Quote Wall Monday

Book 15

 

Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end. No more puzzles. No more variables. And no more running. Thomas was sure that escape meant he and the Gladers would get their lives back. But no one really knew what sort of life they were going back to. 

Burned by sun flares and baked by a new, brutal climate, the earth is a wasteland. Government has disintegrated-and with it, order- and now Cranks, people cover in festering wounds and driven to murderous insanity by the infectious disease known as the Flare, roam the crumbling cities hunting for their next victim...and meal. 

The Gladers are far from finished with running. Instead of freedom, they find themselves faced with another trial. They must cross the Scorch, the most burned-out section of the world, and arrive at a safe haven in two weeks. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them. Thomas can only wonder- does he hold the secret of freedom somewhere in his mind? Or will he forever be at the mercey of WICKED? 

This is the sequel to The Maze Runner book and I had heard that most people liked this one even more than the first one. I think I would have to disagree on that one.... I like The Maze Runner better than The Scorch Trials. That is not to say that this one wasn't good though!! The Scorch Trials keeps you guessing! Sometimes I felt just as confused as the characters in the book as to what was going on! And, just like The Maze Runner, the twist at the end has me anticipating reading the next book!! So glad I didn't start reading these until all the books were out!! 

Quote Wall Monday

Book 14

It's always been just Kate and her mom-and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother wont live past the fall. Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, God of the Underworld- and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests. Kate is sure he's crazy-until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride, and a goddess. 

Become immortal or die trying......

Awesome tag line huh?!?

I LOVED this book!! Like.... couldn't put it down loved it!! Like.....stayed up until 2 a.m. finishing it, loved it!!  I'm a sucker for Greek mythology stories anyway but this one was great!! It was such a different spin on the character of Hades. I don't know that I have ever read a mythology story or spin off where Hades isn't the bad guys. He's always the one causing trouble and grief for everyone which usually makes sense since he is the God of the Underworld. But in this story Hades {Henry} is the good guy... the one that seems to be getting the short end of the stick from the other Greek Gods!! LOVED it!! I cant wait to read the next book in the series! The only trouble is, according the Goodreads, the next book ends in a huge cliffhanger and the next book doesn't come out until the fall!! And you all know how I feel about waiting!! Especially when there's a cliffhanger!! So I might have to wait to read the next one until August!! 

Quote Wall Monday

A Tribute To Mom

How do you ever explain how grateful you are for your mom?
I dont think it's really ever possible!!
I thought to celebrate Mother's Day I would share some of my favorite memories of my wonderful mom!!

**She always goes above and beyond to make special occasions fantastic! I remember that my first day of 7th grade fell on my birthday. I, of course, thought it should be a holiday and didnt think I should have to go that day! But, my mom made me go. When I got to school and I started going through my backpack, I realized my mom had made me all kinds of notes telling me Happy Birthday and how much she loved me! They were in my notebooks, folders and even in my awesome Trapper Keeper!! For my college graduation party she had cheesecake because she knows how much I love it! And for my 25th birthday she got me a Nothing Bundt Cake!!
**She has been giving me special Valentines treats as long as I can remember
**She and I went on a trip together to Chicago in 2007. We wrote the "El", ate the Cheesecake Factory for the first time, saw Wicked, and did lots of shopping!! It was awesome to be on vacation just with her!!
**I remember going shopping with her at Target in California before we had them here and buying, what I thought, was the coolest outfit ever!
**I remember her braiding my hair into a million tiny pieces for girls camp my very first year
**Around 3rd or 4th grade I really wanted to be Belle for Halloween! I remember going to the DI with her and found the perfect white dress! Then I remember her dying that white dress the perfect shade of blue!!
**I remember crying to her before going on my first pioneer trek, begging her not to make me go! She cried along with me and told me I had to go anyway!
**I remember her coming to my apartment at USU and spending the night so we could go see a Jericho Road concert together
**I remember her teaching us how to play the colored eggs game in our front yard
**My mom had always been so wonderful and accommodating to my constantly changing decorating tastes!! She helped me redo my bedroom so many times!! Once I wanted my walls sponge painted purple so badly. I went to school one day, came home and found that my mom had spent the day sponge painting my room!! I was SO excited about it!!
**When I fell and broke my arm and leg I remember yelling for my mom. I knew that she would make everything better!
**I remember laying out in the backyard with her while she tanned when I was little! She had a squirt bottle full of water and every so often she would ask me to spray her legs to cool her down!! I loved it!
**I remember waking up in the morning to find her working out. She had some really awesome tapes that had sweet upbeat 80s songs on them. To this day when I hear those songs the first thing I think of is my mom working out!

My mom is truly wonderful!! I would be lost without her! There is no one else I can call and laugh with or cry to!!
THANK YOU to my mom for being a listening ear, during the good times and the bad! And for just being the amazing person she is!!

Flashback Friday: A Day Of Love

Oh Valentines Day....That wonderful day of love. I wouldn't say that I dread this holiday {even though I'm single} but it's not my favorite holiday of them all {probably because I'm single}.

BUT

I have THE best family ever and some great friends that made the day great!!

My mom always makes Valentines Day great and this year was no exception!! I got a sweet card in the mail

And a whole box of wonderful goodies!! She knows me well!! And I am so grateful that she always makes this holiday special for me!!

For lunch that day my awesome Dad took me to lunch! I always love our lunch dates together!! I wish I would have taken a picture!!

That night, my roommate Erin and I decided to be Valentines and went to dinner at The Blue Lemon. Have you ever been? It's delicious!! We had yummy soup and I tried there artichoke spinach dip for the first time and fell in love!! So SO good!!

Book 13

When Mr Socrates, a member of the shadowy Permanent Association, hears of a hunchbacked infant with the ability to transform his appearance, he decides to take him in. Naming him Modo, he raises the boy in isolation, training him to become a secret agent. When Modo turns fourteen, his education is complete. He must first survive London on his own, then, with the help of the beautiful Octavia, he uncovers a sinister plot being carried out in the very sewers beneath London. Will they be able to stop the mad scientist Dr. Hyde and his even more terrifying associates before they unleash their monstrous plans upon unsuspecting Londoners? 

Ehhh......

That's the only thing I kept coming up with when I thought about how I'd explain this book. It wasn't awful or anything, but I didn't love it in the slightest. And I don't know that I will even bother with the rest of the books int he series.

Honestly, the thing that drew me into the book was the cover. Yes, I do judge a book by it's cover! So, the old adage turned out to be true..... don't judge..... because you may be sorely disappointed!! I was just kind of bored with this book.....toward the end I kept telling myself "You've read this far, you might as well just finish it...." 

It is definitely a book meant for a much younger audience. I'm sure a classroom of 6th and 7th graders would think it was fantastic and exciting! 

Quote Wall Monday

Book 12

Still reeling from their experiences in Roanoke in 1600, Jonah and Katherine arrive in 1611 only moments before a mutiny on Henry Hudson's ship in the icy waters of James Bay. But things are messed up; they've lost the real John Hudson, and they find what seems to be the fabled Northwest Passage- even though they are pretty sure that the route doesn't actually exist. Will this new version of history replace the real past? Is this the end of time as we know it? With more at stake than ever before, Jonah and Katherine struggle to unravel the mysteries of 1611 and the Hudson Passage...before everything they know is lost.

I was kind of confused during part of this book. Which probably sounds really pathetic considering this is a book typically meant for teenagers!! But all the rules of time travel were getting jumbled around and I had a hard time keeping it all straight sometimes!!
I did like it though!! But now, unfortunately, I have to wait CLEAR until September for the next book in the series to come out!! Oh how I hate waiting for the next book in a good series!!!