The Books I Read in February

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

In post-apocalyptic America, Katniss Everdeen volunteers to participate in the annual Hunger Games so that her young sister doesn't have to when her name is drawn. America had a civil war, and the result was that the country was divided into twelve districts. A boy and girl "tribute" is drawn from each district every year, and those 24 kids must compete in the Hunger Games, a televised fight to the death that is supposed to remind the districts that they are under the control of the capitol.

It was violent, but not explicitly so. I wouldn't have a problem recommending it to most high schoolers. I enjoyed the story, but I never like it when the author clearly has a political agenda. I don't like it when people use children's and young adult literature to push their political views. I hope the sequels don't get more political. That's what I thought happened with the Ember books, and they suffered for it.

Favorite Quote: "I am not pretty. I am not beautiful. I am as radiant as the sun."

Wicked, by Sara Shepard

So much drama--I love it! It's killing me how long I have to wait for the next one. There are three books left in the Pretty Little Liars YA series, and I'm really enjoying the skillful drawing out of suspense over the entire series.

Favorite Quote: None from this one. It went back to the library at the beginning of the month, and I couldn't find a good quote on Goodreads.

Port Mortuary, by Patricia Cornwell

The umpteenth entry in the saga of medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta. In this installment, a period of Scarpetta's past is revealed for the first time, her service with the military after medical school, and the time when she was involuntarily involved in the covering up of a double murder in South Africa. It's her darkest secret, and it comes back to haunt her when she returns to the military for six months to become certified in a cutting-edge virtual autopsy technique.

Her assistant M.E., Jack Fielding, is heavily involved in the mystery plot, but even at the end, it's not totally clear what his exact role was, whether he was deliberately involved or not. It took a long, long time for anything to actually happen, but I didn't care that much because the set-up was interesting. I enjoyed the further character development, and it was nice that Scarpetta was much more human in this one. Sometimes she's a robot, or incredibly annoying and self-righteous.

Favorite Quote: None. Same reasons as above.

Ender in Exile, by Orson Scott Card

This is the sequel to Ender's Game, but it came out recently. I could tell when I read it that there were years and years between the writing of the two. It just felt different. It was a good sequel, though. I enjoyed reading about the events that were only glossed over in the last chapter of Ender's Game.

The story begins with Ender on Eros, a moon, after he has defeated the buggers, alien invaders. The war is over, and eventually Ender's sister, Valentine, talks him into going with her on the first spaceship to colonize one of the buggers' former planets. Most of the story takes place on the ship, which could potentially be boring, especially since it's mostly about the political power struggle between Ender, who will be the governor of the new colony, and the captain of the ship.

Favorite Quote: "My needs are simple and few, thought Valentine. Food. Clothing. A comfortable place to sleep. And no idiots. But of course a world with no idiots would be lonely. If she herself were even allowed there."

The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells

This was my February book club selection. I didn't like it. I was frustrated by the short length and lack of depth. I had a hard time getting into it, I think because the story is being told after the fact, to a group of friends of the Time Traveler. Very frustrating overall.

Favorite Quote: None.

Relic, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

I felt Pendergast-deprived, so I decided to start re-reading all the books with him in them (which are the only ones I have--what's the point of a Preston and Child book without Pendergast?). If you don't know me very well, or you haven't heard me mention it before, Special Agent Pendergast is my absolute favorite character in all of literature. He's an enigmatic FBI man from New Orleans who investigates crimes that have an element of the bizarre to them.

In Relic, Pendergast leaves New Orleans and goes to New York to investigate a series of strange and violent attacks in the New York Museum of Natural History. The same kind of killings had happened in New Orleans. There are a few juicy details about Pendergast in this one that I didn't remember. Margo Green also features in this one, an anthropology graduate student that I like a lot better than some later female characters.

Favorite Quote: " 'Excellent.' D'Agosta heard a low, melliflous voice behind him." (It's Pendergast's first appearance, and it makes me bounce up and down with glee.)

All Together Dead, by Charlaine Harris

This one was good. An event that had been mentioned many times finally happened, a big ol' vampire summit in Illinois. Or Indiana? One of those I states. And it ended with a bang, literally, which was nice and exciting. Sookie is even more tied to Eric now, which is fine with me because Bill is about as interesting as wet cardboard.

Favorite Quote: "This sounded like a promising set of problems for a soap opera season."

The Last Days of Krypton, Kevin J. Anderson

Wow. Best book I read this month. One of the books I starred, and I only star the four or five-star ones.

Kevin J. Anderson took all the disparate and conflicting stories about Superman's home planet and its demise and tied them all together in a compelling novel. It starts with the meeting of Superman's parents for the first time and ends with them sending their infant son to Earth. It even explains weird things from the comic books, like how two Kryptonian cities survived the destruction of the planet.

Favorite Quote: None, sadly. I had to get it back to the library too soon.

Side Jobs, by Jim Butcher

A collection of short stories taking place in between the novels of the Dresden Files. Harry Dresden is the only wizard listed in the Chicago phonebook. I enjoyed these stories, getting to know a little more about some of the more minor characters, and having some gaps filled in between novels. I especially enjoyed the last one, which takes place immediately following the events of the most recent novel.

Favorite Quote: "I felt like I had just double-tapped Santa."

Palo Alto, by James Franco

Yes, that James Franco. This is a collection of short stories taking place in his hometown about various, loosely connected adolescents. I really like his style, and if he writes anything else, I'd read it. But there was way too much sex. I'd be embarrassed to have it on my bookshelf.

Favorite Quote: None. It had some really good lines, but I'm too lazy to look any of them up.