Archive | January 2009

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I read a lot about this book, not spoilers just good reviews, before I read it, and I was afraid it might not live up to all the hype. With only one caveat, it did live up to its reputation. If you haven’t heard anything about the book, I’ll give you a quick synopsis or introduction so that you can tell if the book is something you might like. Then, I’ll get to the “buyer beware” part.

TV’s Survivor meets Shirley Jackson’s short story The Lottery. If they didn’t make you read The Lottery in high school, you’ll just have to stick with the Survivor image. The Hunger Games are a yearly event in Panem in which two selected participants, a boy and a girl, from each of 12 districts, are forced to fight to the death in a prepared, and hostile, environment. No one gets voted off this “island”, however, and only one person can win, the last man or woman left alive.

SIxteen year old Katniss Everdeen doesn’t believe she could possibly be chosen out of the thousand or so names that will be in the lottery in her district. And she certainly doesn’t expect to be paired with a boy from her district who confuses her by acting as if he has a romantic interest in Katniss. Does he really? Or is it a trick to make her vulnerable to attack? Or can she and Peeta, the baker’s son, work together against the others? But if all the others die, then what will Katniss do about Peeta, or vice-versa?

It’s violent, and somewhat disturbing in its presentation of an evil dictatorial government and a culture both decadent and draconian in its exploitation of its citizens, but the book is not sexually explicit at all, and the nastiness is limited to what you would expect in such a hellish and volatile situation. The themes of trust and deception, community-building and destroying, cooperation and competition were well-developed and fascinating. I think older teens and adults would find lots to discuss in this dystopian novel.

Now for the caveat: I hate books (and TV shows, with the exception of LOST) that end with a cliffhanger and the promise of a sequel. The Hunger Games concludes with a resolution about who “wins” The Hunger Games, but it also ends with unresolved issues and with these words:

END OF BOOK ONE

If that’s going to bother you, you may want to wait for the publication of Catching Fire, due out in September, 2009, and read them both together. I sort of halfway wish I had waited, but then again I did enjoy The Hunger Games very much. And I’ll be watching LOST next Wednesday, even though the producers of that show have left me hanging and twisting in the wind four times now already (Seasons 1-4), and I’m expecting them to do it again in May.

I guess I’m just a sucker for a good story, even if it does make me wait for the next installment.

Other views and reviews:
The Reading Zone: “I read this novel in less than a day. The action is non-stop and heartpounding at many points in the story. Katniss is a likable character: she isnâ€™t perfect, she isnâ€™t a moral compass, and sometimes you even want to hate her. However, the situation she is thrust into is eerily similar to the modern-day obsession with reality TV and you canâ€™t help but wonder if this the frightening direction into which we are headed.”

My Favorite Author has an interview with Suzanne Collins in which Ms. Collins cites the story of Theseus as one inspiration for The Hunger Games. I actually thought about Theseus being chosen to face the Minotaur as I read the first few chapters of The Hunger Games.

Quippe: “Collins gives Katniss a strong first person voice and seen through her eyes, the future is a dark and violent place. Despite the risk of descending into exposition, Collins strikes the balance between showing and telling with the result that her world building is vivid and credible, deftly setting out Katniss’s struggle to survive in the economically poor District 12 following the death of her father in a mining accident and her apothecary mother’s descent into depression.”

Shelf Elf: “She tells a tale that is tight and swift and yet still manages to remain complex in its themes. About halfway through, I crawled out of my couch-nest and wandered into the kitchen and said to my fella, ‘I canâ€™t think of any way this book could possibly end that wouldnâ€™t be completely devastating. This book rocks.’ (Back to couch).”

Random Wonder: “All I can say is that right now author Suzanne Collins had better be holed up in her house writing frantically. Not since Pottermania have I so desperately hungered for a sequel.”

The Wright Three By Blue Balliett

Jan26

The Wright Three was a very good book. It is the sequel for the bookÂ ChasingÂ Vermeer (which is a good book, too). It’s a mystery book and it’s very clever. It’s about three kids named Petra, Calder, and Tommy, and Tommy had moved away for a while and came back to Hyde Park where he used to live along with Petra and Calder. Petra and Calder had become friends while Tommy was away and when he got back he didn’t really like Petra (later they became friends). They stumble upon a really cool mystery about the Robie House designed byÂ Frank Lloyd WrightÂ . In the mystery they find a fish, two copies of a book called The Invisible Man, pentominos, and friendship. I like the book a lot and I hope that otherÂ peopleÂ will too!Â

Sunday Salon: Gleaned from the Saturday Review

Jan25

The Lady of Milkweed Manor by Julie Klassen. Recommended by Jennifer at 5 Minutes for Mom. I missed this review the first time around, but Lauren reviewed a second book, The Apothecary’s Daughter, by Julie Klassen, and I found myself wanting to read both books.

Mrs. ‘Arris Goes To Paris by Paul Gallico. Recommended by Book Psmith. I saw the movie version of this book a long time ago, and I remember it fondly. Now I think it might be fun to read the book, and possibly its sequels, too.

Alphabet Juice by Roy Blount, Jr. Recommended by MB at A Glass of Blessings. ‘Cause I’m needing something funny.

Bone by Bone by Carol O’Connor. Recommended at Random Wonder. ‘Cause I also like a mystery with well-developed characters.

Soldier’s Heart: Reading Literature Through Peace and War at West Point by Elizabeth D. Samet. Also recommended at Random Wonder. I’ve read about this book elsewhere and thought it might be worth a try. But I was afraid of a condescending attitude on the part of the author in regard to the young soldiers she taught. This review says Ms. Samet has a “clear, yet poignant, writing style and respectful even-handed look at the soldiers themselves.” I’m intrigued.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore. Recommended by Darla D at Books and Other Thoughts. I have this book waiting for me on the hold shelf at the library because it’s a Cybils finalist. I am further encouraged to go pick it up.

The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson. Recommended at Small World Reads.

The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything by Ken Robinson PhD with Lou Aronica. Recommended by Christine MM at The Thinking Mother. I’m not into self-helpy stuff, but this one sounds worth a try.

WHOA! I could probably find a few more books I’d like to try, but eight is enough. Actually, added to the rest of my TBR list, it’s probably way too many.

Semicolon Book Club: January

Jan24

We just adjourned the first meeting of the Semicolon Book Club for 2009. We discussed the two book selections for January:

Heaven by Randy Alcorn.

Heaven: Your Real Home by Joni Eareckson Tada.

There were only three of us in attendance, but we really enjoyed discussing the joys and possibilities of heaven, the place where we will live forever at home with the God who made us, redeemed us, and loves us eternally. I printed out this 2003 Christianity Today article by Peter Kreeft, and we discussed some of these “thirty-five frequently asked questions about eternity” in relation to the two books and to Scripture.

The most exciting idea that we talked about was the thought that not only will there be no more sin in heaven, but we will not have any desire to sin. Peter Kreeft writes about it like this:

Will we be free in Heaven? If so, will we be free to sin? If so, won’t anyone ever exercise that freedom?
“Freedom to sin” is a contradiction in terms, like “freedom to be enslaved.” Free choice is only the means to true freedom, “the freedom of the sons of God,” liberty.
In heaven we will not sin because we will not want to. We will freely choose never to sin, just as now great mathematicians do not make elementary mistakes, though they have the power to do so. In Heaven we will see the attractiveness of goodness and of God so clearly, and the ugliness and stupidity of sin so clearly, that there will be no possible motive to sin.
Now, we are enslaved by ignorance. Every sin comes from ignorance, for we sin only because we see sin as somehow attractive, which it is not, and goodness as somehow lacking in attraction. This is an ignorance that we are responsible for, but it is ignorance, and without that ignorance we would not sin. In Heaven, in the “beatific vision” of God, overwhelmed and filled with the total joy of goodness, baptized with goodness as a sunken ship is filled with water, no one could possibly ever want to turn from this perceived glory. Now, “we walk by faith, not by sight”(2 Cor. 5:7). Heavenly sight will not remove our freedom. Ask the blind whether sight would remove their freedom.

Can you imagine such perfect freedom? Joni talks about this kind of freedom in her book, too. Not only will she have a perfected body that will obey her will and mind and do all sorts of things that her now paralyzed body is unable to do, and not only will she have a perfected mind that will learn easily and happily and will enjoy both God and His creation, she will also have a perfected will that is perfectly in tune with that of the Creator, a will that only desires to do His will because we will be able to see Him face to face and understand that His will is always best.

And that’s why there will be no more tears. We will know HIm even as we are known.

Joni, in her book, playfully sets up meetings with friends and acquaintances: “I’ll meet you in Oregon for skiing and a cup of hot chocolate.” That kind of thing. I’m going to say that I’ll be in the Celestial Library, worshipping the Lord with my new mind (the one that doesn’t forget stuff), and I’ll meet anyone who wants to join me there to talk about all the wonders of what God has made.

If you are an online member of the Semicolon Book Club, or if you’re interested in joining in, the February selection is The Love Letters by Madeleine L’Engle. It’s out of print, but available, used, from Amazon sellers for a pittance. Just click on the cover picture to get to the Amazon page.

And here’s a special linky for those of you who posted about either Heaven by Randy Alcorn or Heaven: Your Real Home by Joni. Thanks for reading along.

1. Amy@Hope Is the Word (Joni Eareckson Tada)
2. Semicolon (Randy Alcorn)

3. Semicolon (Joni and Schuyler\’s Monster)
4. Carrie K. (Heaven, post 1)

5. Carrie K. (Heaven, post 2)

Poetry Friday: Hurley Needs a Cool Code Name

Jan23

Dude, are you OK? You’re looking kinda….goth.

Great, go look down the burning death hole!

Dude, that was like a. . . jedi moment.

Back home, I’m known as something of a warrior myself.

We’re lost on an island, running from monsters, boars, freaking polar bears.

Locke’s out in the jungle killing stuff.

The numbers are bad.

Did either of you see a guy run through here…in a bathrobe…with a coconut?

I just go along with it, ’cause I’m along for the ride. Good old fun-time Hurley.

I like that I like chicken?

The torch near the dynamite thing, not making a whole lot of sense to me.

Let’s look Death in the face and say, ‘Whatever, man!”

Did that bird just say my name?

So, like, the hatch blew off your underwear?

Attention Others. Come in Others.
best stay away from our beach…

Can’t believe you’re just giving him Australia. Australia’s the key to the whole game.

I don’t wanna see the ocean.

Dude, I’ve been having regular conversations with dead people.

The last thing I need now is paranoia.

Never say never, dude.

OK, as poetry it’s severely lacking in form, rhythm, and other poetical elements. However, it works for me as a sort of shorthand summary of Hurley’s experience on the island (LOST) and our experience as viewers trying to understand and assimilate all the plot lines and themes and numerous strands of the show that is LOST. In other words, I’m having fun.

Check in with Laura Salas for some real poetry on this Friday.

7 Quick Takes Friday

Jan23

1
Here’s an article in WSJ by Allen Barra about G.K. Chesterton and The Man Who Was Thursday. I found the WSJ article via Neil Gaiman’s blog, which I was browsing because this is the year I’m going to “discover” Neil Gaiman. I’ve been planning to do so for several years now, but haven’t managed to actually read a single book by the much-acclaimed author. I have read The Man Who Was Thursday and named it one of my twelve favorites from last year’s reading.

2
I Wish I could Read LIke a GIrl by Michelle Slatalla. Mental Multivitamin sent me to this nostalgic look at the “the childhood gift of being able to suspend disbelief.” I think I can still do it, but it is easier for the younger set.

3
Another reason to let (make) your children play outside. My children don’t spend nearly as much time outdoors as I did when I was a kid of a girl growing up in West Texas. And I didn’t much care for playing outside; I only wanted to sit around and read. But my mom sent me outdoors and said for me to stay there “until I tell you to come in for supper,” or some such deadline. Sometimes she let me take my book with me, and I climbed the mulberry tree outside my window, perched on a branch and read. At least I was outside.

4
It shouldn’t be a surprise considering Mr. Obama’s strong pro-abortion statements and actions in the past, but I am nevertheless appalled that this man has been nominated for the post of U.S. Associate Attorney General. As columnist Jeffery Kuhner says, “If ‘Piranha Perrelli’ (as he is known in pro-life circles) can’t protect a defenseless, incapacitated woman from a ruthless, amoral husband – in fact, goes out of his way to help finish her off – then he certainly cannot oversee the enforcement of America’s laws.”

5
Octamom: Is Eight Enough? “It’s all about trust. It’s all about listening. I don’t know how many children people should have. I do know we should pray a whole lot more about it. I don’t think that big families are somehow more ‘spiritual’. I do know that the process of family building is holy ground, whether by biological or adoptive or foster or mentoring means.”
Isn’t that wonderful? I don’t know how many children any family should have. But God does. And He will lead if we let HIm.

6
Gene Veith asks: What works should be in our collection of the Christian Great Books?
He’s already got 50+ comments with lots of suggestions, but have a look both to get suggestions for your own reading and to give suggestions for others.

7
Finally, I got this quote from Julie at Happy Catholic:

Donâ€™t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
Howard Thurman

Go here to read her further thoughts on the idea of service and calling and vocation.

Happy Friday, everyone! More Quick Takes at Conversion Diary.

My LOST Reading Project

Jan22

Scroll down or click for my thoughts on last night’s episode of LOST. I’m joining Amy’s LOST Books Challenge in which “(p)articipants are asked to choose at least five books off the list of books alluded to or mentioned on the show to complete by the time the series concludes in 2010. If participants did not complete the first challenge, they can use those same books again. Find books here, here, or here.”

My books (subject to change):

Island by Aldous Huxley.

On Writing by Stephen King.

The Third Policeman by Flann O’Brien.

The Stone Leopard by Colin Forbes.

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. I’ve never read this (cult?) classic, and I figure I ought to?

I’ve chosen five, and I may choose more. I may start some of the above selections and not be able to finish. I’ve done a lot of that for some reason this month. Anyway, I’m looking forward to reading some of these and correlating them to LOST as the season progresses. If you’ve already read any of the books I’ve chosen, tell me what you thought.

Go here to sign up for the LOST Books Challenge.

LIFE 2009

Jan22

I’m wishing I could be in Washington D.C. today at the gathering on the mall to be a part of history, to try to make a difference. No, I’m not confused or two days late. I’m talking about the gathering commemorating this event:

Today marks the anniversary of one of the saddest days in our nationâ€™s history.
36 years ago the Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that women have the constitutional right to end the lives of their unborn children.

By the way, our new president, Barack Obama was invited to this commemoration. I don’t think he acknowledged the invitation.

Fiction Writing Contest for Texas Kids

Jan22

I just got this press release in my email this morning:

Eighth Annual Texas Book Festival/UIL Fiction Writing Contest
The University Interscholastic League (UIL) and the Texas Book Festival announce the 8th Annual Fiction Writing Contest. Texas junior high and high school students are invited to submit a piece of original fiction, no more than 2,000 words in length, to be judged by Texas authors, some of whom will appear at the 2009 Texas Book Festival, Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 in Austin.
Entries should focus on the theme, â€œIn My Own Backyard.â€ Judges will look for excellence in use of dialogue, character development, setting, plot, conflict, and resolution. Submitted entries will be considered in three divisions: Grades 7-8; Grades 9-10; Grades 11-12. Authors will enter the division for which they were a student during the 2008-09 school year.

Schools are limited to three entries per division. There is no entry fee. Entries must be double-spaced and formatted as a Microsoft Word document, accompanied by a completed contest entry form, then faxed to the Texas Book Festival office at (512) 322-0722 no later than July 1, 2009.

Prizes will be awarded to the first, second, and third place finishers per division. First-place winners will be invited to Austin to receive an award and to read their works during the 2009 Texas Book Festival. Winning entries will also be published on the Texas Book Festival Web site.

To view the 2008 winning entries, visit the festival website.

Entry forms are posted on both the UIL and the Texas Book Festival Web sites.

I don’t know yet whether homeschooled students will be eligible to enter or not.

LOST Rehash: Because You Left and The Lie

Jan21

I just got through three hours of LOST, and to tell the truth, as Hurley insists we should always do, I’m a little bit disappointed. The season premiere at any rate seems to be all about action and adventure and chases and people getting shot, not much character development and no interesting relationship stuff. I’m NOT talking about the Kate/Jack/Sawyer triangle, just relationships and friendships and even enmities. There wasn’t anything new about the people themselves.

Hurley doesn’t trust Ben. Hurley’s mom believes in him. Sun doesn’t like Ben, and she blames him for Jin’s death. Sayid and Ben have had a falling out. Locke’s not really dead, or else he’s going to come back to life on the island. Faraday has a mother, probably the white-haired lady whose name I don’t remember. Widmore’s evil, which is no surprise to anyone.

There was some graphic violence and general nastiness, but no “wow!” moments when I thought “Man! That blows my mind!” I’m glad Faraday is becoming a key player on the island, that he’s the only one who has any idea what’s going on. I don’t like the idea that Locke is so special that he, and only he can save the island (save the world?). I don’t like Locke, never have.

Questions:

Where did the flaming arrows come from? Dharma people? Or someone else?

Why didn’t Desmond remember meeting Faraday before outside the hatch? Way before at Oxford?

Where are Claire and her dad while the island is moving around in time?

What’s with the compass that Richard gave Locke?

Walt’s special. Locke’s special. Desmond’s special. Ben’s special. How many “special” people are there?

What was Faraday doing under the Orchid Station with the Dharma people?

What’s this thing Miles has with dead people —and dead boars? And Miles corrects Sawyer’s nicknames?

I’m still in for the duration, but I hope they get some interesting character development in the mix because I don’t want to spend the entire season watching people run around the dark jungle and getting flashed through time and Jack and the rest of the Oceanic Six chasing each other and trying to form a posse.

If you posted about LOST, whether you got more out of it or less, leave a comment, and I’ll link.

Shannon loved it, even though it “messed with my mind,” at Rocks in My Dryer.

Amy thinks it’s going to be a great season.

Robyn’s kinda lost.

Joanna’s a hopeless addict, and her mind is buzzing with questions and theories.

Sarah asks, “When am I?”

My Friend Amy loves Faraday, too.

Michelle at Pridelands Mommy is also happy that Fraday is going to be a key character this season.

Friend Donna doesn’t like Faraday. She thinks he’s sneaky and pretentious. C’mon, Donna, he’s a lovable physics nerd. What’s not to like?

Lisa thinks Charlotte is Ben’s little childhood playmate. Only her name was Annie, wasn’t it?

Crystal has lots of questions and observations.

Bay at Queen Mother blog likes seeing dead people pop up again.

Everyday Mom thinks Locke is really dead, but that the island will bring him back to life.

Oh Amanda does a recap of both of last night’s episodes with some lovely insights along the way.

Bobbi says there was a whole lot of flashing going on.

Go here to sign up for the LOST Books Challenge.

I loved linking to everyone’s LOST posts, but I think next week I’ll put up a linky for everyone to sign in and link.