Book Recommedations

this entry will be dynamic as i come across or remember new books i want to add. i will update this list as necessary, adding other categories and more books. this list is by no means complete at all--these are only books that i have personally read or had enough exposure to, to know they dont suck. :)

it only contains categories i am interested in, and some of these books span more than one category but are only listed once. i might eventually add reviews and links for them, but i'm not sure. anyway, i hope this list helps someone find new books to love!

DYSTOPIAN/POST-APOCALYPTIC

• the hunger games (the hunger games #1) by suzanne collins
• catching fire (the hunger games #2) by suzanne collins
• mockingjay (the hunger games #3) by suzanne collins
• divergent (divergent #1) by veronica roth
• insurgent (divergent #2) by veronica roth
• allegiant (divergent #3) by veronica roth
• uglies (uglies #1) by scott westerfeld
• pretties (uglies #2) by scott westerfeld
• specials (uglies #3) by scott westerfeld
• extras (uglies #4) by scott westerfeld
• on the beach by nevil shute
• biting the sun by tanith lee

MENTAL HEALTH/GENERAL STRUGGLES/AUTISM

• the best little girl in the world by steven levenkron
• the luckiest girl in the world by steven levenkron
• wasted by marya hornbacher 
• prozac nation by elizabeth wurtzel
• girl, interrupted by suzanna kaysen
• it's kind of a funny story by ned vizzini
• the virgin suicides by jeffrey eugenides
• looking for alaska by john green
• bad girls by alex mcaulay
• such a pretty girl by laura wiess
• can't get there from here by todd strasser 
• the silver linings playbook by matthew quick
• broken china by lori aurelia williams
• alt ed by catherin atkins
• you remind me of you by eireann corrigan
• icy sparks by gwyn hyman rubio
• house rules by jodi picoult
• prep by curtis sittenfeld
• veronica decides to die by paulo coelho
• look me in the eye by john elder robison
• violet & claire by francesca lia block
• the hanged man by francesca lia block

CHRONIC/TERMINAL ILLNESS

• the fault in our stars by john green (cancer, amputation)
• side effects by amy goldman koss (cancer)
• my sister's keeper by jodi picoult (cancer)
• handle with care by jodi picoult (osteogenesis imperfecta)
• the doll hospital by james duffy (unknown serious illness)

GLBTQAP+

(gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans*, queer/questioning, asexual, poly, et al)

• girl walking backwards by bett williams
• dive by stacey donovan
• keeping you a secret by julie anne peters
• empress of the world by sara ryan
• annie on my mind by nancy garden
• grl2grl by julie anne peters
• am i blue by various (anthology including francesca lia block & bruce coville)
• i was a teenage fairy by francesca lia block

GHOSTS & SUPERNATURAL

• wait til helen comes by mary downing hahn
• the doll in the garden by mary downing hahn
• the "fear street" series by r.l. stine
• the midnighters series by scott westerfeld
• the last days by scott westerfel
• peeps by scott westerfeld
• leviathan (leviathan #1) by scott westerfeld
• behemoth (leviathan #2) by scott westerfeld
• goliath (leviathan #3) by scott westerfeld

GENERALLY AWESOME BOOKS

• watership down by richard adams
• siddhartha by herman hesse
• dangerous angels by francesca lia block
• the secret garden by frances hodgson burnett
• a little princess by frances hodgson burnett
• so yesterday by scott westerfeld

Review: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

hunger games catching fire---MAJOR SPOILER FREE, minor spoilers after the warning

parking was a nightmare, even with a handicapped tag. as i arrived a teenage girl bounded out in front of my car and i almost hit her as her friend yelled at her to stop acting like an idiot and get out of the road. she looked sheepish and was wearing a hunger games tshirt so i flashed her the three-fingers and she smiled and ran off. us nerds gotta stick together, girlfriend. and thats the new universal geek gesture that means "we cool."

in the theater during snows "uh.. whats happening" the entire theater started applauding, lol. and then again at the end when the mockingjay logo popped up.

and then on the way out some elderly people were walking ahead of me and this guy says, "are you okay walking?" and the woman says back "yeah, i can make it." and he goes "i can carry you on my back til the fog comes." im not sure what movie they saw of course but i have a hunch. lol

okay onto the review.

im sure some of these will change with future re-watchings, but here's my (and bonus: j's!) basic first reactions to catching fire. no major spoilers for those who haven't read the books, but if you want to go into the movie totally not knowing anything, dont read any further.
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my first-run reactions:
- the popcorn sucked.
- too much time in the district, wayyy too much time in the capitol, not enough in the arena. (i felt this way about the first movie too.)
- too much exposition. bo-ring. and a waste of woody harrelson.
- granddaughter wtf? unneccessary scenes in an already epically long movie
- finnick could have been hotter
- mags could have been older she was basically 156 in the books come on now.
- johanna was not at all how i pictured her and i didnt like her at first but she's growing on me (and i like jena malone so its odd that i didnt like johanna but then shes supposed to be pretty unlikeable so.. win?)
- beetee was way off base from the picture in my head too
- willow shields is awesome and needs more scenes
- jlaw is perfection embodied as always
- really why would you leave out plutarchs watch. thats kind of a big point to miss. js.
- the arena was perfect. a cinematic masterpiece.
- katniss' mom needs to learn how to have an emotion or two. i mean, she sent her child off into the hunger games twice without making a facial expression. im starting to wonder about her.
- "oh mahogany!" i died
- sugar cube scene felt awkward rather than UST-y mostly because finnick could have been hotter
- "all the girls at school wear their hair like this" thx for the shoutout to us fangirls
my rating: 8/10

overall right now, in the throes of severe sensory overload and extremely sleepy and medicated, i give it an 8/10. jennifer was absolute perfection. her emotions, her facial expressions. when snow was talking to her, you could SEE her swallowing hard, she's really just a master of emotions. im really looking forward to the rest of her career cause the girl has got game.

j's first-run reactions: (bearing in mind that she is not a geek and has not read the books and mostly went for me. these are straight from her.)
- the woman next to me had the worst BO on the planet.
- this is the first movie with different hideous outfits.
- katniss is a manipulative whore. shit or get off the pot and pick one of them already, and stop toying with their feelings. (me: STOP LOOKING AT THE LOVE STORY YOU CAPITOL SLAVE. her: there's popcorn on your shirt.)
- finnick could have been hotter.
- "what the fuck happened at the end?"
her rating: "you're a geek."