Book Review: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Product Details

Reading level: Young Adult

Hardcover: 391 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Press; 1st edition (September 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780439023498

Summary:

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.

Review:

Having read The Hunger Games and thoroughly enjoyed it, I found the dystopian sequel, Catching Fire, a snorefest.  It took me a very long time to finish this novel - almost two weeks. The beginning of the novel tediously dragged on with prolonged narrations and flashbacks of The Hunger Games.  It wasn't until the end of the novel that I started reading with a quick feverish pace. I think I read the last quarter of the book in an hour, it was that good.  Unfortunately, Catching Fire, fell into the trap that many sequels fall into - trying to fill in readers who may not have read the first book by giving too much filler and excessive recollections and then speeding up in the final parts in order to tie up loose ends and prepare for the next book.  

Catching Fire takes you from the unrest happening in the Districts after Katniss and Peeta's victory to the upcoming resolution they must confront to help the citizens of the districts.  The characters do this all while participating in a middle-school type of love triangle.  In this sequel, the chemistry between Katniss, Gale and Peeta never seemed to catch fire and I was left wanting more.  Not to mention, Gale is all but absent from the book.  Yet the author, Suzanne Collins, wants readers to believe that Katniss wants to be with Gale.  That's all fine and dandy, but where is he?  I can't connect with someone that isn't present.  Meanwhile Peeta, the only male love interest that actually shows up in the book for more than a few pages, adores her and loves her and yet Katniss is confused.

The best part of the book was the twist added to the 75th Hunger Games in honor of the Quarter Quell. When that element was introduced, I thought... ‘Finally, we'll get some action’.  And we did.  Yet overall this book was dry.  Katniss is not the spunky, willful teenager from the previous book.  She is boring, flat, whiney and selfish.  I rooted for her along the entire way in The Hunger Games, however this time around I wanted Rue to come back from the dead and beat her to a pulp.

Final thought: I wasn't feeling this book and wanted to quit half way through.  But I already have the next book in the series, Mockingjay, waiting to be read so I knew I couldn't quit.  Otherwise, I might have.  The ending saved this book from being totally dreadful.  If not for that, it would have gotten two stars.

I give it 3 Stars ***

Tidbit: The book, Hunger Games, will be made into a movie that will debut March 2012. 

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Click HERE to read my review of The Hunger Games

Best Books of 2011

Considering I've been slacking on my reading schedule for 2011. I have managed to read several fantastic books. Several of the books I read this year were recommended to me and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed them. My reading experience has been taken to a new level because of all the wonderful readers who drop by to offer new suggestions. Most followers of my blog know I am not or perhaps I should say, I was not a big fan of science fiction, mystery or dystopian novels. Now I can't get enough of them. The next genres I would like to explore are steampunk, apocalyptic, splatterpunk and historical whodunnit novels. I still need some more dystopian novel recommendations as well, so if you have any recommendations please let me know and leave a comment.


I know Hunger Games came out last year, but I read it this year, so it's going on the list simply because I love it so much. It's one of my favorite books I read this year. And if you've read any of the books on my Best Books of 2011 list, please let me know what you thought of it and if it was on your list as well.

And to all the Armchair BEA followers, thank you for coming by and sharing your time by commenting. Please keep in touch by clicking the follow buttons, either by Google or RSS Feed buttons on the right sidebar. There is also a button at the top left corner that says follow. Thanks so much and I look forward to stopping by your blogs as well, so leave a comment so I know where to find you.

Don't forget to check out the giveaways at the bottom of the post. There are some really good ones up for grab. Two of them are actually on this list.

 Happy BEA Week!

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"The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

Product Details: Publishers Weekly

In a not-too-distant future, the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss's young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, the son of the town baker who seems to have all the fighting skills of a lump of bread dough, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives. Collins's characters are completely realistic and sympathetic as they form alliances and friendships in the face of overwhelming odds;

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"Mama Ruby" by Mary Monroe

Product Details: Amazon

Growing up in Shreveport, Louisiana, Ruby Jean Upshaw is the kind of girl who knows what she wants and knows how to get it. By the time she’s fifteen, Ruby has developed a taste for fast men and cheap liquor, and not even her preacher daddy can set her straight. Most everyone in the neighborhood knows you don’t cross Ruby. Only Othella Mae Cartier, daughter of the town tramp, understands what makes Ruby tick.

When Ruby discovers she’s in the family way, she’s scared for the first time in her life. After hiding her growing belly with baggy dresses, Ruby secretly gives birth to a baby girl at Othella’s house. With few choices, Othella talks Ruby into giving the child away-and with the help of a shocking revelation, convinces Ruby to run off with her to New Orleans.

But nothing can erase Ruby’s memories of the child she lost-or quell her simmering rage at Othella for persuading her to let her precious baby go. If there’s a fine line between best friend and worst nightmare, Ruby is surely treading it. Because someday, there will be a reckoning. And when it comes, Othella will learn the hard way that no one knows how to exact revenge quite like Ruby Jean Upshaw

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"A Visit From the Goon Squad" by Jennifer Egan

Product Details: Publishers Weekly

We begin in contemporaryish New York with kleptomaniac Sasha and her boss, rising music producer Bennie Salazar, before flashing back, with Bennie, to the glory days of Bay Area punk rock, and eventually forward, with Sasha, to a settled life. By then, Egan has accrued tertiary characters, like Scotty Hausmann, Bennie's one-time bandmate who all but dropped out of society, and Alex, who goes on a date with Sasha and later witnesses the future of the music industry. Egan's overarching concerns are about how rebellion ages, influence corrupts, habits turn to addictions, and lifelong friendships fluctuate and turn. Or as one character asks, How did I go from being a rock star to being a fat fuck no one cares about? Egan answers the question elegantly, though not straight on, as this powerful novel chronicles how and why we change, even as the song stays the same.

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"Midnight and the Meaning of Love" by Sista Souljah

Product Details: Amazon

Powerful and sensual, Midnight is an intelligent, fierce fighter and Ninjutsu-trained ninja warrior. He attracts attention wherever he goes but remains unmoved by it and focuses on protecting his mother and sister and regaining his family’s fortunes. When Midnight, a devout Muslim, takes sixteen-year-old Akemi from Japan as his wife, they look forward to building a life together, but their tumultuous teenage marriage is interrupted when Akemi is kidnapped and taken back to Japan by her own father, even though the marriage was consummated and well underway.

“There’s not one drop of inferiority in my blood,” Midnight says as he first secures his mother, Umma, and sister, Naja, before setting off on a global journey to reclaim his wife. Midnight must travel across three countries and numerous cultures in his attempt to defeat his opponent. Along this magnificent journey he meets people who change him forever, even as he changes them. He encounters temptations he never would have imagined and takes risks that many a lesser man would say no to, all for the women he loves and is sworn to protect.

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"Catfish Alley" by Lynne Bryant

Product Details: Amazon

Roxanne Reeves defines her life by the committees she heads and the social status she cultivates. But she is keeping secrets that make her an outsider in her own town, always in search of acceptance. And when she is given a job none of the other white women want-researching the town's African-American history for a tour of local sites-she feels she can't say no.

Elderly Grace Clark, a retired black schoolteacher, reluctantly agrees to become Roxanne's guide. Grace takes Roxanne to Catfish Alley, whose undistinguished structures are nonetheless sacred places to the black community because of what happened there. As Roxanne listens to Grace's stories, and meets her friends, she begins to see differently. She is transported back to the past, especially to 1931, when a racist's hatred for Grace's brother leads to events that continue to change lives decades later. And as Roxanne gains an appreciation of the dreams, courage, and endurance of those she had so easily dismissed, her own life opens up in new and unexpected ways.

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"Go the F**k to Sleep" by Adam Mansbach and Ricardo Cortes

Product Details: Amazon

Go the Fuck to Sleep is a bedtime book for parents who live in the real world, where a few snoozing kitties and cutesy rhymes don't always send a toddler sailing blissfully off to dreamland. Profane, affectionate, and radically honest, California Book Award-winning author Adam Mansbach's verses perfectly capture the familiar--and unspoken--tribulations of putting your little angel down for the night. In the process, they open up a conversation about parenting, granting us permission to admit our frustrations, and laugh at their absurdity.

With illustrations by Ricardo Cortes, Go the Fuck to Sleep is beautiful, subversive, and pants-wettingly funny--a book for parents new, old, and expectant. You probably should not read it to your children.

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"Room" by Emma Donoghue

 Product Details: Amazon

Five-year-old Jack and his Ma live and eat and play and sleep in one room--an 11×11-foot space that is their prison--captives of the terrifying man Jack calls Old Nick. But as Jack grows older and more curious, it becomes clear that the room will not be able to hold him and Ma forever. Michal Friedman shines as Jack; her narration is haunting and compelling in its every inflection and tone. The voice she creates for Jack is so convincing, listeners may even mistake her for an actual child. Her powerful performance is complemented by Robert Petcoff's sinister Old Nick, and Ellen Archer's portrayal of resourceful Ma, whose gentle voice is infused with patience, terror, and hope. The chemistry between the players creates a gem of an audiobook that will haunt listeners long after the story's end.

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Also don't forget to check out the current book giveaways. We are giving away three bestselling novels. Click HERE for more details

• Room by Emma Donoghue
• The Help by Kathryn Stockett
• Midnight and the Meaning of Love by Sista Souljah

And Tango Makes Three... Banned

 An award-winning fictional juvenile book, "And Tango Makes Three" by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, has taken the #1 spot on the American Library Association's Top Ten List of the Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2010. The book was banned, challenged and/or deemed inappropriate by librarians, teachers and parents because of homosexuality, religious viewpoint and for being unsuitable for its age group (ages 4-7).

The book is based on a true story of two male Chinstrap Penguins, Roy and Silo, in New York's Central Park Zoo, who for six years formed a pairing. After the two male penguins were observed trying to hatch a rock that resembled an egg, zookeepers decided to give them a real egg to hatch that had come from a male & female pairing who had difficulty hatching two eggs at once.

The male penguins hatched the egg successfully, and a healthy chick named "Tango" was born. The males raised Tango, forming a family unit.

Also on the American Library Association's Top Ten List of the Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2010 is "Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins and "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer.

Coming off the list is "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker, "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee and "Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger.



So what do you think about "And Tango Makes Three"? Should this book be banned or challenged by public libraries & school libraries? Should it even be on the list? Would you let your children read this book?

Book Review, "Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

"The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

Background:

Hunger Games is a dystopic young adult novel. The setting is Panem, the Capitol (the governing city of Panem) and its 12 districts. The protagonist, sixteen year old Katniss Everdeen, lives in the Ream in District 12. She hunts and gathers food in forbidden land along with her friend Gale, to prevent her family from starving to death. She is essentially the provider for her family. District 12 is known for mining coal and is one of the poorest districts. Its residents are starving from the lack of basic needs and food. Every year there is a Reaping, where 2 contestants (one boy, one girl) are chosen from each district to do battle at the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is a battle to the death, where only one child out of the 24 contestants can survive. The winner will gain food and honor for their district. The contestants are children, between the ages of 12-18 and all must participate, unless there is a volunteer. On the day of the Reaping, Katniss's twelve year old sister Prim is chosen as the girl tribute from District 12. Katniss volunteers in her place. The other tribute from District 12 chosen to go is a baker's son named Peeta.

Review:

The novel takes the reader on a roller coaster journey of emotions. I was mad at Panem and its society for allowing this to take place. I was rooting for Katniss the moment she step foot in the Capitol when the Hunger Games began. What I enjoyed about the book was that Katniss often recognized her own mistakes, so when I thought she made a bone headed move, it would be revealed in the book that Katniss thought she did as well. I love characters that have flaws and it's even better when characters later recognize those flaws. Otherwise, readers can become apathetic towards the protagonist. But not with the character Katniss, I'd tell myself, "it's okay Katniss. Keep going, you have ass to kick." You will cheer for Katniss, a young girl struggling to survive, so she can get back to her home and continue to provide for her family by making sure they don't starve to death.

There are some underlying tones of political and social struggle. You see it in the way District 13 was annihilated from existence when it chose to fight back. But now the other poor districts are afraid to seek their own liberation. The residents, "allow" the dictators of Panem to kill off their children every year for what? They are still hungry and poor. It's an amazing quick paced read. I am thrilled that Suzanne Collins chose young adolescents as the protagonist. If it had been adults, I may have lost interest. Suzanne Collins also has a great way of using language to describe settings, surroundings, attire, the atmosphere and emotions. The author's use of dialogue come across as sincere, natural, funny, humorous and relevant. Her ability to craft powerful sentences with such intense imagery is remarkable.

I highly recommend this book. I give it:

 4 STARS ****

Excerpts, Memorable/Favorite Quotes


“Here’s some advice. Stay alive.”  ~Haymitch Abernathy


“Only I keep wishing I could think of a way to…to show the Capitol they don’t own me. That I’m more than just a piece in their Games” ~Peeta Mellark

What's Your Favorite Genre of Novels to Read

I can admit that I am not fond of certain genres of books, although I do try and add them to my repertoire of reading as often as possible. Novels that I am currently adding to this category are science fiction, suspense and thrillers. I recently read science novel, Kindred by Octavia Butler and wrote a book review. I must admit, I loved it. So next up on the agenda is to read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. This book was recommend to me by a friend Mr. Hank Henley, so I am going to hold him accountable if I don't like it (just kidding Hank). But seriously, I will. But I also heard great things about the book from other readers as well. So tonight will be the beginning of another adventure. I hope you stay tuned to see what kind of review I give it and if I give Hank the side-eye, for recommending it. :-)


In the meantime, tell me what is your favorite genre? Mainstream, science fiction, thrillers, suspense, YA, chick-lit, romance, historical, christian, urban, etc?