Portia's Pick this week:
CATCHING FIRE by Suzanne Collins
I believe I did a review on THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins the other week. No, I don't believe. I know I did. So you all probably read it by now! Which means I can review the amazing book number 2! In this amazing trilogy! I know I read a wide variety of genres, but I don't read a whole lot of rough and tough survival in the wild books, but this is a series that sucks you in so fast, you don't know what hit you!
The whole summer after Cynthia lent me THE HUNGER GAMES, I was begging for the 2nd book. She said that someone (unnamed for their own sake) was in possession of it and they should be done soon. And they would return it and I could read it. It was a bit unfair-looking back- to give me the first one without the second one because I would have had to wait and wait and wait after that start and that's just not right! The suspense can't do good things for my blood pressure. (That's the argument I give my teachers about too much homework in case you're wondering and it has yet to work.) But at least I read them pretty close to the release date. :) After many careful and lengthy negotiations with the person who previously borrowed this book from Cynthia (without my permission I might add), I was given CATCHING FIRE and thought that with all my school work, I wouldn't need MOCKINGJAY for a while, so I lent it to this person who needed it. Alas, I finished CATCHING FIRE two or so days later on a Friday(!!) and needed MOCKINGJAY immediately! But this person still had it. Thankfully, they thoughtfully gave it to me unasked on Monday. :)
CATCHING FIRE was just as good as the first! The whole storyline had an amazing twist of a Quarter Quell games that calls for Katniss and Peeta to reenter the arena with other hunger games victors in a fight to the death. They must deal with new allies, new plots, new threats, new twists, new information, new attention to Katniss from an old friend, and a game bigger than Katniss or Peeta suspected.
I was surprised that Suzanne Collins could tie in another hunger games with Katniss and Peeta and still have it work without seeming like she ran out of ideas. I liked that she threw new twists in to mix things up. New lies for the Capitol and new discoveries about the bigger picture. I liked that she tied in old information from the other book that you were confused about or thought was pointless, and she built upon information and characters that you thought were unimportant. I liked that she didn't fudge everything for the good guys and make everything go right for them. She put in betrayals and deaths and you never knew who to trust, who was lying, who was sane, who had was skill, who knew what about who, who wasn't who they seemed, or who loves who and meant what they said. She was able to link stories, pasts, characters, and motives for actions without seeming too random and complicated or over thought.
This is a great book and a great series! I was reading MOCKINGJAY the past 2 days, and I literally walked to school while holding 2 textbooks and reading it. I was almost late for PE because I was reading in the locker room this morning! Because you never know what could happen to anyone, you have to read to find out what happens next!
Leisl Likes:
THE PRINCESS DIARIES by Meg Cabot
I loved these movies and so, on a trip to the store I was browsing through the book section and found this book! I was in desperate need of something to read and had started the book but never finished it so...
This book is about a girl named Amelia (who goes by Mia) whose mom is going out with her math teacher and is in love with Josh the most popular senior guy in school. She is kind of known as a freak by the popular people and isn't totally happy with her life. Well, one day her dad comes to visit and tells her that she is the heir to the throne of Genovia. She is a Princess and she isn't happy. Her grandmother comes to visit also and gives her princess lessons. In her lessons she wants Mia to become used to the paparazzi so she leaks to the news that Mia is a princess and the secret is out. She eventually accepts that she’s a princess.
Now I was surprised by how similar the book and the movie were. There were a few differences, such as the book takes place in New York and the movie takes place in San Francisco. In the movie, Mia is brunette and in the book Mia is blonde. In the movie Lily and Mia are friends the whole time and the one fight they do have they fix right away, in the book lily and Mia get in a fight because Mia has to go to princess lessons and can't help Lily with her T.V show "Lily tells it like it is". Lily stays mad at her practically the whole book. Another big difference is that Mia's Dad is alive in the book and in the movie he’s dead.
Some things that are the same are the characters. One of our family’s favorite characters is Paolo the hairstylist. He has some awesome lines in the movie. This is a quote from Princess Diaries 2 the best that I can remember. Mia: "I look like a moose!" Paolo: "Yes, but a very cute moose! You make all the boy mooses go mmmmwwwwwaaaaa!" (think moose sounds) anyway... it is definitely a good book and the movies are equally good so go read!!
On this date: In 1620, the Mayflower departs England.
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