Catching Fire

Yeah, it caught a small fire I guess, but after the 1st one I knew what I was in for.  In preparation of the next version of Tupper Trivia Library challenge, I read it but still have not got around to the games yet.  My co-host is talking about it again so we should get it going.  I thought it was a better book due to its action, further character development, and the one new setting.  The book gets into the possibility of a revolution so the reader can see a future in a way; there is something to anticipate, a little forshadowing that adds intrigrue, which the 1st book lacked.  OK, I read it and I liked it despite my nay-saying.

I may even get to the Mockingjay!

Perfect Escape

I really liked Jennifer Brown's first novel, "The Hate List", but this one isn't as good. "Perfect Escape" is her 3rd book, and is alright but has far less story-telling than "Hate List." There just is not enough content for 352 pages. I feel that she should have added more adventures and characters to fill it out more. There is not enough story here, so its a bit repetitive and borders on boring. The first half of the book was enjoyable but it felt like she ran out of ideas. It has a good premise; a girl in high school cheats in math class, gets caught and takes off in her car with her obsessive compulsive brother. They run away. On a more positive note, I can say that the book is a sensitve look at the problems of teens stuck in a situation where they feel pressured to be perfect, forced to be far too adult-like in behaviour. Perfect Escape is a realistic and touching portrayal of a difficult family dynamic; the girl, Kendra, realizes how tough it is to be a supportive parent. She starts to understand her mom and dad, and becomes closer to her brother despite his problems, and in fact she ends up being a better sister.

Dark Inside/Rage Within, by Jeyn Roberts

Simon & Shuster called me at work back in September and a woman asked if I wanted Jeyn Roberts to come to the school and talk. Sure I said, who is she? I bought the 2nd book of her set and read it, then found the 1st and read it; the last one has yet to be published. The books are set in Vancouver and involve a bunch of young people fighting against the evil from the centre of the earth; the big bad was realised by a bunch of earthquakes, and the bad guys are really really bad. They are super violent and everyone gets killed. All systems are down all across the continent, probably. I read them with enthusiasm but they are very dark and violent. I can't see any good things happening in the last book, but will read it just to see. She is doing fine as a new writer. The story is interesting and the settings are used very well. See the trailer here: hthttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLMh_xIhiDc&feature=player_embedded

I am almost done with the final installment of the trilogy, "Fury Rising" and its good.  It is self published though, strangely, and has a few typos and maybe some continuity issues.

Life of Pi

Had to read it finally since they study it at school and the movie coming out. Great! I was getting pretty bored at the 2/3 mark, but the ending sequences are brilliant. Also, Yan Martel really knows what he is doing; some of the passages are very very good writing. Even though I was getting bored of the general story, I never tired of his skill when describing an exciting situation between Pi and Richard Parker. As D. Boulding mentioned, its all about story telling. It is funny how there is so much written about what 'really' happened. Jamie said he thought Pi landed in Mexico and lived happily ever after until he was discussing the book with friends, and he realized they had a very different view of the story. After re-reading it he changed his idea. Many people talk of metaphor and what not, but I was never convinced that it was not all a dream after the boat sunk. The ending involves story telling, oral history, how one person's reality is different from others, that the facts are still the facts regardless of 'science' and bias is always evident.

Siobhan Dowd and Patrick Ness

Solace of the Road is a story about a girl who is running away from something. Page by page, more is revealed about her life, or lack of it really. She is a sad girl, trying to find herself, but knowing that she is leaving the world. I am not sure if I liked it, but Dowd provides us with a tender story, inciteful, good character development, well written for teens. Siobhan died of cancer in 2007. She was working on a children's story which was finished by Patrick Ness and published after her death. It is really good; part graphic novel, all dark and mysterious and sad and compelling; it's the very tender story of her son's difficulty coming to terms with her sickness. The title is "A Monster Calls" and much like "I Kill Giants" it involves a monster/giant that the kid has to kill, which of course they can't because it's cancer. The boy finally is released from the monster when he admits to himself that he is in emotional pain.

How to Steal a Car

Peter Hautman, www.peterhautman.com has written a nice easy reading short (170 pgs) book/novella that should appeal to teens. The title is true to the plot; a girl steals cars for fun, but is otherwise a model child, who doesn't smoke, toke, drink, or talk back to adults. It is interesting because she doesn't trash the cars, and doesn't use them for other crimes, she just happens to see a man drop his keys one day and off she goes. Hautman crafts a believable story with believable characters in a contemporary setting.

There is not too much to this book but I still enjoyed it for what it was.

The Postmortal

This is the first thing I've read by Drew Magary, who has a big online profile, is into sports wrting and a lot of stuff it seems. It is a good read, -provocative speculative fiction. The story takes place in the future and is about the 'cure' for aging. The lead character John writes diary style, and copies articles from the cyber world including random cure related news from around the world. The book is like a found journal, and documents John's thoughts and feelings as he ages in time but not body. This style works well; Magary is able to tell us a story of a certain era in a new way, -a kind of twitter/facebook/tumblr journalism. A lot of issues come up such as what happens when humans have just had enough and are tired of living, even though they may be healthy. John becomes an 'end specialist' which is a job where he goes to meet people who want to end their life. He interviews them for the official records, and his co-worker gives them a fatal injection. Magary's ideas are novel and creative, and the vocabulary is easy, so that it would be a good book for high school students studying dystopias, and for fun. There is a sex scene that is a little disturbing; John is bored one night so he calls a hooker. When she finds out what his job is, she decides she wants to have him sex her while he injects her with the lethal dose, so she goes and comes at the same time. The disturbing part is that it is a very convincing bit of writing. The part I didn't like is that the cure was accidently found when a Portland doctor was working on altering the gene that gave people red hair.