Booktastic:The Hunger Games Trilogy

I think it's time for a little Booktastic action, don't you?

It's been awhile since I reviewed a book, even though I've read like a million since my last Booktastic review.

Whatever, life has been a little...shitty lately.

But I have read a few good books recently and want to get the word out there.

So, here goes.

From goodreads.com

Book #1 The Hunger Games:

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 districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place 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 will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

I'm not going to put the synopsis for the other 2 books because they give away the ending of the first book.

My review:

As with many trilogies the first book is the best, but the trilogy as a whole is worth the read. All 3 of these I couldn't put down and I flew threw them, each only taking only 2 or 3 days to finish. My husband read them as well and also found that he read them really quickly and he tends to take his time with books where as I plow through them.

I had a very perverse fascination with the premise of this book, which is a game to the death watched on live TV where the contestants are children. It's a rather horrifying premise but makes for a fascinating read.

I highly recommend the trilogy.

Booktastic: The Forgotten Garden

First off, I HATE the title of this book.

I don't know why, but I do. I hate it.

BUT, the book itself, I LOVED!

Seriously, if you need a good book to read, go buy

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton.

For the first time in a very long time I literally couldn't put this book down.

I sat in the bathtub until the bath water got cold.

I stayed up WAY past my bedtime.

I passed up movies with the hubs.

Just so that I could KEEP READING this book.

From Goodreads.com:

A foundling, an old book of dark fairy tales, a secret garden, an aristocratic family, a love denied, and a mystery. The Forgotten Garden is a captivating, atmospheric and compulsively readable story of the past, secrets, family and memory from the international best-selling author Kate Morton.

Cassandra is lost, alone and grieving. Her much loved grandmother, Nell, has just died and Cassandra, her life already shaken by a tragic accident ten years ago, feels like she has lost everything dear to her. But an unexpected and mysterious bequest from Nell turns Cassandra's life upside down and ends up challenging everything she thought she knew about herself and her family.

Inheriting a book of dark and intriguing fairytales written by Eliza Makepeace - the Victorian authoress who disappeared mysteriously in the early twentieth century - Cassandra takes her courage in both hands to follow in the footsteps of Nell on a quest to find out the truth about their history, their family and their past; little knowing that in the process, she will also discover a new life for herself.

And my own thoughts:

This books jumps from the year 2005 to 1975 to 1912 to 1900 over and over again to a very very pleasing result. Sometimes when books jump around it just annoys me but in this book she did it so well that each chapter was kind of a cliffhanger that left you just wanting/needing to read more.

What can I say that goodreads.com didn't say, it's just such a well put together and well written book of mystery and intrigue and I highly recommend it!

Booktastic: The Duchess

Back to books.

I'm so behind on my reviews, I'll try to catch up.

First off I randomly discovered a book review blogger that I love www.busybookwormreviews.com and I'm going to steal the way she reviews. So first off I'll give you the Goodreads.com review followed by my own thoughts, better than the link I was providing no?

So, here we go:

Goodreads.com says

Lady Georgiana Spencer was the great-great-great-great-aunt of Diana, Princess of Wales, and was nearly as famous in her day. In 1774 Georgiana achieved immediate celebrity by marrying William Cavendish, fifth duke of Devonshire, one of England’s richest and most influential aristocrats. She became the queen of fashionable society and founder of the most important political salon of her time. But Georgiana’s public success concealed an unhappy marriage, a gambling addiction, drinking, drug-taking, and rampant love affairs with the leading politicians of the day. With penetrating insight, Amanda Foreman reveals a fascinating woman whose struggle against her own weaknesses, whose great beauty and flamboyance, and whose determination to play a part in the affairs of the world make her a vibrant, astonishingly contemporary figure.

I say:

Loved this book, but I already loved the Duchess of Devonshire before I began reading this, so I may be biased. This is a very well researched historical non-fiction book, full of details left out by the movie made from this book also called The Duchess. The author delves into Georgiana's gambling addictions, infertility and numerous infidelities all of which were glossed over or left out entirely from the movie. It is quite a heavy read, not a light airy book for the beach, Foreman really delves deeply into the politics of the day but if you're at all into fascinating historical characters, such as Marie Antoinette, you'll enjoy The Duchess.

Booktastic: Down Under

I read too many books, I'm finding it impossible to keep up with myself.

I read this months and months ago, but it's a really great book so I thought I would do a whole post on it.

Down Under by Bill Bryson

I'd never heard of Bill Bryson before Dom came home with this book but after catching Dom laughing out loud several times and reading passages to me in bed I decided I had to read it for myself.

Bryson is a travel writer and basically goes somewhere walks around and writes about what he encounters. He "does" very little other than walk around new towns, which in and of itself isn't funny, but what he encounters along the way is hilarious.

This book gives a really great glimpse into Australia ESPECIALLY as an outsider. If you've ever wanted to visit Australia I highly recommend this book. OR if you just really enjoy travel writing in general I also highly recommend it.

Booktastic: The Sixth Wife

I told you I was on a Tudor kick and I wasn't joking. At least I veered away from Anne Boleyn for a little while and moved on to Katherine Parr, Henry VIII's sixth and final wife.

The Sixth Wife by Suzannah Dunn

Another book by Suzannah Dunn, I didn't even realize it was the same author as my last book until just now.

Anyway.

This book is fiction and takes place after Henry VIII has already died and Katherine Parr is left a very rich widow. She subsequently married Henry's third wife's brother, Thomas Seymour, who she supposedly had a thing for long before she met and married Henry. Ultimately he betrays her and she dies days after giving birth to his child from childbed fever.

The narration is from the point of view of the Duchess of Suffolk, which if you've ever watched HBO's The Tudors, she's the 14 year old wife of the Duke of Suffolk, who is yummy! On the show he is anyway, Henry Cavill = pretty.

Anyway, this is after the Duke has already died as well (he died before Henry VIII, so that would be obvious to history scholars, but I'm just gonna go ahead and assume that is probably NOT who's reading my blog, though you never know, history scholars could totally be interested in me talking about myself...no?) so the Duchess is a widow and the best friend of Katherine Parr. And a dirty cheating liar! In this book she has an affair with Katherine's husband Thomas, which I totally think is completely made up and bothered me a bit.

I think after reading and learning about the real history, these historical fiction novels have lost their luster a bit for me, so while this book has sparked a bit of interest for me in the real Katherine Parr, this historical fiction novel was not my favorite and not recommended.

I know I haven't liked the last few books that I've posted, but I promise I have some good ones coming up!

Booktastic: The Queen of Subtleties

As I mentioned I've been on a Tudor kick, so my next book was:

The Queen of Subtleties by Suzannah Dunn

This is another Anne Boleyn novel, but this one is completely fiction. Unfortunately I read it right after the The Lady in the Tower and that book was so good and so accurate that I had a bit of trouble getting into this one. I did however enjoy reading from the point of view of Anne herself, interesting new take on an old story.

Not highly recommended from my point of view, but it was a quick and easy read.

Booktastic: The Lady in the Tower

While I was in New York I had a friend ask me if I'd read any books lately and I realized I've read about 10 books since the last book I posted about...so, here goes, booktastic is back in action.

I totally got on a Tudor England kick again, Anne Boleyn specifically and I read 2 or 3 books pertaining to Henry VIII's ill fated 2nd wife.

The Lady in The Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn by Alison Weir

This is a non-fiction historical account of the last few weeks of Anne Boleyn's life. The book begins with the day before Anne's arrest and takes a look at all the historical documentation regarding Anne's arrest, the time she was held in the tower, and her execution. Alison Weir definitely believes Anne is innocent of the crimes she was accused of and has obviously put a lot of effort into clearing Anne's name, even if it is nearly 500 years later.

Anne Boleyn is my favorite of Henry's 6 wives. She was by all accounts headstrong, feisty, quick witted, unafraid to speak her mind. I, much like the author of this book, also believe Anne was innocent and while foolish for many reasons, she did not deserve her fate. Though perhaps it's her fate that may make her so interesting and who knows if she would be so infamous had she lived to a ripe old age. Would Elizabeth I still have been Queen had Anne lived? Would she have remained the Virgin Queen if she hadn't lived through her father killing her mother?

I highly recommend this book if you share my interest in Tudor England or if you enjoy nonfiction historical novels. Alison Weir is considered an expert on Henry VIII and his 6 wives, this book is very well researched and very well written and I plan on reading more from her in the future.

Quick note about books in Oz, did you know new books are RIDICULOUSLY expensive here? Like $40 for a new book, BUT there are some pretty amazing secondhand book shops which I just discovered and have now begun spending too much time in. I only say too much time in because each time I go I come back with 3 or 4 new books and well, I don't know how I'm going to get all of these books home!

If you're ever in Sydney and you need a book but don't want to spend $40, I highly recommend Elizabeth's Bookshop and Gleebooks.

Happy Reading!

Booktastic: The Wasp Factory

The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks

This book was really short so it only took like 2 days to read it. It's mildly disturbing in that the main character is a 16 year old who has murdered 3 members of his family. He also tortures animals and there's some hermaphrodite...ness.

Weird book, but I totally dug it.

Booktastic: The House of Mirth

So, I finished this book about a week ago, but just hadn't gotten around to writing something up about it. I read:

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

Honestly I didn't really like this book, it reminded me of Anna Karenina, which I also did not like. And not to give away the end of the book, and if you haven't read this book and want to then quit reading right now. Everyone gone who wants to be? Ok. She dies! The main character dies accidentally at the end of the book...and it bothered me. Seemed unnecessary and ruined the book for me a bit.

I think I was expecting it to be more Pride and Predjudice, you know, happy ending and all. Which seems stupid...why do I need a happy ending to enjoy a book? Sigh. I don't know...but I do!

Anyway, if you enjoyed Anna Karenina or Wuthering Heights (which I also didn't care for) you might enjoy The House of Mirth.

Next book is The Wasp Factory by Ian Banks.

Anyone have any other books to recommend?...I have a few from last time that I asked and that I will be reading shortly, and promise to read ANYTHING that anyone recommends.

Booktastic: Beneath A Marble Sky

I usually like to mix up my genres but somehow I ended up reading another historical fiction novel. At least it was from a different country and a different century =)

Beneath a Marble Sky by Jon Shors

Beautiful, well written book about the building of the Taj Mahal and the love stories surrounding it. I found it really interesting that this book was written by a man but in the first person narrative of a woman. Wouldn't you want a more male audience being a male? If I were to ever write a novel I would definitely gear my book toward a female audience and I'm intrigued by the fact that this guy decided to go the other direction. He did it well. Anyway, good book that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys historical novels.

Anyone have any books they would recommend to me? I'm always up for reading almost anything!

Next up, I've begun reading The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton, anyone ever read it? Good, bad, indifferent?

Booktastic: The White Queen

I love Tudor England. I've read many a Henry VIII novel and absolutely love the Showtime series The Tudors. Philippa Gregory has written some excellent books on the era, many of which I've read, The Other Boleyn Girl being my favorite and she has now moved onto the Plantagenets, the ruling family of England prior to the Tudors. Her first novel in the series I've just finished:

The White Queen by Philippa Gregory

I can't say that I'm quite as intrigued by the Plantagenets as I am by the Tudors but I find that I really enjoy historical fiction novels, and this one was no different. Very good easy read, takes an interesting, alternative view regarding the two princes in the tower, one of the great unsolved mysteries of the 16th Century that I've been intrigued by ever since I visited the Tower of London many years ago. And wouldn't you know it just as I wrote that sentence the news came on talking about Prince William and Prince Harry, coincidental timing!

Anyone have any books from 15th/16th Century England to recommend?

Booktastic: Devil in the White City

Once upon a time in a great big wonderful city called New York, a fantastic group of girls (and one boy) would get together once a month to drink wine, eat delicious food and discuss a book that we'd all spent the last month reading. We called ourselves "Sparkle Magic" for reasons I don't remember (I'm sure it made sense at the time) and we were, if I use the term loosely, a book club. Ultimately we spent very little time discussing our chosen book and honestly "drinking club" would have described us better, but nevertheless we all made an effort to read our book and spend at least 5 minutes at the beginning of each meeting discussing it. Inevitably a discussion on the book would lead to another discussion that had nothing to do with the book and as the wine flowed we'd have more and more trouble coming back to the book, but that wasn't the point. We had SO. MUCH. FUN.

Why I bring up book club now is that I really love getting other people's opinions on books, both before and after I read them. I am an avid reader, making it through at least a book a week and am thus always looking for a new book to read. A recommendation from a real person is by far my favorite way to choose a new book. This book that I'm about to recommend I in fact already owned but kept picking other books from my stash of unread books until...a completely random guy, the property manager for my apartment, saw it sitting on my floor and told me it was one of his favorite books. Done. That was it, that was my next book I was going to read.

And I loved it!

So, I'm not going to do a proper book review because that feels a bit too much like working, but I am going to tell you you must read:

Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

It's historically accurate non-fiction and there is such a plethora of information regarding the Chicago World Fair in 1893, so much of it relevant and pertaining to our lives still today. For instance the Ferris wheel was named after a guy who built the first ferris wheel at the Chicago World Fair, interesting right? There is so much in this book that I can't believe I didn't know and there is also a serial killer! I love serial killers, I'm intrigued by them. Ann Rule's book A Stranger Beside Me about Ted Bundy is one of my favorite books. Weird, I know.

So, everyone go read this book! And Summer, this means you! You said not long ago that you hadn't read a book since book club, that was too long ago, go read this!