Changes

I've decided to discontinue posts on this blog, and move all my book review posts to my regular authors blog at alissagrosso.com. All the work of trying to maintain 3 separate blogs was too much, and one of them had to go. Thanks for stopping by and please visit alissagrosso.com for book reviews, bookish stuff and other random thoughts.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

It took me longer than I planned to get through The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, but I don't think this was really the book's fault. I listened to the audio version, and just did a lot less driving last week, than normal.

The Hunger Games reminded me a lot of Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series. Set in a dystopian future it tells the story of a teenage girl chosen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death reality TV show that is mandatory viewing for all citizens. Like the Uglies series we have two disparate worlds: The Capitol where everyone is vapid and beautiful and lives empty lives and the districts where residents live a hardscrabble survivalist sort of life. Like the Uglies series there is a girl torn between two boys both of whom have their merits. Also like the Uglies series we have a character whose rebellious acts have placed her in grave danger. Oh, and there are hovercrafts.

On the other hand the last-man-standing premise of the Hunger Games is a device that's been used before in different science fiction stories, and reminded me a lot of The Long Walk by Richard Bachman (aka Stephen King). In some ways, this device can backfire. We are told from the start that there can only be one winner of the Hunger Games, and so I was prepared for nearly all the characters to die. That said, Collins like the organizers of the Hunger Games plays a bit fast and loose with this rule, I won't reveal any more, but will say only, don't assume that you will know how this one ends.

The Hunger Games is only the first book in a planned series. Although it's a good book, I don't quite feel myself eager to proceed to the second, Catching Fire. Teenagers who gravitate towards dark science fiction and enjoy Westerfeld's books or books like House of the Scorpion, will eat up The Hunger Games.

Click here to see my rating of The Hunger Games.

FTC Disclaimer: I borrowed this audio book from my local library.

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday, What Are You Reading is sponsored by J. Kaye's Book Blog. I finished up most of the books I wanted to read last week with one still in progress. Out of the three books I read last week, I only really enjoyed one of them. So, hopefully this week turns out a little bit better. You can participate in the What Are You Reading group blog by clicking here.

Last week I finished up:

The Fasting Girl: A True Victorian Medical Mystery by Michelle Stacey

Lucky Girls by Nell Freudenberger

and Something Terrible Happened on Kenmore by Marci Stillerman

I am currently reading:

(still) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

and The January Dancer by Michael Flynn

I am hoping to get to:

The Ghost's Child by Sonya Hartnett

and Stuck Rubber Baby by Howard Cruse

Something Terrible Happened on Kenmore by Marci Stillerman

Something Terrible Happened on Kenmore by Marci Stillerman is my least favorite genre of book, historical fiction. (In my memory it seems every dreaded school book report required that I read a historical fiction book. I know this can't be the case, but I guess these memories are unpleasant enough to have stayed with me.) That said, Something Terrible Happened on Kenmore doesn't read too much like a historical fiction novel.

Something Terrible Happened on Kenmore is set in 1940s era Chicago, but the time period is never mentioned directly in the text. There are some clues as to the time period, but if I hadn't read the publisher's description, I don't think I would have known for sure when the book takes place. It doesn't help that a lot of the slang used sounds too modern to my ears. It makes it one of the more readable historical fictions out there, but I'm not sure if it is entirely accurate.

The novel follows the lives of three teenagers whose lives intersect following the murder of a young girl, the terrible event referenced in the title. Told in alternating first person and third person narration styles, Something Terrible Happened on Kenmore tells the story of these teenagers as each in their own way comes into adulthood. The murder is a part of each of their lives, but is only one of the stories here.

A lot happens in this novel. Perhaps too much. A lot of the YA fiction cliches are here. There's a teen pregnancy, questions of sexual orientation, juvenile delinquents, a mentally retarded younger brother and all three of the characters have one dead parent. I think all of these tired themes could have worked in this novel with the right mix of suspense and historic color, but both are lacking.

The book is far too simplistic for a novel aimed at teenagers who will easily pick up on the not very subtle hints dropped about the murderer of the young girl. The moment of revelation will not come as a shock for any reader who has doggedly stayed with the book until that point.

Click here to see my rating of Something Terrible Happened on Kenmore.

FTC Disclaimer: I picked up an advance copy of this book at Book Expo this past spring.

Lucky Girls by Nell Freudenberger

Lucky Girls by Nell Freudenberger has been sitting on my bookshelf for several months and has been on my books to read list for far longer than that.

The majority of the stories in this collection center around young women in the twentyish to thirtyish range, and are set, at least in part in Asia. Freudenberger does an excellent job of capturing both the emotional lives of the often struggling protagonists as well as the rich and vibrant settings.

The title story is told from the perspective of the American mistress of a married Indian man left behind in the home they sometimes shared after his death. "The Orphan" is told from the perspective of an American woman desperately trying to keep her family together as they visit her daughter studying in Thailand. In "Outside the Eastern Gate" a grown woman tries to understand her tendency towards depression and her now departed mother's erratic ways as she returns to India to help her father as he struggles with Alzheimer's. "The Tutor" tells the story of a young Indian man back home after going to college in the states and one of his students, a young woman who longs to return to San Francisco, the city she was born in, but can barely remember.

"Letter from the Last Bastion" was a bit different than the other stories in the collection, and my least favorite. It was told in the form of a single letter written to a college that the teenage girl writing the letter does not plan on attending. It tells the story of a famous novelist and how his life and her own intersect. Set mainly in the United States (though the famous novelist did serve in the army during the Vietnam War) the story covers far too many years and meanders too much for my taste. That and the Lancaster, PA the story is set in bears little resemblance to that city in real life.

Overall, this is is a good collection of short stories of the literary fiction sort with a very female slant.

Click here to see my rating of Lucky Girls.

FTC Disclaimer: This book was purchased second hand from Alibris.

The Fasting Girl: A True Victorian Medical Mystery by Michelle Stacey

The Fasting Girl: A true Victorian medical mystery by Michelle Stacey is one of those books that has been on my to-read list for awhile, and I'm glad that I finally got around to it.

Mollie Fancher developed a certain amount of notoriety in 19th century Brooklyn. Bed-ridden after a streetcar accident, she allegedly existed for years without food. Science and the public's understanding of science not being quite as advanced as they are today, there were many people who took Mollie's claims as fact.

Mollie's feats did not end with her nonexistent diet. She also claimed to be clairvoyant. When she lost the ability to see through her eyes, as most people do, she claimed to see through a higher power of vision. Though fits left her body twisted in seemingly very uncomfortable positions she was able to complete embroidery projects.

The Fasting Girl goes beyond Mollie's story (which is far too thin to sustain an entire book) to explore the culture of fasting girls (yes, such a thing existed, and I was surprised to find out just how widely spread it was.) Ms. Stacey goes on to show how this fasting trend was a precursor to modern-day eating disorders. Though there are key differences, one thing is the same, in both cases it is almost exclusively women who were and are affected.

The story is an interesting one, but there were here and there some parts that felt a little bit padded. I now feel more informed about the history of Brooklyn than I really needed to be to understand Mollie's story, but for the most part the facts presented are relevant to Mollie and make for a very readable history.

Click here to see my rating of The Fasting Girl.

FTC Disclaimer: I purchased my copy of The Fasting Girl used from Alibris.

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's that time again. Time for the Monday roundup sponsored by J. Kaye's book blog. Last week was a busy week for me, and I didn't get much reading done. You can participate in the What Are You Reading group blog by clicking here.

Last week I finished up:

The Mount by Carol Emshwiller

Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw

Going Bovine by Libba Bray

and Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

I am currently reading:

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

and The Fasting Girl: A True Victorian Medical Mystery by Michelle Stacey

I am hoping to get to:

Lucky Girls by Nell Freudenberger

and Something Terrible Happened on Kenmore by Marci Stillerman