I finished the final book of the Hunger Games trilogy in three days, about the same length of time it took me to read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Read: Review for book one of the series, The Hunger Games
Read: Review for book two of the series, Catching Fire

I thought it was strong, powerful and a great end to the trilogy. I do have some more specific comments though, so SPOILERS BEHIND THE CUT!

Read the rest of this entry »

Things have been pretty busy here the past couple weeks at chez Monnibo. This post is going to be a mish-mash of many things.

We went to Spanish Banks on Saturday and met some Camp friends for dinner. When the tide was out, we went for a wander in the ocean. Gorgeous photos resulted (and I made a new Flickr set called Vancouver Beaches).

Spanish Banks at low tide

We went to Bard on the Beach on the weekend and saw Anthony & Cleopatra. I really enjoyed it and I have to say that Bard on the Beach is one of my favourite festivals. And of course there is a Bard Flickr set too, with various years’ photos.

Intermission at Bard on the Beach

Speaking of festivals, I sent The Word On The Street Vancouver program guide to the printer today (!!!). We’ve been working on this all summer. I’ve also got some other initiatives for the festival going: if you’re on Twitter, follow WOTSvancouver — if you’re on Facebook, “like” The Word On The Street Vancouver — if you’re on Flickr, share your photos on the WOTS Vancouver Group Pool — or add the WOTS Vancouver blog to your feed reader!

At BookCrossing Meetup the other night, we were talking about books (of course!) and then blogs and publishers and authors, etc. I mentioned I signed up for newsletters and followed publisher/publishing blogs. Dale and Marina instantly wanted me to write a blog post full of links… and this is just to say that yes, I intend to do that, but I don’t have time right now.

Philippa Gregory’s new book comes out this Thursday, August 19. The Red Queen is book two in her next series about the Houses of Lancaster and York. I enjoyed The White Queen (review) but wasn’t crazy about it. So, I don’t know how I feel about The Red Queen, but I’d like to give it a shot.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins — book three of the Hunger Games Triology — comes out in one week (Tuesday, August 24)!! I’ve read (and reviewed) both The Hunger Games and Catching Fire and I’m really looking forward to the final installment.

Julie Forrest tweeted a link earlier today to an upcoming knitting book from Random House — Vampire Knits: Projects to Keep You Knitting from Twilight to Dawn by Genevieve Miller. There are many Twilight-inspired patterns on Ravelry already (including a leaked pattern from Vampire Knits), but it will be neat to see what other vampire-inspired knits are devised.

Okay, now one weird question… why are my house plants plagued by fruit flies?

SPOILER ALERT: This is the second book in the Hunger Games series. If you have not read it, or haven’t finished The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, DO NOT read this post!

I have been wanting to read Catching Fire ever since I finished The Hunger Games in August. I resisted mainly because of my huge TBR pile. However, with the holidays, I got a chance to read it. Here is the synopsis of Catching Fire (and I must say, it does a good job of meeting this hype):

After winning the brutal Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen returns to her district, hoping for a peaceful future. But Katniss starts to hear rumours of a deadly rebellion against the Capitol. A rebellion that she and Peeta have helped to create. As Katniss and Peeta are forced to visit the districts on the Capitol’s cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. Unless Katniss and Peeta can convince the world that they are still lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying…

I flew through the book in three days! I would say that Catching Fire isn’t quite as compelling as The Hunger Games, but that is often the case with series; the second book has to deal with all the cliffhangers and strings the first book left hanging. But Catching Fire was certainly a good transitional book, and even though it can’t stand alone without The Hunger Games, it sets things up well for the third book.

I really enjoyed the story, and the directions that were taken in regards to the Capitol’s choices and the District’s reactions. I enjoyed the symbolism that the mockingjay took on and what it came to represent. I liked the twist at the end with District 13, the Gamemakers, and Haymitch.

I’m very glad that we have to wait at least a year for the next book because then the author, Suzanne Collins, and her editor(s) have time to work on it. I think that Stephanie Meyer lost that memo with Breaking Dawn, the final installment of the Twilight series. Although J.K. Rowling took a lot of time between the Harry Potter books and didn’t lose much hype. It certainly appears to be a delicate balance, especially if the series is optioned for a movie … which I don’t doubt it will be.

UPDATE (August 2010): Read my review for Mockingjay (book 3)