The Hunger Games trilogy – Review

Words can’t really describe the Hunger Games trilogy. But since this is a blog post, words are kind of necessary. Well, to start, this is the trailer for the first film, which is (not surprisingly) based on the first book, and comes/came (the former is for me as I write this on the 17/3, and the latter’s for you guys) out on the 23rd March 2012:

That should give you an idea of how utterly amazing the Hunger Games series is. But enough on the movie. Onto the books…

There are 3 in total, and they’re all simply brilliant.

1. The Hunger Games
2. Catching Fire
3. Mockingjay

And the basic idea is that it’s in the far future. An evil capital have control of 12 districts, which they treat terribly. Every year a random teenager boy and girl are selected from each district to fight to the death, in what’s known as (you guessed it!) The Hunger Games. And I really can’t stress enough how good this series is.

I can’t go into much detail without spoiling the plot, but I will say this. No matter your age/gender, you won’t regret it if you buy the books.

Happy Hunger Games!

My Amazon Kindle experience

I suppose another title for this post could be “the pros and cons of using a Kindle (or any other e-reader)”. A while before getting my Kindle Keyboard 3G (more on that device and why I chose it over the newer models later), I loved to read real books. I still do. But there are some cons to using ‘real’ books:

• They’re heavy (especially big hardbacks). Try holding one above you when trying to read at night!
• They take up space – one of the main reasons I got a Kindle was because I am running out of bookshelf space.
• This may sound silly and obvious, but you can only carry a certain amount around (e.g. on holiday).
• If you finish a book and order the next one straightaway, the soonest you’ll get it is that evening or the next day (if you pay a lot) or, more likely, a few days away. Enough to start a new book, and when you eventually read the sequel to the original book you’ll have forgotten what happened in it.

But there are some advantages to a real book:

• Super high contrast
• Battery life that is endless (well, it’s until the book falls apart so it’s quite a few decades of reading)
• Never go out of date

But I decided the bad outweighed the good so I got a Kindle. Disadvantage of a Kindle:

• Have to charge it (though battery lasts about 2 months)
• Costs around £89-£149 (in the US, the Kindle e-reader line-up ranges from $79-$149 with ads, and $109-$189 for the non ads version – note that the UK version has no ads, the US prices I’ve put don’t include the Kindle Fire, which is a tablet and is $199)
• No colour (at least not yet!)
• Not as high contrast

Advantages of a Kindle:

• Lightweight
• Can hold 1,400 books to 3,500 books on the device depending on the model (but there’s free cloud storage for all your books, so you can remove ones you’ve read and download them for free later – effectively unlimited storage)
• Long battery life
• Cool design
• Get books in 60 seconds over WiFi (all models) or free 3G (selected models)
• Can sample books before you buy

So those are the advantages and disadvantages of Kindles and ‘real’ books. I decided the Kindle was better, so I got that one. Now for why I chose the Kindle Keyboard 3G…

It’s complicated. Basically:

• Kindle Keyboard is the 2010 model of Kindle (it was previously known as Kindle 3). It came in WiFi and WiFi + free 3G models (I’ll refer to these models simply as 3G from now on).
• Amazon introduced a new Kindle lineup in 2011, consisting of the Kindle (no keyboard, 1 month battery life, 1,400 books storage, WiFi model only, most countries), Kindle Touch + Kindle Touch 3G (touch screen, 2 month battery life, 3,000 books storage, WiFi and 3G models available, US only) and Kindle Fire (a US only 7 inch tablet like a mini iPad).
• I wanted a decent Kindle that had 3G, so my only option was Kindle Keyboard 3G because the only other UK model – the basic Kindle – had shorter battery life and didn’t have a 3G option.

So that’s basically Kindles for you. Do I recommend you get one? Certainly if you like to read books. If you’re in the UK, see this page to buy Kindles:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kindle-Wi-Fi-6-Ink-Display/dp/B0051QVF7A/ref=amb_link_162945927_2?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=0Z5HYNVFAKKKBE4ANFZB&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=281838027&pf_rd_i=468294

And if you’re in the US, see this page (look for the other Kindles at the top of the page – I strongly recommend the Kindle Touch W-Fi with special offers:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0051QYGXA

What are your thoughts on Kindles, or e-readers in general? Do you prefer ‘real’ books, or ebooks?

My Kindle's home screen, just so you know

Introducing Grockle and Gadzooks (via petradragon)

Baby gerbils.  Awwwww!   Darwin and Pan both shuffled their aged gerbilly behinds off this mortal coil in early July, she only weeks after he, so we got all sensible and decided to  wait until after Ireland to get more.  (And had to concentrate on not thinking about cute baby rodents whilst away!) Last Wednesday the day came.  We were back.  The stick insects (that’s a post for the future!) were collected from their holiday lodgings at my parents … Read More

via petradragon

The Twilight Saga (books) – my thoughts

What a saga! Vampires, romance, werewolves, shape-shifters… what doesn’t this saga have? Not only does it have practically everything, it is really well written…

Twilight

The first book introduces us to all the characters, but leaves some mystery… 10/10!

New Moon

Jacob is a werewolf! And Edward leaves!

Eclipse

Bella has to make a choice.. but who will she choose?

Breaking Dawn

 The closes the saga really well. I want more!

Other books

…are just as good as the rest of them.

Read the saga! Watch the movies!

Books that change lives

Name a book that changed your life. I don’t think a book has ever changed my life. I don’t think a book has changed the way I think about life and my actions…

Oh, wait!! There is one book that has actually changed my life. It has been around for a long time, is available in many editions, is actually many books in one, and it was written by many people.

Any guesses?

Yes, you got it right!/No you got it wrong!/You didn’t bother guessing? Why not? It’s The Bible. The Holy one. No, it hasn’t got any holes in it…

What influence did it have on your thoughts, attitudes, and actions? In many ways. Take the ten commandments, for instance. Obeying those 10 rules as much as you can will change anyone’s life. Yes, everyone. Name me a person who hasn’t lied recently. Any takers??? Didn’t think so. (By the way, I know Jesus didn’t lie: he was perfect.)

I think that may be about it for today. If you are interested in what the Bible has to say, or more about Christianity, click here.

What book has changed your life?

Anyone read this?

Fictional characters brought into the real world

If you could bring one fictional character to life for a day, who would you choose? This is a hard choice. There are so many good fictional characters out there that would be nice to be real. Lyra Belacqua (from the His Dark Materials trilogy), James Adams (from the first series of CHERUB), Harry Potter (no explanation need there)…. So many to choose from!

If I had to choose one, I would probably choose the Doctor (from Doctor Who). I am a huge fan of Doctor Who, and that would be quite a treat…

What would you do for the day? Talk, probably. I would like to know a few things, like how many regenerations each Time Lord has, and how the time vortex works.

If he brought his TARDIS, then I’d love to see it, and maybe learn how to fly it. I would probably visit myself in the far future, see Stonehenge being built and cause my brother some confusion. It would be great to do something big in the past, come back and find myself in some history books.

I think that is about it. What fictional character would you bring into the world for a day?

The Eleventh Doctor with his TARDIS

What can’t you say no to?

What things are impossible for you to turn down, at work, at home, at play? Something free. Whether it is food, a computer…. almost anything! Especially a good book.

I commented on the post on the Daily Post (read the article here) saying ”Not much… ” and I got a response from the author of the post saying “How about a poke in the eye?”. I thought WordPress.com was supposed to be a friendly and kind community?! I think he was joking…

What can you say no to? This isn’t part of the topic from the Daily Post. This is my own idea. Because this post is a bit short, and it could do with a bit more content. So, here goes…

I can say no to the following:

• Hurting an animal or a human
• Destroying things like books or magazine (especially Doctor Who Magazine)
• Eating meat

I think that is about it for now. To finish, I recommend you watch this great Christian video below:

Have a great day!