Tag: YA

Happy Hunger Games!

All weekend, people have been asking me how I found the Hunger Games movie so I decided a blog post was in order for the occasion.

I think I’ve been half-excited, half-scared ever since the movie was announced, the way I am whenever a favorite book hits the big screen. Everyone knows I’m not a big fan of film adaptations — I’d be perfectly happy leaving my favorite books as they are, in my imagination, where, in my experience, they’re a whole lot better.

Lately, though, I’ve been quite, erm, reckless (hehe!) in watching film adaptations — I think, now that Harry Potter is over, I’ve conditioned myself to thinking it can’t get any worse. I’ve caught quite a number of them in the past few months — and of books I love, too! — and I admit it hasn’t been half bad. The Adventures of Tintin was awesome (but underappreciated, I think!); The Girl with A Dragon Tattoo was a bit too Hollywood for my taste (too pretty!), and Noomi Rapace will always be my choice for Lisbeth Salander, but the Hollywood version did work well as a narrative. and Hugo — it was, hands down one of the best movies I have ever seen, and *gasp* I actually enjoyed it more than the book!

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The Hunger Games movie trailer… and Seneca Crane’s beard!

A couple days ago, we finally got to see the Hunger Games official movie trailer.

Not being a fan of movie adaptations in general, and iffy on some casting choices for the film,  I must confess I was dreading the trailer. Of course, that didn’t stop me from clicking on the link and putting the trailer  on loop, like every other Hunger Games fanatic out there.

And I must say, it’s gotten me curious enough to — gasp — actually watch the movie!

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What I Saw and How I Lied

I’ve always wanted to read Judy Blundell’s What I Saw and How I Lied, not just because it won the (US) National Book Award for Young People’s Literature in 2008, but also because I was familiar with the author’s work.

Writing as Jude Watson, she penned Beyond the Grave (#4), In Too Deep (#6), and part of Vespers Rising (#11). I always appreciated how she brought out a more personal side to Dan and Amy — and even the baddies! — and I was eager to read her most notable work.

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Reckless


I’ve been reading Cornelia Funke for years now, and there’s something about her work that always appeals to me. The Thief Lord is one of my favorite books, and her best work, I think; but I’ve also enjoyed Dragon Rider and Inkheart, although I think the Inkworld trilogy would have been better as one book (and yes, I still haven’t read my copy of Inkdeath).

I’ve been meaning to read Cornelia Funke’s latest book, Reckless since last year, but like I said, I’m pacing myself in tackling the new releases of my favorite authors — most are already on my shelves, still sealed, but I’m planning on getting the lot of them finished throughout the year (in particular: Shades of Grey, Heroes of the Valley, Inkdeath, The Ring of Solomon and The Last Dragonslayer).

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Sabriel

I’ve always been curious about Garth Nix’s Abhorsen Trilogy (Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen) because a friend of mine from college (hello, Tintin!) has been raving about it since we were in school — I remember her sneak-reading it in class, and I remember she even bought the cassette audiobooks and we listened to it in her car!

I’ve had the set sitting in my TBR pile for ages; I’ve always thought it was a bit too high fantasy for my taste. As you might have read in past posts, I balk at fantasy with unpronounceable names, made up languages, and maps; I usually prefer fantasy with some semblance of reality in it. But I listed Garth Nix in my A-Z Challenge purposely so I would be forced to read at least the first book of the trilogy, and I’m so glad I did.

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