Book Club

My wife typically reserves random Wednesday nights for "Book Club." This is where a bunch of women shove their kids off on their exhausted husbands and go hang out with hors d'oeuvres thanks to the pretext of having read [cough] some amazing book. But I'd like to pose the question, what if I showed up to book club?

I actually read pointless books, maybe that's why I'd be disqualified. Perhaps my reading selection is not highbrow enough. Maybe I don't make good hors d'oeuvres, but what's wrong with a bag of chips and some Costco guacamole? Or could it be gender discrimination?

If I'm shunned from B.C. because of my dudeness, why don't I start up a club for men? A. because that sounds like a hair loss thing; B. we'd never do it. We used to call that sort of gathering English class (as if we read the books then either). Besides, I need to have something to blab about during basketball and my part time job as a pro-bono mover. But that doesn't always work. So what's the solution?

A book club of one. My sad blog where I tell 2 to maybe 3 people (thanks Mom) about books I've read. SO I HEREBY DECLARE THE FLETCH WORD AN "ALL-MALE" BOOK CLUB!!! And now that I've rambled on for so long, you won't want to read my reviews. But here they are:

1. The Lost Symbol - This is the latest Dan Brown novel involving everyone's favorite professor, Robert Langdon. This is one guy who should quit answering the phone as it often puts him in the middle of a conspiracy to unleash a secret SO POWERFUL it will rock humanity and put his life in peril. Sarcasm aside, I really enjoyed this book. The villain Mal'akh is both creepy and unpredictable, nearly steals the show. It was very interesting to learn a bit about Free Masonry, its symbols and ideals. Many LDS folks thought this book would be unkind to them with a Mason-Mormon plot, but the references to the church are obscure and forgettable. The puzzles were very interesting along with the explanation. I also enjoyed learning about Washington D.C. and its Masonic lore. The book focuses on Apotheosis, Greek for "to be made divine" and hence many LDS readers will find Dan Brown's ideas intriguing, like the Da Vinci Code. I'm reluctant to give much of the plot or ideas away as that's the point of reading the book. Its a page turner and I heartily recommend it.



2. THE HUNGER GAMES - Where The Running Man and modern Harry Potter/Twilight writing collide in an explosion of violence, emotion and ethical dilemmas. In the post-apocalyptic future of North America, 12 poor and starving worker Districts of people are ruled by a wealthy upper class known as The Capitol. After a failed worker's rebellion 74 years ago, District 13 was annihilated and the Capitol punishes the 12 remaining districts annually with The Hunger Games. Each year one boy and one girl over the age of 12 are selected from each of the 12 districts as "Tributes" or sacrifices to compete in a televised death match, often lasting several weeks (like a sick version of the Olympics). The lone survivor gets to return home to a life of guaranteed food in a decent home. The plot revolves around Katniss, a young girl forced to feed her family after the untimely death of her father. When her helpless 12 year old sister is chosen as a victim, she volunteers to go in her place. Little do the Gamemakers know that Katniss has been hunting illegally for years to feed her family and this is one tough girl that will not go down without a fight. I couldn't put the book down and had to finish it in two days. Its the first of a trilogy which looks to be very promising. If you start reading now, you can say you were into before the bandwagon fans pile on.

I hope our first session of book club was enjoyable, despite the lack of chips and guacamole. Until next time, I'll bring the pigs in a blanket.