The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games 1) by Suzzane Collins

 

I read this last year and and loved it. Also seeing as this book has been getting a lot of hype you probably already know what it's about . I haven't seen the movie yet and if you have I'd advice you to still go read the book. 

The Hunger Games is an awesome book. It has a great story ,good writing, wonderful characters and a level of seriousness I didn't expect from a young adult novel. This is one frighteningly good book! I still haven't read Cacthing Fire or Mockingjay because I'm waiting on the paperbacks. Albeit that didn't stop me from looking for spoilers and becoming depressed by them. I still want to read the other 2 books!

This book is about children getting forced to participate in a game called "The Hunger Games". This event is held to show the 'people" who's the boss and discourage them from rebelling from The Capitol. You're going to get pissed off by the Capitol and the people from The Capitol. They are just weird and weird looking. The Hunger Games is harsh . The participants(children) are called tributes and if they wanna win they're gonna have to kill each other till the last one standing. This is the reason I find this book scary. This shit could actually happen! the (any )government could go all dictatorial on us! Children being forced to kill is also not a recent phenomenon. It's old and still around in third world countries. Hell they could make us go around looking like that Trinket lady!

At first I didn't want to read The Hunger Games because 1. it being compared to twilight 2. the whole team Gale/Peeta thing.

note to you people: these 2 books are not comparable. please stop. seriously.

As for the team thing. This book is about oppression, effects of war, starvation and you're picking teams!! and the wrong freaking team!! Team Peeta FTW!

Katniss is the main character and the book is told from her POV. She enters the games with the sole purpose of surviving and coming back to take care of her family. Katniss's a survivor she's been taking care of her family since her dad died. She's only a kid in age. 

As for Peeta. He gets drafted into the Games. The boy with the bread  has been crushing on Katniss since he was 5. Great at camouflage . He's just a civilian . Although what I like about he's character is when he says He wants to find a way to show the capitol that they don't own him. Peeta doesn't want to kill anybody but understands what he's going to be forced to do.

In this book people are going to die. Children are going to die. Death. Gruesome deaths awaits you in this book. Oh and then they get turned into chimeras. Ah what the government does with our taxes, very creative.

The most horrible scene and touching but also shows how horrible The Games are is when Rue gets killed.

Rue! oh Rue!! I read this last year but when I think of Rue I think of a small fury woodland creature that you have to protect or take care of. Although Rue was small and most thought she'd be the first to get killed. She was very fast and sneaky and sweet and kind and they freaking killed her! Katniss's sang to her before she died and covered her with flowers and then maked a sign with her hand to honour Rue. Sad and touching and horrible! you're gonna feel some stuff reading this

Like I said this is a great book. So go read it, understand what it's about. Feel it .

 

Dirty Little Secret

Dirty Little Secret is a weekly meme hosted by us at Under the Covers. Every Thursday we get to know other bloggers and our readers more intimately by asking them a question hoping to reveal their dirty little secrets.  We hope that you will all join us!

To participate in the meme all you need to do is:

1. Be a follower of Under the Covers.
2. Create a post in your blog taking the meme image (code above) and copy instructions.
3. Answer the question we propose! This can be done in any way you like, post a video, write a post etc.
4. Then add your link below.

Non-bloggers: We want to hear from you as well!!!  Let us know your answer in the comments!

We hope you join us and let us know your Dirty Little Secrets!

This week's question:

What are your top 3 movies?

My favorite movie is "Armageddon"!!

That's what pops into my head at this question ,even trying to come up with 2 more movies is difficult. Although I do have other movies  : like Transformers "left cheek! left cheek! left cheek!! or She's The Man~ "I Like Cheese", I just do and Duke :D

Armageddon's my favorite movie because it has an amazing cast, great dialogue and humor. and a lot of shit gets blown up in this movie. and of course Airosmith ,the soundtrack is awesome.This is the best movie ever.


I loved the scene where Steve Buscemi got space dementia and was riding the nuclear warhead. It's understandable isn't it?, who wouldn't want to feel such power between their legs before they DIE in SPACE.


So yeah that's my top 3, well actually my number uno <3

Dirty Little Secret

Dirty Little Secret is a weekly meme hosted by us at Under the Covers. Every Thursday we get to know other bloggers and our readers more intimately by asking them a question hoping to reveal their dirty little secrets.  We hope that you will all join us!

To participate in the meme all you need to do is:

1. Be a follower of Under the Covers.
2. Create a post in your blog taking the meme image (code above) and copy instructions. 
3. Answer the question we propose! This can be done in any way you like, post a video, write a post etc.
4. Then add your link below.

Non-bloggers: We want to hear from you as well!!!  Let us know your answer in the comments! 

We hope you join us and let us know your Dirty Little Secrets!

This week's question:

Shuffle your playlist and give us the first five songs that come up.     

The thing is my phone broke. I'm miserable because of it. I'm just gonna pick the first  5 songs on my YouTube list. Every song has a story/meaning to the listener:

1. Tom Petty- Free Fallin' {After watching Jerry McGuire I went to look for this song. I love it}

2.Warchild-Lost { Warchild is one of Sherrilyn Kenyon's brothers  , he often writes songs for her Dark-Hunter    books.

3.Westlife - Raise Me Up { It's a beautiful song and I was bored}

4. Bobby Brown- My prerogative { I like Spear's version, It has a better beat. But then I went and listen to Bobby's version,which is also good. I was going through a phase of boredom}

5.Natalie Imbruglia- Torn {I heard this one a lot on the radio years ago. It's nostalgic for me.

*6. Lenny Kravits- Again { Kravits is going to play Cinna in The Hunger Games. I love this song. and the idea that he's going to play Cinna}  

The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery

Few stories are as widely read and as universally cherished by children and adults alike as The Little Prince. Richard Howard's new translation of the beloved classic-published to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Antoine de Saint-Exupry's original artwork. 

I read this last year. Time hasn't changed how good. How brilliant this book is.  How sweet, funny and magical this book is.

It's called "The Little Prince" because it's about a little prince (from another planet).  He leaves his planet, leaves his Rose behind all alone. He goes and visits the other planets near his and Earth.

Th writing is really easy even the grown ups (those strange creatures) can understand and enjoy this book. If not then what a pity that is.

I think the little prince is very wise. I like him a lot. Although this book is funny and you grow to like the little prince. It's also sad. I wish I had a rose of my own.

My favorite part in this book is when the prince meets the Fox and asks the Fox what "tamed" means. To which the Fox answers:

"It's something that's been to often neglected. It means to create ties"

Then the Fox asks the prince to tame him. The prince reluctantly does this. Eventually time goes by and the prince has to leave the Fox. The Fox is sad and cries but gives the prince his secret as a gift.

The fox's secret:

" One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes"

What a very wise fox. I wish I had a Fox as a friend. I'm afraid to tame anything,especially a person.

Speculation: The author, Antoine. The guy was a pilot and he crashed his plane more then once. Maybe he did meet the prince in the dessert! maybe it was a mirage! or maybe the guy had a very active and wild, no! fascinating and beautiful  imagination.

This book remains one of the greats. It's dedicated to Leon Werth ( When He Was A Little Boy). We should all try to remember that little boy/girl inside us.  At one point in our life's did we not recognize The Hat for what it truly is . A boa constrictor eating an elephant!!

Grade:   O

Envy (The Fallen Angels #3) by J R Ward

Seven deadly sins. Seven souls to save. And a man and a woman treading the lines of danger, desire and deliverance ...As the son of a serial killer, homicide detective Thomas DelVecchio Jr grew up in the shadow of evil. Now, on the knife-edge between civic duty and blind retribution, he atones for the sins of his father. Hired to monitor Veck is Internal Affairs officer Sophia Reilly, whose interest in Veck is both professional and arousingly personal. But Veck and Sophia have a common interest. He's Jim Herron, a mysterious stranger enlisted to save the soul of a killer's latest victim, one precariously hovering between heaven and hell. Before Herron's job is done, Veck and Sophia will be inexorably drawn into a battle of good against evil, where the risk is nothing less than total damnation.


Alright here we go. Do you know this serie? then you're probably familiar with the characters Eddy Blackhawk and Adrian Vogel and of course Jim Heron and their little competition with Devina, le biaatch. 


This time their target is detective Veck Delvecchio, who's father is a serial killer. Veck's been having to deal with his dad's infamy all his life and always having to worry if he has some of his dad's evil in him. I like this characters struggle with his good and bad side. He has an interestingly troubled psychy. Are people born evil? are they their parents to blame? or do you define YOU. I also liked his honesty and that he's a big handsome brute, but not as handsome as Adrian.


The story has a lot of action, drama and steamy scenes. Reilly and Veck are attracted to each other from the get go,and not long after that they get it on.  I hated that Reilly was so easily convinced that Veck was the murderer (which he was being framed for). Althoug it's understandable with the information geven and Veck's parantage to believe that. She makes it right in the end by following up on things. They have a happily ever after.  

Now for the drama. Adrian and Eddy think Jim's too concerned with Sissy and want him to concentrate more on the war. This becomes an issue with the three. They have a big fight and separate. Ad and Ed get drunk and get attacked by a harpy. and fucking shit!! Eddy dies!!! he dies!! why?!! I like Adrian more but come on?!! Devina's plan was to destabilize Jim's team. On the contrary Jim and Adrian just stuck together and it worked in their favour because they won this battle. Jim used Devina's crush on him against her.  Clearly a sexual and disgusting crush .


This book is called Envy because 1. I suppose because it's one of the seven sins 2. because Devina envy's Veck and Reilly's realtionship and love. Yeah, she's a bitter and jealous biaatch aswell.


The next target is apparantly going to be Mathias from the previous book. Crave, Jim lost in that book and in the next book apparantly they get a next chance to save Mathias but the los from the previous book still stands.


Either way this was a wonderful and sad read.


Grade:  E

Down the Rabbit Hole

You know how Alice fell through and ended up in Wonderland. Well some books are like that too. Books that just transport you, they take you away. Consume you. Just like that they ingrate themselves into your mind. You can't stop thinking about it. You become completely lost to a wonderful ,brilliant story . A world unlike reality.

some of these rabbit-hole like books:

The Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkien

When I got my hands on this fantastic trilogy I was completely consumed. It's not a book you finish in a day (not for me at least). You continue reading and then notice how much time has passed and you must go to school. At school but not really there. You're on the freaking Shire!! In the car driving home you're still there. Your on Middle Earth. The sun, The grass. The simplicity of The Shire and the hobbits. all the good and the oncoming bad.

Tolkien did a great job describing things ,creating such a vivid world with such great, honorable and equally bad and evil characters.

Harry Potter by J K Rowling
The Goblet of fire was the first harry potter book I read. I'd seen the movies before and was interested in the books. Lost in such a magical world. Such great  and memorable characters. This is where I started to enjoy reading.

Pet cemetery by Stephen King
Now not all places a book takes you is going to be a wonderful place. I hate Pet Cemetery. It's probably the first book I've well, a little bit, kind off destroyed. The story wasn't bad. or anything. I just hate this book. and that evil diabolical Cat!! After reading this book(which had on the cover a creepy cat on it) I put it in the fridge. I wasn't scared or anything! I just didn't want anything coming out of it and getting me. Like that creepy cat on the cover!. Honestly, no really. why would you want to bring a dead cat back to life! havn't you ever heard of a pet store?!

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
One of my favorite novels.
The words stay with you I suppose. "I am a free human being and with an independent will". "hell is a pit full of fire". "resurum"
I love the character Jane. She's kind, she's describe as a small weak woman/child. and yet she grows into a fine human being. She's treated horribly but retains her innocents and kindness through it all. And Mr Rochester an equally interesthing character. I loved and enjoy the part where he dressed up as an old gypsy woman to trick Jane. I've read Pride and Prejudice and other works by Jane Austen. but Charlotte Bronte with this one novel beats  Austen. (my opinion)

These are the books right a top of my head that have taken me to wonderful places. Then again there's  Twilight which has taken me to Forks and Dark hunters to New Orleans and Greece. Bleach has taken me to Karakura Town. I've walked through the dirty alley's of London with Mr Hide and the unpleasant Mr Dorian Gray., Through the Louvre and The Library of Congress with Robert Langdon. I've been on so many adventures and that I've done through books only.

Where have you been?

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

If you've never read a Dan Brown novel  then you've missed out on a mind blowing reading experience.

The lost symbol is another Robert Langdon adventure. This time it's set in Washington D.C, particularly The Library of Congress, The Rotunda, The Temple House , The Capitol Building. and The Washington National Cathedral.

This book is brilliant and a page turner. full of facts ,action,adventure and great thought provoking arguments about mysticism, God and the strenght of the human mind.

plot:
Langdon get's tricked into coming to Washington by somebody posing as his friend, Peter Solomon(a well known mason). At Langdon's arrival he gets a phone call. The impostor, Mal'akh , has Peter hostage and if Langdon wants his friend back he must solve The Ancient Mysteries .

I loved the way The Library of Congress is described in this book or maybe I'm just fascinated by the thought of a giant library. and after reading this book . The Library of Congress must really be "giant' if  it needs conveyor belts to transport books from one section to the other.

The lead character Robert Langdon is a symbologist and a well known character if you've read Angels & Demons or Da Vince Code. or seen the movies.

In previous Langdon novels . Langdon always seems to have a female sidekick. In this book I thought it would be Inou Sato, CIA agent. Which at first I liked the thought of because it would be something different from the other books. Agent Sato is described as a hardass, most of her agents fear her, she's short and has a deep voice. At first Langdon thought she was a man. She turned out not to be the lead female protagonist which turned out for the best because as her character developed she became problematic to actually saving Peter Solomon's life. She's an annoying,uncooperative,suspicious hardass.
Katherine Solomon, Peter's sister, turns out to be the female lead. She joins Langdon later and helps him solve the pyramid puzzle.

The surprise!
The bad guy, Mal'akh. The suspected murderer of Peter Solomon's son Zachary. It turns out Mal'akh IS Zachary. He faked his own death! I suspected this but everything contradicted this because Zachary=Mal'akh=Andros convinced himself he was no longer Zachary but Mal'akh. He had 'tranformed".

This is probably why I read Dan Brown's books. I love the surprises and a good conspiracy. Angels & Demons and Deception Point are good examples thereof. Especially Deception Point , that was like chocolate cake. Although in this aspect The Lost Symbol failed to "surprise me".

Another reason to love this book or  any Dan Brown novel is the history and the symbolism he incorporates into his stories.  You will never put down one of this guy's books without learning something interesting.

Book excerpt:
" the Apocalypse is not the end of the world, but rather it is the end of the world as we know it"
So is dec.21.2012 the supposed end of the world  actually the beginning of a  new age of enlightenment. Well isn't that an interesting thought.

Alberch Durer- Melencolia I

Depicts mankinds struggle to comprehend The Ancient Mysteries

Grade: 

             O