Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

This is one of my favorite books so far this year, and I've read some pretty good ones. This novel is full of mystery and suspense and I literally could not put it down.

Dark Places is mostly narrated by Libby Day. In 1985 her mother and 2 sisters were murdered and her brother Ben was convicted of the crime. Nearly 25 years later a group of murder mystery enthusiasts convince Libby to investigate the deaths to determine if Ben was truly guilty. I say this is mostly narrated by Libby, because every other chapter is a third person flashback focusing on either Ben or Patty, Libby's mother, describing the events of the day that led up to the murders. This alternating of the narration really added to the suspense and irony of the tale, as the reader at times knows facts that Libby hasn't yet discovered.

This book was extremely well-written and way better than Flynn's first novel, Sharp Objects (which is saying a lot because I enjoyed that novel as well). This is a book I would recommend to anyone interested in a good mystery.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Ever since reading The Hunger Games I have been eager to read the next novel in this trilogy. Lucky for me, an advanced reader showed up at work last week so I didn't have to wait until September to read it! (Trust me, seeing that book in the break room totally made my day.) The only down side is that now I have even longer to wait until the third novel is published (my fingers are crossed for another advanced reader to come my way when it's time for that one though).

This book was just as good as the first, if not better. I don't want to give too much away in case you haven't read The Hunger Games yet (which I also highly recommend). But the trilogy takes place in a post-apocalyptic version of North America where the coutnry is divided into 13 districts plus a capitol. At one time in the history of the novels the districts rebelled and District 13 was destroyed. As punishment for the rebellion each year every district must choose one boy and one girl to participate in the Hunger Games, a giant battle to the death, where only one survives (think Thunder Dome only larger scale).

In Catching Fire, Katniss, the heroine and narrator of the series, must deal with the repurcussions of what happened in the Hunger Games and the impact that has on everyone she cares about. The stakes are higher in this sequel and the suspense greater. Also, the cliffhanger at the end of this novel is so much worse than the end of the first.

This series is written for older teens, but I recommend it for anyone who likes fantasy/adventure novels. You can pick up The Hunger Games now, and then you'll be ready for Catching Fire when it comes out in September!

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

I was a little unsure about this book when I first heard about it, since Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite books ever, but with all the hype surrounding the book I quickly became curious and had to read it for myself.



This book was highly amusing and entertaining. It poked fun at all the characters that you may not like, and occasionally at some of Austen's conventions, but overall it wasn't a bad book. I think Austen fans who have read Pride and Prejudice would get the most out of this book and be able to appreciate some of the humor more than readers who have never picked up Pride and Prejudice.