Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Exciting Stuff I tell Ya!!!!

Hello once again all in The Great Land of Blog. Ti's I once more Library Ninja Bill with some truly cool information on recent reads. I finally got round to reading the last book in "The Hunger Games Trilogy," Mockingjay, and boy was it worth it. Check out this fan video that was made for it:




Pretty frickin cool if you ask me!!!! I mean like Ninja Cool!!

For those of you unaware the two books that proceed this one, they are great also and have been reviewed by me on a different blog in the past. To get you up to speed here is a repeat of those reviews:



The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - Now I have to warn all you potential readers off the bat that this book is probably a little to intense for younger readers. Not really any language problems, violence and the cruelty of the world portrayed may not be to all our blog readers taste. Okay now that I've got the obligatory warning out, let me tell you about this roller coaster ride book. It is by Suzanne Collins, who also wrote the Gregor Books, and set in a depressing future. The United States no longer exist and what remains has become known as Panem. Panem is made up of the Capitol, where people have it easy and control the rest of the Panem, which is divided into 12 Districts. The Capital basically rules the Districts as a Dictatorship. Sometime in the past the Districts rebelled against the capital and lost. After the Districts defeat "The Hunger Games" were initiated. The Hunger Games is basically a reality T.V. Show where 2 tributes, a boy and girl, between the ages of 12 to 18 are selected from the 12 Districts (making a total of 24 teens) to compete against each other until only one player remains alive. The story centers on District 12's tributes Katniss Everdeen (16 years old) and Peeta Mellark (18 years old). Katniss becomes involved when her 12 year old sister is chosen for the games, which she can not bear to happen, so she takes her place. The games are violent and the tributes put through terrible treatment in the outdoor arena (encompassing a fast forest) all of which is televised for the Capital to watch. This book has so many twist and turns you will not be able to put it down. Can Katniss and Peeta beat the rest of the District tributes and even so what happens if they are the last two remaining. Only one victor is allowed. Don't miss this book!!!!! Even better news is that it is the first in a trilogy. Great Stuff!!!!!!!!! There is also a pretty cool website for this book that you might want to check out:


http://www.scholastic.com/thehungergames/games/index.htm


Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins - Well without blowing too much for those who have yet to read the first book (see above), Katniss and Peeta from District 12 have won the 74th Hunger Games. That's the good news. The bad news is that President Snow, who runs the Capital and the defeated Districts, is not happy at all about the series of events that have lead to their co-victory (the first ever in the games). He is so unhappy that when their victory tour is about to start he visits Katniss and warns her to be on her best behavior as she has become a sort of symbol of rebellion for some of the Districts. Well even with the best intentions everything begins to fall apart and some of the Districts go into full rebellion mode. To hopefully solve this problem President Snow fixes the 75th Hunger Games so that previous winners must compete against one another. District 12 only has three living victors: Katniss, Peeta and Haymitch. At the very minimum, because she is the only living girl winner, Katniss is horrified to learn she must again go into the games to fight for her life (or perhaps someelse's). I guarantee you will love this book, so if you are not on the waiting list for it get on it NOW!!!!!!!


And now a review of the last book:

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins - Katniss Everdeen, the girl on fire, has escaped the destruction of District 12 along with her family members, Gale, Haymitch and others. Some are missing like Peeta, her partner in both Hunger Games. Where is he and how will he play into the story? She along with others has been rescued by District 13; a district that The Capital has led all to believe destroyed. Not only is District 13 alive and well, but it is leading the other districts in a full scale revolt against The Capital and President Snow. The Capital and The Districts match up very well against each other so something is needed to tip the scales in favor of The Districts. That something is Katniss Everdeen who has survived 2 Hunger Games; a feat unheard of ever. The President of District 13 makes her the symbol of The Resistance as she inspires hope in all people fighting in this terrible war. Well as Katniss has proven before, she will not merely be a behind the scene symbol for televised promotional videos and live in safety while other fight and risk their lives. She wants to help take The Capital down and personally kill President Snow. Like the two books before it this is an exciting and powerful read. It may also be to much for younger readers due to violence and some language. This is a great book and a great series that should be read by all!!!!!!!

One more book I would like to talk about before I finish up is a Graphic Novel/Manga:


Barefoot Gen - A Cartoon Story of Hiroshima by Keiji Nakazawa - This is the first in a series of autobiographical graphic novels/mangas of the author's true life experiences in Japan during World War II and living through the bombing of Hiroshima, by the atomic bomb, and it's aftermath. The main characters name in the book is Gen who has one sister and two brothers. His father is an outspoken opponent of Japan's involvement in World War II and the family suffers greatly for it. The book shows the desperate straights that the Japanese citizens went through toward the end of the war such as starvation, bulling by corrupt political officials and much more. It shows in a very poignant way the horrors of war and the horror unleashed by the beginning of the atomic age. This book needs to be read so that we all understand the consequences of wagging war against one another. Because of the subject matter and some language, this book is also not for younger children.

Well that's all I have for now, but I want you guys out there to right about some good reads also. So write about a good book in our comment section of the blog and we will post it and try and get you a prize for doing so.

Peace all,

Bill

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