I finally finished Catching Fire

Jul 03

I finally finished Catching Fire

So I started The Hunger Games a way while back and I just finished Catching Fire. I cheated though, and saw the movie first a few months back before finishing the written version. So while I finished reading, I couldn’t help but let images from the movie sprinkle on. The movie seemed a lot more violent, but I know all that violence was described in the book. I’m a visual learner, so I guess why the movie is usually more intense for me. I thought the book spent too much time at the beginning of the story and then rushed throught the middle and the end so the book seemed more about getting ready for the Quarter Quell instead of the Quarter Quell itself. I really, really did not like what happened to Cinna! Also, the part when Maggie kisses Finnick good-bye and bascially votes herself off the island. That gets to me. It got to me when I saw the movie, and then it got me again as I read about it. :'( I like the lead into Book Three, but it makes me nervous. I’m imagining corporeal punishments from the...

Read More

to all the boys I’ve loved before

Jan 03

to all the boys I’ve loved before

One day I’m going to write a love letter to Jenny Han, but until then the above video will have to do. 😀

Read More

This is more of a college book…

Dec 16

This is more of a college book…

…yet the voice is very YA. I don’t want to yak too much about it, so here’s a video I made of my reflections on Sandy Hall’s A Little Something Different:  ...

Read More

NOT IN THE SCRIPT

Nov 16

NOT IN THE SCRIPT

Well, I learned from Amy Finnegan’s debut novel, Not in the Script, that a lot of drama happens over very little off the set. Yet somehow, I couldn’t stop reading! Without reading her bio, I knew that Amy is really familiar with the behind-the-scenes happenings when actors are filming. Then it turns out she has a brother who used to be part of the biz. That makes a lot of sense. The cover is cute and it doesn’t feature the divas of the story like I thought it would: They look like nice people right? The thing that makes this story successful is how real the characters are. They are actors and yes, maybe one or two of them love the publicity they get from being who they are, but when the cameras aren’t rolling, they are just like any other teenagers, except famous. This is just a taste of what life is like for them that the public has no clue and I like how Amy gives us a little peek in the window. You would think a model just wants to find any other opportunity to get his name out there and his face on billboards or buses or whatever, but here is one who wants to use the money he makes to help his mother with her health issues. He also wants to go to college for business. This all started with him selling all of his mother’s shoes when he was just a kid. You would think an actress just wants to pose for the cameras and find what new roles she can get. But here’s one who wants to start a charity foundation and found just the person who inspired it. Of course, the story would not be complete without a lot of miscommunication, teens not ready for serious relationships, head guessing games and tabloids. It makes dating your co-worker that much more difficult. This book is cute and oddly enough, some parts I related to so well I felt tears welling up. No...

Read More

Did you really think I was not going to read TFIOS?

Oct 28

Did you really think I was not going to read TFIOS?

It’s been about two years now since this book was released and I have recently put it down. I am rereading it already, though, in true AIA fashion. I have already calmed down since I first got excited about this book, but if you’re curious to see what that was like: I think I took a while to pick up this book because I was afraid it was going to be over-hyped. And when I first read what the book was about, I wasn’t sure I wanted to read a book about “sick people.” Then after watching tons of reviews on YouTube, or should I say, BookTube, it seemed that this book was classified as a cancer book. I haven’t read that many cancer books and I think The Fault In Our Stars (I’m tickled that fans call it TFIOS) would qualify as my first one. I don’t see how the others count as they were not as unique as this one. Well, I’m not going to say much more about this book. I’ve got to read it...

Read More