Book of the Month - October 2011

The Book of the Month award for October 2011 goes t0...

...The Death Cure by James Dashner

I think that it is safe to say I knew that this would be the book of the month before the book even came out. You all know I love this series as Maze Runner was last December's Book of the Month, and now that I have read each book a few times I think that Scorch Trials may have really deserved it, but as I said in Death Cure's review, it tops both to be the best in the series.

Anything else would be redundant, and since I just wrote Death Cure's review about a half an hour ago, I don't feel like restating all of that, so I'll just leave you plenty of links to the review. Like this one.

Wait, I do have more to say! As I briefly mentioned in the Death Cure review, James Dashner is writing a prequel to the Maze Runner Trilogy! It will be entitled "The Kill Order" and is scheduled to release next August.

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

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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Mark Twain

Synopsis:
After his adventures with Tom Sawyer, Huck is now living with the Widow Douglas who tries to civilize the boy. Soon, his father comes to town and learns of Huck's new-found wealth, he takes the boy back home with him in the woods. However, after being beat by his father on many occasions, Huck fakes his death and takes off down the river to start a new life. On the way, Huck meets up with Jim, the former slave of the Widow Douglas' sister, who has run away fearing being sent down south. On their voyage down the river, Huck and Jim meet many new people and have many odd encounters that help Huck grow morally as a young man.

My Thoughts:
As you can likely assume from the "moral growth" comment at the end of the synopsis, I read this book for AP English. It was a nice story, but much of the story seemed to lack a clear direction for the plot to follow other than a journey down the river. This may have just been my perception of the book since we spread out the reading over many weeks, but I didn't find it particularly captivating until the very end. However, as we looked at the story from a literary view in my English class, Huck's development throughout the story is done very artfully, showing gradual growth instead of suddenly being "enlightened" into a moral person. Still, many of the characters bothered me by how ridiculous they were; not only the duke and king, but also Tom in the end of the book. It is definitely an appropriate book for an English class, but certainly not a book I would recommend for a casual read.

Questions for Thought:
1. Would you let Jim travel with you, knowing that in that time helping a runaway slave was a detestable action?

2. How would you get rid of the duke and king, if at all?

3. Would you let Tom make Jim's escape complicated and delayed, just to "do it right"?


Please leave your comments and answers!

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Catch-22

Catch-22

Joseph Heller

Synopsis:
Yossarian is a bombardier in WWII who believes that everyone is out to kill him. After a comrade is killed in a bombing run, Yossarian is severely scarred and does all he can to remain grounded. Eventually he works up his resolve to finish his tour of duty, but every time he nears the number of required missions, his commanding officer, Colonel Cathcart, raises the number of required missions in a bid to impress his superiors and gain a promotion to general.

My Thoughts:
I know that the above synopsis is very short and rather dull, but this book was quite entertaining. Catch-22 is probably one of the funniest books I have ever read. The book is filled with hypocritical, circular statements and "crazy" characters that had me laughing out loud through much of the book. However, be warned that the plot can be hard to follow since it is completely out of order and frequently will spend chapters at a time on various sub-plots. The book actually starts somewhere in the middle of the action. However, there is a purpose behind the odd chronology as I discussed in my English paper I wrote over the book thoroughly describes. However, I won't bother you with all of the detailed analyses that the paper covers. All of the characters are very unique and leave a lasting impression. Still, Yossarian is by far my favorite as he seems to get himself into the weirdest situations. Really, I'm not sure what else to say about the book. (It's a great book to read but can be hard to discuss. So just read it.)

Please leave your comments! (Questions are just too hard for this one.)

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The Death Cure

The Death Cure
Maze Runner Trilogy
Book 3

James Dashner

Synopsis:
Thomas and the Gladers have been told that they are finally done with the Trials. WICKED has all the data that they need to create the blueprint for a cure. Or so they say... After all of the Lies, Thomas, Minho, and Newt don't know what to believe, and when Rat Man Jansen brings them to get the Swipe removed, the trio decide they don't want their minds messed with any more. After a failed escape attempt and period in confinement, Jansen says that WICKED must restore Thomas, Minho, and Newt's memories, but surprisingly Brenda, who has worked for WICKED the entire time, helps them escape at the last minute. After wandering the surprisingly empty WICKED complex, the group escapes with the help of Jorge and his Berg. After arriving in Denver, the group is confronted by a group known as the Right Arm, a secret organization trying to overthrow WICKED! After all they have been through, all of the friends they have watch die, Thomas, Newt and Minho finally have a chance to strike back at the organization that started it all...

My Thoughts:
Wow. I knew this series was good, one of the best I had ever read, but The Death Cure pushed it WAY over the top. For this first time in my life, I can actually say that I have a favorite series: The Maze Runner Trilogy. (Which won't exactly be a trilogy for long....if you saw my facebook post the other day you already know this: a prequel is in the works! I'm pumped!) Okay, I guess I need to focus just on THIS book. Alright, first of all, James Dashner did a phenomenal job at creating the outside world. I can only imagine how complicated it would be to create a world that is advanced enough to have WICKED's technology, scared enough to be ravaged by the Flare, and is still realistic. However, his description of Denver and the Crank Palace are very believable and logical. Little details such as holographic ads in the city and all of the glass at the Crank Palace being broken for weapons show just how much thought was put into making a realistic environment. Also, the character development is great. The whole conflict with Newt as he nears the Gone is.... well I don't even know how to describe it. You become Thomas in those scenes. The emotion in them is so powerful I had to stop reading for a few minutes just to pull myself back together. Another complicated relationship is Theresa. With her betrayal and love of WICKED she becomes hard to like, but the relationship she and Thomas developed in the first book still makes you want to like her. Although Brenda certainly complicates the relationship. And then WICKED..... I still don't know if they are good or not. That last page of that report at the very end of the book was so strong I was in shock for a few minutes. (I don't remember if I mentioned it or not, but I was sort of the same way after finishing Everfound, but even worse this time.) And then how WICKED wants to get the last information from Thomas....it reminds me of Unwind....I really freaked out when they were about to start the final procedure... All of the complexity and detail of this series continues to amaze me, even after rereading the books multiple times. Even more incredible is that each book continued to get better and better, which so rarely happens. This last book captivated me so much I read it in one day. I downloaded it to my Kindle the moment I woke up the day it was released and read until I finished it that night. And this was on a school day. Since then, I have been able to convince a few of my friends to start this series and they have all loved it. Some of them haven't read for fun in years and this series has rekindled a joy of reading. I think that is the ultimate compliment a book can get.

Questions for Thought:
1. How would you react if you were one of those not immune?

2. Would you choose to get your memories back? Why or why not?

3. Would you risk trying to escape, or would you play along with WICKED?

4. Could you really trust Brenda after learning she lied to you in the Scorch?

5. How would you react knowing that Theresa and the other Gladers left you behind?

6. After escaping from WICKED, where would you go? Would you go to Denver to make sure WICKED can't control you anymore, or would you run to some secluded part of the world and start a new life?

7. Would you be able to trust Gally after everything he did in the Maze and immediately after?

8. How would you react to Newt in the Crank Palace?

9. Would you be able to kill one of your closest friends if they desperately wanted it? Especially if it would save them from suffering and hurting others?

10. Would you be able to sacrifice yourself for the hope that it would cure the Flare?


Please leave your comments and answers!

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