Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I have an abnormal relationship with books. Yes, books. Give me a good book, some coffee, and a free day and I am utterly content. But it doesn’t stop there. I read an average of three books a week. I don’t know how I do it, but for some reason I find more to read and the time to do it.

The reason I say abnormal is due to the fact that if I get on a really good book (I mean one that you just can’t help but turn the pages to find out what happens next), I will keep reading it until I am finished, no matter how tired I feel. So I loose sleep, I get up cranky (my own fault), and rush to get to work.

This has happened only a few times. But in the past week it has happened twice. Once with Perfect Fifths and now Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I got the book a few months ago, but kept putting it off to the side because it was a very sci-fi book. I have never really been into that kind of thing. But it was recommended to me by so many people that I thought why not pick it up the next shopping try to Barnes and Noble.

Since I finished Perfect Fifths in one sitting, I had to find something else to read during my lunch hour and before I went to bed at night. So I pick up Hunger Games and proceeded to read. From page one I was hooked. No lie. Her writing is so compelling that you really feel like this could happen.

It is basically about a girl named Katniss who is only 16 years old, living with her mother and sister in Panem, what used to be the United States. They are now divided up into 12 districts. There used to be 13 until waged war on the Capitol and were defeated, loosing district 13 forever. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, “The Hunger Games” that are from the ages of 12-18. The game is televised and it mandatory for all to watch. The rules are simple; kill or be killed – last one standing is the winner.

Katniss takes the place of her younger sister, who is called to participate. Her teammate Peeta and she have only one hour to say goodbye to their loved ones before leaving for the Capitol, and possibly never seeing them again.

Once they reach the Capitol they get trained, poked, stared at, and picked apart. Immediately Katniss realizes that she has to become someone else, fit in to this mold of who people expect her to be, so she can survive. Peeta wants to make sure they don’t turn him into something else and maintain who he is and what he stands for throughout the game. They sort of form a small friendship, which makes Katniss uneasy – she is supposed to kill him in the end.

When the Hunger Games start she is fighting to find herself, fighting to stay with her humanity, and fighting for her life. The Gamemasters throw in curve balls left and right, until her life depends on Peeta and their pretend ‘love’.

I’m not going into much else, because I don’t want to give away the action. This book leaves you hanging at the end of every single chapter, making you want more. The end is no different. This is where I found out it is book one in the series (I had no idea it was even a series. That part kind of pissed me off).

This book really makes you take a step back and look at our society. It could happen to us, the government coming in and controlling every aspect of every part of our lives. (Not now, maybe not even in our lifetime, but eventually). It may not be to that extreme where you have to enter a game to the death, but you get my point. It has happened in other parts of the country, but not ours – yet.

I love this book for the way it is written and how it really makes you think. If you love sci-fi books (or not, you may be surprised) you will fall in love with Katniss and her fight to keep her humanity yet trying to stay alive for her sister.

Now, everyone get up, go to your nearest book store, and pick it up. You will not be let down. I promise you.

Perfect Fifths by Megan McCafferty

As most of you know I am a wee bit of a read-aholic. Well, I have been reading up a storm lately and yesterday was no exception. I have been waiting for a while (4 months to be exact but who’s counting) for the book Perfect Fifths by Megan McCafferty to come out. Well, it came out on Tuesday, but I was too busy to pick it up.

Well, on my way home from work yesterday I just happened to drive by Barnes and Noble (no surprise there because I have to drive by it every day, twice a day – very dangerous). I walked in, grabbed the book and high tailed it out of there, making sure to keep my blinders up at all times so I don’t buy anything else.

I got home and proceeded to read. And read. And read. Then before I knew it, it was 3 am and I was done with the book. Hubby was fast asleep and the dog was sprawled out on the floor.

But it was so worth it!

It is the last book in the series and it really lived up to everything that it needed to be. Nothing overly done. Nothing had a great finality to it. Just right.

In this book Jessica and Marcus are at an airport. Jessica is on her way to her friends wedding and Marcus is coming back from some volunteer work in New Orleans. She literally bangs into him. They both want to talk, but she is late. So late that by the time she gets to the gate the plan is leaving. The meeting shakes them both up and makes them start thinking about questions they should have asked, something they should have said, wanting more. Well, Marcus gets in trouble for loitering and gets rescued by Jessica. They decided to sit down at a coffee shop and talk, about everything, and yet nothing. At least not the words that truly need to be said. Eventually you learn about what both have done for over the past three years and how much they have changed and stayed the same. You also learn about all the other minor characters. But most importantly you learn how much their attraction for each other and love is still very strong between them, no matter how much they try to fight it.

Like I said I couldn’t put the book down. I was engrossed in it from page one. I had to keep turning the page to see what would happen next, which character I would learn about next. I loved that Megan wrote things from Macus’s point of veiw. I finally got to see what made Marcus tick, see how he really looked at Jessica, and why he says cryptic messages without really trying.

I also LOVED the haiku section. Some people may not, but you really got to see them opening up to each other more; Marcus’s funny and care free side, and Jessica’s cynical and analytical side.

Overall I was extremely pleased with everything. However, I wanted more at the end. Maybe a confirmation that they will stay together this time. Or showing that Marcus bought that ticket to the Virgin Islands and he is going with her. Something! But then again it might be my own longing to want more. More from these two characters that I have related to.

If you have never read the Jessica Darling Series, you must. If you love chick lit books or something that you really can relate to, this is the perfect book for you. I could relate to her completely. She grew up in a small town with friends she didn’t like, with her best friend moving away. She thought life was horrible there, nothing to do, or anyway way out. Then Marcus comes into the picture, the bad boy. The boy you know you should stay as far away from as possible, but you just seem drawn to them. (Just like me!!) Their relationship goes back and forth for years, after graduation in 2002 to her going off to Columbia University in NY, and finally after. The whole time you are reading Jessica’s diary.

It is awesome coming of age book. (It is not a Young Adult novel. So you don’t have to feel weird reading it in public.)

The Other Boleyn Girl

I loved this book so much.  It had mystery, betrayal, history, sex, and violence.  Everything to make a book an amazing piece of work.  I really could not stop turning the pages to find out what happened next.  Not only did the plot captivate my attention, but also the amount of history it held. 

 I learned so much from reading this book. I learned about the role women played during King Henry VIII’s rule.  I have to tell you, I would never want to be them.  Having to do what ever your family tells you to do, so they can move up in the later of hierarchy is a sickening thought.

 Everyone knows about Anne Boylen, Elizabeth’s mother.  But few know much about Mary Boylen, the Kings lover before Anne.  Mary was married at the age of 13 and was then forced to become the King’s lover at the age of 14.  With Anne and George, her siblings, showing her what to do and how to do it, she was able to bear two children with the King.

 However, during Mary’s second pregnancy Anne is told by the family that she is to try to capture the King’s attention for he seems to have lost interest in Mary.  Mary is then told to back down and help Anne by any means possible, even what he likes in the bedroom. 

 Throughout Anne’s conquest of King Henry’s attention/affection, Mary visits her children regularly and becomes disgusted with all politics of the court and tries to get away.  But Anne keeps summoning her back because of pregnancies or problems at court.

The whole book has twists and turns and insight into how life was like for them.  I would recomend with book to anyone who loves the Tudor era in history or anything about Queen Elizabeth I. 

I can’t wait to read the next one in her series – The Queen’s Fool.   About the Queen Mary’s fool.