Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (74/81)

Warning : Do not read this if you haven't read The Hunger Games as it contains spoilers ..

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. This is the terrifying sequel to The Hunger Games .

Will unless you have been living on the moon for the past year you are bound to have heard of this series .... And eagerly waiting on the next installment ........... And I have to say that the second book is just as great as the first :) ............ The only downside is that we have to wait until next year to find out what happens next ........ All I can say is 'Please Suzanne don't let it be too long!' ............

With Katniss and Peeta winning The Hunger Games you just knew that them being happy was not going to last .... And that the Capitol will find some way of paying them back for their rebellion ...

The book is fast paced and I really didn't want it to end ......... And the way it did end ... Sucks ..... In a good way because it has kept you hanging for the next installment ....

I love the characters in the book and I have to say I am totally on Team 'Peete' ........

So if you haven't read the first book do yourself a favour and get a copy ........

I rate this book 5*****

Books in order of series:
The Hunger Games
Catching Fire

The Long Walk - 51/81

The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz, biography category

Slavomir Rawicz was a Polish cavalry officer in World War II. He came home on leave and found himself arrested by the Russians for the crime of, well, being Polish. He was kept in prison, but refused to confess. After a few months, he was tricked into signing a confession and shipped off to Siberia for 25 years hard labor. After a horrible trek up into the northern wilderness, he finds himself in a Siberian work camp.

He decides he's not about to spend 25 years there, and makes plans to escape. He enlists six other men, a Latvian, an American, other Poles, and they sneak out in the night. Their escape plan will take them through Mongolia, across the Gobi Desert, up and down the Himalayas, and through India.

It's an incredible story. I couldn't put it down once I got started. Sometimes there were gaps in the story, but it was absolutely gripping. Really worth reading.

Alfred Kropp and the Thirteenth Skull, 49/81

Alfred Kropp and the Thirteenth Skull, by Rick Yancey, teen category

After saving the world from complete destruction twice, you'd think Alfred could get a chance to sit back and relax for a bit. Nope. This book takes up just minutes after The Seal of Solomon ends, and it's back into the fray for Alfred.

If you haven't heard of this series (and it seems to be a well kept secret), you are missing out. Alfred is an unlikely hero. He's a pretty normal guy. But he finds him self over and over again in extraordinary situations.

I don't want to say too much here, in case you haven't read the first two, but I will say that several characters are back. The most frightening this time around, though, is Special Operative Nueve, a complete psychopath who is either Alfred's only hope or his worst nightmare.

I love this series! Alfred is such a great character. I think what makes him so appealing is that he has absolute certainty that he really is no one special. But he's the only one who can do what he does. He makes the right choice, again and again, even if that is a tough choice for himself. He never fails. That's what I love about him.

Highly recommended. This is a violent series, with lots of religious references, but it would be great for most teens. Plenty of action, no real language, and a great hero.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (16/81)

COULD YOU SURVIVE ON YOUR OWN, IN THE WILD, WITH EVERYONE FIGHTING AGAINST YOU?

Twenty- four are forced to enter. Only the winner survives.

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Each year, the districts are forced by the Capitol to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the Hunger Games, a brutal and terrifying fight to the death – televised for all of Panem to see.

Survival is second nature for sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who struggles to feed her mother and younger sister by secretly hunting and gathering beyond the fences of District 12. When Katniss steps in to take the place of her sister in the Hunger Games, she knows it may be her death sentence. If she is to survive, she must weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

Well who knew that walking in Big W the other day that I would come across a book that I have been after for a while now !!! And the thing was I was staring at it for a while before it registered that it was The Hunger Games .... I have come accustomed to a different cover ... But I have to say I am delighted with this cover and I couldn't put the book down .... I read it in one day and loved it .... The only down side to the whole thing is that it is a trilogy and the second part isn't coming out until September ...!!!

I have been reading alot of Young Adult reads lately and I am really loving it !!! I think I am going back to my own teen years ... when all I used to read was Fantasy Books ... And I have to admit I have missed them !!!

This is a brilliant first novel by Suzanne Collins ... That both a girl and boy could identify with ... And the front cover is really clever that you can change it to a boy or girl cover depending on what you want !! This book has it all action, danger and romance and you will be grounded to your seat until you finish it !!! It was definitely well worth the wait to receive it !!!!

I rate this book 5*****

A short movie of Suzanne talking about her book .... Enjoy :) It is nice to put a face to a name ...