The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai

This delightfully written tale includes, among other things, the Russian ‘mafia’, a road trip (including numerous dodgy budget hotels and one gin induced hangover), a bunch of lies and a very precocious ten-year-old boy.

Children’s librarian, Lucy Hull, begins to worry about one of her regular young patrons, Ian Drake, at for a number of reasons:

1. Ian’s mother suggests to Lucy that he should only read books with “the breath of God in them”,
2. Lucy inadvertently finds out Ian has been attending anti-gay classes run by an organisation called Glad Heart in a town two hours drive away, and
3. She finds Ian camped out in the library one morning when she opens up – Ian has run away, and he is taking Lucy with him!

Unsure of whether Lucy has kidnapped Ian, or whether he has kidnapped her, this story is about running away, being true to yourself and realising being a kid isn’t always easy, but is often a lot of fun!

The enjoyment in reading The Borrower was that the plot was unpredictable, I was never sure of how the book would end, but I enjoyed the trip along with Ian and Lucy immensely and was sad when it finished.

Heartfelt characters and a lot of silliness makes this story burst at the seams with loveliness… you don’t have to be a librarian to enjoy this story – just enjoy sharing the joy of reading.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games has the complete package, likeable characters and a well written, engaging plot… with the movie due out in 23 March for Australia, read it before everyone else has!

Dystopian, yet realistic, the novel is written for the youth market, but also holds plenty of appeal for adult readers as well.

Suzanne Collins makes you believe in another world, an eerily familiar world which parallels our own in many ways.

The heroine of the story is Katniss Everdeen, a sixteen-year-old girl who volunteers for The Hunger Games tournament when her twelve-year-old sister Prim is drawn in the ballot.

Katniss is a survivor, she has spent many years providing for her family after the death of her father in a mining accident. She knows how to hunt, set a snare and shoot a bow and arrow, so her odds of survival are in her favor.

Through Katniss’ eyes we see the country of Panem, its major city ‘Capitol’ and the injustice she sees in the situation she is thrust into.

In the edition I read there was a short interview with Collins which talked about her inspiration for the novel. In it she said, “...on one channel there’s a group of people competing for, I don’t know, money maybe? And on the next there’s people fighting an actual war.”

This book will make you think twice about what society sees as ‘entertaining’….

Find The Hunger Games in the Youth and Adult Fiction section of the library.
Read The Hunger Games? Continue the series with Catching Fire and Mockingjay.

Ruby Blues by Jessica Rudd

Ruby Blues is one book that you don’t want to judge by the cover!

In this second novel by Jessica Rudd, she once again lets us delve into the life of Ruby Stanhope. If you haven’t read Campaign Ruby yet, while it is not crucial to understanding the plot of Ruby Blues -- it may aid in your enjoyment!

Ruby Blues takes place two years after Campaign Ruby leaves off, Ruby is now working for the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), and it is easy to believe that Rudd has some insight into what takes place in this office, given her father’s profession.

As the book’s title suggests, Ruby is in a different place mentally and emotionally in this book, but that doesn’t make her any less loveable as a character.

Throughout the book she sails from one government gaffe to the next all the while throwing herself into her work to avoid the problems in her personal life, of which there are a few – she even gets the power cut off from her house at one stage!

This novel is well-structured and easily read, with characters that ring true. Ruby’s niece Clementine easily steals the show with her child-like seriousness: “I really, really hate green, pacifically neon green and car key green. Car keys aren’t even green so it’s a silly name.”

This is easily one of the best written books in the chick-lit genre that I have read in awhile.