Musical Monday (49)

Every Monday I post whatever song I can't get out of my head or just can't get enough of, because Mondays can often be less than marvelous, and music is happy--even when it's sad. If you'd like to join the party, just make your own Musical Monday post and leave a comment!

This week's song is "SEPTEMBER!!! by Earth Wind and Fire," a cover by Pomplamoose...because tomorrow is the twenty-first of September!

Enjoy :)



Wishing you a Magnificent Monday,

Musical Monday (48)

Every Monday I post whatever song I can't get out of my head or just can't get enough of, because Mondays can often be less than marvelous, and music is happy--even when it's sad. If you'd like to join the party, just make your own Musical Monday post and leave a comment!

This week's song is "White Noise" by Lauren O'Connell. It's cozy, beautiful, reminds me of fall (which officially starts next week--yay!), and mentions syllables.

Enjoy!



Wishing you a Magazine-Worthy Monday,

Book Review: Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Release Date: August 31, 2010
Publisher: HarperTeen
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 352

Source: Bought.

Summary:

Evie’s always thought of herself as a normal teenager, even though she works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she’s falling for a shape-shifter, and she’s the only person who can see through paranormals’ glamours.

But Evie’s about to realize that she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.

So much for normal. (From the author's website)

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Ohmigosh, so fun! So pink. So side-splittingly funny.

Evie, the main character of Kiersten White's Paranormalcy, wandered away from her foster parents when she was eight years old. She ended up in a graveyard where she saw a vampire, learned she could see through paranormals' human-like glamours to their true natures, and was subsequently snatched up by IPCA, the International Paranormal Containment Agency. Now she's a hardworking teen with a full time job identifying, bagging, and tagging paranormals with Tasey, her pink rhinestoned taser.

Evie's world is shaken early in the novel by the arrival of a handsome shape-shifting paranormal boy. Soon, she's questioning the hard line between paranormals and humans and brushing aside disturbing hints that her world, and her identity, aren't what they seem. It doesn't help that her faerie ex-boyfriend is up to no good.

Paranormalcy is a quick--though not wildly unputdownable--read with a creative spin on paranormal romance and mythology. While I wasn't always crazy about Evie's repetitive first person voice, her narration is engaging and funny; I dare anyone who picks Paranormalcy up to keep a straight face. Moreover, White delivers not one, but two attractive male leads. The winner of Evie's heart is obvious, but it's still fun to watch the romance--and the most adorable first kiss scene I've read in a long time--take shape.

As the novel progresses, Evie's world goes from simple to complex, and she learns to think of normal in new ways.

I recommend Paranormalcy to readers who enjoy paranormal fiction, squeaky clean (and super cute) romances, books with both humor and attitude, and anyone looking for a quick, fun read.* Paranormalcy left me many lovable characters and enjoyable scenes to carry in my head after finishing it. Oh, bleep!** I can't wait for the sequel.
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*Evie uses Buffy-esque snark on more than one bag and tag mission.
**You'll get it if you read the book.

M-M-Mockingjay

My dear friend and fellow art major, Becca, works at the campus library checking in books and making displays. I visited her at the library today, camera in hand, because she recently made a mockingjay:

Ta-da!

Three dimensional and made of papier-mache!

The artist drumming her hands at the check-out counter.

Still making sense of Mockingjay, loving this display, glad I go to school a mere 15 minutes from home so the world didn't end when I forgot important things like textbooks and unimportant things like slippers ,

Musical Monday (47)

Every Monday I post whatever song I can't get out of my head or just can't get enough of, because Mondays can often be less than marvelous, and music is happy--even when it's sad. If you'd like to join the party, just make your own Musical Monday post and leave a comment!

This week's song is "Beat the Horse" by Pomplamoose. It's ridiculously catchy.

Don't say I didn't warn you.



Note: I'm moving back to college today, and due to the traditional fight between my computer and the campus's secure login program (it usually takes a couple weeks for the two to make friends) and new classes and such, most--if not all--posts over the next couple weeks are prescheduled. It's like writing to the future, but not quite as dramatic as that just sounded.

Wishing you a Marvelous Monday (and an enjoyable Labor Day in the U.S.),

Book Review: Mockingjay (Hunger Games #3) by Suzanne Collins

Release Date: August 24, 2010
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 390

Source: Bought

Summary (STOP READING if you haven't read The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, plan to read them, and want to be surprised) :

"My name is Katniss Everdeen. Why am I not dead? I should be dead."

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.


It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans -- except Katniss.


The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay -- no matter what the personal cost. (From Good Reads)
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Last year I read, but did not review, Catching Fire. I didn't read any reviews of it, either, because nothing anybody said was going to stop me from reading that book. I feel the same way about Mockingjay, but I'm reviewing it anyway because I can't stop thinking about it.

Mockingjay is a fitting end to The Hunger Games series, but I can't call it satisfying. Katniss and Peeta have become two of my favorite fictional characters, and it's not a spoiler to say that they--and the reader--endure many difficult scenes in this book. Author Suzanne Collins dials the brutality of the series up a notch, and Katniss is forced to choose how violent she will be outside the arena. Katniss is physically strong, but after the last two novels she's emotionally broken, and Collins doesn't gloss over that; she doesn't grant any of the main characters a magic protagonist bubble, and she bravely allows the logical, dark reality of her fictional world to overshadow what readers may want for the characters. Be prepared for mixed feelings.

That said, the close of Mockingjay isn't without hope, and the novel does have its fun, humorous moments. Readers can also expect a closer look at colorful, hedonistic, and absurd Capitol ideas and customs. (There's a shop that sells fur undergarments.)  As for the writing, I've disliked the pacing in all three Hunger Games books, and for me Mockingjay alternated between unputdownable and annoyingly slow and repetitive. Mockingjay invites many questions about the ethics of revenge and when--if ever--violence is acceptable. Also, a lot of horrible things happen, and people die in unthinkable ways. These scenes, of course, are narrated in Katniss's matter-of-fact voice, and she's too busy fighting and being the face of the rebellion to feel the full emotional impact. And thank goodness the emotions aren't all there, or readers would be nervous wrecks after Mockingjay.

All in all, certain plot elements felt too convenient, and if you're looking for flawless prose, you won't find it here. What you will find, though, are fascinating, fully drawn characters and an entertaining and challenging read that demands thought and discussion about ends, means, and even storytelling. Most readers of The Hunger Games series already have it on their To Be Read list, and anyone who read The Hunger Games and Catching Fire and didn't hate the books owes it to themselves to see how Katniss's story--and that awful cliffhanger in Catching Fire--turns out.

Thank you, Maggie Stiefvater...

...for posting this video on your blog today:



Laugh laugh laugh laugh laugh,