Hunger Games

Well folks, I'm moving into the future. I finally am in possession of a smart phone. Since Verizon lacks the iphone, I went with the Droid. If you would have asked me a week ago if I needed anything besides the text and phone function, I would have said "Heck no!" Ask me today and I will tell you that I don't know how to live without it! One of this things I'm most excited about is that I was able to sync my google calendar with my phone. I'm excited to get organized, something I've attempted and failed to make resolutions about all year long.

Update Book 66: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

There is something very sad about finishing a series. No matter how many times I do it, I still feel like I'm saying goodbye to a friend. After three books, the story kind of becomes a part of your life. Spending so much time with the characters, it is very sad when you realize you wont read anything new about them.

This is the third and final book in the series, 'The Hunger Games." These books take place in a post apocalyptic America, now known as Panem. Panem is divided into 13 districts which are ruled by the Capitol. About 75 years ago the districts tried to rebel against the Capitol and lost, so to punish the districts the Capitol created The Hunger Games. Every year two children aged about 12-17 are picked from each district, sent into some crazy landscape (the arena) and forced to fight until only one remains. Sounds brutal and terrible, but it makes for a great story! This series has an excellent main character in Katniss Everdeen. These books are categorized as young adult, but I think this is another instance where adults may get more out of it then the kids it was written for. There is a definite underlying political message going on, but feel free to get lost in the adventure and love triangle.

The first half of this "Mockingjay" was Hunger Games business as usual. The last half I felt rushed. Instead of experiencing everything first hand with the narrator, she just explains everything real quick and sticks a pretty little bow on top. It all ends the way I want it to, but not in the way I wanted it to. The whole point of reading a book, for me at least, isn't about knowing how it ends, but the journey you take. I really felt that Collins took that away from me. I understand that if she had written everything out it would have been twice the size and I probably would have complained about its excessive detailing. But after devoting my time to the series I wanted the conclusion to thorough, not rushed. I still recommend the series to everyone, young and old, but can't hide my dissatisfaction with the conclusion. I just wanted more.

*I just reread my review of this book and realized I should clarify. I sometimes rant about something small in a book that bugs me and it makes it seem like I didn't like the entire book, but I did. I did the same thing with 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." One detail about the translation bugged me and it made it seem that I didn't like the book, when I really did. I try to finish everything off with an "I recommend" if I liked it. Trust that more than my picky ramblings.

Time to play catch up.

Dear friends, I just did the math. The books to days equation. Lets just say it isn't looking good. This post is to let you know that I wont be available to hangout anymore. I will be reading. When I came up with my original 4 resolutions for the new year, three of them were very ambiguous which, (to me) meant that as the year progressed I could redefine them if necessary. But 100 books in 364 days is VERY clear. There is no getting around it, no new rules I could create, I either get it done or I fail (and have to start all over again next year). Here is something you might not know about me: I'm stubborn. Like the 1995 Seattle Mariners: Refuse to Lose. Here is something else you might not know, I'm a procrastinator. In college I wrote my best papers at 4 am the night before they were due. So it wont surprise me when it takes me down to the wire to reach 100.

On a happy resolution note, I think I can check off "Travel More" as completed.

Both of these photos were taken in Tallinn, Estonia. Tallinn was one of the stops during the Baltic Sea Cruise I took with my family. While on the cruise we also visited: Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Stockholm, Sweden; St. Petersburg, Russia; Helsinki, Finland; and Copenhagen, Denmark. So many awesome cities! I'm pretty sure that is almost a double check for the travel resolution.

When I was packing for the trip I realized something, books are very heavy, so I only packed three books in my suitcase. I also decided that out of these three, two of them would books that I knew would take me a good chunk of time to read. So here we go....

Update Book 63: The Girl Who Played With Fire by Steig Larsson

Since Sweden was our second stop, I thought it would be fun to read a book that takes place in Stockholm. This is the second book of the trilogy. I have to say I enjoyed it more than the first. It was easier for me to get into and I didn't have any of the translation issues I had with the first book. There was a lot of action, a good majority of which was very violent, but I think it was a little more toned down from the first installment. This is a filler book though. It ends with a cliff hanger (which made me mad because the third book is still hardback, thus untravelworthy). These books are time consumers though. You can't miss a single word otherwise you will be left flipping back chapters in confusion.

I spotted about 10 other people on the cruise also reading books from this series. It seems that men and women both enjoy these thrillers.

A note to anyone picking up the first novel and having a hard time getting hooked (*cough Lisa*) get through about page 150 before you give up. If you still don't like it, take a page from my 'Declaration of Reader Independence: Article 1. Not finish a book. Doesn't matter how far I am into it, if it gets into the way of my goal, I can put it down!' I promise not to judge.

Update Book 64: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

There is nothing like reading a book and making an escape from your current surroundings. There is also nothing quite like sitting in the middle of the Baltic Sea and the book you are escaping with takes you back home. 'Hotel on the Corner..' takes place in Seattle during WWII. This is the story of a 12 year old Chinese boy and Japanese girl. Since it takes place in Seattle during WWII you have probably guessed that the internment camps are a major part of the plot. This was a great book that weaves love and history together to form a lovely story.

Update Book 65: The Poinsonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Recommended by many, it also came with a warning to devote some time to this novel. Although it was possibly the most complicated story I've read this year, I devoured this book. This is the story of a Baptist missionary who takes his wife and four daughters into the middle of the Congo. Each chapter is narrated by a different daughter, with the beginning of each section of the book narrated by the mother. I'll admit I knew/know next to nothing about the history of the Congo (or most of Africa for that matter) and never had a strong desire to read anything that took place there. After reading this book, I have an new appreciation for the continent. I think most of that stems from how well written this book was. Kingsolver's descriptions transported me straight to center of the story. This book took me half the amount of time I thought it would. I started it on the plane ride back and was so immersed in the story that I couldn't put it down.

I loved this book. I recommend you devote some time to it.

Disconnect.

Ok, so I've been pretty out of it lately. The "it" being: reading and blogging. The only reason I am even moderately ok with this is because I have been fulfilling another one of my New Year's Resolutions! Traveling more! On Friday I got back from my Baltic Sea Cruise. It was amazing and I plan to tell more later, but first I want to vent about my lack of commitment to my 100 books goal. I'm only at 65. This isn't terrible and the goal is completely doable still, but I need to get my bum moving! In the past I have claimed that, "Everyone has time for reading if they just make the time!" I'm trying really hard not to eat my words right now. My plan to read like a mad woman on my trip went up in flames. I only read three books. I was gone for over two weeks. I had a solid 18 hrs of plane time and 4 days at sea and I read a measly three books. I'd be more disappointed in myself except two of said books were ones I knew would be time consumers. I brought these because we all know how I feel about the Kindle and traveling with actual books is heavy and airlines are really cracking down on weight limits. Anyways, the whole point of this post is just to bitch about my new found lack of motivation because I've been home since Friday and still only hacked 80 pages out of my current book. Then yesterday I went into my favorite local bookstore and I'll be honest, I felt cut off from my book world. I realized it had been over a month since I set foot in an actual book store! There were so many new faces (books) I almost didn't know what to do with myself! I've decided to take this as something exciting and set a weekly goal for myself to get connected again! Get reading. Get Blogging.

It's Been Awhile....

I feel like I've really been neglecting my blog lately! It has been more than two weeks! Geeze! Well the one thing I can promise is that for the next few weeks it wont be improving any! The good news in all of this is that I am still reading! Even if it is at a turtle's pace (slow and steady wins the race right?) Anyways... I'm a little short on time, but wanted to update the last three books I've read!

Update Book 60: Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosney

Yes, another World War Two book.... But not JUST another Word War Two book. This was written in a very creative and compelling way. Sometimes I dislike book that change narrators from chapter to chapter, but that wasn't so in "Sarah's Key." The author or editor or publisher did something brilliant that I just loved! The chapter's written from the two narrator's perspectives were in different fonts. Not crazy different, the effect was actually quite subtle, I don't think most readers would even notice, but to me it added a little something. This book is heartbreaking in ways that only a novel about war can be. Recommend by both my mom and one of my favorite coffeeshop ladies, this is a book that everyone will enjoy.

Update Book 61: Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

I guess I lied about hitting my teen fiction quota. Lets be honest, I'm a sucker for anything vampire/werewolf/supernatural teenybopperness. Lately I haven't been read very many that I could even reluctantly recommend. But this is a series I do! The first in the series is, "Shiver." I think it's successor, "Linger," is even better. They are quick reads that are smart, feeling, absorbing. A must read for anyone who looking for a teen fiction fix.

Update Book 62: Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

I think I used to use just about anything that was handy as a bookmark. Rereading some of my favorite books has brought this to light. Inside of "Into the Wild," I find a North Kitsap High School Hall Pass. Signed by Mrs. Beauchamp.

I really enjoyed this book. I have always enjoy Krakauer as an author. He is a journalist, which I think helps to make the type of stories he writes better. They are jam packed with information that obviously took time to research. This book is the story of Chris McCandless, a young man who went to live in the wilderness of Alaska where he died after four months. This book came out of a magazine article Krakauer wrote for Outside. While reading the novel, you can feel how deeply connected the author is to his subject, it is obvious he sees himself in McCandless. The feeling I got was that Krakauer wants the world to understand McCandless.

Usually I don't want to know how a book ends before I read it, but Krakauer writes in a way that still allows for some surprises. I also enjoyed, "Into Thin Air," also by Krakauer.

Friends in bookstore places.

Some say it pays to have friends in high places.... I prefer to have friends in bookstore places. You may have noticed if you clicked on the link to my latest read that it has yet to be released. That is because I've got an awesome bookstore connection! My friend Madison hooked me up with the advanced copy of "The Clockwork Angel." My friends who have read Cassandra Clare's previous series "The Mortal Instruments" were all drooling over the book! My two updates for this post prove that I have met my monthly quota of Your Adult Science Fiction. I think I'm craving something a little more mature....

Update Book 58: WAKE my Lisa McMann

I need to be a little less trusting of Amazon.com's "If you liked this, you may enjoy this," recommendation pages. Although "Wake" was entertaining enough, it doesn't match up to the other YA novels I've enjoyed in the past such as "Maze Runner," "Hunger Games" or "Graceling."

The story is of a girl named Janie who gets sucked into people's dreams. The idea is somewhat unique, but the story is incredibly predictable. This makes for a good filler book. Unfortunately it is a trilogy and I will probably read the next two since curiosity always gets the better of me.

Update Book 59: The Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

As I mentioned before, I read Clare's previous trilogy "The Mortal Instruments," and loved them. So I had some pretty high hopes for this one. This series is actually a prequel to "The Mortal Instruments." I really enjoyed this book, but was a little disappointed that all of the characters were basically the same as in her last books, just with different names. This could also be considered a good thing by many readers who would enjoy that. Also, something that bothered me is that on top of vampires, fairies, demons, angels, werewolves, and nephilim they throw in robots that are covered with human flesh. Did I mention this book takes place in London during the late 1800's? Anyways....

Setting aside how predictable this novel is I can say that I honestly enjoyed this book for what it is and can't wait for the next installments!

A few quotes I enjoyed from this book....

"One must always be careful of books, and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us."

"I've never seen anyone get so excited over books before. You'd think they were diamonds."-Will

"Well, they are, aren't they?"-Tessa

Hot town, summer in the city

I used to pride myself on being an every season kind of girl. I liked each one for a different reason, at one point I might have even told you that Winter was my favorite (with skiing, christmas and my birthday.) but, as I've gotten older it has become clear to me that this is no longer true. What I actually enjoy is the changing of the seasons. The first month or so of a season when the air becomes a bit brisk as the leave turn, or theChristmas spirit is in the air, or when everything begins to bloom. The one thing I never get sick of? Summer. Sure, I can image I would hate to live in a world of perpetual July, but I don't think I would mind an extension of the warm months. I guess you could say here in the Pacific Northwest we appreciate good weather a bit more that other places do.

I know I've said all of this before, but I just can't get over how good I've felt since Summer hit! I am actually going to admit that I'm sad to be taking a trip in August. Why we never plan anything for the grey month of January is beyond me! Some favorite photos from Summertime past:

A good Summertime quote:

"There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want."

-Bill Watterson, "calvin and Hobbes"

Update Book 57: Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin

I know I already mentioned this book in my summer reading list, but I feel I should expand upon my thoughts. Obviously since I recommended it for a beach read, I liked it.

This is the story of Tessa and Valerie. Tessa is Nick's wife, Valerie is the woman he cheats on his wife with. The chapters switch back and forth between the two women. Sometimes I hate this style, but in this book it was done well. All of Tessa's chapters are from the first person, while Valerie's are from a narrator. I felt that this was an interesting way of writing a novel about infidelity. If it had been only from one of their perspectives it would have been easy to villainize the other. As it is, you (for the most part) understand where both of them are coming from.

Emily Giffin has a way of completely captivating me. Her novels usually involve some sort of infidelity. They are about how difficult a relationship can be and how easy it is to let temptation in. What I enjoy most about her books is that they are quick reads. What's unique is that Giffin also has the ability to make you feel really connected to the characters. I couldn't put this one down.

Farmer's Market

Want to see a perfect Seattle day? Well here ya go!

This is view from Gasworks park. The weather the last few days has been simply marvelous! The fantastic weather made me realize something about myself, I am much happier and productive when the sun is shining. Even if I am inside on sunny days I am a million times more active. In the two days I had off during our hot spirt I organized my entire house, including my closet!

I also spent a lot of times with some of my wonderful friends. On Saturday and Sunday I went to two different Farmer's Markets. The first was in town and I have to say I wish we lived in a society where went to buy fresh produce and baked goods daily from the source rather than from a supermarket where everything has been chemically treated to ripen. At a farmer's market, you know where it comes from and it is fresh. My plan for this week is to make some Vegan Zucchini Bread. I'll share the recipe because it is so stinking delicious it would be a crime not to!

Vegan Zucchini Bread

Preheat oven 325, grease and flour 2 9x5 bread pans

3 cups flour- whole wheat

3 tablespoons flax seed (optional)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon arrowroot powder (optional)

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 cup white sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups shredded zucchini

First bowl: whisk together flour, salt, flax seed, soda, cinnamon, baking powder, and arrowroot.

Second bowl: mix together applesauce, sugars, oil, and vanilla until smooth. Add Zucchini

Fold both together.

Divide between pans.

Bake 50ish minutes until your toothpick is clean (in my oven this is more like 70 minutes.)

Cool in pans for 10 minutes the on a wire rack.

My second market experience was the Sunday Fremont Flea Market. Part farmer's market, part swap meet. I always enjoy my time in Fremont. One of the booths is full of furniture and other household items that have been antiqued in funky colors . I love it! Every time I go there I fall in love with something! The best way to describe it would be "Shabby Chic." Think Florals, antiques, distressed, and classic.

Update Book 56: Charlie St. Cloud by Ben Sherwood

I'm not sure that I could accurately describe this book without giving away a majority of the plot twist and ending. So here is what I will say: This book is about love, forgiveness, guilt, life and death. Most of the time it was predictable but a very enjoyable easy to read book. In about two weeks you will be able to see Zac Ephron in the title role on the big screen. I'll let you know what I think of the adaptation. I'm hoping it will be one of those rare book/movie experiences where I can enjoy them both individually.