the au pairs: skinny-dipping

This is the 2nd book to the au pairs series. It is by Melissa de la Cruz and has 289 pages. This book is about 3 girls Mara, Eliza, and Jacqui. Mara is a ex-rich girl, Eliza is a small town poor girl and Jacqui is a middle class Brazilian girl. In this book they come back to the Hamptons for another summer of adventures. Eliza and Jacqui's spend the winter with the Perrys, where Eliza and Ryan Perry were up to no good while Mara was away. The Perry's are the family that the au pairs babysit for. Eliza gets a job with a hot club instead of working with the Perry children, and a new au pair, Philippe, moves into the house with Mara and Jacqui. Philippe is as handsome as he is mysterious, and Jacqui tries to overcome an attraction to him. Mara is still recovering from breaking up with Ryan by partying too much. She loves all the attention she is getting from photographers and designers, but Eliza and Jacqui are growing tired of her. Eliza never sees Jeremy while he is busy at his finance job, and ends up spending too much time with Ryan again. Her job is hard work, taking care of two spoiled pre-teens is not what she had in mind for her summer. I really enjoyed this book. It is very similar to gossip girl. I recommend this book to teen girls. this would be a really good summer read. I can't wait to read the next one!

Nimitz class

I am still reading the same book as I was when I wrote my last post, Nimitz class, by Patrick Robinson. However, in my last post, i was not as far into the book as I am now, so I an able to go more in depth about the plot. The Thomas Jefferson was blown up in the pacific, and the navy has narrowed down all of the possibilities to one, sabotage. Now the question is, who did it? To begin with, they narrowed it down because there were reports of submarine sightings near the area of the accident and it was even on their radar, but it was not acknowledged. They have various clues that lead to one suspect, Russia. Unfortunately, they have no real evidence to back up their claim. The rest of the book is spent finding the submarine that attacked it and finding evidence to put Russia behind the crime. Overall, this book is very interesting but it is also fairly long and may take a long time to finish.

Fallen Angels

I am reading a book about the Vietnam War called Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers. The main character is a black boy from Harlem who is about 18. He is named Perry and he s a good student and good basketball player but he doesn’t have the money for college so he joins up. You really connect with Perry and his new friend from his squad named Peewee. Peewee is a loud mouth but he is hilarious and has a caring side. During the war the characters really find out who they are under pressure. Some of the men stand up for their squad when they need to but others are too cautious and self oriented to do so. The book gives you a small glimpse of the struggles of war. It shows a unique perspective from one man and his thoughts about the war and the horrific things he witnesses. I really like how well developed the characters are in the story. I feel like I connect with them on a personal level. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes war stories and some good action. I have read a lot of war books and this isn’t the best one ever but it s still very good.

Post

Toward the beginning of this quarter I posted about Caught by the Sea by Gary Paulsen. I have finished that book since then. This book was filled with adventure and the stresses of sailing on the ocean. If you love the water and boats I would really recommend it as it give an insight to the brutal circumstances of ocean boating. For someone like me that has most of their water experience on lakes it was a great contrast. I was looking through my bookshelf when I noticed I had a book I haven’t read before. It is called Seekers, written by Erin Hunter. This book is about the survival of 3 young bear cubs. They go through things like life in the woods to living in captivity. I really like the setup of this book. It alternates between three characters, one is a polar bear-Kallik, one is a black bear-Lusa and the last is a brown bear named Toklo. The switching off between characters is great since it leaves you hanging when the next bear is up and if you don’t like one character much then you can look forward to the next chapter. Right now I am on to the second book in this series called Great Bear Lake.

Nick Washuta: Harry potter

Over the past few weeks I have been reading Harry potter and the goblet of fire. I just finished reading the book. It was 734 pages long (minus the 130 from last quarter). It was once again by far my favorite series and I would recommend it to anyone to read it. I was a great book and lots of things happened throughout it. For the last 200 pages of the book, Harry finishes the final part of the triwizard cup and wins. Though in the end, Harry meets up with his nemesis, voldemort. It was a long lasting battle, and Cedric comes out of it dead. Though, Harry puts up a good fight with the help of the souls from the people voldemort has killed including his parents, Cedric, and a few other muggles. The book ends off in a great way that I don't want to give away. But like I said, it was one of my favorite books and I would recommend it to anyone.

The Heart and the fist by Eric Greitens

The Heart and the Fist is an excellent book about the life of Eric Greitens, a student, humanitarian, and Navy SEAL. Eric Greitens teaches many life lessons and shares his insights into the worlds problems. My favorite theory of his is this: the use of force without compassion is evil, but compassion without force is ineffective. He came to this realization through working as a humanitarian in Bosnia and Rwanda. Eric Greitens attended Duke and achieved the highest honors academically. He also got into boxing during his time at Duke and trained daily with his trainer "Beebop." I havent made great progress in this book yet, but I can already tell it is going to be great. Eric Greitens offers many valuable and interesting insights into life. He is also a sublime role model of hard work, kindness, intelligence, and courage.

If I Stay by Gale Forman

I have just finished reading If I Stay by Gale Forman. Although, it's a very confusing book I really enjoyed it! It's about a 17 year old girl named Mia who has just been in a severe car accident with her family. Instead of being in her previous body she is now having an out-of-body experience. She is actually seeing herself from a different life. She watches her former friends and family find her at the hospital where she's there recovering. Mia basically relives her entire life through the book and must choose whether she wants to stay alive and live a very difficult life or actually die. It sounds super traumatic, but it was actually worth reading. This book is very similar to Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver and Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. I would suggest this book to those who like books with a far deeper meaning and one that gets very personal and jumps right into your emotions! Overall, I absolutely loved this book!!

October Skies

I have have just finished reading October Skies by Alex Scarrow. It is the sequel to the Day of the Predictor in a series called Time Riders. This book has a lot of history about the wagon trails west in the mid 1800's. I would highly suggest this book to any history or mystery lovers.just in the few hundred pages of pure awesomeness it taught me more about this event than we ever learned in social studies class. It is a little disturbing at some parts and I must warn you it brings up cannibalism, so this is not for the weak of stomach. If you are also into horror, it has some of that too. The writing style is my favorite because it can be confusing at some times when it switches between times, places and characters. For the first couple hundred pages it does not bring up any of the characters from the past books in the series. I would give this book a 9.5 out of 10 for its great morals and its knowledge of important American history. The theme of the book also revolves around what we are learning about native Americans in English and social studies class. I hope you will read this book because of its great human morals on basic principals that from time to time us busy students forget. such as; sharing and helping each other out in a tough situation, and survival techniques.            

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff...

Okay, so yes I am reading a self help book. I was at one of the many used bookstores and I thought I might as well get a book, and this was the only one that talked to me. Don't Sweat The Small Stuff...And It's All Small Stuff is written by Dr. Richard Carlson. He got the idea for writing this book after a publisher used an old endorsement from Dr. Dyer (some famous guy I guess.) He could not believe the publisher would do such a thing because it is not only tacky but if Dr.Dyer wanted, he could sue Carlson. Carlson decided to write Dyer a letter explaining he had know idea that that publisher would take Dyer's quote from a earlier book of his, do a copy paste and be on their way. To Carlson's surprise, he got a letter back say, "Richard. There are two rules for living in harmony. #1) Don't sweat the small stuff and #2) It's all small stuff." Dr. Dyer even signs the letter with, "Love, Wayne." After reading about such a relaxed guy I decided to keep reading, and some of Carlson's ideas on how to "be in charge of your life" are not half bad. He talks about how perfection is not key, you don't need material things to be happy, etc. Even though my cousin teases me for reading this book, I like it, and will probably keep reading.  

The Death Cure

I've finally finished the final book, so far, in the Maze Runner series by James Dashner. This book is named the Death Cure. In this book, Thomas has to find a way to get away from Wicked because even though they have good intentions, their methods of trying to complete those methods are horrible. For example, even after the first maze didn't work because Thomas wasn't cooperating, Wicked has tried again to restart the trials to find another result. And they do this by rounding up all the Munies, or people who are immune to the virus, and see what makes them munies. Throughout this book, it's been very saddening to read. But luckily, in the end, just as Thomas is about to have his brain dissected, leaving him dead, he escapes into a better world. This is a world where the virus hasn't touched yet and it's a place for civilization to restart.

Insurgent

I recently finished reading Insurgent by Veronica Roth. This is the second book in the Divergent series. Insurgent takes place after the war with Erudite and the other factions. Erudite is still trying to control the other factions with injections that will make them follow simulations. Almost every person can do nothing about the serum injected into them unless they are divergent, meaning that they can belong to more than one faction. The main character Trish is divergent and can not be controlled by the serum and is trying to figure out how to stop the serum from affecting other. Trish is also trying to find out what information the Erudite want. When the Erudite start using the serum to kill innocent people Trish sacrifices herself.
     The most interesting part of the book for me is how the government works. People take examines and tests when they are 16 that decide which faction they belong most in. For example if you are honest you belong in Candor. This is a very interesting way of dividing people, but I think it does create a lot of conflict. If all groups share equal rule it would be hard to make decisions. I also think that some traits would be thought as weaker traits and those factions would be overruled. I would not want to live in a society divided this way.

Seal Team Six

Recently I have gone back to a book that I was reading at the beginning of the last quarter. This book is called SEAL Team Six by Howard E. and Stephen Templin. If you read my last post on this book you would know that this book is basically a behind the scenes look at what its like to not only be a Navy Seal but be in the prestigious Seal team Six. The main character has gone through many missions already in the book, each mission consisted of different orders to follow, new partners, and new targets. Right now in the book the authors have taken us back in time to show how the main character has gotten to where he is today. The main character does many things to keep himself ready for action, for example he shows up at Intensive Training (IT) which is meant for men who forgot their manners or have not followed orders. Men go here to get worked until they throw up or until as the authors describe, you start crying and quit. Our character just shows us here every week to stay in shape and become a great fighter. I really recommend this book to all who are interested in action packed books.

THE DEATH CURE!!!!!!

This time, i read the third book of the maze runner series titled, The death cure. this time, Thomas was sick and tired of the lies that WICKED had told him and he really wanted to get revenge for killing chuck, but when he thinks he is far away from and safe from WICKED, they just played him again. Thomas wakes up to a room filled with hanging dead bodies and is horrified by the smell. he gets cheated and thinks that his best friend his dead but realizes that she is also being played by wicked. he learns a new term "CRANKS" these are people infected by the flare, sort of like zombies. He was told a day later, that he has the flare and he believes it. Him and his team were now sent on a mission to a safe heaven that would give them a cure for the flare, but along the way, they learn that it was just another trick and that they were immune to the disease. They get to the safe heaven but are brought to WICKED headquarters for more testing. Thomas escapes WICKED and goes to Denver Colorado and meets the friend that killed Chuck, Gally. Gally is now sane and is a part of a new resistance group called right arm. their goal is to attack and take down WICKED, they succeed and free themselves after the chanselor of the united stated freed thomas and told him where his friend were hidden. the flat trans that is supposed to free them, takes them to a nice medow with may supplies and food and freedom.

Three Cups of Tea: Post #2

Greg begins to look for a place to build the next school. While searching, he is kidnapped in a remote Pakistani town. He remained captured for eight days and then was real eased without any word of why he was originally captured. His wife, Tara, has a baby girl. The donor for the school gave Greg's organization 1 million dollars before he died and he also appointed Greg as director. Greg builds 5 or 6 more school around Pakistan. Then, they begin to focus on education for the girls and medical care for everyone in Pakistan. While in America, Greg spent a lot of time raising money to build schools and also raising awareness. After a hard time getting more funds, he is cheered up when his wife gives birth to their son. When he returns to Pakistan, he learns that the muslims are trying to build schools as well, which is great, but these school are only for boys and would force the boys to be part of military assignments. On September 11, 2001, while Mortenson is dedicating a school in Pakistan, the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers takes place. Greg tried to explain to people that these acts of terrorism were fueled by poverty and lack of opportunity, but the word did not spread. Back in America, he begins to receive hate mail from other Americans who believe that he should not be building schools and aiding Muslims. However, with a streak of good luck, he was featured in a cover story of Parade Magazine and he then receives many donations. Greg finally receives the attention he had been wanting all along and he is supported when he decides to move his efforts to the neighboring country of Afghanistan. I really enjoyed this book, but like I said in my earlier post, it was a little repetitive. I also read and finished Boys Are Dogs. To say it briefly, it was not a very good book. I would not recommend it. 

CHERUB: SHADOW WAVE

Well, this is the last book of the CHERUB series, a series of TWELVE books. I was surprised on how worried and disappointed I was to end the series, for it had captured me and is basically not letting me go. But, to start, I must recap that CHERUB is a British Intelligence organization that is basically like the CIA of America or the FBI. Basically, they get the bad guys. But, there's a cache, they use children as their agents because what evil person would suspect a child as a spy who could kick their butt? But now, to the story. We take place of James Adams, a eighteen year old boy who a long time member of CHERUB. This is his last year as a CHERUB before he goes to college, and is no longer a CHERUB agent. Throughout the book, he is sentimental about this, and his nostalgia is present almost all the time. But, when his old retired CHERUB agent friend, Kyle, who is about 20 years old, returns to campus, he has one last mission for James to help him on, which is only known between the two of them, and is not legal for them to do with the CHERUB campus's permission. It starts with a small village in Malaysia, in the perspective of a native there. One day, a tsunami hits his village and ravages it to bits. From there, they ask the Malaysian government for help, except the government itself is so corrupt and obsessed with money that they take the old village land and turn it into a resort for wealthy tourists. Basically, this pisses Kyle off, and he decides to get back at Tan Abdullah, the governor of the land that the resort was on, who took a bribe for the land. When Tan Abdullah takes his "royal" business trip to the United Kingdom, James and Kyle decide to strike. They plant microphones in Abdullah's room and thus wait for him to say something bad about money or the government. Eventually, Abdullah insults the Prime Minister of Malaysia and is also heard taking a bribe. James and Kyle make a quick getaway, and then give the recording to news networks across the world. From there, Abdullah is never seen again, and some said that he killed himself on a plane, but not after he suicided the plane into a mountain. Later, it cuts to a scene with James coming back to London from college, one year later, and he has fantastic grades and meets his girlfriend from the start, Kerry. From there, he returns to the campus for the Christmas feast for every CHERUB member or retired agent ever. And so the series ends.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

This Quarter I have read over 100 pages of The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver, finished Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (352 pages) by Ransom Riggs, and 147 pages of A Heartbreaking Work of  a Staggering Genius.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, a New York Times Bestseller, is quite unique and unlike any other book I have read. I have become bored with Teen fiction, because it all seems repetitive, but this book has been a breathe of fresh air. The plot follows Jacob after his "mad" grandfather dies. His grandfather has a mysterious death, and many weird photos of humans with strange abilities. The best thing about this book, is the fact that there are many photos to help tell the story. The even cooler thing is that the author found photo collectors, so all these photos are real photos! Anyways, Jacob decides to travel back to the island his grandfather lived on with his father. As he somehow enters 1940, on the day that Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is bombed (World War 2), and meets many peculiar children. I'll leave it at that. The weirdest thing about this book, is that this book is scary in the fact that it holds an incredibly creepy and unknown factor that the photos seem to bring. I even had to skip school because of this book!

Basically what happened was, I was sleeping and I got the worst of nightmares. I knew it originated from this book, because I dreamed of peculiar haunted children trying to kill me (I have the strangest of imaginations). After that, I made myself stay away for hours because I was absolutely terrified. And, I wasn't feeling well anyway so I knew I wouldn't get better if I went to school on 5 hours of sleep, so I went to school late that day. So, just warning you, this book isn't scary, but it is incredibly creepy. I think that is what makes the aura of the book very interesting.

I would recommend this to people who enjoy unique, and somewhat creepy books. Again, I had some weird dreams because of this book, so perhaps this isn't for the faint hearted.

Brandon olympians

The second book I have read this 4th quarter is the first of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Before reading the book I had heard a lot of good things abut it so I decided to read it. The book got off to a slow start, but once it got going it really got me hooked. The storyline is very clear and I think it's pretty easy to follow, but there are some pretty dry spots in the book. I still enjoyed the book a lot, it had a of Greek mythology theme which I really got into. I thought that the Greek mythology part or the book was something that I havent seen a lot of in a modern day book. The way they tied the main character into the Greek gods web really made the book unique and interesting. The other characters are also very different and unique as well which made it so the reader doesn't get bored.

The Book of Fate

I have just finished reading The Book of Fate by Brad Meltzer. Overall, I thought it was a solid book. This book got into a lot of conspiracy theories about the government and the presidency. It was about a young man, the main character, who worked for the president, when one of the senior staffers was killed. Eight years later, he mysteriously came back to life and that's when the book is off and running through an exciting mystery chase. I do have to say that the book can get very slow in parts and kind of confusing. Many times I would have to go back and reread a page or two to get all of the names straight and figure out exactly what was going on. As a whole I really enjoyed the concept of the book and loved how a lot of really interesting facts about the White House were incorporated into this fictional story. I really enjoy Brad Meltzer's writing, and suggest this book to anyone looking for a good mystery read.

Matched

I am reading a book called Matched by Ally Condie. This book is a trilogy and I am on the first one. It is about a post-apocolyptic society where nothing ever goes wrong. The society has strict rules about everything; what people eat, read, write, know, and everything in between. When each citizen is eighteen, they are matched with their perfect pair based on personality traits. When the main character Cassia is at her matching ceremony, she is paired with her best friend from her district named Xander. But when she looks at his information card, another boy in her district named Ky pops up for a minute. Although she is reassured by a society worker, she begins to wonder. She starts to pay more attention to Ky and it begins an entire love triangle. This book is very similar to the Hunger Games and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed those books.

The Serpents Shadow

The Book I am reading is called The Serpents Shadow by Rick Riodran. Its about twin brother and sister who are magician in the modern world with the egyptian gods. The plot to the book is that their is a big monster who is going to kill everyone and bring chaos to the earth. The only way to kill the serpent is for the twins to find out. If they do find out they can save the world, the only problem is their are 2 days and they need to find all answers. They meet a really bad guy who is dead, but this man has one of the most important answers of all time to save the world. they need to take this man on an adventure to find the answer, the only thing is can they trust him? Also one of the twins likes a god and a boy. The problem is the god is a god and the boy is destined to die. I really recommend this book to people who love adventures and cliff hangers.

The Book I'm reading is called the Maze Runner, written by James Dashner. This is about a boy named Thomas who was sent to a place called the Glade. in the Glade, Thomas meets a lot of new people, people he had never met before. The reason why he couldn't remember anything is because he has been swiped by WICKED. This is what happens when you are immune to the desease called the Flare. Thomas and his new friends learn about this in the second book of the series. Thomas has to find a way out of the Glade in order to get his old life back, or whatever is left of it. In the Glade, there is something called the Maze. this maze is virtually UN solvable and has to be walked through every single in order to find a way out. it has has been two days and only one new person comes every thirty days, but the place that Thomas had come from was full again with a new person, but it was a girl. The Glade had only gotten boys for the past two years. suspicion rises and he is blamed for this mishap. Thomas is getting ready to leave the glade and his new goal is to become a runner. a runner is someone who runs through the gigantic metal doors into the maze every day to try and find an exit path but the walls move every night, thus changing the pattern of the maze. After six, the doors close until night time and the Grievers come out. these are cyborg wolves that are mixed with a venomous porcupine skin that causes you to go thought a changing. Thomas friends do escape the maze through the whole the grievers come through. he is so relieved but to only have his best friend killed by wicked, a new thirst for vengeance has risen and it caries on throughout the series.

The Hunger Games

Right now I am reading the book The Hunger Games by Susanne Collins. I really like it so far. So far the districts have picked the two tributes from each one to go to the Annual Hunger Games. From district 12 Peeta and Katniss have been chosen/volunteered to participate in the games. They have said goodbye to their family and friends and rode the train to the capital to attend the Opening Ceremonies. The part I'm at now is where Peeta and Katniss are in the building on the specially designed floor for them in training for the Hunger Games. They are learning strategies and getting advice from the people that are there to help them. They are treated royally well they are there which is the opposite of how their normal lives are back at home in district 12 so it felt weird to them having to adjust to that. Now the games are about to begin.
This is a really good book and even though I am not that far into it I would still recommend it to anyone.

Maze Runner

The book i am reading now is called Maze Runner. In this book, a boy named Thomas wakes up in an unknown place. He is greeted by a group of boys his age or younger. The only thing Thomas can remember is his name and words. He has no memory of his past and who his family is, he feels them but can't remember them. They live in Glade and call themselves Gladers. Chuck, a new friend and a younger boy Thomas meets and is toured by explains that they live in an enclosed town where at night the walls of the maze close, the people who explore the maze before it closes are called Runners and Thomas has a big feeling of being a Runner, the only thing is that every night when the doors close, the maze changes and Grievers come out. These monsters call kill anyone by stinging someone with their spikes. If the stinged is saved they go through a changing and remember memories. Some of these people who have been through the changing remember Thomas and for some reason hate him and want to kill him. Also forgot to add, a girl comes along and is the only girl ever to come to Glade. I recommend this book because if you ilk page turners this is the right book for you. The second book is called Scorch Trails.

The book I am reading right now is called game of thrones. It is a great book about medieval times in a made up continent. To the north is Eddard stark, and his family Sansa, Bran, Katlyn, and Aryra. At the time, the king is dead, and the queen is trying to take over. Eddard goes down there to straighten things out and brings along Arya and Sansa. You also met a character named Tyrion Lanister who is the queens younger brother, and he is a midget. Because of this,  his father hates him, and he is usually made fun of. But he is also extremely smart. A war breaks out between the Lannisters and the Starks, and Eddard stark get killed. Tyrion gets a army of bandits and come to the aid of his father, and the war begins.

I am currently reading The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. So far I am enjoying this book a lot!! The language that Sparks uses is simple and yet still holds deep meaning. I find that all of the characters are very complex and i really like trying to find out more about them as i go! Right now, Allie has just returned to her former love Although she is engaged to someone else. The dynamic of there relationship is just starting to unfold to be a childhood summer love story. Throughout each chapter there are different points of views from different characters, which i really like because it gives a better understanding to the reader of what is actually going on. I am looking forward to what happens next even though I believe that i have a guess on what's going to happen in the end just because of the other novels that ive read by Nicholas Sparks.

Day of the predator

I am nearing the end of one (if not the) best books I have ever read! It is Day of the predator by Alex Scarrow. This book has everything any reader could ever want! It has action, suspense, future science, and history of the past. I have learned many things from reading this book because it has expanded my creativity and understanding of certain events. The book is number two in the series called Time Riders. It is about a group of young adults who were saved from their eminent deaths by a time traveler who is using them as part of his team to fix any problems that occur in time. Unfortunately while doing so they seem to be messing up the time line more than helping it. I would give this book a ten out of ten because of its outstanding plot and morals through-out the story. I must warn you it does get a little gruesome at some points in the story and I would advise you not to eat food while reading. I was so into the book that I have been reading while eating dinner. I hope that you enjoy reading this book in the future.

I read the book Hockey’s 25 most wanted. This book is an interesting book because most of it is a biography about different NHL players. The 25 most wanted is referring to the 25 best players. They have 3 categories in this book where players are ranked 1-25 based on their ability in that category. The 3 categories are goals, points, and “tough guy”. The book gives information about every players’ NHL career, but for the top 5 in each category they go into detail of the players early years playing hockey. I was not expecting to find the tough guy section as interesting as I did. The category is based on hitting and fighting ability. It was interesting because a lot of the “tough guys” did not play that way when they were young. 4 of the 5 that I was able to go into detail about did not play as rough as they do now. Most of them commented on how their size as decided their role on the team as a hitter or fighter. Most of the tough guys on teams are very big guys. Zedeno Chara is a defenseman for the Boston Bruins. He is 6’9”, with his size if he runs into someone because of is height weight and speed he will knock his opponent over. If a coach or team owner notices a talent like that the encourage the player to stick with it. People don’t realize how important the tough guys are, they build momentum for their team and are a crucial intimidation factor. I encourage anyone who enjoys hockey half as much as I do to read this book.

The latest book I have been reading is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Harry Potter is probably my favorite series for books an movies. I read all of the Harry Potter books when I was a lot younger so I decided to revisit the series. After seeing the last Harry Potter movie (Deathly Hallows) it made me want to read the book again because the first time around I was a lot younger and may have skimmed a lot of the book. Now that I am older I feel as if I can appreciate the book just a little bit more. The Harry Potter books are so unique because of the fact that they appeal to such a large audience, Harry Potter fans can be from age 8 to age 50. I think this showcases how great of a writer J.K. Rowling is, how she is able to take a story that is more for a younger group of people and make it so all ages can enjoy the book. So far I am about 100 pages into the book and I am really glad I re-read the book, there was some parts of the book that were left out in the movie. I also understand parts of the book so much more than I did the first time I read the book. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading just the slightest bit, the Harry Potter books is a must read series

Change Up by John Fenstien

I am reading a Mystery called Change Up. It is about two kids sports reporters who are covering the world series. The big story of the series is a pitcher who has never won a major league game and comes and almost throws a no-hitter in the world series. This feel good story takes an interesting turn when the Kids find out that nobody really knows this instant sensetion. He seem like a nice guy but at the same time very gloomy. His gloom is due to the fact that he lost his wife in a drunk driver car accident 12 years back. But, when the kids take a closer look at the story they find it was a one car accident and there are lots of holes in the police report. The drunk driver Norbert Doyle mentioned may have been himself and he may have been the one who as responsible for his wife's death. The mystery has yet to be solved but the worst part is hollywood is planning on making a movie on the story everyone wants to believe but that may not really be the real story.

The Book of Fate

Currently I have just begun reading The Book of Fate by Brad Meltzer. Primarily I got the idea to read this book from his T.V. show, Decoded. This show basically explores conspiracy theories in all subjects from The Mona Lisa to Fort Knox to the White House. I really enjoy reading this show, and it mentioned that some of the episodes were based off of his ideas from his books. So I've finally decided to read one of them.
I am only 46 pages into the book, but I am already starting to see where it is going. One person has already died, and lots of creative foreshadowing and mysterious descriptions have been used to keep me on my toes. The book has already revealed interesting facts about the secret service and how the president is kept safe in public. Although the story is fiction, a lot of the codes and couple hundred year old secret messages are based off of actual things.
So far I am really enjoying all of the book's devices and plot twists to keep me reading. This is shaping up to be an awesome book!

Dr. Dre Biography

For the 4^th quarter I have changed form my usual book style of action packed quick read to a slower read but still action packed book. The book that I am reading is The Biography of Dr.Dre written by Ronin Ro. Since the very popular Beats by Dre headphones have come out I’ve been very interested in finding out more about Dr. Dre who I had never really looked at as a major artist in the rap business. So far in the book Ronin Ro has informed me the readers of the struggle that Dre was going through during his teenage years. Dre had already had two kids by the age of 17 and had no idea who his older son was until a later encounter when his son was 21. Dre grew up in ruff neighborhood where gang life was the preferable choice for young man who didn’t want to spend 12 or more years of his life in school. Dre often cut class to spend time working on a new found interest in music and DJ-ding at a local club. His mom had found him spending less and less time in school and his grades were plunging rapidly, but his teachers knew he was a smart kid, kids would always challenge him to chess games in the lunch room but he stayed undefeated, the swim coach wanted him on the team but his grades were to low to be allowed to compete.

            I’m really looking forward to the rest of the book because I know what the future holds for Dr. Dre but I really enjoy reading about the many obstacles he had to face on his way to the top. I know I’ve just started this book buy I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys biographies or is interested in Dr. Dre.

Harry potter... Nick Washuta

Over the past few weeks I have been reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I am four hundred and sixty two pages into the book and it has a been great so far. (technically on three hundred and thirty two pages in due to the one hundred thirty last quarter)

So far, in the book, so much has happened Harry has gotten his name pulled out off the goblet of fire to compete in the school challenges, though he did not put it in. He has competed the first and second competition so far, the fist was to get by an adult dragon and take the golden egg. The four people compete and Harry has the fastest time by far. The second one is to ask and take a girl to the Christmas dance, Harry fails to ask his first choice in time, so he has to take another girl that he didn't want to. He mainly failed this task and was annoyed that hermione went with Victor Krum. He and Ron both left early. Harry, Ron and Hermione have been in school lately and nothing much has happened. Though towards where I left off, Harry's golden egg has been making weird noises and been moving around...

The ZooKepper's Wife

I just started a book and so far it has been very good. It's about a married couple who run a zoo during WW2. The zoo is bombed, but it has other uses during the war now. The war rages on and the couple begins to see that they can save people. They hide refugees in the animal cages. This is so far a really good book, although I haven't gotten far in it so no really interesting things have happened. It has just explained the people, the history, and what's going on. So far, I would say that it is going to be a very good book.

The Batboy

I am reading a sports book about a boy named Brian Dudley who lives in Detroit. He plays for his local all-star team, but before the start of the season he finds out that he has won the job of batboy for the Detroit Tigers. This has been his dream job because his dad used to be an MLB pitcher. His dad now lives in Japan. To make things more exciting, his favorite player Hank Bishop returns to play for the Tigers. Things are not as they seem however because Hank doesn't have the same power that he used to and he isn't exactly in a good mood. So Brian has to fix Hank, and try to get his team in the big tournament, all in the same summer.

Kiss Me Deadly

Okay, so I am reading a very cheesy, fan-girl teen fiction...I know. It is a collection of 13 short paranormal love stories. I just finished the first one and I love it! It was about a girl being hunted down by a demon who killed her family. She is being protected by an assassin’s apprentice,but of course she is stubborn and feels she does not need his protection. As you can probably guess she kind of falls in love with him…but I will not ruin the ending. I really love this book but i should warn you, it is very, very cheesy and very predictable! It is purely a fun read.

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver.

I am currently reading The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver, which was recommended to me by my english teacher Mrs. Swearingen. This book has a total of 507, and I am on page 73 (I know, I am reading terribly slowly. I am sorry!) But, this book has totally got me hooked. The beginning is quite slow, but you get settled with the characters. The boy (which I had to look up his name, because they don't quite mention it when he's still a teen) is a white boy living in Mexico. His mother and him are dependent on a wealthy man involved with the industry on an island off Mexico. Then, he and his mother escape to the mainland to live simply because his mother felt isolated and felt like her life was rotting away. Ironically, she escapes this man to find another man. But, they are living a poor life instead of their previous comfortable property. His mother, is quite an unlikable character. She is vain, dependent, extremely whiny, but she is also alone. I think she tries to convince herself that she's a good mother, and that her son likes her but she is incredibly confused on what to do. Her son is a very curious and quirky character, and he has a determined way of observing things. I have just entered the part where the boy meets a famous artist who paints murals. He is incredibly fascinated with everything.

The book is extremely well written, and it is just an overall great book. It kept me up reading late last night D:

Post #1

I recently began reading Caught by the Sea by Gary Paulsen. First I would like to point out that he is one of my favorite writers. I loved his Brian series including Hatchet, he also wrote Lawn Boy and a few other books about outdoor survival and adventure. This book begins with a really hooking Foreword. In this short segment Paulsen recalls an experience he had at the age of seven. He is on a troopship heading toward the Philippines and he witnesses a plane crash into the ocean and he watches as people drown and bleed out in the water. I can relate to some of the things in this book, an example would be the chapter about his first boat. I too experienced this feeling of ownership and I can remember my first time sailing. It is nice to see how he describes the ocean and its immensity when most of my experience with water has been on small lakes and fresh water. Another thing I can relate to in this book is his description of sleeping in a boat after working in a long day, I sleep better than usual when I am around water, whether it is rain or just being on or near the water. If you love the water and boats I would recommend this book to you.

When In Paris

This quarter, I have just finished reading a book called When In Paris by Maxine Kenneth. This was a historical fiction/historical mystery about Jackie O' Nassis (known in this book as Jaqueline Bovier) before she was a first lady. In this book, she gets asked to go on a mission for the CIA. Tired of her boring, stuffy, upper-class life, she agrees, only to have the experience of a lifetime. This book is a love story, a thriller, a mystery, and you learn a little bit about a very important female figure in history. I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys fiction, mystery, or romantic novels.

Three Cups Of Tea : Post #1

This quarter, I have started to read Three Cups Of Tea by Greg Mortenson + David Relin. It is a true story about Greg, who fails to climb the world's second highest mountain. He originally was climbing the mountain to honor his sisters memory. His sister had a disability and had died the previous year. He then gets lost in a remote village in Pakistan called Korphe. With help from the villagers, Greg is able to meet the village chief and find his way home to the U.S. On his way out, he sees the children in the streets trying to educate themselves by writing with sticks in the mud. He then promised to return to Korphe someday and rebuild a school because he thought it would serve as a better memorial for his sister. When he gets back in the U.S., Greg returns to his job as a trauma nurse in California. He lives in an old car. When he begins to raise money for the school, there is very little luck. Then, his friend put him in a journal and he receives a 12,000 dollar donation. Greg sells all his belongings and goes back to Pakistan. He then is informed that he must build a bridge before building the school. He is forced to head back to America because he doesn't have enough money. He returns to a lost job, but is able to receive an additional donation from the same original donor. Again, he returns to Pakistan and begins to develop a relationship with the local people. He completes the bridge and returns to California again. Greg learns that he will now be receiving a salary from the same donor to build the school. A few days later he meets a girl named Tara Bishop and they strangely get married 5 days later. Again, he returns to Pakistan and he completes the school, while learning about the local customs. He becomes very inspired and decides to build a new school. So far, I am really enjoying this book. It is sometimes too repetitive, but it is well written and its a true story, which makes it all the more realistic.

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

During the 4th quarter I have started a book called The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer. This book is about rich people, that raise clones of themselves and the story about one specific clone named Matt. Matt is only a young boy who didn't even know he was a clone until he was caught outside. People in this time period believe that clones are filthy, gross animals that don't have any brain, yet Matt is different. He has bonded with a young girl named Maria and his caretaker named Celia. This young clone was un-known about and when he finally is found, he is treated so poorly, but then they start to slowly connect. This is a very interesting book, yet I can't seem to put it down. Even though I'm not that far into this book, I can already say that I would know a bunch of people that would like this book. If you like Harry Potter, Hunger Games, and books like that then you would really enjoy this book. Though this book take a while to start up, it gets pretty good. I'm really excited to finish the book!

Fear: A Gone Novel

     Fear by Michael Grant is the five book in the Gone series. This series is about children trying to survive after everyone over the age of 15 disappears. The children are also cut off from the outside world by a mysterious dome that can't be broken. During the past four books the kids have broken into two different groups, One led by Sam and the other led by Caine. These two boys are twin brothers who were separated at birth. Both boys have very differing opinions, but besides fighting each other they are also fighting a greater power called the Gaiaphage who has created a monster named Drake, who is trying to hurt both Sam and Caine.
     In this book the two groups have made peace and have kept it for four months until the dome, that has kept them from the outside world, starts to turn black. Everyone is afraid of what will happen when there is total darkness with no light to grow food or see anything. If I lived in FAYZ(the name for the inside of the dome) I think I would have a very hard time. I think the the hard work of helping everybody would were me down and I think this is what happens to Sam. He has to take care of everyone and has no time to think about himself. When he does start to think about himself  people call him selfish. I feel bad for Sam and think that he deserves things for himself. I don't think anyone could handle the responsibility of keeping many kids safe. This is a very good series and I couldn't put the book down.

Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Macbeth by William Shakespeare, is not an easy read. Shakespeare's language (Early Modern English) has words that are used in the present day, words that are used in present day (with different meanings), or words that he just made up. I read the Barns & Nobles Edition of Macbeth, which has a page of Macbeth, and then a page dedicated to explaining parts of the story which are not so easy to interpret, as well as some of the harder language.

Macbeth starts out with a bang, with the three witches off to see Macbeth, and tell him of his future, and all the glory and titles that come with it. Then, in Scene 2, Duncan, King of Thames, praise Macbeth for his bravery on the field, and speak of the Macdonwald, the leader of the rebellion. The plot twists and turns, until it is hard to distinguish friend from foe and guilt racks the main characters, Macbeth and the Lady Macbeth, senseless. Shakespeare has effortless captured the merciless life of guilt that belongs to murderers. Though Lady Macbeth craves power, later on in the story, she goes mad from the guilt of pressuring her husband to kill Duncan. Her ruthlessness rules her, driven by her desire for power, until it snaps back to drive her into madness.

Macbeth is a advanced read, and one should be wary of reading it with out learning a bit about the time Shakespeare lived in, his language, and overall, his life. The Barns & Noble’s Shakespeare edition makes it easier to interpret than the original, and I suggest reading that copy instead. The story itself is difficult to understand, and maybe better as a summer read, when more time can be invested in reading this work. It is hard to read in fragments, such as in the school year.

The Maze Runner

After years of hearing good things about the maze runner, I finally decided to read it after Ms. Post gave her assembly speech on Post-apocolyptic and Dystopia books. So this book is about these kids, all boys, who are trapped in this dome shaped place that simulates what normal life would be like. It's pretty pleasant there, except for the fact that they're surrounded by a huge maze, and there are grievers which are these monsters that roam the maze at night. So the main characters in this book is a boy named Thomas, and a girl named Tereasa. As soon as Thomas and Tereasa come, strange things start to happen in the dome. Everyone who's been stung by the griever has sworn that they've seen Thomas and Tereasa before. And they believe that Thomas and Tereasa are there to kill them all. Eventually Thomas and Tereasa earn over their trust, and Thomas eventually becomes a runner, whom run around the maze, trying to find a way out. And just as they're settling in, everything goes haywire. The dome basically shuts down. They don't get any more sunlight, shipments, and the walls that keep the grievers out at night stop closing.

This book is defiantly on my top ten best books that I have read. It's very exciting and the book itself is very clever. I highly recommend this book for anyone who likes reading, excitement, or post-apocalyptic adventures.

Livewire by Harlan Coben

A book I have recently completed was Livewire by Harlan Coben, the main character is Myron Bolitar a former basketball legend, who is now an agent for numerous athletes and celebrities. Along with his clever, affluent friend and business partner, Winthrop Lockhorne III, or Win as his friends call him. They investigate the bizarre murder of one their clients, Suzzy T, a former tennis superstar, as well as the disappearance of Suzzy's rockstar husband Lex Ryder. The murder also connects to the appearance of his long lost younger brother, his nephew, and his brothers drug addict, former tennis pro wife. This is a very good book and has lots of very surprising twists. I would recommend it to anyone.

Nimitz class

The book I am reading right now is by the same author of the book I last read, Patrick robinson. The book I am reading right now is Nimitz Class. It is about the Navy's newest and biggest ship, a nuclear powered aircraft carrier named the Thomas jefferson. In the beginning, they are on a mission in the arabian sea in a large group of ships, but suddenly the Thomas Jefferson disappears in what seems to be a nuclear accident. Unfortunately, it is not a nuclear accident and there is much more to it. All signs point to a russian submarine that had gone missing a few weeks earlier and had been spotted once near the Thomas Jefferson. This is a very god book that is very quick paced and I think everyone would have fun reading it.