TCWT Blog Chain

[Click the image to go to their blog.]

I know I said I’d post this tomorrow, the actual day, but I got tired… Lesson learned! I will now try to not post as much on one day.

So the topic for this month’s chain is “What are your favorite book beginnings and/or endings?” Before I went to sleep last night, I wrote down some notes for myself to remember in the morning. Those will be helping me!

Let’s start with the obvious–beginnings.

These are all of my favorites! So I’ll say the book title, what I like about the beginning, and perhaps a quote.

The Book Thief–The beginning  is so original and funny and intriguing, and it just hooks you.

First the colors.

Then the humans.

That’s usually how I see things.

Or at least, how I try.

And the title of the first chapter is “Death and Chocolate.” I mean, come on. How can you not like that?

Harry Potter–Yet again, a hook. And the first sentence doesn’t necessarily talk about Harry; it talks about the Dursleys and their normality. Which is great, I think.

The Lightning Thief–It’s funny! Everything about Percy Jackson and the Olympians is funny, because Percy is narrating it. Duh. :P

City of Bones–I believe someone else talked about this already, but whatever. You see a blue haired buy in the beginning, who Clary thinks is cute, and then [SPOILER ALERT] he turns out to be a demon and is killed after a few pages. Ah, the irony of life. And then the killer of the demon turns out to be Clary’s boyfriend, even though she hates him and thinks he’s evil in the beginning.

I Am Malala–Honestly, I just love the first two sentences.

I come from a country that was created at midnight. When I almost died it was just after midday.

Is that cool-sounding or what?

The Fault in Our Stars–This one is obvious. The first sentence, which is a paragraph, is all about how Hazel’s mom thinks she’s depressed, and what she makes her do. It opens us up to Hazel’s character and voice and life. Brilliant, I think.

Now, the endings. I don’t like endings that much. They mean the book, or series, is over. No more. Nada. I will be so sad when I get to the end of the Blood of Olympus, because then it will be over. For reals. No more funny Percy, or smart Annabeth, or cocky Jason, or adorable Leo, or mysterious Hazel, or baby-face Frank, or charm-speaking Piper. :'(

However, I do love the ending for Harry Potter, because of the epilogue. Most of my favorite endings have epilogues–I just love ’em. They tie everything up all neat and tidy, with sweet families and children. [Contrary to my love of epilogues, I don’t think Nakoma will have one. Sorry!]

So now my dad is saying I have to get up, because today is my sister’s birthday party and I have to help out. It’s Harry Potter themed! I’m going to sort people. :)

Here are the rest of the amazing people linking up for TCWT:

7th – http://vergeofexisting.wordpress.com/
8th – http://zarahoffman.com/
9th – http://thelittleenginethatcouldnt.wordpress.com/
10th – http://www.elizamcfarlish.weebly.com/
11th – http://sammitalk.wordpress.com/
12th – http://irisbloomsblog.wordpress.com/
13th – http://musingsfromnevillesnavel.wordpress.com/
14th – http://fantasiesofapockethuman.blogspot.com/
15th – http://miriamjoywrites.com/
16th – http://magicandwriting.wordpress.com/
17th – http://ttkesley.wordpress.com/
18th – http://www.brookeharrison.com/
19th – http://www.freeasagirlwithwings.wordpress.com/
20th – http://roomble.wordpress.com/
21st – http://unikkelyfe.wordpress.com/
22nd – http://erinkenobi2893.wordpress.com/
23rd – http://butterfliesoftheimagination.wordpress.com/
24th – http://lillianmwoodall.wordpress.com/
and http://www.paperdaydreams.com/
25th – http://write-where-you-are.blogspot.de/
and http://theedfiles.blogspot.com/
26th – http://insideliamsbrain.wordpress.com/
and http://anmksmeanderingmind.wordpress.com/
27th – http://semilegacy.blogspot.com/
and http://dynamicramblings.wordpress.com/
28th – http://oliviarivers.wordpress.com/
and http://randommorbidinsanity.blogspot.com/
29th – http://theloonyteenwriter.wordpress.com/
30th – http://thelonglifeofalifelongfangirl.wordpress.com/
and http://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com/ (We’ll announce the topic for next month’s chain.)

Love y’all to the moon an back. <3 Thanks again for 50 followers.

Re-thinking My Negative Feelings and Criticisms Towards “The Hunger Games”

I know, a long title. A mouthful.

Ever since I completed The Hunger Games trilogy in the spring of 2014, I have disliked it. I didn’t like the writing style of Suzanne Collins, I thought the second and third books were unnecessary–I didn’t even like Katniss! [Notice this is all past tense.] But I recently popped over to Musings From Neville’s Navel to read Engie’s newest post about THG. It was her reaction to the trailer for Mockingjay Part 1. She included the trailer in her post, so I thought, well, why don’t I watch it? I haven’t seen the first two movies, but I’d seen the first movie trailer.

This trailer, though.

As soon as it finished, I was just, OMG; I have to see this. I have been told the movies are better than the books, a rare occurrence in book-to-movie adaptations, so maybe I should just watch the movies! But then I decided to give them a second chance. Why?

Here is a Pros and Cons list for THG.

Pros:

• Sweet little Prim.
• The plot is unique.
• I actually liked the first book!
• There is [mostly] constant action.

Cons:

• I dislike the writing.
• Some parts are slow.
• In Mockingjay, Katniss spends a good amount of time in a basement. Doing nothing.
• How time passes is weird.
• I don’t like Katniss.
• I don’t like Peeta.
• I don’t like the Districts.
• The second and third books are unnecessary.
• I was really confused in some parts!

As you can see, the cons overwhelm the pros. But I am willing to give it a second chance! I am just that type of person!

As soon as my TBR list as been…read a bit more, I’ll buy THG and reread them. Maybe I’ll get them for my birthday…? [Which, BTW, is October 24. Frankly, all I want is to celebrate with my bestest bloggy friends, but I doubt that will happen…]

Here is the trailer:

What are your reactions to the trailer? Will you be watching Mockingjay Part 1? Of so, are you going when it first comes out, the premiere, or just when you feel like it? Tell me in the comments below. [There is more of this post, BTW.]

I just realized…September is fading away! Quite fast, actually. And that means October, my absolute favorite month of the year. Because where I live, the weather gets warm-ish, but not too warm like this week, there’s Halloween [a.k.a. Fangirls Unite!], and…my birthday!!! Which I mentioned above. It’s on the 24th, exactly a week before Halloween. October is actually a pretty exciting month this year.

Oct. 6: Start of fall break!

Oct. 7: The Blood of Olympus comes out! YAAAY!!!

Oct. 13: I meet Marissa Meyer! YAAAAY!!!

Oct. 14: End of fall break, a.k.a. school, which is pretty fun. I’ll miss it by then.

Oct. 24: My birthday!

Oct. 30: My friend Celeste’s birthday!

Oct. 31: Halloween!

The Blood of Olympus comes out during fall break, I just realized. That is good and bad. Good, because I don’t have to wear my uniform and can wear orange/blue instead (!!!), but bad because we might not be at home. We might be in a cabin, camping, without WiFi. :( Better check with my parents. ‘Cuz I have to do a major fangirling post on that day.

This post was supposed to be about THG…Oh, well. :P

And: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DANYA!!! YOU ARE A TOTALLY AWESOME PERSON AND I AM SO GLAD I’M YOUR FRIEND AND THAT YOU’RE BACK FROM DENMARK.

Are you looking forward to anything in October? Tell me in the comments below.

Top Ten Warnings I Want to See on Books

 

TTT is a meme created by The Broke and the Bookish.

Top Ten Warnings I Want to See on Books

Note: This is not the TTT from The Broke and the Bookish.

Disclaimer: I got the idea from Verbosity Book Reviews. [And if you are reading this, please note that I loved your idea and I wanted to make my own.]

1. WARNING: This book may cause excessive fangirling and rereading. [Specifically for Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and Divergent, plus maaaaany others.]

2. CAUTION: It cannot be guaranteed that these pages will remain dry. [Specifically for TFIOS; although I only teared up, I know other people drowned in their tears.]

3. WARNING: This book contains deaths of many loved characters. [Specifically for Harry Potter and Divergent.]

4. WARNING: This book is insanely awesome. [There are too many specifics to list.]

5. CAUTION: Fluffy contemporary ahead. Contains romance, friendship, and possible misunderstandings. [To all the pink and fluffy contemporaries of the world.]

6. YOU’VE READ THIS? HA. YOU HAVE NOW BEEN REELED IN. GOOD LUCK. [To the books with crazy fandoms.]

7. WARNING: This series has either one or more unnecessary books. Proceed with caution. [Hello there, Hunger Games!]

8. WARNING: This is how the world may end up. Better read this book now to learn what to do, right? [Specifically to The Lunar Chronicles, Divergent, and Tomorrow Girls.]

9. CAUTION: Amazing, awesome writing ahead. You will never be better at writing than this author. [*cough* J. K. Rowling *cough*]

10. WARNING: Although this book seems short, it is packed with lots of mind-blowing information that is only barely noticed and you will wonder about. Forever. [Specifically for The Giver.]

Did you like this list? Would you add any other warnings? Tell me in the comments below.