Ghost Girl

I had a hard time getting into Ghost Girl by Tanya Hurley. I wanted to like this book, I really did. Everything from the concept of the story to the book cover intrigued me, but alas, I could not be persuaded to read more than 50 pages. Lately I've been in a non-reading mood (weird, I know) and I've had a lot of intolerance and impatience for books. All I want is a really good book that will keep me focused, but I haven't been able to find one yet. Ghost Girl seemed like it would be interesting, but within the first 50 pages I got sick of the main character talking about how invisible she was and how she wanted to re-invent herself so that she could become popular and attract the cutest boy in school, blah blah blah. Sorry. I don't buy it. And I'm tired of all YA books being about this, or at least close to this topic. I love the idea of this book, and I'm sure that I quit reading it right before the good parts started, but it shouldn't take 50 pages to get good. Isn't the beginning of the book supposed to be written and rewritten multiple times so that readers won't fall into this trap?

Catching Fire

So I actually read Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins a couple weeks ago, but have been so busy lately that I haven't had time to blog about it, or anything that I've been reading lately. And yes, I got to read it before it even hit the bookstores. I was super pumped to read this book because if you didn't know it's the sequel to The Hunger Games (which you should go out and buy ASAP!), and who wouldn't be excited to read the sequel to a book that freaking blows your mind? I'm sad to say though that Catching Fire was disappointing for me- there I've said it. I can't believe that I said it, but it sucked compared to Hunger Games. I know you can't really compare the two, but this was definitely a letdown. And here's why:

1. Katniss is being her stupid self and trying to "decide" whether she likes Gale as just a friend or considers him MORE than a friend- though she SPECIFICALLY said in Hunger Games that she's NEVER thought of Gale as more than a friend and that she considers him like a BROTHER (see page 10 if you don't believe me). And I quote:
"There's never been anything romantic between Gale and me...You can tell by the way the girls whisper about him when he walks by in school that they want him. It makes me jealous but not for the reason people would think. Good hunting partners are hard to find."
*Take that Lyndi!*

2. Katniss is trying to decide whether she actually likes Peeta or not- more so than what she pretends at for the public. Seriously- make up your mind! If she doesn't take him soon, I will!

3. The story's great and I can see how it would be captivating, but it doesn't move as well as The Hunger Games- it took me roughly 2/3 or the book or so to get into the story, and even then the pages didn't pull me in. The storyline was great and I can see how others thought it was good, but I just couldn't get sucked in. And it didn't help that Katniss kept whining about whether she loved Gale or whether she loved Peeta, blah blah blah. Stop being indecisive!

Those were my main grievances with the novel- you can definitely tell that this book was more of a setup for the third, which may have been why it bombed. It was definitely an intermediary book that had to cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time and make connections between the first and third books. Hopefully when I read it again I can get over Katniss' angst and whining and get wrapped up in the story. I hope? Please?

Coraline

I read the graphic novel. I saw the movie in 3-D. I finally read the book. Man, it took a long time to get me to read this book. I really enjoyed the story, but the third time around was a little bit of an overkill. Don't get me wrong- I liked the book and the story's premise, but just reading the book after I had seen the movie and read the graphic novel not too long ago was a little much and really repetitive. But nonetheless, it's still a good read.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman is about one very bored girl who has just recently moved with her parents into a house in the English countryside. The house is so big that it's separated into four different parts with a crazy old man named Mr. Bobo living upstairs with his circus of mice, and the two eccentric ex-actresses Mrs. Spink and Mrs. Forcible living in the basement part of the house with their pack of Highland terriers. In her effort to curb her boredom and fight the dreary weather, Coraline visits both apartments to talk with the boarders, but finds only older people who don't listen to anything Coraline has to say, who constantly pronounce her name incorrectly- they say CAroline and not COraline.

Through Coraline's endless wanderings she ends up finding a little door in her house that opens to a wall of bricks, yet when she unlocks it a second time in the middle of the night, finds that it leads to another world. Of course she explores the world and sees that it's an alternate reality that was set up by her Other Mother, a woman who looks exactly like her mom but has black buttons for eyes, and seems to want to constantly please Coraline so that she will stay there with her other parents forever. Other than the fact that her other parents are extremely creepy, the other world seems nice enough: her toys all come to life and play with her, the cat that followed her through the doorway can speak to her, and her food and clothes options are exciting and limitless. Yet Coraline knows there's something not right about the other world, and trying to get back to her real world and parents is a little challenging when your Other mother wants to sew buttons on your eyes so that you can stay with her forever.

The story is truly engaging and creative; we've all been in Coraline's situation, trying to find things to do to take away the boredom. Gaiman has a certain mastery over his character descriptions and his attention to detail that makes the story that much more clever and enjoyable to read. I definitely recommend this book to anyone, just don't read it three times within a couple of months!

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins renewed my fervor in late night/early morning reading. Let me tell you- it's been a long time since I've read anything this good. Prior to reading Hunger Games, I felt as if I was in a reading rut. Almost all of my reading selection for a couple months previous to Hunger Games consisted of material that was "so-so" and felt like nothing special. Then this little book came along and it punched my senses alive. So to kick off this summary, here goes (it may get a little confusing though, but stick with it):

The best way to describe this book is that it's a combination of these key elements: gladiators, reality tv, and Lord of the Flies (with a little love story thrown in). I know this sounds like a recipe for disaster, but Collins did an amazing job of creating a melting pot of a story. So for some back story: Katniss (yes, that is the name of a girl, and try not to let her name send thoughts of "cat piss" into your mind like it did for me) is the main character living in a world of chaos. The story is based in a futuristic version of the US with the country being separated into 12 districts each monitored by the capital (set loosely in the Rocky Mountains) with the first district being the closest to the capital, and then the second next to that, and so on. Each district specializes in a certain occupation with the first district being the most lavish and the twelfth getting the lucky job of mining coal. Katniss is one of the lucky children living within the 12th district, fighting a rough war against starvation for herself and her family.

The world is like this and set up into districts that the government could care less about because decades ago all the people tried to revolt against the capital and stage a coup that backfired and resulted in the Hunger Games that is meant to keep each district in line. Every year the hunger games take place, which consist of a boy and girl ages 12-18 from each district being selected to compete on live tv to fight for their lives. Everyone is required to watch the games, even those whose children are fighting for their lives. The winner of the games is essentially the last person standing, and that individual gets riches and wealth not only given to their family, but showered upon their district for the entire year (which includes food-the most important thing for district 12 since they have little).

Katniss ends up being selected to participate in the games and is whisked to the capital to begin "training" for tv interviews, skill appraisal, and national appearances a week prior to the games starting. Since Katniss has had to poach illegally from the capital's forest for game for her family, she's skilled with a bow and arrow which ends up marking her a higher ranking contender for when the games are to start.

I don't want to give anything else away because it would give away too much, but know that this book sucked me in with its premise and the feelings of hopelessness and the struggle for survival that the contenders have. Collins is an excellent writer and did a great job of setting up an eventful story. Though the content may seem a little "adult" with the idea of fighting to the death, the story is definitely appropriate for younger teen or tween readers. I've recommended this book to anyone I can and I hope you pick it up at your local library or book store (though you may be put on a waiting list for it because it's being endorsed by Stephenie Meyer).