Catching Fire & Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins

CATCHING FIRESparks are igniting, flames are spreading and the Capitol wants revenge. 

Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol - a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.In Catching Fire, the second novel of the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before...and surprising readers at every turn.

MOCKINGJAYMy name is Katniss Everdeen. Why am I not dead? I should be dead.

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plains--except Katniss.The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay--no matter what the personal cost.


I'm going to write these to reviews together, seeing as I finished both, one straight after the other, in 2 days.


I had only watched the movie for the first book, so was a bit worried that there might be too many differences or things I have missed when I started the books. Not the case. As soon as I started I was right back in District 12 where I finished, and it went on seamlessly.


These books were so addictive that once I started I often had to remind myself to stop and cook dinner because I just wanted to keep going and ignore the hunger. The writing is so engaging and vivid that it is impossible not to get caught up in it.


The second book had me change to 'Team Peeta", although I think this kind of fizzled a little bit during the last book a little bit, although not enough to make me want to go on the "Team Gale" side.


I am usually a firm believer that books are much better than their movie counterparts, but in this series case, I think the movies might bring just as much as a lot of the detail needs to be seen to be believed. Especially so in the last art of the final book, Mockingjay. I think when Katniss returns to District 12 along you need to see her struggle and loneliness to truly believe it.


All in all I loved it and I really wish there were more installs to keep me going! 

Sh*t My Dad Says - Justin Halpern

At 28 years old, I found myself living at home, with my 73-year-old father. As a child, my father never minced words, and when I screwed up, he had a way of cutting right through the bullshit and pointing out exactly why I was being an idiot. When I moved back in I was still, for the most part, an idiot. But this time, I was smart enough to write down all the things he said to me. 

Meet Justin Halpern and his dad. Almost one million people follow his philosophical musings every day on Twitter, and in this book, he weaves a brilliantly funny, touching coming-of-age memoir around the best of his Dad's sayings. What emerges is a chaotic, hilarious, true portrait of a father and son relationship from a major new comic voice. As Justin says at one point, his dad is like Socrates, but angrier, and with worse hair; and this is the sort of shit he says "You know, sometimes it's nice having you around. But now ain't one of those times. Now gimmie the remote, we're not watching this bullshit."

This book was hilarious.

It was a really quick read, but in so few pages you really get an understanding of the dynamics of their family relationship, and it is funny.

This book is a must read for any new family, or those that are starting to think about planning one, because it is a no-frills or bullshit way of looking in to a real family and shoeing how it works. If you look past all the swearing, the Dad had a great parenting style that unfortunately you don't see much of anymore, and he bought his kids up in an honest way. 

Loved it and recommend it if you are looking for something quick to read that will make you chuckle on almost every page.

Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography - Walter Isaacson

Based on more than forty interviews with Jobs conducted over two years--as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues--Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.

At a time when America is seeking ways to sustain its innovative edge, and when societies around the world are trying to build digital-age economies, Jobs stands as the ultimate icon of inventiveness and applied imagination. He knew that the best way to create value in the twenty-first century was to connect creativity with technology. He built a company where leaps of the imagination were combined with remarkable feats of engineering.

Although Jobs cooperated with this book, he asked for no control over what was written nor even the right to read it before it was published. He put nothing off-limits. He encouraged the people he knew to speak honestly. And Jobs speaks candidly, sometimes brutally so, about the people he worked with and competed against. His friends, foes, and colleagues provide an unvarnished view of the passions, perfectionism, obsessions, artistry, devilry, and compulsion for control that shaped his approach to business and the innovative products that resulted.

Driven by demons, Jobs could drive those around him to fury and despair. But his personality and products were interrelated, just as Apple's hardware and software tended to be, as if part of an integrated system. His tale is instructive and cautionary, filled with lessons about innovation, character, leadership, and values.

The main thing that stuck with me from reading this book, was how different my perception was of Steve Jobs from reality. I had little knowledge of who Steve Jobs really was and his role as a businessman, so was really surprised to hear about his abrupt personality and sometimes bizarre personal hygiene. 

I admire him for allowing a biography so honest and forthcoming about all his achievements and short-comings - both in his view and of others. This biography was really well-rounded thanks to so many interviews with people he came in contact throughout his life, both good and bad, and you got the feeling that nothing was held back, but surprisingly little was given from Steve's wife, especially with regard to their marriage, so it would be really interesting to hear how she coped being married to him for 20-something years. 

Another thing I found really interesting was the role he played in both Apple and Pixar. After reading the book I realise he was a really great business executive, rather than an engineer, and he was able to make great imaginative leaps while valuing the end-to-end process of a product, and this is what sets Apple apart from its competitors. You really do need to admire his ability to evolve and advance technology, and in the book he often says that "people don't know what they want until I show them".


I found the second part of the book more engaging as I was more familiar with the products and company. Steve seemed to be portrayed more harshly in the first half of the book.


I would recommend this book for anyone who is a fan of technology or Steve Jobs, but it is not an easy biography to read if you are not a tech-head, and I found myself skim reading some paragraphs due to this. I'm glad I read it its but probably not one I would ever read again. 

Let the Great World Spin - Colum McCann

In the dawning light of a late-summer morning, the people of lower Manhattan stand hushed, staring up in disbelief at the Twin Towers. It is August 1974, and a mysterious tightrope walker is running, dancing, leaping between the towers, suspended a quarter mile above the ground. In the streets below, a slew of ordinary lives become extraordinary in bestselling novelist Colum McCann’s stunningly intricate portrait of a city and its people.

Let the Great World Spin is the critically acclaimed author’s most ambitious novel yet: a dazzlingly rich vision of the pain, loveliness, mystery, and promise of New York City in the 1970s.

Corrigan, a radical young Irish monk, struggles with his own demons as he lives among the prostitutes in the middle of the burning Bronx. A group of mothers gather in a Park Avenue apartment to mourn their sons who died in Vietnam, only to discover just how much divides them even in grief. A young artist finds herself at the scene of a hit-and-run that sends her own life careening sideways. Tillie, a thirty-eight-year-old grandmother, turns tricks alongside her teenage daughter, determined not only to take care of her family but to prove her own worth.
Elegantly weaving together these and other seemingly disparate lives, McCann’s powerful allegory comes alive in the unforgettable voices of the city’s people, unexpectedly drawn together by hope, beauty, and the “artistic crime of the century.” A sweeping and radical social novel, Let the Great World Spin captures the spirit of America in a time of transition, extraordinary promise, and, in hindsight, heartbreaking innocence. Hailed as a “fiercely original talent” (San Francisco Chronicle), award-winning novelist McCann has delivered a triumphantly American masterpiece that awakens in us a sense of what the novel can achieve, confront, and even heal.

I really really wanted to love this book, but instead I find myself giving it 3.5/5 stars. Im not really sure why, the writing was very lyrical and McCann is clearly one of the better writers in terms of making you feel like you are actually looking in on the characters through a window and seeing it all unfold first-hand. He also switched well between all the different characters and changed 'voices' to make sure you were aware of their individual personality and story. I guess I just feel that while I was reading it I just got a little bit bored. There was nothing really propelling the storyline along other than just looking at a snap shot of their lives and what New York was like in that era.

Overall it was a heart warming story that I enjoyed, but I wouldn't put it on my favourites of all time list. I would however read another title from McCann as I think he is a fantastic writer.

Fifty Shades Freed - E.L. James

When unworldly student Ana Steele first encountered the driven, damaged young entrepreneur Christian Grey, it sparked a sensual affair that changed both their lives irrevocably. Shocked, intrigued, and ultimately repelled by Christian's singular sexual tastes, Ana demanded a deeper commitment; determined to keep her, Christian agreed. Now, together, they have more-love, passion, intimacy, wealth, and a world of infinite possibilities. But Ana always knew that loving her Fifty Shades would not be easy and being together poses challenges neither of them ever anticipated. Ana must somehow learn to share Christian's opulent lifestyle without sacrificing her own integrity, identity, or independence; Christian must somehow overcome his compulsion to control and lay to rest the horrors that blighted his past and haunt his present. Just when it seems that together their love can conquer any obstacle, tragedy, malice and fate combine to make Ana's worst nightmares come true.

So now I have finally finished the third (and thankfully final) book in the fifty series. As with the last book, I have mixed feelings about it. The way I look at it, it was a light girly read, but not something I would ever dream would receive the hype that it has. I bet the author is laughing all the way to the bank with that one!

The main thing that confused me about the whole series, is that I don't understand why women are so in love with Christian Grey. Sure he is rich and really really ridiculously good looking, but honestly, if I had a girlfriend who was dating a guy like him in the 'real world' I would try my hardest to convince her everyday to leave the jerk. Seriously, what woman would want someone so controlling and dominating? Sure he loves her a lot and they obviously have passion, but I don't know anyone who would put up with their partner not letting them see their friends. But seeing as this is a 'pretend world' I will go along believing that everything is hunky dory and that it isn't weird at all.

Another pet hate with the series is that the sex got really boring and repetitive towards the end. I actually got sick of reading part of it as I felt like I had read it all before. It's all about quality not quantity Mr James.

All in all I am glad I read it, but I am very happy that there were only 3 books and I don't have to read any more. Would I recommend it to a friend? Sure, if they are looking for something easy that doesn't take much effort to read - but I would warn them not get swept up in all the hype.