Now Reading

Well, a week back at work and I fell off the blog wagon. I just don't seem to be able to do both - focus on surviving work and have the creative energy needed to blog. Ah well. The Christmas holiday is nigh.

I did, however, find time to read a new book this weekend. Yep, I started it Friday night and finished it Saturday afternoon. Because it was so good. Late Saturday night (well, 9:30 p.m, which is late for us teachers) I texted my neighbor that she had to read it, too, and then left my Kindle out on the back porch so she could sneak over and pick it up.

So, if you're looking for a good book to read, you liked The Hunger Games and need your next fix, you're into dystopian YA, you like reading strong female protagonists, or any of the above combination, may I introduce you to...

Divergent

In this dystopian setting, every 16-year-old has to choose a faction of society to join, each with its own values and rules. One faction values honesty, one knowledge, one courage, and so on. Tris first has to choose whether to stay with her family in the faction where she was raised, or cut ties with everything she knows to follow her heart.

And of course, what follows is danger, bravery, heartbreak, angst, a little bit of unrequited love, and a cliffhanger that will send you straight to book two, Insurgent. (Disclaimer: I suck at book reviews, so just go read what Amazon has to say!)

One of the reasons I like these books is that they have more depth than some of the crap that has topped the best seller list lately (I'm looking at you, Fifty Shades and Twilight - both of which I've read, but only under duress and with mounting disgust (ha! see what I did there?)). Much like The Hunger Games, there's more going on in these stories. Bigger themes. Which trait (honesty, knowledge, selflessness, etc) is more valuable to society? How do the values our parents instill in us affect our choices? Plus it has a strong female character who has to make choices for herself and deal with the consequences (and not the consequences of which hottie to end up with or whether to let her boyfriend whip her in the name of true love - seriously, how does this page-turning crap become so popular?) And I think I'm on a dystopian kick. It's fascinating to imagine a familiar society but with vastly different rules.

But you don't have to take my word for it! (Although if you do pick them up, let me know what you think! And if you have any other recommendations of this genre, send them my way.)