The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Good evening fellow book nerds! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

For tonight's blog posting, I bring you The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. My friend Jessica lent me this book pleading with me to read it so she would have someone to discuss it with. Well, I was happy to oblige, as always. I had heard about the book here and there and was interested in reading it anyway. Jessica assured me I would love it and she definitely didn't lie.

The Hunger Games is book one in a trilogy. (What is it with me and trilogies lately? I believe I am at various stages of at least three different trilogies at the moment.) The books take place in a future dystopian society called Panem which is located in what used to be North America. Panem's capitol city - aptly named The Capitol - is located somewhere in the Rockies. The Capitol is surrounded by twelve districts which seem to get poorer and bleaker the farther away from the Capitol the district is positioned.

Our heroine, Katniss Everdeen, lives in District 12. District 12 is located in what used to be Appalachia and nothing has changed much in Appalachia. Everyone is still dirt poor and the main industry is coal mining. Katniss lives with her mother and little sister, Primrose. Her father died in a mine explosion when she was quite young leaving Katniss as the family's sole provider. She hunts everyday in the forest surrounding District 12 in order to feed her family, even though it is punishable by death. In other words, Katniss can take care of herself.

When we meet Katniss, she is preparing for the annual reaping. We come to find out that each year the Capitol stages a kind of lottery in each district called the reaping. Every child between the ages of 12 and 18 are required to enter his or her name in the reaping. At age 12, your name is entered once. At age 13, twice and so on. Any child may also chose to add his or her name to the reaping additional times in exchange for tesserae (a year's supply of grain and oil for one person). And these additional entries are also cumulative. Because of this, poor children's names are entered into the reaping many more times than wealthy kids and therefore have a much better chance of being chosen in the reaping.

This brings us to the purpose of the reaping. Two children's names are drawn each year from each district - one boy and one girl. These children, called tributes, are then sent on to the Capitol to compete in The Hunger Games. The Capitol created the games as a reminder to the districts to toe the line or else. You see, the games consist of the tributes being thrown together into an enormous terror dome and fighting each other to the death live on TV. Last one standing wins and brings wealth and honor to his or her family and additional food and resources to his or her district.

Against all odds, Primrose, with one entry, is drawn as District 12's female tribute. Katniss volunteers to take her young and delicate sister's place. Volunteering is not unheard of in other wealthier districts where children are breed to compete in the games, but in District 12, it's considered a death sentence. However, volunteering has also captivated District 12 and all of Panem therefore giving Katniss a leg up in a competition that is as much a reality show popularity contest as it is brutal blood bath.

Here I must stop myself before I give away every detail of this book. I loved this book so much and was so engrossed by every word that I want to tell you everything. But I'm no spoiler. I will restrain myself.

Games is classified as Young Adult literature. I believe I have to respectfully disagree. The themes and violence are much more adult than young adult. And the writing is far superior to any young adult novel I've ever read, past or present. But maybe my memory is clouded by what I was reading when I was in the young adult demographic - Judy Blume being in the forefront of my mind. But the main characters are teens and maybe that's all a book needs anymore to be classified as young adult.

One guideline I go by when judging how much I like a book is how quickly I read it. And I burned through this book. I keep a bit of a writers journal in which I take notes and jot down thoughts and opinions on the books I read. (Sorry, the English major in me is hard to squash.) I didn't take one note on this book. I couldn't tear myself away! To take notes would mean I would have to stop reading and that was just not an option.

And even without taking notes, I remember every detail, I believe because the details are what makes this book so enthralling. Every detail is logically laid out, a tough task in the fantasy genre where an author could very easily tend toward the absurd. Just when I found myself questioning something, a logical explanation was given. And the world Collins created is so rich and fleshed out that I almost never questioned anything, even when gifts dropped from the sky to help out a tribute during the games. Everything is plausible yet exotic and captivating.

I really can't praise this book enough. I've enjoyed it more than any other book in quite awhile. I took a brief break to read another book (I will blog on it later this week) and have now begun on book two of the trilogy, Catching Fire. I just couldn't wait. It's like the book crawled into my brain and laid eggs. I NEED to know what happens next. And for this I am giving The Hunger Games five bows. It was fabulous and I urge you all to read it at your next available opportunity. If you've already read it, stop on by the comments section and we'll discuss more. Until then, happy reading everyone!

Meeting David Sedaris for the Fourth Time

Last evening, David Sedaris was at the Barnes & Noble on University Avenue in West Des Moines, Iowa for a book signing and short reading. We all know my obsession with and borderline stalking of my favorite author from previous posts here and here. This meeting went 100 times better than the last time in Ames and you will all be pleased to know I was on my very best behavior.

The reading was scheduled to begin at 7:00 PM but I knew from past experience that Mr. Serdaris often signs books prior to as well as following readings. So I rushed home after work, fed the dogs quick and ran on up to B&N, arriving a little before 6:00. Sure enough, there he was seated at a small table just to the right of the front doors.

The line was a mere ten people long when I arrived. He tends to spend a good five minutes with each fan at book signings but the wait was short nonetheless. When I reached the front of the line, he quipped, "And who are you?" We got to chitchatting while he signed my book, having a lovely discussion about our previous meetings. Much to my delight, he remembered me asking a question from the audience at his reading in Ames last month. I nearly fainted! I told him about my bad Black Market Pizza experience that kept me from getting my book signed in Ames. He told me about his dismay with people asking inappropriate questions (oops, I may have been one of those people at one time). We were like long lost friends - in my own deluded mind, at least. I tried not to linger too long and let on my stalker tendencies. Here is a snapshot of my first edition Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk he signed last night:



It says, "To Shannon. We meet again, enchantress. David Sedaris." You hear that people! I'm an enchantress! Squee! I giddily ran off and called everyone on my speed dial who would take my call.

I had some free time then to browse a little and regain my composure before his reading began at 7:00. The reading was to happen at the book signing table and there were no chairs for listeners. People were just expected to mill around while he spoke. After making some purchases (natch, I am at B&N after all), I wandered back to the front of the store around 6:45 and grabbed a prime spot next to the customer service desk. This turned out to be a smart move on my part as the B&N staff turned into nazis about keeping the aisles clear. Anyone who tried to stand in front of me and therefore in the aisle, they would order to the rear or to the railings on the second level. I essentially had commandeered the most prime spot in the house. Yay me!

He spoke for about 45 minutes, reading from Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk as well as his journal. He took a few short questions following his reading and from my prime spot I was able to step right up and ask a question - a literary one that I am not at all embarrassed of this time, too. As always, Mr. Sedaris was utterly charming and delightful to listen to and speak with. Until we meet again, Mr. Sedaris! I will be anxiously awaiting your next book.

John Dies at the End by David Wong

Good evening fellow book nerds! Tonight I am going to tell you all about one of the funniest books I have read in a long time. A least the funniest fiction novel I've read in a long time. Most definitely the funniest sci fi/fantasy book I've ever read.

John Dies at the End is the story of John (the same as in the title) and Dave (the author and narrator). John and Dave are two twenty-something slackers that live in a small Midwestern town Dave calls "Undisclosed for reasons that will become obvious later".

Strange happenings begin to occur in Undisclosed one evening when a levitating Jamaican introduces John to a new drug called "Soy Sauce". The soy sauce provides the user with a heightened sense of awareness. It also opens up a new realm of reality allowing the user to see things normal people can never see with the naked eye - monsters wearing wigs, Ronald McDonald eating his own intestines, demons composed entirely of cockroaches, etc.

Also thanks to the soy sauce, John and Dave become a sort of target for all kinds of super natural beings. They find themselves in a number of different skirmishes with all nature of creatures always accompanied by their super natural creature spotter of sorts, Molly the dog, who at one point in the story explodes but later reappears unharmed. The story culminates in a meeting of the minds between John and Dave and an all-powerful demigod named Korrok who ends up insulting the size of Dave's manhood and calling him gay.

I know I'm not being very thorough with my plot description and I'm sorry for that. It's a hard book to recap. John Dies at the End is really a collection of a number of different smaller stories. It began as an online serial blog posting by David Wong, the pseudonym for Jason Pargin. (Pargin is the editor in chief of Cracked.com, one of my favorite websites. Check it out if you get a chance.) Unfortunately, you can tell the book was a serial. The stories aren't tied together all that well. The main characters are the same but that's about it. It shifts from ghost story to monster story to alien story to alternate universe story and back again leaving major plot holes in its wake.

But, all that being said, this book was freakin' funny. There were just too many one-liners to even mention. At one point John and Dave are battling a demon made of meat (hams, summer sausages, turkeys, etc.) and Dave is worried about being "sodomized by a bratwurst poltergeist". The humor distinctly reminded me of a cross between Zombieland and Army of Darkness. It's crass and juvenile and there is an over abundance of penis and fart jokes but they're funny penis and fart jokes. But I also had to wonder if someone who wasn't so up on pop culture would get a lot of the jokes.

I do know that I could not have found two more different books to read back to back, if you remember my previous blog posting. No one can accuse me of not having eclectic taste in my literature of choice.

All in all, I'm going to give John Dies at the end four bows. It was laugh out loud funny but had some gaping plot holes that I just couldn't overlook. They're filming the movie version now so I am excited to see what they do with it. Until next time, happy reading everyone!

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

OK, so I know I am about 100 years behind popular literature and the best seller lists by just getting around to reading this book now. It's been out and talked about for years. A movie's been made and everything. But, my mom just gave me the book, said she loved it and thought I would love it too. And she was right.

Bees is Kidd's first fictional work. Always one to do things backwards, I read Kidd's second fiction novel The Mermaid Chair a year or two ago after happening upon it at the Planned Parenthood Book Sale. I liked it well enough and always planned to read Bees but I never seemed to come across it until my mom gave it to me recently.

Bees is set in 1960's South Carolina in the midst of the civil rights turmoil of the era. The protagonist, Lily Owens, is a 14 year old girl living alone with her abusive father (a man she can't even bring herself to call "dad" and instead calls "T. Ray") on his peach plantation. Her mother died when Lily was very young - the victim of a very tragic accident. Lily does, however, have the comfort and love of her African American nanny-of-sorts, Rosaleen but has always longed for the love of a family in general and the love of her mother in particular.

After some misfortunes and bad decisions, Lily and Rosaleen run away from home - Lily in search of information about her mom and Rosaleen in search of freedom. They end up in Tiburon, South Carolina. Lily is drawn there by a small icon of a Black Madonna she found with her mother's possession with the town's name written on the back. The Black Madonna turns out to be a honey jar label produced by three African American sisters. Sensing the distress and danger surrounding Lily and Rosaleen, the three sisters - August, June and May - take them in and provide them with the security and sense of family Lily has been searching so desperately for.

Bees is an enchanting coming-of-age and finding-your-place-in-the-world story. Kidd being from South Carolina is able to paint an idyllic portrait of the unique state while at the same time highlighting some of the socials ills that were prolific in the south during the '60s. Racism and the civil rights movement play a central role in the story but isn't presented so harshly as to be a downer, so to speak.

Bees, as you might guess from the title, also play a central role in the novel. The sisters - primarily August, the matriarch figure of the sisters - are beekeepers and lots of bee facts and tidbits are woven throughout the story. I love an author that does his or her research enough that I'll leave a book with a few nuggets of useless knowledge about an obscure topic. Like the bees in a hive will all simultaneously flap their wings to cool the hive down; a form of air conditioning of sorts. Or the fact that a hive of bees will swarm (leave the hive in mass) if they lose their queen.

There were instances, being the cynic that I am, where I questioned the motivation of the sisters for taking in these two complete strangers who knocked on their door. It just seemed a little too convenient for the story's purposes. Although Kidd does try to explain it a bit at that end, it still never seemed quite realistic to me. But I guess that's why we read books. To be entertained. Not to hear stories that we hear every day or see everyday in reality. In Kidd's lovely South Carolinian world, strangers take in, clothe, and feed perfect strangers for nothing in return. You kind of wish stuff like that could happen now without the threat of being strangled in your sleep or at the very least, robbed blind. Oh wait, I guess it does happen now.

Overall, I liked this book a lot. It was a quick, easy read that made me feel warm and fuzzy at the end. I like that feeling. And for that, I am going to give The Secret Life of Bees four and a half bows. I highly recommend it. And let me know what you all thought of the book as I'm sure you all read it year ago. Until then, happy reading!

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris *PLUS* Bonus Commentary on David Sedaris' Personal Appearance

I'm sure everyone remembers my obsession with David Sedaris. As he is one of my very favorite authors, I have been eagerly anticipating his newest book, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk, for some time. The book hit store shelves a couple weeks ago and I ran directly over to B&N right after work to pick up my copy.

A departure from Sedaris' normal writings (which consist almost entirely of funny autobiographical short stories), Squirrel is filled solely with anthropomorphic animal short stories. "Strange," you might say. Yes it is, but only if you don't get Sedaris' unique brand of humor.

Each story is written from the point of view of a particular animal. Each animal seems to embody Sedaris' sardonic wit and cynicism. It's almost as if the stories are told by the animal version of Sedaris. We meet adulterous dogs, racist ducks, deluded rats and a very, very accommodating gerbil.

I've talked to some who were disappointed in the book. People want to read about Sedaris' interesting life and crazy family: Amy, the drunk parents and most of all The Rooster. And I do too. But you have to think he is starting to run out of autobiographical material after seven books. If we want to continue enjoying his writing talent, we're going to have to adjust to the transition to fiction. I'm ready for that transition.

However, the book was short. A short book of short stories makes for short reading. I read it in one sitting of just a couple hours. And for that I give Squirrel four and a half bows . If I'm spending fifteen or twenty bucks on a book, I want it to last longer than two hours. And I know, I know. Before you say: "But Shannon, weren't you just bitching about a book taking too long to read?" Yes, I was. But I'm a woman. Incongruity is my birthright so get over it.

BONUS FEATURE

My friend Reeney and I made the trek up to CY Stephens in Ames to hear Sedaris speak last Thursday. This was the third time I heard him speak, each occasion at a progressively larger venue.

Prior to the show, Reeney and I thought we would grab a bite to eat at Black Market Pizza on the north side of town. Adam Richman of Man vs Food visited there in his recent Des Moines episode so we thought we would give it a shot. After chit chatting a bit with the friendly proprietor, Reeney and I split an order of garlic squares (square garlic bread dipped in a light marinara) and shared two small pizzas - a Double Bacon Cheeseburger and a Tree Hugger (ie veggie). The food was only special in the aspect of what it did to us each a little later.

I was quite sick by the time we reached Stephens, which was around 7:00 PM. Show started at 7:30. Sedaris was signing books in the lobby so Reeney held our place in line while I ran not so quickly to the bathroom. Upon returning some time later, Reeney had patiently held our spot and almost reached the front of the line only to be turned away just short of our goal. We were assured, however, that Mr. Sedaris would stay and sign everyone's books after the show.

We made our way to our seats and waited for the show to begin. I was made to feel even worse by the lovely gay gentleman who sat beside us and told us he and his friend had eaten at The Cafe, a restaurant just a few doors down from Black Market Pizza, and told us how wonderful the food was. Nothing makes you more mad after a bad meal than hearing about a just missed wonderful meal.

As for the show itself, Sedaris, as always, was delightful and entertaining. He read a story from Squirrel as well as a few other short stories I had never heard from other publications. Midway though the show, our pizza began to effect Reeney much the same way it had effected me earlier.

Near the end, Sedaris opened the floor up for questions and I will say that one bright spot of the evening was the fact that I was able to ask him a question, albeit a dumb, pointless, non-literary question which I am now quite embarrassed of but couldn't think of anything better to ask at the time.

Faced with an insanely long line and matching stomach ailments, Reeney and I decided to hit I-35 and head back to Des Moines without signed books. So thank you Black Market Pizza for ruining an evening we had been looking forward to for months. You suck.

The Left Hand of God by Paul Hoffman

Hello again all you lovely book nerds! Happy 10/10/10! Today I will be reviewing The Left Hand of God by Paul Hoffman. This is the first in Hoffman's yet to be published Cale Trilogy - Cale being the hero's name.

I am really not sure what drew me to buying this book. Perhaps it was the super cool cover (exhibit left). Perhaps it was the fact that I was in Kansas City at a giant chain book store called Books-A-Million and was giddy with all the options. I don't know. Nevertheless, this isn't a genre I am normally drawn to. But what that genre is, I can't quite put my finger on either. Is it fantasy? Is it young adult? Is it a thriller? Is it Sci Fi? All of the above, I think.

The book is set in a strange and foreign land. Whether it is medieval Earth, post apocalyptic Earth, or some other made up parallel universe, I don't know that either. Sorry I can't be of more help here. Cale is a young boy (14 or 15 at the book's beginning) trapped in a sort of military monastery called the Sanctuary run by an uber-religious group called the Redeemers. The Redeemers' religion has definite Christian parallels. They have priests and masses and a savior called "The Hanged Redeemer". But the Redeemers' religion isn't quite as benevolent.

The Sanctuary's main purpose is to train young boys, called Acolytes, into becoming fearsome soldiers in the Redeemers' century long battle with their arch enemies, the Antagonists. What the Antagonists ever did to piss the Redeemers off so bad, we never know. And how exactly the Redeemers acquire these young boys (usually at ages as young as 5) we never know either. What we do know is the boys' lives are filled with military training, sparse food and constant beatings with always the threat of a public hanging if they screw up too much.

Cale and two of his friends, Kleist and Vague Henri (although friendship is expressly forbidden by the Redeemers) find themselves in a dire predicament and out of necessity, Cale hatches an escape plot. Very few Acolytes have ever escaped the Sanctuary. And those that did, were never gone longer than 48 hours before the Redeemer search parties found them and executed them. But Cale is not like other Acolytes, as the author is clear to point out early on. He thinks independently and out of the box (another punishable offense in the Sanctuary) and is able to get he and his friends to the large nearby city of Memphis where he proceeds to make a name for himself as a fearsome killer and loose cannon.

I truly went back and forth on my opinion of this book. It varied depending on the page. Hoffman has created an engaging world albeit not all that original. Any ordinary reader will find parallels between this book and The Bible, Lord of the Rings and even Star Wars. Cale is the prototypical hero/bad boy. Raised a killer, he can't deny his nature. But, at the same time, he also has that bad boy heart of gold that's just so irresistible to the ladies. It's very cliche.

I also mentioned this is part one of a trilogy, so, yeah it's a cliffhanger. Grrrrrr! BUT, it's a cliffhanger that may get me to read the second book when it comes out. Circumstances change so considerably at the end of this book, I can't help but be curious as to what happens next.

I think, in the end, I'm just not that into the fantasy genre. I mean, I felt a little ridiculous just describing the plot points above. I know lots of people love fantasy/sci fi and I know it's big business, but I'm not one of those people. Far be it from me to criticize people's literary preferences. As long as you're reading, good on you. So, all that being said, I am giving The Left Hand of God two and a half bows . It's not my cup of tea but I will probably read the follow up book. Feel free to disagree with me, agree with me and/or verbally berate me in the comments section. Until then, happy reading!

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

Hello again all you wonderfully nerdy book lovers! I fear I have some 'splainin to do. I have not abandoned my blog as it may have appeared the last couple months. Nor have I not been reading. I unfortunately have a much more embarrassing excuse for why I have not blogged in close to three months. It is simply because I am a slow reader. There. Now you know the ugly truth. Combine that trait with a book that's nearly 1000 pages long and a new Yorkie puppy that doesn't appreciate nor observe reading time and you get a three month lapse in blogs.

So, the original plan was to read The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett and have it finished by the time the Starz miniseries premiered. Yeah, that didn't happen. Not by a long shot. Which doesn't really upset me too much now after the fact since Rusty the Hubbie said the acting was really bad and what I did catch was quite different from the book. Regardless, I will try not to make this entry as long as the book.

Pillars is set in medieval era England when the grandest, most beautiful buildings around were the Catholic cathedrals (natch). The book covers many decades and encompasses quite a few characters but it starts with Tom Builder and his family. Tom is a builder, obviously. A master stone mason to be exact. His goal in life is to build the most beautiful and ornate cathedral in all of England. And he gets that chance at Kingsbridge, home to a poorly-run Franciscan monastery. When Kingsbridge's cathedral burns down, the young, resourceful and bright Prior Phillip hires Tom Builder to design and build his beautiful new cathedral.

Parallel to this story is the story of Lady Aliena, daughter of the Earl of Shiring. Headstrong and independent, Aliena turns down the marriage proposal of a local noble's son, William, setting off a chain of events both devastating as well as redeeming for not just Aliena but Tom Builder, Prior Phillips and all of Kingsbridge.

I haven't mentioned probably about a dozen other major players but I feel if I outlined everyone's role in the book, this entry will take me days to write. People are born, people die, people become knights, people become earls etc., etc.

Now, I don't want to give the impression that the book was bad or even boring. It wasn't. It was quite wonderful. It was just very long and complicated. Lots of story lines, characters and locations set over many decades - the length of time it took to build the cathedral. It was, however, frustrating. Bad things just kept happening to the heroes! But it kept me reading. I absolutely could not wait until the villains got their comeuppance. And I couldn't wait to see how it would happen.

One aspect of the book I really enjoyed was the monks lives in the monastery. Being a newly minted Catholic myself, I greatly enjoy reading Catholic history and theology. I have spent time in a Franciscan monastery and I find the life fascinating - whether it be now in the present day Midwest or medieval England. The book gives an interesting look into the politics, hierarchy and everyday life of not only the monks but all ordained Catholic officers.

Overall, I give Pillars four bows. The story was engrossing, rich and fulfilling. The characters were either lovable or detestable, depending on the role. And the subject matter was unique and captivating. Set aside some serious time to read it, however. 1000 pages, people.