Catching Fire (The book, not us....don't worry!)

The second book in The Hunger Games Trilogy.  On my last trip home, I gave Alexa back her first book, and she lent me Catching Fire to catch up to her (she's currently on the third book...unless she's finished it since last I checked). 

Without going into the plot line and strictly giving my opinion of the book, I would urge every single person reading this post to go and read this book!  Mind you, there's the issue of having to read the first book to know who the characters are and what is going on, but besides that, this is the best book that I have read in a long time.  The author so vividly describes the scenes and makes you feel so connected to each and every one of the characters. 

The book's suspense just builds and builds and builds, and I kept looking at how many pages I had left thinking, How in the world is the author going to wrap this up so quickly??  Sure enough...it ends very abruptly and still at a peak of suspense before you find out you have to go to the third book to find out what happens. 

Which leads me to the question, How do people wait for the next book in a series to be released?!?! After finishing this book, there would have been no way I could have waited a year for the third book in this series.  Luckily for me, the third book has already been released (and I started and finished it in 4 days...but that's another post), but I would have gone crazy having to wait.  I hope I never have to deal with that, and for the record to all my reader friends, please only suggest book series to me after all the books have been published :-). 

Now for my few questions/interests from the book  Don't read any further if you haven't read the book!!!!  Possible Spoilers!!!

Again though, to end my post, if you haven't read it......GO BUY IT!  Loved this book!

1.  Did anyone else freak out when it was Gale in the center of the town square getting beaten?!!? 

2. During the games, there was one part that I'm still confused with how they knew which time frame they were in. When they stopped spinning, the next thing they saw was the cannon firing that one of the tributes was killed, the hovercraft coming and having to go back in 3 or 4 times because of the "monster" attack, and then they knew they were where the Jabberjays were in the trees, but that still never gave them a true time point. Especially if the woods were spinning one way and the beach the other like one of them suggested.  Anyone else explain what I was missing?

3.  Kinda disappointed that they never got to show what was in all of the different time frames.  I was loving it, finding out what was coming next in each "hour".  I can just only imagine all the other crazy things they could have prepared for the tributes to face.

4. I'm interested to see how they depict the places where Beetee and Katniss could tell where the edge of the arena was for when they make the movie.  I also can't wait to see all of Katniss's outfits on the screen!