In My Mailbox [45]

So technically this wasn't in my mailbox, nor is it a book, but I figured it was still worth sharing:

I was at Chapters.Indigo today and ended up getting a Hunger Games/Catching Fire/Mockingjay t-shirt! (It's actually just one shirt -the front view is shown on the left and the back view is shown on the right.) I hadn't realized there was so much THG merchandise out already - board games, magnets, stickers, keychains, shirts, you name it!

I'm pretty excited to start wearing it; it'll definitely be cool to see if anyone else recognizes the meaning behind it and mention it.

To find some of my previous posts on: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay.

What was in your mailbox this week?

*In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren

Top 10 of 2010

2010 has been an amazing year of YA books, so what better way to celebrate '10 than by compiling a list of 10 top reads? Now, to be fair, I do have to add the disclaimer that the following list is comprised only of books published this past year that I've read. Doubtless there're numerous other great books out there (many of which I've been meaning to read, but haven't gotten around to yet) that aren't included. But anyway, without further ado, let's start the countdown:

Let's go in reverse order: the nineth and tenth spots go to Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken (March 23rd, 2010 EgmontUSA) and Epitaph Road by David Patneaude (March 23rd, 2010 EgmontUSA), respectively. Brightly Woven had some really cool concepts and drew me back into the realm of fantasy. Epitaph Road was a very interesting take on a possible dystopian future of gender power reversal. Both are definitely very well worth reading!

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Seventh and eighth go to Daisy Whitney's The Mockingbirds (November 2nd, 2010 Little Brown) and Elizabeth Scott's The Unwritten Rule (March 16th, 2010 Simon Pulse), respectively. Both of these are contemporary YA novels that were well-written with realistic characters and credible plot lines.

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For fifth and sixth we have Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (March 2nd, 2010 Harper Collins) and All Unquiet Things by Anna Jarzab (January 12th, 2010 Delacorte). How could I not include these two? Both are contemporaries (although Before I Fall also has paranormal facets) that deal with mortality and the aftermath. Both are beautifully written and quite thought-provoking.

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Next we have The Duff by Kody Keplinger (September 7th, 2010 Poppy/Little Brown) and Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready (May 4th, 2010 Simon Pulse). The Duff by teen author Kody is a funny and endearing contemporary novel with a very real, in-your-face attitude. Basically, it's a pretty badass read. Shade explores some very interesting concepts and creates an intriguing paranormal world very much like our own, yet quite different.

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My top two picks for 2010 probably really won't come as a surprise. We have Birthmarked by Caragh O'Brien (March 30th, 2010 Roaring Brook Press) and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (August 24th, 2010 Scholastic). Mockingjay... well, it's Mockingjay. Enough said. Birthmarked - well, we all know I've been gushing about this one a ton lately. It's dystopian (love!) and it's got great characters, a strong female protag, a juicy love interest, and a fast-paced, action-packed, exciting plot line. It's also great that there's more of a science element (hence science fiction, right?) in this one than some of its colleagues. There's something more educated about the writing, which is also great. Plus it was a ton of fun to interview Caragh earlier this year as well.

And there we have it - a spotlight on some of the best YA books of the year. What made the cut for your list this year?

The Many Faces of The Hunger Games

It's always fascinating to compare international covers for books, see what persona they're taking on around the globe. Sure, there's that old saying, "don't judge a book by its cover" - but oftentimes, a book's cover can say a lot about its contents. This isn't a complete collection of all the international covers, but they're ones that I find of particular note.

These are the German covers for The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, respectively. There's no denying that both covers are very striking, very gorgeous. Beautiful colour schemes, and the covers themselves just sort of pop. I also like how only half the face is shown, and the eye just sort of stares at you. It's also kind of cool how "Panem" is the word of main focus on both covers.

These are the Taiwanese covers for The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, respectively. They both have the signature mockingjay on the cover, one in gold, one in bronze. Personally I think the cover for THG kind of looks like a movie poster. The atmosphere created is definitely chilling. Really like the colour scheme of CF, and how some of the main tribulations of the arena are depicted here.

Both of these are from the UK, and both are of The Hunger Games - but one is a girl version, and one is a boy version. I don't tihnk I've seen anything like this before, one book marketed simultaneously to different gender groups by having different covers. It's kind of a cool idea, really. The guy one has a Stephen King blurb, the gal one Stephenie Meyer. Hmm...

These are both of The Hunger Games as well, the Swedish on the left and the Danish on the right. The image on the Swedish cover is definitely very chilling, but I'm not particularly fond of the way the text was integrated. Love the title font on the Danish cover. The image itself seems to be marketed almost towards a younger audience though...

Again, both are of The Hunger Games, the Russian one is one left, and on the right is the cover from the Netherlands. For the Russian one, the characters aren't really how I would picture them. For one thing, they look older than they should. For another - and wait for the explanation before getting indignant - I would expect Katniss to be portrayed as thinner. If that's Gale in the background, likewise. If that's Peeta... well. Anyway - why? Despite being able to hunt, Katniss is from the Seam, and it's referenced throughout numerous times that food is not plentiful. Sure, she's able to get game. But it's still only enough to fill her stomach, not enough to eat in excess. That, plus the fact that she's always expending a large amount of energy, one would expect her to be a little more malnourished-looking. Walking around looking like she's getting a full three meals a day and then some would probably arouse a fair amount more suspicion than safe, considering the physical state of the other people around her. Really like the blue gradient on the Danish version of the cover.

How about you guys, any particular covers you like more than the others? What do you think of these ones?

Katniss To Die In Mockingjay?

Recently, Suzanne Collins was interviewed by the School Library Journal (which can be found here, for any of you who haven't seen it yet). Before you read further, I must warn you that there are spoilers pertaining to The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Gladiator in this post.

Now, there was one particular question & answer pairing that jumped out at me, and it'd be great to hear you guys weigh in as well. Says Collins,

"But once the “Hunger Games” story takes off, I actually would say that the historical figure of Spartacus really becomes more of a model [...] for Katniss. We don’t know a lot of details about his life, but there was this guy named Spartacus who was a gladiator who broke out of the arena and led a rebellion against an oppressive government that led to what is called the Third Servile War. He caused the Romans quite a bit of trouble. And, ultimately, he died."

Could this possibly be foreshadowing for Katniss Everdeen's fate? And you know, it kind of reminds me of Gladiator, that 2000 film starring Russell Crowe. And *spoiler alert* Maximus dies at the end of the movie. I mean, from an emotion-evokation perspective, that would definitely carry heavy impact.

And considering Collins's style, I can't imagine her finishing off Mockingjay with a happy fairy-tale ending. So let's face it - there're going to be deaths. There's going to be carnage. The whole Gale-Katniss-Peeta triangle is not going to end perfectly for all.

So, what do you think? Will Katniss follow in the footsteps of Spartacus and Maximus and the like and suffer a Romantically tragic demise? Will she survive? Which of those close to her will meet untimely ends?

Waiting on Wednesday (17)

Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins
*August 24th, 2010 Scholastic

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she’s made it out of the bloody arena alive, she’s still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what’s worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss’s family, not her friends, not the people of District 12. Powerful and haunting, this thrilling final installment of Suzanne Collins’s groundbreaking The Hunger Games trilogy promises to be one of the most talked about books of the year.

It's Mockingjay, what can I say? A little over a month! Who's excited?!

*WoW is hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine

Mockingjay Cover

The cover for Mockingjay, the final installment of Suzanne Collins' highly acclaimed trilogy that began with The Hunger Games and continued with Catching Fire, has been released today. And what a cover it is!

For one thing, it's a beautiful shade of blue. For another - doesn't the cover seem to be just teeming with symbolism? I mean, the first two covers demonstrated obvious correlations and parallel structure - and so does this one. But the centre circle - it's bursting apart! Do they represent the districts, and the freedom gained? In fact, the bird on this cover - posture-wise, orientation, etc. does seem to seem more self-confident, more free somehow. The others seem to be almost held captive by their respective circles - this one's got its wings spread out to full wingspan, ready to take flight.

What a beautiful title too; Mockingjay. Even the ring of it sounds beautiful. Also interesting to note that THG had three words, in the title, CF two, and now M one. Almost like we're counting down, y'know?

And for comparison's sake, here are the two earlier counterparts of the trilogy's covers:

Certainly Collins has lucked out with a series of great covers over the course of this series. Do you guys have a favourite? Any predictions on the final outcome and/or events of this third installment?

My review of The Hunger Games; alas, haven't gotten around to reviewing Catching Fire yet, despite delving into day of its release. Here's the Scholastic blog, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly's takes on the cover.