By the way, all pictures are courtesy of Amazon. Head over there and check out the reviews before you decide to buy or rent.
I did venture out to adult books *gasp* with the reading of To My Dearest Friends by Patricia Volk. This was a spontaneous grab at the library and it proved enjoyable.
Review“To My Dearest Friends has an irresistible premise: Two weeks after Roberta ‘Bobbi’ Bloom dies, her lawyer calls her two best friends, Alice Vogel and Nanny Wunderlich, to his office. Why? Because Bobbi has given them keys to a safety deposit box. And now the lawyer has a letter for them from Bobbi. Alice and Nanny–who have nothing in common but their friendship with the deceased–go to the bank. In the box, they find another letter. A love letter. To Bobbi. Undated. With no further instructions. . . . Obviously, Alice and Nanny can’t agree what to do next. But in the course of not agreeing they have reasons to get together. And we get two treats along the way: wonderfully sharp dialogue and observations, and a quick but deep look into the lives of two New York women. . . . I hoovered this book in an evening. . . . How does it turn out? With a fantastic surprise. . . . To My Dearest Friends is an addictive urban adventure story. Nancy Drew for the post-menopausal. Chick-lit for grown-up chicks. And, just maybe, the first novel about New York women to ring a bell for readers in the ‘burbs since The Devil Wore Prada. You don’t have to be 50-plus to enjoy To My Dearest Friends. Or even a woman. You just have to like ‘smart.’”–Jesse Kornbluth, HeadButler.com
My family thanks me for finishing this next book because most of them were ignored while I was reading it. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins was gripping, disturbing, and too close to reality. However, the story was impossible to put down and I devoured the pages, determined to know the ending. As I turned the last few pages, I started to realize there was no way the book could end this simply and, of course, it couldn't. I understand this is to be a trilogy. The 2nd book is available for pre-order on Amazon.
How can I explain the plot? I guess I will say picture a North America in the distant future. It 's hard to tell how far because, and this is the the disturbing part, it could be closer than we think. In this new North America, there are 13 Districts controlled by 1 capital.
(from Entertainment Weekly)
As negative Utopias go, Suzanne Collins has created a dilly. The United States is gone. North America has become Panem, a TV-dominated dictatorship run from a city called the Capitol. The rest of Panem is divided into 12 Districts (the former 13th had the bad judgment to revolt and no longer exists). The yearly highlight in this nightmare world is the Hunger Games, a bloodthirsty reality TV show in which 24 teenagers chosen by lottery two from each District fight each other in a desolate environment called the ''arena.'' The winner gets a life of ease; the losers get death. The only ''unspoken rule'' is that you can't eat the dead contestants. Let's see the makers of the movie version try to get a PG-13 on this baby.
I have only muddied the waters as to what this book is about but I will say it is worth your read even if the plot does have striking similarity to other books (1984, Animal Farm, "The Lottery")
5 comments:
The Hunger Games was great wasn't it?! I loved it but was so dissapointed it was a series. I had reviewed this one a while back but you did a much better job.
Recently I have read "The Shack" and am now half-way through "She's Come Undone". I need to do a post on "The Shack". It was a very interesting read.
I read The Shack also but was not impressed. I had heard great reviews but, truthfully, it disturbed me. Maybe it was the part about what happened to the little girl that bothered me so much.
Agreed - and I was overly impressed either. I just thought it was an interesting concept and I loved how they described the relationship within the trinity and how it can all relate back to us.
Sorry, I meant to say I WASN'T overly impressed either. (I really need to start proof reading these things BEFORE I hit enter)
Its fun to read your reviews, because this isn't the genre that I read at all. To be honest, I'd never even heard of these books. I'm sure I'll know more about them as my children begin to read some of these books, or these types of books.
I haven't been reading anything for pleasure lately. Grace has been completely enthralled with the American Girl series, and we are currently reading the Molly Series (World War I). I am learning a lot from them. We also throw in a Junie B. Jones book whenever possible because Claire loves them too.
I need to get back to reading some of my grown-up books, but I haven't had the energy lately. I'm glad you updated, though.
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