Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

   

     This second book in the Hunger Games trilogy read so quickly, I hardly knew what hit me. It continues the story of Katniss Everdeen and her friend Peeta as they return from the bloody Hunger Games, a reality show/punishment put on by the government of Panem.

     The world of Panem created by Collins is a kind of post-apocolyptic country of 13 Districts, one of which has been blown to bits by the Capitol as punishment for revolution there. This book takes place after the Hunger Games in which Katniss and Peeta have won an unprecedented dual victory because of a seemingly innocent stunt pulled off by the presumed in-love couple. Now they must begin a life together and yet apart, a life where they must pretend they are happy with their fate and not forever changed and disheartened by the cruelty of the Capitol.  But the nation of Panem now sees in Katniss a true inspiration for revolution: she is someone who could save them all. But the Capitol is not full of dummies, and they threaten Katniss and Peeta to help squelch the seeds of rebellion before they begin to grow in the Districts and pose a problem forever.

     Eventually, though, the only thing the Capitol feels it can do to punish the Districts once again for their disobedience to their power is to schedule a new kind of Hunger Games for the "Quarter Quell". The new scenario is that the tributes, or players, will come from the pool of former winners of the games. Because there are only 3 former winners from District 12 and one of them is an old, out-of-shape drunkard, Peeta and Katniss are once again sent into the arena to fight to the death others who have already won the games at some point in Panem's history.

     Again there can only be ONE winner. Will Peeta once again protect Katniss from certain death, sacrificing himself? Or will Katniss now protect Peeta, a charismatic speaker and all-around wonderful human being, so that he can lead Panem into revolution? What of the other equally interesting characters/tributes Collins has created for this special Games? Will one of them be the sole survivor? You'll just have to read to find out.

The Color of Water by James McBride

     Memoirs are really not my thing, or so I keep telling myself. But maybe I'm wrong because I really enjoyed this one by James McBride. It's a touching, gut-wrenching, beautifully told story of how one black man grew up in a huge family led by a Christian-reformed Jewish mother. Yeah, imagine the stories.
     McBride's mother grew up an Orthodox Jew with an abusive, rabbi father and a handicapped, ridiculed, silent mother. All she ever wanted was to be loved, and she finally finds this love in the American South among the blacks who were just as poor and persecuted as her own family. She eventually falls in love enough to marry one black man, McBride's father, and she willingly moves into a black neighborhood, a primarily black Christian church, and a life where she simply refused to see the colors or religions of others around her. McBride says that before he went to public school, he never even realized his mother was white or different from him. She was simply his mother. This was simply their life.
     This idea that 10 children of mixed heritage living in the heart of New York City could grow up colorblind and committed to God is so wonderfully refreshing and soul-warming that I just couldn't stop reading this memoir. Alternately told in the words of McBride and his mother, the book unfolds easily, almost like a good fairy tale because it is so unbelievable yet real, so lovely and yet so heart-breaking at times, but always full of the great truths that I am trying so desperately to teach my own children. That truth is that all people are equal in the eyes of God, and we are all capable of great things no matter what our backgrounds. If we all took that idea with us to church or to meditation or to silent introspection, we would be better people indeed.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The premise of this book is absolutely terrifying to think about. As a lesson to society about the evils of bucking the system, the country of Panem's government has decided to sacrifice 11 of its children each year as atonement for  . . . I don't know or remember; I got so caught up in the action of the book, I really don't care about the why.

In this first book of an exciting YA series by Collins, each year there is a lottery from which one boy and one girl are drawn from each of the 12 districts of Panem. These 24 "tributes" are then put into a kind of "game show to the death" called The Hunger Games,  where 11 will die, and only one can survive. They are all ages from 12-18 with all different skill levels and economic backgrounds. The main characters, Katniss and Peeta, are from the poorest district, 12. All 24 are plunked down in a life-sized "arena" where they will have to hide, fight, hunt, and survive until there is only one left. And I thought "Survivor" was tough! I thought Jack and Kate had it hard fighting smoke monsters and polar bears on "Lost." Those people are all a bunch of pansies compared to the kids in The Hunger Games.

Collins has created a wild but believable world in Panem, where kids are tougher than their parents, government is scary, life is a struggle, and people are really into their reality shows. Huh . . . that sounds kind of familiar, doesn't it? The battle that goes on in the arena and the emotions that play out before, during, and after are intriguing to say the least and totally engaging. I can't wait to read the two sequels, Catching Fire and Mockinjay very soon. Let me know what you think!

Arcadia Falls by Carol Goodman

Being a lover of books and all things literary, I was immediately sucked in to the story of Arcadia Falls.  It is told from the point of view of the main character, Ms. Rosenthal, a teacher who has recently lost her husband. While she and her daughter Sally reel from the tragedy of his death, they discover themselves poor and in need of a change from their lives filled with memories and grief. So, Rosenthal acquires a position with an artsy prep school called Arcadia where she will teach classes on myths and fairy tales and finish her thesis on the artist/author of a children's book called The Changeling Girl, which was written by the school's founder, Lily Eberhart.

As Chris Bohjilian does in The Double Bind with F. Scott Fitzgerald, Goodman intertwines the fairy tale of The Changeling Girl and its mysterious and tragic history with the more modern main story of Rosenthal and her daughter at the Arcadia school. What results is a mystery, a romance, a family history drama, and a ghost story all rolled into one very engrossing novel.

One other nice touch in the book is that the theme of the fairy tale of The Changeling Girl becomes like a metaphor for the life of the main character, and we as readers are drawn to the question of how we see ourselves and how others see us. Like the ending of the book, we discover that sometimes the answer to these questions is surprising and mysterious.

The Rembrandt Affair by Daniel Silva

This latest intelligence thriller featuring Israeli spy, Gabriel Allon, took me from a stolen painting, to the camps of the Holocaust, to the world of high finance, through the realm of high tech gadgets, and to a satisfying, if somewhat predictable retirement of Mr. Allon. It's like my all-time favorite TV show "Alias" with lots of action, politics, spying, computer-ese, and kick-butt characters to love.

The plot is fairly complicated, but I'll try to sum up. A little known Rembrandt is stolen from one of Allon's friends, Isherman, who own a gallery. He will face ruin if it's not found, and Allon, being a world-renowned art restorer in addition to a dangerous spy, could not turn down the challenge to find it for his friend. What he uncovers in looking into the history of owners of the painting is that it was also "stolen" by a Nazi criminal from a Jewish family so that one of its two daughters would not be sent to the camps. Hearing the surviving woman's war story is too much for Allon, and he makes it his mission to find the painting. In so doing, he uncovers a list of old Jewish bank accounts that were also stolen by the Nazi and used to start up a multi-national financial conglomerate run by Martin Landesman. Landesman hides his unscrupulous tendencies by giving vast amounts of money to charities, and so is seen as a "saint." Allon eventually finds a connection from this Saint Martin to enriched uranium plants throughout the Middle East, and it becomes imperative for the security of others like America and Britain to somehow find proof and eradicate the nuclear threat. Impossible, you say? Well, you don't know Gabriel Allon.

Gabriel Allon. What a wonderfull name to trip off your tongue. Gabriel. An angel indeed. Thank you Daniel Silva for creating such an exciting and divine character. And while the storylines in the Allon books are getting a bit repetitive, I really just don't care.  Check it out yourself,  and let me know if you think Gabriel is an angel.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

So, having now ridden the bandwagon and finally read this hugely popular memoir, was I impressed? Do I get it? Am I now ready to chuck my mundane life and head for parts unknown to "find myself" and all I am? Well, the answers are yes, yes, and probably not.

I am impressed with the book as a whole and with Gilbert's writing style. While I didn't read the book but listened to it on audio, it was read by the author, and she truly seemed to be reading it just to me - kind of like we were having this really long conversation about life and our vacations. It was a very enjoyable, if one-sided, conversation. I am impressed by the fact that Gilbert realized what a mess she was. I am impressed that she found a way to finance such a trip and then turn it into such a huge success for her career. I am impressed by how much work it had to be, albeit fun also, to learn so much about her life and lives of people as a whole.

Yes, I get it. As I said when I first started listening to it, I resisted this book for a long time. I hate people who say the word "guru" in a serious tone, and I hate the term "out of body experience." When I hear these phrases, I immediately think words like "crazy," "kooky," "out there," or "whoo-hoo" while twirling my index finger in a circle near my head. But now? Well, now I am beginning to see that all religions and their practices are valid in all our lives and that they really are not that contradictory in their philosophies, but only in their everyday practices and in those who try to interpret them. I totally get Gilbert's need to indulge and try to relax in Italy. I get the learning Italian thing, and I think how much I'd love to learn French. I get the spiritual awakening thing, and so much of what she said about meditation and how it changes people has me searching for cheap ways to learn how to meditate (I haven't found any yet, as classes on true transendental meditation are very expensive to take.) The only thing I didn't get was the need for a man in the end. Although, when I was listening to Gilbert talk about Phillipe, I was kind of comforted with visions of Edward Cullen rising out of her descriptions. Some of those same qualities I've talked about here in terms of the "perfect man" that Edward so embodies sure seemed to be in Phillipe. Hmmm. . .

Lastly, while I doubt whether I will ever be able to afford or find time for a journey such as Gilbert's, I can live vicariously through her. I can use her words to help me become the most self-actualized person I can be. I'm ready to read books about Hinduism and Buddhism. I might be ready to learn to meditate. I know I'm ready to find the perfect cappucino, gellato, and spaghetti around. So, maybe a guru is in order? Did I just say "guru?" Or was it you?

One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus

Our book club is full of all women I'm sorry to say (our token man just left for Nigeria), so I think this book will make an interesting discussion. The story is based on one, small, little-known fact: that during the Native American conflicts of the 1800's, a Cheyenne chief suggested to the president that to alleviate white-Indian tensions, the whites should hand over 1,000 of their women in exchange for 1,000 horses. This way, they could become Cheyenne wives and bear children, and these children would then help to intermix the two "nations" thereby making them one. Cool idea, or just plain insanity?

In real life, the idea, of course, was rejected out of hand by the president and all the whites as ludicrous in the extreme. In this novel by Jim Fergus, the president rejects it at first, and then secretly puts the idea into motion. When he can't find enough willing, "able-bodied" women folk, the president begins to recruit those in insane asylums and prisons. Some of these women go for it, seeing the program as a way to gain their freedom. May Dodd, the main character,  is a woman unjustly sentenced to an asylum for her "promiscuous" ways who gains entry into the Cheyenne program as way out of that dismal world and into the land of the living. She must leave behind her illegitimate children whom she loves dearly, but she hopes that after she does her time with the Cheyennes that she will be able to return to them a new woman with new freedoms.

The journals that May writes are full of hardships on the prairie, friendships with the other white women and the Cheyennes, and descriptions of her new life. Her open-mindedness is a great strength, as is her perseverence and determination to make the best of her time in the tribe. She becomes a leader of the white women and respected by the Cheyennes. In short, she is a portrait of strong women throughout all history who have had to go about the business of living while trying to change the evils in the world that men have created. Although a fictional character, her journals read like the real thing: full of drama, emotion, and true grit.

So, while the premise of this book is a bit wild, and perhaps unrealistic, I think that's what novels are for: to put forth wild ideas and take our minds away from the harsh realities that we have to live every day. So, I would recommend One Thousand White Women for its strong characters, its historical setting, and its interesting cultural examinations. Give it a try, and let me know what you think.

Fragile by Lisa Unger

Fragile is a mystery about some high school friends who have grown up, but their pasts seem to have followed them straight into the lives of their children. Maggie and Jones and their son, Rick, seem to have (if not a perfect) a pretty normal married life. Marriage isn't easy, raising a teenage boy isn't easy, being a psychologist and a cop isn't easy. But they survive in their sleepy little town just fine - until Rick's girlfriend, someone they feel has a questionable reputation and an unstable homelife, disappears.

The story then becomes the nightmare of how high school mistakes can haunt you and hunt you down. It becomes about how two different parents can react very differently given their separate histories. It becomes about the meaning of loyalty, friendship, and values. All this becomes intertwined into a very readable, psychological who-done-it that almost anyone could relate to and enjoy.

Fragile did not seem to me to be the powerhouse of a book that book clubs everywhere would latch on to (I've seen it on many lists and Internet sites), but it was a good read. The character of Jones was a bit nauseating to me, but he is probably supposed to be that way. I like that the book would probably appeal to wide range of audiences, as there are important characters in every age group: the elderly mother, the middle-aged parents, and the teens who struggle to NOT be like them. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Little Bee by Chris Cleave

Little Bee is sort of a little book in length, but it's a very "big" book in terms of characters and impact. It's the story of a Nigerian refugee (she takes the name "Little Bee") who tries to escape the terror and fear of her village which has been taken by oil mercenaries.  As she is running with her sister, they come across a British couple on holiday, so they desperately run to them for help. What happens next changes all their lives forever.

One of the things that happens is that Little Bee is sent to a detention center in England, where she is forced to stay for two years. When she is released, she has no papers to legitimize her new life; all she has is the British man's driver's license. With this information, she goes to the British couple's home and finds the people there almost as traumatized by the Nigerian experience as she is. The story then focuses on the British woman, Sarah, and Little Bee as they try to put their lives together before immigration officials find Little Bee and send her back to Nigeria, where she fears she will be killed for what she knows.

Litte Bee was a good read with a surprising ending. It shocked me that it was set in present day, as it didn't seem possible that someone could remain in a detention center for two years. It's also always surprising to me how life in a village like Little Bee's can be so simple in terms of lifestyle, and then be so complicated in terms of politics.

Please post a comment and let me know what you think of Little Bee.

The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

Sometimes it's difficult to keep the tension going in a series such as Stieg Larsson's trilogy which started with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (see below). I rarely read three books in a row by the same author, let alone a series. But these books were so involved and mesmerizing to me, that I had to do it, and this third and last installment was as exciting and gripping as the others, and maybe moreso.

In this one Lisbeth Salander is hopitalized with serious injuries from her last escapade, and she fears she may be locked up in asylum again at some point. So, Blomkvist makes it his personal and professional mission to prove her innocence and free her, but this is a difficult mission given the conspiracy that continues to unfold around them and a large number of writers, editors, and friends. Salander continues to be the strong, feminist heroine that I absolutely love, and Blomkvist, while romantically challenged and fairly clueless in some things, continues to be a smart, faithful-as-a-dog male character.

Let me know what you think of Lisbeth and her crew of courageous hackers and journalists. Post a comment!