Hunger Games

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins p. 384


Katniss lives in Panem in District 12 with her mother and sister. Her father died in a coal mining accident when she was eleven and she's been the family's provider ever since. There are twelve districts (district thirteen was obliterated) and the Capitol. The Capitol controls all the districts and has all the wealth. The districts tried to rebel years against the Capitol years ago but they were defeated and as a punishment, The Hunger Games. One boy and one girl from each district is picked in the reaping to compete. The kids in the arena fight to the death. It is very hard and sad for the districts to watch (and they have to watch) but it is entertainment for the Capitol.
I can't believe I've never blogged this book. I keep rereading it and its great every time (unlike most of the other books I've reread. I really need to reread the good ones). I think it is well written and a great book for young adults as well as adults. This was my first time reading a dystopian novel and I'm hooked.

Seating Arrangements

Seating Arrangements/Maggie Shipstead 302 pgs.

Daphne and Greyson are getting married which makes everyone happy except for the "shotgun" aspect to the wedding.  Daphne is 7 months along and her father is a bit embarrassed by the situation.  Of course, her father has some other "old fashioned" ideas that he can't shake.  Like the club he was asked to join in college being one of the most important things in his life (40 years after the fact) and that he dated and dumped a woman during that time period would be something that she still thinks about every day.  The bride's sister has recently been dumped by a guy who she felt was "the one" which has made her horribly depressed and thin.  She isn't really all that happy for her sister.  The brides mother is a stoic woman who may have some disappointments of her own but who will ignore everything to make things seem right.  Parts of this book are really funny and some are a little scary because I think they may be true.  Very enjoyable.

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The 100-year-old man who climbed out the window

The 100-year-old man who climbed out the window and disappeared by Jonas Jonasson (translated by Rod Bradbury)

Allan Karlsson skips out on his hundredth birthday party and goes on an adventure of a lifetime.  Well, it would be the adventure of almost anyone else's lifetime except for Allan who has had a few adventures already.  This story is so much fun to read as Allan tells his life story to his new friends, he has had many brushes with important people in his past including world leaders, nuclear scientists and war heroes.  We also get a bit of his philosophy of life and after 100 years, he has developed quite few opinions about things.  He likes vodka, does not like conversations about religion or politics and he is unfailingly polite. This is a book that I think would make a great movie.

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Princess of Mars

Princess of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs 144 pgs

This bo.ok is the basis for the movie John Carter which was pretty widely panned...but really wasn't that bad.  The book tells of titular character's trip to Mars and the various battles he waged, friends he made and of the woman he fell in love with during this mad adventure.  Basically this is a sci-fi romance with fighting...and there is nothing wrong with that.  Written in 1912, this is the beginning of a larger John Carter series.

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Gossip Girl

Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar p. 199

Serena van der Woodsen has been kicked out of boarding school and is returning to the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Her "friends" are not so receptive to her return, except for Nate Archibald that is. He is thrilled to see her. The last time he saw her was when they had sex. Did I mention that Nate was her best friends boyfriend. Blair Waldorf is not happy about Serena being back because she is jealous of her and doesn't want to lose the spotlight. Everyone at school is spreading vicious rumors about Serena but its mostly out of jealousy. The guys are spreading the rumors because they want to sleep with her. She decides to find new friends. Enter Dan and Jenny Humphrey and Vanessa Abrams. Vanessa has a crush on Dan, Dan has a crush on Serena, and Jenny wants to be just like her. Serena starts partying with them which doesn't sound bad except they aren't rich so it looks bad for Serena according to her Upper East Side friends. Throughout all this there is Gossip Girl. People send her tips about the Upper East Siders and she "blasts" them on the internet. This is just the beginning of it all.

I first read this book when I was a teenager and wanted to reread it to see the difference between the television series and the book. There are a lot of differences. The show is a lot better than the book. Very interesting show, but the book does give you some background information. They changed most of it for the show though.

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen  182 pp.

Journalist and novelist, Anna Quindlen, ponders her life at age 60. She looks back at what she has/had and forward to what she hopes will be. As one of the feminist baby boomer generation, she discusses motherhood, marriage, family, work, and the myth of "having it all." Quindlen writes of the death of her mother at age forty and how that shaped her life. The topics spread from renovating a kitchen to enjoying time alone, and from the importance of friends to changes in our aging bodies. Occasionally she is a bit tedious, but mostly there is wisdom in her words.

Life After Death

Life After Death by Damien Echols, 399 pages

You've probably heard about the beginning of this story. As the "ringleader" of the West Memphis Three, Echols was wrongfully accused and convicted of the gruesome murders of three little boys, and given a death sentence at the age of 18. Eighteen years and several appeals later, he was released from prison thanks to a tricky plea bargain that allowed him and the other two members of the West Memphis Three to plead guilty but maintain their innocence. Written in an easy conversational manner, Life After Death is Echols’ memoir of life on death row. 

Echols does not go into the details of the ridiculous trial that landed him on death row or the multitude of appeals on his behalf, other than to say that he was in constant disbelief at the injustice of the situation. So if a detailed recounting of the crime and trial is what you're seeking, I'd suggest Mara Leveritt's excellent The Devil's Knot. Echols' memoir is not that kind of book, but it's still fantastic--at times tough to read, at others, it's funny and even beautiful.

The Wordy Shipmates / Sarah Vowell 254 p.

I picked up the audio of this for a road trip and loved it.  Vowell (who wrote Assassination Vacation, which I plan to read next), tells the story of the founding of Boston and the Massachusetts Bay Colony by the Puritans.  These were not the Mayflower-ers of 1620 who Vowell explains wanted full separation from the Church of England; rather, this group sailed on the Arbella in 1630 and wished to remain (tenuously) connected to the C of E, but free to practice in their own style.

The stories of a few key individuals are highlighted here: Governor John Winthrop, Rhode Island-founder Roger Williams, and fellow Massachusetts banishee Anne Hutchinson.  Vowell looks closely at journals, letters and sermons to trace the specifics of their Puritan, Calvinistic thought and the enormous impact their words and deeds have today on American Culture and foreign policy.  Vowell is a radio veteran, and the audio quality reflects this, with voice appearances by Catherine Keener, Eric Bogosian and others and gorgeous musical accompaniment.

The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green  318 pp.

Spoiler Alert: This is a book about teenagers with terminal cancer so, of course, there is death among the main characters, who are much to young to die.

That being said, I love this book so much!!! Yes, it's about kids who are dying of their respective varieties of cancer. Yes, there are events that will make you weep. Yes, it stirred up some not too pleasant memories of my own cancer treatment and friends I've lost to the disease. But it's an incredible book! If it is possible to fall in love with a character in a book, then I am totally smitten with seventeen year old Augustus Waters, who has lost a leg to bone cancer. He is funny, intelligent, quirky, and doesn't just sweep Hazel Grace Lancaster off her feet, he takes her on an amazing journey to Amsterdam and back and much more. Hazel has metastatic thyroid cancer that has spread to her lungs. She has been a Stage IV from the start and so is basically hanging on until she can't anymore. Augustus and Hazel meet at a support group and the rest is an amazing story of love and loss, with terrific dialogue and characters you can't help caring about. These kids are incredibly bright and articulate. The way they talk about their disease is profound. When Hazel compares having Stage IV to being a hand grenade that will one day go off and inflict damage on those around her and that she really doesn't want to be that hand grenade doing that damage, I thought, "That is exactly right." Green has written much more than just another tear jerker. This book is thoughtful, intense, and everyone should read it.

Incognito

Incognito: the secret lives of the brain by David Eagleman 290 pgs.

Eagleman is a neuroscientist and has written a book that is a little scary.  Did you know there really is a disorder known as "alien hand syndrome" where one hand is seemingly not controlled by conscious thought and will do things that a person does not want done?  One example in the book is the alien hand feeding the person cookies even though the person doesn't want cookies so the "in control" hand has to struggle and try to force the alien hand down?    Seems like that scenario would probably just the opposite if I had alien hand syndrome...when have I not wanted a cookie?  But seriously, there are many scary conditions and disorders discussed in this book and it makes me wonder how anything is under control for anyone. Beyond the biological explanations, the big questions come up like "What is free will?" and "What makes us who we are?"  There is more to learn about the brain and how it functions and slowly science is coming up with answers but there is a long way to go before we can answer important questions.

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