Catching Fire (Post #1)

I have been waiting for this book for like, forever. And that was probably grammatically incorrect, which shows how valid my point is. I do not use incorrect grammar lightly.
Actually, I have found that poor grammar can be used as a literary device to emphasize a point. Go figure.
So, back to the secong installment in Suzanne Collins' masterpiece trilogy. To spoil or not to spoil... I don't think I can do this post without spoiling, so I'll make this a spoiler post. In fact, I have decided to make two posts for it, because I think it deserves it. Plus, I have a lot to say. (See next paragraph.)
So, one thing that I noticed about this book is that it is a lot of bookage, for lack of a better word, on a number of levels. For one, there are a lot of pages (amost 400) and each page has a lot of words. Also, Suzanne Collins maintains a style invlving lots of long paragraphs and few chapter breaks, meaning that there is not a lot of blank space on these pages. There are a lot of words to read, in contrast with my beloved Fang. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, though. It covered a lot of ground.
I think I need a stylist and a prep team. I have too much reading/writing to do to worry about looking good. I think I need people to do that for me. I want my own Cinna. However, Katniss' prep team are pretty aggrivating when it comes to emotional stuff. Grr.
So, I am, if not as my next literary venture then in the next week, going to read the conclusion to the series, Mockingjay. It being the conclusion, this is the best time to make predictions on -girlsqueal- who Katniss ends up with. If anyone. Now, there are a variety of ways this could go. Peeta could die, Katniss could make out with Finnick, and then dump him for Gale. Gale could start dating Madge and then Katniss could go all -jealousyrage- and then make out with Finnick. Or Peeta could find a girlfriend with less -stabstabstabkill- and Katniss could go make out with Finnick. Or Peeta and Gale could kill each other and then Katniss could go make out with Finnick. Either way, there is almost no doubt in my mind that Katniss will, in fact, make out with Finnick. It's just indisputable.
I just realized that Finnick is at least seven years older than Katniss. Oh, well, I'm still betting on the fact that at some point they're going to make out.
I also just realized that I left out the scenario of Katniss just staying with Peeta, because this is a novel, for God's sake. If they end up together at all, Katniss will still make out with someone else at some point. We just know this.
Then there's the possibility of Suzanne introducing a new guy. Since we have the hot older beach dude, the hot artist/baker, and the hot hunter/miner, all we have left are the hot nerd and the hot dude in District 13 that does, like, refugee stuff or revolution stuff or something. Like David from Uglies, maybe. Whatever way, he'll still be hot, because people in books are always hot. *Rolls eyes* Even us book nerds seem to think that everyone is always hot. This is sad.
Well, this concludes post #1.

What would make me really happy right now:
-The Gift by James Patterson (and that other dude)
-Some sushi
-Some Australian fantasy/scifi novels. I think my Amazon gift card can take care of that problem, though :D

Next book: Mockingjay or Song of the Lioness: Alanna (The First Adventure) or some other book.

Witch & Wizard

Another James Patterson :D I'm curios about the whole Gabrielle Charbonnet thing, how she's co-author but it sort of seems like JP is the only one. Most likely she just helped with ideas or something, I dunno. I'll google it. It would stink it they're jsut hyping JP because he's like, INSANELY FAMOUS. Which is true, and generally rightful since he's amazing.
So, for characters, I like Wisty and Whit, but I think Whit is a little bit one-sided. Whisty is very engaging, though. I sort of wonder whether Whit's going to stay with Celia or end up with someone else. THe thing is, in books it helps when the romantic leads are new to each other, because they're new to the reader, too. Most of the time, when the romance is already there before the book starts, the reader doesn't really care about it because they don't know how it started, so it's meaningless to them. I hope Wisty ends up with Sasha, though, because they'd be awesome together. Any guy named Sasha has to be awesome. Make that girl, too, because I was almost a Sasha, short for Alexandra, but it ended up being one of my middle names.
I really like this book, but I will admit I was expecting a little more from it, but since it's part of a trilogy most likely that'll be fulfilled then. And the second book came out, like, half a month ago. ANd I have some mookstore gift cards.
Except it's still in hardcover. So it'll cost more.
To buy or not to buy...
To buy. Duh.

What would make me really happy right now:
-The Gift, Witch and Wizard's sequel
-Mockingjay, because see Next Book
-More snow. Real snow, not this rain crap we're getting.

Next book: Catching Fire

Fang

I love this series.
Fang, the 6th book in James Patterson's Maximum Ride series, is awesome.
I love Fang. He's gorgeous and funny and just -sigh.-
But that ending!!! How could he! It was just like J-Pat to make and epilogue with a happy ending, then add an "other epilogue" to make me crazy. I do not like the idea of MaxXDylan. Not feeling it at all. Fang must come back. -Dies of Fang-ness.-
Angel is starting to really scare me. Just saying.
It will be interesting to see where this goes.

What would make me really happy right now:
See previous post. That was three minutes ago and still applies.

Next book: either Catching Fire or Witch and Wizard.

Book of a Thousand Days

Sorry for not posting in a while, if anyone actually reads this. Heh, NaNoWriMo sure takes it out of you...
Anyway, Book of a Thousand Days. It was slow at first, but it gets way better. My one complaint is the popular medieval/fairytale trend of marrying the hot prince after barely knowing him. Ah, well.
The gist of it is that Dashti, a poor "mucker" in medieval Mongolia, was left alone when her mother died, so she came to the city seeking employment. Being very intelligent, she got a job as lady's maid to the daughter of the local lord (or king, I forget and am too lazy to look it up). For her it was an honor. The catch was that the princess (or lady) was being punished for being engaged to a guy that was not the guy her dad wanted her to marry, and having resisted, she was to be locked in a tower for seven years, lady's maid and all.
I definitely like the two main characters. They both go through a big change- Saren, the princess (/lady), starts out a total mess. She's a brat, for one, and she's very discontent. One thing Dashti does is help her find happiness, and ultimately discover herself. On the other hand, Dashti goes from being overly obedient and having a very low self-image to being a lot more independent and sure of herself. Both characters are flawed and very realistic, but incredibly relateable.
I also like the animal presences, particularly My Lord the cat. He pwns.

What would make me really happy right now:
Actually, for once I already am really happy. But a conversation with a certain person would be nice.

Next book: Fang

The Book of Three

Lloyd Alexander is, like Scott Westerfeld, an awesome writer of female characters. In Westmark, it was pretty borinbg 'till Mickle showed up. Then things got interesting. Eilonwy of the Book of Three totally owns. She's a bit like me, as in talkative *cough cough... yeah* and she tends to babble (sound familiar?) Also, her epic mediocre-sorceressness is pretty amazing.
I love Gurgi. Last night I was going around Gurgi-talking--crunchings and munchings? Poor, humble Manon-y gets smackings and scoldings for talking and telling about readings and writings! Oh, poor underappreciated Manon!
Considering there are a few more books in this series (Although this is the first) I'm gonna cut this short and get started on the Black Cauldron.

What would make me really happy right now:
-A magic bauble
-A driver's liscence
-More books
-How has no one caught on to the Misaki-thing yet? Like, I might actually be free this Saturday night for once.

Next book: The Black Cauldron

Spells

I do have a million excuses for not finishing a book in, like, a week, but assuming you don't want to hear them, I shall cut to the chase.
Spells by Aprilyne Pike is the sequel to Wings, which has the same title and disturbingly similar beginning to Wings by E. D. Baker. I actually originally bought it to see if it was a complete copy of it. Although far too similar in beginningness and plot, they have very different vibes. I have decided to devote this posts to why I hate this book but still love it.
Report card! : Ms. Pike gets an A for the character Chelsea, because in this book she's actually pretty interesting. Or at least in the end, which is freshest in my head. Hopefully she'll get a bigger role in the action in book 3. Unfortunately, I do not like how Laurel treats the boys in her life. Also, she is very Mary-Sueish and not very dimensional. She gets a C. David gets a B-, because he lets his girlfriend walk all over him yet is still the whole knight in shining armour deal. Tamani gets an A-, because even though he's sort of jerkish in some parts he has a lot of conflict and his character has layers and all that.
Relationshippydramaness gets an F. The love triangle is way too Twilight and everyone worships Laurel even though she only deserves it, like, once every few chapters. Ish.
Fairy awesomeness gets an A, though, because it's actually very good.

What would make me really happy right now:
-Misaki. Seriously.
-Goliath
-Fang
-Mom to give up the everything-you-buy-gets-saved-for-Christmas because, like, I might run out of books. This is a very imposing threat.
-A couple of Austrailian time travel-related books that are not readily avaliable here, even though other books by those authors are. Gah. I'm gonna need an Amazon shipment by New Year's.

Next book: The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander (Maybe. As you may notice I'm not very faithful to these next-book thingies.)

The Pricker Boy!

Yay! I finished The Pricker Boy!
It's by Reade Scott Whinnem, AKA Mr. Whinnem, my homeroom/future basic media teacher. This fact in itself makes him pretty awesome. However, when blogging about a book you should never be biased, because the true awesomeness of a book is what's inside. Or something like that.
So, what's in side is pretty awesome. It kind of got confusing about halfway through, because a lot of the story is written as a flashback. Like, we're talking every other chapter or so. Sometimes I had trouble figuring out when things were happening and what was going on.
Then, toward the end (So, for me about twenty minutes or so ago) everything fell into place. I refuse to spoil the ending of this one, even though I make no guaruntees for the other books I blog about, but if you do read it, and by about 2/3 of the way through your brain is very mixed up, just keep reading. The ending is soooo worth it.

What would make me really happy right now:
-A trip to Misaki
-Purple lipstick
-Some more green eyeliner
-Magical hair that magically gets short when I want it short then magically gets long the rest of the time.
-Someone who can talk Cricket-sign with me---Mr. Whinnem may never hear me voice again. Actually, scratch that. Shutting up is something of which I am incapable.

Next book: Pendragon 3: The Never War. I think. Don't quote me on that.

Maximum Ride: The Protectors, book 2: Max

I am a liar, dude.
In my last post, I mentioned that my next book would be the Pricker boy. Whoops- last night, I, Mom, and Sammy went to Borders, which I debatably may spend more time in then my school. Anyway, I left with the 5th book in the awesome Maximum Ride series, which is a very quick read in the sense of pageturniness, as in it doesn't drag. So basically, I started it last night around 8:30, went lights out before 10 and finished by twenty minutes ago. Yay.
Surprisingly, I do enjoy reading below my reading level, because the pages fly, which is nice.
Anyway, Max, which is by James Patterson, is pretty awesome in many respects. I like the characters, which I think are extremely important to the story. I love the Gasman, and Fang is pretty awesome, and Max is a great narrater. I love Nudge and Iggy, too, but Angel is starting to creep me out. I kind of identify with how Max has trouble keeping people in line. I see a lot of similarities between her and myself, sort of, and I know from experience that telling a six year old that they cannot do something fun because it's dangerous is hard to do.


What would make me really happy right now:
-Wings :D
-A talking Scottie
-Some sushi. Anyone wanna meet me at Misaki? Great, as long as we use your credit card <3

Next book: The Pricker Boy by Reade Scott Whinnem (For real this time... :D )

Behemoth

This morning I finished reading Behemoth, which is an amazing book by Scott Westerfeld. It was awesome for a multitude of reasons, but I am still kind of mad at Scott-sama for not having Deryn tell Alek she's a girl. Arrghh!!!
For anyone who doesn't know the series, Behemoth is the sequel to Leviathan, which is an alternative version of WWI in which Darwin discovered DNA and was able to fabricate animals, bringing old species back to life and creating new ones to use in daily life or war. One of the main characters, Deryn Sharp, if a fifteen year old girl disguised as a sixteen year old boy in the British Air Service, working on board the Leviathan, which is a giant whale warship that flies, basically. The other main character, Alek, is an Austrian prince who is being hunted by the Germans for a variety of reasons. The whole thing is pretty awesome.
Anyway, in celebration of finally finishing Behemoth (I've had it since FRIDAY NIGHT for god's sake!) I am Deryn Sharp for the rest of today. I'm wearing a white shirt, red tie, jeans, a bomber jacket, and combat boots, which it the best I could come up with, and pretty soon I'll be shouting "Barking Spiders!" at people when provoked.
So please, someone, provoke me so I can swear like a barking book character.
Hey, that worked.
One of the amazing things that makes the Leviathan series--Leviathan, Behemoth, and soon Goliath--is that they have illustrations. This is pretty amazing considering that most YA novels do not get cool pictures. The illustrations, I think, are very important because all the cool techy stuff is extremely difficult to describe, so pictures are kind of necessary for the reader to be able to stay on the same page as the story. Unless Scott Westerfeld wants to go into extreme boring detail about walkers and beasties and stuff, when instead he can just have the fabulous Keith Thompson draw it in perfect detail.


What would make me really happy right now:
-If someone would get me a perspicacious loris
-A short sleeved white button-down shirt
-A bomber jacket, so I don't have to borrow dad's

Next book: The Pricker Boy, by my homeroom teacher Mr. Whinnem :D