Books

Currently Reading

A Feast for Crows by George RR Martin (Song of Ice and Fire series, Book 4)


Done Reading 2012


Mockingjay (Book 3) by Suzanne Collins

I could not have been more wrong when I had thought that the books were the usual YA fare of love triangles in weird settings.  The romance took the last seat on the bus in Book 1, got a bit to the front in Book 2, and then, for me, almost left the bus in Book 3.  The trilogy is so not about romance at all, but it's there.  It's crazy, brave, and thoughtful.  It shows the author's belief that romance or the idea of it is not the sole driving force of young adults.  There's caring for your family, survival, and sacrifice depite all odds -- odds like war and madness. Collins respected kids enough to know they must be shown these things. 

Although it took only two days for me to go through all three books becuase they were riveting, it took me quite some time to write about them. I think it's because the disturbing issues the book presented are very relevant and distressing. And Mockingjay is the most disturbing of them all.

Mockingjay comes out throwing the darkest issues to light.  As the Capitol's thirst for dominance doesn't end in the bloodshed of children, it seeks to make victims of the victors as well. We learn of the reasons behind Haymitch's inebriation, hear of the prostitution of Finnick, and discover the tortures done on Peeta and Johanna.  The rebels also have their own drunken lust for power where the fear that one tyrant will just be replaced by another becomes a reality.

As I was reading through them, I couldn't help but guess if the writer would see the story to a logical but horrifying end. And she did. Collins plunged the lead characters into madness head on. And Katniss, poor Katniss, becomes the tribute of all of Panem. She becomes the face of the revolution and comes out scarred (if not damaged) for life when the sister she sacrificed everything for dies a gruesome, violent, senseless death. Because, truly, war takes its toll on the youth. What remains is the faint glimmer of hope for our hero in the torch that Peeta carries for her. The guy simply loves Katniss and comes out of his own madness to reach out to her. I was a sobbing wreck after this.

But there is hope as the story culminates in the new generation of Panem -- not a shining ray of light kind of hope, more like a muted fragile glow of a very early dawn. It is enough to move on but not enough to completely heal. I'm still a bit distraught with what happened to Katniss.

The whole series is a powerful read.  It is something I would recommend to kids, but somebody will have to be there when children reach the last pages, and ask "Why did it have to end that way?"

Catching Fire (Book 2) by Suzanne Collins

Just when Katniss thinks the horror of being in The 74th Hunger Games is over, she gets thrown in yet another Game: the 75th Hunger Games or the Quarter Quell.  In this special edition of the Games, she is pitted against other victors.  This sucks because victors are supposed to get immunity for life.  We learn something of how they won their own games: some by sheer brutality, others through ingenuity, and by out-starving the other tributes. Many of the victors are young but some are old like senior-citizen-old. So how does Katniss find it in her to kill, let's say, Mags, an 80-year-old victor from District 4? If Book 1 has kids killing kids, Book 2 has kids killing anyone.

Outside the Games, the sequel shows the effect that Katniss's courage has on all the districts. People are standing up for what they believe in which of course the totalitarian government hates.  Katniss is also turned into the unwitting symbol of the riots -- everyone knows it but her. When she's flung back into the Games, she discovers hidden and surprising allies as well as powerful enemies. Amidst the many character standouts here, Cinna's actions are the most inspiring because he makes revolutionary art come alive. Kudos to the author for taking stylists to a whole new level of relevance and depth.

Catching Fire slams the brutality of entertainment squarely in the realm of politics and ideology. The Games have been used by the Capitol for decades to strong-arm the districts into submission. But because of Katniss, this propaganda device is being turned on its head to be used against the government instead.  On live TV, people see how the victors succeed in not becoming a piece in the Games.

The Hunger Games (Book 1) by Suzanne Collins

Book 1 (The Hunger Games) shows us Panem, a post-apocalyptic North America and the central characters. Every year the ruthless totalitarian government picks a girl and a boy, ala-The Lottery, to fight to the death in a televised extreme reality survival game called The Hunger Games. When despite the odds being in their favor, Katniss Everdeen's 12-year-old sister gets picked, she pushes through the crowd and volunteers to take her place. This is the first time District 12 ever had a tribute prompting the entire district population to put three fingers of their right hand to their lips and stretch it out to her as their most respectful funeral salute (equivalent to a 21-gun salute). For me, "I volunteer as tribute!" is right up there with "Not my daughter you bitch!" as one of the most unforgettable lines in contemporary YA literature.

Katniss is joined by a very scared Peeta, who even as a young boy already held a soft spot for her. To him, Katniss is the girl who when she sings, birds stop to listen. To Katniss, Peeta is the boy with the bread. Once, when she was on the brink of starvation, he gave her bread. That became a symbol of hope for her that her family would be able to survive. Speaking of symbols, she also carries with her to the games a mockingjay pin which for the districts mean freedom and survival. With the help of her stylist and Peeta's confession of his love for her on national TV, she quickly becomes a star even before the games began. Her mockingjay pin, her survival instincts, the brokenness she showed when little Rue died, and as the game ends, her unwillingness to kill Peeta and going for a move that wrenches control out of the gamemakers' hands are on display for all of Panem to see.

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua

No doubt this is a controversial book that would anger a lot of parents who treat their kids as friends.  As I leafed through the pages, I swear I could hear dozens of Korean moms' sentiments echoed in them.  Like the author, they believe that it's a mother's job to be strong (super strong) for their children, that a kid's success almost solely depends (99%) on whether the mom does her job right, that it's ok for the children to hate them now because they would appreciate what has been done for them later, and that the Western style (i.e. American) of raising a child is almost a joke (no kidding).  I know this because I've heard them repeat it like a mantra in the 14 or so years I've been teaching their kids.  Their sentiments of course varies in degrees but the heart of it is the same: the Tiger Mother is in a constant battle to rear their cubs to be the fiercest, strongest, and most cunning Asian tigers on the planet. If you're Asian, you know in the pit of your stomach you'll beat a regular white kid anytime at Math, anytime. It's Asian domination everybody! Hurrah for the Jeremy Lin's of the world!
BUT, as much as the book is filled with bravado so is it lined with doubt as if the author is seeking for affirmation of her methods (5 hours of non-stop violin practice while on holiday, anyone?) or for justification of her brutality (calling her daughter "garbage").  I've seen many parents (Filipinos included) cringe with regret over hitting their kid too much (a kid I know couldn't walk right a few days) or know that the punishments they've meted out were done in anger (grabbing a daughter by the hair and whirling her til her nose bled).
It's a tough tough world for parents. And every decision you make might be the decision your kid will remember you for the rest of her life.  It seems like an oversimplification of things but from what I've observed in parents, it's those actions that are done in love (a light pat on the shoulder or a heavy smack on the bottom) that have the best chances of getting the results they want or maybe even later appreciated and fondly remembered by their children.

Done reading 2011

A Storm of Swords by George RR Martin (Song of Ice and Fire series, Book 3)

A Clash of Kings by George RR Martin (Song of Ice and Fire series, Book 2)

A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin (Song of Ice and Fire series, Book 1)

I've been meaning to read this for years!  I just got so hook up in the Wheel of Time that I was blind to other epics.  Good thing HBO picked this up or it would have taken me til 2014 to start my adventure in Westeros.

The Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan (Wheel of Time series, Book 8)

I got to read through 1-11 before Brandon Sanderson the last one, Book 12.  Because I literally grew up reading this series, I can't put it down.