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REVIEW: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Posted by Anastasia on April 2, 2012 13 Responses »

Apr 022012

054. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Publication: Scholastic Paperbacks (September 1, 2009), ebook, 388pp / ISBN 0439023483
Genre: YA Sci-fi

Read: March 23, 2012
Source: Bought

Series: The Hunger Games (you’re here!) | Catching Fire | Mockingjay

Summary from Amazon:

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

Review

I put off reading the Hunger Games trilogy for YEARS, mainly because I’m one of those people who want to read a book in opposite proportion to how many other people love it. Everyone went NUTS over this series from the get-go, and for some reason that meant I didn’t want to read it. It’s almost like if I didn’t discover a thing first, I didn’t want to know about it! Which is hilarious, because usually when I DO finally read the thing I didn’t want to read because it was “too popular,” I end up loving it. So. Continue reading »

REVIEW: The Poison Diaries by Maryrose Wood

Posted by Anastasia on March 30, 2012 No Responses »

Mar 302012

049. The Poison Diaries by Maryrose Wood and the duchess of Northumberland
Publication: Balzer + Bray (July 20, 2010), ebook, 309pp / ISBN 0061802387
Genre: YA Historical Fantasy, Romance

Read: March 12-13, 2012
Source: Bought

Summary from Amazon:

In the right dose, everything is a poison. Even love . . .

Jessamine Luxton has lived all her sixteen years in an isolated cottage near Alnwick Castle, with little company apart from the plants in her garden. Her father, Thomas, a feared and respected apothecary, has taught her much about the incredible powers of plants: that even the most innocent-looking weed can cure — or kill.

When Jessamine begins to fall in love with a mysterious boy who claims to communicate with plants, she is drawn into the dangerous world of the poison garden in a way she never could have imagined . . .

Review

This was on sale a few months ago and I snagged it, since I’ve got the second book packed and waiting for me to read it and I hate reading sequels before I read the first book.¹ I couldn’t remember exactly what either books were about, but I thought it’d have magic and possibly something tragic happening, based on the cover. Continue reading »

The Sunday Salon (Mar. 18): Lots of books in a small room

Posted by Anastasia on March 18, 2012 12 Responses »

Mar 182012

Hello! Happy Sunday evening, everyone. I’ve completely forgotten what it was I was originally going to write about for today’s post, so instead let’s talk about bedroom decor.

We’re fairly certain we’re going to get the house we’ve found, so that means I can start planning how I’m going to decorate my room! Now, my new room is about half the size of my Albuquerque room, which means I’ll need to change how I’d normally decorate. For instance: I don’t think I can have three or four tall bookshelves in my room now, because I’d feel like they were about to fall on me and/or the walls were closing in, etc. I’m also planning on painting my walls, doing something fancy with my closet organization– basically, I want my new room to be much more interesting than my old room was.

So! Those of you with small rooms: how do you deal with your books? I can keep most of them in the “media room,” so that’s no problem, but I’d still like to have at least one shelf for favorite books/TBR books. What sort of shelf would be best for a small room? I’m kind of thinking something like this would be good. What do you think?

Besides that whole thing, I’m trying to figure out which sort of bed would be best: should I go for a futon mattress, which I can fold away during the day and thus clear up a lot of room, or should I get a daybed, with drawers underneath for extra storage? Choices, choices… Continue reading »

REVIEW: Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard

Posted by Anastasia on March 5, 2012 4 Responses »

Mar 052012

021. Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard
Publication: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (March 13, 2012), eARC, 352pp / ISBN 0385739370
Genre: YA Contemporary Fiction

Read: January 29, 2012
Source: NetGalley

Summary from Amazon:

It all begins with a stupid question:

Are you a Global Vagabond?

No, but 18-year-old Bria Sandoval wants to be. In a quest for independence, her neglected art, and no-strings-attached hookups, she signs up for a guided tour of Central America–the wrong one. Middle-aged tourists with fanny packs are hardly the key to self-rediscovery. When Bria meets Rowan, devoted backpacker and dive instructor, and his outspokenly humanitarian sister Starling, she seizes the chance to ditch her group and join them off the beaten path.

Bria’s a good girl trying to go bad. Rowan’s a bad boy trying to stay good. As they travel across a panorama of Mayan villages, remote Belizean islands, and hostels plagued with jungle beasties, they discover what they’ve got in common: both seek to leave behind the old versions of themselves. And the secret to escaping the past, Rowan’s found, is to keep moving forward.

But Bria comes to realize she can’t run forever, no matter what Rowan says. If she ever wants the courage to fall for someone worthwhile, she has to start looking back.

Review

I have a deep fondness for books that force teenagers to travel to places they might not have wanted to go to and that, in turn, force them to grow up into better people than they were at the beginning of the book/journey. This is why I had such high hopes for 13 Little Blue Envelopes, and why I had such high hopes for Wanderlove! Luckily Wanderlove does what I wanted 13 Little Blue Envelopes to do, and it does is in a completely amazing way that, if I had a physical copy of this book, would make me cuddle it to my chest for about a week. That’s how happy this book makes me. Continue reading »

MINI-REVIEWS: Who What Wear, Goy Crazy, My Lunatic Life

Posted by Anastasia on February 29, 2012 No Responses »

Feb 292012

037. Who What Wear: The Allegra Biscotti Collection by Olivia Bennett
Publication: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky (November 1, 2010), ebook, 258pp / ISBN 140224391X
Genre: MG Fiction

Read: February 25, 2012
Source: Freebie

Mini-Review

I wasn’t sure if I’d like this book at first, because the first chapter is kind of boring. But! It gets better, and by the end I thought it was really cute. Fashion is always a tricky subject to write about because it changes so rapidly, but Who What Wear was still current enough to not be completely distracting. Emma, the protagonist, reminds me of all those adorable teenage bloggers/fashion designers who have big dreams and aren’t afraid to make them happen, and since I know of a few teenage bloggers who’ve actually made some of those dreams happen I didn’t think the plot was all that implausible, either. And like I said: it’s just darned cute. Continue reading »

MINI-REVIEWS: Dust, My Fair Godmother, Wish

Posted by Anastasia on February 28, 2012 8 Responses »

Feb 282012

034. Dust by Arthur Slade
Publication: Dava Enterprises (February 5, 2011), originally published 2003, ebook, 192pp / ISBN 0385730047
Genre: MG Horror, Historical Fiction

Read: February 19-20, 2012
Source: Bought

Mini-Review

This was way scarier than I thought it’d be for some reason. It reminds me somewhat of The Boneshaker and how that was scary, how it deals with the power adults have over children physically, emotionally, and so on. I liked the writing in Dust a lot more than I did in The Hunchback Assignments, my first Arthur Slade book, and I liked the story more, too. It’s less of an action, kick-ass, “kid saves the world” kind of a book and more of a magical realism/”weird things happen in small towns” book, which I liked. Plus! There’s stuff about the importance of imagination and reading and thinking outside of the box! Defeating baddies through the power of your mind? Awesome! I love that, especially when it’s in a “boy” book. They don’t seem to get that sort of thing a lot in their books, to be honest. Continue reading »

MINI-REVIEWS: Five Tomorrows, Wolf Brother, Fame Fatale

Posted by Anastasia on February 27, 2012 No Responses »

Feb 272012

031. Five Tomorrows by Sarah A. Hoyt
Publication: Goldport Press (January 4, 2012), ebook, approx. 119pp / ISBN none
Genre: Science Fiction, Short Stories

Read: February 13, 2012
Source: Freebie

Mini-Review

I have a really hard time remembering short stories, especially when I read a whole collection of them all at once. So I can’t exactly remember which story in this collection of five sci-fi shorts was my favorite– I think it was the first one, though. That one was about these genetically altered kids who were bred to be super-soldiers and lived underwater and stuff. It could totally be expanded into a full-sized YA book, and I think it’d even do pretty well if the ending was changed a bit.

The best thing about this set of stories is that they all take place in the same universe, just in different points in time. I like it when things like that happen, idk why. It’s more neat, I guess? Continue reading »