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Mockingjay: The Hunger Games Book 3

I have to say that despite reading The Hunger Games and Catching Fire (Book 2 of the Hunger Games) I was not looking forward to MockingJay. While the story line and the characterization is intense, the violence was a little hard to take. From the way the series was going, I knew that it would probably only get worse. And it did. There is no ultimate happy ending here. Favorite characters die, and they do so in horrific ways. The faith and the hope that Katniss Everdeen would find her heart and finally get rid of President Snow to stop … Continue reading →

Catching Fire (Book 2 of The Hunger Games)

When we last lest Katniss Everdeen, she has just completed the Hunger Games, a twisted ritual in the land of Panem, where the Capitol controls all and the 12 outlying districts are reminded of this every day. Having fought and survived, and Katniss and Peeta are prepared get back to regular life, that is if they can get past the ghosts and haunts of their experiences. Of course, the Capitol won’t let them. Katniss made them look bad in the Hunger Games, after all when she forced them to save not only here but Peeta as well. General Snow, president … Continue reading →

2012 Olympic Opening Ceremonies

Did you catch the opening ceremonies for the Olympics last evening? There were representatives from 202 countries parading for all of the world to see, and the Queen jumped out of a helicopter. I kid you not on that last part. The ceremonies started off with a video of Queen Elizabeth boarding a helicopter to get from Buckingham palace to the Olympic stadium. Along the way, she waved to her fans and they waved back. Tuning in a few minutes last, I first wondered if this was going to be a commercial for Great Britain, a sort of tourist piece. … Continue reading →

Fever (Chemical Garden) by Lauren DeStefano Book Review

Young Adult Rhine finally escaped from the sinister Housemaster Vaughan, and brought her former servant and friend, Gabriel with her. They are on the run and trying to get to Manhattan to find Rhine’s brother, Rowan, and to make a new lives for themselves away from the haunting illusion of the mansion. They will never have to face the basement again, but is what is out there now even worse? Fever, the second book in the Chemical Garden series picks up exactly where the previous book, Wither, left off. Rhine and Gabriel are washing up on the shore, trying to … Continue reading →

The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler Book Review

The teenage years can be a time of discovering yourself. For Josh and Emma, this normal exploration goes one step more when they find their future selves online, several years into the future. The year is 1996, and Emma has just gotten a new computer, a guilt gift from her estranged father. When best friend Josh comes over with a AOL CD-ROM (remember AOL–America Online), their lives change. Somehow a portal opens up to Facebook, leaving the teens confusing and curious. Why are all of these people talking about what they had for dinner? It isn’t long before Josh and … Continue reading →

Naked Lunch

I had to get really creative, or at least desperate, with what was packed this morning in my kids’ lunches. Without bread, the sandwiches would be a bit, well, naked. You see, last night we never did get to the grocery store, so we are out of basics, such as bread, milk and dark chocolate. Yikes. Okay, so the dark chocolate was for me, but we do normally incorporate bread and milk somewhere in meals for our children. Typically, I am an uber-planner, well, an uber-planner wanna be. I haven’t yet obtained my certificate or badge, and the phrase “let … Continue reading →

Labrador by Kathryn Davis

A New York Times Notable Book and the winner of the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize for Fiction, Labrador is anything but what you might expect. Kitty, the awkward, lonely younger sister narrates a long soliloquy to her older, dazzling and wayward sister Willie. The complex relationship between the sisters takes them from childhood when they pretended that they were orphans in their drafty New Hampshire home while their dysfunctional parents resumed life downstairs, to young adulthood where the ties that bind them twist and turn through the choices that they make. But here is where the unexpected kicks in, merging … Continue reading →

Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laura Viera Rigler

When you drown your sorrows in Absolut and Jane Austen novels, you shouldn’t be surprised when something strange happens. After catching her finance cheating on her with the wedding flower lady, Courtney Stone finds herself waking up in the body and the life of Jane, an Austen-era old woman, who single at the age of 30 is seen as long “on the shelf.” With a new demanding mother, a hero who may or may not be what he seems, a best friend and a mysterious gypsy, Courtney/Jane must navigate this new world in the hope of getting back to her … Continue reading →