Book of the Month - August 2011

The Book of the Month award for August 2011 goes to...

...Outside In by Maria V. Snyder!

Every once in a while, the moment I finish a book I can tell it will be a Book of the Month. This is one of those books. I loved the prequel to this book, Inside Out (May's Book of the Month), and this sequel was definitely better in my opinion. I could continue to say how great it was, but then it would just be a repeat of its own review, which can be found here.

Sorry for the somewhat short post, I sort of forgot I hadn't posted the Book of the Month. In my mind I had posted this with my Human.4 review, but that didn't really happen. Since then I've forgotten the things I was going to say. I will do my best to get September's up in a much more timely fashion. I hope to have two more books up this month as well, so keep your eyes peeled!

Please leave any comments on the book, or your personal book of the month as well!

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Blog Update....8 Weeks Late

Hey guys! How's it going?

What? Not good? Oh yeah, my bad, I guess I should have told you that this update would be late instead of right on July 3rd when I got back from camp....

Well, there isn't anything you can do about it and you have 11 posts (now 12) in 2 days to make up for it! (If you are looking at the post dates of some of them, thinking "Wait, some of these were posted back in June and July, they didn't come today..." should first of all be thinking "Dang! How did he manage to pile 4 blog posts into one minute, conveniently the last minute before the month changed?" and then realize that I have magical computer powers that lets me go back in time to look like less of a slacker. Well, really it is just to keep the Books of the Month in the right month, but anyway, the "not looking like a slacker" thing is a nice bonus. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming. That isn't regularly scheduled at all.)

So sorry I have not posted in a timely fashion, but hopefully all of these posts will help make up for it, especially this one.

Well, school has started, and unlike my dreadful premonitions of having absolutely no time to read and therefore not being able to post here, I have read more in the last week or so than in the previous two months. Of the recent stuff, I was totally pumped about Outside In. It was definitely a step up from Inside Out, and even that was really good. So check it out. (That means both of them if you haven't read Inside Out.)

I have been in book-lover heaven recently because I have realized how much stuff is coming out soon! Here is what I can remember quickly, but I am sure there is more.

Inheritance
Well, as many of you know the Inheritance Trill- I mean Cycle (Stupid series name change....gets me every time....) is one of my all time favorite series. I am such an Eragon nerd that I was Eragon for Halloween one year and won the Shur'tugal costume contest. Plus, my most popular posts have all dealt with the Inheritance Tri- Cycle (Dang, it still got me!), especially the Eragon Book Three Predictions. I may or may not make a predictions post in the near future. It depends on how much homework my teachers want me to have. (So if you really want a post, you should email them and tell them to not give me much. ;) )

Anyway, the final installment, Inheritance, is coming out November 8! Still pretty far away, but I'm pumped, nonetheless. You can see the cover below with the green dragon that was originally going to be the cover for #3, but Chris decided that the trilogy should have a fourth installment....If you are interested in a chapter exerpt, check out the Barnes and Noble page for Inheritance. You have to scroll down a little ways to get to it. To see some thoughts by the experts at shurtugal.com, click here and look around. There is some very intriguing stuff.

The Death Cure
One of my more recent favorite series is The Maze Runner Trillogy, which I will probably reread in the near future. Its conclusion, The Death Cure, will be released on October 11. I am super pumped! Here is the cover:Some information can be found at the Maze Runner Website, and the Kirkus review can be seen on James Dashner's blog. Both places have info on the book, but you will probably find more on the blog. I hope we finally get some answers in this one!

A few other books of importance (not that books not mentioned aren't) will be released soon, such as Rick Riordan's Son of Neptune coming out in early October, and others have already been released, like Pittacus Lore's The Power of Six! With all of these fantastic books coming out, it is hard to keep track of everything, so make sure to visit your local library and/or bookstore often for the latest teen reads! (Wow that was cheesy, but it really is good advice.)

I would like to have discussed some new Hunger Games material that has been released, but that will have to wait for another update. If you have any announcements about the movie, please comment and let me know! I'm not always good at keeping up with the latest news!

As always, please leave your comments, questions, complaints, concerns, etc. You can contact me in a multidue of ways. First of all, you can comment here on this post, or any other post here on the blog! I love to hear from you all, even if it is a "Sounds like a good book!", so take the twenty seconds to post. The next way is to post on the Corey's Book Talk facebook page! Another method is to @ mention @CoreysBookTalk on Twitter. Finally, if you are lucky enough to know me in person, you can talk to me about book stuff any time!

Well, that's all for now. Happy reading!

Corey

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The Dead and the Gone

The Dead and the Gone
Life As We Knew It Series
Book 2

Susan Beth Pfeffer

Synopsis:
In Life As We Knew It, Miranda heard reports that New York was devastated, but she didn't know many of the details. In The Dead and the Gone, we hear what happened from the perspective of Alex, a hard-working Puerto Rican student at a prestigious Catholic school. Alex was never concerned about the moon being hit by a meteor. In fact, he nearly forgot it was going to happen. But when he is walking home the night of the incident and the moon grows huge, followed by a killer storm, he starts to get nervous. Once he gets to his apartment with his two sisters Bri and Julie waiting for him, Alex learns that tsunamis have started crashing against the New York coast. As a few days go by, Alex is concerned, having not heard from his parents since before the incident. His uncle Jimmy gives him lots of food from his grocery store, but Alex is still concerned. Though he manages to stay calm and keep his sisters under control at first, when people begin dying all around him, Alex begins to get scared...

My Thoughts:
As much as I enjoyed Life As We Knew It, this one just didn't do it for me. I'm not really sure why, since it should have been more intense than its companion, but something about the story couldn't keep my attention. My guess is that since I live in a setting more like Miranda's, I couldn't relate to Alex as well. The circumstances were even more dire since Alex's parents were gone, possibly dead, and there were many more plot twists throughout the book that in its companion. Really, there isn't too much else for this one that I have to share. I guess I felt that parts were unrealistic, such as Alex not being able to get food from apartments in his building. To me, once people left, knock on the door to make sure nobody's home, then find a hammer or something and break off the doorknob or something to find the food. In a twelve-story apartment (at least), Alex should have been able to find plenty of food or goods to trade.

Questions for Thought:
1. Would you be able to go back to school after such a scary event when your parents are gone?

2. Would yo have sent Bri away with the hope that she would be better off, or would you have kept her to protect her yourself?

3. Would you let yourself believe that your parents were dead, or that they were just stranded?

4. Would you have sent Julie away with your uncle with hopes that she would have more food?

5. Is body shopping moral? Either way, would you be able to do it?

6. Would you have tried to tough it out in New York, or would you have left immediately?


Please leave your comments and answers!

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Outside In

Outside In

Maria V. Snyder

Synopsis:
The revolution is over, the Pop Cops are gone, and the Travas are imprisoned. Trella thinks that this means a nice, normal life now, but continued tension between the scrubs and uppers has led to work strikes and resentment toward the Committee. Trying to avoid the frustratingly slow politics, Trella leaves the comittee for more time to explore the new levels she found, but when the Inside is bombed and the transmission goes out, putting them on a collision course with an asteroid, Trella knows that a nice, relaxing life is not in her new future. By working with her old allies Logan and Riley, as well as some new friends, Trella works to investigate who is bombing the Inside. However, leads are turning cold and the network is starting to shut down. After weeks of growing tension, Logan confides in Trella that there is someone on the Outside who wants in...

My Thoughts:
Inside Out was one of the best books I've read this year. And this one was even better. Coming from me, that especially means a lot, because I hardly ever will say a sequel beats the original book, but Snyder has done a fantastic job raising the bar. Outside in was packed with lots of action, bringing in many new fight scenes, especially in the second half of the book. The constant betrayals and lies between different factions with different ambitions keeps the reader wondering who really wants to protect the Insiders and who is looking for power. The plot kept twisting and turning, making me hate having to put the book down. I read this in just over 24 hours, which is fast even for me, but I also did this right at the beginning of school, so that should tell you how much suspense is in this thing. If you enjoyed Inside Out, this is certainly a worthy sequel. Very good work, Ms. Snyder.

Questions for Thought:
1. How would you go about getting the Committee to start making the important decisions instead of griping about the silly little things?

2. Had you found the "bubble monsters" at the top of the expanse, would you share the information, or keep it secret?

3. Would you be willing to live with a woman who had betrayed both resistance movements and claimed to be your mother? Would you be willing to find out if she really was?

4. Would you believe Logan that the Outsiders really exist without the camera proof?

5. After being "kidnapped" by Jacy, would you still trust Bubba Boom, or would you flip?

6. Once you were collared by the Outsiders, would you still try to fight, or would you give up knowing they could control you at any time?


Please leave your comments and answers!

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Life As We Knew It

Life As We Knew It
Book 1

Susan Beth Pfeffer

Synopsis:
Miranda thought that the meteor that was going to hit the moon would just be an excuse for her teachers to give more homework, and in the days leading up to the event, this premonition is coming true. However, as Miranda, her mother, and younger brother Jonny watch the collision, they are terrified as the moon moves significantly closer to Earth! The next day, after a few classes at school (and a monstrous thunderstorm), Miranda is pulled out of class by her mom to go get as many groceries as possible. Things were worse than anyone could have imagined. Reports of massive tsunamis, earthquakes, and increased volcanic activity have sent Miranda's world into chaos, and her life will never be the same...

My Thoughts:
This book was much better than I expected. It has been sitting on my shelf for a number of months now, but I was never motivated to pick it up until I wanted something to read after finally finishing East of Eden but didn't want to wait for a library book. As it turned out, it is a fantastic story. Really, it is quite realistic, seeing that at any moment something could collide with the moon and send it closer to Earth. On top of that, the side effects of tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanoes make a lot of sense. What I really liked about the book was the way society reacted. Since the characters in the story are living in the same society as we are, it makes the story much more believable and realistic compared to some futuristic dystopias. Also, you can picture the madness in grocery stores and angry citizens at the events. Though most of the book takes place in Miranda's house and would have the potential to get boring or repetitive, the way it is narrated though Miranda's diary keeps the focus on interesting, unique events. That writing style worked very well for this story. Overall, it was a great book!

Questions for Thought:
1. Were an meteor supposed to (innocently) hit the moon, would you make an event of it, or simply watch from home and keep the rest of the evening normal?

2. Once you had seen the moon move closer, what would you do? Just proceed like normal until you really knew what happened?

3. Were you Miranda and were rushing for supplies in the grocery store, what would you go for first? Your favorite food that may be in the middle of a large crowd, decent preserved food with a somewhat smaller crowd, or try to get lots of cans that nobody wants, like vegetables, while there isn't much competition?

4. Once things really started looking bad, would you try to head to a better part of the country, or would you stay at home and hope for the best?

5. Were you the government, what would you be doing to try to help in such a large disaster?


Please leave your comments and answers!

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East of Eden

East of Eden

John Steinbeck

Synopsis:
Adam Trask has had nothing short of a rough childhood. His mother died before he was old enough to know her, and his father has forced a military lifestyle on Adam and his step-brother Charles. Adam, who has never been competitive, hates the lifestyle and resents his father, but Charles is envious of the love their father gives to Adam, even though Charles is the stronger, tougher child. Eventually, Charles nearly kills Adam out of jealousy, and Adam heads off into the army at his father's request while Charles remains at home. After leaving the army, Adam is lost and wanders for years before coming back home to Charles. One day, a terribly wounded girl shows up on the brothers' doorstep, and Adam falls in love with her. After nursing the girl, Cathy, back to health, Adam marries her and they head off to California to start a new life. However, Adam doesn't see that Cathy doesn't really love him and is only using him to get her strength back. Once in California, Adam and his new servant, Lee, befriend a family of Irish immigrants, the Hamiltons. As time passes, Adam and his children struggle with their pasts, ultimately leading to many characters' demise.

My Thoughts:
Sorry for the somewhat rough synopsis (and questions, once you get there)....this book was so long and complicated that it is hard to sum it up. Throughout the story, so many characters are followed for significant lengths of time that it makes it hard even to say who the story is even about. Also, it is hard to discern what the final conflict will be until you are 2/3 of the way through the book, so it is hard to set it up without giving too much away. Anyway, I read this book for my AP English class, and after my initial doubts, I did wind up enjoying the book. At times, the story can be dry, especially when Steinbeck is simply describing the general way of life at the beginning of each "part" of the book, but once the multitude of main characters are introduced, the pace picks up. Still, most of the book was about everyday life of a large cast of characters instead of a straightforward plot, so for me the book was less enjoyable than some of the other recent fiction I have read, but the story definitely had more "deeper meaning" in it than my typical reads.

Questions for Thought:
1. Which Hamilton child are you most like? Why?

2. Were you Lee or Samuel, how would you go about getting Adam to acknowledge his children?

3. Who is to blame for the tragic end to the story? Cal? Adam? Cyrus? Cathy?

4. How would you react if you found out your mother was Cathy/Kate?

5. Was Abra right to stay with Aron so long, even though she knew that he didn't really love her?

Please leave your comments and answers!

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