reading

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I usually avoid reading those books "that everyone is reading." It's just in my nature to be a little bit contrary. If it's ever been featured on Oprah, the odds of me reading it go waaaay down. (Not that I don't love Oprah.) This crazy-but-me sentiment kept me from reading the Twilight series (which I will still probably never read because... vampires, not really my thing. among other reasons) and almost kept me from reading The Hunger Games trilogy.

Luckily, my best friend Debra insisted I read them so that she could have someone to discuss them with. Really, my contrary-to-society reading tendencies were far overshadowed by the fact that just on principle, I should love the books: they're futuristic more-or-less utopian (dystopian, more correctly), a genre that I love.

I started reading on a Friday evening... and kept reading until Saturday morning. I literally could not put these books down (and even though the story was over for me as a reader halfway through the third, I still had. to. finish.) I finished the first, The Hunger Games, at 2 am... and went straight into reading Catching Fire. When I finished at around 6 am, I was really ready to start the finale, Mockingjay, but I realized that I should probably get a bit of sleep so as to be at least moderately functional the next day. Three hours of sleep and five hours of reading later, I was done with the whole trilogy, less than 24 hours after I started.

{if you have never read the series}
You should read it. But be prepared to be a little disappointed when you're finished. The ending isn't uplifting; it's a story of, ultimately, war and war's toll on life, both for the society and for individuals. In the process, it's a tale of love, media, entertainment, and trust.

{if the very idea of children fighting to the death or reading about violent deaths bothers you}
Don't read this book. My mother, an elementary school librarian, hated the book for those reasons, and finished The Hunger Games only "to get those people out of danger." My sister, an elementary school teacher, couldn't palate the concept and has abandoned the book twice in mid-read. It's okay to not want to read this book for those reasons. I, personally, don't create vivid images in my mind reading, so the violent deaths don't bother me like they do those with more vivid imaginations.

{if you have read the books and/or are prepared for the below spoilers}
Keep reading. :)

My one-word review on finishing the series: dissatisfied. I was completely dissatisfied with the ending, as I know many other readers were. I don't feel like Collins copped out or was just looking for a quick ending. I think she did exactly what every good author should do: tell the story she set out to tell, the story she envisioned from the beginning. She herself has even said that the ending of the trilogy never changed even as she was writing the series. She has also said that the novels were inspired by modern media: "On one channel young people were competing for money. On the next channel, young people were fighting for their lives."

And, at its heart, The Hunger Games trilogy is about war. What other phenomenon can take these two people who were so vivid and who lived, breathed, and loved -- and turn them into only shells of their former beings, still alive but empty and hollow and broken beyond repair?

It was at the point that you realize that Peeta, the symbol of everything that is good in the world, of unconditional love, is broken beyond repair that the book was over for me. The moment they rescued him, when he first sees Katniss and tries to kill her -- game over. Peeta was the goodness that kept me reading though this terrible and cruel world. Once his goodness and love were gone, corrupted by the Capitol, I cut myself off from the book. I finished, but just do be done. The frenzied-excited what will happen next feeling was gone because I knew that once broken, he could never be fully restored.

As a the final in a series about war, Mockingjay has an entirely different feeling than The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. In the first two books, Katniss is lucid and motivated by love. Love for Prim and her mother. Love for Gale. Maybe even love for Peeta. She is thinking clearly about surviving, about doing what is best for Prim.

By the time she has survived the events that turn her in to the mockingjay of the rebellion, Katniss is confused and psychotic. She becomes incoherent, drugged for the duration, and all of her actions in Mockingjay seem to motivated by fear and survival, with only the smallest shred of the love that was so motivating throughout The Hunger Games and Catching Fire.

Ultimately, yes, Katniss ends up with Peeta, like we all wanted. (I, for one, cannot blame her for not being able to look Gale in the face after Prim's death.) But even then, she chooses him sheerly out of survival. Convenience, almost. Their children come about because Peeta wants them, not because Katniss has found love enough for children.

I would have been satisfied (not overly happy but satisfied) if the series had ended with even a twinge of hope, of a feeling that everything that Katniss and Peeta and all the people of Panem have been through has been worth it even just a tiny bit. Instead, I still feel despondency in Katniss' musings as she watches her children. Yes, her son and daughter are safe from the Games, but she still wonders how to teach her children about past inhumanities. In her thoughts, I read no hope, no feeling of a better future. So, I finish the series unsatisfied.

Even unsatisfied, any reader who has just finished a good book should be motivated to do something, anything, differently than before. The three books of The Hunger Games trilogy are indeed good (yet unsatisfying) books, so what did I do? I hugged my husband and my son and told them I love them. I hug them a little tighter now, snuggle a little closer, grateful to have them, to have the ability to love, and to live in a world where love is possible. And now, to quench the unsatisfaction that is still gnawing at me, almost a week later, I'm off to watch a more satisfying love story: Anne of Green Gables (only the first two, though... the third one is terribly unsatisfying ;)

Information and interviews you might be interested in:

• The official Hunger Games website
• Scholastic Media Room (scroll down for a list of everything ever published about The Hunger Games trilogy)
• School Library Journal
• NPR 

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale image from bn.com

Miri is a young girl living in a village on Mount Eskel, an isolated village in a large kingdom. She longs to work in the quarry alongside her father and sister and the other villagers, but her father forbids her because she is too small. One day, a royal messenger comes to the village with news: The king's priests have divined that the prince's bride shall come from Mount Eskel. To prepare, all girls 12 to 18 years of age must report to the Princess Academy to learn to become fit for a prince.

I loved this book. LOVED it. I would definitely call it a favorite, alongside Ella Enchanted. Princess Academy is a perfect combination of everything I love in a book: a smart heroine who lives and breathes, a realistic setting, a few fantasy/magical elements, and a sweet young romance (because who isn't a hopeless romantic at heart?). I loved the characters and the story and everything about this book. I really cannot express to you how much I love this book! Definitely the best of Hale's that I have read. (See my reviews of the other two that I've read here on goodreads.)

Final word: A++. I will definitely read this again, add it to my shelves, read it to my children, and recommend it to everyone (at least the women) that I know. I was captivated by the characters and the story.

Want to see the other books I've been reading? Check them out here on goodreads. I read an average of 3 books per week (some weeks many, many more!) so I only post a few notable reviews here. :)

A few weeks ago, I told you what was on my summer reading list for this summer. That list got me thinking of books I would recommend. Any time of the year. :) So, without further ado, here is my list:

{all images and links courtesy of Amazon}

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine is my favorite book of all time. If you've only seen the movie and not read the book, you MUST read the book. The movie is... I don't have words to describe it. (They would be angry words...) But the book is positively enchanting and one I re-read faithfully at least once a year.


Princess Academy by Shannon Hale currently holds the #2 spot on my all-time list of books. Everyone raved to me about Goose Girl, but I loved Princess Academy SO much more. You can read my full rave review here.

Matched by Ally Condie is a new favorite. As in, I loved it so much I finished it in [less than] one day and then sent it to my best friend, Debra, so she could read it too. (You can read her review here.) One big warning though: it's the first in a trilogy that won't be completed until November 2012. You just might be hooked enough to go meet the author like I did, though. :)

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows is one of the few books that I own. (Don't gasp too loudly... I believe very firmly in the public library system. If I own a book, it's because I really really loved it. Or someone bought it for me. :) Anyway, Guernsey is a modern classic, in my opinion. A beautiful blend of people and history and everything that's good. This is another that I read and immediately called Debra... you can read her review here.

Flipped by Wendelin van Draanen is just a cute young-romance book, about people changing and realizing people for who they really are. The movie is a true-to-book adaptation, but the story just fits a book medium better.

The End of the Beginning: Being the Adventures of a Small Snail (and an Even Smaller Ant) by Avi is one of the few books that I have *repeatedly* laughed out loud while reading. (I am kind of a stick in the mud about LOLing over literature, I guess.) My husband and I read this one aloud to each other over the course of a couple of afternoons, and we both loved it. It's a short, clever book and quite thoroughly enjoyable.

Savvy by Ingrid Law is an all-time favorite at our house (along with its companion, Scumble), both for me and for my husband. You won't regret reading it! You can read my full review here.

These is My Words by Nancy Turner sucked me in and spit me back out. I loved the story and the characters SO much that I was completely *crushed* to realize that it was 99% fiction. I was in a funk for days. I still loved the book, but I had (and still have) a hard time putting my feelings into words, so you can read Debra's full review here. :)


The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies is a cute summer read and a book that we WILL read with our children once they are of novel-reading age -- at 20 months, my son isn't quite there yet. :) You can read my full review here.





An eclectic list by an eclectic reader. :)

What books are on your all-season reading (and re-reading) list?

M and I are in the middle of a reading competition with his 4th grade class to see who can earn the most Accelerated Reader points. I've been reading books from several different series so that I can maximize my point earnings. :) See what else I've been reading on goodreads.

Image: http://www.edbakerbooks.com

Images: http://www.harpercollins.com

The Princess Tales by Gail Carson Levine

Images: http://www.andrewclements.com

Things Not Seen, Things Hoped For, Things That Are (Things series) by Andrew Clements

As I discussed here and here, Andrew Clements is a go-to author for me. I have no hesitation picking up a novel with his name on it. All of his other works that I have read have been part of his series of school stories, though, so I wasn't sure what to expect from the Things series. I was definitely not disappointed to find that I *loved* it. :) The three books are told from three different character's views: Bobby, Gwen, and Alicia. In the first book, Bobby wakes up one morning and can't see himself--he's invisible. Using this invisibility as a lens, Clements shows how the three characters change through their experiences with their own versions of invisibility. 

Final word: A-. I would recommend these books to anyone. They gripped me from beginning to end, and I loved the distinct characters built in each of the three novels.

Have you read The Help? It's a great book, and perfect for a book group:

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Help is the story of three women in the South in the 1960's -- two black maids and one white young woman.Their lives intertwine and the story is amazing, both for the historical aspects and for the characters. This book was fascinating to me -- and fascinating that this happened recently, from a historical perspective. I had to keep reminding myself that this was during my parents lifetime -- NOT over a hundred years ago. This was only 50 years ago!

Final word: A-. Fascinating and enthralling story. A great read, and it moves quickly especially considering that it's over 400 pages.

This was our book group selection for this month, and since I was hosting, yesterday, in a bout of baking insanity, I decided to try FOUR new recipes. That I had never tried before. To serve to company. I was going to push for five, but I knew that would just be tempting Fate too much. Since I was kind to Fate and only tempted her four times instead of five, she smiled on me and all of them actually turned out mostly edible! Woohoo!

Why four new recipes? Because food plays a large part in The Help. And I don't bake much so it's not hard to have recipe that are new to me. :)

First up:


The pie crust turned out well, especially considering it was my first pie crust ever in my whole life. The chocolate pie was good, but tasted VERY bland next to the caramel cake. It could have used a bit more sugar, and I even subbed half-and-half cocoa and powdered sugar for the sweetened cocoa and added an extra 1/3 cup sugar. But it was pretty easy and set up well -- good texture.

If you've read The Help, you probably think that it's disgusting that I made chocolate pie. But the recipe is straight from the author and, really... I left out Minny's special ingredient. :)

Whether you've read the book or not, you'll love this cake, the star of the night:

The cake was dense like a pound cake, but moist and just the right amount of sweet. The icing was, for this cake, too sweet and overpowering. And made WAY more than I needed to ice my two 8" rounds. But I will definitely be making the cake again (and probably trying the glaze). As it is, I'm eating around the frosting to eat just the cake. :)

So, in summary:

Homefront by Doris Gwaltney is a touching story of a young American girl's life before and during WWII. Margaret Ann's cousin, Courtney, comes to live with Margaret's family to escape the blitz on London in 1941. Not only does she take over Margaret Ann's new room, she also monopolizes Margaret's family and friends, including her boyfriend. Margaret and Courtney eventually learn to get a long, but only after Margaret's family has been touched deeply by the war as well.

Final word {contains a few small spoilers}: A. I loved this book. I connected with Margaret like I haven't connected with a character in a novel in a while. Margaret *hates* Courtney, and I hated her too, reading all of the terrible things she does. I also loved her later, once she and Margaret learn to get along.  I cried with her when Courtney claimed the puppy meant for her, and I seethed as Courtney manipulated Margaret's family and friends, getting out of work around the farm and making Margaret (and me) jealous.

Final word: B+. I had a really hard time feeling like I connected with this novel while I was reading it. In retrospect, I like it more now. :) I really enjoyed the historical aspects of the novel, especially as seen through Crispin's naive and idealistic young eyes. I loved the development of the secondary characters and their relationships, and I enjoyed watching Crispin's definition of freedom morph through his experiences. I'll definitely read the third and final novel when it comes out later this year, but I won't be standing in line for it.

Three more books I've read recently! (I've hit a bit of a roadblock reading some grown-up books...)


Hollis Woods is a twelve-year old artist who has been in and out of so many foster homes she can't remember them all. She is "a mountain of trouble" and she runs away from every foster home, even the family who loves her. Finally Hollis is sent to live with Josie, an elderly and very forgetful artist whom Hollis loves. Rather than let Social Services separate them, Hollis escapes the system yet again, with Josie in tow.

Final word: B+. This is one of my husband's favorite books, so I expected to love it, but I just couldn't quite connect like I'd hoped. Hollis is a very strong and independent girl, and I just want to hug her and slap her at the same time. :) I adored Josie, and I loved viewing Hollis' world through her pictures.



Young Egan visits his aunt and uncle in Instep, the town at the base of a hill mountain called Kneeknock Rise, which is home to the legendary Megrimum. On stormy nights, everyone in the town can hear the moans and cries of the monster. No one has ever dared to find the Megrimum, but Egan is curious....

Final word: A-. I read this book when I was younger, and I didn't like it. When I read it again, I really liked it! It's a quick read that has some great insights into human nature -- what we believe and what we want to believe.

As I've recently reflected on my likes and dislikes in books, I've decided that I really like historical fiction. I enjoy history, but just reading history books gets too dull for me, as I can't remember all the dates and names and facts correctly. (Most days I'm lucky if I can remember today's date and my name. :)) These three books are based on history and, in some way, true stories. 


 Lucy Hoffman is thirteen and determined to find some real adventure, outside of the books she reads, as the daughter of the American ambassador to Ethiopia. She finds it when she is kidnapped after sneaking out of the embassy compound. On her own in the Ethiopian wild, she must use everything she knows about African wildlife to escape and return to freedom. (Inspired by a true story)

Final word: B+. I enjoyed reading and experiencing life through Lucy's eyes. I'm not nearly so adventurous and brave as she is, so that's why I love reading books about people like her. :) I admired her quick-thinking and determination, as well as her ready application of knowledge.



Crooked River is the story of Rebecca, a young girl living on the frontier in 1812, and Indian John, an Indian who is accused of murdering a trapper. Indian John is held in the loft of Rebecca's family's cabin until his trial in the spring, and their close proximity brings some understanding between them. As the story unfolds in the voices of both Rebecca and Amik (Indian John's real name), the true story becomes one of prejudice, justice, and courage.

Final word: A. I loved this book. Rebecca's innocent goodness shines through as she struggles with what she has been taught and what she experiences and feels for herself.

I come from a family of teachers, I married a teacher, and for many years I dreamed of being a teacher. I love schools and stories about schools and teachers and student-teacher interactions. I guess you could say I love the theory of teaching just so long as I myself don't have to practice it. :)


Four kids' paths cross on the first day of school at Plumstead Middle School. Sunny Wyler is determined to get herself kicked out of school. Eddie Mott is scared to move on to middle school, but he has a three-point plan for fitting in. Pickles Johnson is a legend. And Salem Brownmiller is a future famous writer who takes careful note of the drama.

Final word: B. I enjoyed the different characters, and I think that most kids could connect with at least one of them, if not some part of all of them. It's the beginning of Spinelli's School Daze series, so there are other novels that follow these same characters, too, all of whom are entertaining.



My mom, an elementary school librarian, recommended this book as one of her favorites.

Fifteen-year-old Russell Culver's teacher dies in August, just before school is set to start again. His dream of quitting school and travelling to the Dakotas to work looks like it is going to come true--until the school board hires another teacher. Even worse, the new teacher is Russell's sister, who is determined to keep Russell and all the other students in school.

Final word: A-. Peck creates one-of-a-kind characters who fit just perfectly in Hominy Ridge, Indiana. The book is a great combination of events that are funny and thought-provoking,


I saved my favorite for last. :)

Ida Bidson is on her way to her dream of becoming a teacher, until the one-room school in her Colorado valley is shut down. Determined to pass the eighth grade and continue on to high school, Ida decides to become the teacher, keeping the school open secretly.

Final word: A. I loved this book. Ida is strong but yet real in her insecurities. The different characters are so fun to read about, and I loved seeing the relationship between Ida and Tom, the other eighth grader. The only thing that keeps this from an A+ is that I was a little disappointed with {spoiler alert!} how the sweet young romance between Ida and Tom doesn't get it's full justice at the end.

This is the stack of books waiting for me to tell you about them. I thought I'd just do a couple every day, to allow each of book it's rightful moment to shine. But then I realized that doing that will be like paying minimum payments on a credit card: I'll just have more and more to pay later and never really get ahead. So, instead, I'll be giving you shortened reviews and grouping books together. This first group is three from Andrew Clements. (I also reviewed The Janitor's Boy earlier.)

Jerry Spinelli and I have an interesting reader-author relationship. I read Maniac Magee at least one a year from 3rd through about 7th grade. I love Maniac Magee. (It's another one that if you haven't read, you should.) I love it so much that I mistakenly assigned this love to Mr. Spinelli and not the the novel itself. Then I read Stargirl and Love, Stargirl, both of which I didn't love (even though I know many people who did). And then I read Eggs, which I also didn't love. (On a side note, while writing this post I encountered Spinelli's website, which I also do not love...)

My lack of love is not a result of these books being poorly written or poorly thought-out in any way. I've just come to realize that I like novels that tell about events. Novels that follow the traditional 5-element novel pattern: introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution. Spinelli's stories don't follow that. Instead, (most of) his novels follow one person and the change in that person over a period of time. No major climactic point, just steadily building a character in a commentary on the human condition.

Understanding this made it much easier for me to like (but still not love) Spinelli's novels. Smiles to Go is about Will Tuppence, a kid with a plan. His 12-step master plan begins with Birth, ends with Death, and lays out his life in a neat and tidy manner. However, Will's plan changes, beginning with his discovery of the death of a proton, and he has to rethink his plan to fit his life, complete with an annoying younger sister and a friend who Will would like to be more than a friend.

Will and I jived better than most of the characters in the Spinelli novels I have read. I, too, am a planner, and I really hate when my plan has to change or when my plan doesn't execute correctly. For that reason, I liked this book. I didn't love the annoying little sister part (probably because I always was the annoying little sister), and some of the characters were too removed from reality for my tastes, but I liked it.

Final word: B+. Like, not love, but worth a read if you have an afternoon. I found the novel entertaining and it would be fun to read and discuss with kids, too.

The Janitor's Boy is by Andrew Clements, one of my favorite writers. The "janitor's boy" is Jack Rankin, and his dad is the janitor at his school. Jack is embarrassed and angry with his dad, so he carries out what he thinks is the perfect crime: total defacement of a desk with a massive wad of bubblegum. But, Jack gets caught and is sentenced to the perfect punishment: three weeks after school with his dad, scraping gum off of desks. During that time, Jack learns about himself and begins to understand his father better.

Andrew Clements is one of my favorite writers, and his best-seller Frindle is one of my favorite books (if you haven't read it, you should). I love Clements' books because he captures kids' feelings and frustrations so well without making them seem, well, childish. I enjoyed The Janitor's Boy, but I was disappointed at the ending. It was too quick (all of Clements' books end more quickly than most novels) and left me wishing for more. And not wishing for more in terms of a sequel, just wishing for one more chapter so that I could feel like the story was resolved and had come to completely understand the characters.

Final word: B. Enjoyable, and fun to read, especially if you have children to read it with. Not as fully developed, especially at the conclusion, as I would have liked. If you're considering reading a Clements book, I'd recommend picking up Frindle or A School Story before this.

The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies is about Evan and Jessie Treski, a brother and sister who start a competition that turns into a war -- a lemonade war. Whoever can sell the most lemonade in the 5 days left before schools starts wins, and winner takes all the money made at both lemonade stands.

I loved this book. Love love LOVED it. Let me tell you 3 reasons why:

1. An honest brother-sister relationship. Evan and Jessie don't always get along (obviously), but they don't hate each other every breathing moment. I'm so tired of reading the books where the siblings hate each other and only come to see how much they honestly care about each other at the end of the book for a happy ending.  I love how Davies portrays their relationship, how Evan really does love his sister but what she's done just makes him so mad that he just has to say those mean words, those words that feel like bugs crawling around in his mouth and he just has to say them even though he knows it's going to hurt Jessie's feelings. 
2. A two-point perspective on (mis)communication. Telling the story from both Evan's and Jessie's perspective illustrates so well how one person's actions or words can be so easily misconstrued by the other person, especially when feelings are already hurt and tempers riled.
3. Simple business explanations for kids (and adults!). Each chapter is based on a business principle--such as partnership, underselling, negotiation--- and how they apply in business, even as simple as a lemonade stand. They're easy to understand and 100% applicable to kids. Evan is good with people and Jessie is good with math, so the different strategies they use fit those strengths.
   

Those are my top three reasons, but there are so many more reasons to love this book: the true-to-life characters that you'll adore, the opportunities to teach (and to learn), the explanations of different problem-solving techniques, the sweet dynamics of the Treski family.

Final word: A+. You should read this book. It's a quick read (173 large-print pages) that is both entertaining and thought-provoking--my teacher-husband and I have had many discussions about topics in the book and how it could be used to teach both in the home and in the classroom. If you have children, read and discuss it with them, too. (For both parents and teachers, check out the website for teaching ideas.)

I finished an amazing book this weekend and I am SO excited to tell you about it and its companion novel:

Savvy and Scumble are two wonderful companion novels written by Ingrid Law. They follow two young adults (I'd say kids but I'm not sure that 13-year-olds still count as kids...) from an extraordinary family: on their 13th birthdays, people in the family receive a gift, a special power called a savvy.  Each person's savvy is different (and amazing!) and each person must learn how to control or scumble the savvy they receive.

Savvy is the story of Mibs Beaumont, a middle child in a savvy family. Just before her 13th birthday, her special savvy birthday, her father is in a car accident and ends up in a coma. Mibs is determined that her savvy can help save her father, but he is in a hospital two hours away. In her journey to reach her father, Mibs ends up on a pink bus with a traveling bible salesman, her brothers, and the local preacher's kids -- a cute boy and his obnoxious older sister.

As she travels, Mibs learns a thing or two (of course... what book is there where the protagonist ends the story the same as she began it?) about savvies, people, life, and herself. Any reader -- old and young, male and female -- can see a bit of themselves in Mibs, who, aside from her savvy, is completely normal and UNperfect, a tween just trying to find herself.

Scumble tells the story of Ledger Kale, Mibs' cousin, nine years after Mibs' savvy journey. Ledge, as everyone calls him, has hoped his whole life for a specific savvy and is completely and utterly disappointed when his savvy birthday presents him with a different savvy. He labels himself a dud and then must try to scumble (control) his savvy right away in order to attend a family wedding two states away.

Ledge mingles with the rest of the savvy clan -- including an insect whisperer, levitating twins, and an electric cousin -- and becomes more frustrated with his savvy -- "useless as a pogo stick in quick sand." But with the help of the same wacky clan and a new frenemy, Ledge learns what it means to scumble and comes to terms with who he is in the world, savvy or not.

Final word: A+. I recommend these books to anyone. That means you. Read it yourself, read it to your kids, hand it to your kids to read. Law has an amazing savvy of her own for telling heartfelt and entertaining stories that appeal to everyone, in a setting that is a perfectly magical blend of reality and fantasy. Seriously, go get the books now. You won't be sorry.

Final word: A. Definitely worth checking out from the library. The loose prose makes it a quick read, but reading it out loud (like I did to my baby) gives it so much more meaning. I teared up at the end just thinking of my own gardening grandma.