Audio Book Challenge Review: Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins - 2009

2011 Audio Book Challenge: Book # 3 (of 6)

Title: Catching Fire (Hunger Games # 2)

Author: Suzanne Collins

Year: 2009

Read By: Carolyn McCormick

Publisher: Scholastic

Date Read: 2-13-2011

Overall: * * * * (4/5) (based on audio book version)

GoodReads Blurb: Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark won the annual competition described in Hunger Games, but the aftermath leaves these victors with no sense of triumph. Instead, they have become the poster boys for a rebellion that they never planned to lead. That new, unwanted status puts them in the bull's-eye for merciless revenge by The Capitol. Catching Fire maintains the adrenaline rush of Suzanne Collins's series launch.

My Review: I really like the audio book versions of the Hunger Games books now. Though I kept having weird sound problems with this book, not sure if it was the mp3, the ipod, or my headphones. Sometimes it sounded like there was a crazy echo and that Carolyn McCormick was part robot. Weird.

I still love this story, and I love Peeta more and more as the books go on and as I reread them. I think I've said before that when I first read The Hunger Games (book 1) I really didn't like Peeta. I thought he was cocky and a jerk. Then when I read Catching Fire for the first time, I fell in love with Peeta. Now when I reread them, I don't have that hatred for Peeta in the first book, I guess because now I understand where he is coming from a lot better than when I first read it.

Listening to these books feels a bit more depressing than reading them though, because the full effect of hearing someone describe everything that happens in the arena is just more intense, in my opinion. I am excited to start listening to Mockingjay soon, but I want to make sure I have a few good big chunks of time so it doesn't take me as long as the first two books did.

To Purchase: Print version | Audio Book version

Currently Reading: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart, Ten Miles Past Normal (ARC) by Frances O'Roark Dowell

Warning: A large number of book reviews will be posted later today and tomorrow.

I listened to this book as part of the 2011 Audio Book Challenge hosted by Teresa's Reading Corner.

Books Read in 2011: 21

Pretty Little Liars

I wouldn't say that Pretty Little Liars was a fantastic book, but I did enjoy it very much. It was a nice, easy read and was definitely a good choice to go for after finishing Catching Fire. I liked the chapters focusing on the different girls and their secrets, though I kept wishing people would get over themselves and just be honest. It was nice that the girls weren't annoying and that they really seemed like people, with thoughts and fears and emotions.

I liked Spencer a lot, and I kept feeling bad for Hanna because her mom just sort of dismisses her, even when she ends up at the police station twice in a week. Emily seems like the nicest and the most confused, and I really like Aria for being sort of different. "A" is very interesting, and I want to know who it is that knows all this stuff, maybe they're the person who killed Alison, and they made her tell her friends secrets or something.

I really want to know what "The Jenna Thing" is. If I read more of these books, that will be the main reason. I am very curious about it, and I want to know why Spencer seems to know more about what happened with it than the rest of them.

Alison seems like maybe she wasn't a very good friend to them all when she was alive, although it's hard to judge someone based on who they were in 7th grade. Most people grow a lot and stop being bratty or manipulative at some point. I was sort of hoping it wouldn't be her body that was found, so I was actually sad when it came time for the funeral. But I really liked that it brought the other four girls back together. Maybe they will get a little closer as time goes on, even though they are all so different from each other.

All in all, I would say it was a good read and that I enjoyed it. It wasn't life-changing or thrilling, but it was entertaining and had a good bit of mystery to it. I might pick up the second book sometime when I need another break from intense books like Catching Fire. The prequel-ish book to Graceling by Kristin Cashore (it's called Fire) comes out next month, so maybe that will be how I let my brain relax after it.

Next up I am reading After bye Amy Efaw, which the jacket says is about a girl who is charged with attempted murder for putting her newborn baby in a trash can, after she apparently didn't even know she was pregnant til it was time to give birth. I'm expecting this to be a quick read, but maybe not an easy one, since it's about a very emotion-filled topic. We'll see how it goes and I'll keep you posted.

Caught Fire

I stayed up late last night reading Catching Fire from start to finish. I started it at midnight, which was probably a poor choice on my part, and didn't finish it until the dark night sky was replaced with the soft blue-gray of early morning. I tried to put it down and fall asleep a few times, I really did, but each time I couldn't fall asleep because I just needed to know what was going to happen to Katniss and the other characters.

I don't want to spoil the book for anyone, so I won't go into details, but I am so incredibly intrigued by the last two pages of the book. The last sentence alone had me staying up even past when I'd finished to try and work it out in my head.

I really like how Katniss has developed as a person, and I love that she lets us in on all the turmoil inside of her and the guilt she feels no matter what decisions she makes. I feel like her character grew a lot throughout the two books.

I still love Gale and now I even really like Peeta, since he obviously cares for Katniss more than even she knew. I can't wait til the next book comes out, I need to know where Katniss and the others are now and what happened in District 12 and the other Districts during the Quarter Quell Games. I NEED TO KNOW!!

Sorry for the outburst, but really, these books have got me hooked and have crawled into my brain. No two books have surprised me and shocked me and completely turned me around more than The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. I love reading them, and then I am in a state of distress when they are done because I want so badly to know what happens to Katniss, Gale, Prim, Peeta, and even Haymitch.

If you haven't read these two books, they will seriously change your life if you give them a try. They're well-written, adventurous, terrifying, and very different from any book I've ever read. You'll enjoy them.

It's Time!

I finished Redwall last night and now I can start Catching Fire! I am so, so excited, and so far all I've heard about the sequel is that it's amazing. I know it's going to have a lot of twists thrown at Katniss, and it's probably going to leave me bewildered and wanting more, but I am SO ready!
I won't get to start reading it until a bit later on today, since I have to get ready and drive to my parents house now, and then visit some friends for dinner possibly. But I will probably end up staying up really late tonight, because if it's anything like the The Hunger Games, I won't be able to put it down for anything less than a house fire.

Catching Fire

After dropping off this months rent I went to Barnes & Noble to get "Catching Fire", the sequel to "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins. I am SO excited to read this book! It's hard to put it on hold while I finish "Redwall", but I know it is worth waiting for. "The Hunger Games" is fantastic and well-written and unique. I didn't used to like stories that took place in the future, because they all seemed so unrealistic, but "The Hungers Games" is so captivating that it definitely changed my mind about reading similar books.
While I was at Barnes & Noble I also picked up a couple of the books on my "To Buy" list. I got "The Miles Between" by Mary Pearson, "After the Moment" by Garret Freymann-Weyr, and the first "Pretty Little Liars" book by Sara Shepard. But obviously, they have to go on hold for a while so I can catch up to the other 5 million books on my lists.
After stopping in at B&N I went through the Drive-Thru Panera (So awesome!) because I really just wanted one of their lemonades. Their lemonades are amazing, I don't even know why! I'm trying to savior it and make it last, but that's a battle fought in vain.
Now, time to get back to "Redwall," because the sooner I finish it, the sooner I can dive into "Catching Fire" and see what's going on in the world of Katniss and Peeta! I also have to figure out what's wrong with my desktop computer, it's being a bit feisty and I have to go put it in its place.