Yikes.

Let me just say, it's been a busy month. Not a great excuse, but its all I've got. I've had a lot of projects for class, plus outside plans, plus Thanksgiving and all of its attendant activities...there hasn't been much time for reading or writing about reading. That said, I have read a couple of books since the 7th (can it really have been that long?).

So we'll start with James Dashner's Maze Runner prequel, The Kill Order. It takes us back as far as the first day of sun flares and follows a kid named Mark and the rag-tag group he takes up with through their first post-apocalyptic year. The appearances by recognizable characters are few and far between - in fact, if you took out the prologue and epilogue, this book could exist as a standalone novel. A really violent, depressing standalone, but still. That's my basic takeaway - it's a grim, violent book that does not hold out much hope for the future. It does move incredibly quickly and does not let up. Of the three Maze Runner books, it reminded me most of my favorite, The Scorch Trials. Overall, it's not a bad addition to the trilogy, although it didn't answer as many questions as I would have hoped.

The second book was Frank Portman's King Dork. This is one of those books for class, so I feel like I should have some really insightful things to say about it...we'll see. In my hunt for a picture of the cover, I came across an article about casting for the movie version (Nick Offerman...I'm there). This article included the Amazon summary, which is kind of misleading, so let's start there. This is not a book about a nerdy guy whose life is changed when he discovers the book The Catcher in the Rye (though you might be forgiven for thinking that was the case if you only look at the cover). It's about a nerdy guy who is plenty familiar with TCITR and is, in fact, not a fan. His life is changed when he finds his deceased father's copy of the book and by the notes his father wrote inside.

King Dork does parallel TCITR in some key ways - it's told in a first-person style, with Tom (aka King Dork, Chi-Mo, Moe, etc.) narrating; like Holden, Tom thinks that most people aren't really worth his time (he scoffs at Holden for calling them "phonies," then dubs them all "psycho normals"); Tom is dealing with the early death of his father, much like Holden is still dealing with the death of his brother Allie.

Okay, my computer is acting up. There may be more on King Dork later.

4 Books

I'm going to keep this quick and dirty because we've got a lot to get through and not a lot of time (I MUST go to bed - I was up until what Anne Shirley would call the "wee sma's" watching election results come in). So, since last we spoke, I've read four books. Without further ado...

1. Beth Revis' Across the Universe. This book is a mix of a few different genres, but it's mostly science fiction. I find the cover rather misleading - there is romance, but it takes a backseat everything else that's happening (though I suspect the relationship between Amy and Elder will play a larger role as the series goes on). I loved when this book slowed down and focused on the ideas of leaving Earth, of completely severing one's self from a specific time and place and people, of what it would be like to be trapped inside for an entire life, of the power of hope...really lovely and thought-provoking. And the moment when Amy is asked to describe Earth to some of Godspeed's residents and she shuffles through her memories looking for a place to begin, settling finally on the sky (which none of the people she's speaking to have ever seen)...it brought tears to my eyes. I hope to find time for the sequel, A Million Suns, which I got for our library today.

I am a big fan of A Series of Unfortunate Events, so I was delighted to learn, just days before its release, of this prequel series, starring a 13-year-old Lemony Snicket. It did not disappoint. Who Could That Be at This Hour? was sly and funny and suspenseful. It's filled with in-jokes for fans of ASOUE - I laughed out loud at Lemony's frustration with having words constantly defined for him, as well as his insistence that there is simply no time for moping. The book utilizes a noir-ish style beautifully - I would love to pair this book with Veronica Mars (especially the early episodes) and Marissa Pessl's Special Topics in Calamity Physics. Also, the illustrations (as you can see from the cover) are awesome.

I have recently found myself frustrated with how dated all of our soccer books are (we just got yet another copy of a book about soccer superstars which still has Torres playing for Liverpool, Drogba at Chelsea, and Rafa Marquez at Barcelona). So when I saw this book, I thought it would be an awesome addition to our collection. And indeed, having read it, I'm really happy with the purchase. This is the true story of a children's soccer program made entirely of recent refugees from a smattering of war-torn countries. The stories of these boys will break your heart and their courage and good will and the way they come together, not to mention their coach's tremendous determination and perseverance will pick your heart up, put it back together, and then make it grow three sizes. Very early on, the author describes watching a kid who isn't so good make a really good block, then watching his teammates surround him like he just scored the winning goal in the World Cup. With my eyes filled with tears, I was completely sold.

This book surprised me. I was really prepared to be annoyed by it - the picture thing seemed like a gimmick and...I don't know. I judged it by it's cover. Whatever. But I'm willing to admit my mistakes, and boy, did I ever make a mistake not reading this a year ago! I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. It wasn't this twisting tale that seems like a supernatural story, then maybe a Holocaust story or a story about a father and son and then whips back to supernatural tinged with all of the above...I liked it a lot. And the pictures really were a nice addition. They probably weren't always necessary, but they really added to the atmosphere, especially (for me) the ones of the wights. They gave me the shivers, especially (for whatever reason) the one of the bus driver with the staples. Creepy. I'll be looking for the sequel.