I hopped on the Hunger Games bandwagon days after the movie was released and sold more than $155 million in tickets.  Slow much?  I suppose it could be attributed to the fact that I’m not much of a sci-fi gal, but when the hype hit a feverish pitch (and I discovered it was penned by a woman) I jumped on.

Set in the former North America, what is now known as Panem, is a country divided into twelve cities all of which work to feed, clothe and support the beautiful and frivolous Capital City.  All of the cities struggle to survive, enslaved on meager rations and forced to work in subhuman conditions.  Katniss Everdeen, the daughter of a coal miner who was killed in an explosion (and the star of all 3 books), works tirelessly to keep her remaining family (her mother and sister) alive by hunting illegally and selling her hauls to the black market of her district.

Panem’s 13th district revolted long ago to the injustice imposed by the Capital which resulted in it being demolished.  To mark the victory over the revolution (and to remind all citizen’s of the Capital’s supreme power) every year all districts participate in The Hunger Games – in which 2 citizens from each district between the ages of 12-17 are chosen to fight to the death in an arena created by the ‘Gamemakers’ in The Capital.  Only one victor survives forcing the children to play a cut throat, to the death game of survival of the fittest.  Katniss’s sister Prim is chosen to participate in the games and Katniss intervenes to take her place knowing her sister would not survive a day in the games.

And the story begins…

The trilogy is one that I’m confident most can breeze through.  It’s an easy, swift read (which makes sense as it was written for the intended young adult audience of grade 5 students) BUT the characters are colourful, the plot is perfectly paced and the story is thrilling enough that I (like most) would label it borderline addictive.  So addictive that I openly admit to surrendering a Saturday night to Miss Everdeen and her band of misfits.

Sadly, the movie pales in comparison, but then again, when doesn’t it.

If you’re feeling like reading a few books that will help you escape to a different place, read The Hunger Games trilogy.

I’ve finished This Cake Is For The Party (review to follow) and am now onto Thinking Fast And Slow by Daniel Kahneman (so interesting!)

xo,

p.s. if you’re a bookworm like me, you’ll appreciate this:

Do you know how many bookmarks I own?

This book was chosen by a member of my book club.  The book club that I just can’t seem to ever get to.  I’m particularly upset about missing this month’s meeting because I really loved this book.

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I know it’s been a while since I’ve done a book post, but I swear I’ve been reading SWEAR!  I have a few books to post about and they will be coming up shortly.

I read Steve Jobs the best way you can read a book – poolside.  And although I had the ability to leisurely leaf through it (as any level headed vacationer would do) I found myself pretty instantly transfixed.  Walter Isaacson did an incredible job of laying out the story in such a way that the book read very fluidly and grabbed my attention enough to never want to put it down.  I suppose a book on one of our generation’s biggest game changer kinda has to be that good, right?

Most of you have probably read review after review of this book, so I will just give you a few of the things that surprised me the most.

All that I really knew about Jobs -before I cracked the spine of this book- was that he created some of the coolest and most beautiful pieces of technology that I have ever seen and that he had a penchant for black mock necks and blue ‘dad jeans’.  What I quickly came to discover is that to say Jobs was a tyrant is an understatement.  He created amazing things, yes, but with an iron fist, a need to always be right and an absolute demand for perfection in it’s most purest form.  At Apple, NeXT and Pixar it was Steve’s way or the highway.  I was shocked at the number of times Jobs went on the attack, but even more taken aback at the number of times he cried.  Boys don’t cry, especially men, (imagine a woman *gasp*) so why then was Jobs still able to hold the respect of the media, colleagues and employees (for the most part)?

Genius.
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I like Steve Martin.  Not because of any particular movie (although I really loved Parenthood… Yup!) but because he’s one of the few actors-turned-authors who actually writes his own books – no ghost writers here- and he’s pretty darn good at it.  I first fell for him with his novella, Shop Girl.  I’m always so surprised when men write with such sensitivity and perspective – who knew? I kid, I kid…

An Object Of Beauty is a story told from the narrative perspective of Daniel Chester French Franks, an art critic/writer with an unfortunate name and friend of Lacey Yeager, of whom the novel is based.  Lacey is a strong, independent woman who throughout the course of the book rises through the ranks at Sotheby’s.  She is surprisingly released from her duties at the auction house and through a series of love affairs, gallery jobs and eventually opening her own place, a story unfolds of intrigue, theft and love lost.

Nothing about Martin’s book feels forced or intentional.  The fact that the story is steeped in such well researched art history – both classic and contemporary – gives the book so much more depth and beauty and allows the reader a peak inside the monied business side of art, that most of us ignore or don’t even realize exists at such a level.

I highly recommend An Object Of Beauty.  Fun, informative and well written.

xo,

coco

When reading The Cat’s Table, there is no mistaking Ondaatje’s poetic background.  He writes with such a melodic tone that many of the lines could be pulled out to stand alone and be reflected on.

The Cat’s Table is a tale of a boy who leaves Columbo, Sri Lanka and sets sail to England on a ship called the Oronsay.  He sits at a table of characters dubbed, The Cat’s Table, far away from the glamour of the first class passengers and the much desired ‘Captain’s table’.  Michael meets up with some friends and their tales a woven between their time on the ship when they were boys and where they all ended up.  Jumping seamlessly back and forth a twisty tale unfolds ever so carefully, leaving the reader to trust only in the narrators telling voice.

The book was beautiful and although not my typical subject matter, I found it a nice escape from some of the super-light reads I’ve picked up this year.  I will say though, if you’re not into a slightly more abstract novel, I would hold off on this one.  I did find myself putting it down for quite some time, not desperate to pick it back up, which is probably the worst thing you could do with a book like this.  It isn’t long, so if you’re going to read it, give yourself over to it.

Next up, An Object Of Beauty by Steve Martin.

What are you reading?  Any must reads for 2012 yet?

xo,

coco