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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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!

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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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Book of the Month - July 2011

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

...Ranger's Apprentice: The Emperor of Nihon-Ja by John Flanagan!

July did slightly better than June with a whopping 3 books, but two of those were nonfiction stories that were not really "enjoyable" reads, so this month's choice was quite clear. However, don't think that this was just a granted since it is a fiction book, this book really deserves a Book of the Month, even if it goes to the whole series.

As I said in the review post, I love this series and always have. I started it years ago, and the first two books of the series were some of my first reviews of this blog, so this series has some sentimental value for me. Also, as I said, I love studying this time period, so all of the creative battle planning is right up my alley. The story had lots of clever plans that can only be expected by two rangers, and I love the characters that have been developed so well over the 10 book series. I look forward to rereading these in the future and reading John Flanagans new works in the future.

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

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Book of the Month - June 2011

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

...Enclave by Ann Aguirre!

Well, it looks like June is another March, meaning that there are only two books to choose from, but this one was the clear winner.

Enclave was very suspenseful and had a well-developed dystopian world modeled off of our own. Part of the reason I liked it so much was that it reminded me of The Hunger Games (which I promise will eventually get a review on here), but it was certainly not a copy of the story in any way. Really, the only similarity was the fighting for survival in various ways. It was certainly a very good suspenseful book that I would strongly recommend!

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

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Book of the Month - May 2011

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

...Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder!

Kind of like last month, this wasn't too hard of a choice. Though I love the Gone series, the later books in the series aren't quite up to par with Inside Out, and though some aspects of Inside Out and 1984 were very similar, Inside Out was a much more enjoyable read than 1984.

Inside Out was excellent, and though it took a bit to get into, the suspense in this book was created beautifully, and the many unexpected twists and turns leave you shocked. This is certainly a book dystopian lovers should read!

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Book of the Month - April 2011

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

...Everfound by Neal Shusterman!

Well, this one wasn't a hard choice for once. Had I not read Everfound, it would have been, but I must say, this book blew me away. After I was done reading, I really couldn't think about anything but the book for the rest of the night, and only a truly great book will do that. Really, I shouldn't be surprised, because Neal Shusterman has done that before with Unwind, but for different reasons.

Everfound was so complicated and had so many plot twists to keep the suspense up, there was no way it couldn't win the Book of the Month. The entire Skinjacker seires was good, and as each book was released, it kept getting better, something that just doesn't happen. I can't wait for it to actually be released so you all can read it, too!

I also must give a shout-out to Gone, because had I finished it two days later, it possibly could have earned its own Book of the Month award, but it just couldn't quite compete with Everfound. So while you wait for Everfound to be released, you can read Gone!

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

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Book of the Month - March 2011

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

...The Enemy by Charlie Higson!

You would think that with only two books to choose from this month that the choice of Book of the Month would be really easy, but I think that this has been the hardest one to decide on for a while, and I'm still not even 100% sure that this is the right choice.

The thing that edged this book out over Pathfinder was that the story was faster and the characters were more believable. I liked Pathfinder more in the fact that it made me think more, but sometimes Rigg's exceptional ability to deal with adult situations seemed a little too far, kind of like Paul in Frank Herbert's Dune. In The Enemy, the characters all had many faults and acted like young teens. On the other hand, The Enemy was definitely a teen-oriented book, whereas Pathfinder could be enjoyed by an older audience as well. As a teen looking for a fun book to read, I would have to say that The Enemy just edges out Pathfinder, even though Pathfinder may be considered to have more literary worth.

Expect a short Blog Update in the coming days!

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

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Book of the Month - February 2011

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

...I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore!

This book, as I believe I said in my review, was one that was very adamantly recommended to my by Amazon.com based on previous purchases, but I was very hesitant to read it. As it turns out, it was VERY good (obviously, since it is the book of the month) and I am very disappointed that it is going to be a few more months for the sequel to come out. The story was very balanced, containing enough action, excitement, romance (if you call it that in high school), sorrow, and just normal day-to-day life. In my opinion, this balance is one of the hardest things to find in a good book.

I would like to appologize that it took me over half way through March to get this simple post up, and I really will try to get them up right at the end of the month in the future. Luckily for me, I can cheat and make the computer say that this was posted on February 28th, but I would rather not have to use this feature. One last comment is that I have not finished any books this month, but I am nearing the end of a long one, and am about a quarter of the way finished with another long one, so I should have a few reviews in the next week or two. Sorry for the three week lull.

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

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Book of the Month - January 2011

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

...Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith!

As you can tell from my review, I LOVED this book. It was definately creepier than Maze Runner and easily as suspenseful. I probably would tie it with its sequel, Solitary, for Book of the Month, but the award is not Series of the Month, so I will try to keep it at one book. Once again, I need to caution young readers against this book, saying that I would only reccommend it to High Schoolers, but the choice is up to you , not me.

I would also like to add that this month was a VERY hard choice. I may have to start adding a second and third place book if I keep reading this many good ones. When I read The Doomsday Box, I was sure it would be Book of the Month, until I read Everlost, which was good competition. These two narrowly edged those others out right at the end of the month, but I did want to mention them as well.

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

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Book of the Month - December 2010

The Book of the Month award for December 2010 goes to...

...The Maze Runner by James Dashner!

I LOVED this book, as my review says, and I am totally hooked on the series. This is one of the creepiest books I have ever read, and definitely the most suspenseful. I hardly stopped reading once I started, and I began reading the sequel the following day.

Great work Mr. Dashner! I am ready for #3!