The Hunger Games, a New York Times bestseller written by Suzanne Collins, has drawn hearty reviews from fans and critics alike for its brilliant plot paired with a steady dose of suspense for both the reader and movie-goer.

The first book of the trilogy, whose movie adaptation has been No. 1 at the box office for four weeks, follows Katniss Everdeen, a 16 year old girl living in District 12 of Panem. Panem is a post-apocalyptic country, which now occupies where North America once was. The country is made up of 13 districts and the Capitol, a well-developed metropolis that holds absolute power over the rest of the districts. Prior to where the book begins the narrative, District 13 started an uprising against the Capitol and the Capitol retaliated by leveling the district. District 13 is used as an example to the rest of the districts of what happens when the districts exercise any type of individual thought.

“Deadline Artists: America’s Greatest Newspaper Columns” Editors: John P. Avlon, Jesse Angelo, Errol Louis Publisher: Overlook I never thought I’d agree with Peggy Noonan about anything, until I picked up a copy of “Deadline Artists,” and saw her comment on the cover, “An indispensable anthology of an American art form — a broad and brilliantly

America’s true political center can be found by examining the state of Kansas, Salt Lake County, Utah, and NASCAR fans.

Many liberals may have just blanched at that thought, but this is the argument Tim Groseclose makes in “Left Turn: How Media Bias Distorts the American Mind.” Groseclose argues that a liberal media bias distorts the average American’s political viewpoint and tilts the political field to the left. He also claims conservative news organizations such as Fox News actually present a centrist point of view.

The newspaper industry is bottoming out; print media is in dire need of a eulogy. This has been the message thrust upon the public. And with an increasing number of people looking for the quickest way to get their news (not always waiting for their morning paper — and why? Because they don’t have to), it is not completely unfounded.

“Will the Last Reporter Please Turn out the Lights: The Collapse of Journalism and What Can Be Done to Fix it,” addresses this debate through a collection of 32 thoroughly edited essays written by journalism professors and media professionals. The collection is organized in three sections, structuring the book to flow from what is known about the media crisis, to a discussion of the crises framed around American tradition and finally to essays proposing various solutions.

Jim Crow had many faces. One face of Jim Crow was the simple act of many white southerners stepping on a bus. If they didn’t want to sit with people in the front of the bus, they grabbed the colored-only sign and moved it back a row. Blacks in the back would then be forced ever farther to the back, while just one white person sat in the seat for whites only.

Deborah L. Jaramillo’s book, “Ugly War, Pretty Package” is a close analysis of the cable news coverage of the early days of the war in Iraq. Although CNN and Fox News are often seen as left-leaning and right-leaning counterpoints in the world of cable news, respectively, Jaramillo argues there is more that makes them alike than different.