Catching Fire

So winning The Hunger Games isn't all it's cracked up to be, at least not when President Snow hates you, the districts are restless and there's a Quarter Quell to be had. This starts a little slow, but ends on such a rush that I ran out to the library to pick up the 3rd and final book in the trilogy. I sure am glad I waited to read this series after all the books were out.

Tooth and Nail

Inspector Rebus goes to London in the 3rd novel. I'm still very much enjoying this series. I like Rebus and his family members and this novel does a great job of dislocating Rebus while he continues his usual task of solving murder mysteries. On to the 4th!

Deception

This crime novel is written as a fictitious after the fact diary, an interesting conceit. But talk about your unreliable narrator. Nevertheless an interesting take on a crime and its affect on a family. I enjoy Denise Mina and will read more of her work. I especially liked how the story ended; not at all sappy.

Theodore Boone Kid Lawyer

I ran out of books at the beach, so I picked up this from my son. It was pretty much what I expected in a John Grisham kid's book. Theo Boone is sort of a modern day Encyclopedia Brown, but I have a hard time seeing what kid really wants to read about courts and their procedures. It's a little too literal for my taste, and very predicatable. If this turns into a series I won't be following it.

Can You Forgive Her?

This book also is part of a continuing ed class. I had never read any Trollope, but I have read much of the Forsyte sage. This is much like that, though with much less horrid characters. Definitely a book of its time, but the humor in the book still rings true and I find this world a lovely one to escape into. As soon as my Kindle arrives I'm going to lead the rest of the series onto it as well as the Barcester series. I look forward to going back with Trollope.

The Hunger Games

Basically a version of Survivor in a post-apocalyptic United States where teenagers win by literally surviving as they try to kill one another in the arena for the amusement of the Capitol. This is the first book of a trilogy. I have No. 2 now and 3 will be out next week. I can't wait to see what happens next in District 12.

From Eden to Exile

This is the text of a continuing ed class being offered at my college that I was somewhat interested in. The idea is to look at what archeological evidence and other evidence is there to support of refute the Biblical account of the "historical" books of the Old Testament. This turned out to be a great disappointment though, mainly because there's much more lack of evidence of anything than proof of the truth or lack thereof of most accounts. I also disliked the authors assumption (unfounded to my thinking due to a lack of textual dating) that the writers of the Bible ripped off other traditions rather than the other way around.