Catching Fire Director

If you haven't heard already, Gary Ross will not be returning to the The Hunger Games trilogy. After weeping, the next logical course of action would be to ask who's taking his place, right?

The wait is over, and the Huffington Post has stated that Francis Lawrence will be taking the reigns for Catching Fire.

I don't know much about him, but his IMDB page says that he's also directed I Am Legend and Water for Elephants. I haven't seen either of them, have you? Any thoughts?

Good Omens short video

Spreading some more Good Omens love! (Can you ever give enough?) Whether you've read the book or not, chances are you can still take the time to appreciate the awesome art and animation of this short that popped up on the Internet not too long ago.

This was done by Ariana T. on Vimeo, so if you want to share some of your love for the video, pelase go do so on her account!

Fantastic Covers Friday (2): The Disenchantments

Fantastic Covers Friday is a weekly meme over here at Brave New Shelf where I highlight beautiful covers that I find, from both old books and new, from young adult books.

This week:

The Disenchantments by Nine LaCour

Jacket Photography by M. Jamali

Type Design by Mia Nolting

Cover Design by Theresa Evangelista

I honestly think that this one looks better in real life than the picture online makes it out to be. The physical copy looks a bit more sun-touched, and the highlight is higher up on her hand than it is in this photo. I'm not normally a fan of faces on covers, but this one balances out so well I can't picture it any other way. I love that hint of a smile that she has, and the color of the sunglasses matching with the color in the title really pulls the whole thing together. The fact that you can see the photographer reflected in her sunglasses (which I only just noticed now) is a great addition that plays well to the book itself (the theme of friendship, and travelling with a band. It makes it look like she's not just smiling randomly, but rather at someone.)

Waiting on Wednesday (4): The Selection by Kiera

From Goodreads:

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in the palace and compete for the heart of the gorgeous Prince Maxon.
But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.
Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself- and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

Publisher: Harper Teen
Release Date: April 24th, 2012
Amazon, Author's Website 

..........

Okay, I was all prepped to write something about how even though I was excited for the release of this book, I still wasn't sure how much I would enjoy it and yadda yadda yadda until I hopped over to Kiera Cass' website to pick up her link when I spotted:

(Photo from Kiera Cass' blog)

It's William Moseley, of The Chronicles of Narnia movie fame, and he'll be playing Aspen in the TV movie of The Selection. Well, that certainly changes things. Maybe I'm just a little uneducated, but I didn't think it was often that not only did a book get picked up for a movie pre-publication, but that the movie was already well underway (according to it's IMDB page.)

Now my excitement rocket boosters are firing, both plot-wise and actor-wise (in case you didn't notice, William Moseley happens to be a rather attractive man), and it's only a matter of time before The Selection is released to rock the book world!

..........

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted weekly over at Breaking the Spine.

Review: Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

Two covers, same awesomeness inside.

From Amazon:

The world will end on Saturday. Next Saturday. Just before dinner, according to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, the world's only completely accurate book of prophecies written in 1655. The armies of Good and Evil are amassing and everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan. Except that a somewhat fussy angel and a fast-living demon are not actually looking forward to the coming Rapture. And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist.
Put New York Times bestselling authors Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett together . . . and all Hell breaks loose.

Oh man... In a good way! This is a YA book blog, but Good Omens was just too good not to review!

The only serious issue I have with this book are my conflicted feelings about reading it in public. On one hand, you want to, because you're bound to see that other person who's read it and you share that awesome "I love this book you love this book let's be friends" moment.

On the other hand, if I read it in public, my laughing the entire time might disturb some onlookers. This is one funny book. Heck (no pun intended) if being funny was a crime this book would probably be banned in all 50 states (in which I would still smuggle it in to read.)

Though obviously Christianity-based, I'd say this book is for anybody and everybody. Good Omens takes a comical look at the whole idea of the Apocalypse, which is refreshing with all of the Mayan calender hype now that it's 2012.

Seriously, I don't care how long you "to read" list is (even if it's longer than mine, if that's even possible), but it aside and read Good Omens!

Amazon, Goodreads
Title: Good Omens, the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
Authors: Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
Publisher: Harper
Publication Date: 2007, originally 1990
Pages: 384
ISBN: 0060853972
ISBN-13: 9780060853976

Hunger Games Parodies

I love a good parody. Most of the time they're all in good fun, and pretty hilarious.

I know one person who's read Nightlight, the parody of the Twilight series (by Stephenie Meyer), by Harvard Lampoon. They're out with a new book now: The Hunger Pains, a parody of, you guessed it, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

You have to admit, the use of the vuvuzela is pretty funny.

This one still has to be my favorite, and these are the lyrics that I have to sing whenever I hear the original song come on the radio. It's made it's way around the web a few times, but let's face it, it never gets old.

Any more favorite parodies of The Hunger Games? Post a comment!

Fantastic Covers Friday (1): The Wager

Every time I go into work (at my public library as a page, fyi) I always walk out with at least a few photos of book covers on my iPod Touch. Some of these are books I want to read, and all of them have covers so eye-catching that I just need to take a snapshot of them.

I'm no graphic designer, but my love for well-designed book covers runs deep, and now it's finally all coming together over here at Brave New Shelf with my new weekly meme, Fantastic Covers Friday! It's exactly how it sounds; I find covers, I post covers, I rave about covers. Easy as pie!

This Week:

The Wager, by Donna Jo Napoli

Jacket Design by Rich Deas

For a book about a deal with the devil, the red-and-black woodcut style really works for this book. It's quite stark in person too, pulling it off of the YA shelf, surrounded by other books with all kinds of colors and patterns. You know just by looking at this book that whatever is going on inside isn't a walk in the park for the main characters. I don't know if Deas did the original illustrations or simply found them, but the original artist is crazy with their attention to detail; it's worth taking a minute to soak it all in. What better way to celebrate Friday the 13th?