Angieville

I don't know why I do this to myself. November? Gah. But I'm pretty sure it's because all I wanted to do when the credits on The Hunger Games rolled was watch Catching Fire . Immediately.  Oh. And also  GALE!

Oh. Holy. Crap.

So while the EW cover featuring Gale and Peeta left me . . . underwhelmed. This still here and this one over here have me, well, smiling pretty big. I really cannot wait to see it.

I was so excited to go to my local bookstore's midnight release party for Mockingjay . I hadn't been to a midnight release party for quite awhile and it's such a singular experience, wandering the aisles and just soaking up the high pitched excitement and general camaraderie in the air. And this time I got to do it all with my always-up-for-a-good-time sister Liza and the lovely Holly from Book Harbinger . Together the three of us admired the radical Capitol hairstyles, watched the archery contest, and stood slack-jawed as a couple of serious fans wowed the audience with their insane knowledge of Hunger Games trivia. And when we stopped in the cafe for some drinks and snacks and saw the special offerings (Creamsicles for Team Peeta vs. Root Beer Floats for Team Gale), I just went ahead and ordered that root beer float as a last toast to the guy I thought she'd be happiest with. When I walked out of the store that night with my shiny blue copy, I could not wait to get h...

And all I have to say (at this incredibly late hour) is Holy. Crap.   Oh, and Always.

I'm about to walk out the door to go to my local Mockingjay release party and figured I'd go ahead and say it one last time before I go quiet: Happy reading!

Something is going down. Something big. How would you like to see Edward duke it out against Hermione? Or Katniss and Katsa? Well, guess what? You can, in the first ever YA Fantasy Showdown . In celebration of Suzanne Collin’s final book in the Hunger Games trilogy, a group of bloggers are pitting some of the best-known characters in YA in the ultimate showdown. And you get to pick the winner. That’s right. You read the battles, evaluate the characters, and vote for who has the honor of moving on to the next round. It’s a tournament like you’ve never seen before (because there’s more). The authors have been asked to participate and advocate their character in writing their own version of the battle. It’s going to be truly epic. Or at least a good way to pass the time until Mockingjay comes out. It all goes down tomorrow--August 10th. *** Personally I am of the opinion that Katsa will wipe the floor with Edward Cullen's pretty face. These two are paired up in the first round...

As you no doubt have already seen, Scholastic released the cover and title of the third and final Hunger Games book today. Mockingjay is due out August 24th. I love the cover and the title. It's unexpected and different from the previous two, but perfect in its way. What do you think? Yay? Nay? Any predictions? I'll give you mine. Ahem. But most of all: Some other reactions around today: All Things Urban Fantasy Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'? Maw Books Blog The Neverending Shelf Penultimate Page Ramblings of a Teenage Bookworm Vision Quest Fail

So guess what? Today is my blogiversary! That's right, the very first post here at Angieville went up on Halloween of 2005. I'm even posting this at about the same time in the evening as that one was. I can't believe it, really. Things have changed a lot, including focus, layout, posting frequency, and (best of all) all of you who stop in to say hi and share your thoughts. I love this blog. I honestly get sad imagining my life without it and I hope I can keep it going for as long as we're all game. But this does seem to call for a celebration, does it not? So, in honor of the occasion, I'm giving away an anniversary mega-pack to one lucky commenter. The pack will include one brand new, signed paperback copy of Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson , one brand new paperback copy of Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols , one brand new hardback copy of Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins with accompanying limited edition T-shirt and mockingjay pin, one brand new paperback ...

So I'm trolling around, minding my own business, when I stumble across the little detail that Kristin Cashore and Suzanne Collins will be doing a signing together at one of my favorite bookstores in the whole wide world-- Books of Wonder ! That's right, the author of Graceling and Fire and the author of The Hunger Games and Catching Fire will be double teaming the crowd on the evening of Tuesday, November 10th. Truly it is the height of injustice that I live so very far from New York City...Anyone out there going to be able to make it to this night of awesome? To cheer myself up, here's the fun Fire widget in which you can cast your favorite characters in a hypothetical movie of the book. Having browsed through the options, can I just say Gael Garcia Bernal as Brigan FTW!

And to top off your Catching Fire fix, here is a hilarious comic detailing the lengths people would be willing to go to for an ARC of this book. by poesygalore | Create your own Cartoon at www.toondoo.com (Thanks to Janssen over at Everyday Reading for the link !)

Well, it's only a few days away now. You can practically taste it, can't you? You know, I really hadn't planned on waiting this long to review Catching Fire . Honestly, I don't know what was wrong with me. I started it over a month ago and was totally into it. I got to the halfway point and started to feel more and more anxious. Like twitchy anxious. And since gone are the days of sitting around all day doing nothing but reading a single book, I found myself moving through my regular day thinking about it constantly, worrying about the characters I care about so much that at night when I went to pick it up I COULDN'T BRING MYSELF TO DO IT. The steady building up of tension and pain that Suzanne Collins does so fiendishly well was too much and my mind skittered away from it in favor of less treacherous waters. I'm not proud of it. But there it is. On to the spoiler-free review. Katniss and Peeta are home once more. Heralded as heroes they reluctantly take up res...

Publisher's Weekly  got  the first peek  at the cover of  Catching Fire -- Suzanne Collins ' sequel to The Hunger Games . I like it. But then I really liked the first cover as well. Looking forward to some interesting developments in this one. Thanks to  Jen  for the heads up!

I was lucky enough to win a copy of The Hunger Games in Cheryl Rainfield 's giveaway not long ago. Thanks, Cheryl! I'd heard so much positive feedback on this one, that I went in with fairly high expectations. Fortunately, I was uninformed as to any particulars, so the entire premise was a surprise. All I knew was that it was dystopian. And that I liked the cover. Katniss Everdeen lives in District 12--the furthest flung of the twelve districts of Panem--in what's left of North America. Every year the Capitol (the governing city of Panem) puts on the Hunger Games. The Games are a brutal reminder of the districts' failed rebellion. Each district is forced to offer up two of their youth as a tribute. Chosen by lottery, the 24 tributes are then forced to engage in a free-for-all battle to the death on live television. The victor wins fame, glory, and food and supplies for his or her district. This bloodbath is considered the height of entertainment in the Capitol. So far...

Cheryl Rainfield is giving away three copies of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins . I've been looking forward to reading this one ever since I saw Stephen King's review as well as  Jen Robinson's excellent review . If you're interested leave a comment on Cheryl's post. Good luck!