91. Read and review 100 books (11/100) Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins

'Katniss Everdeen continues to struggle to protect herself and her family from the Capitol in this second novel from the bestselling Hunger Games trilogy.'


I wouldn’t say that Catching Fire is as good as the first novel but let’s face it, a lot of the time when there is a trilogy saga being set up it’s the middle book that fails to deliver what’s expected because usually its busy setting the scene for the nail biting conclusion. Anyway, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that this book failed to deliver, or fizzled, and although it wasn’t up to the standard of the first book, it was still pretty darn good! I can’t really say too much without risking giving away too many plot twists… let’s just say that once again peace and quiet doesn’t last long for Katniss and Petar upon returning to District 12 and it indeed isn’t too long until the President is once again causing trouble, placing their lives in danger and forcing them together to defend themselves… looking forward to the third book in the trilogy – The Mockingjay 

49. My Two words of the Week

Boondoggle

'a business trip, often to an exotic destination, in which you do more relaxing/ fun stuff than work'

'work of little or no value that is done to look busy'

Not that all my work trips are ‘pleasurable’ or inessential, I really do enjoy getting out into Houston and seeing more of this great big country... BUT... In the next month I have bloody work trip trips! This week, with only a days notice, I packed my bags and headed up to Midland, TX for an ASR meeting with one of our major service companies (basically it’s a contract meeting)... Next week, I jump on the company plane, a Gulfstream no less complete with wood panelling and leather seats, heading to Farmington, New Mexico to finally get a look at my coal bed methane workover rigs... the next week its back slumming it with the common people on those commercial flights to Laredo, Texas for a pre-spud meeting (its soooo close to the border with Mexico that you actually have to carry your passport and deal with border security when you’re coming back in from the field)... but YAY we’ve finally got approval for a drilling program!! And finally, the day after my parents leave, I’m back on a plane heading up to Grand Junction, Colorado for some Train the Trainer  instruction… phew!! Teehehe boondoggle indeed.... which leads me to my second word of the week.. 

Wayworn

'wearied by travel'

Which is also relevant as between all the travelling I have in my future, I’m pretty darn sure that I will be extremely wayworn by the end of next month and will never want to see Intercontinental Airport again!! Haha like they say, people who say they love travelling for work... really don't travel all that much!! 

91. Read and review 100 books (10/100) The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

'Sixteen-year-old Katniss is smart, athletic, and fast. She can take down a rabbit with a bow and arrow, hitting it straight through the eye. Will these skills be enough to survive the Hunger Games?

Suzanne Collins, the author of the middle-grade fantasy series The Underland Chronicles begins anew, exploring a future landscape that will be familiar to devotees of science fiction's dystopic strain. In a nation called Panem, which occupies the landmass that is the present United States, a parasitical fascist Capitol dominates 12 conquered districts. There was a thirteenth district but it was obliterated during a rebellion. The totalitarian government keeps the subjected populations in line by threatened devastation, starvation, and brutality.'


Terrible name (the young protagonists name is Katniss Everdeen), Brilliant novel! Reminded me a little a Margaret Atwood Dystopian future - one where civilisation as we know it has crumbled into ruins and the rich and powerful minority use the poor as 'entertainment' while controlling them by denying even the most basic of human needs - food, water, shelter, love... a land where those in power remain in power by sending a very clear message  - Mess with us and we'll do something worse than kill you... we'll kill your children.


Brilliant plot, perfectly paced and well written and just fantastical enough, I didn't want to put this book down and found myself stealing whatever spare time I could find in my day to keep reading... cant wait to read the next in the series.


On a side note yes I agree, I seem to have a bit of a children's book thing going on here at the moment but I'm guessing it might have something to do with being wiped out in the evenings when I get home from work and just wanting to escape into an easy reading fantasy...

86. Send a birthday card to every member of my immediate family for a year (4/11)

My baby brother's birthday is next week, thought I don't know if I can really refer to him as a baby since he's about to turn 26 and has two little babies of his own.. but he'll always be younger than me and so he's my baby brother... thought he deff hasn't been 'littler' than me for a very very long time now!! 

My brother back in 1997 - He looks NOTHING like this these days!! 

My brother, Ryan, grew up fast - leaving school at 16 for an apprenticeship with Holden, moving out of home not too long after that, falling in love young, starting a family at the age of 19... in fact both his little boys where born while Ryan himself was still a child (well I thought of him that way) - every choice and decision Ryan has made in his life has made him happy

Anyway its his 26th birthday on the 21st of March and when I saw this card I just KNEW it was the card for him... but maybe thats an in joke :D

Happy birthday baby brother.. I hope your family brings you a bacon and eggs breakfast in bed, maccas for lunch and a beer with a jacks chaser for dinner!! Hope Sunday brings a wonderful start to your 27th year on this planet... wait a minute, holy crap.. that means I'm getting closer to my 29th birthday!?!?!? 

91. Read and review 100 books (9/100) The Last Olympian - Rick Riordan

'All year the half-bloods have been preparing for battle against the Titans, knowing the odds of victory are grim. Kronos's army is stronger than ever, and with every god and half-blood he recruits, the evil Titan's power only grows. While the Olympians struggle to contain the rampaging monster Typhon, Kronos begins his advance on New York City, where Mount Olympus stands virtually unguarded. Now it's up to Percy Jackson and an army of young demigods to stop the Lord of Time.


In this momentous final book in the New York Times best-selling Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, the long-awaited prophecy surrounding Percy's sixteenth birthday unfolds. And as the battle for Western civilization rages on the streets of Manhattan, Percy faces a terrifying suspicion that he may be fighting against his own fate'


Good last book, left me wanting more.. I didn't feel as if the story was completely over as there where a couple of threads left open.. but *sigh* I guess it is over.... then again never say never!! 

49. My Two new words of the week...

phantasmagoria

  \fan-taz-muh-GOR-ee-uh\ , noun;

1.

A shifting series or succession of things seen or imagined, as in a dream.

2.

Any constantly changing scene.

Loved playing the game phantasmagoria, a horror game played out with massive amounts of video and one of the first ever computer adventure games that used a live actor as an onscreen avatar.. it was released in 1995 (so I was like... 14) and was a little revolutionary for its time... even if it did come with 8 CDs to be able to fit all the data (yes this was before DVDs kiddies). Reading the wiki on it apparently it was banned in Australia due to its graphic violence.. guess I was lucky to have a copy!!! 

AND

bal·der·dash

   [bawl-der-dash]

–noun

1.

senseless, stupid, or exaggerated talk or writing; nonsense.

Since I seem to have a video game theme going here the second word.. was one of my first ever video games that I used to play on the Commodore 64 back when I was like 5 or 6... yes now I really am showing my age!! LOVED Balderdash.. would love to get a copy of it again.. at least it will no longer be on a cartridge!! 

Hmm these could be hard words to work into normal day to day conversation.... 'balderdash'!! 

91. Read and review 100 books (8/100) The Battle of the Labyrinth - Rick Riordan

'Percy Jackson isn’t expecting freshman orientation to be any fun.  But when a mysterious mortal acquaintance appears on campus, followed by demon cheerleaders, things quickly move from bad to diabolical. 

In this latest installment of the blockbuster series, time is running out as war between the Olympians and the evil Titan lord Kronos draws near. Even the safe haven of Camp Half-Blood grows more vulnerable by the minute as Kronos’s army prepares to invade its once impenetrable borders. To stop them, Percy and his demigod friends must set out on a quest through the Labyrinth—a sprawling underground world with stunning surprises at every turn. Full of humor and heart-pounding action, this fourth book promises to be their most thrilling adventure yet.'

Same old same old - Great book, kept me turning the pages, or rather clicking the 'next page' button through work transits and lunch breaks until I'd finished it... within 24 hours or so :)