Boom! by Mark Haddon

Last summer I read Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and I was really struck by his writing style. (Great book by the way.) So when I came across Boom! on my local library's ebook list I figured I was guaranteed to enjoy it.

Now it was a fun read - however, I found myself to be completely caught off guard when I discovered that it wasn't just a story of fiction, but science-fiction. I'm still not convinced that I had any warning of this. The description of the book on my library site seemed to be from the author explaining that this was the revised edition and that the original had been titled differently and something to do with it being a bad title because no one would buy it due to the fact that they didn't know what the title meant....

Well, anyway, here's the description I felt I missed: Boom! is a novel about a boy that doesn't pay enough attention in class. He and his best friend, that to just might be boarder line child prodigy, overhear two of their teachers speaking in some kind of code after bugging the teacher's lounge to listen in on the weekly meeting to find out if he's getting suspended. The boys start an investigation into this code and the two teachers that unpacks quite a crazy chain of events that just might end up getting the whole world blown to smithereens.

Now this definitely isn't Haddon's best work, but it's fun none the less.

Wool (1-5) by Hugh Howey

This stuff is sci-fi at it's best. Hugh Howey takes some seemingly ordinary characters-a sheriff, a mayor, and a mechanic-and alters everything you already can already assume about them and flips it in a way you would never expect.

What if just talking about leaving the community you live in was a crime punishable by death? This is the world the citizens of the silo live in. The mere words "I want to go outside," just might get you what you want.

This series is an incredible study on the human condition. With an intense focuses on individual cause and effect. There is a mystery here that continually unfolds as you flip (scroll) through the pages of Wool.

What will happen to us if we continue on the power, fuel hungry path we as Americans live today. Are the choices we are making now to curb our consumption and abuse of the earth's natural resources enough? What if it's not? Is a world like the one portrayed in Wool what we have to look forward to? Do we as mere citizens have any real control over our future? These are not necessarily questions discussed in Wool but were certainly questions I contemplated on completion of the series.

Wool takes it's name from the piece of cloth the convicted "criminals" use to perform their final duty to the silo during their sentence of cleaning the lenses to the cameras that allow the citizens a view to the outside world. But the un-asked and un-answered question is, what drives them to do it? Why do they always go through with the cleaning?

Listening to... Band of Horses: Cease to Begin

The guitars introduce the whole album's ongoing atmosphere breaking into the quicker drums and more rocky aspects of the album that reappear throughout. There's a sweet romanticism to the lyrics and an ethereal quality to Ben Bridwell's voice, especially during the oohs and ahhs. And there's so many of those nice oohs and ahhs. There's a hint of folk rock under all the indie rock. Although some might debate that the reverb sound is over-used, I feel that it's what gives this album it's unmistakeable lullaby-like sound. The perfect soundtrack to a night full of comfortable, warm dreams.

Kindle Touch

I am excited to say, and embarrassed to admit, that I bought myself a Kindle Touch, and I'm so in love with it. I can borrow books from the Amazon Prime lending library, and from my local library and it downloads immediately onto the device. This thing is amazing. I read a lot. And I collect books. Many of which I don't need to own, and would prefer not to. However, no matter how unattached I am to a story, once it's in my personal library, it is next to impossible for me to get rid of. Of course there are those books out there that I have to own. Like my Harry Potter series, and the Song of Ice and Fire series. They belong as physical copy in my library. Also most reference books, like garden books and cook books have to be in the flesh. But the Charlaine Harris Sookie Stackhouse series? I don't need to own that. I enjoyed reading it, but to take up space on my bookshelves? No.

The first book I read on the Kindle was The Hunger Games, and although at first I worried it would, it in no way impeded my reading experience. I would say, it is definitely an unnecessary luxury, but I'm glad I now have it.

The Hunger Games Trilogy & Film

I'd never heard of Suzanne Collins before this series. However, I find myself thinking "I have to keep track of this author," after reading The Hunger Games,  Catching Fire and  Mockingjay.

This series reminded me at first of a strange cult film Josh and I came across a few years ago by accident called Battle Royale. It's a crazy Japanese film where students are forced by the government to participate in a deadly game where they must kill each other to win.

In The Hunger Games, two children, one boy and one girl, from each of twelve districts of Panem, are forced to compete annually to be the sole survivor of this game celebrated only by the Capitol, where, out of all of Panem, the rich and fortunate reside, safe from the dangers and sufferings of the districts. The Hunger Games is punishment for the uprising of district 13 (now demolished) that occurred 74 years ago.

Tributes to the Games are taken to the Capitol where they are beautified, lavishly fed, pranced before the citizens of the Capitol, and trained to become deadly, fighting pawns for the Capitol's entertainment. The entire event is publicized where the members of each district are forced to watch this demonstration of the Capitol's power and control over them.

Katniss Everdeen is the lead role in this captivating story. You are immediately drawn to root for Katniss and her group of family and friends that are stuck under the thumb of this cruel and punishing government. I found this series to be impossible to put down. I literally started and completed the first of the series in less then 24hrs. When I heard that the film was out I was so excited to see it. Of course I had to finish the series first. Josh and I went to the Latchis Theater with our close friend Chris to see the film.

Although the movie was both visually enticing and somewhat accurate on some levels to the written series, I was ultimately disappointed by the choices made to keep it at a viewable length. The film's portrayal of the Capitol citizens was amazing. They were over-the-top fantastical, exactly what they should be. The choice to use Owen Wilson as the former District 12 tribute victor and current District 12 tribute mentor was both completely unexpected and extremely delightful. Artifacts and character histories were disconcertingly inaccurate in my opinion. For example, Katniss's family dynamics are key to understanding why she makes the decisions she makes and these are barely even referred to in the film. Also, the first scene in the film shows her walking under the electric fence to go hunting, there's no explanation to the fact that the power is off or that what she's doing is completely illegal and she would have her tongue cut out and be enslaved if caught. Also, Gale, her best friend, is portrayed as a love interest from the very beginning of the movie, where in the series their friendship is strictly platonic until she is taken away from the district.

Needless to say I recommend the series as a can't-miss-reading-experience where the film is a definite do-with-out.