The One with The Hunger Games

Title & Author: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (374 pages)

Genre: Fiction--Young Adult & Science Fiction

Completed: 30 July 2010

Summary & Review:

In a desperate move to save her sister, Katniss Everdeen volunteers to enter the Hunger Games: a 24-person fight to the death where only one person can emerge victorious, and alive. She travels to the Capitol of her home country Panem, a country that is a dystopian vision of the future of North America, with Peeta, the boy chosen to enter the games from her district with her. With the help of a coach and a team of stylists, Peeta and Katniss devise a plan to help them survive in the arena. To Katniss, their plan, that of acting madly in love, is nothing more than a fictional means to an end, while to Peeta, the plan is no act at all. Together, they must figure out how they can both come home alive.

My wife, Paige, recently read this book, as well as its sequel Catching Fire, and recommended that I read it too. While she enjoyed the book, she felt that the premise behind the games was a little weak, i.e. the government requiring each of the twelve districts to sacrifice two youths to the games each and every year in order to remind the people how powerless they are. I agree with her assessment. It seems like Collins had come up with the games themselves and really loved the idea and then didn't spend much time worrying about a plausible scenario that would cause such games to exist.

But, the writing was entertaining and quite good for a young adult book. Also, I kind of like that Collins was willing to write about such a brutal and jarring storyling in the YA genre. She presented some more mature themes such as freedom, independence, survival, and sacrifice that I think younger readers would do well to consider and think about.

Now, I have not yet read book 2 in the series, so I don't want to complain too early. However, I don't think I can take another series with some indecisive girl stringing two boys along who are both madly in love with her despite the fact that she is really nothing special at all. I think I've had my fill of that from a certain other popular series. (*cough* Twilight *cough*)

Rating: 6.5

The One with Empire of Lies

152. Title & Author: Empire of Lies by Andrew Klavan (383 pages)

Genre: Fiction--Thriller

Completed: 20 July

Summary & Review:

After turning away from a youth filled with reckless choices, Jason Harrow is enjoying his quiet life with his wife and children in the Midwest when a phone call from an old girlfriend drags his ugly past into the present. He travels to New York to help this woman find her daughter, who, she reveals, is his daughter as well. Jason is finally able to locate the girl and discovers that she was a witness to a murder committed by a terrorist cell. As Jason digs deeper into the story he realizes that an imminent attack on America is in place and only he can see through the lies and take down the real leader of the plot before disaster strikes.

This book was recommended by several sites like National Review, so I was pretty excited to read it. I guess I must have been expecting something much more substantial than just a run-of-the-mill thriller because I was disappointed with the book overall. Jason Harrow, the protagonist, was not a character that I found to be intriguing or captivating. The story was mediocre, as was the writing. Plus, there were sections of this novel that were quite ribald. I guess National Review and Glenn Beck talked about this book just because the protagonist was a conservative. While I'll admit that the politics were less idiotic than those found in novels by someone like Lee Child, I think other authors such as Vince Flynn or Brad Thor do a better job mixing conservative politics with action-packed thrillers.

Rating: 6.0

The One with Dracula

151. Title & Author: Dracula by Bram Stoker (413 pages)

Genre: Fiction--Horror

Completed: 10 July 2010

Summary & Review:

A young British solicitor named Jonathan Harker travels to the mysterious land of Transylvania to service the business needs of one his firm's clients, Count Dracula. Barely escaping with his life, he returns to London to discover that the un-dead Count has left his mountainous home for the modernity of England and has already claimed the life of one young woman. With the help of his wife, a few friends, and the astute mind of Dr. Van Helsing, the Count is driven back to his native land where they must rid him from the earth forever.

This novel was first published in 1897, and since that time it has never been out of print. For a book of such lasting stamina, and one that is often heralded as a "classic," it was very disappointing. Plus, for this being a horror novel, the plot was incredibly tame as it slowly plodded along. Rather than racing through in a terrified trance while reading, I literally had to force myself to continue turning the pages. It was more difficult for me to read this book for any length of time than it is for me to read about microbiology or dental anatomy. I think part of this was due to the manner in which Stoker presented the story. It was written with the main characters looking back at events that had already occurred through journal entries or letters. This caused there to be a sort of detachment from the events of the novel. Obviously, if the writer was alive to write about what took place, the reader knew that everything was going to work out in the end. I think if the narrative had been more direct, as if events were taking place as the reader was reading them, the story could have been potentially much more frightening.

The only part of the book that I really enjoyed was the first section in which Jonathan is actually in Transylvania. Here, the journal entry format of the novel was pretty effective as the reader was able to experience the terror and uncertainty that Jonathan was going through from day to day. After that, the novelty of the narration died away and the plot grew stagnant, especially since most of the characters were one-dimensional and melodramatic. The men were obnoxiously overly gallant, chivalrous, and courteous (in a condescending way) to Mina, Jonathan's wife, as they gushed praise (which the modern reader reads in the form of backhanded insults) on women and Mina in particular. The dialogue was flowery to the point of nausea and Van Helsing's pseudo-broken English was just irritating to endure.

In short, I guess I was left wondering why this book has achieved such an elevated status in popular culture and why authors like Elizabeth Kostova, whose novel The Historian was an excellent entry into the vampire canon, feel like they are indebted to Stoker in any way.

Rating: 5.0

The One with Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Heber J. Grant

150. Title & Author: Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Heber J. Grant published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (228 pages)

Genre: Nonfiction--Religion & LDS

Completed: 27 June 2010

Summary & Review:

The teachings and writings of President Heber J. Grant, the seventh President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, are presented with short introductions that include stories from his life that illustrate his teachings in action. The twenty-four chapters cover topics such as persistence, self-reliance, abiding testimony, and earnest prayer.

This was an excellent look into the teachings of President Grant. Every time I read one of these entries from the Teachings of the Presidents of the Church series I am amazed at how applicable the messages still are, even decades after the writer's lifetime. President Grant died in 1945, but these chapters could have been written yesterday and they wouldn't have been more on point.

Rating: 8.5