The Hunger Games

I know that it seems like everyone has read "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins, especially with the movie coming out, but I hadn't.  I'm kind of on an anti-popular thing.  As in, just because everyone else has read it, doesn't mean I need to.

But, Mom and a friend of mine both read it and recommended it, so I though I try it.  I finished it in one day.  I did enjoy it.  Even texted my mom and friend about how mad I would be if they killed off either of the 2 main characters.

Here's the thing.  It reminds me of "Lord of the Flies"  Which I haven't read, but know the plot line.  And you can't help but feeling for Peeta the entire book.

If you missed it, it's basically about a girl, Katniss, who winds up volunteering to participate in The Hunger Games to save her younger sister.  In The Hunger Games, 24 kids (ages 12-18) are put in a hostile environment where only 1 can survive.  The survivor gets riches, comfort, and glamor, all for the price helping murder 23 other kids.  It's also a tool to keep the citizens both entertained and cowed.  For Katniss, it's just another thing to survive in her hard life.

Yes, she has a hard life, and yes, you feel for the poor girl who's had to survive, but I just cannot understand a government that does that.  This was part of my problem while reading it. 

There are 2 more books in the series, and I'm eager to see what happens.  But before that, I decided to take a break from the politicking to read a few other books.  The first is coming up soon.

But, I enjoyed it.  If you like entertaining books,dystopian novels,  the show "Survivor", or getting a good glimpse into the human psyche, read it.  Even if you don't, you may still like this.

No graphic, but 4 snowflakes.

Note: This book contains violence and major politic maneuvering.

Ella Enchanted

Okay, so part of my idea when I said I was going to read more award winning books was that I was going to read award winning kids books. Because, face it, sometimes you learn more from a kids book than you would than reading Shakespeare.

You think I'm kidding? Read The Missing Piece Meets the Big O by Shel Silverstein, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, or The Phantom Tollbooth by Norman Juster.

Okay, there's my rant on why I love kids books.

Anyway, I have to admit that I saw "Ella Enchanted" when it came out (starring Anne Hathaway), and at some point heard it was a book first (unsurprising, really).

As far I can remember, the movie and the book (the latter written by Gail Carson Levine) are a lot a like. Well, Prince Char (for Charmont in the book, but Charming in the movie) is a lot nicer in the book. In the movie, he's kind of a diva.

Anyway, the book was fun. Ella has glass shoes, a terrible step-family (Hattie is really a terrible sister), can learn any language, and even tame ogres in her spare time. Not to mention runs away from finishing school, and steals Hattie's wig on her way out. Not bad for a girl who is cursed and has to do everything she's told.

Oh, and I did mention that her fairy godmother is her cook? Yeah, but she makes really good food.

The book won a Newbery Honor. I liked it. 3 snowflakes.

To Kill a Mockingbird

I finally got around to reading the ultimate Southern novel while I was on a plane. Somewhere between Cleveland and LA I read the whole thing.

I liked it. It reminded me of a cross between Tom Sawyer and The Color Purple. The beginning was very much like Tom Sawyer (Huck Finn... both books seems the same to me). Southern kids playing around, playing tricks, running errands, screwing around. A little bit more modern, but at first I couldn't figure out the time period.

As the book went on, it was more like The Color Purple, if it had been told from an outsiders prospective.

Honestly, I really liked Jem. Watching him grow up, and seeing him take care of his sister. She seems like a bit of a moron at times, but I was curious if she ended up with Dill.

And I was so excited to see Boo!

Okay. That said. I thought it was good, but not stellar.

Where The River Ends

There are certain books that I know I'm going to need to clear a couple hours out of my day, sit down, and just read. I can't pick it up and put it down, I can't read for an hour, then have to go to work. It'll drive me crazy, wanting to know what happened.

I have to admit, I've worked that into my schedule for Breaking Dawn. But on Friday, when the copy of Where the River Ends by Charles Martin came in, I knew I couldn't start it right then. After all, I was in the middle of The Killing Dance and had just picked up Faithful. And I had a lot to do and a party to attend. So I couldn't start reading it, not until at least today.

So I did. When I woke up this morning, it's what I read.

It takes place in Georgia and Florida, right along the border, on a river mostly. Doss is an artist, and Abbie is a debutante. Not a couple that you'd ever expect to get together, but they fall in love after he saves her. They spend the first ten years of the marriage happy. She's decorating, he's painting.

Then they find that Abbie has breast cancer, and it all spirals out of control from there. As time goes on, and they fight an unwinnable battle, the despair becomes apparent.

But as a last wish, Abbie wants Doss to take her back down the river, back to where they had their honeymoon. It's a harrowing tale, with stalkers, national news coverage, and they go through 3 boats, finally finishing the journey on a log. But they make it.

It's told with a back-and-forth style, one chapter in the present (the trip down the river), and the next chronicling their lives up to that point.

Martin writes with his usual depth, making me wish that I not only could go to this part of Georgia, but that men like Doss actually existed somewhere.

While I saw some of the same threads working through this novel that I've seen in others (the nickname Band-Aid, for instance, or the dying wife), it was still amazing.

It touches you in a place that is impossible to see, and just as impossible not to feel. It takes a lot to read, going through pages on the history of the river, or some ambiguous church, but the real story, the human story, makes it worthwhile.

Somethings are worth waiting for, and Martin's stories are ones I've always found worthwhile.

It takes about a year to get it out in paperback, so I'm going to have to keep requesting it. Sigh...

Oh. Right.

It's Been A While

Before you start singing the song, let me explain.

The last post was a link off of my other blog, The Sardonic Girl. I was posting about this emo blog I have, and tricked everyone into visiting this one. So much for that.

So, I'm here to review books again. Here's the problem. I re-read books. A lot. So it's not like I'm reading something new every time I read a book.

But this time I did, and it was really...poignant.

I read The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell. Iris Lockhart is living her life, and dating a married man when she finds out that her great aunt is being released from a near by asylum. The catch? She never knew she had a great aunt.

The book is sad. It goes back and forth between Esme, Iris, and Kitty (Esme's sister). Esme bounces back and forth between her memories growing up, real time with Iris, and some in the asylum. Iris is confused by the new addition in her life, and is trying to face her childhood sweetheart (and ex-step-brother) Alex. Kitty now has Alzheimer's.

Iris is very easy to follow (once you figure out that she's the one talking), Esme is a little harder because of the bouncing, and Kitty is almost impossible because of the disease.

But the way the story unfolds...it's amazing. Well written, a twist that's almost impossible to see coming until it's revealed, and a sadness so deep it almost radiates from the book.