The Hunger Games, written by Suzanne Collins, is a story set in the future, in a place called Panem, which was once Northern America. In this futurist world of Panem, the Capitol, their government has control of all of the surrounding districts, and it is a world of starvation and poverty, where few are rich and power hungry. They delight in a cruel annual event known as the “Hunger Games” where children from each district are pitted against each other in a fight to the death. This is televised and the citizens are forced to watch their loved ones die at each other’s hands. It’s a way for the Capitol to show the power they have over the districts, and to remind them of what will happen if there is an uprising.

The story’s heroine is Katniss, who is a strong and powerful protagonist. Her strong will and survival skills and the lengths she will go for the people she love are incredible.  I love a story where the leading lady is strong and doesn’t turn into a puddle at the slightly provocation. But like any main character, there will be moments where the reader gets frustrated with her. For me it is with her inability to decide on her feelings for the one she loves. That continues in book 2, but I won’t spoil it for you. I will just say that Collins has a way of bringing the intenseness of the games, the cruelty of the Capitol, the struggle of Katniss, and the love of Peeta all into such sharp reality that I found myself dreaming about the book at night! If you haven’t already read the book do it now. The movie adaptation will be in theaters sometime in March of 2012. I will probably be one of the first in line.

I also love the realness mixed in with the mythology of the character. Here’s Sookie, who is a telepath, but she still worries about money. She’d really benefit from cheapestautoinsurance.net. I love her quirkiness and funny southern quotes.

I wondered if I could get a witch to cast a truth spell on Debbie Pelt, whom I despised because she had been cruel to Alcide, insulted me grievously, burned a hole in my favorite wrap and–oh–tried to kill me by proxy. Also, she had stupid hair.

I’m working on All Together Dead and I can’t wait to read Death in the Family. If you haven’t picked up these books, they are a great summer read. You’ll finish them before the end of August!

In the stillness of a golden September afternoon, deep in the wilderness of the Rockies, a solitary craftsman, Grady Adams, and his magnificent Irish wolfhound Merlin step from shadow into light…and into an encounter with enchantment. That night, through the trees, under the moon, a pair of singular animals will watch Grady’s isolated home, waiting to make their approach.

A few miles away, Camillia Rivers, a local veterinarian, begins to unravel the threads of a puzzle that will bring all the forces of a government in peril to her door.

At a nearby farm, long-estranged identical twins come together to begin a descent into darkness… In Las Vegas, a specialist in chaos theory probes the boundaries of the unknowable… On a Seattle golf course, two men make matter-of-fact arrangements for murder… Along a highway by the sea, a vagrant scarred by the past begins a trek toward his destiny…

In a novel that is at once wholly of our time and timeless, fearless and funny, Dean Koontz takes readers into the moment between one turn of the world and the next, across the border between knowing and mystery. It is a journey that will leave all who take it BREATHLESS.

I liked the storyline of the two animals, especially the names-Puzzle and Riddle. Through Koontz’s descriptions I could almost picture the exotic new species. That’s where my like for the book ended.

The storyline I especially hated was the story of the twins. I didn’t see how it connected to the other stories except as a way to depict evil. It was never fully explained. I just know the guy was crazy as hell, tripping out like he was experiencing the side effects of diet pills. Also, the ending just didn’t have that grand finale that I’m used to reading with Dean. There was no real climax. I definitely wouldn’t put this book in the same category as my beloved Odd Thomas series. I’d rate this one a B-. If you’ve read it and hated it, don’t give up on Koontz. He’s an amazing writer but this time he just missed his mark.

Beautiful, happily married and the owner of a successful interior design business, Casey Marshall couldn’t be more content with her life. Until a car slams into her at almost fifty miles an hour, breaking nearly every bone in her body, and plunging her into a coma. Lying in her hospital bed, Casey realizes that although she is unable to see or communicate, she can hear everything. She quickly discovers that her friends aren’t necessarily the people she thought them to be – and that her accident might not have been an accident at all. As she struggles to break free from her living death, she begins to wonder if what lies ahead could be even worse.

I was interested in Still Life because the idea of comas fascinates me. We don’t really know exactly what someone in a coma goes through. She never suspects her husband because he never took out an expensive life insurance policy for her. He pretended he didn’t know about her rich father, and he even suggested she sign a prenup. Turns out he was a lying turd. This book’s dialogue was weak at best. I liked it at first, but then it just dragged on. Casey kept wondering where she was for about half of the book. I get it, she’s confused, but COME ON. And her lame sister Drew just pissed me off throughout the entire book. I only finished this book because I wanted to know what would happen at the end. I wasn’t surprised in the least, and I don’t recommend this book at all. It gets 1 star because the premise is exciting. Bleck.