Sometimes, I have no self control and I stay up really late reading books. This used to occur a lot over the summer with some sort of romance novel (usually Nora Roberts). Last night (a 'work' night) it happened with a young adult book, The Hunger Games. It's your average story line where boy meets girl, boy likes girl, girl has no idea, and boy and girl get chosen to participate in a government organized fight to the death match with 22 other kids. Whoa! Seriously?
I got into bed at 11 thinking I would read a couple of chapters (for book club A) and go to sleep. Four and a half hours later, I'm finishing the book and wishing it were September 1st so I could buy the sequel, Catching Fire. The Hunger Games was a sweet surprise of a book (and is so popular, they are already in movie talks despite the fact that the second book has not been released yet). At first, I thought the writing style was somewhat juvenile, but I made myself get over that and fell into the plot. It moves surprisingly fast and you easily get caught up in the excitement of the games.
Katniss and her younger sister Primrose live in the 12th district of a futuristic America. There are 13 districts, each with a special product or talent. District 12 is a coal mining district. The thirteenth district was destroyed by the capital for organizing an uprising. Since then, the Hunger Games have occurred. Starting at age 12, every boy and girl puts their name in a drawing, increasing in amount each year till the age of 18 when the name goes in 7 times. The lottery is cumulative so the name is actually in there 28 times. A boy and a girl from each district are chosen to participate in a fight to the death to earn glory and prizes for his or her district. Similar to reality tv gone bad, the games are broadcast for every citizen to watch. The story begins with Prim's first lottery. Her name is chosen, but Katniss steps in for her and heads to the games with a boy named Peeta. The games that ensue are violent, scary, and surreal. Not to ruin the plot, but with two books following this one, it is obvious that our heroine Katniss lives through the games.
I wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone who needs a fast, easy, and fun read. Just be careful, it'll leave you begging for more!
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
The Time Traveler's Wife
I have a confession. I am in three book clubs. Yes, three! It all started out when I learned I was staying in Winston-Salem after a 6 month training program. I had hoped to move to Charleston (SC) where my fiance is in med school, but the fates were against me, so in WS I stayed. Some of the guys I work with were also staying in WS, and they let me know about a book club their wives had started. So now I was in book club A. Maybe a month later, some of the girls I know from the training program approached me about their book club. I thought, what the heck!? I'm in a town where I may know 10 people tops...this is a great way to have a social life since the fiance is 4.5 hours away. Now I'm in book club B. The last book club is my favorite (sorry A and B!). There is a kitchen store/catering business not five minutes from my home. The owner's father is a pretty famous chef. Chef Don McMillan has cooked for several famous people (Maya Angelou, Oprah, Julia Child to name a few) and now teaches classes at The Stocked Pot. One of the series of classes is a book club where he chooses a book that has some aspect of cooking in it and then plans a menu for a class around the book. So now I am in book club C.
Wow, to make a short story long, I read The Time Traveler's Wife for book club A. I had seen the preview for the movie at the theater and fell in love. I was really pleased when book club A decided to read the book for the month of August (as well as The Hunger Games, but that will be a later post). The book did not disappoint. I was fairly confused the first couple of chapters, but I eventually got into the plot and fell in love with the characters. I am anxious to see how they are portrayed on the big screen. I had minor issues keeping up with the time travel issues; for example Henry at 40 something will visit child Clare so then in their 20's she'll know something about him that hasn't happened yet. Anyway, it's trivial when you consider the story is about their life together. It's a very moving story, and despite some slightly vulgar phrases (not that I'm a prude), I would recommend this book to EVERYONE!!! I only hope the rest of A enjoyed is like I did. I'll find out next Thursday.
9/1/09
I've decided, looking back on this post, that I need to do more summarizing of the book reviews, so here is my feeble attempt:
Henry is a time-traveler (hence the title). He meets Clare at the age of 28 (she's 20) in the library where he works. She knows who he is because when he is older, he visits her in the meadow near her childhood home throughout her childhood. They eventually get married and Clare struggles with the seemingly constant absence of her husband. They struggle to have a baby and experience continuous miscarriages due to the baby traveling out of the womb. Eventually, Henry figures out how he dies, and it's just a countdown till that day. The bittersweet part of it is that sometimes he travels outside his lifetime and spends time with Alba. He also sees Clare again as an older woman.
Trouble I had with the story:
1. Would they really have ended up together? She only talks to him at the library because he visited her later in his life when she was a child. He only visits her as a child because she's in his adult life. Circular logic?
2. Clare only gets 15 true years with Henry, and he even disappears during that time. Is 15 years enough after waiting her whole childhood and then having the rest of your life to live without him!? Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all? Or: Ignorance is bliss?
Things I loved about the book:
1. Henry still gets to spend time with Alba and see her grow up through traveling.
2. Clare's absolute faith and love of Henry perseveres even through the hard times and knowing his end comes too soon.
3. Clare trying to house-hunt and Henry turning them all down until he finds the one he's already seen from time-traveling. I wish I could find a house that way!
Wow, to make a short story long, I read The Time Traveler's Wife for book club A. I had seen the preview for the movie at the theater and fell in love. I was really pleased when book club A decided to read the book for the month of August (as well as The Hunger Games, but that will be a later post). The book did not disappoint. I was fairly confused the first couple of chapters, but I eventually got into the plot and fell in love with the characters. I am anxious to see how they are portrayed on the big screen. I had minor issues keeping up with the time travel issues; for example Henry at 40 something will visit child Clare so then in their 20's she'll know something about him that hasn't happened yet. Anyway, it's trivial when you consider the story is about their life together. It's a very moving story, and despite some slightly vulgar phrases (not that I'm a prude), I would recommend this book to EVERYONE!!! I only hope the rest of A enjoyed is like I did. I'll find out next Thursday.
9/1/09
I've decided, looking back on this post, that I need to do more summarizing of the book reviews, so here is my feeble attempt:
Henry is a time-traveler (hence the title). He meets Clare at the age of 28 (she's 20) in the library where he works. She knows who he is because when he is older, he visits her in the meadow near her childhood home throughout her childhood. They eventually get married and Clare struggles with the seemingly constant absence of her husband. They struggle to have a baby and experience continuous miscarriages due to the baby traveling out of the womb. Eventually, Henry figures out how he dies, and it's just a countdown till that day. The bittersweet part of it is that sometimes he travels outside his lifetime and spends time with Alba. He also sees Clare again as an older woman.
Trouble I had with the story:
1. Would they really have ended up together? She only talks to him at the library because he visited her later in his life when she was a child. He only visits her as a child because she's in his adult life. Circular logic?
2. Clare only gets 15 true years with Henry, and he even disappears during that time. Is 15 years enough after waiting her whole childhood and then having the rest of your life to live without him!? Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all? Or: Ignorance is bliss?
Things I loved about the book:
1. Henry still gets to spend time with Alba and see her grow up through traveling.
2. Clare's absolute faith and love of Henry perseveres even through the hard times and knowing his end comes too soon.
3. Clare trying to house-hunt and Henry turning them all down until he finds the one he's already seen from time-traveling. I wish I could find a house that way!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Prologue
Where to begin.... It was the best of times and it was the worst of times...no, that won't work. It is a truth universally acknowledged...nope. Ok, seriously...I had the idea to create a blog like this after reading/seeing Julie and Julia. No offense to Julie, I wasn't wild about the book, but I absolutely ADORED the movie. This is mainly because I adore both Amy Adams and Meryl Streep. Anyway, not the point. I thought it was so cool that Julie was able to take something she cared about and become crazy famous from it, not that that's my goal with this, because honestly, who would want to watch a movie about reading books, but now I'm getting ahead of myself. Julie wanted to make something of herself and used her love of cooking to do it. I want to share a part of myself, and because I'm no great cook, I decided to share my love of reading.
I have always loved to read. My mom never had to force me to read as a child. In fact, the title of the blog is inspired from a bookmark I had as a kid with Longfellow's quote: "The love of learning, the sequestered nooks,and all the sweet serenity of books." I've always looked at reading that way, as a way to escape the world with a good story.
So now, I want to share with the world, or that small handful of friends who will read this blog because they love me, the books I read. I hope to share a book a week that I've read. This shouldn't be too hard since I'm in two book clubs and attend a really neat cooking/class book club every once in a while. I'd also like your opinions on books and possible suggestions for future reads.
So in the infamous words of LeVar Burton..."I'll see you next time."
(Reading Rainbow people!!!!)
I have always loved to read. My mom never had to force me to read as a child. In fact, the title of the blog is inspired from a bookmark I had as a kid with Longfellow's quote: "The love of learning, the sequestered nooks,and all the sweet serenity of books." I've always looked at reading that way, as a way to escape the world with a good story.
So now, I want to share with the world, or that small handful of friends who will read this blog because they love me, the books I read. I hope to share a book a week that I've read. This shouldn't be too hard since I'm in two book clubs and attend a really neat cooking/class book club every once in a while. I'd also like your opinions on books and possible suggestions for future reads.
So in the infamous words of LeVar Burton..."I'll see you next time."
(Reading Rainbow people!!!!)
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