The Last Two Hunger Games Books

Wow.

Since last year I've been debating reading the second and third books from the Hunger Games after I read the first one.

Honestly, the whole premise of kids killing each other is uncomfortable and emotional.  And I heard from a couple people that the second and third books weren't as good as the first one.  But Michael was interested in reading them and got the trilogy for Christmas so I picked up the second book a couple weeks ago.

Wow.

Could not put them down!

And I LOVED them so much more than the first one, which really surprised me!

The first one just seemed a little more focused on the violence of the games, but the second and third one focused more on the relationships between the characters.

These books were fantastic and I they are definitely 10 out of 10.

And Michael and I will probably watch the movie (in the theater!) when it comes out too...

...after all, it was filmed in Asheville!

In the Garden of Beasts

Super interesting history book!

I know some of you are probably thinking what I thought when I saw this book: Oh my goodness... another book on WWII?  No thanks.

But our book club picked it and Erik Larson wrote one of Michael's all-time favorite books (The Devil in the White City) so I thought I'd give it a shot.

It was very interesting from a historical perspective.  I've always wondered HOW no one could see that Hitler was killing all the Jews and HOW the U.S. could decide to stay out of it for so long.  Larson did a great job of giving you a glimpse into the social hierarchy, political dynamics and office politics of the time.

My favorite parts of the book focused on the U.S. Ambassador to Germany's daughter, Martha, and her scandalous love life!

If you're interested in WWII history and/or political history (which I really am not), this is a good book to pick up.  Personally, I give it a 6 out of 10 (even though it was good for a non-fiction book).

The Hunger Games

Could not put this book down.

The author does an exceptional job developing the characters with complicated and emotional personalities that I could really relate to.  I felt myself constantly asking "what would I do in this situation" and being sucked into the high-tech, ruthless, and voyeuristic society that replaces North America in the future.

Honestly, the whole premise of the book is uncomfortable.  Here's an excerpt from Amazon.com:

In a not-too-distant future, the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch.

Fortunately, the story follows the struggles, triumphs, and coming-of-age of a 17-year-old girl and doesn't really focus on the horrible (but frighteningly relatable) world that she lives in.

Love.  War.  Sacrifice.  Plot twists and turns.  Absolutely engrossing.

The Hunger Games is young adult fiction and sci-fi woven to give us a glimpse into the barbaric, selfish, competitive... compassionate, loving, beautiful sides of human nature.

I'm going to put it up there with The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo and give it a 7 out of 10.

The Bucolic Plague

Fantastic and fun book!  Even for those of you that don't daydream of quitting your job, buying a farm, raising goats, and planting an heirloom garden (like me!), this is a really funny and convincingly honest story of two city boys and their aspirations of becoming Martha-worthy gentlemen farmers.

So what did I learn from this book:
1. LOVE everything on Their Website
2. Realized there's no way I could ever work as hard as a country farmer
3. Complain less about how much work our balcony garden takes
4. Convinced me not to raise goats or chickens anymore (unless I make enough money to hire someone to take care of them)
5. And it's not that I didn't appreciate and respect my in-law's expansive mountain home in the first place, but I cannot imagine managing all that land, tending the garden, chopping firewood, growing mushrooms, tapping maple trees, and all the other chores that come with living in the country.  Whew!

So only a few days away from the 2nd Annual Merschat Family Garden Party & Bonfire, I would highly recommend picking up this hilarious reality check!  I give it an 8 out of 10.

The Forgotten Garden

After reading this delightful book, I not only want to vacation in Australia and Cornwall but I also want to finally start a genealogy project!  Morton's beautiful descriptions of the gardens also spoke to my spring fever and I long for my very own secret garden to tend to... but our balcony will just have to do for now.

Although it's a daunting 560 pages, it's a quick read and never boring.  The mystery spans generations from the turn-of-the-century to present day and reinforces the bonds of friends, family, and romance. 

Quick and easy feel-good novel with well-developed characters and a neat, happy ending.  I'm giving it an 8 out of 10 and hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Pride and Prejudice

I'm not sure how I got through high school and college without reading Pride and Prejudice... but somehow it slipped through the literary cracks.  Fortunately, this was the perfect book to take my mind off studying before bed and the short chapters were easy for me to pick up and put down.

But even if you're not studying, Pride and Prejudice is still one of those must-read books.

I have yet to meet a woman who has not fallen in love with the 2005 movie starting Keira Knightly and my love for the movie definitely encouraged me to read the book.

It's a quick read but you have to get used to the old-fashioned writing style of the time and the English spellings.  But that's easy to get past and you are guaranteed to be whisked away into the romantic lives of the Bennett sisters.  I think anyone with a sister can relate to the characters at least a little bit.  They family dynamics and personalities are witty, sarcastic, entertaining, and timeless.

I also love comparing books to the movies... and there are definitely some significant differences.  This is a fun summer read with the intrinsic value of reading a classic masterpiece.  I'm giving it an 8 out of 10.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

You have to be living in a cave if you haven't heard of Stieg Larsson's Millennium Series.  I heard so many great things about the books and I needed a few more things to throw into my Amazon.com order to get free shipping so... I bought the first two in the series sometime last summer.  They sat on our bookshelf for a few months and then Michael picked up The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

He could not put it down.  Loved it.

Then he started reading the The Girl That Played with Fire and couldn't put it down.  Loved it too.

He's saving The Girl That Kicked the Hornet's Nest for the flight to and from London... but I'm sure he'll love that one too.

I, on the other hand, have mixed feelings about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and I'm probably not going to read the next two books.  I don't know... it's not that it was bad.  It was a very enjoyable book, even though it was slow setting up the series during the first 200 pages, but I literally could not put it down the remaining 400 pages.  Read two thirds of the book in 2 days!  But, the subject matter is disturbing and I don't think I'm a fan of uncomfortable subjects like sexual deviancy.  I mean, it wasn't THAT bad but it was a little uncomfortable and because of that... I'm giving the book at 7 out of 10.

I'm sure Michael would give it higher marks though and I am VERY happy that he likes the books so my purchase did not go to waste!

Au revoir!  Our next post will probably be from Paris!!!

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Here's my new favorite feel-good book.  It's a simple and super quick read, but one of those books that you hate to finish up because you fall in love with the characters.

I have to thank Aunt Mary Ann for recommending this book.  I didn't even know where Guernsey was a month ago and now I want to vacation in the Channel Islands!

This book takes place in the late 1940s and is a compilation of letters surrounding a 30-something journalist who is doing research for a book about the German occupation on Guernsey after WWII.  Sounds heavy, huh?  It's quite the opposite.

It's sweet, clever, funny and thoroughly enjoyable read with a perfect ending.  I'm giving it an 8 out of 10 and I'm sure you're going to love it.

The Lost Symbol

With all the traveling to and from California for the very successful and fun Farrell/Merschat Family Vacation (more about that in a future post), I finally got to reading Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol that Aunt Arlene gave me for Christmas!  Overall, I'd give it a 7 out of 10 and would recommend it to any Dan Brown fans out there, but I still think Angels and Demons is still the best of the Robert Langdon series.

Don't get me wrong, The Lost Symbol is very entertaining (until the last 100 pages, which really dragged and left nothing to the imagination) and introduced very interesting concepts like noetic science and superstring theory.  But I think the formula was getting a little old after you've read the previous books and I feel like it read too much like he was writing the screenplay simultaneously.  That's pretty nit-picky but it crossed my mind more than a few times in the last part of the book.

And of course the best part of the book was that it was set in Washington, DC!  The House of the Temple is actually a block from where my knitting group meets and where my bus drops off.  I've always wanted to tour the place!  And it incorporates so much history of our founding fathers and of the government buildings and monuments, that's always so interesting and a Dan Brown trademark.  Can you imagine how much research he must have to do?

All in all, it's a solid, entertaining read and it was the perfect fun summer read for the trip!  Thanks again, Aunt Arlene!

Little Bee

I can't tell you too much because you NEED to read it yourself, but I can tell you that I LOVED this book and literally could not put it down.  It took me under a week to read (and those of you that know me know that I can't read in cars, trains or buses so it takes me a while to get through books). I'm going to give it a 9 out of 10.

The characters are developed so beautifully.  The issues are current, timely and emotional. 

I know you don't have time.  I know you have lots to do.  I know you need to read this book - it's worth it and I promise it won't take you very long.

City of Thieves

I think the Publishers Weekly review on Amazon sums it up with this sentence:

Benioff blends tense adventure, a bittersweet coming-of-age and an oddly touching buddy narrative to craft a smart crowd-pleaser.

Crowd-pleaser indeed!  It doesn't even matter that you don't care about WWII or Russian history because this book was quick, interesting, and just plain entertaining... just like watching a good movie! Coincidentally, Bennioff is the screenwriter who adapted The Kite Runner and wrote the screenplay for Wolverine. 

So if you don't feel like reading the book, I think there's a good chance you'll be able to catch it in the theater someday.  And since it reads like a movie, I don't expect I will say my usual book-to-movie adaptation line "the book was SO much better," but instead I'll say "yup, that was exactly how I pictured it."

Overall, I would give it a 7 out of 10 and would highly recommend it.  Solid entertaining book, but it was a tad one-dimensional with a somewhat predictable ending.

The Help

This is also a book we read in my book club and I would give it an 8 out of 10. Loved it and couldn't put it down!

Perhaps I liked it so much because I lived in the south for several years or because I was a journalism major like the protagonist. In any case, I liked the way it made you think "what would I do in this situation" and I liked how the chapters frequently ended in mini cliffhangers that forced you to read just one more chapter before you went to bed.

I just recommended it to one of my best friends that has never lived outside California and not interested in journalism, so it will be interesting what her reaction to the book will be.

The Art of Racing in the Rain

I just finished reading this in my book club. I would give it a 4 out of 10. Yes, and I'm being generous. It was literally a chore to finish (and I wouldn't have finished it had I not had to read it for book club).

It was cute... maybe too cute.
It was emotional... but it tried too hard.
It was an easy read... but only because the storyline was spoon-fed and predictable.

I know, I know... I don't have a dog, I don't like NASCAR, and I don't really relate to the testosterone-laced movie references he makes throughout the book. Still, I know when a book is talking down to me... perhaps the way that I talk down to dogs... and I didn't like it.