My blog that I'm dedicated to keep! I'll post random stuff Tuesday's, music reviews on Thursday's, and book reviews on Sunday's! So try to keep up with me!
The last book in The Hunger Games Trilogy, Mockingjay was written by Suzanne Collins. Mockingjay was published about three years ago on August 24, 2010! Picking up where Catching Fire left off, Katniss Everdeen finds herself in District 13, a place she and the rest of Panem believed to have been destroyed. While there, Katniss is named "the mockingjay", a symbol against the Capitol and she stars in many rebel propaganda videos. As the mockingjay, Katniss leads the rebellion through videos, she isn't really allowed to fight. Throughout the book there are many losses but in the end, things improve in Panem. I thought this was a wonderful way to end The Hunger Games! At first I thought the book was a little too slow and had lost much of its suspense that the first and second books had but as the story progressed, I enjoyed it much more. I was constantly on the edge, more towards the middle and until the end. The ending definitely made up for the slow beginning! The plot was well written and Suzanne Collins' writing was just as beautiful as it was in The Hunger Games and Catching Fire! I love her style of writing, I love how the sentences are short yet filled with so much information! I enjoyed how the characters were complicated throughout this series, you never knew if you could fully trust a character and what side they were actually on. Suzanne Collins definitely continued that in Mockingjay, it especially broke my heart when you asked this question about Peeta! You wanted to trust him but you also were cautious about what he was capable of, I'm glad he was much better towards the end. At the very end, I think Suzanne Collins portrays the effects of war perfectly. It was very realistic, it was raw, it reminded me a lot about the wars I've learned about in school. All in all, this book was definitely a satisfying, tragic conclusion to The Hunger Games Trilogy. I give Mockingjay 5 out of 5 stars! (343 words)
Night Visions is the debut studio album by American rock band, Imagine Dragons. Imagine Dragons consists of Ben McKee, Dan Reynolds, Wayne Sermon, and Dan Platzman. Night Visions was released last year, on September 4, 2012. It includes popular songs that have been featured in movies such as Radioactive which was used in the movie, The Host, based on the book written by Stephenie Meyer. And It's Time was used in the movie, The Perks of Being a Wallflower which is based on the book written by Stephen Chbosky. Night Visions was recorded between November of 2011 and July of 2012 at Studio at the Palms and Battle Born Studios. There are a total of eleven songs on the album which have been written by many people such as band members: Ben McKee, Dan Reynolds, Wayne Sermon, and Dan Platzman. Other people who contributed include Alexander Grant who has written other songs by musicians such as Love the Way You Lie by Eminem featuring Rhianna, Airplanes by B.o.B featuring lead singer from Paramore Hayley Williams and Massive Attack by Nicki Minaj. I absolutely enjoyed this album! Imagine Dragons is definitely a band I'm going to keep listening to because this album was just amazing! Some of my favorite songs from Night Visions, would include, Radioactive, It's Time, On Top of the World, and Bleeding Out are just some. What I enjoyed about this album was that there are a variety of songs on this album. You have your upbeat songs and then you have your songs that are the opposite of the upbeat songs. Each song was never the same as another one or close to the same as another song on the album. Each song had its distinct sound and, to me, there was never a song that gave me the same message as another. The lyrics is another reason why I enjoyed this album, they all had something I could just connect to and I could understand which is great to be able to relate to songs and be able to listen to them at the same time. Overall, the songs were amazing and each person is going to have at least one song that they love because they try so many different sounds and try to convey different messages. If you haven't checked this band out yet, you really should. You could find your next favorite song! I give Night Visions by Imagine Dragons 5 out of 5 stars! (412 words)
For once, it's actually being normal in Iowa! Now this rarely happens when it comes to the weather in Iowa. You can get sixty degree weather then the next day it could be snowing, that is what happens here, a lot. And it's no surprise that it's happening again this week. Today, it's nearly eighty degrees out! Tomorrow it'll be back to cloudy, rainy, and forty, so we'll be back to crappy weather. I swear, Iowa's weather is more bipolar than the guys I know and trust me, they're pretty bipolar. So when we have beautiful weather like this, which happens rarely because of the bipolar weather, it's best to make the most out of the day and do things you can't do in the Winter! But what can you do?
Go to the park! If you're not really feeling like doing much then just go to the park, there's nothing more relaxing than a walk through the park. You're able to soak in the sun and the peaceful chirping of the birds, while taking an effortless walk through the park.
Play a sport with friends or family. I know that when the weather is nice out, me and my best friend always end up playing basketball. So playing basketball or soccer or even a game of tennis will do! Today when I was walking through the park I saw many people at the basketball and tennis courts, trying to soak in as much beautiful weather as they could.
Draw with chalk! Yes, I still draw with chalk. But, I mean, who doesn't? It's so fun to do when you don't have any effort to do anything but you still want to be outside enjoying the beautiful weather!
Read or write. Maybe physical activities aren't your thing, so you cross sports off your list of activities to do, then you could always read or write under the shade! I know sometimes, before my friends come over, I'll read or write while I'm waiting for them to get to my house. It's especially nice when you don't have annoying neighbors.
Have a picnic. Eating outside is so peaceful because you get to relax, have delicious food and snacks, and you get to spend time with friends and/ or family. I usually have picnics with my best friends and it's always fun to do because eating delicious food that my friends make, or sometimes we order, is very delicious!
Have a cool treat! To cool yourself off, have ice cream or frozen yogurt (granted you can do this at any time in the year because there is no wrong moment for it)! I would definitely recommend Orange Leaf! Orange Leaf has the best frozen yogurt! You have more than your typical variety of flavors and topping and the atmosphere overall is amazing!
Take a cold shower. After being outside in the warm weather, it's always refreshing to end your day with a cold shower because then you feel crisp and clean and ready to take on the bipolar weather of Iowa!
Clockwork Angel is the first book in The Infernal Devices trilogy by Cassandra Clare. Set in 1878, London, Tessa Gray comes to London to meet her brother from New York after the death of her guardian, her Aunt Harriet. She awaits her older brother, Nathaniel at the dock and is approached by Mrs. Dark and Mrs. Black, sisters who claim that her brother sent them to bring Tessa to him. Hesitant at first because she's never heard of them, she's finally convinced to go with them when they give her a letter written by Nate saying he trusts them. Little does she know that they will force her to unleash a power she didn't know she possessed. Later on she's rescued by warriors who go by, Shadowhunters, and she joins them in search of her lost brother and the man possibly behind his disappearance who goes by The Magister. This isn't the first time I've read the book, the first time I read it was about three years ago and I thought it was okay but it wasn't my favorite book written by Cassandra Clare. This time though, the second time that I've read it, I thought it was much better than the first time I read it! The plot of the book felt like it was written at the perfect pace, it wasn't too slow and it wasn't too fast. Everything that happened in the book had a perfect reasoning behind it, something I didn't notice the first time I read it. This time I related to the characters a lot more, I felt sympathy for them and the stuff that happened to them whether it was good or bad. I even felt sympathy towards the characters I didn't really like! The setting was perfect! I've always adored the Victorian Era and have been fascinated by it so that is definitely something I liked about it. It would have been nice to see more of it though instead of mainly the magical/ paranormal aspects of it. I give Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare 4 out of 5 stars. I recommend it to the people who have read The Mortal Instruments Series if you haven't read this series yet and to people who enjoy paranormal fiction. (376 words)
Conventional Weapons is a compilation album, of ten unreleased songs recorded in 2009, by My Chemical Romance. The album was released as a series of singles between October 2012 and February 2013. These songs were made before their fourth album was, Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys. This was the bands final release of studio material before their breakup a while ago in March 2013. Listening to Conventional Weapons is a variety of different music, a lot of the songs reminded me of their albums. The World is Ugly, is one of the songs that I see that would fit perfectly with The Black Parade. The Light Behind Your Eyes reminds me of a song that would come from The Black Parade also. Kiss the Ring could have gone with Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. And I would have expected that Boy Division to be in their album; I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love. The point is, this compilation album felt like almost like a time capsule. It reminded me of all of their official, studio albums and since their breakup it was nice to hear everything they ever created. Songs that really stood out for me because of the melody would be Surrender the Night, The World is Ugly, and Burn Bright. What I liked about Burn Bright was how it started off slow and then it got fast as it got into the chorus, it's a song that I definitely could listen to while working out because it gives out a, "I'm not going to give up!" sort of vibe. The World is Ugly has a tone that matches up with the message of the song which is saying that, even though the world can be an ugly place you're still beautiful and mean a lot to me. Surrender the Night is just a song that is easy to listen to and goes along perfectly with the lyrics. I have to say that the song I enjoyed the most from this compilation album was The World if Ugly. I think it's a beautiful song that everyone should give a listen because it's a slow song but not too slow and the lyrics mean a lot to me because it's true. Even though the world can get pretty ugly and scary, there is always a person, if not more than one, that you can always count on and will always be there for you. They don't pass any judgment on you and you don't judge them. There were some songs that I just really wasn't into but I did appreciate the messages behind them. I enjoyed the messages behind each song, it was nice to see a mixture of their different sound throughout the years so I give the album a 4 out of 5 stars. (474 words)
One of my ultimate favorite books would be The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones by one of my favorite authors, Cassandra Clare. The book was published about six years ago on March 27, 2007. It centers around fifteen year-old, Clary Fray who witnesses a murder, or what she thinks is one, while she's at a club with her best friend, Simon. What shocks her though is that the murderers are kids around her age (Jace Wayland and Alec and Isabelle Lightwood) and the fact that no one else but her can see them. She soon has to team up with these people, who call themselves Shadowhunters, in order to search for her mother who was kidnapped by a Shadowhunter named, Valentine. In her search for her mother, Clary discovers things about her past that confirm that she herself is also a Shadowhunter along with her mother. In the end she becomes what her mother feared most that she would become, a Shadowhunter. The film, based on the popular novels, is set to be released this year on August 23, 2013. A teaser trailer has been released so far and the official trailer was just released today (April 1, 2013). Like with all the movies based on books, there are parts that have been changed such as the age of the protagonists. Clary Fray is supposed to be turning eighteen in the beginning of the book instead of fifteen. Some characters have also been changed such as the vampire that we meet in the book named Raphael.
The video to the left is the teaser trailer that was released last year. The trailer included some of the major scenes in the book such as the moment Clary Fray meets Jace Wayland and his fellow Shadowhunters while they're killing someone, Clary confronting Jace, the scene where Clary and her new friends are in a hotel as they're being attacked by vampires, and Clary talking to Hodge about the world she didn't know existed. This teaser trailer builds up anticipation, has a lot of action, and it's fun to see all the things I've read come to life! The video to the right as the official trailer that was released, like I said already, today on April 1st. This trailer includes scenes from the teaser trailer as well as new ones such as Clary talking to her mother and the man that she has seen as almost like a father, Luke in the kitchen. Also included is the scene where Clary's mother is attacked, in her own home, while she's on the phone with her. These are books that I encourage anyone to read! I encourage people to read them because though there is some romance included, it's not all about it. It's about a girl discovering who she really is in a world she didn't even know she was a part of and searching for the person she cares about the most in her life, her mother. The books are filled with action and the mystery, if you read the books then you might as well watch the movie when it comes out August 23rd! (523 words)
