Listening to: Best Coast - Crazy For You.

Maybe I'm just crazy, but I sometimes feel like there is another life I could be living, like I'm living mine all wrong. I could be overseas, I could be exploring the world (and I know I would love it, and be so curious about everything), I could be working with books or writing, i could be writing a book and be on my way to publishing it, I could be totally in love with some rad guy and he with me. But that's another thing all together.

Could I be doing anything different? I'm registering births by day. I'm watching the odd movie or episode of something by night. The nights go so quick, and the days too.

I have dreams, but I don't really know where they stand at the moment. They're so vivid and they're still there in my head, ready to be put into action but I'm not really sure where to go. I don't want to register births all my life, but I love the people I work with too much to give it up right now. I need to travel though, I know it. I feel it in my bones. I need to be out there, breathing and seeing such different things. I don't want to be in a rut.

I will make a promise to myself right now - to not give up, to keep the dreams alive and start making them work. Pinky swear!

Ponderings of a 20 something at 11.38pm on a saturday.

The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

I apologise - I started The Pillars of the Earth, but found it far too big and lengthy to even attempt to finish it, so I stopped. I will pick it up at some other point, maybe when I have a little more time and can put my heart and soul into it (it will definitely need it! haha).

So, onto another book:

I didn't know about it at first - I first heard about it from Tumblr, when everyone kept posting images of the film that is coming out. I'm a sucker for books that are made into movies, and I knew I needed to read it before the film came out.

I bought it on Trademe, and devoured it the minute it came in the post.

Let me start by quoting the blurb: "It's a dark vision of the near future, a terrifying reality TV show is taking place. Twelve boys and twelve girls are forced to appear in a live event called the Hunger Games. There is only one rule: kill or be killed."

Let's face it - it sounds a bit weird at first, but give it a chance. It is not what it seems. The pictures in your head are formed every page you read. I gave it a chance, and I adored it.

It's quite a different book. It's not my usual thing - for example, the blurb on the back states it to be a very violent bloodbath of a book. But really, it has so much heart and soul in it, in the characters especially. Our heroine, Katniss (yes, strange names are everywhere in this book - try Effie, Haymitch, Foxface, and our favourite boy Peeta) is a tough girl from District 12 who has to deal with her own demons as well as fight against others in the arena. She's got spunk, that girl. She's rough around the edges but has a soft sensitivity to her.

The writing style is akin to other Young Adult novels; fast-paced with easy dialogue, which made it so quick to read. I didn't mind this. I thought it was well-written. Collins left out any detail that would be too much which I appreciated. I also picked up a negative tone, especially with the themes relating to government, in which may see our characters pitting themselves against the ruling state, the Capitol. Of course, the writing could have been better in some places but for a young adult novel, it was satisfactory.

The romance between Katniss and her fellow District 12 "tribute" is what made the story so interesting for me. The romance was not overdone, or idealised - there's nothing like cheesy lines to ruin a story. I enjoyed the way they obviously cared for one another, but struggled over the whole concept of the game to truly show it. Peeta is everything Katniss is not, so they complement each other so well. The "Boy with the Bread" and the "Girl who was on Fire".

It will be interesting to see what the next books ('Catching Fire' and 'Mockingjay') have in store - I can't give anything away about the ending of the book (OH MY GOD) but I think the next books will be very different!

8/10.

Next Book To Come: The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett.

Stay tuned!

Waves - Sharon Dogar.

Waves by Sharon Dogar.

"A remarkable novel...suffused by an atmosphere both sensuous and sinister." - Philip Pullman.

Three quarters into it, and I just can't wait till the end. I'm only stopping reading in order to write this.

It's a fantastic young adult novel that caters to adult needs, tackling themes regarding loss, grief and family issues. The protagonists Hal and Charley are brother and sister who find themselves tied with a strong bond that goes beyond the norm - they can hear each others thoughts, and whats more, they can see through each other's 'chameleon' eyes. Charley, deep in a coma in a hospital bed, reaches out for help to Hal, who is vacationing at their holiday house during the summer, hoping he can save her from the depths. The rest of the family, believing there is no hope for Charley, only fuels Hal's desires to 'rescue' his sister by finding out what really happened last summer to her.

It is a dark book; even the romantic scenes between Hal and Jackie, and Charley's flashbacks to her and Pete the 'surf-god', are infused with a sinister quality, like there is something not quite right, and the dangers of young love. Sharon Dogar treats human emotions and the strong bonds between family in a powerful way, and the symbolism of waves can be read in so many different ways, for changing emotions, danger, starting afresh and growing up.

Alright, back to the book!

Books.

How to explain books? I can only explain what they mean to me. They are everything. The way they look, the way they smell, the sound their pages make when they turn, the stories they tell, oh the stories. It's the words that make books come alive. I'm not just talking fiction (although, fiction is my favourite, hands down), cookbooks use their words to make magic, books about hobbies, how to knit, crafts, travel. Some use pictures to tell the story. It is what is enclosed in the pages that mean the most.

But perhaps I am too adamant. Because I have to say, standing there in the book shop or library, with my satchel resting on my shoulder, and gazing up (or down) at the rows and rows and stacks and stacks of books that lay out in front of me like endless possibilities, it is the way the books look on the shelves that take my attention. I do love a good spine, a good cover page.

They are expensive, yes, but they are there for the taking.

Everything that books consist of make books what they are to me.

I know I'm meant to have books in my life forever. I started off as a tiny booklover, scouting the library shelves, wanting to read adult books when I was eleven, and I know I will end my life as a booklover, scouting the opshop shelves for old gems.

I thought once - is it possible to read every book in the world? No.

But lets try and read as many as we can.

Jamie, 21, girl, movie lover, book lover obvs, personal baker and cook, vintage sunglasses collector, TV on DVD watcher, laugher, animal lover, and pun artist.

Pleased to meetcha!

This blog will contain all my book ravings, my thoughts, my dreams and book reviews.