Teaser Tuesday (Wednesday) x2!

Rica Eat World and Okapi present you with another teaser packed Tuesday! Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading..

Okapi is currently reading the paranormal story, Hush Hush.

And now, here's your teaser!

"Scared?" he murmured.

"No."

"Liar."

My pulse edged up a degree. "I'm not scared of you."

-Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick, page 125

On the other end of the spectrum, Rica Eat World is reading the science fiction novel, The House of the Scorpion.

"When the day came, Eduardo received the newborn inot his hands as though it were his own child. His eyes blurred as he laid it in a crib and reached for the needle that would blunt its intelligence. "Don't fix that one," said Lisa, hastily catching his arm. "It's a Matteo Alacran. They're always left intact."

Have I done you a favor? thought Eduardo as he watched the baby turn its head toward the bustling nurses in their starched, white uniforms. Will you thank me for it later?" - The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer, page 4

There you have it, two great snippets from two great books. Be sure to check them out and keep checking back for reviews of these books once we finish them. So far, they're great!

Happy Wednesday and keep reading!

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Title: The Maze Runner

Author: James Dashner

Genre: Dystopian Fiction

Target Audience: Teens - Adults

Number of Pages: Hardcover - 374 pages

" When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. He has no recollection of his parents, his home, or how he got where he is. His memory is black. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade, a large expanse enclosed by stone walls. Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning, for as long as they could remember, the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night, they’ve closed tight. Every thirty days a new boy is delivered in the lift. And no one wants to be stuck in the maze after dark.

The Gladers were expecting Thomas’s arrival. But the next day, a girl springs up—the first girl ever to arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers. The Gladers have always been convinced that if they can solve the maze that surrounds the Glade, they might be able to find their way home . . . wherever that may be. But it’s looking more and more as if the maze is unsolvable. And something about the girl’s arrival is starting to make Thomas feel different. Something is telling him that he just might have some answers—if he can only find a way to retrieve the dark secrets locked within his own mind. "

- Summary from Good Reads

This book has earned its spot on the top rung of my bookshelf. I had set high expectations for this book after seeing all the hype, and in my opinion, it delivered itself splendidly. Compile heaps of action, prolific amounts of suspense, an original plot, a dash of romance, a cliffhanger and you get The Maze Runner.

The overall writing was decent, and the sentence fluency was acceptable and readable. However, some snippets that I encountered were a little repetitive. Dashner had overly restated things like: “Thomas could remember performing certain activities, but he couldn’t remember whom he did them with.” The first and second times he mentioned it were necessary for introduction. Personally, I thought the third time wasn’t really needed, but I brushed it off nonetheless. After the fourth time, it was starting to get a little annoying. At points, I wanted to tell the pages that I get the point already! But overall, the thrilling and exhilarating plot evens out the writing part.

What I love about this original plot is its many twists and turns. It’s a pretty unpredictable book, and I can always count on Dashner to reveal another new turning point at the end of each chapter. The chapters are short, but not choppy, forcing the readers to keep flipping to find out what happens next. This fast past read made me sad when I ran out of pages, and I am highly anticipating the second of the Maze Runner trilogy, The Scorch Trials.

An excerpt from The Maze Runner just for you:

"Harsh sounds of chains and pulleys, like the workings of an ancient steel factory, echoed through the room, bouncing off the walls with a hollow, tinny whine. The lightless elevator swayed back and forth a

s it ascended, turning the boy's stomach sour with nausea; a smell like burnt oil invaded his senses, making him feel worse. He wanted to cry, but no tears came; he could only sit there, alone, waiting.

My name is Thomas, he thought.

That...that was the only thing he could remember about his life." - Page 1

Cover: 4/5 - I personally love the cover art. The picture of the high, vine covered, maze walls is relevant, and it provides insight about the book to the reader. It is also taken in an artistic manner and it sends chills down the spines of readers, just like how the book makes you shake. Just from the cover, you can tell it is a book that contains a lot of action and thrills.

source: The School Library

Rating: 4.5 Hoots

Walking Backward by Catherine Austen

Title: Walking Backward

Author: Catherine Austen

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Target Audience: Everybody 8+

Number of Pages: Paperback – 167 pages

“Once your mother dies, you’re either unhappy because your mother died, or you’re happy but you think you shouldn’t be because your mother just died, or you’re happy and not thinking about it until other people look at you like you’re a freak for being happy when your mother just died. Any way you look at it, it’s not happy.”

After his mom dies due to discovering a snake in the car and veering into a tree, twelve-year-old Josh is left with a father who is building a time machine in the basement and a little brother who talks to a toy Power Ranger as if it is his dead mother. With no faith to guide him, Josh makes death his summer research project. He collects facts, interviews suspects, compares religious rituals and feels guilty when he enjoys playing soccer or winning computer games. Isolated by grief in a home where every day is pajama day, Josh waits for life to feel normal, for death to make sense and for his father to start acting like a father. – From back of book

Walking Backward is an extremely sad novel, and while I usually never cry during books, this one caused me to fetch the box of tissues. The author does a fantastic job with developing her characters; the voice of young Josh is dark, doleful, and realistic for a twelve year old boy; his little brother Sammy is every bit as crazy and innocent as a four-year-old can be; his reclusive, slightly apathetic dad is beautifully written. Josh’s voice tells of his family members’ different ways of mourning the loss of a loved one. Sammy is confused and traumatized, seeking comfort in his Power Ranger, which he pretends to be his mother. His dad holes himself up in the basement all day, working on a time machine to bring his wife back. Every page of this short novel contains Josh’s interesting musings about death, loss, and life in general. Direct and to the point, Josh virtually covers all the dark and happy thoughts of a boy recovering from loss.

Overall, this quiet read provokes thoughts about the way to mourn loss, move on, and begin to live life again. This book does not contain much of a plot, but it is driven on by the inner journey of Josh and his family. Despite its lack of action, I recommend this touching novel that will entice tears out of everybody’s eyes.

To get a taste of this book - My favorite quotes:

“Napoleon Bonaparte, the famous French general, was ailurophobic, which means afraid of cats. If all those people he conquered had let out their house cats, maybe he’d have run away. I can picture Charlie and Cleo chasing Napoleon back to his ship, with his crazy hat falling off his head as he ran, and the two cats all fierce and proud of living up to their names at last.” – page 109 (After reading this quote, I did some research to find out that Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, and Hitler were also all possible ailurophobes. Then, to get even more off track, I found a website called Cats That Look Like Hitler.)

“…Sam has developed a new habit of walking backward everywhere he goes. He says he wants to see people as he leaves them so that if they die, he’ll remember their faces. This is a weird new habit on top of his other weird habits.” – page 44

Cover: 3.5/5 – I like the color scheme. The orange and red snake vividly contrasts with the lime green background, and I enjoy the handwritten font. However, the snake could be a little more snakish, which would possibly make the cover more distinguished.

Rating: 4 hoots

Source: Library

In Our Mailbox!

In My Mailbox is a meme started by The Story Siren :)

Okapi's Mailbox--

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

White Cat by Holly Black

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

Not Shown:
The Book of 1000 Days by Shannon Hale
Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

Rica Eat World's Mailbox--

Sorry for the blurry picture. My camera phone is incapable when it comes to the task of capturing pictures.

And so because of that, you probably need a little clarification:

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

For One More Day by Mitch Albom

The Boy in Stripped Pajamas by John Boyne

Ash by Malinda Lo

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Push by Sapphire

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

Happy Sunday!

~ Love, Okapi and Rica Eat World ~

Our Peculiar Reading Habits

Everybody has strange habits and rituals when they read. We've compiled a list of our own...

Rica Eat World

- I tend to read the last sentence of the chapter first, then revisit the first page of the chapter

and start from there
- I constantly check how many chapters there are to mark my progress with the book - for

example, in Harry Potter I always count the chapters, I don't want to run out of them!
- I can only concentrate if I read either in my mother's bed, or at the dining table
- While reading, I usually eat without really realizing it. But rest assured, I don't get the pages dirty

- I never assign facial features for characters of books that are not made into movies. Their faces

just end up blurry. Sometimes while I'm in the world of the book I read, I think I picture faces,

but when I try to recall them, I can't

Okapi

- Whenever I close a book, I always make sure that the bookmark lines up with the pages at the top. If the bookmark sticks out, I get mad.
- If I'm reading a hardcover book that I bought, I have to take the jacket off since I hate wrinkles and dents
- Sometimes I prefer library books because they're more robust and I don't have to worry about damaging them
- I hate reading while I'm eating food since I usually get some on the pages
- When I read about a character drinking a beverage, I get really thirsty and have to fetch a glass of water
- My absuloute favorite place to read is at a quiet study hall in school
- I always speed up when reading the end because I become impatient
- Whenver the author describes a characters house, I always picture it as the house of somebody I know

Do you have any strange reading habits? Tell us in the comments!

Book Blogger Hop!

Time for another 'round of blogger hop. *Hops from page to page* Woo-hoo! Book Blogger Hop was started at Crazy for Books! 


Enter HERE!

I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak

Title: I Am the Messenger

Author: Markus Zusak

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Target Audience: All Ages

Number of Pages: Paperback - 357

I Am the Messenger is a beautifully told realistic fiction novel by Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief. At age 19, Ed has not accomplished anything worthy to be proud of and possesses no promises, prospects, or potential. Ed is just plain old Ed - underage cab driver by day, caring dog owner and card player by night. He lives in a cramped shack, is constantly put down by his own mother, and is completely and utterly in love with his best friend Audrey, who rejects love and refuses to let it enter her heart. All this is routine until Ed inadvertently stops a bank robbery. Following his heroic act, Ed receives a mysterious playing card in the mail - the Ace of Diamonds. Inscribed on the surface were three addresses. Unsure of who sent him the card and unsure of what to do, Ed decides to visit the three addresses, discovering a new problem at each location. He realizes that he must help these lost people, and delivering the messages they desperately need, Ed becomes the messenger.

Once again, Zusak has delivered us yet another slew of characters to fall in love with. This time, the author presents Ed Kennedy- the protagonist that both of us became fond of. Despite Ed’s lower class status and his some-what lazy ways, we were won over by the humor and good nature Ed possesses. Ed goes around sacrificing his own time to help the troubled people he meets at each place the cards send him to go. Each card that gets mailed to Ed becomes more challenging and forces Ed to put on his thinking cap. The first card Ed receives was much more direct, with three addresses. As he progresses however, the cards give hints or clues instead in which Ed must decipher. Ed must also observe (stalk) the people he must deliver messages to, to find out exactly what they need their wake-up call on. Ed gives hope to complete strangers and he has inspired us to do the same.

Despite Zusak’s masterful storytelling, this book lacks the action and suspense that I personally enjoy. Though quite engaging, this novel fails to build a prominent climax. This novel is perfect if you’re looking for an adorable, heart-warming read.

Apart from the joy Ed brings us, our favorite character remains to be the Doorman. The Doorman is the character that makes us smile the most. Apart from the lazy and ravenous behavior he demonstrates, he is a loving, caring dog that is always by Ed’s side. This dog is always waiting at home for Ed to return after the missions the cards send him. We wish we had a dog like the Doorman, despite the dog’s strong odor that was described in the book.

This touching story about the power of random acts of kindness will warm the hearts of readers of all ages and provide insight on the goodness in people.

Cover: 3.894133/ 5 - Though this cover is interesting and bold, it fails to correspond with the book. Besides the obvious card on the front, nothing here relates to the plot; the angry man with the erect red nose and stiletto boots holding a goofy Joker staff has absolutely nothing to do with this book.

Rating: 

 4.5 Hoots

Source: 

Rica Eat World: The weathered ole' trooper from ye library. 

Okapi: Audiobook from audible.com - The Australian accented narrator lulled me into a hypnotic stupor. His croons masterfully told the tale of Ed Kennedy.

Reviewed by Okapi & Rica Eat World