After seeing the Hunger Games movie it came to my attention that not everyone loved it as much as I did. In fact, I heard some pretty crazy reviews of the movie. Out of curiosity, I wanted to post this quick little survey to see what you all thought. I'll post the results in a few weeks so you can see the outcome.
Also, now that the Hunger Games is making its way through the movie world, what do you think is the next Big Thing in YA? For me it's a toss up between Divergent and Blood Red Road (as I'm sure you all know by now).
YAY! I'm so excited to start posting The Buzz again! I've missed my Monday posts. They're always my favorite. Okay, so today I wanted to feature three books written by some of my author friends. Their books have been all over the internet lately, so I'm sure you've already heard of them, but if you haven't, then I'm glad you stopped by!
The first is CassaFire (Sequel to CassaStar) by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Alex just took his book on tour all over the blogosphere. It was a very awesome and successful blog tour that I'm sure you all participated in or read about.
Here's a little more about the book...
CassaStar was only the beginning…
The Vindicarn War is a distant memory and Byron’s days of piloting Cosbolt fighters are over. He has kept the promise he made to his fallen mentor and friend - to probe space on an exploration vessel. Shuttle work is dull, but it’s a free and solitary existence. The senior officer is content with his life aboard the Rennather.
The detection of alien ruins sends the exploration ship to the distant planet of Tgren. If their scientists can decipher the language, they can unlock the secrets of this device. Is it a key to the Tgren's civilization or a weapon of unimaginable power? Tensions mount as their new allies are suspicious of the Cassan's technology and strange mental abilities.
To complicate matters, the Tgrens are showing signs of mental powers themselves, the strongest of which belongs to a pilot named Athee, a woman whose skills rival Byron’s unique abilities. Forced to train her mind and further develop her flying aptitude, he finds his patience strained. Add a reluctant friendship with a young scientist, and he feels invaded on every level. All Byron wanted was his privacy…
Second is Midnight at Moonglow's by K.C. Sherwood. If you haven't heard of this book you should definitely check it out. I know "K" personally, and she is such a sweetie. Her book recently won honorable mention at the LA Book Fest. YAY "K"!!
Life has always been a little lonely for twelve-year-old Casey Parker, an obsessive reader who makes up for her lack of friends with her books. The only attention she gets in school is unwanted, given a bit too enthusiastically by the school bully. But, when Casey 's great uncle Walter moves back to town and takes over a mysterious little bookshop called Moonglow s, things begin to get interesting.
He gives her an old iron key and tells her to come back to read at night when the moonlight is shining in, because something truly magical happens. But there are three rules she must follow: the books must remain in the shop at night, she must keep the key with her at all times, and, above all, she must be out by midnight.
She discovers that she can physically enter the story of any book she reads. But, if she 's not out by midnight, or if she forgets her key, she will be trapped inside the book forever. Casey spends the summer between grammar school and junior high leaping into different stories and learning about herself in the process. As the first day of junior high approaches, Casey knows she will have to face the bully again; disappearing into her favorite novel forever is beginning to sound like a great idea.
Last but not least is Visions (The Holly Nather Trilogy, #1) by Sara Daniell. The Holly Nather Trilogy Blog Tour is going on right now, so make sure you stop by Sara's blog to take part in all the fun :)
"Every guy I seem to date ends up resembling the reeking material that janitors and plumbers both deal with on a daily basis. You get my metaphor. In summary, it is safe to say that my dating life really, really sucks." -- Holly
It is Holly's first year in college and the most exciting thing in her life is her classes. She doesn't have any luck with dating and doesn't have many friends.
Her life is terribly boring until she receives a text message from a unknown person. Life as Holly knows it will forever change by responding to that one single text. She isn't too thrilled but will soon find herself falling in love with a complete stranger from another world.
Heck yeah! New trailer! I know I'm late in revealing this, and most of you may have already seen it, but you know I still HAVE to post it. Looks pretty awesome...CAN'T WAIT!!!
To me, the idea of referencing pop culture in a book like that was genius, and now that I’m a writer, I think it’s even more genius. It gives the reader such a great picture of who the character is. My first draft of Oppression had tons of references to poems and music, but ultimately ended up being cut. Still, whenever I hear Asleep by The Smiths, I’ll always think of this book.
I’m so curious to see how the movie turns out, especially since I can’t remember many of the details. I’ll be able to relive the whole story again in a new way. Not to mention, Hermione is in it! That’s right, Emma Watson, will be playing the role of Sam. For more details on the movie, coming out sometime this year, visit IMDB.
This book was so much fun to read. I've never read steampunk before, but I've wanted to for a long time. For me, this was a great intro to the genre. The story was imaginative, and I was carried away by the adventure. The characters, action, and mystery device completely won me over. Jack, Prince Albert, and the PRG made for a great team that had me laughing along the way. I hope you enjoy it as well!
Did I mention it got a Kirkus Starred Review? Read it here.
Jack has been wondering about the disappearance of his father for over a year now. Tucked away in the remote village of Rothchild, all the children have been living on their wits since their parents were carted away by order of the Queen. When a passing stranger entrusts him with stabling his horse for the night, Jack takes the opportunity to ride as fast and far as he can out of town and toward London. His plan is to find his father, but with no money and little knowledge of the world, he finds danger and adventure instead. It doesn't help that the closer he comes to finding his father, the closer he comes to uncovering a ruthless plot to overthrow the monarchy. What begins as a simple journey quickly turns into a swashbuckling adventure of epic proportions as Jack is joined by none other than Prince Albert himself. With the help of the Prince's royal bodyguards and Jack's own scrappy courage, they just might be able to uncover the truth of the plot against the throne, Jack's missing father, and the mysterious Doomsday Device that threatens them all.
Stephenie Meyer's The Host won't hit screens until 2013, but that doesn't mean we can't obsess over the cast, pictures, trailers, etc. until then. If you've been following "the buzz" about this movie, you already know that Saoirse Ronan was cast as Melanie Stryder (big thumbs up in my opinion).
Saoirse Ronan
According to IMDB, three others have been cast to act alongside Saoirse:
William Hurt will be playing Jeb
Max Irons will be playing Jared Howe
(I'm still iffy about this one, but who knows...)
Jake Abel will be playing Ian O'Shea
It's pretty fun to put faces to the characters in my head. I really enjoyed The Host and read it a few times, actually. I can't wait to see it on film, and (fingers crossed) I can't wait for there to be a sequel. Rumors about book 2, The Soul, have been floating around for a while now. Hopefully Stephenie Meyer is just waiting for the movie to announce the release of the next book.
How do you like these casting choices? Are you as excited about The Host movie as I am?
Good suck-you-in kind of line, huh? It got me. Also, get a load of this cover:
Totally hot, right? Consider me officially sold. If you're not sold yet, here's the blurb...
"As he approached, I heard the flapping of wings, like an overgrown eagle. The sound dissolved when he landed at the edge of the open window. A rush of wind flew past me and extinguished the flames in the fireplace. Stars glimmered behind him but his body was encircled in black."
***
When Psyche receives a prophecy gone horribly wrong, she learns that even the most beautiful girl in Greece can have a hideous future. Her fate? Fall in love with the one creature even the gods fear.
As she feels herself slipping closer into the arms of the prophecy, Psyche must choose between the terrifyingly tender touch she feels almost powerless to resist and the one constant she's come to expect out of life: you cannot escape what is destined.
Destined is a fresh and heartachingly romantic retelling of the Cupid & Psyche myth from debut novelist, Jessie Harrell.
Hey all! Life has been a bit crazy lately (in a good way) so for today's YA Buzz post I'm sticking with something simple. I haven't had time to dig around for the juiciest gossip on The Hunger Games Movie, but there were a few fun posters I came across. Enjoy!
The New Movie Poster
District Logos
Have you heard anything new about the Hunger Games Movie? Do you have any juicy YA book gossip to share?
Congrats to all of the 2011 GoodReads Choice Award Winners! I'm so happy Divergent won Best Book. It was definitely my favorite read this year. I've posted some of the other books that won, but you can view the full list of winners here. Some of the books I hadn't even heard of, which means I'll be adding them to my to-be-read pile. If anyone has read any of the books that won, please let me know how you liked them in the comments or leave a link to a review. Thanks GoodReads and thanks to everyone who voted!
You all must know by now that my latest book obsession is with Blood Red Road by Moira Young. I’m reading it slowly (like always) taking in every perfect word. I'm sure my husband is a little tired of hearing me announce after every sentence, “I’m telling you! This book is sooo good.”
“Yeah. I know. You’ve mentioned that…” (about 15 million times).
After deciding to get Blood Red Road for everyone I know (with Christmas being a great excuse) I went into B&N expecting it to be all over the shelves. I guess either nobody knows about this book or EVERYONE does, because it wasn’t there! I was shocked…so naturally I ordered a few dozen to the store. Get it together B&N, people need this book.
Much like Divergent, I am hesitant to finish it. Books that make me excited like this are rare. I'm always afraid I won't find anything as satisfying once it's over. In the meantime, I’ve started digging for Blood Red Road news.
The sequel, I’ve learned, is titled REBEL HEART and should be out sometime in 2012! According to Ms. Young, who is still fine-tuning, the final draft is to be delivered by the end of the month...Wahoo!
AND...let’s talk movie rights. Ridley Scott’s production company was smart enough to snatch them up while they could. There isn’t much other than that, but IMDB is listing the date as 2014 (sigh). That's too far away in my opinion.
What's the buzz in your book world? Any news, good books, movies you're excited about?
The Monday after Thanksgiving…duhn duhn duhn. Back to work, back to eating healthy, back to working out, back to the real world. After spending nearly every moment in my comfy cozies, I’m having trouble adjusting back to normal people clothes. My pants are definitely a bit more snug than I remember, but it was SO worth it. Practicing being lazy worked out as planned. I was Queen of the pajama rats, running the world from my tiny pink laptop.
I did, however, manage to brave the crazies on Black Friday. Not for shopping (I wasn’t about to get pepper sprayed for a two-dollar toaster). Why else would I risk being mauled by insane zombie shoppers, you ask? Um, hello…Breaking Dawn!
Maybe I was too excited about it. I don’t know. I was just sort of disappointed. I thought it was slow, kind of cheesy, and awkward. The funny thing is, my husband was the one sucked in. Although…I still have the urge to see it again, like it might be better the second time (which it might be). I think my expectations were somewhere out of this galaxy. I need a do-over.
So for all of you who haven’t seen it, here’s a little teaser. Don’t forget to tell me your thoughts on the movie.
AND (I know I’m a little late in posting this) for everyone who has yet to see the Hunger Games Movie trailer, TAH DAH!
How was your holiday? Any crazy shopper stories? Did you like Breaking Dawn?
I finally (and reluctantly) finished Divergent last weekend *sigh* which means I have to join the rest of you in waiting for the next book. I was hoping I could hold out on finishing it until Insurgent was released, but that was just unrealistic. The book was basically whispering my name as it sat next to me on my nightstand while I slept...read me, Jessica. Please. Read me.
I caved. Fine Veronica Roth. You win. I can't resist your powers. UGH!
It's been a week and I'm still thinking about how flippin' awesome it was.
So, in Divergent news...we wait. We salivate over the cover of Insurgent and imagine the genius inside (No pressure Veronica). She's in the editing stage, which means the contents are out there, somewhere in the world...
...AND we check Variety and Entertainment Weekly for any more news on the movie deal. What's that, you say? Movie Deal?
Yep.
Summit Entertainment has the film rights to Divergent with Doug Wick and Lucy Fisher set to produce it! Come on people...get on it. I want to see this thing on screen already. Sadly there isn't much more news to report, but IMDB lists the date as 2015. Bummer.
At this point I'm sure nothing is set in stone, but it's still fun to browse the possible choices for the male leads in The Host by Stephenie Meyer. Variety came out with an article (here) on who's being considered...squeeee!
I have no idea if the article is credible, but it also mentions that Stephenie Meyer wants The Host to be the first book in a trilogy. When I read that, I immediately read it again...a trilogy? Wait, what? AWESOME! I hope it's true...
Write on Stephenie Meyer! In the meantime, at least I can be excited about the movie, because that is a sure thing.
If you've read my past posts, you know that Saoirse Ronan is to star as Melanie Stryder. She's a little more delicate than I imagined Melanie, but after seeing Jennifer Lawrence transform into Katniss for The Hunger Games, I'm hoping she'll transform into her character just as easily.
As for the boys....drum roll please....
According to the Variety article:
Liam Hemsworth ("The Hunger Games"), Kit Harington ("Game of Thrones"), Jai Courtney ("One Shot") and Max Irons ("Red Riding Hood") will test for the role of Jared, Melanie's boyfriend.
Who do you think makes the best Jared? ...I'm going with Liam or Jai. It's hard to choose.
Dane DeHaan ("In Treatment"), Thomas McDonnell ("Prom"), Augustus Prew ("The Borgias") and Ronan's "Lovely Bones" co-star Jake Abel will test for the role of Ian, who brutalizes Wanderer before falling in love with her.
Who do you think makes the best Ian? ...I'm 100% for Thomas (super cute).
Hi! Welcome to my blog!
I’m the author of the YA paranormal series, CHILDREN OF THE GODS & a new YA Contemporary fiction called CARRY ME HOME.
I have a newborn baby girl and two boys (ages 4 & 6) which has done wonders for my sound effect skills. I'm now an expert at missile launching & explosion noises...Also, I'm pretty decent at wielding a lightsaber and building lego ships. So be prepared for some kid blogging in between the book updates. My days are spent taking care of munchkins, writing, and running Acorn Publishing, most likely in my pajamas.
Email me at therrien.jessica@gmail.com
Or visit my websites
www.JessicaTherrienBooks.com
www.AcornPublishingLLC.com
After seeing the Hunger Games movie it came to my attention that not everyone loved it as much as I did. In fact, I heard some pretty crazy reviews of the movie. Out of curiosity, I wanted to post this quick little survey to see what you all thought. I'll post the results in a few weeks so you can see the outcome. 
