Tuesday, September 29, 2009

The Hunger Games

Author: Suzanne Collins

Favorite Character: Rue-So sweet and wistfully young. I wish twelve yr olds where that innocent.

Summary: Katniss Everden and Peeta Mellark must represent the Twelfth District of Panem in the Capitol Games where they must hunt down and kill the reps for the other eleven districts and then ultimately each other since there can only be one winner.

Review: Not much to say for this one. I read it in about a day and a half which is amazingly fast for me. It was the best book I've read in the past year. If you haven't gotten it yet then go! You cannot miss out on such and amazing book.

The storyline was out of this world and the imagery was amazing. I could see the entire terrain of the Games through Collins' words. Her use of detail was astounding.

I'm officially in love with this book and you will be too once you pick it up and read it. I was convinced after the first 10 pages!

Rating: 5 of 5

Sequel: Catching Fire

You Might Also Like:

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Boys Before Flowers

Language: Korean

# of Episodes: 25

Main Characters:


Goo Jun Pyo - Lee Min Ho (the third boy next to the girl)

Geum Jan Di - Koo Hye Sun (the girl)

Summary: Jan Di's parents own a laudromat and one day, as she delivers a garment to the prestigious rich kids school, Shin Hwa. There she witnesses the terror that F4, a group of four spoiled guys, wrecks on anyone that speaks out about them. Then Jan Di is forced by her parents to attend the school on a scholarship. F4 makes her life hell and she returns the favor.

Review: Even though I already knew the storyline from watching the Taiwanese version and reading some of the Japanese manga, I was still moved to tears in some parts. Okay, the guy who played Goo Jun Pyo was super hot! *squeel* He was so convincing as an actor and really funny. Jan Di was the female lead and she was great too. Since she was so down to earth, I liked her manner of speaking, but sometimes her seriousness annoyed me. Not sure why...

The only negative thing I have to say was that the end was slightly rushed and kind of left out things. Where the heck was the mom during the end episode?! That wasn't resolved. Also, it was a long drama. I've actually only watched Taiwanese dramas, which are super short, so this one was quite lengthy for me. You'd think it would've had a better ending with all those episodes! :)

The Taiwanese version was pretty good, but I favored this one more.

Video:



Rating: 4 at the start then regressed to 3

Related: 1. Hana Yori Dango (Japanese)

2. Meteor Garden (Taiwanese)

Saturday, September 19, 2009

song: Dong Mai

Artist: Fei Lun Hai (Fahrenheit) (band)

Language: Chinese

About: This is the opening theme song for the Taiwanese drama, Pi Li MIT, which I will review in the near future. The band has four members: Aaron Yan (who happens to be one of the main characters of the drama), Jiro, Wu Chun, and Calvin.

Love the way this song is composed and, even though I don't have a clue as to what it says, it just rocks. I have listened to other songs by this same band and also posted them on here. I hope you guys like this one.

Video: I only found the song with like fan pics of Pi Li MIT. No subs and I don't think Fahrenheit made mv for it. :(


Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Waiting On Wednesday (9)

Title: Forget-Her-Nots

Author: Amy Brecount White

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Release Day: Sometime in March, 2010


Summary: (From authorsnow.com) When someone leaves three mystery flowers outside her dorm door, Laurel thinks that maybe the Avondale School isn’t so awful after all — until her own body starts to freak out. In the middle of her English presentation on the Victorian Language of Flowers, strange words pop into her head, and her body seems to tingle and hum. Impulsively, Laurel gives the love bouquet she made to demonstrate the language to her spinster English teacher. When that teacher unexpectedly and immediately finds romance, Laurel suspects that something — something magical — is up. With her new friend, Kate, she sets out to discover the origins and breadth of her powers by experimenting on herself and others. But she can’t seem to find any living experts in the field of flower powers to guide her. And her bouquets don’t always do her bidding, especially when it comes to her own crush, Justin. Rumors about Laurel and her flowers fly across campus, and she’s soon besieged by requests from girls — both friends and enemies — who want their lives magically transformed — just in time for prom.

Thoughts: I think it is definately original. Can't wait to read this!

Monday, September 14, 2009

Winner!

Congrats to :

for being the winner! You can choose whether to take Once Dead, Twice Shy or Pandora's Box!
Thanks to rest of you guys for participating. I think I'll be holding another one really soon...

I'm on Twitter

now. I hope I'll actually use it. Anyways, follow me please HERE. Just wanted to let you guys know. Btw, how many of you think Twitter will stick?

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Wild Magic

Author: Catherine Weatherill

Publisher: Walker & Company

Summary: The Pied Piper has led the children away from Hamelin Hill for reasons rooted in a long history of wild magic. Mari and her brother, Jakob, are among those lured by the Piper's enchanting music, and they are now trapped in an unfamiliar world--one as cruel as it is beautiful.

All the while, a fearsome beast stalks the forest in search of the special child he needs to break a centuries old curse. But finding the Chosen One could have deadly consequences, and Mari and Jakob will soon find themselves in a spellbinding adventure, full of dark magic and unexpected danger.

Review: It has got to be one of my favorite re-tellings. This story is well-written, fast-paced, vivid, clear and true.

I had practically forgotten about the Pied Piper story until I picked up this book. Everything in the story fits together to weave the events of the Piper's life and existence. I believe that this book is a good example of how to build up the detail of a plot. The idea of the Piper was already here, but the hard part was to give him a background which fit with his actions and then make an interesting story of what he did after.

The important thing was not to make it a biography of him and risk boring the audience. The characters added were actually relevant and important to the actual plot. Everyone served a purpose, well mostly. None of the characters were really that in-depth, but it didn't really matter since the imagery was pretty amazing. I feel like I would have acted a lot like most of the kids taken to "paradise". They felt awed by it and were happy to visit, but its not like they wanted to stay. They were normal kids who missed their parents and who missed their town as drab as it may be. I think that's what normal people think, but I've read books were the characters are uncommonly stupid and you just want to rip off their ears. Don't take me too seriously, but I have thrown a book at my wall because I hated this character or other! :D

I don't think this book really constitutes as YA and there is no romance. Yeah, I know. Even so, I think that most fans of YA will venture into the tween genre every now and then. If you ever do, then read this book because I think it will benefit you, and if not, then at least keep you entertained.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Friday, September 11, 2009

My contest is ending soon

so this is just a reminder to join in. The prize is an ARC copy of Once Dead, Twice Shy or an adult romance called Pandora's Box. I will accept entries up til the thirteenth since Monday will probably be when I post the winner. Have a super-duper WeEkenD!
Thanks for those who have entered!

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Manos Al Aire (song)

Artist: Nelly Furtado (I think it's her in the pic)

About: Wow! This is my current favorite song. She sings amazing in Spanish. Love the lyrics and the music. I think that's it is different from what she usually does in the sense that it's sadder. You can find the vid with english subs on Youtube, but since embedding was disabled, I posted this one instead.




Friday, September 4, 2009

On Writing

Author: Stephen King

Publisher: Pocket Books

Summary: The story on how Stephen King came to be so successful and his advice to you.

Review: I had to read it for school and I thought I would hate it since I'm no fan of non-fiction. It was surprisingly good. I'm a bit ashamed to admit that this is my first Stephen King novel, but I'm definately thinking of reading more because his writing is amazin'. No wonder he's so famous. Everything in this book was well portrayed and fun to read.

He used humor and irony to make this non-fiction book a painless read. The autobiography part was interesting and the entire story flowed seamlessly. I was even more surprised at how short and to the point the story is since most of his books are HUGE! One of the reasons I'm afraid to start them. :) Definately worth reading.

Rating: 5/5

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Contest: Once Dead, Twice Shy or Pandora's Box

Hope this makes up a little for being absent a lot. :)

There will be one winner and it's only for US because I have no money. Sorry! :(

All you have to do is comment with your e-mail.

Also tell me which prize you'd prefer. Either an ARC copy of Once Dead, Twice Shy or if you've already read that then a copy of Natale Stenzel's book, Pandora's Box (adult romance). I hope it doesn't bother you too much that it's personalized.

Extra Entries:
+1 - Linking to this contest on sidebar or blogging about it.
+1 - For becoming a follower
+2 - For already being a follower
+1 - For commenting on any of my music posts and telling me here.

You can do seperate comments for entries or alltogether! :D

Ends September 13th Midnight Pacific Time.