Weekly Recap #7: Feed, Petals on the Wind,Paranormal Activity

This post is linked to Stacking the Shelves (hosted by Tynga Reviews)  and The Sunday Post (hosted by Kimba @Caffeinated Book Reviewer).

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Read

Feed by M.T. Anderson
Finished Feed a book set in a futuristic world where people are completely immersed in technology and consumerism. In Feed, people have access to a wealth of information which are transmitted to a feed implant in their brain. They are constantly bombarded by entertainment, advertising and messages by friends and family. Being fed information instantaneously consequently results in the erosion of people cognitive ability. Most don't know how to read, write or even speak in complete sentences. Imagine knowing that 10 plus 10 is 20 because you brain googles this answer but don't actually know how to calculate this on your own. Only when a hacker attacks their feeds does Titus, the main character, becomes aware of the pervasiveness of the feed and the negative effects that they have. I find books that create a new language/slangs challenging to read; meaning extremely difficult to read. This as well. I nearly gave up as it was hard trying to make sense of this new world and trying to decipher what the characters were saying with all the made up slang filled dialogue. It was only midway through that the world began to make more sense and I understood the language more. Overall I find myself liking the book and gives me much to think about.

 

Watched

Petals on the Wind
Beware of some spoilers for Flowers in the Attic - Petals on the Wind was so bad. I understand that the children were screwed up by what happened to them in the attic but a lot of the stuff that happens until midway through in the Petals on the Wind just seemed like unnecessary attempts to be more scandalous than the incestuous affair of the teenage siblings in Flowers in the Attic. Example: what importance was Carrie's and the priest's engagement other than be a wafer like reason for her to seek her mother? Or even of Cathy's involvement with that toxic male dancer? Not much other than being a frivolous filler for an already short TV movie before the actual main confrontation/revenge plot comes into play. 

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones
This movie has such a low ratings on IMDB. I don't get it. It's not too bad. I think it's probably that with a lot of the Paranormal Activity movies there is no resolution in the end which leaves the audiences dissatisfied. I remember watching the first movie in the theater and when the credits rolled a person actually actual cried out something along the lines of "that's it?". So yeah the ending is always left hanging, although I do think they've tried to tie each of the sequels to the first movie. I'm not sure how coherent and successful they are at linking up the stories together since I have not watch any of the movies back to back or in the order they were released. Anyway, I did enjoy this movie. There were several scary bits but what I like most about it was the characters had great chemistry. They really seem like friends and family and we are one of them along for the ride.

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Thursday:Thursday Movie Picks #6 was Movies about Time Travel. I really enjoy watching time travel movies and had a lot of fun coming up with my picks. We also had the most of participants taking part in the meme last Thursday. So do check out what my Time Travel Movie picks were as well as the blogs that participated. Now next Thursdays topic is a lot of fun; Dramatic Scenes (Your pic of dramatic scenes. You can either quote the scene or post a YouTube clip of it). So if you love movies, come and take part in this weekly meme. You can read about future topics here.
Friday: Did another Let's Get Creative post.

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Other Stuff


I have been hanging around Tumblr and seeing a lot of the Outlander gifs...I so want to watch this. It's a period time travel TV series...awesome right? If the books weren't so thick I'd probably have checked it out first.

Let's Get Creative #3

The last line of I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

"I love you, I love you, I love you"

Weekly Recap #6: Garden Spells, Snowpiercer and Flowers in the Attic

This post is linked to Stacking the Shelves (hosted by Tynga Reviews)  and The Sunday Post (hosted by Kimba @Caffeinated Book Reviewer).

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Read

Garden Spells
A short read about the Waverly sisters who are not quite so ordinary. One, a caterer who can cook up dishes to meet the special needs of her clients and the other finally discovers where her talents lie when she returns home after a decade away. I haven't read a lot of magical realism and this is one I enjoyed very much. Sweet and charming story, I'd say it's a mix of Practical Magic and Chocolat.

Watched

Snowpiercer
Finally saw this after hearing/reading about it. It recently aired on one of those cable movie channels, which isn't exactly the ideal way to watch a movie since they either tend to be edited and have no subtitles which I have come to depend on. I'm not sure how much was edited out for Snowpiercer but what really sucks was there were several scenes where Namgoong used this translator device which translates whatever he said into English, and the audio for the computer translator was just soo much lower than the voices of all the other characters that I missed out on chunks of what Namgoong was trying to say. Aside from that, the movie started out well.

The world of Snowpiercer was interesting, the train is self sufficient and I love discovering the contents of each carriage. The aquarium and the garden ones were wondrous and thus such a contrast to the back carriages and the artic cold that lies outside of the the train. The look of the world of Snowpiercer I'd say was like a cross of City of Ember and Harry Potter/Wes Anderson movies for the front carriages. I was to a point sold on the whole lower class revolting against the ruling upper class premise until I began to see some plot holes. Well...it was either plot holes or I wasn't quite paying attention. How exactly did the class system work? The Snowpiercer I'm assuming represents the world; people in the front are the upper class, and at the back are the lower class. Unfortunately I think the movie does a deservice by not actually showing the lower class working, as such they're not exactly illustrating the exploitative nature of such a system. Secondly if each carriage exist solely for one purpose only, this meant that passengers would have to go through several carriages to go to whatever destination they were headed to...which in turn meant that armed guards would have to go through the kindergarten everyday just to get to the back of the train? Err...not really clever planning from the genius Wilford. And I don't get why anyone felt it was worth to fight for the control of the engine, in the end you're still trapped on a train, so yeah Namgoong is probably the only one who has his head straight. Still the train itself is fascinating and I like the characters so I expected a good payoff at the end, with the engine and the leader of the train, Wilford. I don't want to spoil it so I'll just say I was disappointed. In a way I understood Wilford's reason but it seemed such a tedious and convoluted way to bring about what he wanted. 

Flowers in the Attic (2014)
I've not read the book but I am a little familiar with the story from having watch the earlier adaptation made in the 80's. Can't exactly compare the two adaptation since I watched the earlier one almost a decade ago. Some positive for this newer movie; good that they used kid actors who are closer to the age of the Dollanger children. It made believing their naivety slightly easier. Negatives; well this is a Lifetime channel movie, as expected the dialogue isn't really good. They do have some good actors here but even they can't carry some of the bad lines this movie had. Some scenes also seemed weirdly edited together, but since I saw this on TV, this may be due to some scenes having to be censored out. Overall not so bad. The sequel Petals on the Wind airs next week.
  

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Wednesday: Did another Let's Get Creative post
Thursday: This is the fifth week for the Thursday Movie Picks meme where I listed 3 Movies that feature Food Predominantly. Do check out what my picks were as well as the blogs that participated in this meme. Fortunately Wendall spotted there was no theme for this coming week Thursday Movie Picks and so I have chosen one his suggestions; Movies about Time Travel for this Thursday. So if you love movies, come and take part in this weekly meme. You can read about future topics here.

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Other Stuff

• Currently reading Feed set in a futuristic world where people are completely immersed in technology and consumerism...we're not too far away from it.
• Currently watching the Walking Dead Season 4....in time for Season 5 which should be premiering soon.
• I've also opened a Society6 shop. Not much stuff yet as editing has been a pain since my computer is having trouble handling all the large files and keeps hanging :(

Weekly Recap #5: Vampire Academy, ATM, The Vampire Chronicles

This post is linked to Stacking the Shelves (hosted by Tynga Reviews)  and The Sunday Post (hosted by Kimba @Caffeinated Book Reviewer).

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Read

Vampire Academy
You may have read my mini review of the movie in a past StSatSP post. In brief, it was terrible. Now the book is a lot better. It was more thorough in explaining the different type of vampires and their difference and I kinda grasp all of it, though I'm not quite sold on their brand of vampires and half breeds. Rose is less annoying here; she is not spewing pop culture reference every other sentence unlike the movie. We get to see more of the friendship between Rose and Lissa and they really are great friends, very loyal. Lissa is less of a weakling which was the impression I get from the movie. She did do her part in many situations. I can definitely see the appeal of the VA series. It has a strong female friendship story and Rose and Lissa are both a force, proactive, taking action to secure their own safety instead of waiting to be saved.

Watched

ATM
I'm not sure I've heard of this movie prior to watching. The gist of it is that three co-workers gets trap in an ATM one wintry night by a hooded man as he stalks and tries to break into the booth to get to them. I don't know where ATM booths are located elsewhere, but in this movie it is located in an area that looks like to be far off from main roads and surrounded by a large parking lot which was empty? So here's a question, why have an ATM where there is no traffic at all? Who would ever go to such an ATM? And why is there a large parking lot for an ATM booth? I just don't get it. Is it just wanting to be bait for robberies. So you see...the set up is just ridiculous. More frustrating is that there are three of them trapped but somehow they weren't able to brainstorm on how to get past the menacing man nor try to take him down, instead they just sit and wait. And there's more...none of the characters had their hand phone on their person when they entered the booth. Seriously? Not one of them?  Aren't most people attached to their phones - and these are supposed to be young savvy investment bankers?? Arghh.


Currently Watching

Once Upon a Time Season 3
Last week I nitpicked Grey's Anatomy, this time it's Once Upon a Time. Well I can't un-notice what I've already notice. What is up with Snow White's hair! That wig they have Ginnifer Goodwin wearing is terrible this season. It looks like a stringy brown mop on her. Was it always this bad in the last seasons? And the make up on the Wicked Witch - the green paint on her face is notably uneven on her face. It seems to be thin on some areas that I can clearly see her natural skin colour.  
 

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Around the Blog

It has been a week of lists the past week:

Monday: I blogged about trying to be more creative
Tuesday: Top Ten Books I'd Give To Readers Who Have Never Read YA. So if you haven't read any YA before. Give some of the books in my list a try.
Wednesday: I did another movie blogathon where I list movies I like to see a sequel of.
Thursday: This is the fourth Thursday Movie Picks outing where I listed 3 Movies about assassins. Next Thursday's topic is Movies that feature Food Predominantly. If you love movies, come and take part in this weekly meme. You can read about future topics here.

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Other Stuff

• Just as I thought Vampire Academy won't get a sequel, after that terrible first movie, apparently it still is. You can go to IndieGoGo to help Frostbite get made.
• In other Vampire news, it seems Universal has acquired the rights to Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles. I love the 1994 Interview with the Vampire so I'd love to see a complete adaptation of the books in the series. I've not read the books; who do you think would be perfect for Louis, Lestat and Claudia?

Top Ten Tuesday #3: Top Ten Books I'd Give To Readers Who Have Never Read YA

Top Ten Tuesday is a bookish weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish where bloggers share a list based on a weekly theme.

This week's topic is Top Ten Books I'd Give To Readers Who Have Never Read ___. Since I've been reading more YA novels the past year or so the blanks will be YA. I know some people refuse to read YA because it is thought to be juvenile, but a lot of these books now are really pushing the boundaries of what you think a YA novel should be.

Anna and the French Kiss (Anna and the French Kiss, #1) by Stephanie Perkins

I haven't had much experience with chick lit and much less YA chick lit, but this book is soo sweet and fun. I also think the plus for this book is that the main character is studying in Paris and it's a lot about her coping with the big move, navigating the new school and exploring a new city. The book now also has a more prettier less juvenile looking cover.

The Chocolate War (Chocolate War, #1) by Robert Cormier

The author transpose the wider world to a boys school and looks at corruption and evil that can exist and the players, from the figurehead, the orchestrator, the foot soldiers, the muscle, the by standers, the sheep and the scapegoat/victim/s. I really like that it tries to simplify and look at corruption and power at a more understandable level and yet undeniably also shows that it can exist in the smallest of places.The book has great villain; clever, determined, just plain dirty and ruthless. Who are they? Your everyday people; students, teachers and priests, who in time possibly rule the world? If you think Lord of the Flies has a harsh perspective of humanity, this is perhaps even harsher for the Chocolate War takes place within a "civilized society". 

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

Like smart witty characters? Then you'd like Frankie. Seeing how she was treated less than she'd liked because she was a girl and realizing that in the real world the ruling elite are mostly from the old boys club; she infiltrates her school's all boys secret society and pull their strings to show she too is smart enough and has the power to direct people. 

The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1) by Suzanne Collins

Why not? It is arguable the biggest YA book ever that spawned a 4 movie franchise. If you've watched the movie, read it as it will help to fill in the holes that the movie has. If you have watched or better yet read Battle Royale, try The Hunger Games. In some ways, yes, it is a less brutal story as compared to Battle Royale; one of those possibly being that it doesn't get into the head of each of the participants. Still, unlike Battle Royale and despite it's name, The Hunger Games doesn't only focus on the games but also the world in which it exist which brings a different dynamic to the similar killed or be killed arena type of premise.

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Pudge obsessed with famous last words and newly enrolled in a boarding school finally makes friends with kids his own age and falls in love with the not available Alaska down the hall. A tale of friendship that also deals with loss and grief; the second half of this wrecked me...and it's not just the tragedy, it's about the people left behind and how devastated they were by what happened and struggling to make sense of something that doesn't. It kind of remind me of the Lovely Bones in a way.

Noughts & Crosses (Noughts & Crosses, #1) by Malorie Blackman 

In an alternate world where the minorities are the majorities and racial prejudice and segregation are still prevalent, Sephy a Cross, the ruling race, and Callum a Nought, are friends. As they grow up, as much as they try to be just friends, romantic feelings have developed. Both struggle with the racial discrimination/subjugation (Sephy as she witnesses and Callum the receiving end) and the danger the existence of their relationship could pose them and their families. Their yearning to escape where they can be together and knowing that there is nowhere to escape to, is pretty heartbreaking. A lot of the characters here go through some awful stuff and I dare you not to be sobbing by the last chapter. The copy I read also had the short novel An Eye for an Eye which just broke my heart more.

The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, #1) by Maggie Stiefvater

I don't think I've read a lot of books that have an ensemble cast of characters and this one has a pretty awesome one. Blue has been told forever that if she'd kiss her true love, he'd die, which most of the synopsis will say and I almost didn't read the Raven Boys because I thought "true love?" "Kiss"...yeah...not my thing. Thankfully there isn't much romance. It's mostly about friendship, Welsh mythology and destiny. The story swept me away in it's mix of magical realism, mystery and adventure and I love the lyrical haunting style of writing.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Attacked by a senior just before her freshman year of high school started, at a party that got busted by cops when she tried to call for help, Melinda has now become a social outcast. The shock of the attack and the treatment she got from her friends, who unknowing thought she had foolishly sabotage the party, has silenced her. The story is narrated by Melinda's  inner voice, which just seems authentic. She is sarcastic, darkly funny and introspective and we follow her as she to struggles to navigate through her freshmen year alone, with the heavy secret she carries and her tormentor still roaming the halls free.

The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp 

I admit, I read the book because it was made into a movie which received very good reviews. A movie I wanted to see but still haven't. So in the mean time I read the book. What I like about this book unlike most YA books is that the character didn't feel like fan service. What I mean is that most main characters in YA are bookish, smart and introspective, trying its best to be reflective of the reader (assuming that readers are bookish, smart and introspective). Cutter is not. If I remember correctly, he was not much of a reader and is a jock. He is popular, likes parties and is the life of most. He talks to everyone, friendly and is the most extroverted person you'd probably come across in the fictional world. He's also an alcoholic and it's affecting his grades, work and relationships. The journey of battling addiction is not always a quick and triumphant one, so I kinda like the open ending of this one. I remember hearing the movie being criticized for dropping Cutter's and Aimee's relationship which was supposedly one of the most interesting thing in the movie...what can I say...this happened in the book. Their relationship was not suppose to save Cutter. All his past romantic relationships had not worked, the last one not working out was a consistent thing in the story. Cutter has an addiction which he need to be overcome first. If you have seen the movie, or seen Smashed, this may interest you.

Stolen: A Letter to My Captor by Lucy Christopher

"It happened like this. I was stolen from an airport. Taken from everything I knew, everything I was used to. Taken to sand and heat, dirt and danger. And he expected me to love him.

This is my story.

A letter from nowhere."

That synopsis intrigued me. Who is this man? Why has he taken Gemma from the Bangkok airport and make her a prisoner in the inescapable, dangerous Australian outback? The story, written as a letter by Gemma to,Ty, her Captor starts at the beginning; from the taking, to the confusion, the shock, the anger, the fear, the disastrous escape attempts and later semblance of affection for Ty himself. Is the affection real or resignation, a survival mechanism? A YA novel that explores Stockholm Syndrome - I know right...heavy stuff! If you've read Stolen, you might also want to check out The Collector by John Fowles (not YA) which has a similar premise but with has dual perspective.

So that's it, my top 10 picks. What are yours? Any similarities? Have I sold you on one of these books?

Weekly Recap #4: Can you Keep a Secret? Jack Ryan. Game of Thrones. Grey's Anatomy

This post is linked to Stacking the Shelves (hosted by Tynga Reviews)  and The Sunday Post (hosted by Kimba @Caffeinated Book Reviewer).

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Read

Can You Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella 

I don't usually read chick lit (do people still call things chick lit?). I'm just not into cutesy comedies, but well you know there's only so much dystopian/apocalyptic tales I can read before all those depressing world gets tiring and old. So this book looked like fun. A book about secrets that isn't about a terrible soul crushing secret (We Were Liars...I'm talking to you)...perfect, since I didn't want anything bleak. Hat's off to this book too for pointing out that normal everyday secrets which can seem silly nothings but if they get out in the open they too can be horribly bad and embarrassing, although still totally survivable, and total entertainment for this reader. The main character, Emma's secrets were normal enough stupid things that we would all get embarrassed over. I do wish the romantic interest isn't rich, and was able to sweep Emma and us readers in a more humble way. Plus I wanted her to make it without someone powerful liking her romantically and who could possibly be attributed for her doing well at her job. Ultimately Can you Keep a Secret is a fun funny read and I liked Emma who seemed to be like the everyday girl struggling to find a job she likes and is good at doing, which I think all of us can relate to.

Watched

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

This movie was forgettable. The story is just boring. What is it about again? Oh yeah...the origin story of Jack Ryan when he was first recruited as a CIA analyst and him stopping some Russian from destroying the world and it's economy. A damsel in distress cliche was also thrown into the story which way just soo bad. And I can't believe that Kenneth Branagh played the bad guy...a Russian? In a movie that has a contemporary setting? I thought he only did period dramas save for that Wallander gig.

Game of Thrones Season Three

Awesome as always. What makes Game of Thrones are its characters so I'll go through the major ones:

• Sansa the silly little girl we saw in season one has come a long way and I like her more and more. Her enemies are literally down the hall and she plays the game well enough to still have her head. 
• Bran had some great scenes that showed great maturity in season 1 and 2. This seem to be lacking in season 3 so I hope to see more in later seasons as I get the sense that he is one of those characters that are destined for greatness. 
• Rob is well Rob...I never thought he was the smartest Stark kid (Bran is) but I get where he was coming from in this season and some of his strategy made some sense, unlike Edmure (who is a fool). Anyway I finally know what the red wedding is! 
• Jon Snow...I'm not finding his story strong enough. I don't get why the wildings (or issit wildlings?) trust him at all...I am questioning their poor judgement.
• Arya...the poor girl just had to witness the most awful things. I like that she is now on the road with the Hound, their banter would no doubt be awesome. 
• Daenerys...not liking her story this season. She used to be a gentle character, but she has grown to not only be smarter but pretty ruthless as well. Her freeing the slaves...I kinda expect there would be like a Francis Underwood (from House of Cards) moment where she would look at the camera and say "let's free them all and they be so grateful they will serve me for free willingly". Did Daenerys take Psychology 101 secretly? And that scene at the end when the Yunkai freed slaves went out to receive Daenerys...it was uncomfortably awful. 
• The Lannister's...oh I love them! I know they're suppose to be the bad guys but they're so awesome! And are they really the bad guys? Tywin and Jamie give some good points that just greys the lines between good and bad. Plus they all have such a wonderful love hate relationship...the "I hate you, but I hate everyone that's not our blood more". 
• Joffrey is of course as awful as always, and it's great to see him being scolded by Tywin.
• In season three, the Tyrells all have larger roles. I love Margaery, the only person I think other than Tywin who is able to control Joffrey. Her grandmother, Ollena is pretty badass too...equal to Tywin in the political game...I hope to see them more in the next season.

So this has become a long Game of Thrones recap. I'll stop with those characters even though there are still many more. What can I say...the series has lots of characters and most of them are incredible. Can't wait to see season 4. I saw season 3 on DVD and I do wish they had more special features on the DVD. I don't understand why they can't put the same features that are on the Blu-ray on the DVD too...arghh!!

Currently Watching

Grey's Anatomy Season 10  

I watch this on and off. Not exactly great television but something to watch when there's nothing else on TV. The perfect hair on this series have always bugged me, I mean do surgeons curl their hair before going to work? And still have that bouncy wavy hair still look perfect after a long shift? Seriously the characters in this show have some of the most perfect hair! I've also noticed that the make up on season 10 is just awful. Dr Edwards and Torres just have so much blusher and makeup overall and Dr Wilson has this smokey eye thing going on. I don't think the make up was this bad in the previous seasons, where it looked more natural looking. Does anyone else notice the change in make up?

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Was a little busy the past week, so not much updates.

Thursday was the third Thursday Movie Picks post and the topic was Movies set in a Mental Institution. My favourite was The Princess and the Warrior, hidden gem was It's Kind of a Funny Story and my pick for worst was Sucker Punch.

Sunday, today, I've updated/revised some of the Thursday Movie Picks future themes. Please see the meme page here to see all the future themes up till the end of the year. The whole of October now has a Halloween theme and the five topics for the five Thursdays in October are: Unstable Characters, Zombie Movies, Found Footage Movies, Vampire Movies and Haunted Buildings. 

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Next Week

I'll be doing the usual Thursday Movie Picks and also Top Ten Tuesday since I like next week's topic.
Hoping to finish reading Vampire Academy soon.

I had wanted to do "a sequels you want to see" topic for my Thursday Movie Picks, but since there is already a similar blogathon (Attack of the Sequels) currently going on, I'll be participating that. So stay tune for my post on the 5 sequels I want to see.

Weekly Recap #3

This post is linked to Stacking the Shelves (hosted by Tynga Reviews)  and The Sunday Post (hosted by Kimba @Caffeinated Book Reviewer).

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Read

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

I was looking forward to reading this not only because of the positive buzz but also because I love E. Lockhart's previous book, The Disputable History of Frankie Landau Banks. Most of the reviews for We Were Liars, well I only glanced at most of them (since I was worried about spoilers), mentioned how the book was great and that it's best if you know as little as possible coming into the book and that the ending is supposedly amazing. So there. I wanted it to be great

Then I read it.

Did I read the same book as everyone else. It was underwhelming.Cady the main character was just flat. She just lost part of her memory, as the reader we're suppose to feel something for her lost, despair but that just didn't come across for me.  So is the big reveal/ending awesome? Not for me since I guessed it halfway. I think if you've read/watched similar type of stories, you'd guessed what happens to the liars. As such, it kinda felt like the story was just dragged out for me.


Currently Reading

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Finally started on this. Only like a fifth through. Guess what? Not bad. It certainly starts off a lot better than the movie.


Watched

The Lego Movie

The movie looked cute and funny in the promos. So even though I'm not into animation (wait is this animation or stop motion?) I gave the Lego Movie a try. However beyond the initial novelty of seeing all the lego and all the popular characters on the screen, I couldn't care for the story. Seriously I was bored and the only reason I watched till the end is that I almost always try to complete whatever movie I watch. One thing I did enjoy was the brainwashy Everything is Awesome song.

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Around the Blog

Tuesday I did Broke and Bookish Top Ten Tuesday meme where I picked 5 book characters I wanted with me on a deserted island. My picks of Katniss and Finnick were extremely popular among other book bloggers as well.
Thursday was the second Thursday Movie Picks post and the topic was Movies with an Ensemble Cast. My picks were, Gosford Park, Love Actually and The Royal Tenenbaums. Next week's topic is Movies set in a Mental Institution.
Sunday, which is today, I've just added more topics for future Thursday Movie Picks Meme. Please go to the meme page for all the future topics.

I've also found a tumblr blog which I made along with this blog last year. But somehow I had totally forgotten about the tumblr blog until now. Have you checked out tumblr before. It's a great place to immerse yourself in book,movie,tv fandom. Here's the link to mine where I have reblogged a few posts.

Top Ten Tuesday #2: Top Ten Characters I Would Want With Me On A Deserted Island

Top Ten Tuesday is a bookish weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish where bloggers share a list based on a weekly theme.

This week's topic is Top Ten Characters I Would Want With Me On A Deserted Island. I can't quite come up with ten so five will have to do for this week.

Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games Trilogy
Plain and simple, she's a good huntress. She'll make sure there something to eat.

Finnick Odair from The Hunger Games Trilogy
While Katniss hunts and forage the land for food, Finnick will fish.

Now that food and safety is quite settled, the other three would be for company.

Mr Rochester from Jane Eyre
I'm sure a few days living in a deserted island would get depressive after awhile. Rochester is certainly a character who would draw out a quiet person and talk.

Myfanwy Thomas (the second one) from The Rook
She is quite a rambler and very funny. Someone who would lighten the mood ...certainly she rambled more the more tense the situation.

Gansey from the Raven Cycle
Gansey has it all doesn't he. Wealth, brains and friends. Trustworthy and loyal, he is a great friend and would make good company. Being a smart determined person he'll probably find a way out of the deserted island too.

Weekly Recap #2

This post is linked to Stacking the Shelves (hosted by Tynga Reviews)  and The Sunday Post (hosted by Kimba @Caffeinated Book Reviewer).

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Read

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

This was good.

I'm not really a fan of those first person narration where it's basically their stream consciousness because it can sometimes be hard to read. For example, they tend to lack punctuations, none quotations for dialogue, excessive capitalization and sentences that run a paragraph long. This is guilty of all those, but somehow it works. Maybe because it really seem like the inner thoughts of a teenager instead of an impersonation of one. Plus I like Daisy. Ok yes, she is a little self absorbed in the beginning but there's an honesty to the way she tells her story. Daisy didn't even care much about the war when it broke out because the war had seemed so far away from her, something that they only heard on the news and it didn't really touch them for weeks. Until of course the war finally arrived at their doorstep and Daisy does really buck up and does what needed to be done to survive. Despite the second half being a survival story, How I Live now is really just a coming of age tale which just happened to have a war as a back drop and I really like that. The ending was a little disappointing not that it was terrible just not what I expected and a little drawn out I thought.

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Watched

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

I was never really interested in the Planet of the Apes story, but thought I should get around to seeing this since the sequel is out. Plus I keep reading/hearing that this prequel is surprisingly good.

I think it really sucks to be an intelligent animal. Not even to be super smart like Caesar, just enough to realise that you live in captivity, must be depressing...even if that means you are well fed and free from being prey. A gilded cage is still a cage. Even worse for a highly intelligent one like Caesar. One of the saddest moments in the movie was when Caesar realizes he really lives in a cage and had to be on a leash when taken outside. Is he a pet...he asks Will...which breaks my heart. Then of course things start to get a little worse for Caesar.

With a title like Rise of the Planet of the Apes, I had expected some sort of an action movie. Apes warring against their cruel masters. Which wasn't really the case. There was action but only at the very end. The movie actually took it's time to tell Caesar's story from birth and really show us his character and even gave some time to showing some of the personalities of the other apes ( who I'm guessing will have bigger roles in the second movie) at the shelter Caesar eventually come to live. Caesar's dissatisfaction with his situation was built up slowly which I appreciated. It wasn't simply in a fit of rage or a thirst for revenge that led Caesar to lead the uprising (which would have been so out of character for Caesar). As for the action scenes of the uprising, when it finally came, was great. Definitely something worth waiting for.

So glad I finally saw this. Can't wait to see what happens in Dawn.


Vampire Academy

I keep referring to this movie as Vampire Diaries. It's not by the way. Do not confuse the two because Vampire Academy is so soo bad and Vampire Diaries is so soo good. Because I'm lazy and I shouldn't take any more of my time on something really bad so I'm mostly going to paste the comment I made on Wendell's blog.

In Vampire Academy, Dhamphir Rose is trying to protect Lissa her best friend the Moroi princess from some unknown enemies who wants her dead. Every vampire movie tries to introduce its own brand of Vampires and this one is the same with three different kinds, the Strigoi, Moroi and Dhamphir. The movie tells us all the different kinds of vampire there is and yet doesn't really show us the way they are different such as with the Moroi being mortal thing. Plus what's with the Dhamphir having to protect the Moroi...are the Moroi seemingly so physically weak they need protection? With immortality out of the picture is there no perks to being a vampire? Wait I get it...they're not really vampires right?...They're just anemic. Why too does the Strigoi want to attack the Moroi? I understand they are supposedly the more evil vampire and they like blood, but aren't the humans easier food?

Like most teen movies, romance has to be thrown in there. Dull and wooden. That's what all the love interests are yet trying way too hard to be swoon worthy. Anyway they're just unworthy distractions to the mystery of who wants Lissa dead which isn't really a hard mystery to crack when you know the saying "keep your friends close keep your enemies closer". One annoying thing about the movie that I have to mention is that it makes fun of Twilight, I'm pretty sure more than once. Which I'm fine with if it was actually the better movie...but it is not. Seriously I can't believe Vampire Academy got a theatrical release...it looks like a TV movie. There's the usual bad acting, bad dialogue but most of all it does not look cinematic at all. It also bugged me that Rose was Juno-ish. churning out all those pop culture reference. Aren't the St Vladamir kids living in a secluded protected world. They are not exactly like the rest of us immersed in technology and pop culture...so where does Rose get all the pop culture reference from? Don't tell me the short stint outside of St Vladamir she and Lissa had before they were hauled back?

I actually wanted to read the book before watching the movie...oh well...I do hope it's better.

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Around the Blog

Sunday I did Dell's Against the Crowd Blogathon. My pick was Avatar for the one everyone love but I hate and Something Borrowed was my pick for the reverse.
Tuesday I did Broke and Bookish Top Ten Tuesday meme except that this week it was a non bookish theme so I listed the Top Ten TV Series I am currently following. Are we in the golden age of TV because there are some seriously great TV shows airing now.
Thursday was my first Thursday Movie Picks post and I picked my three favourite Stephen King adaptations. This was the first post for the meme I started. If you like movies, do take part in next week's topic which is Movies with an Ensemble Cast.
Saturday I highlighted a song I can't stop listening to.

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Next Week

I'll be adding more topics to the Thursday Movie Picks...so check out the meme page to see some of the future topics.

I've also picked up the Diary of a Crush series of books which I remember reading like ten years ago. I'm hoping to revisit them soon

Weekly Recap #1

This post is linked to Stacking The Shelves, a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves.

 

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff - The movie came out in theaters a few months ago. I didn't get a chance to see it then and I expect the dvd to be out soon, so I'll be reading the book before seeing it. Its also suppose to be really good so I'm looking forward to it. And its like 200 pages, I'm sure I'll be able to finish it quick.

 

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead -I haven't read a book from a teen vampire series since Breaking Dawn. I don't really find the synopsis of this book particularly interesting, but I know that this is a very popular book series which recently was turned into a movie as well so I am a little curious as to how I would like it.

 

Parasite by Mira Grant - I really like Mira Grant's Feed, it took some surprising heart wrenching turns, which is probably why I have yet to pick up the second book yet. In the mean time there's Parasite. Don't know when I'll get to reading it as its is one of those 500+ pages books and I suck at reading lengthy books.