Hunger for The Hunger Games

So, those of you who know me, know that I love to read. I can especially get caught up in young adult literature. Recently, some family members introduced me to The Hunger Games. Unfortunately they introduced me when only 2 out of 3 of the books have been published. And now I am hooked. And now I am really mad that it is not August when the 3rd book comes out. Argh!

To Read: In the Country of Men

So, as some of you know, I am kind of an NPR addict. The first step is admission, right? I download the podcasts for Books, Fresh Air, All Things Considered, Story of the Day (I think there's one more) and listen to them as I walk in the morning or paint (which I have been doing a lot lately - not cool artistic painting, but boring and tedious primer to top coat on the wall kind of painting). Anyway, on the NPR Books podcast (from earlier this month) there was an announcement that the Bryant Park Project from NPR News was going to start it's own book club. After the announcement, they introduced the first book (that will be discussed on March 28 - they will discuss one book a month). The book? In the Country of Men, by Hisham Matar. This book, which chronicles the life of a family in Libya in the 1960s and 1970s sounds absolutely enthralling and amazing. You can read a little bit about it here on Amazon, or here on the NPR site. Now, this may not be quite as appealing to others as it was to me with my political science background and Africa fascination in general, but I think I must add it to the LONG list of books that I plan on reading. I think it would be so interesting to read about this September revolution of General Qhadafi (there are sooooo many different spellings of his name), full of mock trials, executions, persecutions, particularly as we now view him and his administration as our allies in northern Africa. Anyway, I just wanted to bring this book to your attention. If you get to it before me, let me know how it is!

Ta Da!

Wow. I finally finished The Good Earth. What a testament to the power of putting things down in writing and/or blogging and following through on resolutions!
All in all, it was not one of my favorite books. I am glad that I read it, but I really had a hard time sympathizing with any of the characters. Not that I always expect to sympathize with all characters in a book, but I like it when I do. I do have respect for Ms. Buck's ability to instill in the reader a fascination for the protagonist's emotional attachment to the land. The only stable thing. I was also fascinated by her portrayal of a man who is completely unaware of the intense political situation around him. It was also interesting to see his journey to becoming what he used to resent and helped to destroy, reminiscent of The Animal Farm. Ah well, I am so happy that I already finished one of my books. I haven't decided if this will be on my list of 12 books, but I have recently started Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky. So far (just a couple of chapters in), I am enjoying her writing style and character depictions. I'll let you know how it turns out.

I don't own this one yet, but on the strong recommendation of A, I am thinking that East of Eden, by John Steinbeck, may be put on the list of 12 books for the year. If I can acquire it, I may begin reading it very soon. Has anyone read this? J? What did you think?