CATCHING FIRE

There have been a great number of books that have given me sleepless nights.  The very first that I can remember was way back in high school when I first read the Amityville book; and that because of the horror that my vivid imagination gave me.  After that, there have been an innumerable string of titles that I can barely remember the titles of, simply because I could not put them down as soon as I started reading.  But then, I can remember reading something that I had to pause in between chapters and think about what I have just read - that is, not until the second book in the Hunger Games series; Catching Fire.

After i virtually devoured the first of the series, I was totally prepared to be taken into the whirlwind of Panem after Katniss' and Peeta's victory.  As expected, the book delivered the twists and turns that though some have been forming at the back of my mind while reading the first book, others have totally unnerved me, but, totally in a good way.  If I though I was addicted in the first book, i'm totally much worst here in the second staging of the Hunger Games.

Katniss as always is the girl on fire.  The other cast of characters have been totally hard to hate and its hard to root for the main characters when some of the other tributes are equally as appealing.  Finnick, Johanna and the rest have given me stunned minutes as I imagine how they might look like.  The ending is as always a bomb!

I still can't wait to see the first of the titles on screen as Hunger Games open in theaters March 23, 2012 but now I have something else to watch out for, Catching Fire, out in theaters November of 2013.

Now I'm on fire as I am immersed in the third and final installment.

young at heart

theres something very captivating about the idea of reliving one's youth that makes YOUNG ADULT (YA) fiction very popular to readers.  i'd guess that there is a certain part of our childhood that stays with each of us until our adult years that somehow a glimpse of those slices of wonder and discovery drives us to escape into these windows of innocence.

YA fiction is a branch of fiction whose story revolves around young characters, usually in situations that would bring them to greatness amidst insurmountable odds.  in my quest to bulk up my cache of books in my collection, i have accumulated quite a number of them; attracted with the quick wit, action, drama and the fantasy that is still all too real from the eyes of these youthful characters.  most often than not, it is their naivete that lends them the strength to succeed.

LEVEN THUMPS by OBERT SKYE

im currently absorbed in this hilarious adventure of a 14 year old orphan boy who turns out to be an important character to a dreamland called FOO.  the pacing is fast, the words are witty and the situations are totally out of this world although a lot of the scenes are in our very own dimension. together with a thirteen year old girl who can control and create ice, a cute furry cat-like creature and a king who temporarily is a sliver of wood.  the formula of the story is new and totally entertaining...hahahaha... who can resist a strong, powerful and tall king who unfortunately is currently a toothpick.  priceless!

PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS by RICK RIODAN

adventure and action is what makes the percy jackson series tick.  from book to book (five in total) the unpredictability of the plot twists guides the characters into a situations weird and weirder.  a son of the sea god, POSEIDON, percy faces monsters and TITANS with a daughter of ATHENA, a CYCLOP halfbrother and a faun whose favorite food is an aluminum soda can.  one thing good about this series is it has reintroduced me to the gods and goddesses of greek mythology.  tsk tsk tsk, now, if only my literature class was this interesting.

SHIVER (and the rest of the series) by MAGGIE STIEFVATER

now, what made these book really popular was the earlier titles that introduced the genre to the public.  who among us would not recognize HARRY POTTER and the TWILIGHT series.  these two are undeniably the forerunners of the popularity of YA books.  not only were they made into movies (the current trend is transforming the books into blockbusters: currently playing I AM NUMBER FOUR, BEASTLY (March), MORTAL INSTRUMENTS (2012), etc.) but they paved the way for the genre to be read by adults as well.  one of the driving force of the interest is the emotions that pushes the characters into reality - foremost would be love.

what the twilight series did to vampires, SHIVER will do to WEREWOLVES.  the books not only  delivers the emotion, the pain of wanting to belong, the love that will bridge all odds.  watch out for the movie now in pre-production.

i love books, whatever genre, whatever age.  i might not be one of the characters in these youthful books but then again, as i read from page to page somehow i feel the age that i will forever be in.  young at heart!