The Hunger Games

I loved this book! Thank you Shari for the tip. I've already put the second book in the series on reserve at the library (Nook edition not available), and I'm looking forward to the movie.

Set somewhere in the future-former North America, Katniss Everdeen is a young lady from a poor district of Panem, and she winds up "playing" in the Hunger Games, a fight to the death between 24 young people that's televised across the country, and used as a way of making sure the citizens know who's boss. Yes, I know, sounds like a happy little book, doesn't it? Katniss is really likeable, and very believable, and this is just a really, really good story.

Okay, it's a young adult book, but so are the Harry Potter books. That doesn't mean it isn't thought-provoking and chilling, and it's a very deep book for young people. I'm not sure I would want my 12-year-old reading this... if she did, I would want to make sure I had read it first and we could discuss it.

The Hunger Games

The Next Always

Nora Roberts is back with another trilogy, this one set in the very real town of Boonsboro, Md. The book is good, if rather typical Nora Roberts - strong protagonists, witty banter, quaint setting - and the added value of a teeny bit of mysticism.

That's not to say I didn't like the book - I obviously did, I read it in about 2 days. It was a nice palate cleanser after The Dovekeepers. I enjoyed the setting - made me want to book a room at the Inn. And I liked the main characters - Clare is nice without being too nice, and Beckett is charming without being smarmy. And Clare's 3 sons sound like real little boys, not mini-adults, so that's good writing.

As always, I'll look forward to book two, and I've pretty much already figured out who Nora is going to hook up with whom. These aren't deep reads, but very enjoyable.

http://www.amazon.com/Next-Always-Book-BoonsBoro-Trilogy/dp/0425243214/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1321976800&sr=1-1

The Dovekeepers

Sorry I haven't posted in a while but this is a pretty long book - and a pretty deep read. Alice Hoffman tells the story of the last days of Masada through the eyes of four women - Yael, Shirah, Revka, and Aziza - the dovekeepers. The book is broken into sections, each told from one of the women's perspectives, beginning and ending with Yael.

I knew of Masada before I read this book, but I didn't know the entire story. I looked it up when I finished and Hoffman keeps quite close to the actual story, she just makes it a lot more personal, and gives back stories and histories for the people who were there. We in fact learn the story of how each of these women came to be at Masada in these last days, and how the Roman attacks all over the region impacted them.

This isn't exactly a happy story - if you know about Masada you know that. But it is a story with power, and it is a story of personal strength, of love, and of survival. I found it truly moving.

http://www.amazon.com/Dovekeepers-Novel-Alice-Hoffman/dp/145161747X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1321800190&sr=1-1