The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner

James Dashner

374 Pages

"You get lazy, you get sad. Start givin' up. Plain and simple."

Thomas wakes up in an elevator-type box. He doesn't know who he is, where he comes from, where he's going. But he knows his name. Thomas. As in... Edison. When the elevator-box finally stops moving, he is pulled out by the hands of Alby and Newt, the leaders of what is called the Glade. He quickly learns of the many jobs that the boys take care of, the Maze that surrounds the Glade, and that everyone hopes is their passage home, and the terrors known as Grievers that come out only when the doors to the Maze close safely at night, but at times venture out into the Maze during the day, terrifying the Runners. Even before Thomas understands what a Runner is, he feels that it is his destiny to become one. When, just a day after Thomas' arrival, the very first girl shows up in the Glade, the Gladers know that life as they have come to know it will never be the same again. After that, Thomas makes history by being the first boy to ever survive a night in the Glade. And when the sun disappears from the sky and the Doors stop closing the Maze at night, a promise of one dead boy a day, Thomas knows he must figure out the key to getting home, before they all suffer from the hands of the Grievers... and the Creators.

I was very, very excited to read this book. Overall, it was a very quick read, without much challenge, but every now and then it's good to read a book like that. This next part is kind of a spoiler, so beware. I totally called the 'code' for the Maze. When I very first read the part about the Runners making Maps at the end of every day, I knew that they had to just stack the Maps on top of each other. I didn't know exactly how, or exactly what it would reveal, but I knew that it was how they would find their clues. The end of the book was all nice and hopeful, but then there's the epilogue. And it justcrushed all my hopers for a happy ending because it just gave a complete 180 from the original ending, and it kind of broke my heart. I didn't actually know that they were making a movie out of this book, but while talking with a friend about it she mentioned their strange casting, so I am now super excited to see the movie, and also to read the other three books that go along with this one.

Pages this Semester: 8338

"Even if it's a dumb story, telling it changes other people just the slightest bit, just as living the story changes me. An infinitesimal change. And that infinitesimal change ripples outward- ever smaller but everlasting. I will get forgotten, but the stories will last. And so we all matter- maybe less than a lot, but always more than none."

So... That's it. Just over 8000 pages. I definitely didn't read all of the books on my list for this semester, but I read a lot of them, and I read a few really good books that weren't on the list. So many books, not nearly enough time. And... that's the Story of my Life.

The Book Thief

The Book Thief
Markus Zusak

552 Pages

"Don't make me happy. Don't fill me up and let me think that something good can come of any of this. Look at my bruises. Look at this graze. Do you see the graze inside me? Do you see it growing before your very eyes, eroding me? I don't want to hope for anything anymore. I don't want to pray that Max is alive and safe. Or Alex Steiner.
Because the world does not deserve them."

Nazi Germany. Death is very busy. The first time he meets Liesel Meminger is when her brother dies. Standing beside his freshly dug grave, Liesel rescues a small black book, The Grave Digger's Handbook from the snow, her first act of thievery. Her mother drops her off with her new foster parents, and though Liesel sends her many letters, she never hears from her mother again. Liesel grows to love her foster parents, especially as her papa teaches her to read. As a Young Nazi, Liesel attends a march, and rescues a book from burning flames. Soon after, her family takes in a Jew, tempting fate by hiding him in their basement. Liesel joins her best friend Rudy in brilliant stealing sprees, and officially becomes the Book Thief when she takes books from the mayor's library. Her life has been tough, but it only gets worse from there.

This book was just absolutely amazing. I had heard so many raves about this book, I had to read it. Being told from the point of view of Death was absolutely genius on the part of Zusak. It brings the whole situation that Liesel was going through into perspective, instead of just her immediate feelings. I loved the foreshadowing, the stuff put in there that was even more than foreshadowing. I would say it was "spoiling" the story, but it wasn't. It actually made me even more anxious to get to the end, and even more devastated when it did actually reach the end. I cannot wait to go see the movie.

Pages this Semester: 7964

"It's the story of my life... And time is frozen."

-One Direction

Shiver

Shiver

Maggie Stiefvater

390 Pages

"For once in my life,
I was here
and nowhere else."

When Grace was a very young girl, she was attacked by the wolves. She didn't fight, but for some reason the wolf with the yellow eyes stepped in, saving her. After that, even when she couldn't remember the attack, she felt a connection to that wolf, watching at the window for it every winter. 

Sam was a wolf, but he was also a boy. When the air became cold, he would turn. Even though he didn't know who the girl was when he was wolf, he stared at her from the cover of the trees.

After the wolves attacked a popular high school boy, seemingly having killed him, a group of angry men set out to kill the wolves. Grace steps in, not wanting the wolf she considered hers to be killed. When her wolf is shot, he changes into a boy, making her crush on the wolf into a tangible thing. The two fall quickly in love, and fight to find a way to keep Sam from returning to his wolf form forever.

I was actually very disappointed in this book. Maybe I built it up too much in my mind, but it ended up being a lot less amazing than I had imagined it would. It is mostly just an "Oh, I love you, don't leave me" kind of thing, which honestly kind of annoys me in a lot of books. I think the subplot with Sam's pack members might have saved it a little, but overall it wasn't a great story, and I probably won't read its sequel.

Pages this Semester: 7412

"Hard to accept the end of a story 

that won the villain against heroes."

-Toba Beta

The Dead Zone

The Dead Zone

Stephen King

428 Pages

"Because things like this you can only say once. And you either get it wrong or you get it right, it's the end either way, because it's too hard to ever try to say again."

When Johnny Smith was a young boy he fell and hit his head hard ice skating. He shook it off, though, not really giving it another thought. When he was older, spending his days as a teacher, he began seeing a coworker, Sarah. They went to a carnival, and Johnny played one of those con games, where you bet your money on a wheel. He couldn't explain it, he could just feel which number the wheel would land on, and he beat the con man out of hundreds of dollars. On his way home, John's taxi was hit by a teenage driver, and he spent five years in a coma.

In the beginning, this novel seemed to jump around a lot. It followed the lives of three different people that seemingly had no connection to each other. But, as it went on, it made a lot more sense. I think the mystery of the different characters definitely made the novel, and although I didn't like it initially, the story wouldn't have been nearly as good if King had been more straightforward. It wasn't my favorite novel of his, but I definitely liked it a lot.

Pages this Semester: 6750

"love, no one cares about the stories they're not in. we'll fade out to whispers..."
-Matt Nathanson

Will Grayson, Will Grayson

Will Grayson Will Grayson

John Green and David Levithan

310 Pages

"i never hoped for everything to get better- only for one thing to get better. and it never did. so eventually i gave up. i give up every single day."

Will Grayson lives by the rules: shut up and don't care too much. His best friend is the gay giant, Tiny. Other Will Grayson is a depressed boy, living with his mom in an old house and secretly online dating a boy he's never met, Isaac. I guess you could call it fate that brought the two of them together. Other Will Grayson was supposed to be meeting Isaac, but it turned out that Isaac was just a cruel trick by his no-longer-friend Maura, and Will Grayson was hanging out while his friends enjoyed an over 21 concert. Will introduces Will to Tiny, and Will finally has the courage to come out to his friends and mom. Tiny discovers that love should be more than himself, through writing, directing, and starring in his own play. And Will discovers that, despite shitting up and not caring, he still has emotions, he's still falling apart a little.

Oh. My. Gosh. Two of my most favorite authors ever, collabbed on one single novel... I just.. The feels! (Totally kidding, though, I don't talk like that.) This was just one amazing novel. The contrasting views of the characters, but the parallels portrayed in their views, gave it so much meaning. I want to just list a bunch more quotes now, but I won't... I really really really want John Green and David Levithan to collab again, because they were able to write so well together, and I would read it in a heartbeat.

Pages this Semester: 6322

"Do not lose hope- what you seek will be found. Trust ghosts. Trust those that you have helped to help you in their turn. Trust dreams. Trust your heart, and trust your story."
-Neil Gaiman

Paper Towns

Paper Towns

John Green

305 Pages

"... at some point, you gotta stop looking up at the sky, or one of these days you'll look back down and see that you floated away, too."

Quentin thinks he had been given a miracle, living next to Margo Roth Spiegelman. After they discover a body together, Q feels a bond between him and Margo, but soon after, a window closes between them. It stays shut until the last month of their senior year, when Margo enlists Quentin's help in a possibly law-breaking scheme. After the night is over, Quentin feels like everything will be different between them, but when he gets to school the next day, Margo has mysteriously disappeared. He goes on a journey to find where Margo has gone off too, and discovers that he doesn't know who the girl is behind the window.

Despite the fact that this was way different from John Green's two best novels (in my opinion), The Fault in our Stars and Looking for Alaska, I thought this was a really great novel. There was so much depth to it, and I think the mirror-versus-window theory is applicable to anyone's life, even my own. I also liked the many quotes John Green included from other authors, like Emily Dickinson's "Forever is made up of nows."  The end was great, because it was happy, but also it wasn't, because that's life, you know?

Pages this Semester: 5923

"But how could you live and have no story to tell?"
-Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Doctor Who: Prisoner of the Daleks

Doctor Who: Prisoner of the Daleks

Trevor Baxendale

249 Pages

"It's not how you feel that matters. It's what you do despite how you feel."

The Doctor shows up on this planet, gets curious (dang that curiosity) and begins to look around, very quickly becoming locked in a cell. He fears he will be trapped there forever, but a team of Dalek hunters show up after just over three days and free him. After an attack by the Daleks, resulting in the death of one of the party of hunters, the Doctor slowly pieces together what he can gather of the Daleks plan to take over the universe. He, along with the band of misfit hunters, put aside their differences, working together to save the world from the evil that is the Dalek.

Overall, I really did like the story line. It was really fast paced, a lot of action, with just a hint of romance that you can't see until it just sneaks up on you. I was quite disappointed, however, with the lack of humor from the Doctor. That really is his charm, you know, and without it the novel was just missing something. There were a few moments where I was like 'yeah, there's my Doctor', but not nearly enough. The story did do a better job of communicating the terror of the Daleks, though, than the show ever has.

Pages this Semester: 5566

"Awful story, of course, but those are the ones that last the longest."
-Stephen King

An Abundance of Katherines

An Abundance of Katherines

John Green

228 Pages

"You can't live with the idea that someone might leave... You're not being a good friend or a good boyfriend or whatever, because you're only thinking they-might-not-like-me-they-might-not-like-me, and guess what? When you act like that, no one likes you."

Colin is a child-prodigy turning teenage-nothing, and that thought scares him. He has just been broken up with by the nineteenth Katherine he's dated, and that, combined with his nothing-ness, is too much for him to handle, so he and his best friend Hassan head out on a road trip, trying to figure out... Life. They end up stopping in a dead town, where Colin works to become more than a prodigy, works to find out there are more than Katherines.

This wasn't my favorite John Green novel, but I did still like it a lot. I like the confusion that Colin has about growing up, about being extremely intelligent as a child, but not knowing where that will take him in the future, if anywhere, because sometimes I feel a lot like that. (I'm not saying I'm a child prodigy or anything, because I'm definitely not) Just, the uncertainty of the future, and the need to be something really spectacular is so relateable. And I just think of the very last line, because it's how I want to feel too...

Pages this Semester: 5031

"Authors never include the whole story; they just get to the point. Colin thought the truth should matter as much as the point, and he figured that was why he couldn't tell good stories."
-John Green

Allegiant

Allegiant

Veronica Roth

343 Pages

" 'Yeah, sometimes life really sucks,' she says. 'But you know what I'm holding on for?... The moments that don't suck... The trick is to notice them when they come around."

The compound has just found out their government has been lying to them, and the war between the factions and the fact I on less is still raging. The Allegiant have formed, making a plan to venture to the outside world and save them from the doom they face. When the group finally makes its way past the boundary between the compound and the real world, they find that their whole lives, their whole existence, have been a carefully crafted lie. They are now facing a whole new reality, and with it comes even greater problems.

This was quite an end to the trilogy. At first, it was pretty slow, but it picked up at the end, and all of the most exciting things ended up happening at pretty much the same time. I didn't like the way that this novel was different than the other two in the fact that it was told from both Tris and Four's point of view. I understand why she did that, though. The end absolutely devastated me. It was nothing like I was expecting, and nothing like I was wanting. I really don't want to spoil anything, but I was having to wipe tears from my eyes.

Pages this Semester: 4565

"This story is about love, which means it is also about hate."

-Philip Jose Farmer

Insurgent

Insurgent

Veronica Roth

324 Pages

"I feel bare. I didn't realize that I wore my secrets as armor until they were gone, and now everyone sees me as I really am."

War has broken out between the factions. It is Erudite against Abnegation, Dauntless split in half, and Amity and Candor attempting to remain neutral. Although the citizens are not aware of it, this war is much bigger than just factions. It is a war that will expose them to a whole new world.

This was a great continuation to Divergent. It really cleared up the questions I had at the end, but also added a lot to the story line. This is really a brilliant set of books. 

Pages this Semester: 4222

"Enemies are people who's story you haven't heard or who's faces you haven't seen."

-Irene Butler

Ender's Game

Ender's Game

Orson Scott Card
226 Pages

"In that moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him. I think it's impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves."

A race of beings called "buggers" has attacked Earth, leaving its inhabitants in chaos. In order to prepare themselves for a third attack, the leaders of earth have begun training its most brilliant young minds to fight. At only six, Ended is chosen to go to Battle School. There, he uses his own logic and brains to surpass the abilities of all the other children. He is the last hope Earth has against the buggers. But, he has to escape his own mind in order to defeat them.

I actually watched this movie before I decided to read the book. The movie was absolutely amazing, and I think the book is also. There were so many layers to peel back in order to fully understand the feelings of Ender, the main character. There was also a large part of the book devoted to what is going on while Ender is away from home, which was important to the understanding of the entire novel. There were a few errors in the writing, but those can be forgiven because the story itself was so captivating.

Pages this Semester: 3898

"A story only matters, I suspect, to the extent that the people in the story change."

-Neil Gaiman

Dare to Dream: Life as One Direction

Dare to Dream: Life as One Direction

One Direction
237 Pages

"Harry and I were hugging and full-on sobbing. Someone said to us: 'This isn't the end, this is just the beginning.' But we had no idea what was going to happen."

This was the second autobiography written by One Direction. Each of the boys described their life from their childhood, through their X-Factor journey, up until the very beginning stages of their documentary, This Is Us. There were "loads" of pictures of the boys. (I didn't count those in the page count)

This book was phenomiNiall, amaZayn, extraordinHarry, brilLiam, fabuLouis. I loved it. It's such a real look at who the guys are, making it clear that they really are just ordinary people, even though they live extraordinary lives. I don't normally read biographies, or autobiographies, but I would definitely read the other two that One Direction have written.

Pages this Semester: 3672

“There comes a day when you realize turning the page is the best feeling in the world, because you realize there's so much more to the book than the page you were stuck on.” 

-Zayn Malik

Divergent

Divergent

Veronica Roth

300 Pages

"He smiles in my memory. A curled lip. Straight teeth. Light in his eyes. Laughing, teasing, more alive in memory than I am in reality. It was him or me. I chose me. But I feel dead too."

The world is divided into five factions: Abnegation, Erudite, Dauntless, Amity, and Candor. When each child turns 16 they take an aptitude test that is supposed to tell the child which faction they most belong to. When Beatrice takes the test, her results are found inconclusive, giving her three results instead of one. Her test administrator tells her she is Divergent, and warns her to keep it to herself, because it is dangerous. On Choosing Day, Beatrice decides to switch to the Dauntless faction. She must make it through initiation in order to become a member, but she knows that there are much bigger problems facing her than the possibility of becoming factionless.

I have always loved stories of dystopian societies. This one is no exception. The complexity of society and government makes it a really great read. I am so excited about the movie and I've already begun reading the next book in the trilogy.

Pages this Semester: 3435

"Who am I? And how, I wonder, will this story end?"

-Nicholas Sparks

11/22/63

11/22/63

Stephen King

649 pages

"'Sin,' I said. 'Now there's an interesting word. Jesus said he without it was free to cast the first stone. Or she, I suppose. Are you without it...?'"

Jake Epping is a divorced English teacher living a simple life in a small town. It all changes for him when he is recruited by a friend to travel down a "rabbit hole" back in time, in the hopes of saving JFK from being assassinated. Jake takes on the alias of George Amberson, an aspiring author and part time teacher. He battles the past, it being obdurate, while determining Lee Oswald's part in the assassination. If he succeeds, the world will be forever changed once again. But will it be changed for the better?

This novel was absolutely captivating. I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat, wondering how the fate of JFK would be changed, which is obviously ridiculous, because my reading a book will not affect his life or death. It was just a really believable story, despite the time traveling aspect. I loved this book.

Pages this Semester: 3136

"... sometimes a cigar is just a smoke and a story's just a story."

-Stephen King

Beautiful Creatures

Beautiful Creatures

Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

563 Pages

"She stopped and turned to look at him, almost ruefully. Like she couldn't help what she was any more than a shark could help being a shark, but if she could..."

Nothing ever happens in the small town of Gatlin. That is, until the niece of the town's infamous recluse moves in. Ethan knows he should stay away, but it's like there's an electric pull that he can't resist. There are many things he doesn't know about Lena, but she slowly lets him in to her crazy life. Soon these small bits of information add up to a whole new reality for Ethan, a whole new town that has changed completely from how he knew it the rest of his life. 

As Lena's sixteenth birthday approaches, both carry the burden of knowledge of the future, and neither can stop what is destined to be.

I've actually visited a town in North Carolina (where Gatlin is) called Gatlinburg. I feel like this is where Gatlin is based on, so I was able to picture the town more clearly in my head, the way it was described in this novel. I absolutely love the references of To Kill a Mockingbird throughout the book. The whole novel gave so many connections to outside sources. The climax came at the perfect time, and there was a really great buildup in the story, and great curveballs that kept me guessing. I am so excited to read the next one!

Pages this Semester: 2486

"Stories can conquer fear, you know. They can make the heart bigger." 

-Ben Okri

Y: The Last Man

Y: The Last Man

Brian K. Vaughan

246 Pages

"Just because you've got a d*** doesn't mean that you're invincible."

All beings with a y chromosome have died from some sort of plague. That is, all except one man, and his monkey. He only wants to find his girlfriend, but it seems the world has bigger plans for him. His mom and a genetic doctor want to use him to repopulate the world. The Daughters of the Amazon are hunting him down, hoping to eradicate his species for good. 

This is a great graphic novel for those who are interested, but not particularly interested in super heroes. It's really fast paced, with a lot of fun humor. It has a lot of layers, bringing forth issues larger than just the absence of males in terms of procreation. I cannot wait to read the next one.

Pages this Semester: 1909

"The story of the human race is the story of men and women selling themselves short."

-Abraham Maslow

Gone

Gone

Michael Grant

558 pages

"It's not about who's got powers, morons. It's about who's not afraid. And who's going to do what has to be done."

During a normal day in class, the whole town of Perdido Beach was turned upside down when a mysterious phenomenon occurred, the disappearance of every person fifteen and older. Soon after, Caine, with his band of Coates kids, moves in, taking control of the Perdido Beach kids. Sam has to find a way to stop the Coates kids from attacking, figure out how to use the new power coming from his fingers, and discover a way through the dome surrounding Perdido Beach, all before his fifteenth birthday, when he too risks disappearing. 

When I first started reading this book, it sounded suspiciously like the Left Behind books. Getting into it, though, there were some noticeable differences, namely that all people over fifteen disappeared, and the "super powers" that some of the kids developed. I actually didn't much like this book, but I still can't help that I want to read the next one. I need to find out if the kids escape! 

Pages this Semester: 1663

"If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop the story."

-Orson Welles

The Raven Boys

The Raven Boys

Maggie Stiefvater

416 pages

"You're looking for a god. Didn't you suspect that there was also a devil?"

Blue has been destined for her true love to die if she kisses him. When Blue's mysterious aunt comes into town, she tells Blue that it is the year she will meet her true love. Coming from a family of Psychichs (though she herself doesn't have any supernatural abilities) Blue has to believe it. 

Gansey is a Raven Boy, just like his three best friends, Noah, Adam, and Ronan. Blue has sworn off all boys, but especially the Aglionby Raven Boys. Against all odds, though, she becomes friends with the four boys, and possibly more than friends with Adam... And maybe Gansey. She joins in their quest to search out the ley lines in hopes of finding the long dead "king" Glendower. They unearth a deadly secret about the Raven Boys' Latin teacher, a shocking discovery about their dear friend Noah, and the real reason why Blue's aunt showed up in town. 

There were a lot of plot lines in this novel. By the end of the novel, nearly none of them were resolved, though I didn't feel like it left the story in an awkward place. There was a clear ending. It did make me want to read the next one, though. Although a big element was the romantic aspect of the story, it was still well balanced with the supernatural and mystery parts. I really can't wait to read the next one: find out which Raven Boy is Blue's true love, find out if they awaken Glendower, find out the mystery of Blue's dad, find out what Ronan is hiding about his father's death.

Pages this Semester: 1105

"Written on these walls are the stories that I can't explain."

-One Direction

Pushing the Limits

Pushing the Limits

Katie McGarry

456 pages

"The worst type of crying wasn't the kind everyone could see- the wailing on street corners, the tearing at clothes. No, the worst kind happened when your soul wept and no matter what you did, there was no way to comfort it. A section withered and became a scar on the part of your soul that survived."

Echo Emerson's mom attacked her, leaving terrible scars all down her arms. Echo didn't know how it happened, and nobody would tell her. The one time a psychiatrist had pushed her to remember, she had a mental breakdown, leaving her to fear she'd end up being just like her mom. Noah Hutchins is a foster kid, struggling to deal with the loss of his parents and the inability to see his brothers. They never thought they would cross paths, until their new psychiatrist thrusts them together. Noah teaches Echo that she doesn't have to hide her scars. Echo helps Noah understand that his brothers will always love him. 

I really thought this was a great book. It had many layers: the conflict between Echo and her mother, between Noah and the foster parents of his brothers, and the relationship that forms between Echo and Noah. The end made me want so much more. I really loved how McGarry put a note in the back, listing all the songs she used to help her write this novel. Her inclusion of the song that follows the book really helped me understand where Noah and Echo ended up going after the words of her book ended.

Pages this Semester: 860

"You're an addict. You need stories the way the furrow needs the plow."

-Bill Willingham

Wherever You Go

Wherever You Go

Heather Davis

320 pages

"It was a funny thing, trying to remember your life in the middle of living it. Trying to remember all the good things. Those were the hardest for me to dredge up when life sucked. It was so much easier to think of the things I wished I could forget."

Rob died in a car crash. No one knows how it happened. His girlfriend Holly, who was with him in the car, blamed herself, because he was driving her home. His best friend Jason blamed himself for not stopping Rob from leaving the party. They both are mourning Rob, while Rob watches, unable to go into the infamous "light" yet unable to communicate with anyone he once knew. That is, until he meets Holly's grandfather. While a relationship begins budding between Jason and Holly, Rob is trying to figure out exactly what happened to him on that fateful night, as well as keep his best friend from falling in love with his girl. 

I noticed the cover of this book first. It had really pretty colors and an interesting title, so I was intrigued. I didn't much care for the story line of this novel, though. It seemed kind of overused to me. I also would have preferred a bit of conflict that didn't have to do with the strange love triangle going on. I thought it was kind of ridiculous that everyone was pushing Holly to move on from her relationship with Rob. It was only like six months since he died. I think she deserves as long as a grieving period as she needs.  

Pages this Semester: 404

“There's always room for a story that can transport people to another place.” 

-J.K. Rowling

I'll Be There

I'll Be There

Holly Goldberg Sloan

384 Pages

"You don't think about the future, because it doesn't matter anymore, and you never, ever think about the past, because it is gone. And thinking about what is gone is pain."

The was a Romeo-and-Juliet-esque novel, with the Sam Borden and Emily Bell filling these roles. Sam Borden is a mysterious boy, moving around from place to place with his brother and his father, never attending school. Emily Bell comes from a well-off, respectable family. When Emily's family first meets Sam they decide that there is something off about the boy. They can't force their daughter to not see him, so they decide to use reverse psychology and welcome him with open arms. Little did they know, they would grow to love Sam and his little brother, Riddle. Sam's dad, though, is a different story. When he finds out about Sam's relationship with Emily, he packs up the boys once again. All hope seems to be lost for the two "star-crossed lovers"...

This book was nominated for the Colorado Blue Spruce award, and it is clear why. The characters are absolutely lovable, and the story moves at a quick pace. The clear plot line is Emily and Sam's relationship, but it also includes non-romantic elements, which makes it more of a substantial read. The point of view seemed to change at random times throughout the novel, however, which felt like I wasn't getting the full feelings of each character at one time.

Pages this Semester: 384

"As Emily headed to the back of the bus, she thought to herself that everyone had a story. Tonight she was just one of those people whose story was more interesting."

-Holly Goldberg Sloan

I read. A lot. So much so that if I only read 2,000 pages this semester I would have to limit myself to a mere 15 pages of reading per day. My personal reading goal for the semester is 8000 pages, which would be 47 minutes, or 59 pages, per day.

My 2014 Book List

A lot of the time I choose my books by going to the library and pulling a random book off the shelf. That has actually resulted in my falling in love with David Levithan, Sarah Dessen, and a few other authors' writings. However, I do have a list of books I've accumulated over quite a long time, and hopefully I will get around to reading them.

• A Wrinkle in Time- Madeleine L'Engle
• Scarlett- Alexandria Ripley
• Infernal Devices series- Cassandra Clare
• Mortal Instruments series- Cassandra Clare
• The Book Thief- Markus Zusak
• Wherever You Go- Heather Davis
• Ender's Game- Orson Scott Card
• Divergent series- Veronica Roth
• Shiver series- Maggie Steifvater
• Y: The Last Man- Brian KoVaugh
• Gone- Michael Grant
• An Abundance of Katherines- John Green
• The Maze Runner series- James Dasher
• The Dead Zone- Stephen King
• Pushing the Limits- Katie McGarry
• Beautiful Creatures- Kiami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
• 11/22/63- Stephen King
• Slob- Ellen Potter
• The Raven Boys- Maggie Steifvater
• Reached- Ally Condie
• Strange Angels- Lili St. Crow
• Percy Jackson series- Rick Riordan
• Harry Potter series- J.K. Rowling
• The Dark Tower series- Stephen King
• Fables and Fairest series- Bill Willingham
• Paper Towns- John Green
• The Giver series- Lois Lowry
• Maximum Ride series- James Patterson