Tom Jones

Ok, so I can't decide which novel of Sherlock to read so I want to change my vote to Tom Jones. It better be good, Joy.
What should our deadline be for having it read?

It's up to YOU!

I added a poll. We have until 4 on Thursday to decide.

Seriously?

NOBODY has any suggestions?

Come on people. Am I going to be the only one to vote on the poll as well?

Shout out!

If you aren't a member (Chris, Eric, blog stalkers) and want to join, let me know. Even if you just want to discuss the book-of-the-month, that's cool.

ALSO: Please make suggestions on what to read next. I'll compile a list of suggestions tomorrow, post a quick poll that will close Sunday and we can all start reading Monday.

Rachel out!

The Potato Book and Belong To Me

It's been a busy few weeks of reading for me. Since I last posted I read The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Society.

Hunger Games has been reviewed and so has Catching Fire (see the posts below. I added my rundown).

The "Potato Book" as I call it was excellent. It chronicled the aftermath of WWII for the people living on an island between the UK and France through nothing but letters and telegrams. Juliet is a journalist and Dawsey, a man who lives on the island, writes her because he found her name and address in a second hand book he bought. Juliet ends up going to the island and falls in love with the people there. The most poignant character of the book, Elizabeth, never writes a word or gets a chance to tell her side of the story but she is the character I fell in love with the most.

It was a great book, one that I want to read again and again.

Belong To Me by Marisa de los Santos. It is the sequel to Love Walked In (which I read back in July). It's a little slice of life book about a woman in living in suburbia. I didn't love it, didn't hate it. But it made me feel good and ended well enough.My spoiler free summary: Cornelia has just married a handsome oncologist and they are trying to have a baby. They move into a quaint little neighborhood full of people who could be extras on Desperate Housewives. She finds a good friend in a woman named Lake and an enemy in neighbor Piper. Let the fun begin.

Rachel's Rundown

Ok, I was horrified by the whole "fight to the death for entertainment value" premise of this book until I realized that, hello, humans have totally done this before. Gladiators (Russell Crowe). Granted, it wasn't as, um, organized or high tech as the HGs (great acronym, BTW), but the ability for humans to make death entertaining isn't new.
So, onto the annoyingly self depreciating Katniss. Oh honey, not since Bella have I seen such a whiny little snot who doesn't understand that it's not normal to have 2 good looking dudes be attracted to someone so unaware of said attraction AND still put up with her after she leads both dudes on. But the similarities stop there. Bella was a weakling (sorry Twilight fans) while Katniss is a really strong and genuinely on top of things person. I really liked how Katniss stepped in for her sister (If Jenn is reading I would have totally done that for you!). As for the whole "valuing life" thing I think the only people who really didn't value life were the people in the Capitol. They reminded me of the French Bourgeoisie who lived lavish lives while the poor around them suffered. I got the feeling that the districts weren't particularly fans of the HGs but that they went along with it because they were divided and powerless. Katniss found out more about the other districts while attempting to kill and not be killed by them than she ever knew before. How are they supposed to revolt if they don't even know where the other districts are?
Also, the tactics they used to keep people from complaining on camera have been used in so many POW situations. The whole "smile while I hold this gun up to your head" concept happens all the time, and I am sure it is still happening.
This book took a bunch of really crappy aspects of the way humans treat each other and made it into a depressing glimpes of a possible future. But I loved it. I think realizing that this is all possible really sucked me into this book. The ending was great, I would totally have eaten the berries.
I also read the second one and didn't like it as much. I hope the 3rd one is better. And I'm on Team Gale. I'm making a t-shirt tonight.

The Hunger Games - Joy's Review

I loved this book. Compared to other young adult books I feel this one is above and beyond the others. The author pulled me in and had me loving all of the characters. Even smelly Haymitch. The story is awesome. I read the book within 24 hours I was so entranced with it and then had to get my hands on Catching Fire.

It was so crazy for me to read that the kids form groups with one another, knowing that they would eventually have to kill the people they teamed up with. I don’t know that I could do that, or kill anyone for that matter. I suppose they were brought up differently and don’t value life as much as we do now? What kind of people would put together the hunger games for the entertainment of others? I tried to draw parallels of this with our society and when watching The Biggest Loser on Tuesday realized the book and show are very similar! They compete for one winner, and they are all starving for food. Hehe. A lot of America, including me will watch every Tuesday night to see how their competition has gone and who is getting “killed off” that week. The Hunger Games is The Biggest Loser on steroids.

I wish the third book would come out already!

HG - Kate's Thoughts

It probably goes without saying, but my thoughts here are packed with spoilers, so you have been warned...(this is my very first blogging experience EVER, so bear with me please!). I admit, when I heard that we were reading HG, I was not pleased about the selection because I don't like sci-fi-type books. And I thought the first couple of chapters were irritating and frustrating to read - I was definitly not "hooked." But I was really surprised to discover that after the first few chapters, the book sucked me in and I actually LOVED reading it. I could identify with the main character and, although I HATE sappy romances (in books, movies, whatever), I actually wanted her to end up with dough-boy. :)

I also liked the messages in the book, and the idea of how society/laws/culture can really shape the way people act. Can force them to do things they never would have done otherwise. I'm not homicidal, but forced into a similar situation, I would kill to save my own life too. The book does a fantastic job of underscoring the power dynamics of society that are all too real (rich vs poor...powerful vs powerless). And I'm so used to my own reality that I first thought "hunger games? seriously, that's not realistic" but then I think about the things our governments and others have done and are doing, and I realize the book might not be so fantastical after all.

So, now I'm left wondering, do I read book 2? I'm satisified with book 1 because they won the HG's, but what is the attraction to read book 2? To find out if she picks dough-boy or her old hunting buddy? To see if the government will punish her, her family, or district 12 for showing them up? To learn whether her father actually died or is still alive? Or maybe that her father was murdered by the government as part of some kind of conspiracy? I could go on an on with ideas for book 2, although I'm not sure I'll read it. I'm curious to hear other's reactions to book 1 though...

Hunger Games Run Down

Ok, who finished it? What did you think?

Catching Fire...

Chris and I are both reading Catching Fire (the sequel to The Hunger Games). I am about 100 pages ahead of him, but we both wanted to read last night. This is how it went down... me on the right, him on the left, both holding their respective side of the book. haha!