Title: Full Tilt

Arthur: Neal Shusterman

Paperback: 201

Genre: Horror, fantasy

     "It began the night we died on the Kamikaze." Life and death is just a thin line controlling the outcome of any variable. Blake is a normal enough kid, with a scholarship to Columbia University. At the age of sixteen he knows what heʻs doing with his life and where he's heading. His brother Quinn though, is a ticking time bomb set to explode. High on adrenaline, Quinn doesn't take rules or laws into consideration. Just does what he wants to for his own amusement and joy. Quinn loves to ride and is always looking for something new, while Blake, is left standing in lines for different rides holding spots in lines for his friends. So when Blake gets a mysterious invitation to ride at a park that exists at night and is gone by the morning, he simply pushes it to the back of his brain casually. But there are greater forces in play, as there always is. So when he is forced to the park with his friends, Maggie and Russ, he learns that this is no ordinary park. Located at the bottom of the gulch, covered by a veil of fog, a monument to the riders. All looking for more speed, more adrenaline, and more risks. But there are no safety nets on this ride. Hanging on to his life and soul, he must find his brother, and keep his friends close. With a devil on his tail and death looming over him, he has to ride his seven rides and get out of there with his brother, friends, and sanity.
              
     Neal Shusterman is still one of my all time favorite authors. This is the first book I read by him, and it instantly became one of my favorites. No matter how old I get, this book will never get boring. Shusterman plays with the fabrics of reality in this book, creating a new world for the reader to dive into. A never straight forward path that will take you zig-zagging through excitement, shock, and dismay. With an extravagant plot that lets you get to know the character, down to the deepest flaw and their inner most beauty. A very fast read for those readers who are between books, with characters so in-dept that they will stick with you and make you think of the all throughout the week. Full Tilt is a great book, with an amazing plot, vivid hero's, and a vexing villain that will keep you hooked.

Rating:★★★★

Title: A walk in the woods

Author: Bill Bryson

Paperback: 276 pages

Genre: memoir, humor

Bill Bryson decides one day to hike the Appalachian Trail. Not wanting to do it alone he decides to call up his friend Katz, a friend he hasn't spoken to in five years since they had a falling out in Europe. Sounds like a simple enough task. Just two guys hiking in the woods. Simple. That is, until they figure out that the Appalachian Trail is over two thousand miles long. A feat reserved for only the bravest. The Appalachian Trail winds its way from Georgia to Maine, going through a grand total of 13 states all together. But Katz and Bill plan their hike, not all the way but still, it's the thought that counts. They lay out their maps and prepare to set off on a journey of a lifetime, carrying backpacks well over forty pounds with everything they need. Once on the trail though, everything gets more complicated. Bill and Katz aren't in the greatest shapes of their lives and their lives have become dependent on electronics and fast food, not something just around the bend in the trail. Being on the trail weans them of their need for electronics and makes them live with the land and sleep in a tent through animal invasions and pouring sheets of rain. Besides the occasional rest stop with flushing toilets and cheap motel rooms with five channel TVs, they become men of the trail on their journey through the woods and nothing can stop them from achieving their goal. And when they finally do meet their goal they feel fulfilled and they part ways. Both feel that they have accomplished something, that is until Bill figures out that all their tireless work, all those days filled with miles in the double digits, and they're not even half way there.

Bill Bryson is a genius in explaining in vivid detail his emotions and the adventures of the trail. No one is left without feeling that they are somehow related to Bryson in a way, once they finish this book. Be forewarned, that though this story is an amazing read, the only problems with this story is the information overload and constant moping of Bill when he canʻt understand something immediately. All together this book is still a great side book, one to read when there's nothing else to read, or when you forgot your main book somewhere else.

Rating:✭✭✭

Title: Paper Towns

Author: John Green

Paperback: 320

Genre: Realistic Friction

Quentin Jacobsen is just a normal kid living in Orlando going through his final year at his high school along with his "not so normal" childhood friend, Margo Roth Spiegelman. Margo appears one night randomly asking him to drive her around town playing along with her revenge schemes. While doing so, he is shown the world in Margo's perception, of paper towns and girls and boys going through the motions. Quentin, confident he now won't have to spend the rest of his senior year completely alone, is sadly disappointed when he learns that Margo has run away from home the day after their night of blackmailing, and vandalizing. This sets up the ill-fated cross country trip to go and find Margo Roth Spiegelman before the end of graduation with Quentin's best friends, Marcus "Radar" Lincoln, and "Bloody Ben" Starling, in tow. John Green wrote this book expertly, capturing the life of a normal high schooler and throwing him into situations needing immense dedication and a mini-van. The plot will build you up and drop you down in the most unexpected ways possible, leaving you high and dry for pages or more as the book slowly builds you up again drawing you more and more into the book. A twisting plot that will surprise you and disappoint you in the best definition of the word possible. Green writes in such a way that leaves the reader trying to figure everything out making for a dramatic realization at the very end of the book. Margo Roth Spiegelman will confuse and tantalize you, while "Q" tags along for the ride, hanging on through waves of confusion and vagueness in trying to catch the ever so mysterious Margo. As the story develops, so do the characters. As Quentin finds his own way in the world, he starts to realize Margo's darker side, the side that makes her so mysterious and unpredictable, bottled up from view ever since her childhood. This is a great boy meet girl and girl ends up running away from home story that captures the reader and doesn't let them go until the story is finally over. This is one of the books I will read over and over again in the future.

Rating: ✭✭✭✭

Title: The Schwa Was Here

Author: Neal Shusterman

Paperback: 228

Publisher: Puffin; Second Edition edition (March 2, 2006)

Genre: Humor

Source: purchased

Synopsis: (From Amazon)

When Anthony "Antsy" Bonano and his friends meet Calvin Schwa, they are impressed and puzzled by his ability to appear and disappear before their very eyes. Antsy concocts a moneymaking scheme based on the Schwa's invisibility that seems promising until he and his friends overreach and are caught by the town's legendary mean millionaire, Mr. Crawley. Their resulting community service project--walking the 7 virtues and 7 vices (Crawley's 14 afghan hounds) and going out with Crawley's granddaughter Lexie--cements and ultimately challenges friendships. The humor is just right for boys, but the complexity of plot, the depth and richness of the characters, and the underlying seriousness of the issues belies the easy-to-read comedy. Schwa is an average kid who hangs on the periphery of the crowd and longs to be noticed and included, not simply ignored. His character is extreme, but far too many adolescents--and the adults who work with them--will sadly and guiltily recognize him.

My Thoughts:

This is possibly the greatest, most confusing book ever. Schwa is a "Functionally Invisible" child ignored by everyone, even his dad. I really love this story because it goes through all the problems of being a teen like girls, parents, and who is and who isn't your friend. But I sometimes feel sad for the Schwa because no one listens to him, no one sees him, and in the story he talks about his paper clip collection using those paper clips as a metaphor for himself. He says that, like the paperclip, his life is about holding everything together and never being noticed for it.

I also like Mr.Crawley, the crazy old man that just happens to own everything. He's absolutely insane, but he can be insane with the amount of money and power he has. Antsy tells a story about one year a group of kids egged Mr. Crawley's house, and for the next month, no one could find eggs anywhere within their neighborhood.

If you like this book, look for Antsy Does Time.

Thə End

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SNAPSRating: ✭✭✭✭

Would I read it again? Yes
Would I read more from this author? Yes
Who should read this? This book is for tweens or teens and sometimes older. You should read this book if you like weird random events and humor.
Next on the TBR pile: Paper Towns by John Green

Title: Fool

Author: Christopher Moore

Paperback: 352

Publisher: Harper Paperbacks; 1 Repritn Edition (February 23, 2010)

Genre: Satire

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)

"This is a bawdy tale. Herein you will find gratuitous shagging, murder, spanking, maiming, treason, and heretofore unexplored heights of vulgarity and profanity, as well as nontraditional grammar, split infinitives, and the odd wank . . . If that's the sort of thing you think you might enjoy, then you have happened upon the perfect story!"

My thoughts: Fool. My favorite book spit forth from the hands of the brilliant Christopher Moore. All of his books are amazingly funny and written well and this twist on the classic tale, King Lear, shows all his talent as a writer in one 352 page book. Fool is a somewhat older genre than my usual books, but I saw it, picked it up and it was awesome. I love this book with parts of the book going everywhere from kings to witches to the lovely fool. . .ghosts, witches, jesters and a rhyming head floating above a pot. I think Moore's imagination is pure genius, and for satire, he exceeds every expectation I ever had for a book.

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SNAPS

Rating: ✭✭✭✭✭

Would I read it again? Yes
Would I read more from this author? have been
Who should read this? This book is for adult males. There is some swearing and sexual content, but it's an enjoyable book.

Next on the TBR pile: The Schwa was here

The Nightside novels. My great salvation. My stress relief. These books are amazing. A story about the Nightside. A city in the heart of London. A square mile of Hell where it's always 3:00 am and the sun don't shine. Where myths and legends walk side by side where anything is on sale and usually for a price, most times your soul, but most time, someone else's. In this hell hole a P.I. named John Taylor strives in this world of damnation. He has a gift. A gift for finding things, a view of all 10 plaines of the world. He can see the world stretched farther than the 3 dimensions of comfort. These books are my stress relief. I read these books over and over again, just because I enjoy the story that's never perfect and always has millions of flaws, being able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. This is the Nightside, where reality is nothing but a fly to be squashed. Where angels fight over it and an old testament creation holds rule over the city she built. Nothing is ever sane and time is running out. The Mad Hatter and Cheshire Cat hold nothing on this book.

Title: Practical Demonkeeping

Author: Christopher Moore

Paperback: 243

Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (May 25, 2004)

Genre: Fantasy

Synopsis from Amazon:

Good-natured, often funny, but excessively complicated tale that matches a people-eating demon against his reluctant master and the citizens of a small California town. First-novelist Moore throws in more plot twists than the Pacific Coast highway has curves. He obviously knows and is amused by the flawed but feisty denizens with which he inhabits Pine Grove, south of the Big Sur wilderness area. To this tourist town comes Travis O'Hearn, a 20-year-old who, 70 years before, got saddled with a demon, Catch, who gave him eternal youth plus problems. Catch is sometimes under Travis's control but often not, particularly when he's hungry. Travis wants out, namely by finding an incantation that will return the demon to Hell. On Travis's side are the King of the Djinns and August Brine, Pine Grove's purveyor of bait, tackle, and fine wines. Others who swell the cast past overflowing include waitress Jenny and her estranged, alcoholic husband Robert; tough old Mavis, who owns the Head of the Slug bar (it had been Head of the Wolf until animal-rights activists leaned on her); retired woodcarving codger Effrom and his wife Amanda; hotel night auditor Billy Winston, who flirts with other males by computer modem while wearing red silk panties; once-battered Rachael, who runs a coven to empower women through worship of the Goddess; and Detective Sergeant Alfonse Rivera, who fears he will end up bagging microwave burritos at a 7-Eleven unless he nails down a case.

My Thoughts: This is another one of Christopher Moore's completely improbable stories. He uses the demon from Lamb and spins him into the tale of Practical Demonkeeping. The books magical creatures, like the djinn and demon, makes the story more fantastical than other books that take place in our own time. The way Christopher Moore writes this book it feels like he was having a great time while writing it. I remember a part of the book where the main character has thought of what would happen if someone figured out about the demon. He thinks about the demon eating a man then an officer comes behind him and simply asks, "Umm what is he doing?" then he explains about the eating habits of the demon, and the officers nods like he's saying "been there, done that" "well that's our mayor he's eating so I would like to see your license to be eating a county official" and then he gets back to the moment like the worst thing could be waiting in line to get a license to eat county officials.

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SNAPS
Rating: ✭✭✭✭✭

Would I read it again? Yes
Would I read more from this author? have been
Who should read this? This book is for adult males. There is some swearing and sexual content, but it's an enjoyable book, to say the least

Next on the TBR pile: Fool by Christopher Moore