Never being much of a fan of ‘Young Adult’ books, I was sceptical about whether I would appreciate this one, only basing my decision to read it on its positive reviews. That decision itself has taught me not to overlook some of the genres I wouldn’t normally consider reading.  To my surprise ‘The Hunger Games’ is one of the few books I became absorbed in very quickly. It became one of those clingy books you tend carry about with you throughout the day, and try to read whilst balancing other daily tasks. Not great for my tasks, but a good thing for Suzanne Collins’ book!  The premise of the story is the very first aspect which drew me in. Set in a dystopian future world, America has somehow degenerated into ‘post-collapse,’ where the country appears to be segregated into districts, and each of these are controlled by ‘The Capitol.’ A faceless bunch of powerful overlords that seem hell bent in keeping all the districts in check.  Each year ‘The Capitol’ hold an event called ‘The Reaping;’ where they process a random selection of teenagers from each district (wealthier and poor) in a lottery-style televised event. These children must then pack up their belongings (if ...

'The Power', is a book which offers complete and utter personal transformation through very small and simple concepts such as love, gratitute and self-belief. Love being an equivocal term stated much more often than any other word in the entire book. Love everyone, everything and anything is pretty much drummed and compounded into the reader's psyche so repetitively throughout this book that one wonders why we aren't walking around kissing each other in the street! Not that my cynicism here is purposely aimed to damage the credibility of 'The Power,' but I simply feel that this book offers no concrete 'answers,' to life's complex questions, but acts more as a positive healing guide.  This type of book will no doubt bring comfort to those who are plagued with self-doubt or negativity. Rhonda writes beautifully, if a little repetitively in my opinion, and her ratings are testimonial to the fact that her words 'do' and 'have' provided comfort to those who view life as one big burden. I simply find it hard to fathom how loving everything is the answer to all the world's ills as well as those inflicted upon us. The basic concept within this book is one of the universal truth of cause and effect. What you give is what you get! Give out love, you receive love. ...

The Wind is My Mother: The Life and Teachings of a Native American Shaman The cover and premise of this book grabbed me straight away. ‘The Wind is My Mother’ is not a new publication by any means (1998) but does that matter?  It’s a good book and sometimes the truly important and meaningful ones are hard to come by.  Bear Heart is a Muskogee Creek Indian and Medicine Man, willing to share wisdom and help others to embrace life through his teachings and the ways of the Shaman.  Even though he descends from the ‘Bear’ Clan, his name Bear Heart was earned through his courage in confronting a bear, and ‘talking’ the animal out of attacking him. The Wind element comes from his mother descending from the ‘Wind’ Clan.  Bear Heart’s book is a gentle and peaceful look at his upbringing and humanity as a whole, and is offered to provide inspiration and hope to others through his wisdom.  Knowing literally nothing about Native Americans, this book opened up a few new paths of knowledge and enlightened me to some of their powerful teachings and cultural beliefs. I have to admit that I have never been particularly interested in this cultural society, so I'm glad I ...

Dark Matter by Michelle Paver: What could be more frightening than freezing desolation, isolation and artic darkness? The uneasy sense that you're not alone maybe? Dark Matter is the perfect terrifying read for those who, well, love to be terrified! I mean, truly. The story is set in the 1930's and Londoner jack Miller is excited by the opportunity to be a wireless operator in the Norwegian Artic. Along with a group of others they arrive in an uninhabited bay intent on beginning a year long expedition. Things start to get more than mildly uncomfortable and creepy when Jack's companions begin to leave the camp and he remains alone. He is then faced with the stark choice. Stay or go, for soon the sun will disappear for months. Jack stays, and we are then plunged with him into a remote landscape, utter isolation and continuous winter days of complete artic darkness. Now the latter idea alone squirts the bejeebies up my spine, but when Jack begins to sense he isn't so alone after the last of  his companions are gone, unease and fear creep in! To be perfectly honest, Dark Matter is a skillful piece of writing, a ghost story that actually delivers results. What goes on in the back of your mind as you read creates a ...

"Under the Dome" by Stephen King was published in November 09. This book left me deeply confused. It wasn't the plot which was simple enough, but my feelings on the book itself that led to confusion. I see so much wrong with the book but yet, when I was reading it I thoroughly enjoyed it. The premise of the plot is pretty simple, an invisible force field has surrounded the town of Chester's Mill. Nobody within Chester's Mill knows who or what was responsible for the placing of the dome. As you can imagine this creates panic amongst the inhabitants of Chester's Mill, and indeed the people of the American government. Themes The novel itself appears to have two main themes: the first is environmental, what are the effects of all the pollution a town produces when it is confined to the town itself. The other theme is what effect does the dome have on the psyche of the townspeople. Pacing Despite being a long book, (877 pages of small print in the edition I purchased,) the novel is paced very well and I read it relatively quickly. There's always something interesting happening at the end of each chapter and you genuinely want to know what happens next. It ...

The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet Transform Your Life in 30 Days! I would be heavily sceptical of any book that is marketed with a slogan that promises to ‘Transform your life in 30 days.’    Firstly, let’s face it, every single one of us has a completely different life, so transforming billions of people’s lives in 30 days is (at least in my view) quite an improbable assumption. Plus, when was a human diet, not human?  Yet fear not, the Paleo diet looks like the next big marketing gambit set to take over the weight-loss stratosphere.  But let me digress, this book seems to have acquired some fairly good reviews. It promises to re-instate good eating habits that have gone berserk over the last couple of decades. Fast foods being predominantly the number one choice of cuisine, as are high fat and sugar-rich snacks. Anything that clears our arteries can only be a good thing, right? Checking out the overview, however, this diet is NOT A DIET, yet one reviewer states “I drank ZERO alcohol, ate no sugar, ate no simple carbohydrates (bread, gluten free bread, etc.). I did eat as much meat as I wanted, loads of veggies, lots of fruit and mucho nuts (since I am ...

The attractive cover of this book gave me a little insight into the theme of the story which is set in the Indonesian Rainforest (Nanga Palin). A group of ecologists gather together in the exotic surroundings of the rainforest to work on an eco-tourism project, as well as offering concerted attempts to save the plunging loggers and business-tycoons from destroying one of the earth’s most beautiful environments. Suffice to say, if you are expecting a book which concentrates on the conservation of the equatorial rainforest, or its ecological and environmental issues, then this book is not it! A Taste for Green Tangerines is quite dynamically presented as a fictional tale of 'romping in the rainforest,' and the angst-ridden temperaments that come to play between the project’s participants, and jungle inhabitants. What I found very exciting, above all else, about this book, was the beautiful description. It paints a complete picture yet is not overly verbose as some authors tend to be. Barbara writes simplistically. Reading this book is effortless, and somehow on the turn of each page, it managed to make me feel as though I were in the centre of the Amazon watching the interaction between the villagers, conservationists and namely Bethany and Wolf, (who quite early show an antagonistic attraction to each other,) which ...

Mockingjay - (Third book in 'The Hunger Game' series by Suzanne Collins) When I heard that the third installment of Suzanne Collin’s Hunger Games trilogy had hit the shelves, I ran to my local bookshop and grabbed a copy so fresh it was still on the shelving cart. Then I spent the rest of the afternoon rejoining Our Heroine, Katniss, as she faced her final battle against the dreaded Capitol on behalf of the rebellious Districts. The battles in this book are not all super weapon shootouts against heavily armed soldiers; Katniss also faces manipulation by her “friends” among the rebels. Chief among these internal enemies is the Machiavellian and trustworthy Alma Coin, who has her eye on personally filling the power vacuum left behind once the rebellion is over. Her ruthlessly pragmatic approach to the war dogs Katniss all the way through her final adventure. For those unfamiliar with Collins’ dystopian world of The Hunger Games, think Stephen King’s The Long Walk meets Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery. Contestants are chosen from the various regions of the country and forced to fight to the death in a televised extravaganza complete with celebrity interviews, sponsorships, and theme costumes for each “tribute”. In Mockingjay, we follow ...