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: ✭✭✭✭