Friday, February 19, 2016

By Sun & Candlelight by Jessica L. Brooks

By Sun and Candlelight (Flora, #1.5)
Title and Author- By Sun and Candlelight by Jessica L. Brooks
Publisher- Createspace
Page Number-196
My rating:5 of 5 stars
 Reviewer- Stephanie 


By sun and candlelight was a wonderful book that gives the reader the ability to read more about Rowan. In this book Rowan has to make some hard decisions which makes for a very interesting novella. I would highly suggest it if you enjoyed if I speak true. Brooks was able to give the reader for a better look on Rowan life in this short novella. I feel like this is a perfect time to get a perfect place to put this novella, giving me the ability to read more about the story in a different perspective. Getting the chance to see how Rowan reacts to certain decisions and how he works was very refreshing. Brooks is a very talented author. I was very pleased with how the book was written and I can't wait to read the next book!


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Synopsis
A threat, a missing book, a traitor, and an attack. Even when you choose the light, things aren't always so black and white when they involve matters of the heart. 

Rowan has some decisions to make. 

Told in Rowan’s point of view, By Sun and Candlelight (Flora, 1.5) gives you a new view into the characters and daily happenings at Castle Lennox and bridges the gap between If I Speak True(Flora, 1) and Open Thy Heart (Flora 2 -- coming September 2014)

READING PROGRESS

11/30marked as:read
11/30marked as:have-but-haven-t-read-yet
11/30marked as:to-read
02/19marked as:currently-reading
02/19marked as:read

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Cassandra's comet and comet poems. by Cameron Glenn

Cassandra's comet and comet poems.
Title and Author- Cassandra's comet and comet poems. by Cameron Glenn
Publisher- Createspace
Page Number-156
My rating:5 of 5 stars
 Reviewer- Stephanie 


Cassandra's Comet is yet another wonderful book by Cameron Glenn. This book is about two teens who belong together, but they are from two different worlds. One is dark and one is light. This story is very interesting and was a wonderful read. I would highly recommend this book to everyone.

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Synopsis-
Jasper and Janelle are two romantically linked teens belonging to two different opposing cults, one bent on destroying the world, the other set to save the world. However, the fate of the world rests with one little girl.

Reading progress- 
02/07marked as:have-but-haven-t-read-yet
02/07marked as:have-but-haven-t-read-yet
02/07marked as:currently-reading
02/18marked as:read

Alice's Summer Road Trip: Newly Edited by Cameron Glenn

Alice's Summer Road Trip: Newly Edited
Publisher- Createspace
Page Number-142
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
 Reviewer- Stephanie 

Alice's Summer Road trip is a unique book that takes place right after Alice's sister dies. This trip was super fun to read. Although this book does have a sad feeling it is a really good book. Alice is broke up her sister's passing and needs to get away from everything so she goes on an adventure with some of her sisters. Cameron Glenn is a talented author and would recommend this book to anyone.

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Synopsis
Teen Alice deals with the death of her sister by going on a summer road trip with the college age friends of her sister.



Reading progress- 
02/18marked as:read
02/18marked as:to-read
02/18marked as:read

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Lights Out: A Cyberattack, A Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath by Ted Koppel


Lights Out: A Cyberattack, A Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath
Title and Author- Lights Out: A Cyberattack, A Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath by Ted Koppel
Publisher- Crown 
Page Number-288 
My rating:4 of 5 stars
 Reviewer- Stephanie 

Lights Out by Ted Koppel is a book that talks about a very heavy topic. This non-fiction book talks about what would have happened instead of what everyone thinks that would happen. Ted Koppel is a really gifted author that is able to write about serious topics while keeping everything interesting. Lights out if an eye-opening novel that I would definitely read again.

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Synopsis
In this tour de force of investigative reporting, Ted Koppel reveals that a major cyberattack on America’s power grid is not only possible but likely, that it would be devastating, and that the United States is shockingly unprepared.
 
Imagine a blackout lasting not days, but weeks or months. Tens of millions of people over several states are affected. For those without access to a generator, there is no running water, no sewage, no refrigeration or light. Food and medical supplies are dwindling. Devices we rely on have gone dark. Banks no longer function, looting is widespread, and law and order are being tested as never before.  

It isn’t just a scenario. A well-designed attack on just one of the nation’s three electric power grids could cripple much of our infrastructure—and in the age of cyberwarfare, a laptop has become the only necessary weapon. Several nations hostile to the United States could launch such an assault at any time. In fact, as a former chief scientist of the NSA reveals, China and Russia have already penetrated the grid. And a cybersecurity advisor to President Obama believes that independent actors—from “hacktivists” to terrorists—have the capability as well. “It’s not a question of if,” says Centcom Commander General Lloyd Austin, “it’s a question of when.”  

And yet, as Koppel makes clear, the federal government, while well prepared for natural disasters, has no plan for the aftermath of an attack on the power grid.  The current Secretary of Homeland Security suggests keeping a battery-powered radio.

In the absence of a government plan, some individuals and communities have taken matters into their own hands. Among the nation’s estimated three million “preppers,” we meet one whose doomsday retreat includes a newly excavated three-acre lake, stocked with fish, and a Wyoming homesteader so self-sufficient that he crafted the thousands of adobe bricks in his house by hand. We also see the unrivaled disaster preparedness of the Mormon church, with its enormous storehouses, high-tech dairies, orchards, and proprietary trucking company – the fruits of a long tradition of anticipating the worst. But how, Koppel asks, will ordinary civilians survive?

With urgency and authority, one of our most renowned journalists examines a threat unique to our time and evaluates potential ways to prepare for a catastrophe that is all but inevitable.

READING PROGRESS

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, #1)
Title and Author- The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Publisher- Delacorte Press
Page Number 384
My Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Reviewer- Stephanie
This was an okay book. I loved the story line but I felt that everything as very rushed at the end and the first few chapters were extremely slow. Also, a lot of this story seemed to be very confusing and/or unnecessary. I really didn't like the ending at all. I felt that Dashner should have ended the first book sooner leaving some suspense. Due to that ending the storyline felt very rushed at the end and made everything seemed uninteresting. It also seems that Dashner was rushing the ending instead of beginning the second book at the end of chapter 59. Overall it was a decent book but it did have its flaws in the beginning and the end and I would not suggest reading it unless you have plenty of time on your hands. I also believe that the author should've used a different point of view and see if third person and writing this story in first person would've made this story so much better.

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Synopsis-
If you ain’t scared, you ain’t human.

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He’s surrounded by strangers—boys whose memories are also gone.

Nice to meet ya, shank. Welcome to the Glade.

Outside the towering stone walls that surround the Glade is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It’s the only way out—and no one’s ever made it through alive.

Everything is going to change.

Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying.

Remember. Survive. Run


Reading Progress-