People who live in the English countryside don't usually kill themselves.

The suicide rates in places like that are astonishingly low when you compare them to places like L.A. or Philly or Hong Kong. And it's not just because there are fewer people there.

I think it's because when you live in a place with a nice view of the earth, you automatically have a nice view of the world, too.

This is what I want.

Yes, well, clearly that worked out.
Five days into January and I quit cold turkey. But it wasn't my fault. I blame college. And Panera Bread. But that place is to blame for mostly everything.

Do not fear, dear Reader, this does not mean I have forsaken my quest to drown you in my useless opinions about books. I'll finish all thirty days eventually. Just, you know. Clearly not within thirty days.

At this particular time, I venture only slightly from my usual book-rant. I just finished The Hunger Games, which was recommended to me by several bookish, trustworthy friends (including the lovely Amy, which is why she gets her own section). And Catching Fire. And Mockingjay. And I have to say, nothing has captivated me so completely in quite some time. As much as I'll admit that, stylistically, it's not the best thing ever, the plot is essentially golden. And they're making it into a movie, you see, which is set to be released in 2013 if we all don't die next year anyways.

Assuming we don't, I'll be anxiously gearing up for this release. Harry Potter will be over by this summer (not that this can really compare), and Breaking Dawn is only going to be exciting because I really want to see Kristen Stewart's uterus being ripped open by Robert Pattinson's teeth so that a mutant baby can claw its way out.

So, yeah. I thought, since the only thing we know about this movie is that it's going to exist eventually, I decided to weigh in on my votes for the cast. I've seen a lot of people doing this, and most of them pick really lame actors. So I thought I'd fix that. Feel free to stop reading if you've never read the series/don't care. This is mostly for my entertainment anyway.

Side note: I would also like this entry to serve as proof that I read and fell in love with this series before it became the new band-wagon thing to do. I can see this becoming the next horribly over-hyped Twilight series. I can feel it in my blood. And I don't like it even a little bit. So back off, eleventeen-year-olds. We read it first.


Megan's Picks:

Katniss Everdeen

The protagonist is essentially a bad-ass. She's the only multi-dimensional character in the book (don't yell at me, it's true), so hers is the most crucial but also the most difficult to cast. She's moody and anxious and sort of innocently stunning. She can kick your ass even if you're armed with a nuclear assault missile and she's got a few sticks and a piece of string. And she's in one of those Bella-Edward-Jacob-esque love triangles, except nobody's a vampire or anything and it doesn't make you want to scoop out your brain with a fork.

Rooney Mara.

Recognizable these days as Erica Albright in The Social Network (and also that chick from the Steig Larson movies), but essentially she looks exactly the way I picture Katniss. And I really think she could pull off this role. She's pretty in a powerful sort of way, and she does look like she could maybe kick your ass if she wasn't in such a pretty dress.

Peeta Mellark

This is actually the one I've given the most consideration to, given the fact that I'm probably in love with Peeta (it's hard not to be). As it were, he's got to be pretty bad-ass as well, (though not quite as much so as Katniss), but also quite adorable and sweet. His sole purpose in life is keeping Katniss alive because he's completely in love with her. And he likes to decorate cakes, or something.

Hugh Freaking Dancy.

Seriously, it can't go wrong. Dye those curls blond, and bam. You've got the strength and build that Peeta needs because he's not from the Seam, but you've also got the boyish charm and sincerity that's so important in him as well. Mix the two together, and you've got Mr. Dancy.

Gale Hawthorne

Part of me wants to say something along the lines of Adam Brody, but I feel like he's too friendly-looking. Gale's characterization in the books is flimsy at best, and basically the only dimension he gets is an angsty, stick-it-to-the-man sort of guy. So if Adam could keep from smiling for the entire film, I guess he could do it.

Alex Pettyfer.

Bear with me. Just picture him with his hair dyed dark. THERE. DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE? It's got Gale written all over it. Just give him a crossbow.

Haymitch Abernathy

As much as I'm sure Hugh Laurie could be amazing in this role, I think he might be too recognizable in a really young, unappreciative film audience sort of way. People would be like "Hehe, OMG, Dr. House!" And that's not what I want for this film. But Haymitch actually does have a few dimensions to his character, though we rarely see him as anything but a tough, scruffy drunk man.

Robert Downey Jr.

So clearly, our friend Bob here is also recognizable, but not in the same way. You wouldn't pin him to one role and have a hard time getting that one role out of your head the whole time, you know? Like when Mr. Feeny shows up in Blades of Glory (which sucks, by the way). But I digress. I think Robert could be hilarious, but also poignant and memorable as Katniss and Peeta's mentor.

Primrose Everdeen

Though she's not involved in a ton of the book(s), she's important plot-wise. She's twelve, but I picture her as being very young and innocent looking. She's Prim.

 Chloe Moretz.

You'll remember her as Tom's younger sister in (500) Days of Summer. But seriously - this photo is basically exactly how Prim looks in my brain. It's fantastically creepy.

So there. That's my all-star cast involving nobody from Twilight or the Disney Channel or the Spy Kids franchise. And if I can get Hollywood to listen to me on this, then I might start to come to peace with the fact that there are five Twilight films. (Might).


Amy's Picks:
I have to say, I kinda love this idea, even though absolutely no one cares about who we think would best suit the characters in the book. But I think it's great that we can match real people to the characters in our heads. So here goes:

[side note: I love all of Megan's picks. I just thought I'd add some others. What's great about novels like this (or any novel, really) is that you can make it your own through pure imagination!]

Katniss

Probably because the books are told in first person, I always pictured myself as Katniss. Am I badass? No. Can I shoot a bow and arrow? Hell no! Would I survive the Hunger Games? Of course not.

That aside, I think I like Megan's pick better than any that I could come up with on my own. I toyed around with different ideas (Kristen Stewart even popped in my head for a second, but only because she's devoid of emotion all the time). In the end, though, Megan's choice is solid.

Peeta

Peeta was possibly the easiest choice for me, but only because I fantasized about him so much that I had a clear picture in my head of what exactly he should look like. My pick for him would have to be Mitch Hewer, who play Maxxie on the British TV show Skins. (Don't ever watch the American version - it is so terrible that it made me want to vomit and kick the TV screen in at the same time, and I'm being kind).

He's boyish, yet strong, and his smile makes me want to melt in a puddle of happiness.

Gale

Gale, I thought, was difficult. I pictured him as being ruggedly handsome, and I have to say that not many young actors these days can pull off both dirty and sexy. When they attempt this, the result is typically gross. After some serious thought, I decided that Ben Barnes might make a good choice. Yes, yes, I know, everyone hates Prince Caspian. But I think Ben is manly enough to pull Gale off.

Haymitch

I love Robert Downey Jr., and I think that he would make a hysterical Haymitch. But jut for the sake of deviation, I'm going to throw out that Jack Black might make a funny Haymitch, too.

Effie

Kristen Chenowith for shiz.

Day 5: A book that makes you happy

"It's so hard to talk when you want to kill yourself."

Yes, that is the first line of the book. And no, I'm not suicidal - that's not why a book that starts like that makes me happy. It's such a matter-of-fact, quirky way of telling a story that could be really sad and hopeless, but ends up being really humorous and actually uplifting.  It's called It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini, and they made it into a movie recently (but what aren't they doing that to these days?)

Craig, the main character, is odd. He has strange ways of organizing his thoughts, and he lets the reader in so immediately that it kind of takes you off guard for a little while. But then you realize that his openness isn't related to ingenuity - it's just his character. And then you love him with all your heart.

It's my first day back at college after Christmas and I'm not thinking as fluently as I want to be to do the book justice - too much else going on.  But I wanted to stick to my days, and I wanted you to know that you should read this book. You'll find it in the Young Adult Fiction section (my apologies). But it's not about vampires.

It's Kind of a Funny Story - Google Books

Day 4: Your favorite book of your favorite series.

I'm just going to plagiarize off the Megan of four days ago, because I wrote this on Facebook for something and now I am going to paste it here.  (I cheat, and I eat pumpkins). :)

I'd tell you what you want to hear and say "Oh my god, it's just like Sophie's choice! It's just like Joey Tribbiani choosing between food and sex!" But it's not. As an endearing/obnoxious fan of the series, I've given this a great deal of thought. While Goblet of Fire has got all the buildup, mystery, and suspense you'll ever want from a novel, Order of the Phoenix is the emotional peak of the chain, and Half-Blood Prince is nothing short of brilliant in terms of plot devices, the biggest slice of my love is reserved for the one-and-only Deathly Hallows. It's essentially the Mecca of the series - the one we waited for for ten years of our lives.  I spent so much time speculating, along with the rest of the world, what was going to happen in this book.  It was like the best game ever.  Is Snape on the side of good or evil? Will Voldemort die? Will Harry die? Should Harry die? Blaaaargh! And nobody ever had the answers until July 21, 2007.  Nobody could win these arguments - all they could do was ferociously tear through the books, searching for clues to back up their cause (much the same way people do with the Bible. Except, you know, this is less important).  You better believe my kids aren't going to be allowed to date or drive or have fun until they read the entire series, but even they won't get to experience that thrill of not knowing what was going to happen to the pretend people you loved throughout your entire childhood.  And the book did not disappoint. It had everything I hoped it would and more.  Everything converged in a spectacular array of twists and emotional ups and downs and...I can't even. It was just perfect.

[I suppose this next part contains some vague spoilers. Just in case you haven't read it and nobody has ruined it for you in the past 3 and a half years. :)]

And to the person who's sitting there thinking, "Okay, but what about the epilogue? The epilogue sucked." I agree that Albus Severus is an awful thing to name a child, but you've got to admit that the characters were all consistent, the scene was realistic, and the biggest argument people have against it is that it was "too happy."  Personally, I don't think it needed to have a dark ending. I think the literary world is too pessimistic, and that the idea of good triumphing over evil in the end shouldn't be such a cliche, but something appreciated as realistic. There is good in the world, you know. I think this book did an excellent job conveying that. Through all the chapters. Even the epilogue.

BUT LOOK! NOW I'M DONE! I have officially used up my quota of Harry Potter talk - it's over for my 30 Days of Books-a-thon. Aren't you glad I got it out of the way early?

....Aren't you? :)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Google Books

Day 3: Your Favorite Series

I reckon you'd have to be barking mad not to know immediately what goes in this category.

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You'll never see an offer like this EVER AGAIN, so call NOW! Don't miss your one and only chance to join the ranks of the extreme nerds, who make silly Harry Potter blog posts in their spare time. :)

Day 2: A book that you've read more than three times.

Here's where I talk about what's probably my favorite book next to the Harry Potters (which I sort of lump together into the number-one spot) - The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffeneger.  I know a lot of people who didn't care for this book because:
a.) It's really confusing for the first 3-4 chapters until you hit a rhythm with it.  The author tries to make it less confusing by telling you the date and the ages of the characters at the beginning of each section, but it's still a brain-bender until you get a decent way in.
b.) There are a few cases where the sex gets a bit descriptive. (Hey, it's a romance).
c.) It's a romance.

Now here's where I counter-argue those points and convince you that this book is one of the best things ever (because it is).
a.) True, there may have been a way for the author to clarify what Henry's time-travel actually means. Sort of map it out, in a sense, earlier on in the book. But I think she wants you to have to figure it out, and I think that's important. The characters don't really get it, either, until a few chapters into the story; therefore, neither does the reader. She's very careful about only revealing things to us that both Clare and Henry understand - actually, there are times when Henry understands something that Clare doesn't, and the readers are left in the dark until Clare catches on as well (and vice-versa). Because the two of them share the story's narrative, it really helps to drive home the idea that both of them - and, in a sense, their relationship - are the main character. Not one or the other.
b.) If you don't feel the emotions that the characters feel, you can't care about what happens to them. I think it makes their relationship more human, because the settings and situations are so surreal. Also, it's a romance. Not a trashy one, but still a romance.
c.)  This is one of the few books that's ever made me sob uncontrollably. Like, cry-like-your-boyfriend-just-broke-up-with-you cry. And I'm always amazed when that happens.  In the midst of my crying, I sort of start to chuckle at myself.  Here's me, sitting at the end of my bed, splashing salt water all over a book and making the pages wrinkle, for people and situations that only feel like they existed but never truly did. It takes honest-to-goodness talent to be able to do that to someone. I don't exactly know what is it that makes people able to get so emotionally invested in this book - I think it might be how she gives you enough time to really know the characters inside and out, but there has to be more to it than that. Regardless, this book has everything you could want in a story. It has fear, suspense, love, trauma, family - though it's classified as a romance, it's a lot more than that. And if you're reading this, and you're one of the people who stopped reading the book after chapter 3 because it confused you, pick it up again. I promsie you it's worth it. (And don't watch the movie first. It's not a horrible adaptation, but as usual, it just doesn't do the text justice).


This book is awesome. Case closed. I'm right. :)
The Time-Traveler's Wife - Google Books

30 Days of Spasmodic Imagery

Welcome to the new year! Same place, same oddball, different slice of history.

Because I usually have trouble motivating myself to get through the first three-ish months of the calendar year (Pittsburgh is just so dark and gray around this time. It's depressing), I was poking around the lovely world-wide web for something to occupy my time with (aside from school and work and such).  I found this little situation on Tumblr that people call "30 Days of Books." (I also found 30 Days of Harry Potter, which I could probably run all the way to Russia with, but I figure that caters to a significantly slimmer audience). :)  So for the next thirty days, you'll be getting daily updates from me about bookishness. Because that's the kind of person you're dealing with here. My apologies.


Disclaimer: I feel like you might expect a Fiction Writing Major to have really literary and intelligent interests and things to say about her reading material.  And while I've definitely been exposed to some really excellent literary bits this past semester, a lot of my favorites are still along the lines of popular fiction. So. You know. You'll live, I'm sure.

Day 01: Best Book You Read Last Year

 Immediately I'm reminded of the fact that I don't read enough, I don't read NEW things enough, and I don't keep a good enough record of what I've read.  When I get time to read, I usually turn to Harry.  Remind me to expand my horizons this year.

Okay. So I didn't read Freedom by Jonathan Franzen. SORRY.

Actually, just over Winter Break, I read a book called Room by Emma Donoghue that I sort of wish I had written first. It was one of those things that makes me sort of euphoric to be reading such an awesome story, but also pissed because it's just the sort of formula I've been searching for in my own stuff and someone else got it perfectly, absolutely right.  (Not to say I could write something at this time in my life that would hit the NYTimes Bestseller List).  But it's got the characters - they're flawed, of course, and their situation isn't exactly idyllic, but they're so real I still kind of want to be them.  Or at least know them.  It's got the emotion - it blurs the lines between happiness and fear, something we almost always see in black-and-white.  It's got psychology and politics and family.  Oh, and the whole thing is narrated through the eyes of a child (difficult to pull of in and of itself) who is held captive with his mother in an 11x11-foot room.

The woman's got skills.

It's not exactly a straightforward, effortless read.  But such is life.
Room - Google Books