shhh!!!! i've got a secret!!!

since i've been in a crafty mood lately, i'm thinking about doing my first ever give away!!!! it won't be anything hugely amazing, but it will be handmade...by ME!!!!!! once i get things done and think about a way to handle this i'll let you know!! if you know of anyone who likes handmade things, please share this posting with them!

Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks

sigh...........S makes fun of me everytime i come home from the library with one of his books...."who died this time?" is his first question. and sadly...he's right. Sparks' has a pattern to his writing and not that it's a bad thing, it's just something you come to expect in his writing. someone dies/died/is dying and need to overcome/deal with loss/come to grips with. people fall in love, have issues then are happy again. it's just how it is.

i've read all his books, except the one with his brother. Safe Haven was good. i liked the characters and the storyline. the one thing i really enjoy about his writing style is how much you feel you're there with the characters in the area they're at at the time....if they're at the beach having a picnic, you can feel the sand, hear the waves, feel the ocean breeze on your face.....well...i can anyway :)

i feel for the main character "katie"....i had a boyfriend once who thought an occasional hit was ok. he didn't last long....trust me. he didn't like that i hit back. anyways.....what she goes through is horrible and the strength she shows overcoming it is great. it takes a lot to get away from abusive people. physically or emotionally abusive people are horrible and ruin lives everyday. if you know someone or of someone who is dealing with issues like this, please....help them get some help. there are most likely hidden signs, odd comments they might make....but they are scared. they need to get away and press charges.

i enjoyed this book. it's an easy quick read. something to help take you away from daily life for a little bit.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

yup...finally got around to reading these books that everyone has been talking about and all the hollywood buzz about the movie. i finished the last book last night. s has the first one with him and is enjoying it so far. i've heard that the first one is amazing then the story kinda falls apart with the other two....which is kinda hard going into a series with so much buzz going around about them but i did it.

thoughts on the first one are.....katniss is pretty basic as a character i think. she's very straight forward in thinking and planning on survival and keeping peeta alive. the concept of the whole "hunger games" is just purely messed up!!! why is have children kill each other a way to move forward in life? also....why in any future movies/books, humans are kept in special areas gated off from "normalcy"? that's just messed up.

"catching fire" was the start of the fall of the capital, which having another "game" in the "quarter quells" just plain f'ed up really. i think people have been through enough. but the love development between katniss and gale and katniss and peeta is, to me, sadly undone. i know it's just a part of the whole story and not the main part, but katniss hasn't grown as a character to me in this one. yes, she's been through hell and back and now is facing that hell again with secret plots going on around her. but her personal growth isn't there. she should be able to put things together a little faster to me at this point.

"mockingjay" left me the same way. living in district 13 now and walking about borderline catatonic in the beginning makes sense. she's lost everything. her home, peeta, her "normal" life....and now is being forced to be a face of the resistance. it's a lot for a 17yo. but her lack of awareness of what's really going on and gale's feelings and her own for either of the boys and really lacking for me. i would have loved to seen more personal growth for her. yeah she's kickass about wanting to take down the capital and president snow, then facing some realities about president coin, but i think if she was able to put plots/plans together faster it would have made for a more interesting story line. i do like how she's reaching out to peeta in this one to bring him back. and i do understand that she hasn't had the chance to be a "normal" teen that the way of life and circumstances surrounding that has made it impossible. the way of her world is nothing like ours and it hampers i suppose her personal growth. i really like we finally get to learn more about haymitch and why he is the way he is.

do i think the movie version will play up the love story more? hell yeah. do i think the movie version will be a mockery of the book? most likely. hollywood has a way of doing that. even tho there's already something laid out right in front of them, they go and mess with the heart of it. will i see the movie? yup. the pics of i've seen of the actors are too old and she's not blonde and he's not a brunette...so yeah, what's up with that? i hate when hollywood messes with key character descriptions. the only movie to book character i feel they got spot on with casting is the harry potter kids. spot on and well done. i'm sure there's others, but i'm too tired to think right now ;)

i enjoyed the books. i was right there in the game with katniss rooting her on and caring about peeta. i was just as shocked as she was at the announcement for the quarter quells. i wanted both president snow and coin dead. would i recommend them? yup. these books are a good read. well written, but i would have loved to seen more character development in katniss. any one else want to share their thoughts?

well...hello there!!!

so yeah...i've been sucktastic lately with my bloggyness or lack thereof really. my head has been a funky place lately and there were thoughts that shouldn't be shared outside of it. i'm sure you've all been there? right?!??! RIGHT!?!?! ok....i know you're agreeing with me, now i feel better.

well.....let's see....what's been going on that will make sense to share about. our road trip vacation was amazing!!! i bought a and mines tickets to FLORIDA!!!!!!!!! WOOOHOOOO!!!!!!! prepare to be invaded fl.....we're just gonna rock your world!! (you may need a cigarette after, wink wink). school's out. a and i have so for just been bums really. lounging around.....reading....watching movies/tv...you know typical bummy stuff.

i've been thinking about what kinda direction i wanted to take this blog in and i've decided that i wanted to do more reviews of the books i've been reading since books are like air to me. i really need to air to survive, it is like one of the main things keeping us alive, and to me books are apart of that. ask anyone who knows me, i usually always have a book in my hand. the other a glass of my own sweet tea.....another basic to living a proper life. so...with that said expect to see more about what i'm reading. i know on other blogs there's like a little gadget i can add to show you what i'm reading, but seriously.....i go through like 2-3 books a week. so....i'd be constantly updating it and it sounds like a real pain in the arse. sorry. but it's true. cope. ;)

also since having some down time i've been jammin to pandora on my iphone (yeah we're cool like that now, we's on the iphone party train and man...i've developed an unnatural love for it...like it's always with me) so it's pretty awesome.

ok....so i'm on my third glass of wine, singing along to this song....why!?!? because apparently pandora thinks queen is a whole lot like avril lavigne and i needed to hear it right now. duh.

also this song is also kinda amazing and even tho it's about a couple, i kinda feel like it's about me too....but i hope in the future it'll change and you'll come to love me too.