Book Reviews for April

Ok, so one of the greatest things of all time about being out of school is that I actually have the chance to read!  I/We read four books during the month of April; just our opinion. And here they are...

First:  Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins  3.5 out of 5 Stars

Pros: The start of the rebellion is exciting and keeps your interest.  There is also a pretty cool twist about the games for this book.  You get to meet some new characters that you soon love. 

Cons: It felt to much like the first book to me.  Even though there were new characters and new gruesome ways to die, it still just felt like a repeat of the first book to me.  (Greg disagrees. lol)

Second Opinion (Greg):     4.5 out of 5 Stars

This book accelerates the excitement from the first book.  In the beginning there seems to be an abundant amount of build-up and character development while the anticpated event of the arena seems to be short in comparison with the first book.  However, keeping in perspective that this is a trilogy, and not expecting a fully satisfying product out of this one simple book, I believe it is excellent and leaves you begging for the third book. 

Second:  Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins   4.5 out of 5 Stars  

~SPOILER ALERT~
Pros: I loved the fact that this did not turn into a love story.  Throughout the series you can tell that there is a struggle for Katniss to choose between a familiar friend or someone who she literally went through hell with.  I was also very sad that Prim died, but if that wouldn't have happened, then no-one would have known about President Coin bombing her own people. 

Cons: The first half of the book felt like it was dragging on, and the last half zipped by. 

Second Opinion (Greg):      3 out of 5 Stars

The major element, that I feel draws this book away from its predecessors, is it's shift from the protagonist we've known as a young girl full of fighting spirit, trying to survive in an arena, into a politically philisophical conundrum that I feel the author wants us to ponder over.  In a nonfiction sense, I feel this book exceeds expectations in delivering a sober and realistic perspective on wars and contentions among people, and eliminates the usual element from fiction that is the good guy vs the bad guy scenerio. My final judgement is that this book fails as an enthralling piece of fiction unlike its predecessors, but succeeds as a carefully crafted piece of literary art to get the reader thinking about today.  I read for enjoyment, not for other people's opinions.



Third:  The G.I. Diet by Rick Gallop   4.5 out of 5 Stars

Pros: Informative, to the point, and at the end of each chapter there was a little summary box.  I love those!  I also like that fact that the diet is as simple as Green, Yellow, Red.

Cons: Some of the foods that I had read in other sources were different in this book...??


Fourth:  The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart   1.5 out of 5 Stars 

Pros: The character has a vast collection of many different kinds of rain.  I thought this was a very cool idea.  I also liked the way they described his wife's job as a Lost and Found Specialist. 

Cons: Overall, this was a huge let-down.  The back of the book talked about how funny this book was but I found it incredibly depressing.  It is about a beefeater who works/lives at the tower of London with his wife.  The husband and wife no longer like each other and have been having problems since the death of their only son. In short...it sucked.