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.

Over the spring break of the 3rd Quarter, I read the book CHERUB: "The General" By Robert Muchamore. Fortunately, I can count this as a forth quarter book. Just a refresher, CHERUB is an organization stationed in Central England that sends agents on missions to crack down either terrorists, or just straight up bad and wretched people. But, the catche is that; They use children for these missions, because most people wouldn't suspect that children are spies, right? But, for official purposes, so people might not suspect children as being CHERUBs, CHERUB does not exist. In this book, which has to be my favorite one so far, James, our main honcho, is sent to America with his sister, friends, and his combat instructor, Kazakov. The mission of this mission is to help the American military by volunteering as people who will simulate a middle eastern country, (Where they're fighting at the moment), by living in the fake towns. Also, CHERUB's former director, "Mac", is joining James's crew because he is going to be the "terrorist" leader. But, the bullets in this simulation are only paint, but once you get "hit", your out of the simulation, but they wanted to still give the American soldiers the experience they need to be hardcore soldiers. The main idea of this simulation at "Fort Regan" is to have the American army crack down the fake terrorist organization before the terrorists take over the camp, while James and his crew's mission is to protect the terrorist leader, Mac, from the Americans. The funniest part about this is that, CHERUBs are fit enough to battle soldiers alone, and Kazakov, a former Russian Spetsnaz, wants to humiliate the Americans, because of his deep hate for them when his helicopter was shot down by the Taliban, who were funded by America at the moment, and his brother died. So the simulation starts off with the CHERUBs, who are accompanied by a couple disguised SAS (Special Air Service, British Army basically), who help them to take down the drones that the Americans were using on the army base on Fort Regan, and then the put laxitives into the American water supply, so the Americans would mainly be on the can, and the terrorists can take over. During the next couple of days, the terrorists trap the American soldiers many times, reducing their numbers. Also, a couple of SAS members are lost in the fight too. But, Kazakov, who hates the Americans, makes their lives a living hell. Because of the laxitives, they're all on the toilet, and he has some groups raid the American base, and retreat, to scare the crap out of the generals in charge. Later, when Kazakov organizes a terrorist attack on the base, James is ordered by an SAS member to throw a paint grenade into the room that the American generals are in. So James obeys his order, and the simulation stops. Kazakov and James are kicked out of the simulation, but, the general who was in charge of the simulation and strategy, was changed to a lower rank, in help training the soldiers. This all happened because Kazakov pointed out that anything could happen in war, even laxitive issues, and the Americans were just whining because they got OWNED. In all, this book was intense but just hilarious at the same time. I appreciated the simulation fact, and how they used trained CHERUBs to wipe out grown American soldiers.

Three Cups of Tea

This quarter I read Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. This is a completely true story about Greg Mortenson's life journey. His sister died when he was younger and years later he went climbing up a mountain called K2 in honor of her. He ends up lost in a village of kids who are poor without education. He returns to that village after years, as promised and builds the kids a school. He ends up building schools all over Pakistan for kids in need of education and does much more to help out with them. He eventually starts his own business to build schools all around that area to help the kids. He endures many challenges along the way including being in Pakistan on 9/11 and being a target for al qaeda. This is and exciting book that is sad and I recommend it to everyone.

Dreamland

This quarter I read Dreamland by Sarah Dessen. It's about a girl named Caitlin who's sister runs away, but the problem is that her sister was her role-model. When her sister left she was so lost without her and didn't know what to. Her sister helped her with everything and they were so close and so suddenly she was just alone with her parents. She tries to make her mom happy by playing sports she hates. Without realizing it her friends change and she becomes popular. She ends up meeting a guy and they fall in love and drama happens. This is a really good story that is funny and sad. I would recommend it to almost anyone.