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.