I hang my head in shame

I did not get a lot of reading done in October.  Reason 1- no more vacation or pool days.  Reason 2- the fall TV schedule has started up.  Reason 3- I've just been very busy!  I only got 3 books read (that's a pathetic 958 pages.  Ugh).

Frozen by Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnston (325 pages).  No, not THAT Frozen.  In this book, the world is completely frozen over.  And it's a totally different place.  Very structured, with all sorts of rules.  But also very ruthless.  Certain places are still quite active, including New Vegas.  Nat is a blackjack dealer, searching for a safe place to live.  She learns that the Blue, a mythical place where there is sunshine and no ice, might really exist.  She hires Wes and his crew to help her make the dangerous escape.  It only took me three days to read it.  But I never really got into it.  The characters were strange (some people are born marked, meaning they have magical powers.  And there are sylphs.  And smallmen.  And drakons).  This was the first in a series and I am pretty sure I won't waste my time with the rest of them.  Which is odd because I have loved all of de la Cruz's other series.

The Mockingbird Next Door by Marja Mills (273 pages).  In 2001, the mayor of Chicago chose To Kill a Mockingbird for One Book, One Chicago to read.  Marja Mills, a reporter, was sent down to Monroeville, Alabama, to try to track down any information on the illusive Harper Lee.  What she ended up finding was a whole new life, for a brief time.  She got along so well with Nelle (as Harper's friends called her) and sister Alice that, when she took medical leave for lupus, she moved into the house right next door to them!  The boo is a recounting of her interactions with the Lee sisters and their friends.  It was full of fun tidbits about the Lees, from Nelle's lifelong friendship with Gregory Peck, to Alice being one of the first female attorneys in Alabama, to Nelle's fallout with Truman Capote, to the truth about their mother's breakdown, to the fact that all kids who are named Harper, seemingly after Harper Lee, are actually named for the doctor who saved middle sister Louise's life (she clearly had some form of reflux and only Dr. Harper found the food that she could handle).  The Lee sisters, even at their advanced ages, seemed funny and fun.  I'd have loved to have met them!  I finished this book in three days (decided to take advantage of a weekend).

The Scorch Trials by James Dashner (360 pages).  Book 2 in the Maze Runner series.  Thomas and the rest of the Gladers are finally free of the Maze.  But it turns out that they still aren't free.  What faces them next is Phase 2 of their trial.  The Scorch.  They have two weeks to make it 100 miles across the most awful desert in the most awful sun-scorching conditions that they have ever faced.  Their motivation?  Well, they learn that they have been infected with the Flare, a condition that began affecting people when the sun basically exploded and causes you to go insane.  If they make it to the Safe Haven, they will receive the sure.  Teresa, their only girl, has disappeared right after their escape from the Maze.  She's been replaced by Aris, who informs them that he was the Teresa in a Glade full of girls.  Curiouser and curiouser.  They all also discover that they have been tattooed with subject numbers and descriptions.  Thomas is none too happy with his.  After two weeks of attacks and more deaths of Gladers, they finally make it to the Safe Haven.  Only to discover that the torture still isn't over!  What faces them next is in the next book, I guess.  It took me a week to finish, but that's only because I don't have time to read during the week!