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The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins | 2014 | Young Adult (YA)
9
8.5 (277 Ratings)
Book Rating
The topic may not be original if we go all the way back through the history of YA books, but Suzanne Collins did a wonderful job of painting a universe in bleak and horrifying tones.

District 12 in Panem is the poorest of the poor, surviving on scraps, thin broths and scavenged wildlife while managing to mine coal for their government to give to richer districts.


There is another thing mined in District 12 (and the rest of Panem), one boy and one girl to participate in a grueling to-the-death deathmatch.


Our heroine, Katniss faces more challenges than she can fire a bow at as well as choices of whom to trust, whom to kill, and how to retain her soul.


I HIGHLY recommend this title, and the other two books in the series!
  
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David McK (3207 KP) rated Divergent in Books

Jan 28, 2019  
Divergent
Divergent
Veronica Roth | 2012 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
6
8.1 (140 Ratings)
Book Rating
"Dear Katniss Everdeen,

I desperately want to be like you ..."

So might read the opening words of my (imaginary) letter written by the protaganist of this series to the protaganist of the (more famous) Hunger Games series, as there are (more than) a few similarities in common: both novels are set in a dystopian future, both feature a female protaganist, both have some PG-rated romance thrown in, and both deal with themes of family.

Actually, on second thoughts: maybe I'm being a bit unfair on Tris Prior - if this novel had come along first (instead of [b:The Hunger Games|2767052|The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)|Suzanne Collins|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358275334s/2767052.jpg|2792775]), my imaginary letter may well have started with:

"Dear Tris Prior

I desperately want to be like you ..."

;-)
  
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Aurora recommended track Suzanne by Leonard Cohen in Back in the Motherland by Leonard Cohen in Music (curated)

 
Back in the Motherland by Leonard Cohen
Back in the Motherland by Leonard Cohen
2011 | Rock
1.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Favorite

Suzanne by Leonard Cohen

(0 Ratings)

Track

"May he rest in peace, the lovely little angel. I love this song. Musically we only heard Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Enya when I was a child, there was nothing else as we didn’t have a radio. I love Enya as well, especially the way she just stays the same and doesn’t change her sound. She knows what she’s here to do and she does it. ""This was one of the songs that I really loved when I was unable to understand what he was saying, because I didn’t know English then, or at least I didn’t know these lyrics yet, because they were so complicated. I ended up learning my English mainly from online gaming or computer games like World Of Warcraft. “’Suzanne’ is my childhood, safety, my mother, discovering music and English and falling in love with a song again and again the more that I grow. It’s like a forever growing song, because it grows with you while you grow.”"

Source
  
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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated The Girls in Books

Feb 8, 2018  
The Girls
The Girls
Emma Cline | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry
6
6.1 (17 Ratings)
Book Rating
Evie is a listless teenager in California, drifting through life, when she spots a group of girls in the park one day. Evie is immediately captivated, especially by Suzanne, an older girl with long black hair. She soon becomes ensnared by the girls and drawn back to their ranch, where she meets their leader, Russell, a would-be musician who has an entire group under his thrall. While the ranch is decrepit, and its inhabitants often hungry, Evie finds it a welcome alternative to life at home with her mother, or her boring best friend friend. She also finds herself more and more enthralled with Suzanne. But as Evie gets drawn into the group, it's hard for her to see the darkness surrounding her new friends--and what it may lead to.

I tend to either read "It" books immediately, or shy away from them. I was hesitant to read this one for a while, but finally caved while on vacation. While I found it an interesting read, it didn't live up to the incredible hype that swirled around the novel. I found Evie a lackluster character--and while part of that is the point, and what allows her to be drawn into Russell and Suzanne's web, I just found myself lacking any empathy for her whatsoever. The story itself goes seemingly nowhere for a good 2/3 of the book, only picking up near the end (yet, Evie isn't really involved in the novel's major plot impetus - it's very strange).

The juxtaposition of Evie looking back on her life, telling the story of her teenage years is an interesting one, but we don't get much further development about her present life. Overall, I enjoyed Cline's writing style and pieces of the book, but was disappointed in the novel as a whole. I didn't care about the characters or much of the plot, nor did I find the story as captivating as I'd hoped, based on all the raving reviews. Still, it was a fairly quick and interesting read.
  
Mending Fences (The Deacon's Family #1)
Mending Fences (The Deacon's Family #1)
Suzanne Woods Fisher | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I am sure if you have read Suzanne Woods Fishers book or a few you may have read a book about Luke Schrock in one of her books. Then you ran into Stoney Ridge community. I know I did. It nice to see Luke and see if he make it in the world.

He is mentioned in the “The Queting” in the Bishop series. This book is mostly about Luke and him making amends. Though we meet someone new named Issy? Luke seem to want to be friends with this girl that at windmill farm.

There seems to be a story behind Issy and we get her side and Luke's. Will Luke be able to help Issy? What is really behind Issy and her looking for her mother? I can say you will be surprised to find out how David and his family and Amos Lapp stories or past are connected. There seems to be mystery to Chris and Jenny Yoder.

We follow Luke on his journey though this book. I really think this is book about redemption and learning to trust god. Will Issy and Luke get together? We see Fern and Amo's health and their lives and how they add other trouble children to stay with them.