September Book List

HA! Look what I forgot to do! Oops...good thing September was a month full of re-reads, so I won't have to go into much detail here...right?!

Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood (Kindle, re-read)
The Road by Cormac McCarthy (second hand)
No Great Mischief by Alistair McLeod (second hand)
Divergent by Veronica Roth (Kindle, re-read)
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Kindle, re-read)
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (Kindle, re-read)
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collings (Kindle, re-read)

Recommended: All of my re-reads, of course. If I loved them enough the first time to read them again, well, rest assured they are pretty good. The Hunger Games Trilogy is a nice, easy read if you are in the mood. Same goes for Divergent. Both are "young adult" so they are a bit below my normal reading fare, but I still enjoy losing myself in their simple stories and somewhat aggravating characters! Teenagers!

The Newbies: I have been wanting to read The Road by Cormac McCarthy for some time now, so when my eye caught the title sitting in the Value Village racks I knew it was time. I consider Mr. McCarthy a powerhouse of a writer, and I really enjoy his view of the world (and how he describes that view). Coupled with the fact that I knew this was a post-apocalyptic tome, I was hoping for the best; and I wasn't disappointed. This novel was touching and terrible. A father & son struggle to make their way across a dead and dying landscape, with no food and little hope. The other people that have survived whatever apocalyptic event has happened - which (in McCarthy style) he never actually describes - are terrifying bands of people who would as soon eat you as help you. Yeah...it's that kind of book.

It is NOT for the faint of heart. The boy is young, and this is the only world he has ever known. But there are so many touching moments between the boy and his father - more McCarthy style, as they are never given names - and the book ends on a bitter-sweet note, with hope on the burning air.

Alistair McLeod is a Canadian (born in North Battleford of all places!) and so he writes about Canada. No Great Mischief was slow at points, but also very beautiful and moving. Two brothers are connected by tragedy, despite being very far apart in age. And they come to rely upon each other's presence in their lives as they age, seemingly more than they ever anticipated.  The descriptions of Cape Breton, and the shared stories & history of the family made the book very special.

I just finished a new sci-fi book I bought to read at the gym.....and then proceeded to read at every possible opportunity 'cause it was so damn good! I bought another book by the same author to read at the gym, but I am thinking I will make it through in record time again, and at the expense of all the other books on the go right now as well! I am blaming this latest one on BFF (again...), but really I should be thanking him. So many of the great books I read this year were at his recommendation (or his mentioning them randomly in a conversation....).

For my original "review" of Divergent and Year of the Flood and the final two books of The Hunger Games Trilogy, see this post. I review The Hunger Games in June of last year here.

later loves