Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Title: Catching Fire
Author: Suzanne Collins 
Type: Audiobook 
Narrator: Carolyn McCormick 
Genre: Fantasy 
Series: Yes, Book 2 of the Trilogy 
Copyright: 2008 
Publisher: Scholastic Audio Books; Unabridged edition 
Rating: 3.5 out of 5


Summary: From GoodReads.

Katniss is the spark to a revolution, and the Capitol wants revenge. She won the Hunger Games and returns alive with District 12 Tribute partner Peeta. But he and longtime friend Gale both reject her. On their Victory Tour of all the districts, locals riot but the winning duo must appear lost in their love.

Feelings:
Where as the first book was mostly about the actually Hunger Games this book is political and looks at the implications of the actions of the Capital. There isn't all that much I can say about the book without giving to much away. I liked the twists and turns of this book and didn't expect many of them. This book was less about the characters though and more about the plot. Characters have already been developed in the first book so there wasn't all that much character development in this book. There are new characters introduced that are developed but for the most part this book seems to be more about the rebellion and how it can work. Katniss spends most of the book trying not to piss off the president so that her family will be protected. 

Unlike the first book this one is not a stand alone book. The Hunger Games could have been a stand alone even though it did bring up many questions about the Capital and Katniss' feelings. 

I would recommend this book to those that enjoyed the first book. 

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Title: The Hunger Games 
Author: Suzanne Collins 
Type: Audiobook 
Narrator: Carolyn McCormick 
Genre: Fantasy 
Series: Yes, Book 1 of the Trilogy 
Copyright: 2008 
Publisher: Scholastic Audio Books; Unabridged edition 
Rating: 4 out of 5


Summary: From GoodReads

Could you survive on your own, in the wild, with everyone out to make sure you don't live to see the morning?

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.

If she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

Feelings:
I really enjoyed listening to this book. As it was in first person and that isn't my favorite I actually think listening to the book was better than reading it for me. The story was intriguing and engaging. I liked the political aspects of the book as well. While I'm not sure where the logic for the Hunger Games came from, lets stop rebellion by having 24 teenagers kill each other, I am willing to go with it because it fits with what Katniss thinks of Panem's Capital. I personally think the Hunger Games might actually be a reason to rebel against the Capital. But if you are really scared I guess you just might go with it thinking it won't be my kid so it is alright.

Katniss does a lot of growing in the book and it is interesting to see her change as the Hunger Games progress. In the arena she has to make hard decisions about trust and being alone or forming alliances and even though she knows the rules of the game she finds herself wanting to be with others rather than alone. Normally only knowing what Katniss knows would bother me and I would find the first person narrative to limiting for this kind of book. Strangely it works in this case and increases the tension and suspense of the book.

This book is more than just a book about survival it is also a book with a political warning. As we don't know how North America was destroyed and Panem create it is hard to say if there is anything more than just a warning about the way the Capital treats the people in the districts. I would recommend this audiobook to both the young adult audience and older audiences.

The Bookseller of Kabul by Åsne Seierstad

Title: The Bookseller of Kabul 
Author: Åsne Seierstad 
Translator: Ingrid Christopherson  
Type: Audiobook  
Narrator: Joanna David 
Genre: Non-Fiction 
Series: No 
Copyright: 2005 
Publisher: Recorded Books 
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Summary: From GoodReads.
In spring 2002, following the fall of the Taliban, Asne Seierstad spent four months living with a bookseller and his family in Kabul.

For more than twenty years Sultan Khan defied the authorities - be they communist or Taliban - to supply books to the people of Kabul. He was arrested, interrogated and imprisoned by the communists, and watched illiterate Taliban soldiers burn piles of his books in the street. He even resorted to hiding most of his stock - almost ten thousand books - in attics all over Kabul.

But while Khan is passionate in his love of books and his hatred of censorship, he also has strict views on family life and the role of women. As an outsider, Asne Seierstad found herself in a unique position, able to move freely between the private, restricted sphere of the women - including Khan's two wives - and the freer, more public lives of the men.

It is an experience that Seierstad finds both fascinating and frustrating. As she steps back from the page and allows the Khans to speak for themselves, we learn of proposals and marriages, hope and fear, crime and punishment. The result is a genuinely gripping and moving portrait of a family, and a clear-eyed assessment of a country struggling to free itself from history.' to 'This mesmerizing portrait of a proud man who, through three decades and successive repressive regimes, heroically braved persecution to bring books to the people of Kabul has elicited extraordinary praise throughout the world and become a phenomenal international bestseller. The Bookseller of Kabul is startling in its intimacy and its details - a revelation of the plight of Afghan women and a window into the surprising realities of daily life in today's Afghanistan.'

Feelings:
I enjoyed listening to this audiobook. At the very beginning the author did give a short all names have been changed and I couldn't have known everything but I talked with the people involved and was able to piece together a story of events from interviews and from living with the family. Then when the author was completely removed from the story from then until the epilogue I found it kind of strange. I remember thinking at one point "does she not have any effect on events happening in the house or the shops? She said she was going to be following them around." Yet she is absent from the narrative. That is my biggest complaint about the book.

I don't know enough about life in a place like Kabul to say if the way she portrays the family is or is not accurate so I will not judge that part of the book. Did I feel occasionally that she had an opinion, sure, but I never felt like she was using the other people to get it across. I'm sure the women did feel trapped in the house and I'm sure that Saltan Khan did think that the way he behaved was normal. From my perspective I feel differently. So I wonder how much my views color this book? I'm sure that in no small way the authors views did color how the characters in the book were portrayed but I didn't feel like it was wrong. This is her view on one families life in Afghanistan.

I enjoyed listening to this book and think that it is a very different view of Kabul as the war on terror is happening and Americans are present but for the most part it is removed from the story even though this is taking place right after 9/11. I liked that we get to see a family up close. It is a very different take on Afghanistan and a humanizing one.

I would recommend this book to those that are interested in what life in one family is like in Kabul.

When Love Blooms by Robin Lee Hatcher

Title: When Love Blooms
Author: Robin Lee Hatcher
Type: Novel
Genre: Romance
Series: No
Copyright: 2009
Publisher: Zondervan
Rating:  1 out of 5

Summary:
From the moment Gavin Blake set eyes on Emily Harris he knew she would never make it in the rugged high country where backbreaking work and constant hardship were commonplace. She would wilt there like a rose without water. He'd be sending her back to Boise before the first snows. He'd be willing to bet on it.She could say what she wanted. Emily Harris didn't belong in the hard life of the Blakes. Beautiful and refined, she was accustomed to the best life had to offer. Heaven only knew why she wanted to leave Boise to teach two young girls on a ranch miles from nowhere. He'd wager it had to do with a man. It always did when a beautiful woman was involved. Emily wanted to make some sort of mark on the world before marriage. She wanted to be more than just a society wife. Though she had plenty of opportunities back East, she had come to the Idaho high country looking to make a difference. Gavin's resistance to her presence made her even more determined to prove herself. Perhaps changing the heart of one man might make the greatest difference of all.

Feelings:
I might have felt more kindly about this book if it hadn't been for the religious aspect of it. When I picked it up I just wanted an easy read with romance. This was an easy read and there was romance.

When she drew near, he took the lantern from her. She lifted her eyes to meet his, and the felt his gut tighten. Vulnerable. Sweet. Uncertain. Fearful. There was something about her that made him want to-- (p.103)

Tension is created because of the religious part of the story. Gavin and Emily can't be together because of Dru Gavin's wife in name.

Dru felt a flutter of joy. It was happening. What she'd hoped for from the beginning was happening. They were attracted to each other. Attracted and resisting it -- because of her. Gracious. She hadn't considered that she would be an impediment while she was alive, although she should have. Gavin was a principled man, and Emily was a virtuous you woman. How was she to nurture their growing affection in these days and weeks before the Lord took her home while still preserving their honor? How was she to help them fall in love so that after she was gone . . . (p. 107)

I would have been alright with this story if it hadn't turned religious on me. I don't mind sexual tension in a book but to have the tension be because of religious reasons feels a little bit odd to me. I should note that this would have still be rated a 2-3 even without the religion just because it is a silly romance novel. And I don't want others to think that they shouldn't read it because I didn't like it. I just didn't like the religious part and would have liked to have known it was going to be sure before I read it. That being said if you like religious romance this will be a great book for you, if not I suggest you skip it.

Cover Blind

Do you ever pick up a book off the shelve at the library/bookstore and put it back before you even know what it is about because you really don't like the image on the cover? 

I have done this many times. In my better moments I know that I am judging books by their cover and that it doesn't necessarily mean that it isn't a good book. The same can go the other way, I know I have read a few books because I really liked the cover but in the end hated the book. If I hadn't liked the cover I probably never would have read those books in the first place because the description would have been such to make me less interested. So in attempt to be less judgmental of books based on their cover I will be reading books that have their covers covered over.

1. I will have someone pick out the books for me, and then cover over the cover with colored paper I can't see through or easily peak at the cover with. 
2. Then I will read the book or give it a good chance at least 100 pages, maybe more depending on the length. 
3. Books that are read in such a way will be labeled "Cover Blind" in their review. 
4. I will not see the cover of these books until after I have written the review, rated the book, and created a rough design of what I think the cover should be. My cover will be included in the post as will the real cover.
5. You will notice that reviews with the "Cover Blind" tag are much longer than other reviews because they include as section "Cover Blind" where I include the image of my cover design, gulp I may regret this later, and discus why I created the design I did. It will as include a "Cover Rating" where I rate the actual cover of the book and discus the cover. I may include other cover images if there are different covers for different editions.

I will be dedicating the four posts in November to books that I have read cover blind. I may expand and do more than four posts but I am going to start with four books as it may take me a while to get through them.