book club books

whoa, easy to get out of the blogging habit over the busy Christmas season! Always seems to be something else that comes up. :-)  And looks like blogger has introduced some formatting changes during my absence, so that should keep me on my toes.

My book club met over coffee yesterday, and we all raved about our last book, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. Highly recommended - easy to read, hard to put down and many memorable scenes. This was not a book I probably would have picked up on my own; somehow the idea of reading about someone's miserable childhood was not very appealing to me. But that is the beauty of a book club - it sort of forces you to read books that are out of your usual zone and often turn out to be something you really enjoy.

The next book is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It's actually a teen novel, but the reviews are really good! Supposed to be pretty scary. I look forward to reading this, very different from my usual stuff.

The Hunger Games is a futuristic trilogy for ages 12 to adult by Suzanne Collins, author of the bestselling Underland Chronicles series for middle-grade readers. Published in September 2008, "The Hunger Games" was an instant bestseller, appealing to both teen readers and adults. It has appeared on the New York Times bestseller list for more than 60 consecutive weeks since publication, and also has appeared repeatedly on the USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists. Called "addictive" by Stephen King in a review in Entertainment Weekly and "amazing" by Stephenie Meyer on her website, "The Hunger Games" has captured the imagination of critics and readers alike. "The Hunger Games" was named a New York Times Notable Book of 2008, a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice, a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2008, a School Library Journal Best Book of 2008, a 2008 Booklist Editors' Choice, a Kirkus Best Book of 2008, and a 2008 Horn Book Fanfare Book. Whoa!



or from Amazon:

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the other districts in line by forcing them to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight-to-the-death on live TV. One boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and sixteen are selected by lottery to play. The winner brings riches and favor tohis or her district. But that is nothing compared to what the Capitol wins: one more year of fearful compliance with its rule. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her impoverished district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love. Acclaimed writer Suzanne Collins, author of the New York Times bestselling Underland Chronicles, delivers equal parts suspense and philosophy, adventure and romance, in this stunning novel set in a future with unsettling parallels to our present.