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The Maze Runner: A Somewhat Mystery-filled Dystopian Series

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Near the end of winter break I started reading the Maze Runner series, which was recommended to me by my cousin (again, this is like the third time). And I think it was a pretty good recommendation, because I was able to read the three books in about two weeks while balancing a lot of schoolwork. Anyway, the Maze Runner is about a boy named Thomas who wakes up in the Glade, which is pretty much a big field with a stone maze around it. When he gets there, he has no memories except his name. There are about 50 other boys there, and Thomas learns that each month for the last three years a new boy has been coming up what they call “the box,” which seems like some sort of underground elevator that also sends up supplies.  In the Glade, everyone has a job. All of the boys arrived with no memories and by working together hope to escape the maze. Some of them are called “Runners” and they spend each day going through the maze, remembering patterns and copying them down, analyzing differe...
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Small Actions, Big Impact: What "Make Your Bed" Teaches About Life

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  When you first look at it, Make Your Bed by Admiral William H. McRaven sounds too basic, simple or even boring to be of any importance. Like you might be like, “A book about making your bed? Really?” But it's that simpleness that makes it impactful. This book is based on the author’s 2014 commencement speech at the University of Texas and expands on 10 life lessons he learned during Navy SEAL training and decades of military service. The core idea is quite practical, refreshing even. The idea is that small actions which are taken consistently can create the momentum needed for big change. One of the 10 lessons that is repeated many times throughout the book, the title lesson (making your bed every morning), isn’t really just about neat sheets. It’s about discipline. A sense of accomplishment can be achieved by completing a small task first thing in the day. Say if your day goes terrible, at least you come home to something done right. That tiny win can matter more than you think...
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In Memory of my Late Grandmother: The Amazing J

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      My grandma, Nancy Spejcher passed in December 2024, and I once found "The Amazing J" sitting on my bookshelf and decided to read it. My grandma was very dear to me and wrote this book about me in 2018.      The Amazing J is a children's book that teaches qualities like kindness, compassion, and integrity through a super hero named The Amazing J (inspired by me). The Amazing J stands up for others and always makes sure to be kind. Many of the aspects were based off of my personal experiences and hobbies around the time this book was being written. For example, it mentions that the Amazing J's favorite colors are purple and orange, and I remember her asking me what my favorite colors were and that being my answer. There are many bunnies seen throughout the book, which used to be my favorite animal.      I think this book is fantastic because it teaches important morals in life in a very easy and understandable formatting. The illustration...
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Snapdragon: The Book I Made My Entire Personality For 2 Years Straight

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  Snapdragon by Kat Leyh was one of the many books I was gifted by my elementary school in fourth grade following quarantine, and functioned as their desperate attempt to get their students to read literally anything. I actually didn’t get around to reading it until that summer, as most of the books in the pile I was given looked extremely boring (at the time I was a “I wanna move to Japan!” child and refused to read anything that wasn’t manga) thus I never really went through it. However, while I was cleaning my room that day and finally looked at the book, I remember thinking that the cover was pretty enough for the book to maybe be interesting. Out of boredom, I opened up the graphic novel, and it only took a dozen pages or so for me to be fully absorbed into the story.      Snapdragon , as the name suggests, follows a middle school girl named Snapdragon– labeled as the “weird” kid by all of her classmates except her best friend. She is often teased for not being ...
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The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu: a Historical Fantasy

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  The Kingdom of Back is a historical fantasy about the Mozart family, focusing on Maria Anna Mozart rather than her famous brother Wolfgang. Maria Anna or Nannerl is a talented young musician with the fear of being forgotten. From a young age, Nannerl is taught to play the clavier by her father and spends hours practicing each day. Nannerl is really passionate about music and works hard to earn her father’s approval. Nannerl has a strong fear of being forgotten so she uses a small glass pendant and wishes to always be remembered. This wish is what leads her to meet Hyacinth. Growing up, Nannerl and her brother Woferl are really close. When their father is away, Nannerl and her brother share stories. Together, they create a magical world called the Kingdom of Back based on a dream Nannerl once had. In this dream, Nannerl sees an enchanted world with two moons, upside down trees, and a magical boy who seemed to be a prince.  One day, while Nannerl and Woferl are playing the cla...
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a depressing Hunger Games prequel with interesting connections

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  Sunrise on the Reaping is the second prequel of the Hunger Games series. It’s from Haymitch Abernathy’s (Katniss from the main series’ mentor’s) perspective.  If you don’t know the Hunger Games, it’s about this dystopian future in the nation Panem, where there are districts that serve the Capitol and President Snow as punishment for their rebellion in the past. And once a year there is the hunger games where a boy and a girl aged 12-18 from each of the 12 districts must fight to the death in an arena, leaving one winner–though according to Haymitch, there are survivors, but no winners.  So this book is about the 50th hunger games (the main series is during the 74th-75th). Every 25 years there is a Quarter Quell, where there’s some sort of twist, and this year twice as many kids have to enter the arena. And Haymitch is one of them. He is separated from his girlfriend Lenore Dove and must go fight. This book was extremely depressing. Kind of a SPOILER but it seems like Su...
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How Poverty and Manipulation Meet in Fool Night

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  This week, I finished a book named Fool Night by Kasumi Yasuda. The story takes place in the distant future— a time when the sun no longer shines, and all plant life dies as a result. Despite the major setback, a scientific discovery was made that saved humanity: a seed that, when injected into the human body, turns them into a plant by a process called transfloration. However, there are many drawbacks— the biggest being the person must be alive and stay alive for the transfloration to occur. The main character, Toshiro, is a poverty-stricken man who works minimum wage in the hopes of one day getting a higher education. Unfortunately, he has to pay for his mother's expensive medication, and every bill in the house— and eventually, does not have enough money to even pay for food. However, after learning about the process of transfloration (and the hefty reward of ten million yen— about 65,000 dollars— for doing so), he decides that even if he dies in agony a year or two from now,...
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