Book # 20: Catching Fire (Suzanne Collins)

Pages: 391
Reading Time: 1.5 days
Genre: Science Fiction/Young Adult

It happened again...

I started the second novel in the Hunger Games and was kidnapped and engulfed until I finished it. And it just keeps getting better.

The novels picks up after Katniss and Peeta have won the hunger games. Two winners. For the first time in history. Her Romeo and Juliet double suicide by berries pissed off the Capitol. Her act of rebellion that if there can't be two winners there will be none, earns Katniss the pressure to win over every district that this was an act of love, not REBELLION.

Katniss tries on the tour to prove her 'love' for Peeta, and after the President's nice little do or die challenge, it's gotta be good. After getting Peeta to come around, their desperate attempt faaaaaails to wow the President. But little clues pop up that things are not going smoothly for the Capitol and their districts... Remember the key is divide and conquer, and this is exactly what the Capitol has done to the other districts. They don't even have the ability to communicate with one another. Soo, that makes a full out rebellion kind of tricky. Tricky...

When the next hunger games begin to roll around, it's a Quarter Quell year (every 25 years are 'extra' special! Awww thanks Capitol!). And the theme this year is "Let's reap from the pool of winners! DOWN WITH POWER." So of the whooping three victors from District 12, Katniss is the only female, and Haymitch and Peeta the only males to pick from... Peeta and Katniss find themselves going back to the hunger games they escaped from.

I knew some things were up with some of the players are making sure Peeta is going to survive.. HMM... that's NOT fishy...

Well Katniss isn't sure what to make of it, and the novel builds until the plan is to electrocute the island at the center of the arena in hopes of zapping two players. The plan starts to crumble and I couldn't believe Katniss did not see that Johanna was removing the tracker from her arm when she stabbed her there. Then runs off. Duh. In her wrong, disorientated state, Katniss realizes the enemy is the Capitol, not the players, and fires an arrow with wire at the force field above, just as lightning strikes the tree she's under. BIG BOOM.

She's taken up by the helicopters that rescue the bodies of the dead players, except the Gamemaster, Plutarch, her coach, and a few other players are there when she wakes up. Katniss finds out there is rebellion all over the districts, but there are TWO THINGS majorly wrong. I will stop spoiling, and say I need book three now. I need to know how this ends, and also, very importantly, which BOY Katniss decides to stick with. Finally. A LOVE TRIANGLE done RIGHT. I keep wondering if this is going to go down like A Tale of Two Cities: Charles Darnay and Synday Carton style. If that is the case, I may cry girly tears like I did at the end of that one. Nooo...

+Great action of plot
+Great baddies to hate on
+Katniss has lots of self monologues, which I enjoy. Explains what's happening, and her thoughts, even if you see through it she's got part of it wrong
- I can't wait to read the 3rd one and now my spring break is nearly over. Crap. This is going to interfere with studying and attention spans
+OH WELL.



Also: Go download Taylor Swift's Safe and Sound, from the Hunger Games soundtrack. Matches this story, the tone, mood right on. As it should, for being written for it and put on the soundtrack.

Book # 19: The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)

Pages: 374
Reading time: 2 days
Genre: Science Fiction

HOLY CRAP. I haven't been enthralled in an obsessive reading state since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Hence why it was 48 hours. Would have been less, but I had to be social and consume food.

What an interesting concept... in this futuristic distopia, the continent Panam had 13 districts. When District 13 tried to start a rebellion, they were crushed and obliterated by the government. As payback and a reminder of their submission, the remaining districts hold a drawing/reaping of their children 12-18. A boy and girl are selected from each and forced to gladiator it out until one remains alive... 'may the odds ever be in your favor' my butt!

Collins is smart about this concept. You can't have a protagonist as a bloody thirsty gladiator (tribute, they call them). But a hero forced to survive. Katniss is the provider for her family and hunts illegally, giving her a cunning edge over the other contestants with a bow and arrow. Peeta Mellark, her chosen counterpart has had the hots for Miss Wilderness for ages. So, it's kind of crushing when Katniss VOLUNTEERS to go in place of her baby sis. Aw. In the preparation time before hand, their drunken coach, the only winner from District 12 over 30 years ago, urges them to act as if they are starry eyed for each other. This angle hasn't been done
before.... think survivor: some play cunning and backstabby, some try to out wit, over power, etc. But appeal as a love story to the audience? That's new.

I give Collins kudos since she always compels you to read on, each chapter is a cliff hanger to the next. Especially since you want both Kat and Peeta to win, and know there can only be one winner... unless..... maybe they will allow it if both are from the same district! oOooOOO.... plot thickens.

Katniss is very savy in her survival, and even her killing... while the antagonists (the other tributes) are ruthless and cold, the only time Katniss actually shot an arrow into someone was a mix of revenge and self defense. Before that, she sends a nest full of angry bees onto the tributes who have her cornered up a tree, causing the deaths of two... And then there was the explosion she started, that got one dude wacked off too. She's got a heart, she her bond with the youngest tribute mirrors her younger sister. Same age, protective, smaller size, and when she's attacked, Kat goes all mama-bear on the other kid.

Collins is also smart not to name every tribute who gets killed off. Some are given names but luckily, these 22 other characters we have to part with are not humanized too much. Nice job, otherwise this would be one nasty young adult novel... I cannot wait to read the second one, and similarly, a novel called "Battle Royale," that has nearly the same plotline as this story... copycatter. So I will have to find out how close they really are.

+AWESOME writing. I think I only tripped once in a spot I would have edited.
+Good descriptions of this distopia universe.
+Compelling characters. Little Romeo and Juliet minus Juliet actually being head over heels for R.. oops! Still... I see a loooove triangle!!!
+Kat is not bloodthirsty and you won't see her as a murderer. Nice to know when you have to see 1/24 walk out right? Cool.

A+

Like I said, this was as hard to put down as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Suspense gets you. It's unconventional compared to other known plots and worlds. READ IT.


http://jessmindless.deviantart.com/art/Katniss-The-Hunger-Games-205690390 For pic!

Book # 18: Critical Care (Theresa Brown)

Pages: 189
Reading Time: 4 weeks
Genre: Nonfiction

A little ashamed it took me so long to get around to reading a 189 page book, but life happens. I also notice I tend to read about 3 books at any one given time. Whoops. I saw this book at my work and gave in because it was like a whack in the head. The author Theresa Brown, was an English Professor before changing careers to nursing. Helloooo I can totally relate. Just glad I didn't go that far (although I highly, highly considered a PhD in English at one point). Brown chronicles the events that happen during her first year as a nurse. As the stupid cheesy subtitle says, "A New Nurse Faces Death, Life, and Everything in Between." Yep, that was the best they could come up with.

Brown writes well enough, explaining some of the medical jargon she uses, but I was still glad I've taken my pre-nursing classes. After a few chapters though, I was wondering if any of Theresa's patients LIVE. Good grief, she works in the oncology department (no DAD, that's not women and babies <-true quote), so everyone who comes in has cancer. It felt like every patient ends up with a sad story... aiiee...

My favorite chapter may have been when Theresa has issues on her floor with the other nurses' attitudes. She transfered floors and was much happier with the lack of a mean pecking order... Good to know what to expect when I get in there for nursing... Although, I may not pursue oncology. Not sure what the mortality rate is for patients who come through, but from the picture Brown paints, I'd suspect it would be a heavy burden to encounter daily.

Grade: B

+Explains most of the medical 'jargon'
-Not always explains medical...
+Good message (go live it up, buy the piano)

Book # 17: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Stieg Larsson)

Pages: 590
Reading Time: ~3 weeks (library hold interruptions...)
Genre: Fiction/Crime Mystery

About time I cross this one off my To Read list and put it on my Already Read list. YES.

I was a bit tainted reading this novel, since I saw the Swedish version of the film and THEN was inspired to read the book. So, here's a short recap for the few who have not gotten on the bestseller train.

Mikael Blomkvist is a journalist, got in trouble for libel and couldn't produce his evidence, and gets hired to investigate the disappearance of a 16 year old girl who's been missing for decades. Her great-uncle is desperate to find out what happened to his beloved Harriet, and he's convinced she was killed by a family member on their island that day. Blomkvist eventually is entwined with Lisbeth, the gothic computer hacker, strange woman whom he hires for his assistant.

Someone warned me it was slow to start, and at that time I said I disagreed. Well, at that point I was naive. It is a bit slow, but only if you find the juicy parts about investigative journalism dull. (Ok, some of it was over my head in the interest department, didn't see why, but, not all was a chore to get through.) At this point, my favorite parts were the ones about Lisbeth. Obviously deeper than the author wants to let us know (oh and soo sad Larsson died shortly after his works...).

Much more detailed than the film obviously, I thought the ride was quite enjoyable. I was satisfied until the climax? Can I call it that? When Mikael figures out who the killer is, he's in over his head. Quickly he finds himself the next victim when Lisbeth, luckily, figures it out and comes just in time. After chasing him onto the freeway, he's killed in a crash, boom, just like that! I had to go back and re-read to insure that it was indeed just one page of action. It went on to carry out the journalism revenge, which was mostly satisfying. Last page, not so much, but I assume that's why there are more in the series. I'll definitely add those to my list.

Overall Grade? A-/B+. I can't decide. Definitely a good read, but the film satisfied more vengeance. Just the way it goes....

+Awesome characters
-Some journalism jargon?
-Found the killer, no big deal he's dead in like five minutes
+Moooore