HI WILL

The Great Gatsby

So this is the one and only movie I have seen in a theater in the last year, and I fell in love with it. Well, to begin with it's staring Leonardo Dicaprio and Toby Maguire, so who couldn't resist, but it's based on the classic work of Literature by the same name. Now if movies done on books are done well, they can be wonderful, and this movie definitely was one of them. Although I've never read the novel, it was evident through watching the movie that it was a very well written thought out plot with plenty of motifs, themes and metaphors. Set in the roaring 20's New York, a mysterious and unimaginably rich man known only as Gatsby hosts extravagant parties weekly. But nobody actually knows who Gatsby is; most people don't care. Next door lives a young stockbroker with a very rich cousin who lives across the bay. After one day getting a mysterious invitation to a party, he meets Gatsby himself. The two become fast friends. Sweeping his new friend away and have a grand time, Gatsby makes a real friend. The truth comes out when Gatsby reveals that he is in love with his neighbor's married cousin across the bay and that is why he built his house in that location. The story goes on to include more plot twists, love tangles and comes to a shocking conclusion. Exploring the societal rift between the rich and the poor and trus friendship, it is very well done. I think the main theme of Gatsby's never ending hope and faith that he will end up with the girl he loves was very well done in this movie and it definitely stuck with you. The one thing that stuck with me the most was the concept of popularity and fads; that the rich high society people only want to be with you if you're rich and giving them something. Overall this was an unexpected, deep, powerful film and I really enjoyed it.

The Luxe

Set in New york, this saga follows the Holland family, a part of New York's aristocracy. Having fallen on hard times after the death of her husband Mrs. Holland arranges for her eldest daughter Elizabeth to marry one of the richest and most eligible bachelors in Manhattan. But of course, Elizabeth is in love with another man, a stable boy named Will who is obviously not  an acceptable choice. Meanwhile, her younger sister complicates everything by falling for her sister's fiance. Amid the high society parties and fake friendships, Elizabeth must try to concoct a plan to save herself and her family. Unwilling to leave Will or let her family lose face, she becomes a passionate, conniving young woman. This story continues through the books, with scandals, love, grief and parties. It's a period story is definitely well done and intriguing, not to mention keeps you guessing and reveals just how much some people value their status and what they are willing to do in order to keep it. I liked it a lot and would highly recommend it.

Doctor Who

So, long time since my last post, but I have been a bit busy. Well anyway, it's summer now which means plenty of time for watching and reviewing. Now this new favorite is a bit of a surprise to me, seeing as I'm not typically into syfy type shows; however, Doctor Who has quickly landed a top spot. Following an ancient Time Lord known only as The Doctor, the series originally began in the 1960s and was restarted in 2005. The Doctor with his TARDIS can go anywhere in the universe at anytime, past or future.  The Doctor can regenerate when fatally wounded and become a new person. He picks up human companions and travels the cosmos saving planets and doing good while battling the Doctor's age old enemies. It does sound a bit fantastic and strange,at times very hard to follow, but I've come to really enjoy the show.Currently, the Doctor is on his 11th incrnation, a young looking, quirky, compassionate man played brilliantly be Matt Smith.  His main companions are Amy and Rory Pond followed by Clara Oswald. The main reason I really enjoy this show is because of the characters, their interactions, their backstories and the Doctor's never ending sorrow a regret over what he has done to the universe. Honestly, this is an incredibly well written, funny yet serious show and the cool and heartbreaking thing is that it can continue on with new people forever.
Okay, well I'll have some more book, movies and tv reviews for you!

The Gemma Doyle trilogy

This trilogy of books by Libba Bray include "A Great And Terrible Beauty","Rebel Angels"and "The Sweet Far Thing."I have a previous post about the first book in this trilogy, which you can be sure to check out.
Gemma Doyle arrives in London to attend the famous Spence Academy for Young Ladies after the tragic death of er mother. Having spent her while life in India, Gemma enters a lonely new world of confusion and grief. She quickly befriends her roommate Ann, a scholarship student destined to be a governess for her cousins. Subsequently she meets Felicity and Pippa, Ann's daring friends. However , new friendships are not all that hahahahaha come to Gemma, as strange visions begin to appear. She finds a mysterious diary, of a girl named Mary who once was a student at spence. The diary tells a thrilling tale of a magical world known as "the realms" which is governed by women soreceres known as The Order. With the help of one of their teachers, te girls begin to search for the difference between fairy tales, and reality. Gemma begins to learn that she is no ordinary girl and that her mother may not have been who she seemed. As they delve deeper into the story of the realms they learn of a rouge member of the Order, a woman named Circe. Much to their surprise and horror, they begin to unravel the mystery of the realms and the deadly fire which destroyed the east wing of the school and killed the founder and two girls . The four girls realize they've been reading a dead girl's diary, or are they? Adding to Gemmas confusion is a gypsie boy named Kartik who warn her of the powers of the realms. Although they are destined to be enemies, Gemma beings to have feelings for the strange secretive boy. The four girls travle into the realms, but return as only three. Gemma and her friends return to the realms often, to find it changing and becoming increasingly inpredictable. Plauged by visions, power, and heartbreak, Gemma MIT figure out what to do. Meanwhile they must continue with their schooling to be proper ladies and deal with gossip and family drama. Everyone is not wjo they seem, and it seems as though everyone is a small pawn in a chess game. The time draws near for Gemma to join the battle for power in the realms, but suddenly it pours into reality. Gemma must return to the realms with her friends, and some former enemies, to restore the peace and power of the realms.

I really enjoyed this trilogy, and I would highly recommend it to anyone. There is enough love, fantasy, and mystery to make you believe it is a fairy tale, but but also be realistic. I read the first book last summer and the second and third this summer, and they are all beautifully written. It's set in England at the turn of the century when times are changing and the place of women is starting to be questioned. These books are very much about how women have the power to do many things, if they try. I hope you pick up these books soon:)

The 13 Reasons Why

A while back I read The Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher. I have to say that it is a wonderful book and one of the most moving stories I have ever read. This story is about a girl who committed suicide in high school. Before she died she made tape recordings that were sent to 13 people. Each person who on the list had their own tape dedicated to them. They were the 13 reasons why she decided to end her life. This book follows Clay Jensen, one of people to get the tapes. He had a crush on Hannah for a long time, and it horrified by the tapes. Over one night Clay wanders around his town listening to Hannah's voice in his head as she explains what happened to ruin her life.

I thought this book was very well written and realistic. Each page leads the reader to a devastating realization of what actions can cause. This book makes you want to stop reading and yet it's addicting. It is the type of tragedy when you already know who dies at the beginning of the story. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is 12 and older.

kathryn

The Hunger Games Movie

Yes! It's finally coming next month! The Hunger Games Movie will be in theaters March 23. I highly suggest going out to see it because I loved the books. I personally really hope the movie stays true to the book and doesn't change the story line. Also, I love Taylor Swift's song, Safe And Sound which will be on the soundtrack. Be sure to check it out:)

kkuhar

Thoughts: friendship

I haven't posted a while lot of thoughts, so I decided to start. Today's post is on friendship. Friends are some of the mist confusing people you will ever meet. Everybody as their own pack of 'besties' and are kinda expected to hang out with them. Of course the world doesn't work out like that. Sometimes you need to get away from the people you care then most about and just make new friends, build new bridges. That's the beauty of true friends, they won't ever stop caring about you even when you stop hanging out. Once a friend, your always a friend. I hate it when people have huge fights, and I truly believe that people never truly loose friends, they might just push them away. You'll always have those memories together.

Mary, Bloody mary

In the classic story of King Henry VIII and his many wives one person who often gets looked over is Mary. She was the 1st daughter of the king, and by far the oldest. She was a catholic, and daughter of a Spanish princess. During her reign as queen England had a very dark period of slaughter and religious persecution. This book delves into mary's life as she sees her father change from a good king to a tyranny. She is forbidden to see her mother and deemed illegitament, her title taken away. She is personally humiliated by Anne bolyen, the woman who changed her father, and the eventual threat of execution. Mary's life is full of danger, deceit, change, and chaos. From a princess to a lowly maid Mary is a very compelling character often forgotten by history. Personally I loved this book and found it very interesting and great historical fiction.

Fall reading

I can't believe it's already october, were heading into fall. I have some reviews that could go along with Halloween, Fall, and spookiness. Check back each week for a new review :)

Kathryn

Updates, Gordon Korman,

Sorry i haven't posted in a REALLY long time, but I've been pretty busy. There are a bunch of new books I've read, but unfortunately I cannot do a review on all of them. Below is the list of my recent readings:
Deep and Dark and Dangerous- Ghost story that was sorta spooky but really good
Wings- A Fairy Tale- Interesting plot line, but a very fantastic book. It's about fairies.
Eleven- Pretty good, about a 11 year old girls' life.
Twelve- The continuation of the girl's life when she's twelve.
Thirteen- The same series, about the girl when she's thirteen.
Access Denied[and other eight grade error messages]- Drama that goes on in 8th grade
The Fifth Of March- Good, interesting historical fiction about the Boston Massacre.
Tuck Everlasting- Interesting plot line, sorta, but pretty boring and short.
Witch & Wizard- Very good series about magic in the real world. I may do a post as the rest come out and I am able to read them.
The Book Thief- Great Historical Fiction book. Set in Germany during WWII and narrated by death. I would highly recommend it, unless you hate great loss.
Breathe, A Ghost Story- Kinda strange and creepy. Don't read if you're the type who freaks out.

Gordon Korman
He is a really great author and I wanted to point out two books of interest that just came out by him. The first is The Medusa Plot. It is the first book in the continuation of 39 clues series, and it's really good. I'll put my review on the 39 Clues tab so it'll be there, long with he rest of the new series

The next new read from Gordon Korman is the TITANIC Trilogy. In order to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Titanic's horrific sinking he wrote this new trilogy. It follows four kids who end up on the Titanic's maiden voyage. Trouble seems to follow them on board the ship, and that's before the events of the fateful crash bring us to the legendary events of April 15th. It's well written and interesting once you get past the beginning. I would recommend it, especially if you're interested in the Titanic.
:) kkuhar

Hey!

I know I haven't posted in a really long time, so here's a bunch of updates.

1.This summer I went to Turkey for vacation. It is such an amazing place, with so much ancient history there. I was lucky enough to go to an ancient marble quarry, and gothic churches. It was a really interesting trip, so I would suggest Turkey to anyone.

2. Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 came out as I'm sure many of you know. I have to say it was a great end to such an amazing series. I personally love Harry Potter, the books and the movies. I was really happy with the way they finished it, even though it was different from the books. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's disappointing by the fact it's over, but it's a great movie.

3.39 Clues update! The first book in the new part of the series, "The Medusa Plot" comes out August 31st. http://www.the39clues.com/part2 You can read a bit about it at the link before. It sounds interesting so I'll be sure to add a review when that comes out. You can also check out the prologue at http://cdn.static.the39clues.com/pdf/medusa_prologue.pdf.SInce tragically Borders is closing I'm also going to try and find new places to buy books

Alphas

Shira Brazielle has everything, billions of dollars, merchandise, and fans. Her teams, inventing all kinds of amazing gadgets, and a school. The super exclusive Alpha Academy, on Alpha Island. There, the 100 most talented girls on the planet are assembled. The best dancers, writers, musicians, and inventors, all girls. But of the 100 there can only be one Alpha left to win the worldwide fame.

This series follows Skye, Charlie, Allie A., Allie J., and Triple. They live together in Jackie O's house and quickly become friends, and enemies. Everyone seems to have a secret they're hiding, and everyone seems to have set their sights on the forbidden fruits, Shira's sons. Soon a network of lying, cheating, destroying and backstabbing is wound through the girls weak friendship. Only one can win, and what will each do to stay at the school?

I liked these books a lot. They were intresting and I'm waiting for the next few to come out. I would suggest these books for anyone who likes adventure, romance, fighting evil, and fun.

I Like Him, He Like's Her

Alice McKinley is starting high school. She has everything she could possibly want, a great boyfriend, two best friends, a friendly older brother, and a father about to get married to her 7th grade English teacher; what more could she want? Then her boyfriend Patrick finds his lucky penny. Alice's world starts to turn upside down and everything seems to spiral out of control. She joins clubs, which only leads to more problems. Suddenly the drama of high school is completely surrounding her. Her friend's parent problems, her brother's girl friend problems, her heart broken father. Her first year in high school is a huge change. It's nothing she thought it would be. I like this book because it's realistic, funny, and sad. All of the stuff in her life changes, and things you don't expect to happen happen. You really get to see all sides of the characters, and it's really funny. I would recommend this book to people 12/13 and above.

The Airhead Trilogy

Hundred's of girls say they would die to be Nikki Howard. Nikki is the face of Stark Industries, her face is plastered everywhere you can buy Stark merchandise, which is just about everywhere. Emerson Watts likes playing video games and laughing about the stupidity of fashion, models, and of course, Nikki Howard. Emerson hates everything that her sister Frida values. Stark's newest megastore, just blocks from their New York apartment is the biggest thing happening. Stark's cheaper prices and superstores were putting tons of local business out of business. Why would Emerson want anything to do with that? Frida loves it, she's crazy about one of the performers at the opening, Gabriel Luna. Then the world goes upside down. How is it that Emerson's the chosen one? The Phoenix? Why is it that she's able to live the rest of her life? Why is it that Emerson Watts becomes the most known model in New York? Stark Industries is not all that it seems, and it's CEO, Robert Stark is at the head of it all. How can Nikki Howard, and Emerson Watts expose the truth about what Stark Industries is really doing?

High society, celebrities, black mailing, love, brain surgeons, and runways all go into this great trilogy by Meg Cabot. I would like to thank my friend Maria for lending these to me. This summer I'll try to get a lot of posts out:)

Kathryn

The Gallangher Girls

On the outside The Gallangher Academy For Exceptional Young Women may seem like a snobby rich girls boarding school, that's what it's suppose to be. But look inside the door, the bulletproof windows, and you see an all girl spy school. Yep, as in learning about bombs, poisons, tailing, covert operations. For the headmistress' daughter Cammie things begin to turn into a real mission in her sophomore year. A new Covert Operations teacher comes, along with a senator's daughter. Well, and then Cammie gets a secret boyfriend in the nearby town and has to sneak out of school. Cammie and her friends have to use all their spy training to try and make it work. Then operation Blackthorne starts, and a whole new chapter opens in Cammie's life, along with reopening of her father's death on a mission. Bugs, laundry chutes, and secret passages later their real mission begins. Kidnapping attempts, double agents, and top secret come into play as they learn of a new threat, a real threat, one that will stop at nothing to get their unknown prize.Their lives in danger, and confusion on friends and enemies lead to unreeling plot, and the fact that the group will kill. In a world where espionage, lying and spying is normal, how will Cammie figure out how to be a normal girl, or at least pretend to be one. Plus, for a girl who knows fourteen languages, will she ever figure out the language of boys?

A Great and Terrible Beauty

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but I've been reading a lot. "A Great and Terrible Beauty," by Libba Bray just goes to show that you should never judge a book by it's cover. Looking at the title you think of some high society rich girl drama with love and stuff like that. Although there is some of that throughout the book, this story is much more interesting. There is intrigue, magic, fights, confusion, and friendship. After some unfortunate and unclear events in India, Gemma Doyle is sent to London, to go to an elite private boarding school, The Spencer Academy. But something else is new to Gemma, other than her new home. She can see into the realms, magical places beyond our world. The only mention of anything like Gemma's gift is The Order, a secret group of women who had magic to travel to the realms. They have long been gone, and forgotten. With a group of friends, Gemma begins to realize the power she has, and it's importance. She also realizes the danger it poses to the world. What will she do to save her world?

I really liked this because it is more than what meets the eye. You find this heroin confused in this odd world. The beginning of the book you find the people you want to hate, but then you end up loving them. It shows how friends can be the most important thing ever, and you never do know who your friends will be. There is just enough magic that's mixed in with the drama of school and pressure to be proper noblewomen to make it good. I really enjoyed this book, and you can also check out the rest of the trilogy:)

The Hunger Games

Hey, I just finished reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I really truly loved the books. I've been meaning to read them for a while, but they were nothing like I expected. It's set sometime in the future in the area once known as North America. There is a capitol and 12 districts. Every year, to show their power, Capitol requires one girl and one boy from each district to participate in a televised fight to the death. They are called the hunger games.

The main character, Katniss Everdeen lives in district 12. She's 16 years old, a hunter, and the leader of her family. District 12 in incredibly poor with coal mines being the main export. Katniss' father was killed, and all she has left is her mother and 12 year old sister, Prim. When it's time to chose the tributes for the year's games Prim's name is called. Katniss, desperate to save her sister volunteers for her. She practically signed her death certificate. The other tribute is Peeta Mallark, the bakers son. Katniss and Peeta head to Capitol for the games and soon become friends. Then, Peeta changes their relationship drastically, and the games start. Katniss and Peeta start of a spark so powerful that it can't stop. The 74th annual Hunger Games may be the most important in the nation's history, all because of a girl from Distict 12. Nothing is ever the same in their world.

I really loved these books. In the beginning you think it is all just about the games but it becomes so much bigger. You realize how important Katniss and Peeta are. I also love the way that their is so much romance twisted in, but yet not to the point that it takes away from the story. Collins kills of characters expertly. Everyone who dies dies for a reason, to show you something. They're sad but the books are fast moving enough that you don't wallow in the sadness. My favorite one is Catching Fire, and my least favorite is Mockingjay. The ending seemed rushed and I didn't like some of the ways things happened at the end. I also thought the way she showed society was very good. Overall, these are great books. Also, the movies are going to be made, and I may have a project with this series coming up, up be sure to check that out. Lastly, I'd like to thank my friend Maria for letting me borrow these books. You can check out her blog and thought at the link below.

http://bookspoetrymusic.blogspot.com/

kkuhar

Google Library

I know I've posted this before, but we've had some now followers, so be sure to check put my google library. Google library allows you to post books you've read, liked, reviewed, want and other categories. Be sure to make your own and post the link in the comments so we can see what books you've been reading. The link to mine is below.

http://books.google.com/books?op=library&hl=en

Messenger

In Messenger, we follow Matty( Matt from the previous book) and Seer (Christopher from the previous book). They live in a peaceful, democratic village where many people seek refuge from their past. Matty begins to discover that he has a power, he can heal things. First a frog, then two dogs. Leader (Jonas from The Giver) can sense it.Then people begin to become rude, mean to others. Matty finds out that people are trading away their souls at the 'Trade Mart" for materialistic things. Then Mentor, a ind and loving man, starts a petition to close village. Seer is afraid that Kira will never be able to come, so he sends Matty to get her. Matty travels through Forest spreading the message that village is being closed. He realizes Forest is beginning to darken. Then he gets to his old village, where Kira awaits him. She can sometimes weave and see the future, and saw him coming. She refuses to let him heal her twisted leg. They head into the forest, but Matty senses it is not the same. Then vines attack them, the path disappears, poison attacks Matty's arms. A foul stench seems to be coming from the center of Forest. They continue on through the forest, but they are continually attacked. Leader tries to go in to rescue them, but he is also repeatedly attacked. It gets to the point where they can't go any longer, and they think that they'll die in there. I don't want to put the very end because it's the biggest surprise, and I don't like it very much.