The Hunger Games

by Suzanne Collins

    Just like many have, I heard about the excitement of this series before I actually sat down to read it.  Many times stories have not lived up to their hype.  I was so happy when this story lived up to my high expectations.  I could not put it down and was wrapped up in the story of Katniss Everdeen and her experience within the Hunger Games.

     Very few authors are able to create a futuristic world and make it a plausible reality.  The authors who do it well are gems, while I find myself picking apart the alternative worlds of mediocre authors and their mediocre worlds.  Luckily for all of us, Collins is a gem. She is able to create the eccentric, futuristic world of the Capitol and it's 12 surrounding districts of North America.
   
    Katniss Everdeen is the main character of this book and she lives with her mother and younger sister, Primrose.  The Capitol punishes the 12 Districts for a rebellion in the past, by holding the Hunger Games once a year. The Hunger Games is a required reality television program for the nation to watch. It's a fight to the death between the tributes chosen from each of the districts. One boy and girl, ages 12-18, are randomly chosen in a public event called a "reaping" to be tributes in the Hunger Games. Since each district has two tributes selected, there are 24 teens in total fighting to the death, and only one can win. This year for the 74th annual Hunger Games; Primrose, our heroine's little sister, is drawn in the ballot. Katniss immediately does the unthinkable and volunteers to take her sister's place. In her district, the boy chosen is Peeta Mellark, the local baker's son.

    In the world of the Hunger Games, the tributes are given a training period to hone in and learn new survival or attack skills. This is designed to hopefully give them an advantage against the other tributes, and is a way to show their skills to the game makers and gain sponsors for the games. Katniss is well-versed with a bow and arrow, since she has secretly hunted on the land in her district for years with her close friend Gale. Katniss relies on this strength to help her in the games. She also has the help of Haymitch Abernathy (her mentor from her district who previously won the games) and Effie Trinket the Capitol's representative. They will not only help Katniss and Peeta navigate and survive the pre-game interviews in the Capitol, but gain sponsors for the games, and survive the game itself.

    This book is wonderfully written, detailed, and exciting. I could not get enough of Katniss and her adventure not only with the people around her but in the games as well. I loved the idea of a strong, smart, and independent female character. The only critique I had for this book is small and because it involves the conclusion of the book I feel I cannot post it for fear I will reveal to much about ending. I could not put this book down and would highly recommend it. Thankfully this book is a series and I have already started the second book. Give into the hype and read this story. You will not regret it!

Rating: 5 out of 5

Up Next: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (Hunger Games Series #2)    

Timeline

By Micheal Crichton
Timeline is a very interesting book involving time travel to 14th century France. The book begins with the discovery of an ITC scientist appearing in the desert babbling nonsense. After getting picked up by a passing couple, he is quickly taken to the hospital and soon succumbs to some mysterious ailment.
Our focus is then shifted from New Mexico, onward to France where we catch up with a group of students guided by their Professor in the excavation of a long forgotten town. The Archeologists are scouring the grounds for clues about what life was like in the town during that time period, and digitally reconstructing the castle and other buildings. Combining certain assumptions about the buildings and the geography with what they discover, they begin to piece together a fairly accurate blueprint of the town. Or so they thought. When an ITC representative shows up, and they see documentation of the town which is more detailed than their own, they begin to wonder. The professor is whisked away to ITC headquarters, and soon loses contact with his students. The students continue to work, until they discover a handwritten note from their Professor, in a cache of old documents. Somehow their Professor wrote them a note from over 600 years ago, and no one can figure out how.
Going to ITC themselves, they prepare to go on a journey of a lifetime as they learn that time travel is possible through the use of quantum technology. The author briefly describes the concept of quantum computers (as a means for tremendous processing capability), and explains how the machines ITC has developed is able to fully transcribe someone into an alternate universe in the past.
The group transports back in time, and things begin to go wrong immediately. They are accosted by knights and need to flee for their lives if they hope to ever bring the professor back. The time period is captured wonderfully as we traverse the castle, meet various characters, and follow along with our main characters as they race the clock to get back to the present time. Along with their main goal of finding the professor, they get themselves into conflict with the residents, often through ignorance about the time period. The story is well paced, and contains a great deal of action occurring parallel to the main plotline. I loved the medieval weapons, jousting and all the stereotypical stuff you would think of for the 1300’s. I really enjoyed the book, with my only complaint being the part of the ending was very obvious. About 1/3 of the way through the book, I knew what would happen with one of the characters. Fortunately this did nothing to spoil the book in any way.
Rating: 4 out of 5 Bunsen Burners
Up Next: The Listeners by Christopher Pike

Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang

by Chelsea Handler

If you have watched the TV show Chelsea Lately or more recently seen the character "Trish" in the movie This Means War with Reese Witherspoon, then you have experienced Chelsea Handler. This means you are aware of her very dry, sarcastic, and well delivered humor. I have watched her embarrass the celebrities on her TV show by asking them ridiculous questions that always made me laugh. I have always thought her delivery and content of her jokes were hilarious, despite their sometimes raunchy content. Her book is the same wonderful formula.

This book is compiled of stories about her life, friends, and family. It is also a very easy read. In this book you hear about her inappropriate and strange father, her hilarious siblings, and the elaborate pranks she plays on her friends/co-workers. One of my favorite chapters was about a family vacation gone completely awry at Martha's Vineyard. Other chapters involve her friends and coworkers. They are always in on the jokes/pranks if aware of them ahead of time or just go along with them automatically if they are brought into the middle of them. It made for some amusing stories. I loved laughing at her stories for two reasons. The first was because of the way she writes so candidly about her experiences and secondly because I was happy these things never happened to me! While reading I couldn't stop laughing, thinking, "Is this real? Did she actually do this?!" It only made it more entertaining.She includes pictures of the events throughout the book- which turned out to be a nice look into these personal moments and a way to bring some truth to her stories.  I laughed out loud on many occasions which made this a terrific book to relax to after a rough day or long day at work.

My one big criticism of this book is the first chapter. For me, it was a little crass and a bit much compared to the rest of the book. I found myself embarrassed reading it and thankful when it ended. Luckily the rest of the book was filled with chapters that were more appealing to me and more of what I expected from her. If you understand Chelsea's sense of humor then you will enjoy this book. It is a quick, easy read with tons of unbelievable stories that will make you laugh. If you do not know her or like her, then you may not enjoy this book.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Up Next: Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Last Man Standing

By David Baldacci
Web London is an elite agent with the FBI’s hostage rescue team, set to engage a drug den near Washington DC. The raid involves an elaborate operation which has been coordinated over many months, facilitated by a deep undercover informant. Soon after the mission begins, the entire group is obliterated by laser activated heavy machine gun fire. All except for Web London, who inexplicably froze as the raid started. While Web was able to redeem himself by destroying the machine gun nests, it could hardly compensate for the death of the entire team. Web struggles internally and externally as he fights to come to grips with why he froze, and faces accusations of treason. Web begins seeing a therapist, and reconnects with friends to help him deal with his personal struggle. By pursuing the truth in what happened during the raid, Web gets himself into a variety of sticky situations that only luck and his extensive training, keep him alive. We are brought full force into his life, and the conflicts that plague him. We follow Web as he resolves his problems in spectacular military style.
The book introduces numerous characters, and provides background to Web’s life while detailing his current problems. While Web attempts to solve the mystery about what happened to Charlie team, an additional problem from his past presents itself. Web was previously involved in a raid on “The Free Society” lead by Ernest Free (Think David Karesh and Waco). Suddenly, key people from the trial of Ernest Free (two attorneys, a judge and more) are being murdered. The book continues to throttle on with many shootouts, hand to hand combat and illuminating surprises. You never know what might happen and it keeps you guessing until the end.
I must congratulate the author on his development of characters, and fully enveloping the reader in the story. The latter was further assisted by not deviating from the central plotline, and keeping the book moving. While this book was quite a few pages (500+), I didn’t feel that anything included was extraneous and it kept me interested. My few critiques of the book are as follows. While I like to have everything connected at the end of the story, I felt that this particular book did this too neatly. In an effort to not spoil the book for those who haven’t read it, I can’t say much more than that. The only other thing I can say that disappointed me about the book was the ending. I feel this is a constant complaint of mine for many of the books I review, but found comfort in the fact that many people (on Baldacci’s website) have asked for more books involving Web London so they can also get the finality they desire. I felt that some important loose ends, separate from the main story, still existed at the conclusion. I understand why these were not addressed, since the book was primarily about the assault and the secondary conflict with “The Free Society,” it may have been difficult to come back to the other extraneous issues.
Overall, I truly enjoyed reading this book. It was much different from most of the stuff I have read in the past, and especially different from the series I had just finished (The Fury). I would highly recommend this book for anyone who is looking for a Jason Bourne type of character with lots of action. I would definitely read another book by this author. Thank you Patti for the recommendation!
Rating: 4 out of 5 Bunsen Burners
Up Next: Timeline by Micheal Crichton

Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor

by Stephanie Barron

Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, and Sense and Sensibility were introduced to me when I was young.  I found myself captured by Jane Austen’s love stories and the unpredictable young heroines.  Consistently I was taken with the proud men who loved these women: Mr. Darcy, Captain Frederick Wentworth, and Col. Christopher Brandon. To me there was no romance like the ones Jane Austen created in her novels. Her writing was straight forward and sophisticated. Imagine my excitement on receiving this book during the holiday break!

The author Stephanie Barron presents this novel as part of a collection of lost letters written by Jane Austen. Austen is the protagonist in this story and readers catch up with her right after she has turned down Harris Bigg-Wither’s marriage proposal. Jane then flees this predicament and goes to her friend Countess Isobel Payne’s house Scargrave Manor. Isobel has recently married Frederick Payne and a ball has been planned in the new bride’s honor. The visit is going well until Frederick becomes very ill and dies. It is decided that foul play is involved and all evidence points to Isobel being guilty. A little later in the story Isobel’s personal maid, Marguerite is also murdered in a violent manner. Isobel pleads with Jane to solve the murders and prove her innocence. Jane embarks on a crime solving journey to solve the Scargrave murders in order to save her friend from the gallows.

This book had many enjoyable aspects. I loved having Jane Austen as the main character and incredible sleuth. She is presented as an intelligent detective, strong individual and wonderful friend. I loved how Stephanie Barron wrote in Austen’s old English and involved some of her history while writing this book. She made many footnotes explaining items or terms of historical or cultural importance. It is obvious Barron is an Austen fanatic like so many of us. I am not an expert on Austen’s writing or the time period, so if there were any discrepancies, I was not aware of them.  Some parts of the book seemed unrealistic at times, but because I was enjoying the book, I quickly overlooked them in order to continue with the story.

 I do not have a lot of criticism about Barron’s book. One negative comment that reviewers have said were that this book was not about Jane’s life. I did not expect this book to be about Jane’s life or her novels so I was not disappointed. I thought the novel was slow to really get started and it took me a while to get used to reading the language. I was also disappointed in the lack of a love story involved in Barron’s writings, especially because that’s what I enjoyed the most about Austen’s books. Despite these criticisms, I still appreciated the book and liked reading it. Read this book with an open mind and enjoy!

Rating: 4 out of 5

Up Next: Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang by Chelsea Handler

Avenging Fury

By John Farris
The final book in the series is extremely difficult to review without giving away many things that have happened in the previous books. In an effort to not spoil any mysteries (there were quite a few moments during reading the book where I found myself saying “no way”), I will try and give my subjective opinion the best I can. Hopefully my summary will also be sufficient.
We catch up with Eden just after the previous novel. Half of Mordaunt is “in disposed,” while Gwen is searching for his feminine half trapped in the past in an alternate universe. Tom Sherard is on a boat on a mission to dispose of Mordaunt’s physical body. We also meet Harlee Nations, a Fetchling who works with Mordaunt. A demon with the body of a sixteen year old girl, and girlfriend of Bronc Skarbeck (from The Fury and the Terror), Harlee is actually the main focus of the book. We follow her and the other Fetchlings as they try to find Eden, and hope to assist Gwen in reuniting Mordaunt with his feminine half. Eden meets Cody Olds, who remains as her protector even after she spills the beans about her abilities. With Gwen’s ultimate return, and the fast paced action of the Fetchlings (their constant meddling), we are brought to a final showdown between the Avatar and Mordaunt.
This book is incredibly hard to review, just like all the other books in the series. I would have to say that this was the worst, however. It’s the worst to review, and the worst of the series. While it has been a little while since I actually read the book (it’s taken a bit to summarize it sufficiently for a review), I found myself struggling to remember what exactly Eden did in the book. And really, going back through it and skimming for some action, she did nothing. Eden was a secondary character in her own book. Even Tom was secondary. The book mostly revolved around the Fetchlings, their desire to help their boss and various situations they involved themselves with, and less about the main conflict. There weren’t many surprises, and the few that existed were dull just the same. The ending was also dull. For a four book series, you expect quite a few pages leading up to the ultimate resolution, some drama and suspense and then a lengthy conclusion. Instead, we are left with a kind of “this is happening, then good and bad meet up, now it’s all over.” It was sad. Following the same characters for so many pages (over 1000 over the 4 books, and more than that if you count the original book) to be left with such a dissatisfying conclusion. I think the only thing that made the end satisfying was the finality of it. I wasn’t left with a lot of questions about what would happen to this person, or that person. The conclusion was certainly conclusive, but unsatisfying. This was my least favorite book of the series.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Bunsen Burners
Up Next: Last Man Standing by David Baldacci

The Fury and the Power

The Fury and the Power
By John Farris
For the second book in the series, we meet up with Eden in Africa with Tom Sherard and supermodel Bertie Nkambe. Eden is being taught (by Bertie) how to develop her powers, and decompressing from the ordeal she has just been through. Her adoptive mother (Betts) was planning to visit, until she is kidnapped by (our old friend) the crossdressing assassin and forced to lure Eden home.
Eden goes home to help Betts, whom Eden thinks is in the hospital from a stroke, and sends her doppelganger to Rome with Tom and Bertie. A rash of murders has been taking place on prominent religious figures, so the crew travels to Rome to consult with the Pope. In Rome, Eden’s doppelganger (who wants to be called Gwen) meets up with Lincoln Grayle, a magician who had a romantic interest in Eden while in Africa. Gwen is soon kidnapped, leaving Tom and Bertie to deal with the evil on their own. The novel keeps its hasty pace as we follow Tom and Bertie fighting the “bad guys” and trying to get to the root of the problem. Eden once again battles with the cross dressing assassin, and ultimately finds herself in Las Vegas. In the final pages, we get a satisfying showdown between good and evil and a few twists involving some other characters from the book. Farris leaves us hanging on, waiting for the next book to find out what is going to happen with the protagonists.
I thought this book was well done, and interesting. The author did a good job of further developing the characters and leading us through the plot. Some old friends made new appearances, and new conflicts (major and minor) were exposed. I was disappointed by a few elements of the story, however. I thought that some of the characters were dispatched prematurely. I was unsatisfied since we had been given sufficient information to get to know them, and then they were then absent from the story. This occurred with both ancillary, and more important characters (recurring from previous books). In addition, I thought that the “bad guy” could have been more developed. We weren’t given a great deal of background into where they come from, motivation, etc. Some indirect references are all we are left with to try and understand a world that is much different from any construct we have. Overall this book was satisfying, if only to continue to find out what happened to the characters who had now already taken up some 700+ pages of my time. However, I did not enjoy this book as much as the first (The Fury) or as the previous book (The Fury and the Terror).
Rating: 3.5/5 Bunsen Burners
Up Next: Avenging Fury by John Farris