Hungry in the Dark

Hunger: A Gone Novel by Michael Grant

Three Months later the kids under 15 are stuck in the bubble of the FAYZ and they are out of food. An all day meal may consist of jar of gravy or pickle relish. Not only are the Perdido Beach kids hungry, but the Coates kids are starving too. Caine has been MIA since the Thanksgiving battle and falling deeper in to the Darkness’ web. Sam is under so much pressure that he’s about to crack while keeping it all together. The other kids in “leadership” are trying to see where they fit in to the puzzle of the FAYZ. In short, it’s falling apart.

“Hungry in the Dark” was a dual concept. While I was reading Hunger the characters that had been put under the Darkness’ influence felt his anguish and hunger. Caine, who was totally out of it for 3 months, kept saying the phrase in his comatose state over and over, “Hungry in the Dark.” Then as the Darkness spread his touch, other characters were talking about it. The dual concept comes in when the plan unfolds that the Coates kids want to turn off the power to Perdido Beach. Not only is it going to be dark, but the kids are going hungry and practically out of food.

Two areas of the books have me pondering, first, Little Pete’s dreams. There is some connection between the Darkness and Little Pete and it is not clear yet what that will be. I know more now than I did before that Little Pete is going to be having the biggest role to play in this series. It will have something to do with his dreams and it’s going to be huge (bigger than in Gone, which is big). Second, I am stunned by Lana’s role with the darkness, I know that it has a tight grip on her and even when her plans backfire on her, the audience has to wonder how deep does it go? Will Lana ever be “normal” again? Can she recover from being with the Darkness so many times and so intimately? We’ll see as the series continues.

Some food for thought: Why couldn’t these kids get it together sooner? Why are they unable to think ahead at all? Are all teenagers this thoughtless? Of course when I was under 15 years old, was over 15 years ago now and I’m baffled by how brainless they are. There is no forethought at all, but then I think about the average student we had in our student ministry and I remember how they acted and I keep thinking that Grant has hit the nail on the head. It has absolutely driven me crazy with the absolute mindlessness that these kids are exhibiting and then I remember, oh yeah, they are just kids and can’t think past what’s in front of them. I’m glad that they are starting to grow into some leadership. I’m interested to continue the series and see what happens.

I have no complaints about this series thus far. Grant has put together a good story with interesting characters. Hunger has some better character development than Gone did. I felt the characters strife during the entire book and knew that things were getting worse and how they can see the impending doom. I have bought the third book Lies and I’m very interested to see how the story continues and who will conquer. I am also thinking that there is some type of twist of events in this next book, I can feel a controversy coming. We’ll see, continue reading my friends!

POOF-- Freedom!

Gone by Michael Grant

Poof. Not, I wake up in the morning and everyone over the age of 15 has been kidnapped in the night, but POOF, in front of Sam’s very eyes, his teacher poofed. Not only his teacher, but other kids in his class and his mom have just literally vanished before his eyes. Not only his mom, but the only people left in a 10 mile radius are gone without a trace. Not only have people vanished, but the kids that are left are starting to experience changes, supernatural changes.

Gone was a thrilling count down. I had no idea what we were counting down to, but I was glad that I was a part. The intriguing story begins on the day that people disappear. There is confusion and no adults. Of course everyone is looking up to School Bus Sam to save the day to step up and be the leader he seemed to be born to be, but he just walks away. As bully’s rule the day and the troubled private school kids come to rein the city, Sam, Astrid and a few others try and figure out exactly what’s going on. As the story continues they realize that maybe they don’t want to know the truth.

This was my pick for book club. I picked for the month of August and I really wanted to read a book that I already owned, so I brought a list to see what people had read and what people hadn’t. I brought a list of 5 books, all of them had been read by at least one person, so sad. So, I mentioned Gone, I knew it was YA and not all adults are crazy about that genre of literature like I am, so I didn’t know if it would go over well. This book was recommended to me by my past mentor and now friend Melody Tryon. She has great taste in literature and we usually read and agree on most of the same books. She said to me, if I liked The Hunger Games, then I would definitely like Gone and the series.

One thing I enjoyed about the book was that the characters were unpredictable. I would assume that I knew what was going to happen next, but then it would change. Now, I’m not saying that everything was unpredictable, I knew that Lana was going to be a healer. But I have no idea what’s going on with the darkness character that’s controlling the coyote’s. I can’t even guess. I have no idea why some kids have developed powers and why some haven’t or why they started developing them before the FAYZE or why some kids powers are stronger than others. I have no idea where everyone disappeared to or if they are alive or dead.

I enjoyed Gone and I’m in great anticipation to continue the series with Hunger. Keep reading my friends!

Sisters United to Destroy Good Ole Dad!

The Secret Life of Prince Charming by Deb Caletti

A karmic quest. This is what 3 half sisters set out to do, right wrongs and learn truth along the way. Quinn finds out that her father, who she consistently defends and tries to find the best in, while overlooking his eccentric and selfish tendencies, has stolen items from many women and kept them as trophies over the years. The sisters set out to return the items, behind their father’s back. All the women in Quinn’s life have been hurt and distrust men, and Quinn is starting to agree when her steady predictable boyfriend dumps her for another girl. The main idea that Quinn tries to uncover is the truth even if the truth hurts.

I picked this one up at Books A Million. We have a semi-new section in our local BAM that has isles of new books for clearance prices. I bought this book for $2.95. I was pumped, I had seen Caletti’s name in the YA section for quite a while and this was the opportunity to give her a chance. Of course this is not my natural go to genre of books to read, but I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy this pick.

I’m such a fantasy nut. I have enough of real life, I don’t need to read real life too, but I was glad that I made a switch for this book. This was a charming story about a quest for truth about love. I enjoyed the great character interaction and I was so glad to see some real life situations with real life consequences for decisions made by the characters. The book was not all happy endings and everything is wrapped up nicely in the end, almost nothing gets on my nerves more than that. There’s just not a whole lot to say about books like this. It is yet another book that I would add to the “beach reads.” Not a book that will rock your world, but if you are looking for something entertaining and fun to read, it’s a good one.

Keep reading my friends!

Fresh Air Does the Body Good

The Secret Garden by Fances Hodgson Burnett

An epidemic hits Mary Lennox’s home in India killing her parents and the servant who raised her. Bitter and contrary, Mary moves from house to house until a blood relative is found in Yorkshire England. During her first few months at Misselthwaite Manor she is lonely and bored. Martha, one of the servants teaches Mary to dress herself and tell Mary that she needs to go outside and get fresh air from the Moor. Since Mary was spoiled and a terror, she was not fun to be around, but the more she was around Martha, the more she liked her. During her stay at Misselthwaite, she hears mysterious noises at night. She knows that it’s crying and Martha swears that it’s nothing. During the nice days Mary starts to go outside and walk amongst the many gardens, this is where Mary meets Ben Weatherstaff and discovers a secret garden that is rumored to be where the master of the house’s wife died and in his mourning he locked the gate and buried the key. As she grows more curious she learns not only more about the secret garden, but also the crying she has heard several times. She finds that there is a boy her age lives in the house and he is a crippled weak boy named Colin Craven who has a bad temper and is not fun to be around, just like Mary was before the magic took over her. She also meets Dickon the animal charmer who is also Martha’s brother. Many adventures ensue and many things change during the course of the book, but you’ll have to read it to find out more!

The Secret Garden is the September book club pick. I have never read this classic and is yet another great stride to getting more classics under my belt. I enjoyed the language of The Secret Garden. It was fun reading the proper children learning to speak Yorkshire. They would try it and the townies would love hearing them try. One statement that was made that I loved was talking about Colin and Martha said, “He’s been spoiled till salt won’t save him.” I loved this and when I read it, I laughed out loud.

I enjoyed several aspects of the book, first I like how Mary had to transform from being a rotten child with bad manners and crazy notions to growing into a child that learns manners. Then there is a role reversal between Martha who teaches Mary some basic truths about being a good child and therefore, Mary was able to teach them to Colin. Another aspect that I liked was how openly the character spoke of each other. When Mary first started her journey after becoming an orphan, she was told that she was ugly and they would explain to her how she was ugly. Martha also told Mary that she wasn’t as ugly as she was before. It’s funny how I would never dream of telling a 10 year old that they are ugly. My question is, is it cultural between Europe and America or is it a different time and no one talks like that anymore no matter where the setting is.

A fun game that I came up with while reading the Secret Garden, is statements made in classical literature are funny when taken out of context. I leave you with a couple of my favorites, enjoy!
“Children that feels like young wolves an’ food’s flesh an’ blood to ‘em.” Susan Sowerby
“I don’t want to be queer!” Colin Craven
So, what are your thoughts, do you want to read The Secret Garden? Did you read it ever so long ago and need to be reminded of the beauty of a child’s mind? Keep Reading my friends, keep reading!

I'm sad, wanna cuddle?

Astrid & Veronika by Linda Olsson

Veronika, a young writer, escapes the pain of recent life events to Sweden. She moves into a rental home next door to Astrid, an elderly recluse where the unlikely friendship blossoms over the course of 9 months. Slowly they both open up and trust each other with their deepest secrets. This is a thought provoking, tear jerking, joyful and remorseful story from the heart that takes real life circumstances (and sometimes not so real) and puts them down on paper. I can’t even imagine the pain that has come from these women’s experiences and watching the healing take place as they reveal their hearts to each other was a special event to watch.

Veronika speaks of memories and how she feels that she can only remember the bad things that happen instead of the good and the bad. It was funny to me that Veronika states that her mother always told her that she didn’t have a good memory. The funny part to me was that people who have bad memories never realize it themselves, but they have to be lead to it. They also have a hard time admitting it because what they do remember is clear enough to them. I admit that I am a person that believes I have a great memory and am told by almost everyone that I don’t. I have recently pondered why this is so, and I have concluded that I have an excellent long term memory, but my short term memory is horrendous! I can relate to Veronika on this matter!

*Spoiler Alert* Throughout the story the author regularly speaks of the idea of “not lasting.” Every situation that is good in both of the characters there is a thought behind it that it cannot last. When Astrid had her little girl, she spoke of it not lasting, how can your relationship with your baby not last? Well, if you kill your baby, it won’t last. I was very confused why she did that by the way. Same idea is present with Veronika and her lover. It can’t last, and then he died.

Foreshadowing is sewn throughout the story. Veronika speaks of the sea being her enemy before we even know anything about her story. She speaks of always hating it, but knowing that the love of her life loved it, she wanted to be near him and he wanted to be in the ocean. Things didn’t fare well with them.

First question, was, what was with the cuddling? Second question, did Astrid kill herself? Third question, was Veronika happy for Astrid in the end? This book was very odd and intriguing at the same time. I probably would have never heard of it if it wasn’t for book club. It was an interesting read, I wouldn’t say I recommend it, but I wouldn’t say it’s the worst book I’ve ever read either. So, have you read it? Do you want to?

"We are two people. Not that much seperates us. Not nearly as much as I'd thought."

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

This is a story about three women, different in every way, age, race, and social standings, but they are working together with one goal in mind, equality. A book about writing a controversial book in the middle of a racial war, the unity of this bond is the story of The Help.

When I first started reading The Help, I posted on facebook that I was reading this book. I wanted to know which of my friends had read it or wanted to. I was astounded by how many comments that post received and how many people had read or wanted to read the book, or wanted to see the movie when it came out. I also received a wall post from my cousin Mary Catherine prompting me to ask my dad about the maid she and her 5 siblings had while growing up. From that wall post, I asked my dad about Tine and he told me the story of the broken crystal lamp. My dad was born late in life to my grandmother. His oldest sibling, Clint was 25 when my dad was born and was already married with one child. I grew up playing with my second cousins who were my age and I did not understand that their parents were my first cousins and not aunts and uncles. I didn’t understand as a child why my cousins called my Uncle Clint grandpa, he was uncle to me and my brothers. I loved going to Aunt Martha and Uncle Clint’s house, there was always something to do. Either we would play with my second cousins or play down in the basement, but we always knew to stay out of Uncle Clint’s way. He was always kind, but he expected children to be respectful and to always say “sir or ma’am” and be obedient. Dad would always lecture us on the way down to Warren, AR where my aunt and uncle lived about minding our manners and behaving ourselves, and don’t be loud or break anything. So, the story is that my dad, being so young, would go play with his nieces and nephews during family events. When I asked him about the story my cousin Mary Catherine told me to ask him about, I found out that my dad, a non-trouble-maker from birth accidently broke a lamp shade. He was following the other kids down the stairs and swinging over the stair banister, when he swung his leg over, down came the crystal lamp. Tine saved the day and replaced the broken lamp shade without my Uncle Clint finding out. I can only imagine what punishment Tine saved my dad from. Dad also told me that either Uncle Clint or Aunt Martha would go to the “black part of town” pick Tine up and bring her to the house at about 6am, then she would work all day, and then they would take her back home around 6 or 7pm that night. He also told me some other fun stories about how Tine would take care of the kids and protect them from getting in trouble from their dad. While reading The Help, I can almost picture what my aunt and uncle’s house looked like.

I personally enjoyed how many important events took place during the course of the book. From the beginning of the zip code for mailing items with the post office, to the assassination of the President Kennedy, many events that have shaped America took place over these very few years. The author paid much attention to detail and I appreciated Stockett’s inclusion of those events. On the Civil Rights movement, it’s interesting how just 40 to 50 years has made such an amazing difference in the equality of people in America, if you would have asked my Uncle Clink in 1964 if we would have a black man in the white house, what do you think he would have said? I’m not saying it’s equal or anywhere close to perfect, it’s just changed a lot because of the people who stood up for their rights.

As a southern woman, it was very natural for me to pick up on Minny or Aibelene’s accent. I saw an almost immediate decline in my accent and grammar while reading The Help. I found myself saying “ain’t” which is not a word that I ever use. I also found myself using words completely incorrect. Is and was, were not used when they were supposed to be and I know that I sounded crazy and uneducated. Of course I already have an inclination to speak incorrectly because I’m southern and I am around some really crazy accents on a daily basis working with the public of East Texas and Arkansas.

So, what did you think? Did you read the book? See the movie? What did you think? Do you have any stories about your family in the 60’s?

How does this story end for Sam, Grace, Cole and Isabel?

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

The end of a series is always bitter sweet. I feel like I’m saying goodbye to a sweet friendship that I have come to love over the time that it takes to read the books. I started with Shiver, not knowing anything about it, except that the literary blogging world was going insane talking about it. Every blogger was reading it and loving it. So I picked it up, then I waited for Linger, when it came out, again all the rage on the blogosphere, then I waited again, finally Forever is here.

Grace has now been a wolf for two months. Two months that Sam has not been a wolf. Sam has been under investigation for Grace’s disappearance and maybe even murder. Sam has been walking around trying to act like nothing is wrong, when everyone he has ever known and loved is now a wolf in the woods outside his adopted father’s home. Sam is displaced and going through all of these trials without Grace and Beck. He has Cole, the suicidal rock star who spends all of his waking hours trying to be like his dad the scientist and find a cure for the werewolf issue. Even though Sam did not shift for the first time in 10ish years, he is still is not living without Grace.

Of course this is a book that you have to remove all logic and just read. There is no infection that is acting like malaria and makes you turn into a wolf during the cold months of the year. But, if you can look past that, this is a great story. One of love, passion, friendship, and a world of asking questions even when it hurts and it’s hard to hear the answer.

I have heard many people say that they did not enjoy this book or even the one preceding it (Linger) as much as Shiver the original book. I can appreciate their comments and as a lover of books and literature, I will have to respectfully disagree. The magic of the first book was something of another world. It was magical, it was moving, and it had a beautiful ending. The second book still had the magic, but it didn’t have that spark that the first did because Sam and Grace were already in love and that was what was so great about Shiver, the love story. Now here comes Linger it’s all about figuring out what’s going on, what’s causing this and how can we stop it. Grace has had some of Sam, now she wants it all, marriage, family, everything. I can see why Shiver was everyone’s favorite, but Linger had some great stuff in it and Forever was a great end to the story. The way I see it is that I love these characters. Sam, Grace, Isabel, and Cole all of them have a special place in my heart and I think that is why I have nothing bad thing to say about the books, it’s because I love these fictional friends.

Stiefvater has a way with words that I have been in awe of since Shiver. She uses analogies like they are a long-time friend of hers and they don’t even mind being used by her because of their special relationship. One of my favorite lines is about the middle of the book. Grace has recently shifted back to human and she wakes in Sam’s bedroom before him for the first time ever. She walks to the basement with the coffee pot and looks around Beck’s library and just visually takes in the room. She sees the tidy shelves of books and guesses that there must be over one thousand books in the library and in her head she makes this comment. “I wanted a library like this by the time I was Beck’s age. Not THIS library. A cave of words that I’d made myself. I didn’t know if that would be possible now.” I just think the way Stiefvater words this idea is so beautiful. A cave of words that I’d made myself. It’s a true enough statement. I love inheriting books, but my most precious books are the ones that speak to me and maybe no one else likes them or reads them, but for this time and this place in my life, I loved these words and this book and it spoke volumes to me. I can see what Grace dreams of, a library of her own that she has put together. Love it!

As discussed in the previous Shiver blogs, these books are very emotional for me. I have rolled my eyes, laughed, and cried with every one of the characters. This series takes you on such a rollercoaster ride of emotion in such a short time that I hang on every word.

Well I guess that is the end of this blog. Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. What did you think of the ending? What do you think happened if there would have been one more chapter?