The Friday 56 (43) The Rule of Thoughts by James Dashner

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE

Synopsis from Goodreads...

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Maze Runner series comes The Rule of Thoughts, the exciting sequel to The Eye of Minds. Fans of the Divergent series by Veronica Roth and The Hunger Games will love the new Mortality Doctrine series.  Michael completed the Path. What he found at the end turned everything he’d ever known about his life—and the world—completely upside down. He barely survived. But it was the only way VirtNet Security knew to find the cyber-terrorist Kaine—and to make the Sleep safe for gamers once again. And, the truth Michael discovered about Kaine is more complex than they anticipated, and more terrifying than even the worst of their fears. Kaine is a tangent, a computer program that has become sentient. And Michael’s completing the Path was the first stage in turning Kaine’s master plan, the Mortality Doctrine, into a reality. The Mortality Doctrine will populate Earth entirely with human bodies harboring tangent minds. Any gamer who sinks into the VirtNet risks coming out with a tangent intelligence in control of their body. And the takeover has already begun...


"Sarah was up off the couch, moving before Michael could grab her. She was across the room, heading for the kitchen, Michael on her heels."--The Rule of Thoughts  by James Dashner


What are you reading this week?

Happy Halloween

The Friday 56 (42) In the Afterlight by Alexandra Bracken

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE

Synopsis from Goodreads...

Ruby can't look back. Fractured by an unbearable loss, she and the kids who survived the government's attack on Los Angeles travel north to regroup. With them is a prisoner: Clancy Gray, son of the president, and one of the few people Ruby has encountered with abilities like hers. Only Ruby has any power over him, and just one slip could lead to Clancy wreaking havoc on their minds.

They are armed only with a volatile secret: proof of a government conspiracy to cover up the real cause of IAAN, the disease that has killed most of America's children and left Ruby and others like her with powers the government will kill to keep contained. But internal strife may destroy their only chance to free the "rehabilitation camps" housing thousands of other Psi kids.

Meanwhile, reunited with Liam, the boy she would-and did-sacrifice everything for to keep alive, Ruby must face the painful repercussions of having tampered with his memories of her. She turns to Cole, his older brother, to provide the intense training she knows she will need to take down Gray and the government. But Cole has demons of his own, and one fatal mistake may be the spark that sets the world on fire...


"Be better than this, I thought, my nails digging into the palms of my hands. You have to be better than this. The adrenaline was slow to leave my system; I couldn't keep from shaking, not entirely."--In the Afterlight by Alexandra Bracken

What are you reading this weekend?

Weekend Tidbits {#6} Star Wars & Pumpkin Scones

You know, I just had to talk about the new Star Wars trailer released last Monday. (If you haven't seen it yet then CLICK HERE.) All I have to say is that this trailer has me excited for this movie because of the nostalgia, the feels, and the musical score for Star Wars by John Williams. December can't get here soon enough!

Anyway moving on. I've had scones before, but I've never tried pumpkin ones. And my question from this Musing Mondays post sort of inspired me to give them a try. I used this Recipe from Cooking Classy with the addition of walnuts and raisins plus a maple glaze instead of a pumpkin one. They were pretty simple to make with delicious results. Pictured to the left are how mine came out.

My choice of tea for today is peppermint.

 

{Links for Weekend Tidbits can be found on the Features Page.}

ARC Review: Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin

Title: Wolf By Wolf
Author: Ryan Graudin
Source/Format: The Novl Newsletter (publisher), ARC
More Details: Young Adult, Fantasy, Alternative History
Publisher/Publication Date: Little Brown Books for Young Readers, October 22, 2015

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

The year is 1956, and the Axis powers of the Third Reich and Imperial Japan rule the world. To commemorate their Great Victory over Britain and Russia, Hitler and Emperor Hirohito host the Axis Tour: an annual motorcycle race across their conjoined continents. The victor is awarded an audience with the highly reclusive Adolf Hitler at the Victor's ball. Yael, who escaped from a death camp, has one goal: Win the race and kill Hitler. A survivor of painful human experimentation, Yael has the power to skinshift and must complete her mission by impersonating last year's only female victor, Adele Wolfe. This deception becomes more difficult when Felix, Adele twin's brother, and Luka, her former love interest, enter the race and watch Yael's every move. But as Yael begins to get closer to the other competitors, can she bring herself to be as ruthless as she needs to be to avoid discovery and complete her mission?

Hold on I need a second, to, you know, catch my breath…

**deep breaths**

Alright, Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin was absolutely fantastic, and one of the best books I’ve read this year. Period. End of Discussion. But I can’t end the review yet, I have to actually talk about the book. So here goes nothing…

From the start I was interested in Wolf by Wolf because it’s an alternative-history novel, a “what if such and such didn’t happen/end as we know it” kind of book—a genre I enjoy but haven’t read enough of (A good example of this type of book would be Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan Trilogy). So, I had pretty high expectations, and Wolf by Wolf did not let me down.

What if the Axis powers won the war?

This book ultimately explores those possibilities by using its setting and time period to tell the story of Yael. Yael’s experience was nothing short of horrifying. These things were revealed by alternating chapters that told the “then” combined with the present, the “now”. The “then” told Yael’s history, showing her experience through her eyes when she was a child rather than just telling about it later. These chapters were essential to understanding Yael—her fears, determination, all of it. Yael was a complex and interesting character, like many of the others—Luka, Felix, Adele—they all had layers and stories to tell.

The concept of an alternative ending to World War II and a race that spans across continents was fantastic. The idea of skinshifting was also pretty cool. The world building was handled really well, and it was easy to get into the story. Even with all of the different things going on, it worked.

There’s so much more that I could say, but this review would never end. So, final thoughts. The ending left me with some questions, like: What’s in store for Yael next? I want to know, because Wolf by Wolf is a story I’m invested in. It made me root for the characters to succeed every step of the way. And that’s a good thing in my book.

Now the wait for book two begins.

 This copy of the book was provided by The Novl Newsletter (Publisher) for this review, thank you!