The Testing

The Testing
by Joelle Charbonneau

It’s graduation day for sixteen-year-old Malencia Vale, and the entire Five Lakes Colony (the former Great Lakes) is celebrating. All Cia can think about—hope for—is whether she’ll be chosen for The Testing, a United Commonwealth program that selects the best and brightest new graduates to become possible leaders of the slowly revitalizing post-war civilization. When Cia is chosen, her father finally tells her about his own nightmarish half-memories of The Testing. Armed with his dire warnings (”Cia, trust no one”), she bravely heads off to Tosu City, far away from friends and family, perhaps forever. Danger, romance—and sheer terror—await. (description from Amazon.com)

If you devoured The Hunger Games and having been struggling to find something with just the same bite to it, look no further. This is the book you've been waiting for... it is the closest I've come yet to the experience I had reading The Hunger Games. 

This book has the same danger, excitement, self-sacrifice, a hint of romance...and left me DESPERATE to get my hands on the second book. I highly recommend this one.

Movie Trailer - Catching Fire

I know you've probably already seen this, but just in case you haven't...here is the first official trailer for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, coming out this November!



I know I'll be seeing it in the theater...will you?

Just Announced - Prodigy by Marie Lu!

Prodigy
by Marie Lu
sequel to Legend

Publication date: Jan. 29, 2013

The Elector Primo of the Republic has died, with his son assuming power over what's left of the USA's West Coast as it teeters on full-blown chaos. June and Day join up with Patriot rebels so they can rescue Day's brother and head east for the Colonies. In order to help, though, the rebels want June and Day to kill the new Elector, who may be a step up from his dad.

I know you Hunger Games fanatics must have found Marie Lu's Legend by now. It's another great dystopian story. Well, if you haven't yet...go check it out!! And if you have, this is the info on its sequel... I know I'll be reading it when it comes out! :)

New Hunger Games Movie Photos!

So, I know I'm a little late to the party when it comes to "revealing" these pictures from the Hunger Games movie, but I'm going to blame this all conveniently on Winter Storm Alfred and the fact that I currently have no power. *I am secretly blogging to you from work on a break!*

The delay, however, means I get to share NEW deliciously awesome photos with you that were just revealed today, as well as the posters that came out...what almost a week ago? *cringe*

So! Not only did they come out with eight great looking posters for the movie (you can see Katniss and Effie Trinket below), but they also just did a great cast photo shoot for Vanity Fair/Entertainment Weekly that I grabbed a couple of pics from...







I'm started to get really excited about the film! They really look like the characters now...

Oh - and as a bonus...here's a pic of Jen from Yabooknerd dressed as Katniss for Halloween!

I think she did a great job with the costume! Kudos, Jen!!

I was really disappointed that this storm totally cramped not only my style at home (I mean, how can you sleep in a place that drops down to 20 degrees at night?? Brrr....), but also my Halloween spirit at work. We had a costume contest at work on Monday and I was all set to go as Effie Trinket (I had a pink wig and everything!!) and ended up not going to work because of the dangerous driving conditions ... *sad face* Oh well, guess I'll wow you all next year! LOL.

In My Mailbox - June 5, 2011

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme, hosted by Kristi at the Story Siren, inspired by Alea of Pop Culture Junkie. Every week bloggers can share what they received in the mail or at the bookstore or at the library. The goal is that everyone can be exposed to more books this way!

Won:

The Girl Who Was on Fire ed. by Leah Wilson
*THANK YOU to Teens Read and Write!!*

For Review:

Crush Control by Jennifer Jabaley

From the Library:

Kiss of Death by Lauren Henderson
Graveminder by Melissa Marr

On My Nook:

Once Dead, Twice Shy by Kim Harrison
Summer's Crossing by Julie Kagawa


Did anyone get anything super exciting this week??

First Look at Katniss!

I know that this image broke a few days ago, but I haven't had time to blog and I just wanted to share it again for those who may not have seen it, because I think they did a great job making Jennifer Lawrence into Katniss! I, along with everyone else, took one look at her blond hair, etc, and went..."ummm..." but this is the magic of movies! A little makeup, a lot of training, and whammo...instant new persona. I love it.

Now, finally, I'm really getting excited for the movie, because this is the first time it's really feeling, well...real, for me!

What do you guys think?

Awesome Hunger Games Video

OMG. I had to post this awesome video that Mockingjay.net posted. It's an amateur done scene from "The Hunger Games" and it totally blew me away. I hope this is what the movie is actually like....

Mockingjay *As spoiler-free as I can make it!

Mockingjay
by Suzanne Collins
Hunger Games, book three

*This is as spoiler-free as I can make it, but if you haven't read The Hunger Games or Catching Fire turn back now!! :)

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she’s made it out of the bloody arena alive, she’s still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what’s worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss’s family, not her friends, not the people of District 12.

I finally...finally...got to finish this last night. (I had a family death this week, so though I bought it on Tuesday, I had very little time to actually read it and still sleep!) All I can say is I LOVED the way that Collins weaved the ending to Katniss' story.

I was a big fan of her earlier series, The Underland Chronicles, though the ending to that series disappointed me just a little, so I think I was more prepared than some other readers for the sheer...brutality and realism...of Collins' war scenes. What made this book spectacular was that the action did not overtake the character development. Each and every character felt heartbreakingly REAL.

As I was reading I knew...just knew...that not everyone could survive (don't worry, I won't name names!) but I had that same series of moments that I did when I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows when first Dobby died, then one of the twins and my heart just felt like a gaping hole in my chest! It is hard to lose characters that you've come to know and love so well.

I was pleased with the focus of the book being solely on Katniss...her relationship to the rebellion...not having each battle of the war overtake the book's plotline. I loved seeing her explore how she related to her friends, her family, her allies, her enemies, and then to the larger whole of Panem. As she made choices along the way, I felt each was fully justified by her character and fit the story perfectly.

I will not spoil the whole Peeta/Gale love triangle debate...but, I was happy with how things worked out in the end...largely because of the way each character developed in this last book. There was really no other way it could have ended...

That's all I will say for now, but I am going to reread the whole series again soon, because they truly are fantastic books!

Mockingjay Book Trailer!

As if I needed any more enticement to read this book...
The official Scholastic book trailer for Mockingjay

Anxiously Awaiting....

They finally posted the title and cover for book three in the Hunger Games series!!!! Looks fantastic. Hits stores on Aug. 24th!