Book of the Month - September 2011

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

...Human.4 by Mike A. Lancaster!

I'm glad that I finished this one in September and not August, because it really deserves to be Book of the Month, but I'm not sure it could have beat Outside In. The idea behind this book was very original in my mind, and totally baffling. Since are such a technology-driven society, it is interesting to consider how life would be if we could be upgraded just like our computer operating systems. Also, as my friends and family know, I have taken a C++ programming course and am currently taking a Java programming course and really enjoy programming, so this book combined two important aspects of my life.

Well last month I know that I said I would get this review up in a more timely fashion, but this one has taken even longer to get up. This semester has been very busy for me, but I should have a lighter load at least for a few months, so I hope to keep you all more up to date. Anyway, you should expect a few more posts tonight to update the blog through the end of November. If I don't get that far today, know that I will be getting that far soon. Thanks for understanding!

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

Follow Corey's Book Talk on Twitter!
Like Corey's Book Talk on Facebook!

The Son of Neptune

The Son of Neptune
Heroes of Olympus
Book 2

Rick Riordan

Synopsis:
Percy Jackson cannot remember anything ab0ut his past. Knowing only his identity, Percy finds himself racing toward Camp Jupiter, a haven for Roman demigods. Though most of the campers are suspicious of the strange new arrival, misfits Frank and Hazel quickly befriend Percy. Quickly after arriving at the camp, Percy and his two new friends are sent on a mission to rescue Thanatos, god of death, from Gaea. To make matters worse, the difficult quest is made even harder since monsters won't die!

My Thoughts:
This is one of the best Percy Jackson books yet. I was a little disappointed in the first book (which somehow didn't get a review...I'll have to work on that...) of this new series that Percy didn't make an appearance, but this definitely made up for it. The introduction of new characters with the whole Roman camp is a welcome addition to the book, and this series is lining up to possibly be better than the first. As always, Riordan includes lots of humor in this book, making it (for the most part) a lighthearted read. However, I do miss the entertaining chapter names that came with the original Percy Jackson story, but the way that Riordan narrates from different characters' points of view is another way the new books stand out. All in all, this was a great book that I would definitely recommend!

Questions for Thought:
1. How would you react if all of your memories strangely disappeared?

2. How would you react to Percy showing up at Camp Jupiter were you already a camper there?

3. Were you Percy, would you have accepted Reyna's offer to be a praetor?

4. Would you capture Ella for Phineas?


Please leave your comments and answers!

Follow Corey's Book Talk on Twitter!
Like Corey's Book Talk on Facebook!

Ashes, Ashes

Ashes, Ashes

Jo Treggiari

Synopsis:
After disease has killed nearly the entirety of humanity and natural disasters have shaken her world, Lucy has been forced to live alone in the remnants of Central Park. For months, she has survived on her own, but one day a mysterious boy shows up and warns her of a pack of wild dogs that are hunting her. The boy, Aiden, tells Lucy about a band of survivors that live in the ruins of the city, but Lucy is hesitant to leave with Aiden. However, when a tsunami destroys Lucy's camp, she sees no choice but to seek refuge with Aiden. At first camp life seems wonderful with plenty of food, modified showers, and better shelters, but when a group of Sweepers invade the camp and kidnap some of its inhabitants, Lucy realizes she is not as safe as she believes. Moreover, she is angered that nobody in the camp is trying to rescue the kidnapped survivors, she decides to take charge and try to free them herself.

My Thoughts:
For the past few months, I have been hearing phenomenal reviews for Ashes, Ashes, but, in my opinion, the book does not deserve them. Something about the book just didn't seem plausible to me. The fact that Lucy could live alone for MONTHS and never see a single person until Aiden seems very unlikely, even given the large percentage of the population that died. New York is a big city. She would have found someone. I didn't have too much of a problem with the sweepers or medical staff, but a few of them were too much. I can understand drive to find a cure, but it wouldn't turn you into an evil maniac. The whole story just felt a little uncomfortable to me, so it is definitely not one I would recommend to most people. It tried to hard to be like the Scorch Trials and didn't work. (Sorry to sound so negative; it wasn't an awful book, it just wasn't good.)

Questions for Thought:
1. Were you immune, where would you go to live? Out in the woods like Lucy, find a group to live in (like Aiden's), or somewhere else?

2. How would you react if Sweepers invaded your camp?

3. Were people you barely knew kidnapped by Sweepers, would you risk your life to save them?

4. If it was thought that you carried the key to a cure in your blood, would you sacrifice yourself for the chance you could save humanity?


Please leave your comments and answers!

Follow Corey's Book Talk on Twitter!
Like Corey's Book Talk on Facebook!

Human.4

Human.4

Mike A. Lancaster

Synopsis:
The trouble started when Kyle Straker volunteered to be hypnotized at the annual Millgrove talent show. Trying to help his friend Danny by voluteering to be one of four people to be hypnotized, Kyle prays that he wouldn't do anything too stupid under Danny's influence. However, when Kyle and the other three volunteers wake up, the entire town is frozen in whatever action they were when the four were hypnotized. After an hour of panic, everyone wakes up and Kyle is escorted home by his parents. However, though they look and sound like his parents, Kyle senses that they are not the same people he knows. When he asks about the talent show, their perception of events is completely different of his own. A doctor arrives at his house to check up on him, and Kyle claims to just feel a little ill and pretends to go take a nap. While the adults think he is taking a nap, he hears the doctor tell his parents that his is one of the 0.4 and must be dealt with. Confused and scared, Kyle races around town trying to find the other three people who were hypnotized. When they recount similar tales of strange behavior, the quartet gets scared, and rightfully so. The whole town is now their enemy...

My Thoughts:
Though a somewhat hard book to summarize, this book was a phenomenal read! The format of the book itself, being a transcript of 3 cassette tapes recorded by Kyle and transcribed by one of the 1.0's. Then, the concept of the book, treating people like programs (well, in reality more like 'objects'), was so clever. Even if this was as far as the story went, it would have been a great book, but it had more! There was a fair amount of humor in this book, unlike many recent dystopian stories. (At one point, the story turns in a very surprising direction only to flip back the other way, and it totally killed me! Read the book, you will understand...) Though really, one could argue that this is a utopian story where the narrator got left out. I recently read an article that acknowledged that many dystopian stories are very good, but that "the end of the world just isn't fun anymore" because it is getting too depressing without humor. At the end of the article, the author even goes so far to say that he wishes that authors would start writing utopian stories, and depending on how you look at this book, it satisfies both of these criteria. Another thing that I like about the book (and kind of hate at the same time) is that the ending doesn't give you all of the answers you want. It leaves you wondering about a crucial decision that the main character is about to make, and you have many questions about the nature of the new world. Talking about the book now is making me all excited about it again! If that doesn't tell you its a good book, I don't know what will.

Questions for Thought:
1. Would you/have you ever volunteered to be hypnotized?

2. What would you do if you woke up from being hypnotized and found everyone frozen?

3. How would you try to help Mr. Peterson?

4. Would you try to run away from your family after they started acting weird, or would you stay and try to figure out what was going on?

5. How would you react after seeing the entire town "joining hands"?

6. Would you have entered the silos and been upgraded, or would you stay a 0.4?

7. What do you think Lily and Kyle chose to do after recording the tapes?

8. Would you consider this book a dystopia? If not is it a utopia, or one in the making? Why or why not?


Please leave your comments and answers!

Follow Corey's Book Talk on Twitter!
Like Corey's Book Talk on Facebook!