50 Book Challenge 2011 [FAILED]

Me again!

As promised, this is a round up of the final six books that I read in 2011. Nothing to get massively excited about, except perhaps The Hunger Games which sees the film release later this year. As I've said before, I read the first two books in the trilogy and found them them to be somewhat of a let down, especially Catching Fire (the second one) which was just -painful- in places. But go watch the trailer! It looks like they've taken all the good parts, mainly the idea, and I'm dead serious when I say I'm looking forward to it.

A Kestrel for a Knave

Kes, 1969

I also read A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines, a hard hitting British classic that I think everyone should read. It's what the film KES is based on and I'm well aware that the film is far more popular than than the book (and another essential for anyone wanting to brush up on their British films). The dialogue in the book is written in Yorkshire dialect which means at some times, I had no idea what was being said but that doesn't detract from how emotionally powerful this little book is.

The final book that I read last year was We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. I don't think there's much else I can really say about this book considering the film came out at the end of last year amid much media hype. The book is heavy in the most literal, metaphorical and physical sense and I loved it. The film did a brilliant job of translating Shriver's sinister tale to the silver screen. Read/watch it.

The Book List 2011

#9 - 14

9. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins ****/*

10. Catching Fire [The Hunger Games Trilogy] by Suzanne Collins ***/**

11. Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin ****/*

12. A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines ****/*

13. One Day by David Nicholls ****/*

14. We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver ****/*