WHAT AM I READING THIS WEEK?!

Why not?  I was supposed to be doing SOMETHING with this blog.  Right?  So I shall do this, and once I finish the books mentioned in the post, I might review one or two.  Some I might not feel comfortable reviewing.

BOOK ONE:

PLAGUE by Michael Grant

Plague is a dystopian novel and the fourth book in the Gone Series.  I am not THAT far into it, but I have devoured the first three like they were nothing.  They are enthralling books, and when I started reading them, I was 13, I think.  It was like, WHOA.  Kids MY AGE are the protagonists in this.  They're leaders.

It was kind of inspiring then.

WHAT THIS BOOK IS ABOUT:

This book is about kids in the FAYZ (which stands for the FALLOUT ALLEY YOUTH ZONE) and the trials of trying to survive.  So far, they have survived.  Here is the description from the flap.

It's been eight months since all the adults disappeared. Gone.

They've survived hunger. They've survived lies. But the stakes keep rising, and the dystopian horror keeps building. Yet despite the simmering unrest left behind by so many battles, power struggles, and angry divides, there is a momentary calm in Perdido Beach.

But enemies in the FAYZ don't just fade away, and in the quiet, deadly things are stirring, mutating, and finding their way free. The Darkness has found its way into the mind of its Nemesis at last and is controlling it through a haze of delirium and confusion. A highly contagious, fatal illness spreads at an alarming rate. Sinister, predatory insects terrorize Perdido Beach. And Sam, Astrid, Diana, and Caine are plagued by a growing doubt that they'll escape—or even survive—life in the FAYZ. With so much turmoil surrounding them, what desperate choices will they make when it comes to saving themselves and those they love?

Plague, Michael Grant's fourth book in the bestselling Gone series, will satisfy dystopian fans of all ages.

This was retrieved from HARPER TEEN's website. (clicky)

BOOK 2:

Brave Girl Eating by Harriet Brown.

This book is not one I plan on reviewing... Mostly because, well, I know them.  It is a VERY well written memoir.  I encourage you all to pick it up.

WHAT IT IS ABOUT:

I've never had anorexia, but I know it well. I see it on the street, in the gaunt and sunken face, the bony chest, the spindly arms of an emaciated woman. I've come to recognize the flat look of despair, the hopelessness that follows, inevitably, from years of starvation. I think: That could have been my daughter. It wasn't. It's not. If I have anything to say about it, it won't be.

Millions of families are affected by eating disorders, which usually strike young women between the ages of fourteen and twenty. But current medical practice ties these families' hands when it comes to helping their children recover. Conventional medical wisdom dictates separating the patient from the family and insists that "it's not about the food," even as a family watches a child waste away before their eyes. Harriet Brown shows how counterproductive—and heartbreaking—this approach is by telling her daughter's story of anorexia. She describes how her family, with the support of an open-minded pediatrician and a therapist, helped her daughter recover using family-based treatment, also known as the Maudsley approach.

Chronicling her daughter Kitty's illness from the earliest warning signs, through its terrifying progression, and on toward recovery, Brown takes us on one family's journey into the world of anorexia nervosa, where starvation threatened her daughter's body and mind. But hope and love—of the ordinary, family-focused kind—shine through every decision and action she and her family took. Brave Girl Eating is essential reading for families and professionals alike, a guiding light for anyone who's coping with this devastating disease.



*Taken from Harper Collins' website (AKA NOT MINE).  (clicky)

Of course, there are other books I am reading.

I am also reading ONE PIECE mangas, and Les Miserables.  That is all that I am reading this week.  Soon, I will be reading Keary Taylor's book EDEN.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT (Burlesque Review)

When I started this, I had planned for it to be something like a book review blog.  I may still be doing that, but I am thinking that I may want to do some movie reviews, too.  I like movies, I like them a lot.  So I figured, "Yeah, I'll do that!".

At least for this post.

As you can tell by the title of my post, at least the part in the parentheticals, I am reviewing the movie "Burlesque".  Yeah, yanno the one with Cher and Christina Aguilera?  That one.  The one where Cam Gigandet bares all?  Mmmmhm.  That same movie.

Anywho to the review.  Before I saw the movie, I read reviews from E! Online and from EW.com.  Both were kind of negative.  When I went into the movie, I was thinking, "Well, the reviewers didn't like it.... It will be a crappy movie."  And then I said to myself: "Wait!  These same reviewers didn't like Inception, a movie that was PHENOMENAL.  I should give it a fair chance."

I came out inspired and unable to wipe a silly grin off my face.

Now is the movie realistic?  Not particularly.  It takes a hell of a lot of work to make it ANYWHERE in showbiz.  I know, I act.  I want to act professionally.  Do I personally know it's hard?  Hell yes.

Is it POSSIBLE to make it?  Yeah.  Certainly.  People do it.

Burlesque starts out in Iowa where you find a waitress Ali (Aguilera) working.  Her boss refuses to pay her and her co-worker, so she takes the money she is owed and leaves the restaurant with her co-worker's blessing.  She sings an opening number on a makeshift stage and BAM! She's in LA and in a hotel room.

Ali looks for a job and has no success (reality!), eventually winding up at the Burlesque Club with the AMAZING Alan Cumming, Cher, and an assortment of characters.  This club is reminiscent of Moulin Rouge... The overall wackiness was not as great, but it was still there....

And the main plot ensues, Ali gets a job there, one of the lip-synching dancers of the club (played by Kristen Bell) pulls the vocal track because Ali went on for her (Tess (Cher) told her to go home as *cough* she was totally DRUNK).  BADA BING!  Ali pulls out a wicked set of pipes and blasts the number, getting herself the lead spot in the show.

What I would have liked to see more of in this movie would have been numbers sung by other people besides Aguilera and Cher.  If you put Alan Cumming in the cast, come onnnnn GIVE HIM A NUMBERRR!  He is one of the BEST Broadway actors out there!  Honestly.  If they had made it a little more like a musical, it would have been recieved better by critics.  Just sayin'.

Despite that, I still enjoyed this movie...

RATING:  B+
Not the greatest movie in the world, but still enjoyable.  Go see it in the theatre!  :D

Starring: Christina Aguilera, Cher, Stanley Tucci, Cam Gigandet, Alan Cumming, Kristen Bell, and Eric Dane

HAPPY MARIANAS TRENCH DAY EVERYONE, and a Week in Review.

Yeah.  I'm so cool I'm doing this with three hours left in the day.

Just kidding.  But yeah.  Where I am, there are three hours left in the day.

So I decided that this was the only way I could really celebrate.  Aside from listening to their music (which I have, fyi) and creating a Pandora Channel, since my mom vetoed the dying of the dog's hair.  Sadness.  But oh well.

Imma gonna try to dye mine next year.  It's Kool-Aid.  It'll come right out.  ^_^

So yeah.  Didn't do much about that today.

But I did spread the MTrench love to a few friends.  Hahahahaha.





This week had some MAJOR lows and highs.  It's been just over a week since my Great Uncle died (RIP) and I had a breakdown at school.  Tommorrow will be the one week thing for that.  At least he went quickly......  So I know he's not suffering now.  I still miss him a lot.  Christmas Eve won't be the same without him.  D:

But things get better eventually, am I correct?  Correct.

So my teachers went easy on me for the week.  And I feel a whole lot better in some ways.  But there is still a part of me that wants to curl up in a ball and just cry.  That will happen for a while, and I know it.

After I cried for a long while, I just started to feel a bit better.  Just a bit.

Thursday and Friday: Class Trip to Lake Placid.

Much more fun then I expected, still far to rainy for my liking.  But I had tons and tons of fun with it.  I got to splash in the puddles, something I hadn't done in years.  I said "Screw it" and acted like a five year old.  Fun, right?  My shoes were soaked.  But I got AWESOME eyeshadow and a book (Linger by Maggie Steifvater) which is awesome so far.  I can't wait to finish it.  I may just skip history reading until I'm on the bus tonight.  Funfunfun!

I win on that count.

The little surprise in the trip was that I like rock climbing and Tai Chi.  If it hadn't been rainy, I would have been hiking.  Safe (mostly) and not quite as scary as climbing a real cliff.   But we climbed inside, which was fun.  So that was cool.


I'm done for tonight,
Katie

PS: EVERYONE LISTEN TO MTRENCH.

And Let It Be {Please}?

Twinkle, twinkle little bat,
how I wonder what you're at.
Up above the world you fly,
like a tea tray in the sky,
Twinkle, twinkle little bat,
how I wonder what you're at!
~Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland~

Personally, I like this version of Twinkle, Twinkle better.  Much more entertaining.

But that's not the point.

In fact, this whole poem is completely unrelated.  I just threw it in because I like it.  It entertains me.  Very much so.

I reecntly watched part of the classic that every teen (or anyone in general) should watch.....Ferris Buller's Day Off. Yanno.... The iconic: "Buller.... Buller...." lines?  I'd be surprised if you didn't.  People EVERYWHERE do.  Everywhere.  I have been in school two weeks, and I have already had that said.  Teachers seem to love that line....

You may be thinking:  Why did you not see the whole thing?  The twisted reason is that my mom banned me from watching TV this week, which is really no big deal, but I had to eat downstairs, and it was on.  SO I watched part of it.  Ferris (played by a very young Matthew Broderick) is just so entertaining, and his character foil, Cameron (whose actor I forget) is just perfect.  I can't wait until the day I actually SEE the whole movie... which may not be for a while.  OH WELL.  I'll live with my books.

Speaking of, I just got two books out of the library at my school.  Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan and The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.  Both are supposed to be very good.  I can't wait to start them.  Which I will.  As soon as I get my homework done.........

Procrastination is a fun-but-deadly habit, am I right?

Dorian Gray is something that I will be reading in class this year, though I am reading it before hand....  Like I do with so many other books.....  It is quite fun.  And just maybe is a good habit to get into.  Maybe.....  So in that way, I am getting a head start on my work.

But in the fact I am not reading my history textbooks I'm not.

And that is why I wish teachers would let us students be (see?  The title actually does have some relevance!  It's a wonder....).

A little shout out to all my peeps at the Rath!  And that includes my two (and only) followers, Catie and Luz!  HI GUYS!

<3
Katie

SPEAK UP about SPEAK! {And an unnoficial welcome to you all.}

So.

There are many wrong, inappropriate things going on in our world.  Censorship is one of them.  A VERY wrong thing.

And in this case, very innapropriate.

Wesley Scroggins (who is an associate professor somewhere in Missouri), recently wrote an article on Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, calling it "soft pornography" on account of the rape scenes.  Which really scares me.  That fact ALONE scares me. 


The Article.

There is NO WAY IN HELL that RAPE, of all things rape, is PORN.  NO.  Just NO. 

This is what I have to say to Mr. Scroggins:  Shut your mouth, twisted asshole.  PORN is completely different than RAPE.  COMPLETELY and TOTALLY different.  Rape is a violent act, porn is something that is not.  So stop saying rape is porn.

I'm a student, and I'm in a health class where we are working with Vera House in their MVP program.  In fact, I brought this up to the woman who taught my class.  I made a point to bring it up.  Vera House works to end sexual and domestic violence, so it fit right in with what we are talking about.

Speak was quite honestly, and still is, a book I enjoy.  It brought me to tears, similar to Laurie Halse Andersons Wintergirls.  It is one of the most important novels anyone, male or female, can ever read.  It's non-gender discrimanatory.  Not in the least.  The protagonist, Melinda Sorino, is a freshman in High School who is silent (hence the title SPEAK) about her being raped during the summer.  She (and all her friends) are effected, her friends more in an indirect manner.  There are so many things that are touching about the book (which I highly recomend over the movie....) that it was one I ate up in one night.  I read it in seventh grade, and it still has stuck with me.





And now comes the fun part.

Welcome to my blog.  More about books than nighttime, though frequently (and part of the reason my signature name is what it is, and maybe the blog name too....) my name on the internet is Midnight Melody.  Or something with the word "midnight" or "Melody".

This is my first blog, so there are things I'll have to learn how to do, along with securing readers and such.  Really annoying stuff like that.  :)  So just be patient with me.  I'll learn.

Love ya, Hope you enjoyed getting into my head a bit.

<3 Melody.