Sometimes a Good Notion

Summer Reading … So Far

Mockingjay By Suzanne Collins –   I decided to start the summer off light.  I had been trying to only read the books in this series once a year,  but Catching Fire proved to be far too addictive and I was looking for spoilers the minute I read its last pages.   Mockingjay brings a close to Katniss’ revolution.  She thinks she is out of the games, but in fact she is submerged in the most dangerous Hunger Game yet.  The book is rife with political commentary and does it much less subtly than the previous two novels. Politics is  what keeps Mockingjay’s pulse beating strong.  From Katniss’ decision to become the Mockingjay all the way to the climax, the idea that  power corrupts absolutely fuels her distrust and pushes her forward.  The series comes to a satisfying close, at least in my opinion.  It’s gritty, far more violent than the movie version (a mistake which I hope is corrected), and for a more mature audience than the marketing for the books ever lets on.

6 Years By Harlan Coben – This was entertaining.  The premise: A man loves a woman. He is completely devoted to her but she marries another man.   At the wedding, she asks him to promise that he will never look for her. That he will let her be.  He does, for  six years. Then, while browsing the internet, he comes across an obituary for the man the woman married six years prior. He investigates and finds out that the man was murdered. He also finds out that the man was in fact married, but not to the woman the hero loved.  It sets the novel into action and takes the hero deep into a  dizzying web of lies and secrets.  This is very cleverly crafted and will keep you turning pages until you lose your sense of time. Perfect vacation reading.

August: Osage County by Tracy Letts – I had not read a play in years, so it took some getting used to. Once I did, I found this to be totally engrossing.  It’s about a family who gathers during a time of crisis.  But the play goes far beyond portraying the typical dysfunctions.  It reads like a moment in time where a family comes to realize that they have always been in crisis, for as long as any of the characters can remember.  There is a dinner scene that is so shockingly honest you will not be able to stop reading. Letts’ gets to the truth of these characters, very quickly and modestly.  It’s been my favorite read so far this summer.

I think a script this week and then on to something else…