The Maze Runner by James Dashner

#1 Maze Runner
Copyright: 2009
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Genre: young adult
Pages: 374
Challenges: What's in a Name?, Young Adult, Buy 1 book and read it
Author's Website
My rating: 3/5

Simple Description:
Thomas doesn't remember anything about his past.  He wakes up on a lift and when the doors open he's in a placed called The Glades with several other boys.  He has so many questions but nobody will answer them.  Where is this place? What is he doing here? Why can't he remember anything? 

The next day a girl shows up.  THe first girl ever.  Two kids in two days, that's never happened before.  People are worried, why are things changing?  What is it about Thomas that has caused these changes?

Thomas soon starts to get some answers and figure things out.  It appears that outside the walls it's a maze and for two years the Runners have been running in the maze every day in hopes of finding a way out.  They feel it's a test from the Creators, people who put them there.  The walls close every night so the Greivers can't get inside, they are horrible monsters that will kill you.  If you happen to be stung by one, you go through the change and you're never the same.   Unfortunatly for Thomas a couple of the kids who have gone through this change feel he's the cause to their recent problems and want him gone.  But Thomas might have the answers to help the kids save themselves and find a way home, wherever or whatever that is.


My Thoughts:
This book actually started out pretty slow for me.  The author had the kids use made up words in place of curse words.  This wouldn't have bothered me, hey, I curse a lot. Teenage boys curse a lot.  I just found the made-up words annoying and overly used.   I also found the beginnign slow because while the Glader's aren't giving Thomas any answers to what is going on, the reader doesn't get any info either. I suppose I just felt a bit confused and out of hte loop.

However, once I got a tad over 100 pages into the book it really started to pick up for me.  There was more action and that kept the book moving.  You also started to get some answers and figure out what was going on, and least to a point.

When I got very close to the end, I thought I was going to be a bit disapointed with the book. I wasn't happy with how it was ending.  However I ended up being pleasantly surprised by the turn of events.  

The copy I have also has "exclusive WICKED correspondence " at the very end and I really enjoyed that. I read this book with another co-worker and his copy didn't include this so I gave him mine to read.  We both agreed that those extra pages really help the story and made us more interested in the next book.

Born to Run by Christopher McDougall

Copyright: 2010
Publisher: Random House audio
Genre: Non-fiction
Pages: audio
Challenges: New Author, What's in a Name (life stage), audio book
Author's Website
My rating: 5/5

Simple Description: 
The author, Christopher McDougall is a runner who kept getting injured.  He set out to learn why and figure out a way to get back into running.  He ended up in Mexico in a quest to find the Tarahumara Indians and Caballa Blanco.   The Tarahumara Indians are ultra runners, only they don't normally compete in any races.  They run for fun.  The run a lot.  They run long mileage.  How is it they can continue to run this mileage and never hurt themselves?  Whereas thousands of runners in the US run less mileage and hurt themselves every year.

The author set out to find out what the difference was.  The answer wasn't exactly what he was expecting.  The Tarahumara Indians didn't wear running shoes, they ran in sandals.

The books goes back and for between the author's search of Caballa Blanco and the resulting race with some of the top ultra marathoners and the science behind barefoot runners and why humans run.

Here's a blurb from the author's website:

With a sharp wit and wild exuberance, McDougall takes us from the high-tech science labs at Harvard to the sun-baked valleys and freezing peaks across North America, where ever-growing numbers of ultrarunners are pushing their bodies to the limit, and, finally, to the climactic race in the Copper Canyons. Born to Run is that rare book that will not only engage your mind but inspire your body when you realize that the secret to happiness is right at your feet, and that you, indeed all of us, were born to run.

My Thoughts: 
While I was enjoying this story, the constant switching between the authors quest to find Caballa Blanco and the Tarahumara Indians (and resulting race) and the science behind why humans run and barefoot running was rather confusing at times.  It really took me awhile to get used to it.  In fact, I even told some people last week that I wasn't too sure about the book.

With that being said, I ended up loving the book.  I loved both parts of the story.  I loved learning about the race and the background of the runners. I was fascinated by the science/research behind running and running barefoot.  There were several times while listening to the narration of the race where I found myself smiling.  Smiling at the sheer joy the runners were experiencing (along with the pain of course).  Smiling because while I don't run that kind of mileage, I know what it feels like to push myself and how great it feels to accomplish something in running you didn't think you could do.

The science side of it was just fascinating for me.  The author explains what some have found to be why humans run a marathon, what drives some to run that distance and more.    I also agreed with his findings regarding current running shoes and the move many are taking towards barefoot running.

I didn't think I would like this book.  Yes, I'm a runner, but that doesn't mean I actually read books about running.   However, after dealing with a stress fracture in my heal in 2009 I started doing research on the minimalist shoe movement.  I did a lot of research and decided it made sense and switched to a minimalist shoe this past April (moving to it 100% in May).  Every time Dr's or other runners learned of my plan to do this this they would comment "Oh, you've read Born to Run?"  Nope.  I then read several reviews that said the audio version of this book was great, so I decided to give it a try. I am so glad I did.

I honest think most runners would enjoy this book. If they can get used to the constant switching in the story, that is.   I'm sure I sound like a broken record, but as a runner I just found the story fascinating.

For those who aren't runners, if you live with a runner this might be a good book for you. It might help you understand why they run.  You might enjoy the race parts.    If you don't live with a runner, heck, you might still find it interesting.  You might think runners are crazy, especially those who run 100 mile races.  Maybe this book would help explain why they do what they do.

After reading this book do I still think I made the right choice switching to a minimalist shoe?  You betcha! Every point that was made regarding the benefits are the reasons I switched.  Even though I've had some pain and issues switching, it's the right choice in my opinion and one that I recommend to others when they ask me about it.

Since I'm speaking of running, just want to mention that my next half marathon is Oct. 2nd.  It's in 12 weeks.  Yikes!

Audio Review: 
The narrator of this book is Fred Sanders.  He did an awesome job.  I loved listening to this book.  He did a great job with this book and I definitely recommend this one on audio.

A Touch of Gold by Joyce and Jim Levene

#2 Missing Pieces series
Copyright: 2011
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 304
Challenges: What's in a Name, Crusin Through the Cozies, 2011 Pub Challenge
Author's Website
My rating: 3.5/4

Simple Description:
The story starts off with us hearing one of the stories from Duck's history along with a group of children.  Max, the curator of Duck's history museum, is telling the story and Dae is there to listen and participate since it is story hour with the Mayor.   After the story is over and the children get some refreshments they head back to school. Dae starts to leave to but turns around when she realizes she forgot to give Max one of the gold coins she found on the floor.  It's then that the museum explodes, killing Max and hurting Dae.

When Dae recovers, she finds her abilities have changed.  She can still find lost objects for people however now she can also get information about objects when she touches them.

Through these new visions Dae learns that the pirate gold Max found years ago, wasn't really found by him but was given to him.   She wonders if this had something to do with his murder.

Soon Dae and Kevin are doing some investigating on their own to try and find who killed Max and who attempted to kill the wife he left behind.   Sure, the authorities are looking in to it, but Dae is pretty sure they are wrong.

My Thoughts:
I thought this was a great follow-up to the first book in the series.  In fact, I liked this one even more.  I think with the first one, while I liked Dae, I did have some issues with her.  In this book, I didn't feel like I had any issues with her.  I thought she put her life at risk but don't all amateur sleuth's at one point or another?  I really like the characters of  Dae, Kevin, and Gramps.  They work really well together and I really like them.

The mystery aspect of this one kept me guessing until pretty close to the end.  I really had no idea who the murder was for most of the book, but a clue towards the end pretty  much told me who it was before Dae figured it out.

I also liked how one mystery about a person who used to live in Duck, was kinda solved.  At least, we got more info on it and it did have relevance to the story and it was a nice twist. I won't say more than that though.

If you read the first one in this series and enjoyed it, I definitely recommend reading the second one. I'm pretty darn sure you'll enjoy just as much, if not more.



Thanks to the publisher for providing this book for review.

Fruit of All Evil by Paige Shelton

#2 Farmers' Market Mystery
Copyright: 2011
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 281
Challenges: What's in a Name? (evil), Crusin Through the Cozies, 2011 Pub challenge
Author's Website
My rating: 3/5

Simple Description: 
Becca once again finds herself involved in a murder investigation.  This time it's because her friend, Linda, and her friend's fiancée, Drew, are possible suspects.  When the mother-in-law to be is found dead in her home, the most likely suspects are family.   Becca briefly wonders if Linda did it, but quickly pushes that aside.  She's not so sure about Drew though, especially not after she over hears him on his cell phone when he thought he was in private.

Becca also knows that some of Drew's cousins act a bit iffy and bother her.  Could they have something to do with it?  How about the fact that the murdered woman worked at a bank and has sent several foreclosure notices, could one of the recipients be the murderer?  How about Becca's own boyfriend, he received a call from the victim earlier in that day, is he guilty?

Becca has lots of suspects and even though she isn't on the police force she is friends with the lead investigator and working with clue's they've both found, they solve the murder.

My Thoughts:
I have much the same over-all thoughts with this book as I did the first one, Farm Fresh Murder, when I reviewed it last year.  I love the setting, sounds like  a wonderful place to live.

I think Becca has good intentions.  The thing is she's not very smooth with asking questions, she's very much "in your face" and that can be hard to read with a cozy.  Her character also bothered me a bit because she didn't trust that her friend was not guilty right away, she had doubts.

The story itself is good and entertaining.  Lots of potential guilty parties involved.  I do think this series is still it's infancy and is good enough for me to hang on for more. I think it has a lot of room to grow and I hope to see Becca's character be a bit smoother on the next book.




Thanks to the publisher for providing this book for review.

First Drop of Crimson by Jeaniene frost

#1 Night Huntress World
Copyright: 2010
Publisher: Avon
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 371
Challenges: Off the Shelf, Urban Fantasy Challenge, What's in a Name? (number), Paranormal/Fantasy, 1st in a series
Author's Website
My rating: 4/5

Simple Description: 
This book focuses on Spade and Denise.  These are two characters who are in the Night Huntress novels by the author but they are secondary characters.  This book is the first in a new series, Night Huntress World, which is a spin-off of the other.  In this one, Spade and Denise become the main characters.

Denise has sworn off vampires and ghouls. She's done with them.  Unfortunately, they aren't done with her.  Members of Denise's family keep ending up dead and then she witnesses the death of her cousin. Later when a demon shows up at her door and brands her, Denise has to call the only vampire who's number she still has. Spade. She has to beg for his help.  Spade, on the other hand, knows that helping Denise will cause problems for him but he's always been attracted to her.

Somehow Spade and Denise must find one of Denis' long lost relatives who tricked the demon years ago, deliver this person to the demon so the demon will remove the bonds he placed on Denise, but at the same time keep it secret what they are doing.  You just know that's not going to work out as planned.

My Thoughts:
I thought this was a great book!  It was the perfect book for me, for the mood I was in when reading it.  I love the Night Huntress series and was both very interested in this one and worried about it. Would it live up to my expectation?  I'm happy to announce that it did.   It was a lot of fun to learn more about two of the secondary characters and then to have the other characters we know also play a part in the series.
If you like the Night Huntress series by Jeanine Frost, I think you'll thoroughly enjoy this one too.  In fact, if I'm not mistaken the 2nd book in the Night Huntress World series was published last month, I might just stop at a bookstore tonight and look for it.


 Audio Review:
I did listen to part of this book. I actually forgot I had requested it on audio and started reading the paper copy.  Then I went to the library to get a different audio book that was on hold for me and this one was there too. Bonus.  So I listened to it in the car and then read the book when not driving, of course.  I read the majority of this book in paper form though, I pretty much plowed through it.  So while I'm not counting it for my audio challenge or my stats, I did want to mention it  in my review.

What I did listen to..was excellent. Tavia Gilbert is the narrator and I feel she did a fantastic job. I wouldn't hesitate to listen to more books in this series.

What's in a Name 4 Challenge

I had so much fun with the What's in a Name 3 challenge this year that I knew I had to do the challenge again in 2011.  It's so challenging, yet a ton of fun, to find books to fit the different topics.

Beth Fish Reads is hosting this challenge and the What's in a Name 4 challenge has it's own dedicated blog.


Here's How It Works

Between January 1 and December 31, 2011, read one book in each of the following categories:

1. A book with a number in the title: First to Die, Seven Up, Thirteen Reasons Why
2. A book with jewelry or a gem in the title: Diamond Ruby, Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Opal Deception
3. A book with a size in the title: Wide Sargasso Sea, Small Wars, Little Bee
4. A book with travel or movement in the title: Dead Witch Walking, Crawling with Zombies, Time Traveler's Wife
5. A book with evil in the title: Bad Marie, Fallen, Wicked Lovely
6. A book with a life stage in the title: No Country for Old Men, Brideshead Revisited, Bog Child

The book titles are just suggestions, you can read whatever book you want to fit the category.

Other Things to Know

• Books may be any form (audio, print, e-book).
• Books may overlap other challenges.
• Books may not overlap categories; you need a different book for each category.
• Creativity for matching the categories is not only allowed but encouraged.
• You do not have to make a list of books before hand.
• You do not have to read through the categories in any particular order.

As usual, I'm going to list the books that I'll attempt to read for this challenge.  These are all books that I already own.  The only exception is Jewelry or Gem..because I haven't found a title yet.

Number: First Drop of Crimson by Jeaniene Frost

Jewelry or Gem:

Size: The Tall Pine Polka by Lorna Landvik

Travel or Movement: Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

Evil: A Perfect Evil by Alex Kava 

Life Stage: The Last Child by John Hart