February Status Report

February's reading got off to a great start ... and then life happened. I got a freelance writing gig I had to tend to in my spare time. I admit, the promise of extra money lured me away from my books. Yes, I'm that shallow, er, practical!

I haven't read anything for pleasure in more than a week. Can't wait to get going again.

Still, I read 8 books in February, which is right on-target with my goal. I just didn't make up my shortfall from January. All in all, I've read 13 books in 2 months. Not bad!

BOOK 13: Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins

Rating: 4 stars

Cover Synopsis: Katniss and Peeta won the annual Hunger Games. But it had been a victory won in defiance of the Capitol and its harsh rules. There are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion.

This is the second book in the Hunger Games series (I read that book in January and loved it). And it was just as good. Action-packed, thought-provoking and, yes, pretty gruesome. But revolution always is, right?

Katniss and Peeta become reluctant heros in this book, and it's interesting to watch the internal struggle they each have with the expectations others have for them -- and the expectations they have for themselves. I was a little disappointed that halfway thorough the book the plot takes a familiar turn and becomes very similar to the first novel. But I see why the author did it, and it works for the story. Just would have been interesting to see her take a different direction.

Not complaining (too much) though. Still a riveting book that had my heart pumping right up to the end. Can't wait for the third book -- which hasn't been published yet. So I guess I'll HAVE to wait.

BOOK 12: Freckles by Gene Stratton Porter

Rating: 3 stars

Cover Synopsis: Freckles, a nameless waif has the job of guarding the boundaries of a large tract of the dense Indiana swamps. He learns the area through keen observation. He gives his heart to a girl he calls the Swamp Angel.

I really didn't want to read this book. It was the book selected for my monthly book club -- and it was selected by one of the member's children, an 8-year-old boy. Besides, the synopsis didn't sound too intriguing to me.

It was a little slow-starting. But once the so-called Swamp Angel character joins the plot, things get a bit more interesting. She's a plucky girl with wit, humor and courage. Whereas I had a hard time adoring the title character, no matter how much the author implored me to. In the story, practically every character is overcome with intense emotion at some point -- a lot of weepiness. But as a reader, I didn't really feel it. Just felt like the author was trying too hard.

A decent book, but not one of my favorites. The good characters are good (saintly, in fact, if you believe the narrator) and the bad characters are bad. Very simplistic, which isn't necessarily wrong, it just wasn't my style. I was hoping for a little character development, instead of having to accept that the characters are already perfect.

This is the first book so far in my experiment that has felt like a homework assignment. Took a while to get going, but all in all, it was OK.

BOOK 11: Enemies of the People: My Family's Journey to America by Kati Marton

Rating: 4 stars

Cover Synopsis: In a dark, compelling narrative of secrecy and betrayal, Marton trolls the archives of the Hungarian secret police to piece together her parents' imprisonment in and flight from Hungary in the mid-1950s.

What a story! I felt like I was the author's side-kick on an intense investigative journalist piece. The writing is definitely journalism -- not fluffy. Facts and memories corroborated and backed-up with evidence. Sometimes the proof interrupted the flow of the story, but I appreciated it. So often I read books -- and some news articles -- where I am expected to take the author's word for it. And that drives me crazy.

The story was all the more intense because it is about the author and her family. Marton's parents were the last free-press journalilsts behind the Iron Curtain, reporting on the communists for the Associated Press and United Press from their home country of Hungary. Their every move was watched -- even the children's nanny turned out to be a spy.

Incredible to see the things that people went through in defense of their basic rights and freedoms. How would I have acted in the same situation? Imagine discovering significant pieces of your parents' heroic past that you didn't know about during their lifetime. The author even discovers the true story about what happened to her grandparents -- that her parents didn't want her to know. Makes you think what about your own parents' or grandparents' past you don't about? Or how your own children will remember you and the story you tell them about yourself? "Enemies of the People" takes the reader back in time, and what an incredible ride.

BOOK 10: Specials by Scott Westerfeld

Rating: 4 stars

Cover Synopsis: Tally thought they were a rumor, but now she's one of them. A Special. A super-amped fighting machine. But she still has memories of something else. It all comes down to one last choice: listen to that tiny, faint heartbeat, or carry out the mission she's programmed to complete.

Wow. This was one action-packed conclusion to the "Uglies" series. Had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. "Specials" ties up a lot of the loose ends, and was a satisfying read.

I love the themes in this series but especially the idea that no one can change who you really are except yourself -- who you are is a choice. So often in today's society, everyone plays a victim. And in Tally's world, everyone literally is. But she was able to retain her true identity through sheer will, no matter what people did to her over and over again. A great message for our times.

So glad I read these books. I never would have picked them up on my own had my friend not recommended them. But what a find! Definitely one I'd like to re-read in the future.

BOOK 9: The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

Rating: 5 stars

Cover Synopsis: Cecily Cardew and Gwendolen Fairfax are both in love with the same mythical suitor. Jack Worthing has wooed Gwendolen as Ernest, while Algernon has also posed as Ernest to win the heart of Jack's ward, Cecily. When all four arrive at Jack's country home on the same weekend, pandemonium breaks loose.

I needed something fun and light-hearted to read while I wait for the 3rd book in the intense "Uglies" series. And this was just the ticket! Wilde's rapid-fire wit and hilarious characters had me laughing out loud.

The format of this book is a play, but that didn't hamper the reading at all. The story moves along quickly and every time a character opens their mouth they say something incredibly clever or incredibly silly -- or both. Loved this madcap farce!

BOOK 8: Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

Rating: 3 stars

Cover Synopsis: Tally has finally become pretty. But beneath all the fun is a nagging sense that something's wrong. Then a message from Tally's ugly past arrives and the fun stops cold. Now she has to choose between fighting to forget what she knows and fighting for her life.

This is the second book in the "Uglies" series. And it's good. But I had to give it only 3 stars because it wasn't as good as "Uglies." The writing got a tad mindless and repetative, and if I hear the words "bubbly" or "bogus" one more time I may vomit.

But, to Westerfeld's credit, the writing has the desired effect. You start to feel yourself trapped in the "pretty" world -- thinking like a pretty, reading their mindless drivel. And the book really picks up about 2/3 of the way thorough and gets back to the action. Just wish we spent less time in Pretty Town and more time moving the plot ahead, even if the book is called "Pretties."

Still, this is a good sequel with its well-crafted storytelling and mind-bending technology. And it gives you another surprise-cliff-hanger ending. Left me eager for the next book, "Specials." Hope my friend hurries up reading that one so she can pass it on to me!

BOOK 7: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Rating: 4 stars

Cover Synopsis: In Tally's world, your 16th birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world -- and it isn't very pretty.

This is a book that I never would have picked up on my own at a bookstore or library, especially after reading the cover. But a friend recommended it to me enthusiastically, and I'm glad I took a chance on it. What an awesome read!

The book is built on the premise that people who are attractive succeed better in society, so why not make everyone attractive? If you remove stark differences in appearances, there is no war. Just peace and harmony with the universe.

Of course, there is a secret catch -- the operation that turns everyone pretty also messes with their brains. "Uglies" shows the ugly side of taking away mankind's agency and individuality at the same time it shows that it was mankind's agency that brought its downfall. The heroine here has to make some tough choices that will impact not only herself, but many others.

Riveting and unexpected with a cliffhanger ending! Can't wait to read the sequel, "Pretties." Friend dropped it off yesterday so I'm diving right in.

BOOK 6: The Great Divorce, by C.S. Lewis

Rating: 5 stars

Cover synopsis: C.S. Lewis again employs his formidable talent for fable and allegory. The writer finds himself in Hell boarding a bus bound for Heaven. The amazing opportunity is that anyone who wants to stay in Heaven, can. Lewis's revolutionary idea is that the gates of Hell are locked from the inside.

A friend gave me this book, and what a gift! C.S. Lewis has such an imagination, a testimony of Christ and a way with words. The premise of the bus ride took me a while to understand, and this is a book that I will probably have to re-read several times to fully comprehend. But I love the way Lewis thinks -- and how he is able to translate those thoughts into brilliant language to drive home the point.

The Great Divorce has nothing to do with matrimony. "Blake wrote of the Marriage of Heaven and Hell," says Lewis. He says that line of thought leads us to believe that there is no black and white, no good or evil. But, he warns that is "a disastrous error." He illustrates several points where mankind blurrs those lines, but he points out with clarity -- and an incredible eternal perspective -- where the lines truly are, and where we should stand. Especailly poignant to me were his dissections of love, pity, and joy -- and how our earthly interpretation of each can come between us and God.

Several great lines stood out to me:
-- "A sum can be put right: but only by going back till you find the error and working it afresh from that point, never by simply going on."

-- "Errors which are sincere are not innocent."

-- "There have been men before now who got so interested in proving the existance of God that they came to care nothing for God Himself...There have been some who were so occupied in spreading Christianity that they never gave a thought to Christ...An organizer of charities that had lost all love for the poor? It is the sublest of all snares."

Definitely one to read -- and re-read, and re-read...