The Hunger Games is the first of book in a science fiction trilogy set in the future.

In the books, America has been divided into thirteen districts and a capitol. District Thirteen, having previously rebelled, has been destroyed before the start of the books. The heroine of the books, Katniss Everdeen, is a rebellious young teenager who lives with her mother and sister in the poor district twelve. Since she was twelve, Katniss has lived under the threat of being picked for the hunger games. The hunger games, which are violent battles that occur every year, are held in the capitol and two tributes from each district are picked to fight in them. When Katniss’ sister Prim is picked as a tribute, Katniss is dragged into a battle that goes farther then the arena in which they are held.

The book The Hunger Games, has been one of my favorite books for a long time. Going back and re-reading it, I have always greatly enjoyed the contrasts between the characters. There’s the poor, strong people of District Twelve versus the sheltered and spoiled citizens of the Capitol.

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The Westing Game is a mystery book written by Ellen Raskin. Six families have just been invited to live, and some to work, in Sunset Towers. They included a doctor, a dressmaker, an inventor, a secretary, and one was a mistake. One of the apartments had been rented to the wrong person. Though they don’t know it, they have all been invited for a special purpose. When the millionaire Sam Westing dies, all of them are invited to the reading of his will as beneficiaries. When they arrive, instead of being given money or the estate, they are all divided up into pairs and given clues. They have been given a chance to win the estate by playing the westing game.

The book is one of my favorite mysteries, and with a cliffhanger at the end of every page it is an extremely exciting book. Raskin does a great job creating family dynamics and an interesting group of characters. It is a book full of twists when you least expect them and friendships between the most unlikely people. The Westing Game is a great book for anyone.

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I have been reading a lot of classic books this week. All of the books I read were amazing. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, is one of my favorite books. I had already read it a while ago, but it was such a good book I wanted to read it again. I also read Sense and Sensibility for the first time. Sense and sensibility is a really good book, but it is also an amazing movie. I saw the version with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet as Elinor and Marianne, and really loved it.

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Someone had recently recommended a series by Charlaine Harris, called The Southern Vampire Mysteries. They had really enjoyed it, so I started the first book Dead Until Dark. Three days, and a some trouble figuring out which book went next, later I have read six and am working on the seventh book All Together Dead. I will post my verdict of the entire series once I have finished, but so far they have all been great.

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