Friday Morning Bookclub

March 23, 2012

Twilight By Stephanie Meyer : If Only I Were Seventeen Again………

Filed under: Book Recomendations,Twilight — susanbright @ 9:16 am
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I would have not only loved this book, I would have fallen in love with Edward Cullen. Sure, he’s a vampire, but what teen age girl could resist his charm and mesmerizing good looks? The level headed Bella certainly couldn’t! Even after learning that the urge to bite her neck and suck her blood was every bit as strong as the urge to kiss her, Bella was hooked.

When Isabella (Bella) Swan’s mother remarried a minor league baseball player, Bella knew that her mother would want to travel with her husband, so Bella chose to leave sunny Phoenix and move in with her father in the small constantly cloudy town of Forks, Washington. As a child Bella had spent summers in Forks until she finally put her foot down refusing to go. She had always hated the place, but she loved her mother and did not want to hold her back.

The very first day of school, Bella found herself seated next to the mysterious Edward Cullen. Was it her imagination, or did he actually glare at her with hate in his eye?. Bella could not imagine what she had done to make him dislike her so. Only days later while standing in the school parking lot, Bella looked up to see an out of control car coming towards her. She was frozen and couldn’t move. Before she knew what was happening someone pushed her to safety. It was Edward and it seemed like he had appeared out of no where and stopped the car with his bare hands. Bella was determined to find out how he had done it. What was his secret? Why was the gorgeous Edward Cullen interested in Bella?

How much did I enjoy reading Twilight? Enough that I am now reading New Moon the second book in the Twilight series! There is something addicting about these books. Who doesn’t enjoy a romance novel with a twist. They are just plain fun to read, even if you are not seventeen years old. Twilight was a New York Times Best Seller within a month of being published. I can see why!

If I were 17 years old…. definitely a 5 omelet book!

35+ years later- 3 1/2 omelets

February 8, 2012

When She Woke By Hillary Jordan

Filed under: Book Recomendations,When She Woke — susanbright @ 12:41 pm
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Yes, when Hannah Payne woke, she was red. Fire truck red. She was a Chrome. A criminal whose skin color had been genetically altered to match the class of her crime. For 30 days Hannah would remain in a detention center where her life would be an open book. It would be broadcasted live on television beginning with the moment she woke up in her new skin.

Hannah was a Red for the crime of murder. In a world where Roe v. Wade had been repealed and the line between church and state no longer existed abortion was considered murder and Hannah had not only aborted her child, but she had also refused to divulge the identity of the father of her unborn child, a well-respected public figure, whom she loved enough to want to protect him from scandal. Nor would she  identity the name of the kind man who performed the illegal procedure. For this she would get the most severe of sentences.  The prison system as we know it is gone. Hannah would be released back into society and would live the next 16 years of her life as a Chrome.

How else, after the Second Great Depression, to relieve the financially crippled federal and state government of the prohibitive cost of housing millions of prisoners? And why should precious tax dollars be wasted on criminals when honest citizens were going hungry, schools were failing, roads and bridges were crumbling and Los Angeles was still a heap of radioactive rubble? Besides, the old criminal justice system had been a patent and abject failure. The prisons were disintegrating and filled to bursting, the vast majority of their inmates living in conditions so horrific as to be unconstitutional.

When She Woke is being described as a modern-day Scarlett Letter. Like Hester, Hannah is forced to go out into the world and survive the best she can. Where will she go? How will she stay safe? Even her own mother has all but disowned her. When she woke is a thought-provoking, suspenseful and frightening book. You will not be able to put it down.

January 31, 2012

Divergent By Veronica Roth, The Next Hunger Games?

Filed under: Book Discussions,Book Recomendations,Divergent — susanbright @ 2:57 pm
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So you just finished the third book in The Hunger Games and you just don’t know what you could possibly read next that would be half as entertaining! Don’t despair! Divergent is here and it too is an exciting page turner with lots of twists and turns.

Like The Hunger Games, Divergent takes place in a dystopian world and therefore falls under the category of dystopian novels, a genre I know little about. The Time Machine written by H.G. Wells in 1895 is considered to be dystopian science fiction at its best. Some other classic dystopian books are 1984 by George Orwell,  Lord of The Flies by William Golding, A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and one of my daughter’s favorite books of all times, The Giver by Lois Lowry.

Meet Beatrice Prior, the feisty teenage star of Divergent. The world Beatrice was born into is divided into five factions, each representing a different virtue. Beatrice belongs to the Abnegation faction (the selfless). At the age of 16 each child is required to take a simulated aptitude test to determine which faction suites them best. There is no way to prepare for this test as no one actually talks about what happens in the testing room and once the test is finished, no one dares to discuss the results until Choosing day, the day each child announces to the world which faction they choose to commit their life to.

Would Beatrice choose to remain with her family in the Abnegation faction, or would she choose to leave everything behind and  join the Candor Faction (the truthful) or The Amity (the peaceful) or the Erudite (the Intelligent) or even The Dauntless (the Brave)? What could it possibly mean to be a Divergent and why was everyone afraid to actually say the word out loud?

Divergent is a quick and most importantly fun read. There is only one major problem with reading this book. When I finished, I immediately tried to download the second book in the trilogy…yes like The Hunger Games it is a trilogy… only to find out that it has not been released yet. I can hardly wait to find out what happens to Tris (formerly Beatrice) and her friend Four. Divergent’s Tris and The Hunger Games’ Katniss have a lot in common and would probably be the best of friends!

http://veronicarothbooks.blogspot.com/p/books.html

January 12, 2012

Mockingjay: The FINAL Book In The Hunger Games Trilogy! Oh No!

Filed under: Book Recomendations,The Hunger Games — susanbright @ 11:09 am
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It is not often that you come across a book, or in this case 3 books that everyone seems to like, but it looks like The Hunger Games Trilogy is  just that! When I was told about these books, I questioned whether it was my kind of book. First of all, it was written for young adults, not necessarily a bad thing, as The Book Thief, also a young adult book was one of my favorites, but definitely something to consider. Secondly, I rarely read fantasy or science fiction, a genre I just never got into. So why did I pick up the first book in the series? I was intrigued! Everyone was talking about The Hunger Games. And then I saw the trailer for the movie. I knew that I had to at least give the first book in the series a try.

These books should come with a warning: DO NOT READ  UNLESS YOU ARE WILLING AND ABLE TO READ ALL THREE BOOKS IN THE SERIES. You cannot read just one. The Hunger Games (the first book) was definitely my favorite, a five omelet book! I immediately downloaded the second book, Catching Fire and the excitement continued. Although I thought that Mockingjay had a bit too much unnecessary violence and I really don’t understand why certain characters had to die, I still stayed up to the wee hours of the night to finish it.

 My 15-year-old niece read and loved these books, my 28-year-old daughter read and loved these books and now my 80 some year old mother is hooked on The Hunger Games! What is it about these books that makes them so appealing? These books are exciting. They have you sitting on the edge of your seat. They are like a wild ride at the amusement park. You never know what is around the next corner. For a good time…. Read The Hunger Game Series, but be sure to start with #1.

The Hunger Games (first book in The Hunger Games trilogy) *****

Catching Fire (second book in The Hunger Games trilogy)****

Mockingjay (the final book in The Hunger Games trilogy)***

December 26, 2011

The Hunger Games By Suzanne Collins

Filed under: Book Recomendations,Books Into Movies,The Hunger Games — susanbright @ 12:19 pm
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I get it!  Now I know what all the excitement is about and why everyone is talking about The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.  Once you start reading this book, you will not be able to put it down.  The Hunger Games Trilogy is set some time in the future. The United States as we know it is long gone and in it’s place is the country of Panthem, which is divided into 12 Districts. Once a year, one boy and one girl from each District are chosen to compete in The Hunger Games, a reality television show like none other. The contestants or Tributes are taken to the Capitol and must fight until only one person is left alive. To make it even more interesting the Gamemakers have the power to add obstacles and or change the rules at will. It is their job to keep the game interesting.

The Hunger Games is a real page turner. It is exciting as well as suspenseful. You just never know what is going to happen next. Although there is some violence, after all, how could there not be, it is not overly graphic and if I can handle it, anyone can. If you have read my reviews you know that I am the first to put a book down if it is too violent! I enjoyed the book so much that as soon as I read the last page I downloaded the second in the series, Catching Fire (The Hunger Games #2). The Hunger Games is a quick read, not necessarily because it is a short book, but because once you start reading, you will not be able to stop until you read the very last sentence!

Have you read The Hunger Games Trilogy? Do you plan to read it?

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