The Hunger Games

by Suzanne Collins

Oh. My. Heck. I just finished devouring this book and I'm starving for more. Thankfully, it's part of a trilogy and the second book comes out in a few days. I'm pre-ordering it on Amazon.

Here's the blurb on the book cover:

"In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

"Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before - and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love."

The book was incredible. It's intense. The characters are so well-developed. Each page begs to be turned. There's adventure, romance, suspense, and societal commentary. It seeps with questions about integrity, freedom, ethics... I recommend this book wholeheartedly.

My Sister's Keeper

Jesse, Anna, and Kate live a fairly stereotypical middle class life but each is attempting to defy their circumstances. One child is rebellious, one donater, and one terminally ill; these attributes actually define their existence. Underlying is a child that makes grand gestures of goodwill, one athletic superstar, and one quitter, respectively. The firefighter father can't seem to quench the mother's passionate obsession of curing Kate from Lukemia. The family doesn't seem to have any religious background besides the thorough knowledge of the constellations and their histories.
What I like about the story is the medical awareness of struggling through treatments in hope of sending cancer into remission. I also like the rather blaring message of wake up people and take every day as a gift because you never know how long we have left.

"So far I have found that 10 out of every 10 people die."

What I don't is all the swearing, the awkward love scene that doesn't really contribute to the story (more a distraction) and certainly how selfish I find all the characters.
The mother is not a bad mother, she loves each of her children. At first I struggled to see the problem in her parenting because she loves Anna but eventually I get it as the story develops (you will too if you read it). In fact I think she is a very good mother and how much better this entire family would be benefited if they had a knowledge of the purpose of this life. We are here to receive a body. We are here be tested and to overcome our trials so we may live forever in the presence of our Heavenly Father. Heavenly Father sent the Savior Jesus Christ to take on not only all our sins but all our afflictions and pains as well. Anna in this novel completely dismisses the creation of Adam and Eve as our forebearers, Christ as our Savior, but is constantly struggling to find someone to see her as an individual and recognize her worth as a soul.
This novel leaves me with angst emotions because I want so much to share with her how important we all are to our Heavenly Father no matter how much or how little love and attention our earthly parents have shown us.
An endearing account of sister's dividing room because they needed their own space and mother's reaction:

I do not know how long it took my mother to wonder why I wasn't coming to the kitchen for lunch, but when you are five, even a second can last forever. She stood in the doorway, staring at the line of marker on the walls and carpet, and closed her eyes for patience. She walked into our room and picked me up, which was when I started fighting her. "Don't," I cried. "I won't ever get back in!"
A minute later she left, and returned with pot holders, dishtowels, and throw pillows. She placed these at odd distances, all along Kate's side of the room. "Come on," she urged, but I did not move. So she came and sat down beside me on my bed. "It may be Kate's pond," she said, "but these are my lily pads." Standing, she jumped onto a dishtowel, and from there, onto a pillow. She glanced over her shoulder, until I climbed onto the dishtowel. From the dishtowel, to the pillow, to a pot holder Jesse had made in first grade, all the way across Kate's side of the room. Following my mother's footsteps was the surest way out.

Like most novels I believe it to be far superior to the movie. This being said I have not watched the movie. However it is like reading a love note. You can take it in personally and envision what each sentence means or evokes to you as the reader. The movie stamps the directors vision as to the physical attributes of a character, pushes side story drama into the forefront, and presents sensory overload with music and scenery.

These Is My Words

by Nancy Turner


LOVED IT.

Devoured it.

Will be mailing it to Todd to have him read it, but with the caveat that he MUST mail it back when he's done so I can keep it on the bookshelf.

Plan to read it again. I hardly ever do that. Only with the really good ones.

Adventure. Romance. Raw emotion.

One of the best books I've read in years.

Wow.

Tuck Everlasting

by Natalie Babbitt.Tuck Everlasting is a really sweet story. It is. Its a delight to read. If you're typically a fast reader you could probably read it in 2-3 hours. Just short and simple.

I enjoyed it until I got to the end. My issue is that is just ends! The story is flowing along, and then wham! The last chapter takes place a lifetime after the previous one, without any explanation or insight. I was left wondering about everything that had happened in the interim, and why certain characters chose the way they did. The closest thing I can compare it to is a creative writing assignment for a college course---you have an idea, you flesh it out, things are coursing along and suddenly you realize you've almost hit your page limit so you hurriedly wrap things up. That is what the ending reminded me of. I was in a bad mood for 3 days because of it.

I need to learn not to let books bother me so much.

***
Winnie Foster meets a family one day who claim to be immortal. She has to decide whether to protect their secret, and whether she would like to join their status or keep her own mortality.

Inkspell

by Cornelia Funke.

I read this as soon as I could after reading Inkheart....but I was kind of disappointed. Mainly because the book really sets up the third and last installment instead of wrapping its own storylines up nice and tidy. I really got to like Dustfinger, a character brought to life from a book in Inkheart, during this story. You really see him as a rounded character. In fact, I would venture to say that the majority of this book is more centered around him than around Mo, Meggie, Elinor, and Resa.

After reading Inkheart and Inkspell so close together I have noticed the author's foreshadowing style is a bit predictable, and I guessed correctly what happened in the 3rd book, according to wikipedia. (I just don't have the time to read it, and there are a few plot spins that make me not want to read it too so I cheated by reading the synopsis on wikipedia. Hey, I still wanted to know how she ended it!)

Plus, I have to admit that a close associate warned me over the weekend that the 3rd book was night and day different from the first book....so that kind of turned me off too. But I'm glad she warned me because after seeing the synopsis I would have been mad if I had spent a couple days reading it and was disappointed that what I wanted to happen didn't happen afterall.

Inkspell continues the adventures begun in Inkheart, only instead of having characters come out of books into the "real world" like in Inkheart, the characters enter the inkworld within the pages of the fictional Inkheart book in Inkspell.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

by Mark Haddon.

I read this book because I saw it recommended on a friend's facebook wall. Random, I know. But I googled it and thought it sounded interesting so I went and checked it out. This story is told from the point of view of an autistic boy, and the author has spent over a decade working with autistic and other special-needs children; this story is the result of many of his experiences.

I also was intrigued because my cousin is autistic, and as I read the story I could genuinely see some of my cousin's thought processes represented in the manner the story was told, and also the logic for behavior chain-reactions. There are a few F-bombs dropped along the way, just as a heads up.

Christopher is a boy who finds his neighbor's dog dead in the neighbor's front yard in the middle of the night. He is understandably upset, and when the neighbor comes outside she jumps to the conclusion that Christopher is the one who killed her dog. What follows is a narrative of events resulting from this initial incident.

Treasure Hunt for Free Books, gift certificates and more...

Dear Readers,

TWO GREAT PROMOTIONS,

31 CHANCES TO win free stuff!

This is real because I personally know the author Laurie LC Lewis and she sent me the link...

Happy Hunting!

Welcome to Our “Summer Treasure Hunt:

Dig for Clues and Win” Contest!-
Some friends and I have put together an exciting contest to kick off your summer! Beginning June 1st, we will be giving away a prize a day. That’s right: 30 days, 30 treasures! There should be something for everyone: romance, mystery, historical, contemporary, and young adult fiction; children’s picture books; a variety of non-fiction; and just to liven things up even more, we’ve included a few exciting non-book prizes: a free 30 page manuscript edit, for you aspiring authors out there; an e-bay gift certificate; and a gift-certificate for a Vinyl Expressions Quote.

How can you win one of these fabulous prizes? Follow the rules below:

SUMMER TREASURE HUNT RULES:
You can send in an entry for each day’s prize, or only for those prizes that strike your fancy. The rules are simple:
(1) Go to the website or blog indicated for each day, find the answer to the question for that day, then email the answer with your name and mailing address to jdipastena@yahoo.com.
(2) Please send a separate entry for each day and type the day you are entering in the subject line. (Such as: June Treasure Hunt, Day 1; June Treasure Hunt, Day 2, etc).
(3) Deadline for each day: Midnight PST
(4) The winner will be contacted and announced on the day following the deadline.
You do not have to wait until the designated day to enter. You can start sending in your entries right now, or begin entering at any point along the way. And check back here each day between June 2nd-July 1st to read the names of the winners.
If you have any questions, feel free to email Joyce DiPastena at jdipastena@yahoo.com.

And now…let the treasure hunt begin!
http://www.laurielclewis.com/promotions.html