Trauma Porn (Their Title Not Mine)

So the other day I received an email about an article about the new dark theme in Chick Lit and YA genres. To be honest, when reading the article I heard of only two of the books they mentioned and only read one of them.



Which was 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher. I remember when I told my mother what it was about she thought I was depressed and so did everyone else at the physical therapist's office (My mom was recovering from knee surgery).


The novel is about this kid, Clay, he was always in love with this girl, Hannah. The perfect starting of one of those teeny-bopper love stories right? Not exactly. It turns out that before the novel started Hannah had committed suicide. Then when he comes home one day he finds a box of tapes from Hannah. In the first she explains that if you were sent them that you should listen because you were probably one of the reasons that she killed herself.



Not it exactly something I would've normally read, exactly I probably never would've read it, but thats the magic of book club.





The other one I had heard of but never actually looked at in a book store was The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.


Twenty-four children: twelve boys, twelve girls,
tributes selected by random lottery every year and sent to the capitol city of Panem to compete in a brutal, bloodthirsty fight for survival, with the last participant standing declared champion. Welcome to the Hunger Games, a grim reminder to those living in the twelve districts comprising what was once the United States of their place as virtual slaves to the gleaming Capitol at their center. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen is this year's female representative for District 12, having volunteered to take her younger sister Prim's place. Sent to the arena with the baker's son and classmate, Peeta Mellark -- a boy who, several years prior, saved Kat and her family from the ravages of starvation after her father's death in a coal mining accident -- neither competitor from the final district seem to be contenders. But Peeta's good nature and Kat's small stature belie the former's cunning intelligence and the latter's experience as a hunter; while a revelation from Peeta during the introductory ceremonies sends Katniss into the first day of competition more than a little off-kilter. The stage is set, the tributes have arrived, and the cameras are watching...let the games begin. (Thanks Mila)



Here's a review I got again from Mila :)



It is no exaggeration to call The Hunger Games a pulse-pounding page-turner. Collins grabbed me from the first page and didn't let go. While Katniss isn't always the most likable character (in fact, there were plenty of times I much preferred the affable Peeta, or even sweet, birdlike little Ruth), she is always compelling, thanks to her rational approach to every challenge and her dogged determination.




While The Hunger Games is a plot-driven novel, the characters and their relationships are the heart of the story. Ms. Collins has created a dystopian tale of Orwellian caliber for young adults, giving any reader plenty to churn their minds between now and the next installment of this trilogy.


So for those of you who have read it what do you think? And for those of you who haven't, do you want to?



Anyway, back to the topic at hand. The tramua porn article stated that the reason we read these is because while they are dark and depressing and then in the end it shows some type of growth and hope rather than the books like Gossip Girl (all of which except the new one I've read, including the It Girl) were there is no growth and the people st

ay the same but change sexual partners every five seconds, or change love interest at the same rate.



I don't know about you I kind of found the Gossip Girl books to be really annoying because of that point (the changing partners and stuuf) and find the show much better but I still prefer to read happy books so I can still feel like my life sucks most of the time and it'll make me feel better instead of even more depressed.




P.S. I was I the only one who knew that Cecily von Ziegesar didn't write the Gossip Girl books anymore?


P.S.S. If you click on all the pictures it will lead you to the amazon website of the book so you can buy it. Or, for GG the official website.






Comment Please, don't care what you say.

The Princess and the Frog

It's been years since the Disney Renaissance, the era when Disney made several successful movies, has ended. The last being Tarzan in 1999. But now Disney is going back to its original classic 2D movie fairy tales.

(Please ignore the misspelled December)

And it of course they couldn't do it without some controversy.

The Princess and the Frog will feature Disney's first ever black princess, making some concerns about the way it will be seen. Many things have changed since the beginning of the of the thoughts, starting with the name of the Movie.

Originally named The Princess Frog, as the book it was based off of by E.D. Baker, it was later changed to The Princess and the Frog. Then the name of the main character was changed from Maddy, to Tiana. Originally, the Princess Tiana was a maid as in other Disney movies, such as Snow White and Cinderella, but was thought of being too racial because of the slave implications and was then later changed.

Another contributing factor is that her Prince isn't black.

Writer and mother of two girls, Monique Fields, asks the poignant question: Who needs a black princess anyway?

Well, let me ask you, what do you think about Disney's first black Princess???

Jurassic Park

John Hammond: All major theme parks have had delays. When they opened Disneyland in 1956, nothing worked!

Dr. Ian Malcom: But, John. If the Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down, the pirates don't eat the tourists.

I will be the first to admit that when it comes to some things I can get obsessive. And lately this year when I started to watch Jurassic Park it happened again. Everytime I see it on TV I have to watch it even if it's for five seconds, just to watch when the T-Rex eat the stupid lawyer guy.



But when we watch the movie we never really understand the amazingness of the actual book and what it took for Michael Critchon to write it!



Not to mention that the EVERYONE he sent it to, LOATHED it in the beginning. And then a few drafts later and a few changes, everyone LOVED it again. And Micheal Critchon has a B.A. in Antropology from Harvard and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School.



The thought that even one day this could be possible, is completely astounding! I mean think about it a dinosaur! Pre-historic mammals that existed millions of years ago, that now we can only see in drawings, and fossils, and bones.



I read the actual Jurassic Park and was simply amazed by it, the writing was unbelievable. And while difficult for me to read because it's not really my normal reading, it was still impossible to put down.



The only thing that disappointed me was the inaccuracy about how the dinosaurs were recreated for the following reasons:

1. It would be impossible unless they could find a FULL DNA strand.


2. Their DNA gaps would needed to filled with dinosaur DNA because if not it would be a hybrid between the two animals.


3. In order to clone, they would need a sperm egg to and since no dinosaurs are alive they can't.

But, it still doesn't take away from how great the movie and book is. Even Steven Speilberg but the rights to it before the book was even published!

Unfortuantely, the other two movies were not as wonderful or succesful as the first, and the originally planned Jurassic Park IV has been put on hold indefinately since Micheal Critchon's death in 2008.

Vampire Diaries Controversy

So, now that it's summer and life is once again boring, I've been finding a lot more time on my hands. So I was recently surfing the net and found an article stating all the new shows starting in the fall, including the recently optioned Vampire Diaries, written by one of my favorite authors L.J. Smith (who created the amazing Night World Series, that I could not live without).

Here is the article that was under the Vampire Diaries: "Nina Dobrev is Bella Elena, a popular high school student caught in a love triangle between a vampire and a werewolf two vampire brothers, the saintly Paul Wesley and the roguish Ian Somerhalder. Let's see the keyboard cat try to play off this guaranteed hit."

I was completely outraged by this for several reasons.

1. I happen to think that Vampire Diaries is so much better than Twilight
   
2. Vampire Diaries was written in 1993, while Stephenie Meyer was still in college
   
3. It has much more interesting plot twist
   
4. The two stories are completely different!
   
5. And it also shows us Vampires that don't have to feed off of animals to survive
   

Some people that agree with me:

• I read Vampire Diaries when I was a teenager, when it first came out. It wasn't super popular like Twilight, because there was no vampire craze at the time. If you liked vampires, you were a freak. Now, Twilight created this vampire craze, and all of a sudden it's cool to like vampires, and now all these annoying teenage girls are ruining my good books with there annoying teeny-bopper love craze. Be original people.


• i looove vampire diaries!!!i read twilight first but vd is better because of how it goes and the unsuspected twist which is awesome!!!and they better pick the right characters and they better not change anything becuz thats just gona ruin it!! pick right ones, not just some other celebrity who has nothing to do..good luck thou!! ^_^


• Ok I read the headline first and was upset. First off Vampire Diaries is so much better then Twilight and came out first ^_^. I'm a huge fan of the Vampire Diaries and I really hope they do the book justice. If it end up like the first couple of series of Buffy I will be totally happy (I'm a buffy freak too until the killed her the 2nd time then the show went to hell).
  

I agree as well that they better do them justice. I do believe though that they picked good actors and what I've seen of the previews has been not only interesting, orginal to the story, but also funny.

(Damon is on the left, Elena in the middle, and Stefan on the right--Personally, I think they could've found a better Stefan but he's actually not bad.)

Now to end this post, there are the three released trailers at the bottom, the second is personally my favorite :) In the books I totally hated Damon but in the show I'm already liking him.