Teaser Tuesday #51 - Odd Thomas - Odd Interlude

The book I'm reading is the first part of Dean Koontz's new Odd Thomas novella, Odd Interlude. His next Odd Thomas novel is releasing this Aug. As part of the buzz, a three part novella is being released in stages. This is from Page 2 of Part 1:

"Annamaria insists that mere hours earlier, I saved entire cities, sparing many hundreds of thousands from nuclear terrorism. Even if that is most likely true, I feel as though, in the process, I have forfeited a piece of my soul."

Really Mini Summary:

I find Odd Thomas books weirdly interesting and Odd's endearing quirkiness just draws me in.

First time visit? Check out photos of most beautiful US public libraries, John Updike's rules for reviews, and a question of whether hardbacks are dying.

Let me know if you follow this blog, I'll follow back! 

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To join into the TT fun, visit the link below!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!

News: Hunger Games Cast

The ardent YA fans out there would be very familiar with the popular series The Hunger Games. Starring young  lethal Katniss, and set in a dystopian world, this series has swept the blogging world by storm since the first book was released mid-2010. Suzanne Collins managed to create a maelstrom of emotion among her readers via one of the best YA books I've read.

The three book series (The Hunger Games,Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games), Mockingjay (The Final Book of The Hunger Games)) with its strong female lead, was quickly snapped up as a potential movie release, for 2012.

This weekend, Jennifer Lawrence has confirmed that she will indeed be playing Katniss Everdeen in the movie.

What's your take on this?

I know that there are tons of people out there who are right now creating their fantasy cast for The Hunger Games. Gale and Peeta, the two male leads, are probably the next biggest casting challenge.

Who would you cast as Gale and Peeta?

And if you haven't read these books, what are you waiting for?!

Review: Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

Grade: A-
GoodReads Page for Incarceron
Excerpts:
Page 1:
"He felt them before he heard them; vibrations in the ground, starting tiny and growing until they shivered in his teeth and nerves. Then noises in the darkness, the rumble of migration trucks, the slow hollow clang of wheel rims."

Page 30:
That was the first time he had heard the Prison laugh.
He shivered, remembering it now, a cold, amused chuckle that had echoed down the corridors. It had silenced Jormanric in mid-fury, had made the hairs on his own skin prickle with terror. 
The Prison was alive. It was cruel and careless, and he was inside it.


My Summary: 
Incarceron is a thought-experiment in prison science. It is a sentient building set in a dystopian future, meant to house criminals and any undesirables in a location unknown to anyone but the Warden. The entire infrastructure is separate from any external factor by sealing it with its original inhabitants and now their descendants. The rest of the world believe the prison experiment to be a success, and imagine the prison to be filled with content souls living a sybaritic life.
Inside, it is a barbaric story. The local thug-King of a roving band within the Prison keeps a rough court inside. Within it is Finn, who remembers flashes of his rich past, despite being told he is cell-born. 
The Warden's daughter Claudia, is also in a prison. One of her father's making - meant to marry the heir to the Kingdom  in The World Outside. Finn and Claudia strike up an unlikely connection and their struggle to escape their respective prisons begins.

The Good:
Each chapter begins with a quote, which gives us glimpses into why and who/what Incarceron is. Very interesting to me was the description of the prison and its dystopian life. The outside vs. inside juxtaposition kept me thinking, as the folks outside who have hi-tech medicine, gadgetry, have chosen to live in a frozen 17th century world (almost a kind of prison, really). 
The Bad:
While clearly targeted at a YA audience, I would have liked to see some more characters and a more detailed understanding of the political clime such a world would have risen in. There were issues with the changing viewpoint of the storyline, it seemed done with a heavy hand. My benchmark for this has to be The Time-Traveller's Wife (A+ Review) which did a great job of moving across space and time and the two main characters.
Overall:
A SOLID tale, one I would recommend to all my YA readers. Enough intrigue and excitement to keep the reading going, and fast-paced enough to satisfy a thriller/mystery fan.

Book Blogger Hop #13 - Nov 26-28

This is a weekly PARTY hosted by Jen at Crazy For Books. It's a chance to discover new blogs and to garner new readers for your blog as well. 

Thanks for visiting!
"What is your favorite book cover?"
A fav book cover? Can I say that this question stumped me a little?

A whole bunch of books I read are ebooks, and the cover doesn't get too much attention from me, I'm sorry to say. I do appreciate the posts bloggers I follow make on cover art, and fan covers!!
So after thinking for a LOONG time (3 minutes), I've come up with an old childhood friend of a cover -> The Dairy of Anne Frank, and this edition here is one I got from my grandmother! I'm sure there are newer covers, but I love this one. I remember spending time gazing at her face, and those expressive eyes, each time I read the book.

Come back Saturday for a new blogger spotlight!!
Hope you stay and check out a few posts, link back to your blog on comments.

Review: The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Grade: B

Pages: 374
Summary:

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. He has no recollection of his parents, his home, or how he got where he is. His memory is black. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade, a large expanse enclosed by stone walls. 

Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning, for as long as they could remember, the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night, they’ve closed tight. Every thirty days a new boy is delivered in the lift. And no one wants to be stuck in the maze after dark.


Plus: A quick take on a dystopian world, where kids are bizarrely put into the Maze as part of an experiment to showcase the really smart ones. I enjoyed the second half of the book, and the story got better once the girl woke up. The ending is terrific, and has a surprising twist.