The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins
Narrated by Carolyn McCormick
Genre: YA, Science Fiction, Dystopia
Publisher: Scholastic Audio Books
Publish Date: October 1, 2008
Format: Unabridged CD, 11 hours|14 minutes
Rating: 5 of 5
Unless you’ve been living under the proverbial rock, you’ve already read The Hunger Games or are at the very least familiar with the plot.
In the future, the dystopian world of Panem, formerly North America, is ruled by The Capitol, a wealthy district who’s residents live in luxury. At some point in the past, the twelve outlying districts rebelled against The Capitol and were defeated. They are now forced to live in poverty with barely enough food to survive and little hope for the future as punishment. Each year one boy and one girl from each district are chosen to compete in The Hunger Games, a fight to the death, where the winner receives food for their district and is honored as a hero.
A year and a half ago I was musing about how I thought perhaps it was time to read The Hunger Games since Mockingjay, the third book in the series, had just been released to rave reviews. I love science-fiction and this was just the type of book I would be standing in line to purchase when I was a teen. So what was I waiting for? I was waiting until the trilogy was complete, or at least the other books were in progress, before allowing myself to get hooked on a series as I’d been burned by uncompleted trilogies before.
And then I procrastinated and until recently, still hadn’t read the book. So, what prompted me to finally read it? The movie! It is opening today and I wanted to experience the book first. The publicity surrounding it will be huge. The second reason was the Magical March Challenge, to read and review works of Fantasy and Science-Fiction. It was just the nudge I needed.
The book lived up to its reputation. While the theme of a fight to the death is an old one, I found it to be timely, fresh and interesting. The competition is a live, televised event like today’s reality shows. Participants need to obtain sponsors who provide food and medical drops if they are to survive.
Our hero, Katniss Everdeen, is female, unlike most scifi stories which generally feature a male lead character. She’s a fighter and knows how to use a bow and arrow, hunt, and survive. Not only is she strong and smart, she’s a strategist and knows how to align herself with other player to get ahead in The Games. Katniss also has a tender side as we see the beginnings of a romance.
When I first read about this book I thought, oh no, another violent book aimed at teens. Instead I found Katniss to be a leader, a role model for young women and a story with enough action that the boys will enjoy it too. There’s action, adventure and excitement, enough to keep even non-readers reading.
I listened to audio book which was pleasantly read by Carolyn McCormick and was easy to listen to. I would recommend the audio to all audiences and this would be a good one to try for those new to the audio experience.
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Source: Public library
Walter’s Muse
by Jean Davies Okimoto
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Endicott & Hugh Books
Publish Date: February 1, 2012
Format: Paperback | 285 pages
Rating: 4 of 5
“Where did the time go?”, Maggie Lewis asked herself. It seemed like it was only yesterday that her daughter was a toddler and would climb in bed with her and her husband. But that was years ago, another life.
Now at age 65 Maggie has long since divorced, her daughter is grown up, and she has retired from her job as an elementary school librarian. Starting a new chapter in her life, she is looking forward to long summer days of unstructured time spent reading, walking on the beach, kayaking and just doing whatever she wants.
After an early summer storm hits, Maggie’s plans make a sudden change. Her neighbor, Walter, is injured when the wind blows down a solar panel and he lands in the hospital for a few days. She offers her assistance which develops into a romance she wasn’t anticipating. Maggie and Walter have a previous history together. As their story unfolds they put the past behind them and their friendship blossoms.
Meanwhile Maggie’s needy, self-absorbed, wealthy younger sister invites herself for a visit. The contrast in the sisters highlighted one of the key themes in the story, that it’s ok to be yourself and that getting old isn’t so bad. Maggie accepts this stage of her life, she embraces it, while her sister is all about looking and acting young, knowing the right people and driving a fancy car.
I liked Maggie. When she would get stressed out she would relax by curling up with a good book, a glass of wine and some chocolates. I could easily picture her doing this in her cottage on Vashon Island, where the novel is set. The author herself lives on the island and from her descriptive prose we can visualize the small town feel, the farmer’s market, the lush gardens, the beaches and the beauty of the area.
This was an enjoyable story about relationships, starting over and second chances. It is told with wit and humor and has an engaging cast of characters.
About Jean Davies Okimoto
Jean Davies Okimoto is an author and playwright whose books and short stories have been translated into Japanese, Italian, Chinese, Korean, German and Hebrew. She is the recipient of numerous awards including Smithsonian Notable Book, the American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults, the Washington Governor’s Award, and the International Reading Association Readers Choice Award. Her picture book, Blumpoe the Grumpoe Meets Arnold the Cat was adapted by Shelly Duvall for the HBO and Showtime television series “Bedtime Stories.” She has appeared on CNN, Oprah and The Today Show. Jeanie began writing for adults when she and her husband Joe retired to Vashon Island in 2004 where they are visited by deer, a raccoon named George who is missing a tail, and their seven grandchildren.
Visit Jean’s website.
Complete Tour Schedule
Giveaway
If you would like a chance to win a copy of Walter’s Muse 
- Leave a comment by Monday, April 2nd
- Giveaway is open to addresses in US and Canada only
- Winner will be notified by email and will have 48 hours to respond with a mailing address.
[Contest now closed]
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Source: Thanks to TLC and the publisher for providing a review copy.
Apple Tree on Sunday 3/18
Apple Tree on Tuesday 3/20
Almost Wordless: This is the apple tree in my back yard, the one the blog is named for. We are having the warmest spring in Chicago’s history. The tree is budding about 2 weeks early and at an exponential rate.
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More Wordless Wednesday.
Welcome to the Spring Cleaning Giveaway.
I’ve spent the last few weeks rearranging my office, moving books and shelves around, donating old books to the upcoming library sale, and sorting through review copies that I know I will never read. This giveaway is open to US addresses only, next month’s giveaway will be international.
My Giveaway
Winner’s choice from the books pictured below.
A Journal for Jordan: A Story of Love and Honor by Dana Canedy
Lost Boy: The True Story of One Man’s Exile from a Polygamist Cult by Brent W. Jeffs
Confections of a Closet Master Baker by Gesine Bullock-Prado
Bearers of the Black Staff (Legends of Shannara #1) by Terry Brooks (ARC)
K2: Life and Death on the World’s Most Dangerous Mountain by Ed Viesturs
Core of Conviction: My Story by Michele Bachmann (Audiobook)
How to Enter
- Contest is open to those with an address in US only, age 13 or older.
- To enter, fill out the form below. You don’t have to be a follower or subscriber to enter, but new followers are always appreciated.
- For an extra entry, tweet the giveaway. Be sure to put the URL to the tweet on the form. (Click on the time stamp link of the tweet and copy the URL that appears in the address bar.)
- The deadline for entry is midnight, March 25th. I will draw one random winner who will be contacted by email and will have 48 hours to respond with a mailing address and choice of book.
Before you leave, check the sidebar for some more great giveaways. Then hop over to one of the many other participating blogs in the Spring Cleaning Hop. Click HERE for a list.
[Contest has now ended]
Mailbox Monday was created by The Printed Page. It is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their home last week.
Mailbox Monday is currently on tour, hosted by a different blog each month. The March host is Anna of Diary of an Eccentric.
From Doubleday for review:
The Paris Directive
by Gerald Jay
In a Berlin hotel room in the late 1990s, two former French intelligence agents hire Klaus Reiner, a ruthlessly effective hit man, to eliminate an American industrialist vacationing in the Dordogne, in southwestern France. Reiner easily locates his target in the small village of Taziac, but the hit is compromised when three innocent people are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Enter Inspector Paul Mazarelle, formerly of Paris but now living in Taziac, charged with bringing his experience and record of success in the capital to bear on the gruesome quadruple homicide at the height of tourist season.
A Literary Blog Hop win from Tze-Wen at Always Cooking Up Something:
Shades of Grey
by Jasper Fforde
As long as anyone can remember, society has been ruled by a Colortocracy. From the underground feedpipes that keep the municipal park green to the healing hues viewed to cure illness to a social hierarchy based upon one’s limited color perception, society is dominated by color. In this world, you are what you can see. Part satire, part romance, part revolutionary thriller, this is the new world from the creative and comic genius of Jasper Fforde.
From the publicist for review:
A Godsend: A Love Story for Grown-ups
by Dalma Heyn and Richard Marek
Does love as we once knew it still exist? In our age of Twitter, Match.com. texting, sexting, iPhones and Facebook, can two adults – he a West Coast book anthologist, she a Vermont maple sugar farmer – fall in love the old-fashioned way, through meeting, attraction, lust, adversity, resolution?
How was your week?
Several readers have told me know they are having problems leaving comments today. I’m not sure what changes WordPress has made, but a quick look at the support site tells me I’m not the only one and no one seems to have an answer. One suggestion was to log in using Twitter.
I do not require anyone to register or log in to leave a comment. If you can’t leave a comment I can be reached by email. If you are entering the giveaway, the email will count as an entry.
While we’re on the topic of hosting with WordPress I’d like to mention that the awful advertisements that have been appearing on my blog are not my doing. Until recently I didn’t even know they were there. Apparently it’s in the TOS somewhere that I agree to this and I missed it. A big reason I missed it is because the ads are not visible when I am logged in to my account. Anyone else see any of these ads?
On a positive note, Bloggiesta is happening in a few weeks and I am going to use the opportunity to research webhosts and eventually move to my own site.
The Good Father
by Noah Hawley
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Doubleday
Publish Date: March 20, 2012
Format: Hardback | 320 pages
Rating: 4½ of 5
Dr. Paul Allen’s idyllic life with his wife and young children is shattered when his son from a previous marriage is accused of assassinating a presidential candidate at a rally in downtown Los Angeles.
The evidence against his son, Daniel, is strong. There are witnesses, there is video and his son doesn’t deny the charges. But as a father he cannot believe his son would do such a thing. There must be some other explanation. Perhaps his son is involved in a conspiracy or is taking the blame for someone else. Whatever it is, he is going to discover the truth. But at what cost?
We alternate between the point of view of the father and the son. As we hear from each of them it soon becomes apparent that Paul didn’t know his son at all. He had no idea how a child felt when his parents were divorced and lived on opposite sides of the country. How it felt to be shipped back and forth between two homes and feeling like no one was there for you.
This is an emotional read. After the shooting, Paul is ostracized by society. Even his friends act as if what happened was a result of something he did wrong. We experience Paul’s growing feelings of guilt, his need to prove his son is innocent in spite of Daniel’s unwillingness to cooperate and finally his need to be a good father to his son. At the same time he struggles to not let his obsessive behavior ruin his relationship with his wife and children.
Interspersed between Paul and Daniel’s stories are case studies on other famous killers such as John Wilkes Booth, Sirhan Sirhan, Lynette ‘Squeaky’ Fromme, Sarah Jane Moore, and Charles Whitman to name a few. Paul spent many hours researching other assassins in an effort to understand what happened with his son. I’m not sure this added much to our understanding of Daniel, but I did find the cases fascinating and interesting reading.
This was an engaging story of a father’s determination to understand what went wrong. It is an easy read and within the first few chapters I was completely absorbed. It is a book you won’t want to put down as the suspense builds. Did Daniel act alone, and if he did, why? The ending is both touching and at the same time, satisfactory.
About the Author
Noah Hawley is an American film and television producer, screenwriter, composer, and author. He wrote and produced the television series Bones (2005-present) and also created The Unusuals (2009) and My Generation (2010). Hawley also wrote the screenplay for the film Lies and Alibis (2006) starring Steve Coogan and Rebecca Romijn.
Noah is the author of three novels including A Conspiracy of Tall Men, Other People’s Weddings and The Punch. He has a fourth novel coming out spring 2012.
Giveaway Information
The publisher has generously offered two copies for giveaway.
- Contest is open to those with an address in the US only.
- To enter leave a comment. It is not necessary to be a subscriber or follower to enter but new subscribers are always welcome.
- The deadline for entry is Tuesday, April 3rd. I will draw two random winners. They will be contacted by email and have 48 hours to respond with a mailing address.
Under My Apple Tree 