what I thought about "the hunger games"

Well, gentle readers, I have finished the Hunger Games trilogy and loved it as much as everyone said I would.  It's a pretty gripping story, and far superior to the Twilight books, but of course you knew that.  One of my problems with "Twilight" was that there was no reason why what's-her-name . . . Bella, that's it, anyway, she was such a paste wax character, how could she have inspired passion in even one person, let alone two, even if at least one of them was a possessive misogynist?  She was a mewling, simpering ninny who had no depth or complexity or interests or hobbies of any kind, basically no identifying characteristics whatsoever.  Is that what attracted Edward to her, that she was essentially a blow-up doll onto whom he could project his fantasies?

But we're not here to discuss "Twilight."

I love Katniss because she is dynamic and complex and flawed and doesn't always understand what she wants or what her motivations are.  She makes some difficult decisions and has to live with the consequences, in a very believable way.  She is a real person, and so are the other characters in the story. I love the little hints of the depths to be plumbed in so many of the people in the world of Panem.  Plus the treatment of the corrosive effects of power, the blurred lines between good and evil and war and entertainment, the lasting effects of hardship and loss, the numbing influence of comfort . . . good stuff, Brother Maynard.  Highly recommend.

what I thought about "white corridor" and "tears of the giraffe"

Recently I read "White Corridor" by Christopher Fowler and "Tears of the Giraffe" by Alexander McCall Smith.  Recommend both.

what I thought about "because I said so"

This book is fun and fast and interesting.  Grant and Emmett are reading it now, and they keep re-reading passages of it to me.  Ken Jennings is that fellow who won a whole bunch of money on Jeopardy, and perhaps surprisingly, he not only knows stuff but also knows how to present it in a way that doesn't make you want to staple his mouth shut.  The book's aim is to debunk or verify a bunch of the collected bits of folk wisdom that we tell each other.  Recommend.