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As fangirls prepare to dress up in their Katniss Everdeen costumes for Halloween, a Hunger Games spoof will be published on November 15th.  The video embedded above features the book trailer for The Hunger But Mainly Death Games–what do you think?

Curious readers can access the first chapter on Scribd. Here’s more about the book: “[This is] the only book brave enough to suggest that The Hunger Games was way more about death than food. Or at least this is what Bratniss Everclean discovers, when she shortsightedly volunteers for a teenage death tournament. But she soon realizes there are fates worse than death…like having to kiss her fellow competitor and lifelong stalker, Pita Malarkey.”

On Amazon, “Bratniss Everclean” is listed as the author, but the cover image lists Aaron Geary and John Bailey Owen as the authors.  According to Amazon, Harvard Lampoon will publish another spoof  in 2012, The Hunger Pains.

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A full theatrical trailer for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 has been unveiled.

The trailer has already received more than fifty-eight thousand “likes” on the movie’s official Facebook page, We’ve embedded the video above–what do you think?

The trailer has been released in bite-sized pieces. Back in June, the MTV Movie Awards featured a two-minute teaser trailer. Just last week, Entertainment Weekly released a sixteen-second snippet from the theatrical trailer. (via Shelf Awareness)

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Release dates have been announced for the Peter Jackson‘s two Hobbit movies.

According to Variety, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will come out on December 14, 2012 and The Hobbit: There and Back Again will hit theaters on December 13, 2013. The video embedded above features a tour of The Hobbit‘s set.

Here’s more from the article: “Jackson began shooting the two films in New Zealand in 3D in mid-March with a cast including Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins and Orlando Bloom, Andy Serkis, Elijah Wood, Hugo Weaving, Ian McKellen and Cate Blanchett reprising their roles from The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Bloom joined the cast Friday to portray the elf Legolas.”

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I've been avoiding writing about Breaking Dawn because I was REALLY REALLY trying to think of something nice to say. Well, I don't have anything nice to say. Icky Icky Poo Poo.

Luckily, Elizabeth Hand is more mature than me and summed up the series, along with a review of Breaking Dawn in The Washington Post. Warning...it contains spoilers, so don't read her review if you want to suffer through the torture of reading Breaking Dawn on your own. I wholeheartedly agree with her, especially when she says, "The most devoted readers will no doubt try to make excuses for this botched novel, but Meyer has put a stake through the heart of her own beloved creation."

Alright, devoted readers. What's your excuse?

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 640 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers (August 7, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316160202
ISBN-13: 978-0316160209
Source of book: Bought it



In Eclipse, the third book in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga, a mysterious rash of murders is plaguing Seattle, and in the nearby town of Forks, trouble is also brewing. Bella and Edward's romance is back on track, but Jacob is not giving up on Bella without a fight. As she is forced to choose between the two, another choice, mortality vs. immortality is weighing heavily on her mind. A threat on Bella's life brings the werewolves and vampires together in an unlikely alliance.

I have an "on-again/off-again" relationship with Stephenie Meyer. I think of all of the books in the Twilight Saga, this is my favorite. We FINALLY see Bella mature just a little, and the emotional ending left me in tears. But there's just something about Meyer's writing that irks me. I like the books. I like the story, so why can't I just let it go and enjoy it?

I was talking to my friend Marlies online about her thoughts, and she said, "I like the series because it gives a new dimension to an old tale that never before has appealed to me. Vampires? Please. Give me a good romantic comedy any day. And lo and behold, I get the nostalgic twitters of high school--granted, not much humor--with the rush of a mystery."

And a second later, Marlies said that the characters are "remarkably flat," and "that we're supposed to relate to Bella because of her clumsiness, but her disregard for her parents and the feelings of others is astounding."

See what I mean? People like the series but are quick to admit its flaws. And I completely agree with Marlies about Bella. To me, she is not likable, and I don't think teenagers will relate to her. Granted, I'm not a teenager, but in many ways, she is completely irresponsible and weak. She relies way too much on others to get her out of situations, and in this book, she was completely obsessed with two things in this book: becoming a vampire and having sex with Edward. It got to point that I WANTED Edward to bite her and get it over with. Eeesh. She had no interest in college and no dreams other than to become a monster so she could spend the rest of her life with Edward. The feminist in me has issues with this.

While Bella didn't do much for me, I definitely got to know Alice and Jacob much better in this book and became quite a fan of both. One thing that did bother me though was when Jacob grabbed Bella in a bear hug (or should I say wolf hug) that she couldn't get out of and kissed her without her consent. Yeah, yeah, she punches him and breaks her hand, and they all have a good chuckle over it, including her policeman father, Charlie. However, it just felt wrong to me, and I felt it sent out the wrong message to teenagers. Never hold someone against his/her will....never never never never. Shame on you, Ms. Meyer.


Aside from this, I really did like Eclipse, but it will go straight into my "guilty pleasure" pile.