Victims Turning Everything on it’s Head….”The Maze Runner”, by James Dashner

The Maze Runner jacket coverAuthor James Dashner’s novel The Maze Runner is the first in a trilogy of post-apocalyptic, young adult, science fiction novels. Before this first of the trilogy stories, Dashner also wrote a prequel entitled “The Kill Order“.

The novel follows a group of boys who have been deposited after the apocalypse, at a place known as the Glade. It is the epitome of science fiction with mechanical creatures called Grievers, who roam the Maze at night. The Gladers, as the boys are known, have made a community in which each Glader has an assigned job to perform. The Maze is outside of the Glade which is protected by huge doors surrounding it that close every night to give protection from the creatures.

The main character, Thomas, learns more and more about the Glade, and gets the feeling that he has been there before. He befriends fellow Gladers named Chuck ad Newt, and feels strangely connected to the only girl ever deposited at the Glade, named Teresa. The whole plot revolves around the three Gladers performing as runners who explore the Maze and bring back information, all the time avoiding getting stung by the Grievers. Dashner’s original motivation for the novel came from an idea he had where, as quoted directly from the author……..”a bunch of teenagers living inside an unsolvable maze full of hideous creatures, in the future, in a dark dystopian world. It would be an experiment to study their minds……Until the victims turn everything on its head.” And so goes Maze Runner.

The novel has been adapted for film and is due to be released today! The director is Wes Bell with a cast of Dylan O’Brien as Thomas, Blake Cooper as Chuck, Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Newt, and Kaya Scodelario as Teresa.

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He Said-She Said…”Gone Girl”, by Gillian Flynn

Gone Girl jacket coverAmerican author Gillian Flynn wrote the novel, Gone Girl, based on the suspense created by suspicion of the main character, Nick Dunne and whether he murdered his wife.

Nick and Amy had a less than perfect marriage for several reasons. He lost his job as a journalist and relocates them from New York City to Carthage, Missouri which was Nick’s small hometown. Amy was not happy to leave New York…….she was a city girl. All phases of their marriage were becoming more and more dysfunctional.

Amy disappears on the day of their fifth wedding anniversary. The suspicion and suspense begins. In this novel, Flynn tries to depict the ultimate commitment…marriage. According to author Flynn, marriage turns into the ultimate he said-she said mystery.

The novel has been adapted for film by Reese Witherspoon’s film production company and 20th Century Fox. They reportedly paid $1.5 million for the screen rights. The director is David Fincher with cast members being Ben Afflek as Nick, Rosamund Pike in the role of Amy, joined by Neil Patrick Harris, Emily Ratazko, and Tyler Perry.

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Is Endless Love Possible??? “The Best of Me”, by Nicholas Sparks

The Best of MeIn 2011 the author of the hugely popular novel, The Notebook, published his next novel, The Best of Me. Nicholas Sparks is an American novelist, screenwriter, and producer who has published seventeen books. Eight of the novels have been adapted to film.

In quoting the book: “Everyone wanted to believe that endless love was possible. She believed in it once too, back when she was eighteen”. High school students, Amanda Collier and Dawson Cole were very much in love, even though they were from opposite sides of the tracks. But high school teen love somehow defies reality in a small North Carolina town. As so often happens, unforeseen events tore the young couple apart, sending them on very divergent paths.

As the novel progresses, it is twenty-five years later and they meet once again, when they return to the small town for a funeral. In one week-end they will discover undeniable truths about what has happened in the last twenty-five years and will be forced to answer the question …………”Can love truly rewrite the past”?

In October 2014, director Michael Hoffman’s movie adaptation of the novel will be released. The cast includes: Liana Liberato as the young Amanda Collier; Michelle Mongahan as Amanda Collier; James Marsden as Dawson Cole; Luke Bracey, young Dawson. As a side story, Paul Walker was cast as the lead role, but passed away and was replaced by James Marsden.

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Open to Love….”Love Letter’s”, by Debbie Macomber

Love LettersLove Letters: A Rose Harbor Novel written by Debbie Macomber, is a celebration of the power of love. Rose Harbor Inn proprietor, Jo Marie Rose, finds herself in the busy summer season and also finds herself thinking more and more about the Inn handyman, Mark Taylor. This intriguing plot is only one of the many romantic stories going on this summer in Cedar Cove.

Before the end of summer, someone will show their heart’s desire. The novel shows the reader the courage it takes to be completely open to love.

Debbie Macomber has had nine of her novels make #1 on the New York Times best seller list. She has also had the very popular Hallmark Channel’s top watched movies of 2009 and 2010 in Mrs. Miracle and Call Me Mrs. Miracle. In 2013 Hallmark Channel produced the original series based on her novels: Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove.

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The Journey Through Continents and Centuries…”The Sisterhood”, by Helen Bryan

The Sisterhood jacket coverThe Sisterhood is the second novel by author Helen Bryan. She ingeniously intertwined two stories in one novel. The main character Menina Walker was born into a wealthy family in South America, but after the devastation of a hurricane when she was a toddler, she was adopted by an American family and taken to a new life. Her only possession was a swallow medal she took with her.

As the novel follows her path of growth, she became a beautiful and intelligent nineteen year old that had everything and was excited about her future. Then another traumatic event crushed her dreams. After even more trauma, her path crosses with that of historical drama involving five orphan girls. From the Spanish Inquisition to the New World, Menina’s medal seems to link it all together. It is a love story and a historic thriller that takes the reader across continents and centuries.

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What is a Traditional family?…”A Home at the End of the World”, by Michael Cunningham

A Home at the End of the WorldPulitzer prize-winning, American author Michael Cunningham wrote “A Home at The End of the World”. The book is written with narrating by different characters for each chapter. The story is a very complicated one, with themes of living in a drug using, dysfunctional family where a central character, Bobby, loses everyone who is close to him. Their demise came through excess partying and drug use in the 1960s and 1970’s in suburban Cleveland, Ohio.

Bobby becomes friends with Jonathan, whose family took him in after Bobby’s family all died. They are physically attracted to each other, but through various reasons, they eventually part ways. In 1980s New York, they meet up again when they are in their 20s. By then, Jonathan has a roommate Clare who is eccentric to say the least. The three of them become an unusual family, causing them to question the definition of traditional family and love. A question made even more complicated by their love triangle.

Director, Michael Mayer adapted Cunningham’s novel and screenplay into a movie by the same name. The main three characters are played by: Bobby, Colin Farrell; Jonathan, Dallas Roberts; Clare, Robin Wright.

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Life’s Journey of “The Girls of August”, by Anne Rivers Siddons

The Girls of AugustThe Girls of August is author Anne Rivers Siddons’s nineteenth novel. Most are fiction with the exception of one, “John Chancellor Makes Me Cry“. She and her husband, Heyward, spend their time between their homes in Charleston, South Carolina and Brooklyn, Maine. The cover of the book is styled so as to draw anyone in who is interested in summers at the beach. Author Siddons’s Charleston home gives her a perspective from which to draw real beach attitudes, even though her novel is fiction.
The novel follows the friendship of four women who started spending a week at the beach while their husbands were medical students. At that time, they were just four girls, but over the almost twenty years, as it always does, times changed, which in turn changed the dynamic of the group. Each “Girl” has problems of their own. After losing one of their cherished members, they must come to grips with accepting her replacement. The novel is a bit predictable, but it is filled with the senses of summer, with a touch of mystery and angst. It fills the desire of a god read while sitting comfy at home, or while in an umbrella covered chair at the beach.

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Survival….”Under the Dome”, by Stephen King

Under the Dome jacket coverStephen King began to write his novel entitled “Under the Dome”, back in 1976. That endeavor lasted about two weeks and only yielded 75 pages before King gave up. Then, while watching the Simpsons Movie in 2007, King was moved to again write on the subject of a community being enclosed in a glassy dome. Thus, in the period of November 22, 2007 to March 14, 2009, Under the Dome was proclaimed.

This is a science fiction/political novel set in and around a small Maine community. The story tells how an invisible barrier literally drops out of the sky, cutting off this small community from the outside world. It has multiple characters and tells how the community inhabitants contend with such a calamity. The local used car salesman, “Big Jim” Rennie, seizes the opportunity to take over the town when the police chief is killed when his pacemaker explodes when he gets too close to the dome. And so begins the struggle for power between the federal government agents and “Big Jim’s” misguided followers acting as police officers.

“Under the Dome” is currently adapted for television on CBS. The Executive Producer is Stephen Spielberg, but is Co-Produced by several others including author Stephen King.

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The Liberty Amendments, by Mark Levin

The Liberty AmendmentsMark Levin, a very accomplished and learned scholar, wrote The Liberty Amendments, where he relied on the historical actions and comments of the visionary founding fathers, and the constitution itself as a guide to restoring the American Republic. For at least a century, those governing have created an ongoing and growing assault on those things that are precious to all United States citizens. Levin writes that among these is individual liberty, state sovereignty, as well as others. The Founders correctly foresaw a time when, despite their focused efforts, the Federal government might overstep the Constitution limits causing oppression of the people. The IRS and the EPA are prime examples of that fear.

Levin believes that the people must take steps (as he outlines in this book) to begin re-establishing the balance between the federal and state governments. Author Levin has written numerous books, has a nationally syndicated talk show on all types of radio stations, including the Armed Forces radio. He was a top adviser to several cabinet members of the Reagan administration. He holds a B.S. degree and law degree from Temple University

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The Cure…”The Fever”, by Megan Abbott

The FeverMegan Abbott, author of “The Fever”, is known to be the best at writing about the craziness of the adolescent years…better than anyone. In 2012 she tackled the sport, or should we say the bloodsport of cheerleading in her novel “Dare Me”. The Fever is a return to high school for another very disturbing and much too real story of lust hormones, jealousy, and fear of being a teenager. High school is a breeding ground for traumas that affect us for life…and you add a mysterious epidemic, and chaos ensues.

The three best friends in the novel find themselves at the center of the epidemic, causing each girl to exhibit different symptoms. And nobody knows why it only affects girls. The Fever is a brilliantly told tale that will give you chills of fright as it explains the bewildering age when love, sex, revenge, and even friendship fells so new, terrifying, and all consuming. What will be the cure??

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