(Related) Reminiscent Reads (6)

Reminiscent Reads is a feature that Cait at A Life Like Mine and I started recently to showcase the books we have read before starting our blogs. From time to time we will choose a few, good/bad, related/not, and do a mini-review explaining a little bit about the plot and our overall opinions.

It's been so long! This edition of Reminiscent Reads is of the related kind! I decided it'd been few and far between since I wrote about a series of books that I've read in the past, which is so unfortunate, because a lot of the reading I've done thus far falls into the series category. So here goes, a random series that I started reading a while ago, and finished earlier this year...

The Celebutantes Series by Antonio Pagliarulo:
     Ok, so a little bit of background info: I absolutely loved these books when I first picked them up, I read the first one so quickly and found it fun and sassy. Then, I recently decided to finish off the series (it is only comprised of 3 books, and the last installment had been published for years). It was one of those books that has been sitting on my shelf, and on my booklist, for so long, when I finally picked it up.

     Let's just say that I was mildly disappointed... It's not that the books changed at all from the first time I read the first two scandalously trendy novels, it was simply that I had changed (which I find has been a recurring theme lately). Having said that, I still recommend this series to any young, teen girl who is looking for the next frilly, stylish, mysterious, if light, narrative.

THE CELEBUTANTES: ON THE AVENUE
by ANTONIO PAGLIARULO

♥♥♥♥

Like I said earlier, I first delved into this series when I was in high school, and I immediately loved it. It was so fun and girly, but still adventurous and murder-mysterious. We are introduced to three sisters who are all very different but still all very much the quintessential rich, spoiled, famous brand of Celebutante. Madison, Park, and Lexington (who comprise the famous Hamilton triplets) live the easy life until someone gets murdered and they have to sacrifice their social lives to save the day. In retrospect, I probably should have forseen that this didn't make for literature gold, but it was still super entertaining nonetheless, and the 16 year old version of me is smiling inside at the glorious memories of this exciting book.

THE CELEBUTANTES: TO THE PENTHOUSE
by ANTONIO PAGLIARULO

♥♥♥♥

I read the second book shortly after the first (I really couldn't get enough!) and loved it just as much. We see the crazy Hamilton triplets once again navigate through their rich New York City lifestyle complete with designer clothes, boyfriends, and cars. And yet again there is of course drama a-brewin' for these fun loving Celebutantes, who usually have narry a care in the world. Of course it was predictable, but still a really fun read, filled with lots of things that keep a young high school girl reading late when her parents think she's sleeping (then again, maybe that was just me?).

THE CELEBUTANTES: IN THE CLUB
by ANTONIO PAGLIARULO

♥♥♥

As aformentioned, I did read the last book in the series a considerable time after the first two, but was still quite excited at the prospect of reading what I remembered as one of my favourite series. Let's just say I was slightly disappointed. It's not that the book changed, nor Park, Lex or Madison. I changed, and even though I could still appreciate the things that I once yearned for in the other books, I still couldn't wait to get to something a little more heartfelt and sincere. These books kind of lack the things that I now look for in books, and since I have read soo many different books, it becomes really easy for me to identify, right off the bat, which books have that spark of infinite wisdom or not. Unfortunately for the triplets, this case is a definite not! But like I said, I definitely think that there are lots of teen girls out there that would devour these books, and look up to the care-free, bubbly, independent Hamilton girls.

So what are you waiting for? Spread the word!--Cheers & Enjoy♥

Covergasms♥ (9)

Covergasms♥ is an original Book♥Hooker feature that discusses all things cover related!

It's that time again! Time to look at some covers! YAY! This time, I decided to do some random covers that I have seen recently, or from books I've read in the past. They all have a common link, so let's see if you can figure it out...

 

Yep, you guessed it, FACES!

(and if you didn't, you probably shouldn't be here. Or alive really. Just kidding! Maybe...)

1) Shift by Em Bailey

          I actually just stumbled upon this cover this morning on a blog where I won an amazing giveaway (still reeling-yeeeeee) and loved it automatically. I cannot however find it on the Chapters website, so that should make for an interesting story of acquisition. It sounds downright creepy and definitely psychological, and I really, really, want to read it. The cover is so interesting and I love the style. It is so simple and complex at the same time, and of course I love the font :)

2) Betwixt by Tara Bray Smith

          I read this book soooooo long ago, and was kind of confused by it. the cover obviously drew me into this creepy narrative that I don't even know how to explain. It is definitely supernatural, and was also promising a sequel, which still has not happened... 4 YEARS LATER! I'm still waiting for some things to be cleared up.. Anyway, the cover is really intriguing and is definitely an abstract interpretation of a face. It is just as puzzling and trippy as the novel itself, trust me. The colour is also very eye-catching, and one you won't soon forget.

3) Delirium by Lauren Oliver

          I don't even think I need to explain how much I want to read this book, as I know that it is all over the blog-o-sphere, and probably most of you have read it already, or at least heard all about it. I can't believe it's taken me this long to get my hands on it, but it is in my possession now, so expect a review sometime this week! The cover is great, and I loved including it in my Face themed post because it is in fact a face, however shielded it appears. Which I think is a perfect theme for the cover and one that rings so true with the theme of the book, from what I've heard. The picture that I have actually doesn't even do the cover justice, since in person it is so iridescent and completely gorgeous. You really must see it to believe it; and I hope you all get a chance!

4) Dead Rules by Randy Russell

          This is a book that I don't know too much about, but I was immediately intrigued by the eerie cover and title. The close up is just so.. incandescent, or something, and makes you want to learn more. I wanted all the covers to be faces, but still a little abstract, and this one almost didn't make the cut since it seems to be pretty straight forward, but there was something so supernatural about those eyes that MADE me include it, and I'm glad I did. The plot does seem a bit intriguing (it kind of reminds me of the Ghost Girl series), but the summary still left me wondering, and definitely wanting more. Let me know what you think if you've read it!

I love all these covers, and have many more in my collection (and by that I mean my head, and a very unorganized word document) so stay tuned for more awesome Covergasms♥ posts, and let me know if you have any thoughts or requests!

Until next time--Cheers & Enjoy♥

Inside the mind of a Book obsessed knowledge monger (4)

Episode 4

I know it's been a while since I contributed to this awesome feature, but I have a few pretty good posts lined up for Musings of Me, so stay tuned!

Today's post is brought to you by music. Crappy re-made music, to be exact, so without further ado:

Why do musicians think that they can re-do great songs and make them better? (AHEM, you can't!)

I mean, they were already amazing, you are obviously not going to top that catchy-melodic gold, so why bother? You're really just embarrassing yourself. And quite frankly, I'm sick of it! I have recently done some research and compiled a list of songs that have irked me and boggled my mind for a while now. Why is this a trend? I know that there is a pretty thick history of artists re-doing songs, but I feel like there is a recent resurgence or trend of laziness that enables these flake-offs to steal other people's hard work and existing hits and auto-tune them into modern garbage. Like WTF?

Exhibit A: Good Morning by Chamillionaire

First of all, that's a horrible name. Also, why do you think you can use the melody from a classic like Tom Petty's Free Fallin' and get away with it? Your song sucks, and so do you. Which is quite unfortunate, because if you had settled for One Hit Wonder status with Ridin' Dirty, you would have remained catchy and OK in my books. Tsk tsk. A tragedy really...

Add Insult to Injury: The Time (Dirty Bit) by Black Eyed Peas

Really? REALLY?? You take a classic song, (I've Had) The Time of My Life, from a classic movie, Dirty Dancing, and do this to it? Talk about putting Baby in the corner! Despicable. That's all I've got to say. Oh, and... DIRTY BIT! (which is the only good thing about this song, and really the only thing saving me from spitting on Fergie, in all her meth-addled glory).

Not Even almost Good Enough: I Wanna Dance With Somebody by These Kids Wear Crowns

Taking such a good song and practically pissing on it with your emo ridiculousness is the highest form of blasphemy. Even though I'm not a huge fan of Whitney Houston, man that woman can sing, and the original I Wanna Dance With Somebody was epic and award-winning. These Kids Wear Crowns? More like These Kids Wear SHAME!

Nice Try: Ghetto Love by Karl Wolf

Anyone who disgraces this beautiful and time-honoured song is truly out of touch. The cute, heartfelt theme song for The Karate Kid II, Glory of Love by Peter Cetera (which is also an Oscar-nominated tune) is music royalty, and should be left that way! I guess old Wolfy did get one thing right: the song did truly go from glory to ghetto.

A for Effort in Originality: Don't Wanna Go Home by Jason Derulo

Jason Derulo♪ (it really must be sung in the manner of which he does in his songs) does get a gold star for at least making a quasi-transformed maybe-hit. But he did still steal the vintage Day-O (The Banana Boat Song) by Harry Belafonte and Show Me Love by Robin S. (Not to be confused with Show Me Love by Robyn). Not acceptable J-bird...

Getting warmer: No Love by Eminem ft. Lil Wayne

This song actually isn't too bad, and since they still used the original, catchy song (What is Love by Haddaway) instead of trying to make it better, I can learn to live with it. Also, I really do like Eminem. Even if Lil Wayne does creep the b'jesus out of me. This behavior still needs to be nipped in the bud though... Then again (as I sit here listening to the song) the lyrics are super awful and kinda scary... and evoke some really not nice nor PG imagery...

So I hope we all have learned our lesson here, and I sincerely wish (for everyone's sake) that this trend is short-lived and we can get back to real TALENTED music.

Oh, to dream--Cheers & Enjoy♥

YAY!

So a huge yipee is definitely in order because I just stumbled upon the newly released cover for Fever, Lauren DeStefano's upcoming second installment in the Chemical Garden Trilogy (even though I am almost too tired to even think, I NEEDED to blog about this ASAP!)

The entire jacket in its gorg-iful glory!

It is so gorgy worgy woo, and makes me even more excited (one must ask oneself if this is even possible) for the release of the actual book, which is happening in February of 2012.

In other, equally exciting news, there has been a whole slew of The Hunger Games movie picutes released, the first of which being the amazing movie poster.

   

Some other fabulous additions are the highly anticipated photos of Peeta and Gale (our 2 leading men, swoon!) and some other great shots that give a really good indication of just how great this film is going to be. I love Peeta with his bread and forlorn expression.Magnifique!

                                                                    

I shall fall asleep happy--Cheers & Enjoy♥

Harry Potter Re-Read-a-Ganza!: The Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

♥ "Hang on. This Lord Voldything's back, you say?"  "Yes."  "The one who murdered your parents."  "Yes."  "And now he's sending Dismembers after you?"  "Looks like it."  "I see..."
     - Uncle Vernon hilariously trying to make sense of Harry's situation; book.


♥ "Oh! Albus, I see you got our notice about the time change of the hearing..."  "I must have missed it; but by happy mistake, I arrived at the ministry three hours early."
          - Dumbledore modestly showing Fudge up; movie.


♥ "And from now on, I don't care if my tea-leaves spell die, Ron, die -- I'm just chucking them in the bin where they belong!"
     - Ron once again making hilarious statements about Divination; book.


Where to begin. Well, as always, I was taken aback at how different I remember things from both the book and the movie, and how much was left out of the movie.

Overall, though, the book was amazing, obviously, and I enjoyed re-reading the fantastical adventures of Harry and the gang once again. The Order of the Phoenix is my favourite out of all the books in the series; all the way from when Harry has to explain Voldemort and Dementors to the Dursleys, when Umbridge frustrated the heck out of me, to when Harry and his comrades fight for their lives in the eerie Department of Mysteries. The loss of Sirius was almost too much for me, but also a necessity of sorts, and I think that I have finally mourned properly all of these years since the last time I read the book. I also can't help but get nostalgic for Hogwarts because I know that the days of normalcy with Quidditch and innocent mischief are behind us as we head into the scary world of defeating Lord Voldemort. The consequences of this journey are so heavy, and we begin to see them in this book. This shit is deep, people!

I've compiled a list (while watching the movie right after finishing the book) of things that were left out of the movie. For those of you who haven't read the book in a while, I hope these things put a smile on your face and help you to recall the awesomeness in its totality:


 * The aforementioned scene when Harry brings a befuzzled Dudley back to the Dursley's after the Dementor attack. The dialogue that follows is absolutely hilarious, with Vernon misnaming both Dementors and Voldemort, and Aunt Petunia shaking Dudley to make sure the 'Dementoids' haven't kissed out Dudley's soul. All this whilst numerous owls both scare and infuriate Vernon until the point of absolute crazytown.

 * When Harry arrives at the Black residence at Grimmauld Place and the whole lot try to clean the place and come in contact with many interesting artifacts and magical objects that would have been fascinating to see on screen. Also Mistress Black and her glorious cursing screams.

 * Harry and the Weasleys don't get to go visit Mr. Weasley at St. Mungo's which would have been a real treat to see, as well as the scene in which we see Neville and his Gran visiting his parents.

 * There was absolutely not a scrap of Quidditch, whereas in the book Ron made the Quidditch team for the first time, and Umbridge takes away Harry, Fred, and George's brooms.

 * Ron and Hermione weren't prefects like they were in the book. This was actually a really morose part of the book for me, since Harry was pretty much neglected, but I miss it all the same :(

 * At the end, when they go to the Department of Mysteries, they immediately go into the room with the prophecies, not the whole confusing and interesting maze of weird and ookie things they actually encounter. The brains eerily suspended in the green oozing liquid that attack Ron and make him wonky. The glass jar that makes a death eater's head into that of a baby. All gone. Not there. Riddikulus if you ask me!

 * There certainly was not as much about Cho and Harry, their whole fight in Hogsmeade and such. Percy was not even mentioned; not even a word about how he abandoned his family. There was not as much about the crazy homework that they encountered this year with having to do O.W.L.'s as well. And the examinations themselves were missed as well.

 * Another thing that I really found odd was that it didn't show, in Snape's memory of James tormenting him, that Lily defended Snape profusely, which definitely comes back into the storyline in a pretty huge way later in the series, and I found was hugely showcased in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II. Which was oh so sad and heartbreaking, BTW.

 * Ok, so one last thing. The mirror that Sirius gives Harry wasn't in the movie either. Which I thought was pretty freaking important. I mean, we didn't see nearly enough of Sirius as it is before he gets killed off, and then they choose to get rid of that as well. Which is also quite puzzling, since it also comes back into the story later on.

So aside from all my complaining due to the omission of all these wonderful things, I do really understand that, aside from there being about 26 movies, it would be quite impossible to include everything. Which is why I will leave you with this sentiment: read the books, people. It is so worth it, and I have learned that profusely since starting this journey :)

Other Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix covers:      

Spellbound--Cheers & Enjoy♥