A novel within a novel, within a novel…within a novel. Only Margaret Atwood could do this. That’s my conclusion, at least. Published in 200 by Anchor Books, The Blind Assassin, is a book with countless different dynamics and unexpected twists. To be completely honest, I didn’t like the book for a long time and forced myself to continue to the end. By the last few chapters, as all the pieces came to a beautiful fit, I realized the true genius of the book. The characters are well described and very real. So real, they are almost unlikeable. The antagonists of the book are extra unbearable and I found myself actually...
Book Review: Catching Fire
I indulged this weekend. Rather, I was trapped by this book. Somehow my hands were chained to the hardcover binding and flipping pages madly. I simply couldn’t put it down. So I ignored all other life around me and barricaded myself in my office to read Suzanne Collin’s gripping sequel to The Hunger Games (see my previous post). If The Hunger Games was one of the best books I’ve ever read, I’m not sure how to classify Catching Fire. It surpassed the high standard set by its predecessor, digging deeper into the characters and setting. In this book, nothing is exactly how it seems, and you are left breathlessly waiting...
Book Review: The Hunger Games
Twenty-four are forced to enter. Only the winner survives. In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Each year, the districts are forced by the Capitol to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the Hunger Games, a brutal and terrifying fight to the death – televised for all of Panem to see. Survival is second nature for sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who struggles to feed her mother and younger sister by secretly hunting and gathering beyond the fences of District 12. When Katniss steps in...
What I’m Reading – Water for Elephants
There are certain books, where once you start reading, it consumes your mind and it’s hard to get anything else done (like housework, writing, work…all that sort of stuff.) “Water for Elephants” by Sara Gruen (Algonquin Paperbacks) is one of those books. This novel follows ninety-three-(or ninety-one)-year-old Jacob Jankowski in an assisted-living community as he remembers his life at age twenty three. He was a veterinary student when tragedy strikes and turns his world on its head. He ends up on the rails with a travelling circus in 1931 and his story takes the reader through the dark, troubling secrets of the times. “Water for Elephants” is not inspirational fiction,...
What I’m reading
I’m a sucker for good historicals… “Love Thine Enemy” presents memorable characters with page-turning action. Set in Florida during the American Revolution, author Louise M. Gouge puts the reader in the town through strong description and realistic period dialogue. The main characters, Rachel Folger and Frederick Moberly are genuine with true chemistry. Rachel has a heart for helping others among other endearing qualities that instantly connects to the reader. Frederick is the hero we all love, struggling to do right while society looks down upon him. I was sucked into the book right away and unable to put it down until I finished! Gouge has a real way with her...