REVIEW: Catching Fire

Catching Fire
Author: Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games is one of my favorite YA series. The story is action-packed, exciting and suspenseful. I'm re-reading this series as part of The Great American Read. The series is the 8th book or series on the GAR list of 100 books that I'm reading. It will take me awhile to work my way through all 100, but I'm enjoying the experience so far.

Catching Fire is the middle novel in the Hunger Games Trilogy. Every 25 years, the Capitol hosts a special Hunger Games called the Quarter Quell. Following the exciting ending of the previous year's Hunger Games, the capitol wants revenge for what happened. So, for the 75th anniversary of the Hunger Games, a special reaping is announced and all of Panem is in shock. Who will survive the 75th Anniversary Quarter Quell? Maybe nobody.....     Tick, Tock.

Catching Fire is a great middle novel for this series. It contains a lot of character development and important plot points. The games are worse than usual because the Capitol is angry....and afraid. There are rumblings of revolution in the Districts. President Snow and the leaders in the Capitol want to keep control over the districts, and they are willing to do anything. The gamemakers
really work hard to make the 75th anniversary of the Hunger Games particularly horrifying. The game is a whole new level of demented for the Quarter Quell.

This series is Young Adult Fiction. There is no cursing or sex, but the theme is particularly dark and violent. The violence is not graphic, but the books might be a bit much for kids under 13. The series is well-written and action-packed. It's a good one to give to a teen who is a reluctant reader. But it's also enjoyable for adults too.

I'm glad this book made it onto the list for The Great American Read. It definitely got millions of teens and adults reading, and that's the whole point of GAR! I have read some comments online that some feel that YA books did not belong on the list. Why?? There are also popular horror novels and even an erotic fiction novel series on the list. Why not YA? The GAR is about books that got people reading and talking about books....not an attempt to name the top 100 classic books. The Hunger Games is an enjoyable action series with interesting topics to discuss.....totalitarian governments, war, love, the pain of being forced to make difficult choices, life and death...great topics to discuss with teens. The list is diverse and meant to represent a large majority of readers. All readers. Not just those who enjoy classics. I'm glad it made the list!  And I'm thoroughly enjoying re-reading this series! On to the final book -- Mockingjay!

REVIEW: The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins

This is a re-read for me. I enjoyed this series when it first came out, and I'm enjoying revisiting Panem as part of The Great American Read.

The Basics: Katniss Everdeen is 16 and lives in Panem's District 12 with her mother and younger sister, Primrose. District 12 is a coal mining district, so work there is hard and dangerous. Her own father was killed in a mining accident when Katniss was 12. Since then, she has taken over as head of the family. She hunts for food and makes sure her sister Prim has what she needs. This year, Prim's name will be entered into the drawing for the reaping for the first time. It worries Katniss. One girl and one boy from each district is chosen each year to fight in The Hunger Games, a televised battle to the death with only one left alive at the end. Katniss' name is in the drawing multiple times, as are all older children in the district. The Hunger Games are a reminder, and punishment, for an uprising of the districts against the government in the Capitol. Who will be chosen from District 12 this time? And will they survive?

The Hunger Games is the first book in the trilogy by Suzanne Collins. Followed up by Catching Fire and Mockingjay, this series is my favorite YA series. I even enjoyed the movies. I can see why the series made the list of 100 books for The Great American Read. The tale of violent totalitarian government and an uprising of the people after decades of fear, starvation and violence is thought-provoking, scary and awesome to read. The books are well-written and I always find myself rooting for the districts and despising the President and residents of the Capitol. Great story!

This is a YA series, but I would definitely recommend it for more mature teens over the age of 13. Given the plot, there is a lot of violence, danger and death. There is no cussing, no graphic sex or anything inappropriate, just themes better suited to teens who can handle reading about violence, injury and death.

I listened to the audiobook version of The Hunger Games. Narrated by Carolyn McCormick, the audio is just over 11 hours long. McCormick reads at a steady, even pace with good inflection. I have hearing loss but was easily able to hear and understand her reading.

I'm re-reading the entire trilogy. The Hunger Games will be the 8th book or series I have read/re-read from the list of 100 for The Great American Read.

REVIEW: The Wall

The Wall
Author: Marlen Haushofer

A woman visits an alpine hunting lodge with two relatives for a weekend getaway. She stays behind when her cousin accompanies her husband to the nearby village to buy supplies. The next morning the two still have not returned. The woman decides to walk to the village with her cousin's dog. She loses sight of the dog but when she finds him again, the dog is acting confused and will not start walking again. The woman knows the dog will follow so she continues....only to walk into an impenetrable barrier. It's like a glass box has come down over the area surrounding the hunting lodge. She can see through the barrier to the world outside, but there is no way through the wall. She sees no birds, small animals or even live insects on the other side. The people she can see are inanimate like they are sleeping or died where they stood. She knows in an instant that everyone she knew is dead. Everything on the other side of the barrier is dead. Soon she has gathered up the dog, a cat, and a cow. She spends years caring for the animals, learning to grow food and care for herself, and writing a diary about her experiences.

This is a psychological and thoughtful story, rather than an tale with a recognizable plot or even a real ending. But given the situation the woman must endure, the sharing of everyday thoughts, concerns and horrors is perfect. She has no other people for company, only her animals. It has a profound effect on her to the extent that she is never given a name. Why do you need a name if you are the only person left? She comes to see her animals as her family and does her best to survive. The ending is abrupt with no real resolution, but realistically the resolution will come when the woman dies and there is nobody left at all.

I listened to the audiobook version of this novel. Narrated by Kathe Mazur, the audio is just over 9 hours long. I'm glad I chose the audio version of this book. The story moves slowly (which is appropriate given the subject of a woman being totally alone for years with just animals for companions). I don't think I would have finished the print version....her daily diary and inner monologue about her animals, growing food, etc would have bored me quickly if I was reading it for myself. The audio brought the woman's situation to life.....it was like hearing her thoughts, so I was more interested in the story despite its tendency to plod along without any real developments.

I think it is a distinct possibility that Stephen King got the basic idea for his Under the Dome story from this book. He just added more people, a real plot and some horror -- he "Kinged'' it up and made it his own. The Wall is a totally different sort of story. It shows what happens to a person's mind when they are utterly cut off from all human contact and how it comes down to a person's will to survive. I'm glad that the main character found animals she could befriend and love, otherwise I think she would have weakened and died, or might have killed herself.

Interesting and very thought provoking book. I'm glad I listened to it. I really want to re-read King's Under the Dome now!

REVIEW: Bono

Bono
Author: Helen Brown

The front cover is the first thing that made me want to read this book. A fluffy, obviously cattitude-filled, black cat is featured behind the title. Bono. A cat named Bono? Extremely awesome. Then I read that the book is based on a true experience the author had with a foster cat in New York City. Ok. Sucked in. Immediate must read.

I'm a sucker for foster cats. I've been a foster for orphaned kittens in North Carolina for several years now. Babies that nobody wants...abandoned....orphans....dropped at the animal shelter...sometimes just thrown out with the garbage or on the side of the road. They come to my house. I bottle feed them, keep them warm, clean them, and pet them for hours, telling them what good cats they are going to be and how a family somewhere needs them. Sometimes, unfortunately, I pet them and love them as they take their last breaths and bury them with much respect and sadness. Those who survive and thrive are adopted to great furever homes, often in other states. Goodbye sweet babies -- go make a family very, very happy. Live a good and beautiful life.

I had to read this book about Bono. :)

The basics: The author was having a bit of a midlife crisis and decided it was a good time to travel to New York City from Australia to promote her latest book. Her publisher told her that it would be perfect if she would foster a homeless cat from a local shelter while in NYC. She agreed, figuring she either wouldn't be able to find an apartment that would allow a cat or she would get a fat, middle aged cat that just wanted to sleep all day. Wrong. AirBnb had a studio that would allow a cat....and she was matched with Bono. Bono suffered from kidney failure and was basically unadoptable. His medical needs were expensive and nobody wanted to adopt him. The author basically was giving Bono a vacation from the shelter for awhile. Little did either realize that the cat needed Helen Brown. And Helen Brown needed the little cat. Their relationship started out shaky with much hissing, hiding under beds, and cat temper fits....but with a little bit of patience from both, the outcome is quite heartwarming.

I loved this story. I'm definitely going to be reading more by this author. The story of how she bonded with Bono is heart-warming and real. Cats can be great therapy at low spots in our lives. She rescued Bono, and in return he rescued her. Beautiful! :)

There is always time for kindness. I find that I receive much more from the tiny little kittens I foster than I give to them. There is just something joyful in saving a tiny life and sending it out into the world to bring happiness to someone I will never even meet. I get messages, emails and photos from those who adopt the babies I raise. It's totally worth the feedings every two hours, the frantic trips to the vet in an emergency and all the time, effort and mess.

As I warm the formula to go and feed the latest little one (her name is Annie after Little Orphan Annie...the only one in her litter to survive after her mother was run over and killed), I'm thinking kind thoughts about Helen Brown and Bono. It's amazing how much animals bring to our lives in exchange for just a little love and affection.

Lovely book! I highly recommend it!

**I voluntarily read an advance readers copy of this book from Kensington via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own. Adopt -- don't shop! Donate to your local humane society.**

REVIEW: Call of the Wild

Call of the Wild
Author: Jack London

I love adventure stories. When I was a child, I greedily devoured any book that involved wilderness, danger and action. Jack London's stories were some of my favorites. My dad bought me his books on the downlow, as my mother had in her mind that such stories were not "ladylike.''  My dad supported me in my love of adventure and supplied me with all sorts of unladylike tales -- Tarzan, The Jungle Book, Jack London, and all sorts of wonderful stories that carried me away to far off places. Very unladylike places.

Out of all of those wonderful stories, Call of the Wild was one of my favorites. It was the first story I read where an animal is a realistic main character, not a talking caricature in a children's story. Buck is a dog who gets stolen from his owner and sold as a sled dog. The changes he goes through....the transformation from pet to a wild animal is fascinating. Back then (and still today) I wanted to hop into the story and kick the butts of the abusive men who train the dog to be a working dog by whipping and clubbing him. The abuse of the animals in this story is realistic, but the horrible humans who mistreat their dogs seem to meet grisly fates in the Alaskan wilderness. Karma. I celebrated with Buck finally had a master he loved....and supported how he blended into the wilderness at the end. I always felt that ending was totally appropriate. He had morphed into a wild animal, not a pet, so he deserved his freedom in the end.

Jack London was definitely a man's man. He lived hard, worked hard, and died hard.  He was the highest paid author of his day before he died at 40 in 1916 of an accidental morphine overdose. It has been suggested that the overdose might not have been accidental. He was very ill and dying from a mix of self abuse (alcoholism) and disease (several afflictions caught in the tropics that never went away), and might have decided to go the way of several of the characters in his story....OD on morphine and quietly slip away. I can see him wanting to leave on his own terms, in peace, at the house in California that he loved. But that's all just conjecture....we can never know if it was accidental or on purpose. I think it's wonderful that his stories are more than 100 years old now and still catch the attention of readers today.

I listened to an audiobook version of this classic novella. Narrated by Patrick Lawlor, the audio is almost 3.5 hours long. Lawlor reads at a steady, even pace with good inflection. I have hearing loss, but was able to easily hear and understand his narration.

Call of the Wild is one of 100 books chosen as part of The Great American Read. I can totally see how this classic about life in the Alaskan wilderness deserves a spot on the list. This is the 7th book on the list that I have read/re-read on my quest to read through the entire list.

Jack London wrote many short stories and novels and even some plays and poetry. His most famous novels are Call of the Wild, White Fang, The Sea-Wolf and Martin Eden.

REVIEW: Gus Loved His Happy Home

Gus Loved His Happy Home
Author: Jane Thayer

Gus the Ghost is a much beloved character in an 8-book series by Jane Thayer (a pen name for Catherine Woolley) written between 1967 and 1989. I read the first book in this series, Gus Was a Friendly Ghost, in 1971. I made my siblings read it to me over and over and over again. They got so tired of reading about Gus that they taught me to read so I could read the book (and my other favorites) to myself. :) So, technically, Jane Thayer and Gus are partially responsible for my love of books.  I had to laugh earlier this year when I discovered (much to my shock!) that there wasn't just one Gus book but 8 of them! I am now on the last book....Gus Loved His Happy Home. I'm happy and sad at the same time. Yay! Gus has 8 books!! But Wah! I've read all of them now.

There is only one of the books that I didn't enjoy as much as the others. Book #7, Gus Was a Real Dumb Ghost (or also published with a better title, Gus Goes to School) wasn't illustrated by Seymour Fleishman. The artwork just didn't fit in with the rest of the series. That, added to the rather negative original title, just turned me off. Gus didn't look like Gus! The story was great, but the artwork in the original books really made the stories pop off the page. The new illustrator just didn't have that magic. Not that her art wouldn't be great elsewhere.....you just can't totally change what a beloved character looks like in mid-stream....and then call him "really dumb'' on top of it. Ok....off my soapbox.....I was sooooo happy when I saw the cover of the 8th and final book and saw that it is illustrated by Seymour Fleishman. Gus is Gus again! It really does make me incredibly curious why one book in the series was illustrated by someone else. I would guess that readers reactions to that 7th book were just like mine.....yuck!

I loved this book! Gus Loved His Happy Home returns to the vibe of the original books in the series. Gus is at home in the attic of the historical museum. He lives with cranky Mr. Frizzle, Mouse the Mouse, and Cora the Cat. He's still wearing the colorful sheets he picked out in Gus Was a Gorgeous Ghost. He looks quite dapper for a spirit! Winter is coming, so Mr. Frizzle packs up and heads to Florida. He says he will be back in the spring and tells Gus to keep the museum dusted and in order. But, Gus has so much fun trying new things and playing while Mr. Frizzle is gone that he forgets to dust! Oh no! Can he clean up before Mr. Frizzle comes back?

This is such a cute story! The Gus series ends on a happy note. Perfect! Gus does so many fun things and has some interesting experiences before Mr. Frizzle comes back home. And the illustrations are definitely back to the style I love from the earlier books! I definitely want to read more stories by Jane Thayer and more books that feature Seymour Fleishman's artwork!

Jane Thayer (Catherine Woolley) wrote almost 90 children's books during her career.

REVIEW: To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird
Author: Harper Lee

The first time I read To Kill a Mockingbird was in high school in the 1980s. I was pleasantly surprised. Most of the literature we were required to read I never would have read on my own for enjoyment. The Great Gatsby. Moby Dick. The Old Man and the Sea. Red Badge of Courage. All great books...but I didn't identify with any of the characters. I read each one because I had to....not because I cared about the story in any way. To Kill a Mockingbird was different. I felt a connection with the characters and enjoyed the book so much I have re-read it many, many times since then.

Scout and Jem Finch live with their father, Atticus, in the south. Atticus is an attorney and state congressman. When Atticus defends a black man accused of raping a white woman, the court case causes division in the small town where they live. Scout, Jem and their friend Dill learn hard lessons about racism. There are also lighter coming-of-age moments -- like trying to make the recluse next door come out of his house. The kids are totally obsessed with Boo Radley.....a man who hasn't been seen outside his family's home in years and years.

I felt a connection with the kids in this story because I had many of the same questions that they express in the book. I never understood racism. I wasn't raised that way. My father would have worn me out with a paddle if I had ever used a racial slur or behaved less than kind to anyone for ignorant reasons like the color of their skin, religion, etc. And in the small midwest town where I grew up, racism was never out in the open, but an undercurrent that was hidden and not mentioned, but always there. Like the local men's civic club that didn't accept black members. Like the phone calls my father got when I went out in a group of friends that included black classmates. The teacher who handed a racist note to a white female student who was attending prom with a black classmate. I never understood all the hypocrisy. Especially when the racist nonsense was coming from people who were in church every Sunday. I didn't understand it then.....and I don't understand it now.  I think that's why I love this book. It all comes down to one thing....one important life lesson that Atticus Finch's children learn:  Do what is right.  In life, some things are beyond our control. Things will not always go the way they should. And people will not always behave as they should. In all things, the only thing we can do, is make sure that we do what is right. It might not change the outcome in every situation, but at least at the end of the day, we have the knowledge that we faced the situation and did what was right. A person deserving of respect is someone who goes into a situation knowing that they have already lost the fight, but they endeavor to do right anyway. Atticus Finch was that sort of person and he raised his children that way as well. It makes for a powerful coming-of-age story.

I listened to the audiobook version of this novel. Narrated by Sissy Spacek, the audio is just over 12 hours long. Spacek reads at a nice pace and is easily understandable. I have partial hearing loss, but was easily able to hear and understand this entire book. I enjoyed Spacek's performance. She did a great job with Scout's voice and the various other characters.

To Kill a Mockingbird is the first book I've read/re-read from the 100 books featured in The Great American Read. Check out the list here: http://www.pbs.org/the-great-american-read/books/#/