his other alien books, what is the name of it, um, The Tommyknockers. Just because of the whole alien bit. I liked all the attention to what would happen inside the dome from no fresh air, or water, and the pollution and all that. Anyway, if you like Stephen King, go ahead and jump into this huge tome. It'll be worth it.

Now, a note, at my Weight Watchers meeting yesterday morning, our leader talked about seeing Julie and Julia and how she decided to do something similar and cook all the way through a WW cookbook. I'm thinking of doing something similar. But I will only cook the things I want to eat. If I do it, I'll just go straight through the book and cook what I'd actually eat. So I'll let you know when I get started with that, and maybe blog about that too. Right now I'm at a point where even though I have tons of books that I haven't read, sitting waiting to be picked up, when I go to decided what to read next, I have trouble finding anything I think I want to read for sure. What I've picked to read have all turned out good, it was sometimes just getting started.

Miss Understanding by Stephanie Lessing

I actually began this book awhile ago. It was one that I left in my master bathroom to read during bubble baths. But as I was reading the Sookie Stackhouse novels, it sat there waiting to be finished. This book was purchased when I got the crazy idea to search for chick lit books that were bargain that I could actually order into the bookstore I think I still work at.

What can I say about this book? It was one of the strangest, most outlandish main characters I think I've EVER read in a chick lit book. First the way she dressed, the ideas she had. I can't even describe how crazy they are. Her sister, also as crazy as can be. Normally I try not to give main points away, but like me, if you were to read it, you would determine before she really does that she's pregnant. And some of the gross things she talks about that happen to her body during this time? Just yuck. Can't say much about it. I'll probaby give it to my sister to read since we share all this type of book. But mainly I just have to say it was weird. I'm glad it was only $4.98 plus my 30% discount. It won't be a book I keep, and I probably won't look for any more books by this author either.

I should hopefully finish my Stephen King book tonight or tomorrow. I intend to read it during commercials as I sit home like I normally do on Tuesday nights. Oh yeah, had a sonogram/ultrasound today due to some health issues. Now, you see things about this in movies and on tv all the time when someone is pregnant. (I'm NOT pregnant, that would be an immaculate conception at this time in my life). But what was horrible about it is that you have to drink 32 ounces of water and be done an hour before time, and then you CAN'T go to the bathroom!! I was literally dancing back and forth in the doctor's office waiting for them to do the procedure. Not fun. Why do they not ever talk about that aspect of sonograms in tv/movies? I can see a huge comedic aspect to something like that. Oh well, what do I know?

BTVS: One Thing or Your Mother by Kirsten Beyer

There was a time, probably early last year, when I still had a "reading schedule" set up. Every 10 or so books I'd read a Buffy the Vampire Slayer book (BTVS). Every 20 books I'd read a classic, every 5 books a nonfiction, etc. This was my way of broadening my book reading horizons. But then, things like reading for the Mark Twain list came along, and last spring I was really enjoying all the weight loss memoirs that I was reading and the inspiration they gave me at the time on my own weight loss journey.

Well, I decided to pick up a Buffy book to keep in my locker at the bookstore while I was reading the HUGE Stephen King novel at home. This was a fun book. While it wasn't a story from the show, it was in the season where Angel is Angelus. And the mayor is there, and Spike is getting ready to get back at Angelus. I like how all this was intertwined with things we knew from the show. And while I'd been reading the comics that were supposed to be season 8 of Buffy, I lost interest in those. I know that it's supposed to be so awesome that they can do so much more with comics that is unaffordable for a tv show, but to me it was just way too far out there. And I felt that the human sides of the stories, the things that made me laugh or cry when I watch the show were missing. So I stopped buying them and reading them.

This book was a fun one as I said. It was great to visit that world again. As I now seem to reside in either a Twilight or Sookie Stackhouse neighborhood I was reminded again why I love Buffy and considered putting the DVD's back in my bedroom tv so I could watch them and enjoy it again. And I may still do it. I'll be typing up at least one more book review tomorrow. And I'm getting close to the end of the Stephen King book as well.

Around the World in 80 Dates by Jennifer Cox

I've decided instead of numbering all of my book reviews, I'll just put the name in the title as I did with this. I don't always blog about all the books I read, partly because I reread books often, like the Twilight series, and Harry Potter whenever a new Harry Potter movie comes out.

Last year about this time I was reading all the weight loss memoirs I could get my hands on in my working on losing weight. Which I've not finished, but am still working on losing weight. I also have read dating/single life memoirs throughout the years as I've worked at Barnes and Noble and seen them in the store. This book happened to be in our clearance bins. While I promised myself I was not going to even look at those bins because I really don't need to buy anymore books, I looked, and am glad I did now. This book was really good. It made me wish I could travel around the world looking for love. It gave me an idea for the perfect job for my sister who loves to travel. And it also made me wish I had friends who would be willing to set me up with a guy in this same type of situation. Yet every guy people usually set me up with is overweight. And as I hate that trait in myself, and am working so hard to change it, I just can't see myself with someone who is overweight.

So, anyway, Jennifer Cox is the author. She lived in London and had just broken up with her latest boyfriend. She decided to try getting people to set her up around the world. And in the spirit of the book Around the World in 80 Days, she planned 80 dates throughout Europe, America, Asia, Austalia, and New Zealand. Lots of interesting dates. In fact, one she turned down was her Viking date, and he's actually one I wish I could hook up. His picture is one of a skinny, nerdy guy, but the way he talked about his archaeology of digging up Vikings was just the way I feel about things I'm passionate about and made me want to meet and date him. I wish there was some way I could contact her and get his info. She ended up meeting who would become her soulmate on date #55. But after discussing it with him, decided to go ahead and finish out her dates. In the end, she quit before the last 4 or 5, knowing she had found what she wanted, and wondering how many soul mates each person has, as one of the last ones she dated came to be really a possibility. But she wanted to give #55 a fair chance, and it seems he is the one. There were a few pages I marked, so let me include parts of those next.

After date #11 she realized that she didn't want to morph or be molded into someone else. She wanted to find someone else like herself, a soul mate she could relate to. And that is me too. I want someone like me that will like me for the way I am.

Date #20 was with the person who won the Dear Juliet letter. There is a movie coming out about a letter written to Juliet, and people actually do write these letters and leave them in Verona, and there are actually volunteers who read and sometimes answer, and even pick a winner. After helping read the letters, this is something Jennifer said:

"As terrible as it sounds, I suspected I would find dating an intensely romantic man a bit claustrophobic and annoying; all that fetching and carrying and fussing around would get on my nerves. Either that or I'd assume they'd done something really bad and were overcompensating. I know, why I'm still single is a mystery to me, too."

That last line is so something I have to say to myself a lot whenever I say something so picky like she said. It made me laugh out loud. But then later, when she's trying to decide if she's being too picky, I have to agree with her there too. If you don't like someone and can't enjoy their company, what other reason do you have for being with them? Like she says, I want a boyfriend who makes me happy, and that I can make happy in return.

Anyway, I really, really recommend this book. It's a great story about love, as well as just a fun look at how single women think. It also clued me into the Burning Man Festival, which several people commented that they can't see me going to that, but I'm open to a lot more stuff than other people think.

And so now, I'll have another book review tomorrow, too tired to write it tonight, and I'm still working on the new Stephen King book.

Book Review ???: The rest of the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris

So, I've been kind of off my game in blogging this month. Which is kind of unforgivable as I've had many, many days when I had time to write. So I know I've left a few out that I've read, and I promise to make that one of my new year's resolutions for 2010, to actually blog about EVERY book that I read. So to probably finish up my blogging for this year, I have chosen to write one big post about #'s 3-8 of the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris. Those include:

• Club Dead


• Dead to the World


• Dead as a Doornail


• Definitely Dead


• Altogether Dead


• From Dead to Worse

Club Dead was good as I believe it is when Alcide was introduced, and for awhile you think he could be a good new guy for Sookie as Bill has betrayed her for his maker. I also enjoyed Dead to the World because we got to see Eric as a good guy who could really love Sookie. However, I missed his "smart-ass" self when he'd lost his memory, and was somewhat glad that he got back to the old Eric.

Dead as a Doornail was actually kind of boring to me, and I didn't enjoy it that much. So I moved through it quickly to get on to the next book. Although it is where we met Quinn, the next guy we though might be good for Sookie.

Definitely Dead was okay, I liked the trip to New Orleans a lot. It was very interesting to read about it, especially as it was pre-hurricane Katrina. I liked the bit of subterfuge Sookie had to use to sneak the bracelet back to the queen at the party at the end. Altogether Dead, now that was a book with lots of twists and turns, and I also liked how the author used Hurricane Katrina as part of the story. There were some parts in this book that seemed to be a little confusing, but it was good anyway. I did feel though that it was a way of bringing another disaster to mind, 9/11, but that's okay.

Now, at this point I can't remember when we first learned Sookie had fairy blood, but in From Dead to Worse we meet Sookie's great grandfather, and learn her family tree is not quite what she'd thought. Again, there are TONS of things going on in this book, while I enjoyed it, at times it got a little busy for me. It seems Bill is trying to get back in with Sookie, and not sure what is up with Eric. As I was reading through all these books over the past couple weeks, I began to wonder if Eric was Sookie's "Edward," thinking of my favorite series, the Twilight books. But I don't know. In this book Sookie decides Quinn has too much baggage with his mom and sister to be good for her. Sam also starts to kind of come up again as a possibility for Sookie. The queen dies, which is sad, but the new king sounds interesting as well. And poor Sookie now has 2 roommates. As I was reading some of the books before these last 2, I was relating quite well to Sookie and how she enjoyed going back to her own house after all her adventures and just having peaceful alone time. I've lived alone so long, that I feel the same. Vacations with family, well, I enjoy them, but often by the end I'm sooooo ready to get home and have no one else around. Although being snowed in, that made me a bit stir crazy this last weekend. Even getting out shopping by myself would have been nice. Hopefully I can do that this week.

I will wait till the 9th book: Dead and Gone, comes out in paperback to buy it and read it. For now I'm on to other books, starting with Stephen King's latest: Under the Dome. Although I'm a bit afraid of the book, it is HUGE! But I started reading it this morning at breakfast.

Book Review 53: How to Build a Dinosaur by Jack Horner

I first learned about Jack Horner when I was in college, then Central Missouri State University, now called University of Central Missouri. It was either my sophomore or junior year, I think the first time I took Invertebrate Paleontology. I say first time, because my first teacher was a horrible teacher. I had a C, he lost my final, which I felt like I'd done really well on, and told me I had a D. Since that was in my major, I had to re-take the class. I'm glad in a way that I did, because the my 2nd teacher was an awesome teacher and took me on my first "real" fossil expeditions. But I digress. It was about this time that the book Jurassic Park was a big hit, soon to be followed by the movie. My infatuation with dinosaurs was rediscovered. Around this time I asked for a book I'd heard about called "Digging Up Dinosaurs" by Dr. John Horner for a Christmas gift. Dr. John Horner is Jack Horner. I soon was to the point where I couldn't get enough nonfiction science books on dinosaurs and paleontology. My family of course noticed this, and the awesome college graduation gift I received was based on an article my step-dad found in the Kansas City Star my Senior year of college. In Montana, Jack Horner had a camp funded through the Montana State University where anyone who came up with the money and got signed up in time could come and work on an actual dinosaur dig. I got to go spend a week doing this the summer after I graduated. I still remember it all vividly, sleeping in a teepee. The pitch blackness at night, except for how bright the moon in the sky was. Being in a desert, yet wearing a sweatshirt on a July morning when we first went out to dig.

The money people pay for this, is one way they continue to fund their digs. And if I could, I would pay to go every year. I loved every minute of it. Except maybe for the bathrooms, and vegetarian dinner night. :-) A year ago, a new book came out called "How to Build a Dinosaur" by Jack Horner again. I asked for it last year as either a birthday or Christmas gift, but just wasn't quite in the mood to pick it up and read. I've kind of been in a nonfiction slump other than a few weight loss memoirs last spring. A couple weeks ago 60 Minutes did a story on Jack Horner, and basically what this book is about, and I remembered that book sitting on my shelf. I was also waiting for the final book on my Mark Twain nominee list to be available to check out at the library, and so was looking for what to read. And so I picked this up, and was again drawn right back in to this world I wish I was a part of every day of my life. Dr. Horner wants to create a Chickenosaur. Birds have been declared the descendents of dinosaurs, and so using a chicken and changing some things in its embryological development is where Dr. Horner sees us going.

Obviously there is much more to the book than I've laid out here, but I'll leave it open for others to read and enjoy. I will leave you with a quote Dr. Horner includes in this book by George Carlin. I'm not always a Carlin fan, due to some of his political comments, but this one sums up my views on global warming, and other environmental issues, as well as bringing to light the attitude that scientists in the geology field, which I equate myself with, have towards all these same things.

"Way over 90 percent of all the species that have ever lived on this planet - ever lived - are gone. They're extinct. We didn't kill them all. They just disappeared. That's what nature does. They disappear these days at the reate of twenty-five a day. And I mean regardless of our behavior. Irrespective of how we act on this planet, twenty-five species that are here today will be gone tomorrow. Let them go gracefully. Leave nature alone." - George Carlin

I actually have a few more reviews to do, but in the sense that I'm getting tired of typing, I'll come back and fill them in another day.

Book Review 52: Sent by Margaret Peterson Haddix

This is the 2nd book in the Missing Series. The first was Found which was on one of my reading lists. Margaret Peterson Haddix is a favorite author of mine, especially her Shadow Children series. This looks to be another great series, and I'm thinking she can probably do almost as many in this series as she did in that one. In this book, the main characters have been sent back in the past to try to fix the past where 2 of the orphans were pulled before they could be killed. The kids of course save the day, but it is interesting to learn about the past and mysterious killings of future kings. I will definitely recommend this series to kids at the bookstore as well as at school. I look forward to the 3rd book where they kids will go back in time to save another "orphan" and bring her back to her current family. I like how the book brings in the future with the time travel, and also relates back to the past, and the way current children live.

Book Review 51: Game Over by Adele Parks

So this chick lit book I began clear back in August before I got selected to read the Mark Twain and Truman nominees. I didn't pick it back up until I was waiting on my last Mark Twain nominee to be available. This was a good book to start with. The main character is a woman, who basically has a man's attitude about sex and relationships. In fact she makes some men cry. I like the way she was able to do this. I like to pretend that I was kinda similar in my approach to relationships back in college. However, in the end, it really kind of did a real turn around. She met this guy, who was opposed to the reality show she had created called "Sex with an Ex". He's a hot guy of course, so she decides to follow him and try to convince him to come on the show. As you would expect, or wouldn't based on her earlier behavior, but would based on being a reader of chick lit, she falls for him. Turns out she falls head over heels. One of her friends says one thing, and she gives him up. She gets backstabbed in something you totally see coming, by him in a way, and then of course, she wants him and goes after him. We don't really learn why she is a "man-izer" until towards the end of the book with this guy. I don't know. It was an okay book I guess, but I don't like how she did a complete 180 and changed so much all over a guy. And the fact that the ending was so predictable was also disappointing.

Okay, as things have been hectic, I've got a couple more posts to make today!

Book Review 50: Bringing the Boy Home by N.A. Nelson

Finally I am done with the Mark Twain nominees. This was an interesting change from the other books. The main character is Tirio, who is from an unknown tribe in the Amazon called the Takunami tribe. This is pretty much all fiction, the author says she made most of it up, only the fact that there are actually unknown tribes and that there are rituals that could be similar, and of course the actual wildlife is true. When Tirio was 6 years old his mother put him in a coffin in a raft and sent him down the river. He was discovered by a woman named Sara who took him back to America with her and raised him. He was abandoned by his tribe because he had some kind of handicap on one of his legs. The whole book is about him and another boy named Luka, from the same tribe. We learn about Luka's life and family as part of the tribe waiting for the ritual to become a man. It is not until the oldest son of the family passes this ritual that any children in the family can know who their father is. Luka has an older sister and a domineering mother who is doing everything to make sure her son passes. Back in the states, Tirio has been "cured" in a way by an orthotic, and at the age of 12, almost 13 is beginning to feel he needs to go back to the Amazon and pass the ritual. Fortunately Sara is actually taking Tirio back there on a trip at just the right time.

There's kind of a twist about the relationship between Luka and Tirio, a little different than what I was thinking it would be. But a good twist. I really liked this book. I hope this makes the list, I would definitely recommend it to any kids at the store or at school.

So glad to be done with the list, even though the books were all good ones. Now, on to adult books. Currently reading a nonfiction called "How to Build a Dinosaur" by Jack Horner. After that I will jump into the Sookie Stackhouse series again, or possibly read the new Stephen King before that.

Twilight series thoughts

As I'm waiting on the last book on my Mark Twain list to either show up in the library, where I'm 2nd on the list, or else I ordered it into the store I work at, I went ahead and dove back into New Moon in preparation for the movie release next week. Of course, once you begin, well, once I begin, I can't put them down, and am now all the way through to Breaking Dawn. As I read New Moon, I also began listening to the Twilight movie soundtrack in my car again. The song Supermassive Black Hole reminded me of probably my 2nd favorite part of the movie, the vampire baseball scene. It begas as such a fun scene, just kind of no worries, good music, enjoy the craziness. I began thinking that I can't imagine any scene in the New Moon movie fitting quite the same feeling. Don't get me wrong, I have never in my life been as excited about seeing a movie as I am about seeing New Moon. I love the book, and the previews look like they've done a hundred times better than Twilight. I haven't bought the soundtrack yet, waiting until I see the movie. The songs on it are probably not my "normal" type of music, but once I can "see" the scene in the movie that they're from, I'll love them for bringing those feelings to my mind.

Also, I'm totally Team Edward, that is who Bella belongs with. But I don't understand how anyone can hate Jacob. He makes me smile. I just love him to death. In fact, I really couldn't wait as I was re-reading New Moon until Jacob began being a big part of Bella's life. And as for the actors playing Edward and Jacob, while I think Rob Pattinson is much cuter in the face, Taylor Lautner looks hot without his shirt!!! Can't wait for that.

So right now I'm on pins and needles just waiting for next week. There's a good possibility I may get to see New Moon on Tuesday night with my friend Kim and her mom, because her mom works for AMC and they have these special previews. Plus, I already have tickets for the midnight show a week from tonight. So by this time next week, I could be just about ready to see it for the 2nd time. I also have a friend I'll be going with the weekend of Thanksgiving because she doesn't want her friends to know because they'll make fun of her, but she wants to go. So I of course agreed. I'd really like to do my once a week showing of the movie again, but now sure I can afford it this year. So broke right now, not even funny. I'm just really looking forward to tax return time. Guessing due to money issues I may not attend the MASL conference, can't really afford it since I have to pay for it all myself. That's kind of sad since I'm reading for both Mark Twain and Truman lists, but what can I do? It doesn't seem like it's been a very good investment for my money seeing as how I'm still not a librarian and don't seem to be any closer to getting that type of job. Oh well.

Hopefully in the next week I'll be back giving my final review for the Mark Twain books.

Book Review 49: thank you, Lucky Stars by Beverly Donofrio

This was a pretty good book about girls and their friendships. I have to admit at first the whole, Lucky Stars, being capitalized and said constantly was kind of annoying. But I got used to it. I also at first had trouble because the girls were so young to me, 5th grade, and totally behaved that way. However, since the Mark Twain books are for 4th-6th graders, a book about 5th grade girls is about right. It starts at the beginning of the school year when Ally realizes her best friend Betsy has left her for a girl that they both used to hate. Betsy has gone on to be a part of the more mature girls, while Ally is still very imaginative and young. A new girl moves to the school named Tina, and she's weird. She keeps trying to be friends with Ally, and Ally at first doesn't want to be seen with her. But soon she learns what a good friend Tina can be. The big talent show is what Ally had always been so excited to perform in with Betsy. And it doesn't look at first like that's going to happen. But soon another chance comes up for Ally to start hanging with Betsy and the cool girls. Ally must decide if she'll keep Tina as a friend, or line up with the clique and become one of them.

The sadness and loneliness Ally feels is written so well, that I can feel it, and the book got me emotionally. So, all in all, a pretty good book.

Only one book left on the Mark Twain list for me to read. Unfortunately I am still on a waiting list at the Mid-Continent Public library for it. It is called Bringing Home the Boy by Nelson. So, while I had hoped to be completely done with the list by the middle of this week, it may be a few more days. So I picked up New Moon and decided to go ahead and get to reading the series again to get ready for the movie in 3 weeks.

Book Review 48: Keeping Score by Linda Sue Park

This was a major tear jerker. And to think the fact that it was a sports themed book made me not want to read it. And again, as I commented on another book from the Truman list I believe, some of the "accents" were a bit annoying. This is about a family from Brooklyn. The main character is Maggie, called Maggie-o by her dad after Joe DiMaggio. The family, and whole neighborhood are really big into baseball, specifically the Dodgers. This is right at the time of the Korean War. Maggie's dad is a fireman, or was until he was injured in a fire. So Maggie hangs out at the fire station a lot. She meets a new guy there named Jim. He teaches her how to keep score of the games, so she always can tell people what has happened and not forget. She gets really into it and starts keeping notebooks for the whole seasons. She begins to like the Giants because of Jim, especially Willie Mays. Even though she still is loyal to the Dodgers. Jim gets sent off to Korea. At first Maggie writes him all the time and he writes her back. He tells her about the boat ride over, and a young Korean boy who is the tent boy. He even sends her a picture of them. Then, all of a sudden, the letters stop. Maggie doesn't know what has happened. And no one tells her until after a while, it finally comes out that Jim was at a terrible battle and while not hurt, when he went to lay down and rest, he did, but then just stayed there, not moving, not talking. He came home the same way. Maggie comes up with a scheme to try to get him talking again by saving up her confirmation money and allowance long enough to take her whole family and Jim and his sister and her family to see the Dodgers play the Giants. but Jim and his sister don't show up the whole game.

Maggie's prayers for Jim, the teams, all of it is heartwrenching. How she feels when some of her prayers seem to work, but others don't is the way I know I feel all the time. Her feelings of helplessness and frustration I feel a lot, and so I was in tears through a lot of the last half of the book.

It's a great book. So glad I read it.

On to the 2nd to last book, Thank you, Lucky Stars by Beverly Donofrio. Only one more after that, but still waiting on it from the library.

Book Review 47: Stolen Children by Peg Kehret

Peg Kehret's books seem to always be on the Mark Twain list like every year, kind of like Mary Downing Hahn's books do. While they've not been my favorites in the past, and I alwasy feel they tend to have some similar trends in them, I decided this was a really good book. The main character is Amy, and she is babysitting for a girl named Kendra, who gets kidnapped, and the kidnappers decide they have to take Amy too because she sees them. The kidnappers intend to send a DVD every day for a week and then ask for ransom. Amy is a writer, (I'm enjoying all the books this year with kids who like to write in them), and so she uses what time she has to try to figure out how to put clues into the recordings so that hopefully when her family and friends see them they might figure it out and come help them. I really like how it gives all the ways Amy thinks to do this, as well as all her thoughts about making sure she keeps herself and Kendra safe as long as she can. I feel this could be helpful to kids that may end up in a similar situation. Another thing I really liked was how it showed people who had chances to really help, and didn't. In these cases, it was because they figured no one would believe them, or that someone else would do something because they were away from what was going on. But it really stood out because of a news story I heard last night about a girl who was raped right outside her high school while a bunch of people watched and took pictures on their phone, but no one did anything. Not to mention they went back to a woman who was murdered years ago and people just closed their windows and did nothing even hearing what was going on. The one person in the story who does something at the end, you really have respect for. And I liked this a lot.

Next on to my last sports book called Keeping Score by Linda Sue Park. I believe I've read one or two of this author's books and enjoyed them in the past. I only have 3 more books, although one I'm still waiting to get to re-check out from the library, and then I'll be done!

I want to do NaNoWriMo this year, but the more I read, the more I figure it is a waste of my time. I really don't know how to think of all the details and stuff these authors do, so I think that means I probably am not meant to be a writer. We'll see. I have an idea for a new novella, or I could go back and work on my one from 3 years ago.

Book Review 46: School Spirit by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel

This is also part of what I assume to be a newer series, this one called Suddenly Supernatural. My assumption is that the series will follow a 7th grader named Kat as she comes to realize she can see and talk to ghosts just like her mother. And her friend named Jac, who is a cellist, who doesn't play anymore. In this book Kat has just started seeing ghosts, but doesn't want to tell her mother because she's not sure she wants this "gift". She doesn't have many friends, has only in the past year moved to this town. A new girl named Jac moves in, and she and Kat become friends. Jac doesn't play the cello anymore because she froze up at a huge concert. Her mother moved her there because they have a teacher who is supposed to be good with helping kids in her situation.

I enjoy ghosts and the like, so maybe that's part of what I enjoyed. And I like the show The Ghost Whisperer, where all ghosts aren't bad. And this is kind of a kids' version of that in a way. I think kids would like what Kat goes through with the popular crowd finding out about her gift as well as other issues like homework for a 7th grade girl.

Next book I'll start tonight is Stolen Children by Peg Kehret.

Book Review 45: Safe at Home by Mike Lupica

This is one in a sports series called Mike Lupica's Comeback Kids. I read "The Big Field" by Mike Lupica for the Truman list just a short time ago. My main criticism of that was how technical the baseball talk was. In this one, it wasn't quite as technical, and maybe that's why it was a quicker read for me. A pretty good story, but kind of short. The main character is Nick, who is adopted. We learn about his past, how he came to be adopted, and how he came to love baseball and comic books. Nick is a really good catcher, getting ready for the JV season at his middle/junior high school. Before the season starts the catcher on the varsity team hurts his wrist and the coach comes and recruits Nick to fill in until his wrist injury heals. However, all of Nick's talent seems to disappear in his nervousness at being part of the varsity team. Not to mention that he's been slacking on his school work, and now his parents are starting to get on his case and possibly ban him from summer baseball. Of course there's the big game at the end, this time with the school's biggest rival, and Nick must do his best to help his team win. He also must come to term with feeling like he doesn't fit in with his adoptive parents.

Next book is in the Suddenly Supernatural series by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel called School Spirit.

Book Review 44: Margret and Flynn by Kathleen Duey

This is part of the Hoofbeats series, which I think we had one of as a possibility for last year's Mark Twain, but didn't make it. It takes place in 1875. The main character is of course Margret, and she and her sister Libby are orphans. They are living with Mrs. Frederickson, an elderly widow who lives in a sod house in Littleton, Colorado. Margret and her sister don't stay in one place long. As soon as Libby sees things changing for the worse, or else if she sees Margret getting too attached to the family, she'll pack them up and leave in the middle of the night with no word to the people they've been with. Margret likes this latest place though. She gets to take care of the horses, and Mrs. Frederickson is really nice. A tornado comes and all of a sudden there's an extra horse, a very fancy looking horse. Margret names it Flynn, and after riding it, falls in love, and even gets to meet some neighbors when she goes to share their milk with neighbors who have chickens for them to take.

The story is about Margret finally wanting to settle, not sure how to convince her sister, and also wanting to keep Flynn, who she knows must belong to someone else. It all culminates in a race, that Margret wants to win to get the money to buy Flynn.

This story goes back to the stereotypical girl loves horses, horses are wonderful creatures. Not a bad thing, but still kind of nothing out of the order.

Next up is another Mike Lupica book. I know from the one I read for the Truman list that he is a good writer, but also very technical in his "baseball speak". So we'll see how it goes!

Book Review 43: The Truth About Horses, Friends, & My Life as a Coward by Sarah P. Gibson

Long title on this book. Cute book. I was wondering why in the world there would be two "horse" stories on the list. Yeah, I know girls love horses and most dream of having their own pony as they grow up, I did. But what I loved about this book is that it didn't make horses out to be wonderful, perfect creatures. The mom decides to get a horse for her daughters, and it's name is Really. They soon figure out that is short for Really Mean. It bites. Then they get another horse, this one is perfect to ride in the ring. But the minute they take it out, it ends up running and knocking the girls off by running under trees. They finally get a really huge horse, which ends up as not the smartest of the bunch, but the gentlest. Our main character is Sophie, so not only is she dealing with this crazy bunch of horses, but she also has 2 friends she likes, but at first the 2 don't get along with each other. And, Sophie is afraid to do anything with the horses unless she has to, or her friend kind of wants her to do it, so she doesn't want to seem like a chicken.

The whole story is just so funny, I think it is a good choice for the next year's nominee list.

Next on the list is Margret and Flynn by Kathleen Duey, another horse story.