A Peek In The BiblioBin #47

Welcome to our Stacking the Shelves post! Stacking the Shelves (or as we like to call it, A Peek in the BiblioBin) has been created by the lovely ladies at Tynga's Reviews.

Stacking the Shelves is a way for bloggers to share what books they have won, received for review, bought from the bookstore, borrowed from the library or friend, etc.

This is what we have in our Biblio-Bin this week. Tell us what's in your biblio-bin!

Love Unscripted by Tina Reber

(for review)

The Next Forever by Lisa Burstein

(for review)

Everybody Sees Ants by A.S. King

(purchased)

The Kill Order (Prequel to The Maze Runner Series) by James Dashner

* * * *

Before WICKED was formed, before the Glade was built, before Thomas entered the Maze, sun flares hit the earth and mankind fell to disease.

Mark and Trina were there when it happened, and they survived. But surviving the sun flares was easy compared to what came next.

Now a disease of rage and lunacy races across the eastern United States, and there’s something suspicious about its origin. Worse yet, it’s mutating, and all evidence suggests that it will bring humanity to its knees.

Mark and Trina are convinced there’s a way to save those left living from descending into madness. And they’re determined to find it—if they can stay alive. Because in this new, devastated world, every life has a price. And to some, you’re worth more dead than alive.

Let’s get straight to the point. The Kill Order is depressing.  Even more so that the rest of the series simply because it takes place so soon after the sun flares that life before all hell broke loose is still a fresh memory.  Every page speaks of the loss that these characters have just experienced. That is compounded by the heavy task of survival and learning to live in this new world that is all debris, chaos and vile.

We flash back 13 years before the events of The Maze Runner. Mark and Trina are in New York when the sun flares hit but survive because they were traveling the underground subway system when it happened. There they meet up with Alec and Lana, two army vets. Alec is a real tough guy who has seen plenty of action in his time and takes them under his wing. Together they attempt to stay alive and seek out shelter and food.

The Kill Order is all about being in survival mode. The only time when there is “down time” is at the beginning of the book. Otherwise, it’s straight action and mayhem once they’re attacked and the disease starts to take a hold of people’s minds.  Many of the things that occur, such as the disease, will be familiar to readers of the previous three books.  

I enjoyed the book. Yes, I know I said it was depressing but when a disaster of this magnitude happens, how can it not be? What makes it hard to swallow is seeing what becomes of those left behind.  Human nature descends into the depths of debauchery, superstition, insanity and gore, all in the name of survival. of the fittest.  It’s a new world order with rules made up as you go along. Everyone is out for themselves and it’s hard to figure out who to trust. It’s in this world that Mark and Trina begin to lose their innocence.  Mark goes from being the average teenager nursing a crush to a leader and hero who has to learn to make hard decisions including pulling the trigger when needed.

This is a must read for fans of the series. The prologue at the beginning of the book featuring Thomas and Theresa where he is getting the procedure moments prior to ending up in the box gave me the chills! Even though it’s short, it gives a more sympathetic perspective of Theresa and their friendship. It's kind of heartbreaking too knowing the trials they have to endure later. Overall, The Kill Order, which will be released August 14, is a great addition to the series. Believe me, you'll feel just as exhauted and worn down as the characters but this time we know what we're in for and we know how it all ends eventually.

~ Bel

A Peek in the Biblio-Bin - #1

We have been wanting to take part in The Story Siren's In My Mailbox for a while now but have been stumped on a very important requirement.  The name of our weekly post.  We wanted to switch it up a little.  After a fun evening of meeting Sophie Jordan and Tera Lynn Childs, (who by the way were totally AWESOME!!!) Bibliojunkie Bel blurt out in the car "Biblio-Bin!"  And there it was.  The stroke of genius we were waiting for.  

This week Bel is giving you a peek into her section of the Biblio-Bin.  

Libby Kelting had always felt herself born out of time. No wonder the historical romance-reading, Jane Austen-adaptation-watching, all-around history nerd jumped at the chance to intern at Camden Harbor, Maine’s Oldest Living History Museum.

But at Camden Harbor Libby’s just plain out of place, no matter how cute she looks in a corset. Her cat-loving coworker hates her, the geeky local reporter keeps pushing her buttons, the sailor she's dating is more shipwreck than dreamboat, and Camden Harbor might be haunted.

Over the course of one unforgettable summer, Libby learns that boys, like ghosts, aren’t always what they seem.

If she’d waited less than two weeks, she’d be June who died in June. But I guess my sister didn’t consider that.

When Harper Scott’s older sister, June, takes her own life a week before her high school graduation, sixteen-year-old Harper is devastated. Everyone’s sorry, but no one can explain why.

When her divorcing parents decide to split up her sister’s ashes, Harper takes matters into her own hands. She'll steal the urn and drive cross-country with her best friend, Laney, to the one place June always dreamed of going—California.

Enter Jake Tolan. He's a boy with a bad attitude, a classic-rock obsession…and an unknown connection to June. So when he insists on joining them, Harper's just desperate enough to let him. With his alternately charming and infuriating demeanor and his belief that music can see you through anything, he might be exactly what she needs. Except...Jake's keeping a secret that has the power to turn Harper's life upside down—again.

To save the life of the boy she loves, Jacinda did the unthinkable: She betrayed the most closely-guarded secret of her kind. Now she must return to the protection of her pride knowing she might never see Will again—and worse, that because his mind has been shaded, Will's memories of that fateful night and why she had to flee are gone.

Back home, Jacinda is greeted with hostility and must work to prove her loyalty for both her sake and her family's. Among the few who will even talk to her are Cassian, the pride's heir apparent who has always wanted her, and her sister, Tamra, who has been forever changed by a twist of fate. Jacinda knows that she should forget Will and move on—that if he managed to remember and keep his promise to find her, it would only endanger them both. Yet she clings to the hope that someday they will be together again. When the chance arrives to follow her heart, will she risk everything for love?

In bestselling author Sophie Jordan's dramatic follow-up to Firelight, forbidden love burns brighter than ever.

Number Six—when John meets her in I Am Number Four she’s strong, powerful, and ready to fight. But who is she? Where has she been living? How has she been training? When did she develop her legacies? And how does she know so much about the Mogadorians?

In I Am Number Four: The Lost Files: Six’s Legacy, discover the story behind Six. Before Paradise, Ohio, before John Smith, Six was traveling through West Texas with her CÊpan, Katarina. What happened there would change Six forever….

How about you?  What books did you acquire this week?