Monday, March 09, 2015

Identify the "old tech" win some "new tech"!

Teen Tech Month starts today!

Stop by the LMC windows and see the assortment of "old stuff".  Can you identify it?  If you can, you will win some new tech!  Enter the contest here:  http://bit.ly/1EKEuEa  The deadline is March 31.  Good Luck!


Monday, February 23, 2015

Silver by Chris Wooding

This new book should appeal to horror fans.  One piece of advice....don't stop and start....I did that because the opening of the book didn't engage me, but once I got into it....Watch out!

Paul is a new student at an English boarding school.  Think out in the country, old buildings, massive campus, and ivy-covered walls.

On a science excursion to identify bugs, students report finding a strange silver-colored beetle. Even the biology teacher can't identify it. Things get rapidly worse.  A bite, or even a scratch from the beetle, morphs any creature, even a human, into a silver killing machine.

Initially the morphed creatures are slow-moving.  They remind me of zombies,  but they quickly band together, becoming more aggressive and smarter.

Paul and a group of students barricade themselves in the Science Building.  It isn't long before the "infected" are breaking down doors and climbing through windows. It's almost like a zombie apocalypse.  Cell phones don't work in the country and the power is out.  There appears to be no way to get help.

How do Paul and his small group survive? Do they survive? You'll have to read the book and see.


Monday, February 16, 2015

Wild by Alex Mallory

I can't even imagine growing up in the woods.  No house or cabin; only a cave and a cot.  No electricity, no technology, no refrigerator with food.....yet that is exactly how Cade is growing up.  At the age of 4 Cade's parents removed their family from civilization.  They feared a pandemic was about to kill humankind and wanted to avoid the disaster. Cade is now 17 years old. He honestly believes that he is the only human survivor of a terrible disease.  Both his parents are dead and he is alone in the Daniel Boone National Forest.
Dara and her boyfriend, Josh are spending spring break camping in the forest.  Dara continually has that "creepy feeling" that someone is watching them.  That "someone" happens to be Cade. When a grizzly bear attacks the two of them, Cade comes to the rescue.  He is injured and needs medical attention. 

Cade receives the help that he needs, but authorities are perplexed.  Who is this "primitive boy"?  Initially the doctors and police don't believe Cade's story.  Who would believe that someone has lived off the land for 12 years?  Who doesn't know what a cell phone, computer......or even school is?  But Cade really doesn't understand anything about life in the 21st century.  Dara is trying to help the best she can....she feels a connection with Cade.  What will she risk to get closer to him?

I always love survival stories....and this modern-day "Tarzan" story fits the bill.  If I have a criticism it is that it was too long.
#owhsreads

Monday, January 12, 2015

The Vanishing Season by Jodi Lynn Anderson

I liked this new book for several reasons......

I loved the setting. It is set in the fictitious town of Gill Creek in Door County.  I could almost imagine moving from Chicago to the ramshackle old Victorian house on the shores of Lake Michigan, as the main character, Maggie and her family, did.   It made me want to visit Door County again.

It is easy to relate to Maggie.  Maggie is uprooted from her Chicago apartment when her mom gets a new job in Gill Creek.  Money is tight and the family leaves the big city.  The next-door neighbor, beautiful, but friendly, Pauline, becomes a new friend, replacing those she left behind.

What I didn't like..........

A serial killer is at work in beautiful Door County.  No!  Teen-age girls are found dead, often floating in Lake Michigan.  At first suicide is suspected, but as the numbers increase murder is the only assumption.

The conflict ...........After Pauline's mother sends her away to safety, Maggie and Liam develop a sweet relationship.  Once the killer is caught Pauline returns home and steals Liam's affections.  A love triangle and a tragedy.  I didn't see the ending coming!

Monday, January 05, 2015

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

What happened to Cadence during her 15th summer?

If only she could remember....but the migraines and painkillers don't allow her to find her memories.

Cadence spends every summer on Beechwood Island, a private island that her grandfather owns.  She comes from a very wealthy family, as do the other "liars",  her cousins Mirran and Johnny....along with a friend named Gat.  Something happened that summer and now, one year later, Cadence's amnesia persists.

Whether you call it a mystery or suspense, I did not see the end coming.  John Green has described the book as "Thrilling, beautiful, and blisteringly smart.  We Were Liars is utterly unforgettable."  It is all that.