The Maze Runner

 I brought The Maze Runner and the two other books in this series over a year ago when they were on special offer in a discount bookshop but like many of the books in my life I just didn't get around to them.

Then I signed up for the Dystopia Challenge and knew that this was the perfect opporunity to tackle this series. A mix between The Hunger Games and Lord of the Flies, The Maze Runner features a dystopian land were a group of boys have been sent underground as part of a test. 

Once a month a teenage boy arrives in the box, an elevator controlled by those in charge, with only the memory of his name to The Glade, a teenage community. Surrounding The Glade lies 8 mazes with walls which change day by day.

The book follows Thomas, a new boy named a 'Greenie' who arrives in the box. After his arrival life in The Glade, which had been stable for 2 years, starts to change. New challenges arise, the rules are changed and suspiscion lies firmly at Thomas' feet. 

 

This book is fast paced and a typical YA dystopia. I was intrigued by what was happening, read quickly and devoured the setting and the action. However, unlike The Hunger Games and The Chaos Walking Trilogy I was not gripped by any of the characters. These books usually rush me back to teenage emotions and turmoil but this failed to do that. In fact, after the usual traumatic ending, I hadn't even managed a sniffle let alone the uncontrollable weeping which ensured with each of Patrick Ness' books. I am however intrigued to read the rest of the series and see how life plays out for Thomas.

4/5



Dewey's Read-a-thon round-up

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? I was never overly tired but around hour 7/8 I was finding it really hard to focus for more than a few minutes - too much technology to distract myself with.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? The Maze Runner by Dashner was the best book I chose for this read-a-thon, it had a fast pace and decent sized text. Plus it's a trilogy :)
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? No it was great. Although as a cheerleader I found lots of people signed up and didn't participate, some hadn't posted on their blogs for weeks so maybe a shorter time for sign ups is needed.
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? As a cheerleader having the sites you were cheering all on one page was great.
5. How many books did you read? I read 5 books (well I just finished the last 20 pages of the fifth book a few hours after the challege finished but I'm still going to count it)
6. What were the names of the books you read? Lives of Girls and Women by Alice Munro, Waltz with Bashir, The Maze Runner, American Born Chinese, A Single Pebble by John Hersey
7. Which book did you enjoy most? It's a toss up between Lives of Girls and Women, which was well written, had lots of detail and depth OR The Maze Runner which was a great fast paced YA read.
8. Which did you enjoy least? A Single Pebble by John Hersey, I was trying to rush to finish it before the readathon ended so maybe that spoiled it for me, but I was just not that fussed.
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? If you are also a reader set aside time when you are going to cheerlead and for how long, I found it easy to get distracted.
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? Yes I will definitely participate again as a reader. I loved hosting a mini challenge and cheerleading but I would probably decide to just do one of these next time. I spent around 6 hours doing stuff on the computer (and on Sims freeplay) and quite a bit was just me faffing. I got far more read this morning when I stayed in bed away from my computer and twitter updates. As someone who has little time to read for pleasure at the moment the reading is the most important thing for me. That said I loved seeing new blogs and will be filling up my new reader with some of the great blogs I visited today.

Thanks to the hosts for a great read-a-thon, looking forward to April. And thanks to all the people who stopped by the blog for their comments.

The final few hours

Well I read till 12.30 last night (hour 12) and then set my alarm to wake up at 5.30, being tired I missed the stupid iphone button to turn on the alarm I had just created. So, I got 6 hours of blissfull sleep. Not what I planned, but I am very awake today and fresh which is good because after this I have oursework to mark!
I have just finished my third book, I'm off for a very quick spot of cheering and then will be taking a graphic novel with me into the bath to finish the challenge up.
Good luck to everyone still reading, I could happily read like this every weekend :)

Through the Tea Leaves - mini challenge

found on google, I was too eager to draw the character to remember to photograph the stain

Hello read-a-thoners I'm really excited to be hosting the Hour 6 mini-challenge Through the Tea Leaves. This activity is something I do at school to bring out the creativity in the kids, to make them think and imagine their characters, build their resilience and also their confidence.

My character, Del Jordan from Lives of Girls and Women

It is a drawing activity where you will draw the face of a character from your current read, now I'm know some of you immediately will want to shrink away, but plaease stay for just a few moments longer and hear me out. The secret of this activity is that you do not need to be able to draw, a picture will form in front of you and you are simply lining that image for everyone to see.

Believe me I cannot draw a thing-in fact I drew a tree on the board at school the other day and the kids thought it was a peacock!
What do you need:
One wet (not too wet) teabag (coffee and ink also work here), a piece of paper, a black pen (a biro will do).


Instructions:
1. Make yourself a cup of tea
2. When the tea is sufficiently stewed for your taste, strain the tea bag and place it upon the piece of paper.
3. Leave it for a moment or two (this will depend on the thickness of your paper) and dispose of the teabag.
4. We are now interested in the stain, move it around, view it from different angles, you are looking for a face, a face of a character from the book you are currently reading. (Whilst my stain was damp, I move the paper around which changed the shape of the stain a little and ended up providing the character's plaits)
5. Enjoy your cup of tea whilst the stain dries (if you are impatient like I was, use a hairdryer to speed up the drying process).
6. Now with a black pen sketch in the face of your character - use as much or as little detail as you like.
7. Take a picture, create a post on your blog or twitter acount and leave the link in the comments or on my twitter page @katrinasreads

Prize:
I will select, at random, one participant to recieve a band new copy of TEA Obreht's novel The Tiger's Wife plus a few other tea goodies.

Hour 4

I've only managed to read for 1hr and 44 mins so far, but I have been cheerleading and entered two mini challenges so far, plus got two loads of washing done.
Here is my entry for Capricious Reader's spine poetry challenge (I'm no poet, but like a challenge):
Where I belong:
A single pebble,
Rivers of London.
The Maze Runner


I will be back in hour 6 with my own challenge :)

24 Hour read-a-thon starts :)

http://24hourreadathon.com/ 

I'm reading, hosting a mini challenge and cheering for Team Owl today, this is my starting spot.

 1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? I'm in the grey and gloomy UK.

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? Iron Man by Ted Hughes, I read the first chapter months ago and then misplaced it.
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? My Curly Wurly, it is in the fridge so that the chocolate and caramel are cold and crisp.
4) Tell us a little something about yourself! This is probably my sixth readathon, I took a book blog break which lasted about two years, I'm returning to the fold this week. I'm also studying for an MA in literature so this is a great opportunity to read some lighter books.
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today?  Previously I gave myself eye strain so I have an audiobook available if needed. I've also got lots of fruit and healthy snacks so I don't feel bloated or have a sugar crash.

 

 

 

I've added a few
Alice Munro's Lives of Girls and Women - I'm starting with this as it is short but has small print.
John Green and David Levith, Will Grayson, Will Grayson - two authors I've been meaning to read for a while.
Kendare Blake, Anna Dressed in Blood - I saw this on a suggested reads post so thought I'd addd it to my options.
John Steinbeck, Cannery Row - a book I've been meaning to read forever.
John Hersey, A Single Pebble - highly recommended by someone on my course.
Edna O'Brein, In the Forest - a 1001 book and a bookcrossing book which I've had for way too long.
Ted Hughes, Iron Man - its tiny and has large print for when I am getting tired.
Ben Aaronovitch, Rivers of London - a school friend has been raving about this series.
Gene Luen Yang, American Born Chinese - a graphic novel for the tired hours, another books which has sat on mount tbr too long.
Ari Folman and David Polonsky, Waltz with Bashir - a graphic novel borrowed from a friend for the tired hours.

Dystopia Challenge 2013

As I have just restarted blogging after a few years out of the mix I thought a good way to meet some new bloggers and find some of the old ones I loved was to join a reading challenge, just one mind as I tend to get carried away.
I noticed I had a button for the 2011 Dystopia challenge so I followed that and discovered to my delight that it is still up and running over at Book Ardour. So I'm plunging in. I have read a few dystopian novels this year, Brave New World and Farenheit 451 but no where near my usual quantity. I'm signing up for ASocial, 5 dystopian novels.

A few potential reads:
The Road by Cormac McCarthy READ
The Trial, Kafka
The Maze Runner, James Dashner (I have the other 2 books in the series if I enjoy this) READ
The Passion of New Eve, Angela Carter
Perdido Street Station, China Mieville
Wool, Hugh Howey