That’s right people; we’re giving you our two-cents on the most anticipated book-to-movie adaption for 2012.

We cover all the big scenes; from the reaping, the bread throwing, to Peeta’s declaration of love to Rue’s death, and finally to the infamous night lock scene. Don’t worry, we also cover Peeta’s hair, cast height, Haymitch’s foot (gross!) and lots more.

*SPOILERS abound and as always you can find us on itunes*

With The Hunger Games movie looming on the horizon, we have gathered our forces, our intelligence and created a list.  A list to help us, the housewives of America,  find our inner-strength. Our inner- Katniss, so to speak. Something to help us pass the time while we’re  waiting *twiddles thumbs*  for this movie to finally be released – like attempting to sleep in the tree while evil kids, er, we mean tributes, wait underneath.

Tips on how to spend the day before watching The Hunger Games movie, for housewives:

**Prepare a mid-day meal of bread smeared with goat cheese and water. Throw some berries on for a garnish, just make sure they are not the poisonous kind from your backyard. (And by goat cheese we mean Feta and by water we mean wine.)

**Nothing says Katniss better than a single braid. So, pull back the hair and let your fingers create a simple plait that is sure to turn heads. It’s easier than copying Effie Trinket’s hairstyle.

**Put Kid Cudi, “The Ruler & The Killer”s on while you scrub the toilets and pick Cheeto crumbs off the floor while wearing a dish towel around your head like a hungry fighter.  You may or may not eat one of the Cheetos off the floor.

**Grab your son’s toy bow and arrow set and climb the tallest tree in the yard and try your hand at a little squirrel hunting. Hey, you never know you may catch one. If so, here’s a recipe to knock-your family’s socks off at dinner.

**For a confidence boost repeat this line from the book over and over while looking in the mirror, “I am not pretty. I am not beautiful. I am as radiant as the sun.”  Stuart Smalley would be proud.

**Bond with your daughter over a Team Peeta or Team Gale discussion and if she doesn’t submit to your team, then threaten her with a reaping and no texting.

**Assign parts and role play with your family. We suggest your mother-in-law as President Snow.

**While in the carpool line pine over Entertainment Weekly’s THG issue. Drool over Josh, Liam and Lenny.  I think we can safely leave Woody & Donald off that list. *shudder*

**For those with a wayward child, tell them that if they don’t unload the dishwasher, you’ll send him to District 12 to be a tribute.

**Listen to “Eyes Wide Open” by Taylor Swift on loop as you struggle to keep your eyes open until the midnight premier.  Hey, midnight is waaaay past our bedtime.

**Prepare thy purse well. Load it up with candy, gum but most importantly kleenex. We recommend two boxes. You know, for that scene…*sniff sniff*

**Oh, and make sure to pack plenty of those little silver parachutes.  You can toss Milk Duds to your friends in the front of the theater or a kleenex…for that scene.

**For those with small children, hug them tightly before heading out for a night of fun with friends.

**For those with older children, cackle at them cheerfully as you abandon them for a night of fun with friends.

*We’re sorry, but we couldn’t hold this in any longer … What’s up with Peeta’s hair?? Is it just us, or does it look forced and unnatural? Are we experiencing another “bad wig” moment a la Jacob? (yes, we do realize Josh Hutcherson is not wearing a wig, that makes it even more disturbing.)

Here’s what went through our heads…

Liam Hemsworth

1.  WHOA! WHAT?   We mean who in their right mind would leave Gale if he looked like THIS?  We mean, yeesh.  He is a nice boy, takes care of his family, and is hot! 

2.  Maybe it’s the gel in Liam’s  hair that makes him look older and hotter?  So, our advice is to make sure Liam doesn’t have any gel in his hair throughout the whole shoot and that will guarantee that he won’t be as breath taking drop dead gorgeous.  Right???

3. We can’t stop looking at him…

Josh Hutcherson

1. Stop. Right. There.  That goofy looking guy in the tux (look up) is going to be our beloved Peeta? Whomever decided to use that picture for publicity should be fired.

2. Okay, after some hair dye, eye color change, and… hold up here.  Is this the boy in Zathura?  We love watching that movie with our kids!  Isn’t he just adorable?  Really adorable?  Oh Wait.  Peeta.  We did see what happened when Taylor Lautner bulked up for New Moon. Note to Hutcherson: work out.  We are rooting for you!

3. The more we look at Josh Hutcherson, the more we like him.  Isn’t that what Peeta was about?  Someone you always like? A kind, hard working, sweet soul who goes out of his element and fights to the death?  Ohhhh, he’s growing on us alright.  Besides, we think he is going to be the next big thing (remember you heard it here first). He’s done plenty of acting gigs already (did a bang up job on those) with even more in the works.  Yeah, we think you are pretty special.  Pretty special indeed.

——

Despite our misgivings over casting choices we’re confident (almost 78% sure) it will work out.  We just know it.  It will be fabulous.  Just like Twilight. The first one.

Again, we could have talked forever and dissected everything, but we didn’t. So we hit the high points from President Snow all the way down to the cliffhanger ending. Of course we talked Gale and Peeta too and all that kissing!

*this is a rebroadcast of a previous episode

**SPOILERS abound, or find us on itunes**

Songs include: Carol of the Wolves, Hunger Bells, Damon the Hottie Vampire, Cassia was Matched, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Oh Sookie Dear, Oh Sookie Dear

We hope y’all have a very Merry Christmas!!!

Mockingjay is the conclusion to the story of Katniss, of her survival and hope.

**Listen to our podcast here for a deeper discussion**

                            ____________

I laughed, I cried, I threw the book across the room, I cursed Suzanne Collins (yes, I really did) …yea,  and I LOVED every minute of it!

Collins did a remarkable job wrapping up Katnisses’ story. She packed it with plenty of action, unexpected twists and lots of heart-felt moments that had my emotions on a constant high, like stomach in knots and feeling everything down to my marrow. I will admit I read the ending about fifty times. I needed to find peace and closure, that feeling that all is right in the world. I believe Collins delivered just that…she gave us hope.

I just have to say this…PRIM!! FINNACK! PEETA!!!! If you have read the book you will know what I mean, and if you haven’t then this means nothing! Really, it tells you nothing. Though if you haven’t then you are missing out on something epic.

I give this book 5 STACKS
Stacy

How did she do it?  How was Suzanne Collins able to capture my heart and interest for all three books? Even though I have questions and grievances about Mockingjay, I can’t deny that I loved it and that it still has me thinking about it weeks later.  Isn’t that a sign of a well written, thought provoking book?  So many life changing things happen!  I really think I should send Collins my Kleenex bill.  That being said, I don’t know any other way it could have ended so that Collins could maintain her beliefs about these characters. 

It is a brilliant book!  A brilliant, gut wrenching, horribly deadly, real disturbing view of death and what happens when we lose freedom and don’t value all lives.

I give this book 5 STACKS
Shannan

I have a sort of love/hate relationship with this book because it is SUCH a heartbreaker.  Collins writes a powerful story that is dark and deeply disturbing, yet entertaining.  I think she gets teen readers to ask questions and draw conclusions about war that would not have happened if it was a Katniss-saves-the-day type story.  Even so, it was full of action and had several twists that I did not see coming.  There were moments I held my breath, and moments I got so mad I wanted to toss the book in the trash, and moments I wanted to cry.

I had a hard time reconciling my expectations to the actual story because I really wanted that Happily-Ever-After ending, but that’s not what this book is about.  It’s about the cost of war and its effects on people.  It challenges you to look past that need for happily-ever-after and look at the bigger picture.  And at the end it may be a melancholy-ever-after, but there is hope.

I give this book 5 STACKS
Nancy

So, anytime there is talk of Hunger Games, book or movie related consider us on it…

KRISTIN CHENOWETH!!!

How freaking awesome would it be to have her play Effie Trinket?? I can’t think of anyone more suited for the part, with her trill voice and small stature. All she needs is the pink hair.

KC talks about HG at the end of the clip…for the complete Access Hollywood article, click here and for the video click here.

After our chat, we wondered WHAT we could possibly read next that could compare to the emotionally draining, epic finale that is Mockingjay.  Well … here’s what I am going to read next, and I cannot wait!  Cassandra Clare’s Clockwork Angel!  *ta da!*  It will be released on Tuesday, August 31, and in preparation I am doing a no-reading-books cleansing purge to give me some distance from MJ and get back into the Mortal Instruments world.

So tell us – what are you going to read next?
See you in the STACKS – Nancy

**SPOILERS abound and as always you can find us on iTunes, just search girlsinthestacks.com**

Shannan, Nancy and I are anxiously awaiting Mockingjay tomorrow. I am having a hard time concentrating, and Shannan and Nancy were jumping up and down today after we dropped off the kids at school. Yea, people were looking at as funny, but who cares. We will finally have Mockingjay in our hands…YAY!!!!

For us tomorrow is almost like the anticipation of Christmas. All excited, and jumpy and eager to please. You know it’s that feeling you get right before you go to bed, knowing what the next day brings. Things like joyfulness, delightfulness, happiness and fun (hopefully no tears though) and you have to WILL yourself to sleep. Well, it’s like that. For us anyway.

So, tell us. Are you excited?

WE LOVED IT! I think this is our favorite book so far in the series…guess we’ll find out Tuesday!!

Again, we could have talked forever and dissected everything, but we didn’t. So we hit the high points from President Snow all the way down to the cliffhanger ending. Of course we talked Gale and Peeta too and all that kissing!

**SPOILERS abound, and as always you can find us on iTunes, just search and download girlsinthestacks.com**

In keeping this discussion short we only discussed the important things, like love and Peeta (swoon) and Katniss…

Actually, we could have talked forever about this book. I mean a lot forever. So, while we never got around to talking about how food and hunger plays a prevalent role, or how the Capital is oppressive and only provides the citizens with enough sustenance to survive, doesn’t mean that we didn’t think that they were important. We just didn’t get around to it

Well, guess what was confessed in the Sunday New York Times ?  We are not alone! We have been shouting our YA love for years now and we find out, in addition to the hundreds of other beloved blogs out there, that several in the entertainment business agree with us.  It’s kinda funny.  I feel like we are friends now.  We have a ”little” club for those who are not still in high school who can scream about Katniss, yearn for the love of Grace and Sam, be friends with Simon, wonder what is to happen to Patch, and experience difficult times that maybe we wouldn’t have taken so much to heart if we were still in high school – Speak and Compromised anyone?

I feel that kids these days are just so bright!  Maybe if I had these books to love when I was younger, I would think I had been smart too!  I love Nancy Drew and
Babysitters Club but they don’t compare to The Hunger Games, The Mortal Instruments Series, The Wolves of Mercy Falls Trilogy where we learn a bit of German poetry. 
Or even Compromised where we learn about homeless kids.  Doesn’t that hit home now that we have kids of our own?  And who doesn’t enjoy a little love from a sexy vampire (or werewolf) to innocently dream about?

Now I am not saying that there isn’t a place for adult books anymore.  Some of my favorite books this summer have been adult books.  Stay by Allie Larkin and The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen struck my heart and made me yearn for more. How long has The Help been on the best sellers list?  I’m saying that YA fiction makes me happy.  It makes all of us happy.  So, yeah, we’ll stick with it and besides, some women share clothes with their high school kids, we will just share books – and have something to talk about.

See you in the STACKS!
Shannan - who is darn stinkin excited about MOCKINGJAY!

Love, STACKGirl Shannan – who will put EVERYTHING on hold to read this book!!

See the countdown clock, I keep staring at it. Gah! Can’t it be August 24th already??

Until then, here is some Suzanne Collins/Mockingjay book news…

Book Trailer: Here is the offical book trailer for Mockingjay…I like the music, at least.

Kick off Party: Want to go to the official kick off party? It will be at Books of Wonder in NYC and Suzanne Collins will be there hand-stamping copies…

Mockingjay Book Tour: Here is the latest tour information I could gather…Examiner.

HG Movie News: Here is the latest movie news (of which I could find anyway), says that Billy Ray is polishing Suzanne Collins screenplay and a search for a director is underway…LA Times.

Suzanne Collins Video: This is a video I found over at Scholastic that I thought was interesting…

…and last (and really least) when I heard (should that be read?) on Twitter that Hot Topic had Hunger Games shirts, I knew I had to get one.

See you in the STACKS!
Stacy – who is proudly wearing her District 12 shirt, even though the guy in the store asked how she knew they had those shirts…what? I’m not your normal (as in age) customer who is just stopping in for my weekly browse and see the shirt and buy it?? LOL, the guy was nice.

The way she described it made it sound like a gladiator-style, Survivor (the TV show) type book. I want to waste my time with it. I mean, I just had read all the Twilight books and was mourning the loss of them and I wanted and needed something great to fill the void.

Shannan persisted. She eventually won. I read them. I have loved the book ever since.

Why do I love it so? Katniss. She is why I love the book.

Katniss is a strong, resourceful, dependable, confidant, yet naive and a very strong-willed girl. Who wouldn’t love those qualities? She also loves her sister Prim and would do anything for her, which is evident throughout the book. The most notable is when Katniss takes Prims place in the reaping. Katniss also doesn’t realize it, but she has an effect on people. People from the Hob, her friend Gale, and Madge the mayor’s daughters, to her fellow tribute, Peeta. All of whom hold her in high regard.  Overall, she is a survivor.

I also have a special place in my heart for Peeta. He is a wholesome, respectable, sweet-hearted young man who cares deeply for Katniss. It melted my heart when I read about the bread he burned for Katniss and the punishment he endured. It also broke my heart to learn that he was never given a gift in the arena, treated as if he was expendable.

Suzanne Collins does an exceptional job of writing a heart-wrenching story set in a dystopian society, where hunger prevails and punishments are severe.

I give this book 5 STACKS

STACKGirl Stacy, who is eagerly waiting for August 24, 2010!!

FYI: this is my third time reading this book, but my first written review!

Also, check out this website. It is one of the best Hunger Games fansites we have come across.

Since this is one of the most highly anticipated books of the year Scholastic has decided not to distribute any advance copies, to prevent spoilers. I know sad and great news all at the same time. We really wanted an ARC.

Just so everyone knows, this trilogy is one of STACKGirls favorites. I would go so far as to say our most favorites. We *heart* Katsa.

Also, did you know that the film rights to The Hunger Games has been optioned and Suzanne Colline is currently writing the screenplay? I mean could book life get any better??

Hmmm, who should play Katsa? My vote is for Emma Roberts!

Excited in the STACKS with you, Stacy and Shannan