It’s Monday, What Are You Reading is a weekly group blog sponsored by J. Kaye’s Book Blog to add your blog to the list, click here.
I was side-lined by a flu at the end of last week, and as a result didn’t get quite as much reading in as I had hoped. I know that being camped out on the couch would seem to be an ideal time to get some reading in, but I find when I’m like this my brain feels too mushy for reading.
The Hunger Games
I did finally finish listening to The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins on audiobook. Much to my surprise, I am not the last person on earth to read this book, though I am sure I must be close. The Hunger Games reminded me a lot of the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld. Both are YA novels set in a dystopian future with people living in two very different worlds, in both cases one of those worlds is populated with vacuous pretty types and both books have hovercrafts. The Hunger Games also has a fight to the death reality television show. Think Survivor with far higher stakes. The second book in the series, Catching Fire, came out a couple of months ago.
The Ghost’s Child
I didn’t know what to expect with The Ghost’s Child by Sonya Hartnett. Billed as a modern fable, my library placed the audiobook in the young adult section. To me this very short book with fantasy elements, seemed like more of an all ages thing, and since the main plot point concerned a failed marriage and an elderly woman still coming to grips with the loss of her one true love, I think teenagers might not really be the target audience. It was an interesting tale in a magic realism vein that reminded me a bit of works by Haruki Murakami.
Stuck Rubber Baby
I was able to make it through one actual book with pages (as opposed to audiobooks) but this one did have lots of pictures too. Stuck Rubber Baby is a graphic novel by Howard Cruse that tells the story of a young man coming to grips with his own sexual identity set against the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement in the American South. In an afterward Cruse writes that it took him 4 years to complete Stuck Rubber Baby, and I am not surprised. The story is dense and complex, the artwork is detailed and this may be one of the wordiest graphic novels I have ever read. It’s a great book, and I highly recommend it to any adults looking for a graphic novel with some meat on its bones.
What I’m currently reading
I’m about halfway through an exciting science fiction novel, The January Dancer by Michael Flynn and planning on soon starting the audiobook of The Last Summer (of You and Me) an adult novel by YA author Ann Brashares.
That’s all I’ve got. What’s on your plate on this fine Monday?
My Books
You are definitely not the last person to read The Hunger Games. I have never read it. Impressive list. Happy reading. My Monday: http://www.rundpinne.com/2009/11/what-are-you-reading-mondays_16.html
The Hunger Games! That’s all over the place! LOL
Happy reading this week!
Jennifer: Thanks for making me feel better!
Ruthie: I don’t know if it’s because of the sequel coming out or because or word of mouth, or what.
I also haven’t read The Hunger Games. Keep hearing of it, though. Did you enjoy it?
The only book I finished last week (I’m a slow reader and slow writer!) was The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon. Interesting near-future (mild sci-fi) take on autism and society’s need to define a “normal.”
Hope you’re feeling better!
I enjoyed The Hunger Games, even though the whole dystopian future thing is not really my thing. I haven’t picked up the sequel yet, but I would be curious to see where things go.
I’m feeling a lot better than I was this weekend. Though when my mother asked if I wanted to have some pizza with her and my father, I said no thanks. So, I must still be sick!
Pretty sad that it took me so long to figure out how to comment.
Love, love, love your reading pic! I have The Hunger Games on my list of wanna reads!
And it’s pretty sad how to finally get my picture to show up next to my comments instead of Mr. Anonymous! I do think that overall Blogger is easier to use, but I have a bit more control (or so I kid myself) with this WordPress site.
The Hunger Games was a good book. I think I had unreasonably high hopes about this one since I heard about it from so many people. For me it was good to really good, but not the “wow” that I had been expecting.