Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

I didn't like this one as much as the first. The Games were shorter, which meant there wasn't as much action. The lead character annoys me at times with her blissfull ignorance, but I must remember this is written for a Young Adult audience (who don't always make those connections right away).

I was never frustrated with the story, and found it wonderful. Truthfully, I'm glad this book differed from the first, with fewer time spent in the arena. It would have been cumbersome, otherwise.

I look forward to finishing the trilogy.

The Hunger Games by Suzanna Collins

Wow.

There's not much else to say.

I have been avoiding this series for a while. I even checked this book out once or twice before, but never quite got around to getting in to it. I read a couple pages but that was it.

This time, however, I devoured the book whole.

I got tripped up in the writing maybe twice, where I was aware I was reading and not viewing a particularly intense real thing. But this could be just because of the points where I was forced to start or stop at. Generally, I was so engrossed - I couldn't tell I was reading. It was very difficult to put down. That is the mark of a great book (when you get so lost in the words that you forget where you are, and what you are doing).

It's such a simple book, in some ways. Deceptively so. It is written at a standard level, not difficult to read, but not so simplistically that it is any less enticing. This is a book the masses could read (and are, obviously). It's not so much the plot or the characters, but the sense of movement throughout. Fluidity is engaging. The main character is simplistically flawed, but not so much that it detracts. The main pulse of this story is the movement - when actions happen, it's almost as if you were waiting for them to - they are not a surprise, but it's really the journey that carries the reader. Not what happens or doesn't happen to whom.

Excellent read.

I went to Books A Million last night to pick up the second book. I didn't want to wait on the library ...it could be days! What ever shall I do? I didn't go through with the purchase at the end. So we shall see.

But very, very good.

The Kingdom of Childhood by Rebecca Coleman

It always unnerves me when I identify with a crazy character. I don't care if they're crazy because they just killed somebody or they're crazy for another reason...if I can find something similar between myself and a fictional character (that is clearly fictionalized because of their shortcomings), it bothers me. Or, maybe it's not so much the  fact that I find something in common with them as much as it is the fact that I don't fault them for their problems. Their huge and impossible Bad Things don't bother me as much as I feel like they should. I'm accepting, apparently, much more than I used to be. Or understanding. Or I've just lived more and realize that everyone has Big Ugly things they aren't proud of.

 I wasn't as shocked by this book as I wanted to be. Lots of big, terrible things happen. A teacher sleeping with a student. A bad marriage. Language. Sex. Drugs. Crazy people. I took it with a sigh and a shake of the head. I'm changing. Because, I think, deep down, everyone is like that. Everyone has things they are ashamed of, not proud of, whatever. Things they don't want other people to know. Or - habits. Or...whatever. Everyone has ...somethings. Maybe it's an adult perspective to be lenient, accepting and understanding of that. Not understanding. Some things really are just terrible. But..something.

I wouldn't recommend this book. Towards the end, I lost interest...I felt the climax had already happened and I was just turning pages to feel that I had finally accomplished something again. But I was pulled in, I was intrigued. Finally, it was almost like a car accident. The midwife getting angry at the end, justifiably so - you didn't want to be standing there in the kitchen with her, you looked away from the angry faces, the thrown objects - but you were there, all the same. Witnessing.

I wouldn't recommend this book, but I don't feel like I wasted my time in reading it. I'm glad I finally finished one again. It's been a while.