Divergent and Insurgent

Easily my favorite book of the year and it made it on my list of favorite books. Divergent by Veronica Roth is a dystopian, futuristic novel that is similar in nature to (and better than) The Hunger Games. There is more political depth in Divergent than in The Hunger Games, which I appreciate. It gives me more to think about as I read.

I got this book from the library, read it over 2 days, and had to order the 2nd in the trilogy from Amazon.com because I'm not patient enough to wait to come up in the queue at the library for Insurgent. The 3rd book is not out yet (have to wait for Oct 2013. Oh dear.), so I'll have to be patient for that one at least.

Next in the trilogy is Insurgent.

Just when I thought the story line of Divergent can't get better, it does. Insurgent is better than the first book in so many ways. Revolution is beginning, couples in love get in fights that may break them up, prominent characters from the first book die, and government conspiracies are coming out. Roth sets up her last book in the trilogy, which is unnamed, very well.

What I love about the heroine in these books is that she's real. Unlike Katniss in The Hunger Games, she doesn't always know what to do. She has moments of pure immobility which would have killed her, were it not for another who saves her. She's a real person who is struggling to keep up with the image of bad ass. I like that about her. Katniss was always a bad ass. Tris needs to learn how to be and it makes her likable.

If you enjoyed The Hunger Games, read these. Promise you will love it. There's also a movie in the making, which will be FANTASTIC.

Bloom

My background is psychology and child/family studies. So, I love books about how families relate to one another, especially in the midst of a diagnosis such as Down Syndrome. Kelle Hampton's book Bloom is an amazing insight into the mind and actions of a family who gets a surprising diagnosis when her little girl was born. Down Syndrome. She tells her story beautifully. She is open, real, and honest as she writes about her daughter's first several months of life and how their family adjusts to having a child with Down Syndrome.

If you enjoy reading memoirs about families, this is a good one.

Love Anthony

I have a favorite author - Lisa Genova. She's newish to the fiction novel scene; she just released her third book, Love Anthony. What I love about her is that she's actually a scientist. She has a lot of letters behind her name, which makes her very qualified to write about the subjects she writes about: Early Onset Alzheimer's, Left Neglect, and now Autism.

Love Anthony is about a mother with a child with Autism. And another mother who's husband is having an affair. And how their lives intersect. I loved it up until the end. It then became a little too spiritual hokey. I won't go into details because I don't want to spoil it for others. I'll just say this: being a Christian changes the way I read things. If I don't believe in something, it's hard to love the book because it's lost some authenticity for me.

That being said: I recommend the book. Lisa Genova is a fantastic writer. If you've never read any of her novels, find Left Neglected or Still Alice and read one both. And Love Anthony was just as well written. The way she gets into the head of a child with Autism is astonishing. It gives the child a voice and whether it's accurate or not, it touches your heart.

All-in-all, I enjoyed it enough. I love how Genova intertwines the lives of the women together. And most of all, I love the redemption throughout it.