"The Hotel New Hampshire" by John Irving

John Irving is easily my favorite author right now. This is the second book I am reading by Irving and I have been immensely satisfied by both of them. "A Prayer for Owen Meany" was the first, and that became one of my favorite books of all time.

"The Hotel New Hampshire" follows the Berry family as they run several hotels. Their first hotel as a family is in New Hampshire. Eventually, they end up in Vienna to open the second Hotel New Hampshire.

A lot of insanity is revealed in this book, as told from the perspective of the second son and third oldest kid, John Berry. Some memorable and crazy story lines include incestuous feelings, a furry in a bear suit, a plane crash, and prostitutes living in one of the hotels.

Published in 1981, this novel holds up very well. It follows a typical pattern of Irving's book with a decade spanning story, something involving New Hampshire, and semi-autobiographical elements. I love his style. Irving manages to captivate the audience with stories of seemingly normal people who live abnormal lives.

With a wide array of characters and plots, "The Hotel New Hampshire" is an incredible book that tells an original story. I can't wait to read more of his books and watch the movie adaptation of this book starring Rob Lowe and Jodie Foster.

Rating: A

The Hunger Games (Book Review)

The Hunger Games is the new big thing in the teen world. After being published a few years ago, this book series has gained a vast following. In March there is going to be the first, of a series of four, film adaptations of this series on the big screen.
I became interested in this book because of the movie news, so here is my review of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins:

Set in a future North America, Katniss Everdeen lives in District 12. There were 13 districts, but the last one was destroyed. District 12 is the lowest class of all the districts, so when the Hunger Games come around each year, the nominees (aged 12-17/18) from District 12 is never expected to win. It has only happened once in the long history of the Games. When Katniss' sister Primrose is chosen as a nominee, Katniss steps in her place, alongside Peeta, the boy nominee. Here's why: the Hunger Game is a test where there are 2 nominees from each District who cfight to the death to survive. It gets worse, it's televised so everybody can see everything.

That is the setup of this series. When I started reading this book, I really could not put it down. I finished most of it in one day, and the rest the next. It had a perfect amount of action, suspense, romance, and survival. The story is told from the point of view of a teenage girl (Katniss), but that means nothing in the end; this is easily a book that can be enjoyed by both sexes of any age. This book series is now one of my favorite ever (behind Harry Potter of course). I cannot wait for the movie! Jennifer Lawrence is perfect for Katniss, and it could only be bad if they were to tone down the actual Games to an annoying level, which would get rid of the intensity of the situation.

March 23, 2012 cannot come any sooner!

Introduction

Hey! I'm R. Kenny and I love movies, tv shows, book, and everything else. This is the place for current and old movie reviews, tv shows that are new, book, and anything else I think of. This is kind of like a one-stop site for reviews and conversations. Feel free to comment on every post. Thanks so much for reading, and don't forget to follow me!