February Books of the Month

Here are the books I read this month:
Mason, Zachary. The Lost Books of the Odyssey. A re-imagining (or rather many re-imaginings) of the Odyssey, all of them short. What if the Greeks had brought along, not Achilles himself, but a clay model? What if the "faithful" Penelope had remarried? What if Odysseus sat gazing at the sea on Circe's island, longing for a boat to help him escape, yet had all the materials for building a boat right in front of him?

Hillenbrand, Laura. Unbroken. Inspring story of courage during World War II. (See my review in last Thursday's post.)

Collins, Suzanne. Cathing Fire. Book 2 of the YA Hunger Games trilogy. Katmiss and Peeta must compete again in a special anniversary of the Hunger Games. By now, she has become the heroine of those who rebel against the autocratic government. Surprisingly timely. Think conflicts in the Middle East.

Leavy, Jane. The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood. If you love flawed heroes, if you love baseball, if you remember Mantle's playing days, you'll enjoy this book.

Chesterton, G.K. The Man Who was Thursday: A Nightmare. Listed as one of the best 100 books of the 20th century. A mixture of political novel, mystery, fantasy. It's a bizarre nod to Alice in Wonderland or The Wizard of Oz, with a pinch of The Book of Job thrown in. Free will, anarchy, God, nature--whatever. You'll find it here. You might invest in the Cliff Notes as well.

All the above are available from Amazon. Happy reading!