Sunday, March 6, 2011

Readings

So, outside of class requirements, I have recently finished The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay, the three book series by Suzanne Collins. All three books were incredibly well done, capturing the essence of a totalitarian society and coupling it with the beautiful heart of the adolescent characters. I was most blown away by Collins' ability to isolate what the reader could see, and the sense that there was something sinister going on outside of what Collins was letting us see. Did anyone else notice this as they were reading?

More recently, I have finished Carpe Diem by Autumn Cornwell. The book follows an uptight rule following bookworm named Vassar who has always lived up to everyone's expectations of her and is perfectly happy with who she is. Well, that's how she is in the beginning, until she's forced on a surprise trip across the world with her Grandmother. I don't want to spoil anything for those of you who haven't read it, but I loved the realism of this novel. Like most adolescent/coming of age novels, there's an exploration of a new world that eventually teaches the main character something more about themselves and gives them a new identity, but what I loved about this particular tale was that we never had to leave our world to get there. There were no elements of fantasy or magical creatures--but it still had the feel of being completely foreign in a similar way. So, if you have room on your ever growing list of books to read, add this one. (and if you've read it, what did you think?)

And now I'm out of books. I forsee a library trip in my future soon.

1 comment:

  1. Ooh, I'll have to add Carpe Diem to my list. Like I even have "a" list. It's just a constant cloud, ever-growing, following me around . . .

    As to the sinister quality of the Hunger Games trilogy, yes, I agree. And, of course, it got more and more specific the deeper you got into the series. And then it gave you that turn in the third book, really typical of adolescent lit, where it's not going to resolve everything for you (character OR reader). There's always one last choice to be made, one last loose end that won't be tied up. Very, very well done. But chilling.

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