Too scared

First of all, it needs to be clear that THE NEW HUNGER by Isaac Marion is obviously not for children, so please keep that in mind.

Secondly, I was surprised to find as I read first WARM BODIES and then THE NEW HUNGER that the comedic element that comes across in the movie version of WARM BODIES does not translate the same on the written page.  There are times when I found myself laughing during WARM BODIES, but not so much in THE NEW HUNGER.  I didn't find anything in the prequel to be funny at all.  In fact, the prequel is much more horrifying and truly creepy as one would expect of a zombie story.

I kept waiting for R to appear in the story, so I was quite surprised by the ending.  I'm going to have to go back and read it again because I missed that particular detail and it might have helped me understand some things in this particular story.

I did not like it as much as I did WARM BODIES, but it did help with some back-story.  I'm still a bit lost, but it's because I didn't get the "surprise" that is revealed at the end.  I'm sure that when I go back and re-read it, I won't have any trouble understanding the story.

Is your Body Warm?

I had no earthly idea that WARM BODIES was a book before it was a movie.  Because I love watching the extras on a DVD, I quickly learned the truth.  It did not take me long at all to purchase a copy of the book by Isaac Marion--or to finish reading it!

Just like the movie, the book is fun, quirky, weird, and everything else in between.  It has romance for the romantic soul.  It has blood and gore for the horror fan.  It has a father/daughter relationship for those who like family-oriented stories.  There are simple friendships as well as complicated friendships and even the oddest friendships ever written about.

My favorite part of the book has to be the oxymorons throughout.  They're in the movie, but I found them funnier in the book.  Of course, a couple of the ones in the movie had me laughing so hysterically that I realized quickly that if I had seen the movie in the theater as I'd originally planned (I just never made it), I would have been thrown out!

It was the same way reading the book.  I laughed out loud.  I cried out in disgust.  I spoke to no one listening because no one was in the room with me.

I loved every word and every minute of reading it!  What was most surprising about the reading, I have to say before bringing this to a close, were the difficult/challenging words throughout!  Thankfully I read it on my Nook, so all I had to do was click on the word to look it up, but that was completely unexpected!

If you like zombie stories, you'll love WARM BODIES (book or movie).  If you like love stories, you'll love WARM BODIES.  If you like horror flicks/stories, you'll like WARM BODIES.  If you like to laugh, you'll like WARM BODIES.

BTW:  there is already a Prequel:  THE NEW HUNGER (you can only get it online (an ebook)--let me know and I'll send you a link) and Isaac Marion is currently working on a sequel.  I can hardly wait!

If you don't like WARM BODIES, then your body obviously isn't warm!!!!!!  :)

*Updated: The Horror of being a Hun-Girl

2nd time reading and my original post still stands:

Words are not sufficient to explain what I think or how I feel about MOCKINGJAY by Suzanne Collins. First of all, this is a LOOOONNNNNGGGGG way from CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG. It's difficult to believe that Ms. Collins used to write for a sweet CHILDREN'S tv show....

This is one of the most horrific series of books I have ever read. Even GONE WITH THE WIND with all the horrors of war that are described (including Scarlett killing the Yankee soldier, all the hundreds of thousands of soldiers lying on the ground at the railroad--and Scarlett has to walk through them, over them, and even on them to find Dr. Meade) as well as Scarlett's ruthless character as she fights her way back to the top financially so that she and hers will never be hungry again is not as horrific as THE HUNGER GAMES series.

1. I am horrified that this series is being advertised as being FOR children 12 years old and up. Yes, at first, I was even encouraging Samuel to read the series--he's 10 (he'll be 11 on May 1). When he needed a new book to read earlier this week, he asked me about THE HUNGER GAMES and I told him I had changed my mind and that he didn't need to read it....yet....? Twelve year olds and younger ARE reading this series!!!!  (Update:  Samuel is now 12 and recently read all 3 books for himself.  He didn't have much to say about them, but if the fact that within a few weeks of finishing them he's already reading them again says anything......)

2. I am horrified that this series is about children....fighting, killing, participating and even active participants in a W-A-R where violent and brutal war acts take place around every corner--some TO the children and some CREATED BY these C-H-I-L-D-R-E-N!!!!! Katniss herself is just 16 when she becomes a Tribute for The Hunger Games. As book 3 comes to a close, she's still only 17 or 18 years old....yet she's LEADING a group of SOLDIERS, made up mostly of children, as well as KILLING the enemy (and some who may not even BE the enemy)! (I won't say much more because I'll spoil it for anyone wanting to read this series.....) But she's given SO MUCH RESPONSIBILITY, yet she's not even considered a YOUNG ADULT, yet!!!!! And so are her friends, lovers, sister, etc.

3. I am horrified by the deaths. Wow. Readers don't need much of an imagination to SEE these violent, horrific deaths described in the story. EVERYONE dies--except the few people who should have died.....and re-read what I just wrote! That's a horror in itself! How can I say that there are characters in the story who SHOULD HAVE DIED?! But, I do feel that the story ends with an attempt at too much of a "happily ever after" style-story. It IS a war story, so I expected an ending more like OLD YELLER or even GONE WITH THE WIND. (Again, I'd better stop now so I don't completely ruin it for those who haven't read it.)

4. I am horrified by BOTH the presidents in the story. I won't say more because of fear of spoiling it, but once you're read it, I'd love to hear what you think.

5. I am horrified by the coping mechanisms of many of the characters, yet at the same time, how DOES one deal with the horrors seen and experienced by the characters in this story?! It's obviously NOT a faith or religion-based story, so they don't have their faith in (relationship with) Christ to help them cope. They only have each other and even THAT is taken away from them if not by the leaders, then by themselves in their own methods of coping. It's tragic to read about these beloved characters finding ways just to DEAL......I don't think I could. I do think I would have reacted most like Katniss, but even she seems more able to come out of her stupors than I feel I would be able to. I DO love the book she, Peeta, and Haymitch put together in loving Memory of....that touched my heart more than anything else in the story. I would LOVE to see THAT book put together and published.

6. My previous statement horrifies me! What did I just say?! I would want to read (yes, I'd buy it) a book that lists our beloved characters and includes the details/information Katniss, Haymitch, and Peeta put in it, especially Peeta's pictures?! Yes. Horribly, I would. That book is what FINALLY brought tears to my eyes.  I wanted to cry so many times during the story, but it wasn't until Katniss decided to put the book together that the tears started to flow....and I couldn't stop them.

7. I am horrified to say that I loved this series. How does a reader say she LOVES a series with so many horrific and terrible things??? How does a reader recommend this series to the people she loves and cares about?! Why do I want my friends and family to have THOSE IMAGES stuck in their heads as they are in mine?! How can I want my friends and family to read about such horrors?! Yet, I've recommended the series to everyone who will listen and even to those who won't.

8. It horrifies me to no end that I am on pins and needles in anxious anticipation for the movie to be released on March 23. Yes, I do plan on going to see it the very first weekend it's out. I am having a hard enough time waiting for the movie to be released as it is, so I know I won't be able to wait much longer after it's released to go see it. I won't go THE DAY it's released, I don't think, but I WILL see it before that weekend is out. Yes, I'm horrified at my own desire to SEE this story displayed VISUALLY on a movie screen for me to see beyond my imagination.....(Update:  Yes, I'm excited about the upcoming release of CATCHING FIRE this November.  I hate myself for it, but I am looking forward to seeing the movie.)

9. It horrifies me to imagine that there are still people today who give in to public and/or peer pressure to do things they might not really agree with--yet don't even think about what they're doing---they just do it. Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" and other stories like it sadly reveal that we SEEM powerless to do anything about the injustices around us---so we just go along with them. Or, if we aren't powerless to do anything, we don't know any better. When we read "The Lottery" in class, most students are absolutely horrified by the ending, but yet, when we hold our own class lottery and throw paper at the winner, most students actually throw the paper!!! I am always amazed to note just how many will throw the paper even though their voices are the strongest about how AWFUL throwing stones at Tessie is!!!!

10. I am horrified because I honestly do think that there might be places in our world today where leaders could be planning bombs, traps, etc. such as we see in THE HUNGER GAMES series. Samuel loves the Military channel. On that channel, they have these shows about weapons; I think it's called WEAPONOLOGY. In this series, they talk about the history/progression of modern day warfare weaponry....how such and such rifle/bomb/gun/tank/etc. has had to improve and become more viable as a result of the enemies' advances in weaponry. When one country finds a way to build a tank that is so awesome in its armory that the current bombs, bullets, etc. can't penetrate it, then the opposing country develops weaponry that WILL penetrate the previously impenetrable tank! And so on and so forth. It doesn't matter what new, modern weapon is developed to withstand the current enemy's attacks, someone somewhere always is able to find a way to defeat the current BEST.....just as is apparent in THE HUNGER GAMES. Gale and Beetee work very hard to come up with new weaponry to defeat the Capitol.....and they are TOO successful with their inventions.....


Yes, horror is the best word to describe THE HUNGER GAMES series. This is one trilogy of books that I will NEVER forget, whether or not I ever read the series again......Sadly, I probably will read it again. I know I missed a lot of details this first time through.......I've read both the TWILIGHT and HARRY POTTER series 4 times through and found new and exciting details I missed the first three reads, so I know the same will be true of THE HUNGER GAMES.....It's horrific that I'm even considering that fact, let alone know it to be true...

So if you do choose to read THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy, just be forewarned going in to it that it's NOT a Disney, happily-ever-after story......It IS a war story......centered around CHILDREN.....

Waiting.....!

THE EXILE:  AN OUTLANDER GRAPHIC NOVEL (OUTLANDER 1.5) by Diana Gabaldon is really a great fill-in for the lover of the OUTLANDER series.  It's nothing short of pure genius for the author to write the same story from another character's point-of-view!  I especially love that it's not exactly like the original.  The fact that it's a graphic novel makes it that much more genius.  We already have SO MUCH with the original story that if Gabaldon attempted to do the same with Jamie's version of the story, no one would be able to stay with it through to the end.  By doing it as a graphic novel, it easily keeps my attention and makes me want to beg for the next installment!

Where's the next installment, Diana Gabaldon?!

I don't know of any other author who has written--and published (hear me, Stephenie?!)--the same essential story from a different character's point-of-view, making THE EXILE that much more fun and exciting to read.

As a writer-wanna-be (well, published wanna-be, anyway), I can understand how easily an author falls in love with each of her characters and wants each character to tell his/her story.  I, for one, would love to read some of my other favorite books from the POV of other characters within the stories.  I've even tried to write Snape's story, but not being Rowling, it's next to impossible.

Just finish it, Gabaldon....please?!?!

One negative:  there are images and brief details that are very confusing and difficult to follow.  I don't understand where this Kenneth comes into the story or how he fits at all.  I'm anxious to read the next one to find out more about him.  He's obviously a semi-main character who we never see in the OUTLANDER series because Claire never meets him.  But he's there and he's very aware of Claire and Jamie.....

It's over....?!

This is the 2nd time I've read Diana Gabaldon's OUTLANDER.  (Yes, I do consider it reading to listen to a book on CD.)  I found that I actually enjoyed listening to it on CD as I drove to and from work in my car.  I couldn't wait each day to get in my car just so I could listen to more!

Even though I'd read this book before, reading it again was like reading it for the first time.  There were a lot of details that I easily remembered from the first reading, but I forgot a lot of details, too.

The one thing that surprised me the most about this reading was the ending.  In my head, I remember the story ending with Claire having to go back to her own time--and to Frank.  But OUTLANDER doesn't end that way at all!  When I got to the last CD, I kept wondering how Gabaldon was going to get Jamie and Claire from France to Scotland quickly--considering how long it had taken them to get from one place to another throughout the rest of the book, I thought it was odd.

And the CD kept going from one track to the next, but Jamie and Claire were still in France with no possibility of being back in Scotland any time soon.

We got to one of the parts of the book that I remembered very well from my first reading (it was my favorite part) and all of a sudden, this guy came on and said "This ends the book OUTLANDER....."

What?!  I thought.......well, I guess I'm going to have to get the CD for the 2nd book and find out how much of that book I tried to put into the first book....!  It'll just have to wait until I get back from Disney.

At least I have something to look forward to after my trip....!!!!!  

:)

Full of J.O.Y.

FYI:  Spiritual as well as very personal content follows.  Read at your own discretion.

If it is true, as David Young says in his book JOY, that "...the deeper the child of God is pulled down into earthly sorrow, the higher he will eventually spring up in heavenly joy" (189), then I gotta tell ya that that explains an awful lot.  I have times when I honestly feel so full of joy that the only place it could possibly from would be God Himself.  When I consider everything I've suffered in my life, it would be so easy to fall into a pool of despair and stay there.

Now, I don't want you thinking that I'm always full of joy and bubbly and experiencing the full joy of the Lord.  I do have days where I wonder how I'm going to move, let alone make it through the day.  I do have days where my "Heartache finds a bottom," but Praise the Lord, it isn't long until "joy rebounds" (189).

For the sake of those of you who don't know me:

1.  while I was pregnant with my first son, my left ovary and part of my fallopian tube had to be removed because of a growing cyst
2.  my first son was stillborn just two weeks before his due date in 1999
3.  that same year, I had a miscarriage
4.  during the delivery of my only living child, my heart rate shot up to over 202 beats/minute
5.  I had another miscarriage a few short years later
6.  in 2009, I ended up in the hospital with severe stomach pains--I was in and out of consciousness for a week--at the end of which the doctor had to do emergency surgery where I had an ostomy (the cause of the severe stomach pains was a severe infections from diverticulitis)
7.  3 months later, the doctor reversed that surgery--leaving me with 2 huge, ugly scars on my belly
8.  during all of this, my husband and I have continued to struggle in our marriage (still ongoing)
9.  my grandmother (Baba) died
10.  a year after my diverticulitis attack, I was back in the hospital having an ablation because I had polyps in my uterus--effectively cutting off any more chances for having more children, if that had been something I still wanted--I did.
11.  last year, my son experienced the worst thing a child can go through

So in case you want to know why I smile bigger than anyone you know....why I always say I'm "Peachie" when asked how I'm doing.....why I laugh louder than anyone else in the room....why I sing at the top of my lungs even though I can't carry a tune in a bucket.....why I hug everyone I can whenever I can and I hug with my WHOLE being.....why I love so passionately.....it's because I've been deeper than anyone deserves to go (I know I'm not the only one) but I know in whom I believe and in Him and through Him, I live and move and have my being.  He has truly turned my mourning into dancing--into joy.

I will NOT apologize for experiencing the full JOY of the Lord.  I've asked Him to anoint me with the "oil of Joy" more than anyone else (Psalm 45:7 and Hebrews 1:9).  And He has answered my prayer.

JUMOY!

I only have one other comment about David Young's book and that is about the chapter where he brings up "Pollyanna."  You see, my name is Polly Anna, so I always pay closer attention when I see my name in print like that.  The problem is that he brings up being "Pollyanna-ish," but he doesn't explain whether his discussion of being a "Pollyanna" is a positive thing or a negative thing.  I just want to say that the real Pollyanna in the wonderful book of the same name by Eleanor H. Porter is a wonderful young woman who, with her dad, invents the "Glad Game" where they try to find something to be glad about even in the worst of situations.

If that's me--and it is, then I proudly say that I AM POLLY ANNA.....and I am GLAD that I am alive and full of the Joy of the Lord!

Hallelujah!