Catching Fire

I am going to start this off by saying I have not finished the book. My mental sanity depends on me not finishing it in one weekend. When you get the book tomorrow, you will understand (especially when you get to page 173).
This is what I can tell you:

1. Everything that I have said so far is true. I did hit a weak point in the book. I do believe that this plot might be stretched a bit too thin.
2. I am still terrified.
3. The Quater Quell is coming up, which adds to my terror, as well as the terror and excitement of the book and it's characters.
4. There are major reoccurring themes from The Hunger Games.
5. Things are changing in Panem.
6. Things are changing for Peeta and Katniss.
7. Things are changing for Katniss and Gale.
8. Part 1 of the book really is not that great, especially the beginning of it. It doesn't really get exciting until page 173!
9. I think that in some parts of the book, Katniss is a whiny, selfish brat. Although I am pretty sure everyone would be in her situation, there are some really stupid relationship things where she is just being selfish and hurtful. In other words, not really the best role model for a healthy relationship.
10. This book can be read by someone who has never read The Hunger Games, although you won't enjoy it as much because some very important details will go right over your head.
11. I liked The Hunger Games better.

This series in general largely resembles the short story "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson, which was written to illustrate the pointless violence in our world. If you want a taste for what The Hunger Games series is about, I would suggest reading it (you can read it by clicking on the link above). I would NOT recommend this book for kids under the age of thirteen. I am truly terrified and disturbed by this series and I am starting my sophomore year of high school tomorrow.

Because I am not exactly giving you guys the best review of this book (as I haven't finished it yet), here is a link to the Entertainment Weekly review of Catching Fire. Some of it I agree with and some of it I do not, as you will see from reading my former blog entries about Catching Fire.

This is the part I most agree with: this being a teen novel — she also has boyfriend problems. For PR purposes, Katniss pretends to be in love with her sweet-natured Games teammate Peeta Mellark, but she secretly pines for brooding Gale, a childhood friend. Except — why? There's little distinction between the two thinly imagined guys, other than the fact that Peeta has a dopier name. Collins conjures none of the erotic energy that makes Twilight, for instance, so creepily alluring.

The book goes on sale tomorrow though, so you don't exactly have to wait long, but here is another mini excerpt!! All of the material below is the work of Suzanne Collins and should be checked against the final printing of Catching Fire as my copy is an ARC copy which has mistakes in it!

Page 118: "Life in District 12 isn't really so different from life in the arena. At some point, you have to spot running and turn around and face whoever wants you dead. The hard thing is finding the courage to do it."

I hope you all enjoy Catching Fire!

More to come,

OfficiallyMRS

Catching Fire (Again...)

So maybe I spoke too soon. About it not being a prolonged plot. Or maybe I've just hit a really weak point in the book. But as of now, Catching Fire isn't that entertaining. It's creepy. Really, really creepy, but you can't have a book based only on creepiness.
I am getting really ticked off with Katniss and her relationship drama. As she said herself, she is being selfish. And if there is one thing that really bugs me about TeenLit it's the damsels in distress, oh save me!, let's run away from our problems, I am such a brat but I am not going to change who I am, whining stuff. It's the one issue I had with Twilight.
And it's one of the major issues I am now dealing with with Catching Fire.
I am not saying it's a bad book. It's just.... not as good as The Hunger Games.
More to come,
OfficiallyMRS

Catching Fire (So Far...)

This is just an idea of what the book is like so far. I plan to do a full review sometime tomorrow or maybe later today.
After an unwelcome visit and threat from President Snow, Peeta and Katniss have left on tour. There relationship is changing (how, I refuse to tell you! You have to read the book) whether they want it to or not. In many ways, the Hunger Games have left the arena and are now roaming with Katniss and Peeta through the districts: Haymitch is still their mentor and all of their lives are still at stake, along with those they love and care about. So far, this book is really creepy and foreboding, keeping the tension and thrilling themes that were scattered throughout The Hunger Games. I was truly afraid that this book would just draw out The Hunger Games with an unnecessary plot, but I couldn't have been more wrong.
Personally, I am terrified.
More to come,
OfficiallyMRS

Catching Fire (Excerpt)

Because I have been crazy busy with getting ready for school to start, I thought that you guys might want a Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins excerpt to tie you over until I can finish the book and do my review. So this is from Chapter Three and pretty much tells what the plot of the book is (from what I have read so far.):

"A visit from President Snow. Districts on the verge of uprisings. A direct death threat to Gale, with others to follow. Everyone I loved doomed. And who knows who else will pay for my actions? Unless I turn things around on this tour. Quiet the discontent and put the president's mind at rest. And how? By proving to the country beyond any shadow of a doubt that I love Peeta Mellark."

I am loving this book and cannot wait to finish it so I can review it for you guys!
More to come,
OfficiallyMRS

Contest: Win a Book Playlist

So I come back from outdoor ed, open up my blog and find that my blog now had double the followers, along with hits from all over the county and all over the WORLD.
Then I open up my twitter for OfficiallyMRS. It too has a significant amount of people following me now that weren't following me before.
In celebration of this, I want to do something special for all of my followers.
As music is a huge part of my life, this is what is going to happen. I am going to pick a random person that is following me and send them a playlist that I make for any book that has been reviewed on OfficiallyMRS. They get to pick the book and the CD with my mix on it will be sent to them! A creative give away, if I do say so myself. I will pick the random follower this Tuesday (September 1st)!
More to come,
OfficiallyMRS

Catching Fire

So guys, guess what??
I just recieved an ARC copy of Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins!! Do you know how excited I am!! I am going to read as fast as I possibly can so I can get a review to you all by the release date! I would expect it probably sunday, maybe saturday!!!
I want to thank Suzie at FinePrint Literary Management for lending me her copy of Catching Fire along with several other books!!! Thank you so much!
More to come,
OfficiallyMRS

Contest: Win a copy of Girl Goddess #9

I have decided that it is time to hold a contest of OfficiallyMRS.
The prize.... what else, a BOOK! As this is my first contest I am only going to be giving away one book, my copy of Girl Goddess #9, a collection of 9 short stories about girls by Francesca Lia Block published by HarperCollins Publishers.
Here is a synopsis from the jacket of the book:



Welcome to GIRL GODDESS #9, a collection of nine stories about girls by the author of WEETZIE BAT. Here in these pages are girl goddesses of every age and shape and size, wearing combat boots and spiky hair or dressed all in white. One girl has two moms, another has no mother at all but a strange blue-skinned elf that lives in her closet. One is a rock-star groupie, another loves dancing and reading poetry and having picnics in the backyard when the moon is full. Best best girlfriends, lovers gay and straight. Baby goddesses, singing goddesses, dancing goddesses, writing goddesses- all discovering that the world is not a simple place and that there is more than one way to live.


I loved this book and found it a fun read, perfect to get your mind off of your own life and onto someone else's, or in this case a few different peoples'. Just to sit back and enjoy the last bits of nice weather before winter hits.

So here are the groundrules for the contest:

1) You will recieve one entry to the contest if you comment on this blog entry saying that you want to be entered in the contest with your email address.

2) You will recieve three extra entries if you are a follower or become a follower of OfficiallyMRS
3) You will recieve one extra entry if you follow OfficiallyMRS on twitter. You must leave your twitter username with your comment saying that you are now a follower.

3) You will recieve four extra entries if you post an entry about this contest or about OfficiallyMRS to your blog. You must post a link to said entry with your comment.

4) You will recieve one extra entry if you tweet about this contest with a link to OfficiallyMRS. Please make sure that you make this an @ mention otherwise I will not be able to count it as an entry.
Open to residence of the continental US only!
The contest closes on September 21st at midnight central time.

Have fun and good luck!

More to come,

OfficiallyMRS

Going Bovine

This is a link to the trailer about Libba Bray's (author of A Great and Terrible Beauty Series) new book, Going Bovine. I almost died I was laughing so hard! I cannot wait to read this book. Good for you Libba! Way to go!
More to come,
OfficiallyMRS

The Book Thief

So because I had to write a letter to my teacher about The Book Thief for my summer reading assignment, I decided that it was close enough to a blog entry that I could just post it here too. I edited it so it's a lot less mind numbing and boring.

When I first picked up The Book Thief by Markus Zusack, I was excited. Yes, I know that is usually not the response you get to a summer reading book, but even just within the first few pages, I knew this book was going to be different than any I had ever read. I loved this book because it was probably one of the most thought provoking books I have ever read, and not just in the “what is the answer to life” way, but in the way it was written. Although there were some pieces that I undeniably disliked, the book as a whole was one of the most powerful books I have ever read.
The stories within the stories fascinated me. They exemplified the changes that occurred during Nazi Germany as well as helped me relate the varied stories to my own life. For example, the story of Rudy as he painted himself black and ran the 100-meter so that he could resemble Jessi Owens. The negative and fearful reactions that were provoked from this incident from his father enlightened me to how lucky I really am. Although I may be sheltered in some extent, the racial and religious acceptance that is found in our society today, although there are exceptions, is something I can now value after reading The Book Thief.
Although I did value the stories within the stories, I found some of them unnecessarily prolonging and irrelevant. I realize that the experience that I had with The Book Thief would not have been the same is Zusak had not included these stories, but some of the insight that I received into Liesel’s life made the book so that it was long and tedious rather than enthralling as it was in most other parts of the book. As a consequence into these random yet heart filled and insightful stories, I did not really begin to appreciate the book until about 200 pages into it. As a general rule of thumb, if a book does not grab my attention by page 100, I put it down. Although I am grateful that I did not do so with this book, I wish that Markus Zusack had not danced along the edges of the conflict rather than just entering it within the first pieces of the book. If it had not been for Zusacks’ incredible gift for arranging words on a page in the unique way that he does, I severely doubt that The Book Thief would have become the phenomenon that it is, if in fact, it had even been published.
Along that note, probably the thing I most got out of The Book Thief was the writing and narration style that Markus Zusack gave Death (the narrator). This entire book is poetic with lines that allow you to fully immerse yourself in Nazi Germany. The entirety in which I was absorbed was so strong that reading this book was like watching a film in my head. Everything from tone of voice to broken silences (“The silence snapped like a rubber band”) to the use of describing words and objects that would normally be irrelevant to the situation (such as on “small chips of rain.”) make this book unique and enthralling.
A piece that I loved about getting to know Liesel was her love for books. This common thread allowed me to connect with the book and think about what reading and books mean to me. I realize how lucky I am to be receiving and education as well as having an unlimited and easy access to books.
*runs up and hugs the closest librarian she can find*
To read more about Markus Zusak and The Book Thief click here!
More to come,
OfficiallyMRS

The Mortal Instruments News

EDITS HAVE BEEN MADE
HEY GUYS! GUESS WHAT?! GUESS WHAT?! CAN YOU TELL THAT I AM JUMPING UP AND DOWN WHILE TYPING THIS! IT'S HARD TO DO BUT WELL WORTH IT!
YOU WANNA KNOW WHY?
DO YA?
DO YA?
DO YA?!
TWO pieces of news.
TWO.
NOT ONE.
BUT TWO
REALLY. COOL. PIECES. OF. NEWS.
ABOUT PRETTY MUCH MY FAVORITE SERIES OF ALL TIME!!!!!!!!!

*takes long deep, calming breath and begins to type about news rather than her excitement about the news.*


There is going to be ANOTHER Mortal Instruments Book.
let me clarify (can I say claryfy in this situation though? hahaha)
1)This does NOT include the prequels to the series, the Infernal Devices Trilogy
2) Edit: this IS the book that will follow Simon's story, but Clary and Jace will be apart of it
3)This book is called City of Fallen Angels and it will be released March of 2011.
Yes. I know. It's pretty cool.
But now for the OTHER piece of news....
The Mortal Instruments Series is going to be a trilogy of movies. Pretty cool right?
Yeah.
EXCITEMENT!
Edit: There is more!! TMI series is going to be made into a graphic novel
Here is the link to the official press release
If you want to know more about the news that was released today at The Mortal Instruments party, follow MundieSource.Net on Twitter! or follow Cassandra Clare on Twitter or follow OfficiallyMRS (me) on Twitter or go to Cassandra Clare's official website!
More to come,
OfficiallyMRS
P.S. Here are two amazing videos I found on Youtube that I love about the Mortal Instruments. Soo funny!
The Lightwood Llama Song
The Jace Song<<

Um... WOW.

So I just open up my twitter account and look at my @messages.
I have two.
From Ally Carter.
As in author of Don't Judge a Girl By Her Cover, Cross my Heart and Hope to Spy, and I'd Tell You I love You but Then I'd have to Kill You
"Well, that's pretty cool." I think to myself. It's awesome to get recognized by one of your favorite authors. It's just a cool feeling. Even if it is only on twitter.
And then I go to her website and poke around looking for dirt on her new book The Hiest Society.
I open up her blog.
And there is a blog entry.
WITH AN ENTRY LINKING TO MY BLOG ON TEENREADS.COM.
*heart leaps* *gasp* *Starts jumping up and down screaming* (overexageration,I might add.)
So it's pretty cool. Just thought I would let you all know.
Here is a link to Ally's blog where my blog entry was linked from.
Here is a link to the teenreads.com blog which I wrote and you can find it here on OfficiallyMRS (it is a little bit longer on this site though. We had to cut it down a bit).
More to come,
OfficiallyMRS

Truth or Fail

This is kind of amazing. And it has John Green in it. Which makes it more amazing. Because he writes AMAZING BOOKS!
(can you guess what I am going to say next???? yeah. AMAZING! I am nothing if not consistant)
Click here to play TRUTH OR FAIL: the John Green Book's
Youtubes only game show!!

More Wings News

Okay, so after looking at Suzie's comment on the last blog entry, I decided to do some research.
It's true.
Miley strikes again.
This is from Aprilynne Pike's website.

"Miley Cyrus, Disney, Temple Hill, and Wings
By Kenneth Pike - Posted on 14 July 2009
In the summer of 2007, my wife wrote a book. It was a good book! I enjoyed it. I had a notion that it would get published. I even made some predictions to that effect.
Apparently I was thinking too small. Remind me never to underestimate my wife.
The film rights to Wings have been optioned by Disney (yeah, that Disney). Attached to produce are none other than Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey of Temple Hill Entertainment. Attached to star? The inimitable Miley Cyrus, with Tish Cyrus attached as an executive producer.
So now you know.
The fine print, of course, is that Hollywood is a complicated place to be. Disney may decide, for whatever reason, to never exercise the option. Scripts change. Casting choices change. This is only the first step down the road to a movie--a road that could be long, short, or somewhere in-between.
But, hey, what a step, right? d^_^b
If you haven't already, please stop by Aprilynne's blog and congratulate her. And if you happen to be someone from HarperTeen, Writers House, UTA, Disney, Temple Hill, or anyone else who has been involved in the tremendous process of making Wings what it has become, you deserve a round of applause. Well done.
And the rest of you, who have enjoyed Aprilynne's book by the thousands: thank you. I apologize for posting so often on her behalf, but Aprilynne is hard at work making the rest of the series something really special for you to enjoy.
Please feel free to insert a witty valediction here. d^_^b"

I personally am not sure how I feel about this. I would love to have a Wings the movie.
I would be thrilled for Aprilynne and her hard work and I would go see it and force my friends to go see it even if they don't want to.
And I have nothing against Miley. She is very talented.
But I am not at all sure how I feel about the combination of the two.
At. All.
What do you guys think?
More to come,
OfficiallyMRS

Wings News!

The second book in Aprillynne Pike's Wings series will be coming out an entire month earlier than expected!! yeah!! The official release date is now May 4th (v.s. June 8th)!!! Excitement!!

Evermore

So I just read the first 2 chapters of Evermore by Alissa Noel and *gasp* I am loving it. I have the same feeling that I got when I read Twilight and City of Bones. I cannot wait to finish it!

Julie and Julia

So I just got home from seeing Julie and Julia.
It was a great movie. But it also got me thinking: I have no real connection to this blog. I have no deadlines, and just writing about book after book is not going to do me or you any favors. Be honest, you are not going to read every book that I post about. You have lives and interests and hobbies. And if you take some of my suggestions, then great! That makes me really excited! Email me and tell me about it.
But what if this blog wasn't just about other people's stories? What if it was about my own?
So I propose this.
I will write one page a day for 365 days. Of what, I have no idea. I could do a short story over a course of a few days or a short novel over the course of a month or two. They won't be great. They will be rough and will have to be hacked out and edited over and over again. But that's what writing is. And of course I will still talk about books, and my life. But it's time for me to start writing my own stories.
What do you guys think? Please let me know by emailing me at officiallymrs@gmail.com or commenting on this blog.
More to come,
OfficiallyMRS

Weddings... and an "Extra Special Blog Entry"

So, by this time, I would totally understand if you all hated me.
My formal apology:
I am so sorry for the ridiculous amount of time since my last blog entry.
My excuse:
I was at my cousins wedding.
Let's talk weddings. I love them. They are amazing. The reasoning behind this has nothing to do with the look on the grooms face when they walk into the reception (27 Dresses) or having been apart/seen a wedding when I was younger which then made me into a wedding freak (Bride Wars) or the maid of honor being a man (Maid of Honor) or having a dog be the ring bearer (Although I am positive I have seen this in a movie, possibly Legally Blonde 2?, this actually did happen at my cousins wedding. Her dog was the ring bearer. How AMAZING is that?) It's because weddings are often romance novels brought to life. We read about people falling for each other all the time, see it on the movie screens, see the pictures in the magazines, but how often to we really see the head over heels, I am mad about you, true loves kiss, follow you anywhere kind of love? Two places.
1) While watching an old couple walk through the park hand in hand knowing that they are just as happy if not happier than they were the day that they said "I do"
2) At weddings.
Well anyways. Congrats Pete and Sarah. I love you guys!!

So I feel like I owe you guys an extra special blog entry because I absolutely failed at updating recently. So you guys get to choose on what you want me to review. Here are your choices:
1) Wicked, Lovely Series by Melissa Marr
2) The Book Thief by Markus Zusack
3) Movies that I have seen this summer (just to shake it up a bit.)
4) The Princess Diaries Series by Meg Cabot (And I am talking the ENTIRE series. I have read all of them)
5) Audiobooks (just in general. Ones that I've like, disliked, benefits, downsides, ect.)
The first comment posted to the site will be the deciding comment!! Go!
More to come,
OfficiallyMRS

New Look, Same Blog

I hope you all like the new look for OfficiallyMRS? I thought it was time for a change. I like the new template because twilight is my favorite time of day, the time when I most like to read, when the entire world calms down and goes silent and just takes a breathe. One of the most special things I believe I will ever do in my lifetime was sitting with a group of my friends in silence as twilight fell. It's peaceful.
I like it and I hope you all do too.
I swear, I am reading, it's just taking a while to get the reviews up!
More to come,
OfficiallyMRS

The Airhead Series

People say "don't judge a book by it's cover."

I say, don't judge Airhead by Meg Cabot by its title.

I am not going to say this book is well written. I'm not going to say it's mature. I'm not going to say it is one of the best books I have ever read. I am not going to say it was really appropriate for my age. Because it wasn't. It was goofy, and silly, and fun and entertaining. I wouldn't join a fan club for it, or fall in love with one of the male characters, no team Christopher or team Gabrielle or team Jason. I won't read it over and over again, in fact, I probably won't even read it a second time. But if you are looking for something where you don't really have to work to understand the story or the language, a book that can make you laugh and allow you to get swept away in the story, the Airhead series are the books for you. Sure you get strange looks when people ask you what you are reading (especially if you are blonde like I am), but they are quick, easy reads that are perfect for people from age 11-13. If you are older than that, then there are books that would better suit your age group that you will like more (go look at the archives! They are on the left!! Do it!! Now!).

Click here for a synopsis of Airhead (the first book in the series). (My computer hates me right now otherwise I would just have the synopsis posted here. Sorry!)
Click here for a synopsis of Being Nikki (the second book in the series).

Runaway (the third book in the series) is due to be out May of 2010.

For more information on Meg Cabot and the Airhead series along with her impressive library of her other books, go to http://www.megcabot.com/

More to come,

OfficiallyMRS

P.S. In honor of my friends Joely and Sophie, I am going to track down a copy of Guitar Girl and blog about it!! Love you guys!

The Last Day of Camp

Today is a very sad day for me (and a very happy day for anyone who has been frustrated with my lack of legit blog entries this past month) because today is the last day of camp. The fact that I will no longer be surrounded by incredibly energetic teenagers will allow me to blog more, although I will miss all of them more than I can say. I have made so many incredible friends here! I Love you guys!!
More to come,
OfficiallyMRS

Update: you guys want to see what I did at camp during my free time!?

Yup... I read!!! Reading puddle with Jesse and my Nappy Buddy Liza! Miss you guys!!