Misery

At the moment I'm going through this massive Stephen King phase. In the last few weeks I've bought at least 6 of his novels and am loving working my way through them! Right now I'm reading 'Misery'. It's about this author, Paul Sheldon, who crashes his car in the middle of no where, only to be rescued by a woman who is a die hard fan of his novels about a heroine by the name of "Misery Chastain". The good news is that Annie used to be a nurse and has a lot of medication to take Paul's pain away, but the bad news is that she's out of her mind, gives him to many doses of the drugs and goes totally crazy when she finishes his newest Misery book, only to find that Paul killed off her all time favourite character.
I've never really been into this kind of horror/suspense/thriller genre before, but I'm loving this, and can 100% understand why Stephen King is such a respected author. This is obviously and definitely not for people who can't handle the horror themes, but if you can, it's a great story. I'm only 16 and I respect this writing A LOT, so I think it would be difficult to give an age bracket on this novel. However I think you should just use your own judgement. It is classified as basically a "scary" book, so if you're younger and still think you're okay, go for it, but if not, remember it for when you can handle it!
Good luck!

O.

Eleanor and Park

I realise I haven't written in a while, but in the time that I haven't written, I've read a lot of books, seen a lot of new movies, watched some new shows, and heard some killer new albums.
One of the books that I managed to power through was a novel called 'Eleanor and Park' written by Rainbow Rowell. I'm really at a loss with this book, because I loved it way more than I was expecting!
I think one of the main things that I loved about this was that the characters were really like normal people. A lot of times in books the main character is supposedly "ordinary", yet basically has the body of a model and the popularity of a Queen. The main girl in this book is a solid, tall girl with crazy red hair and a terrible sense of fashion, and she (so perfectly) gets together with the quiet kid who reads comics on the bus and listens to weird music.
I loved that it wasn't love at first sight (okay, that sounds horrible, but it's true). It's real, they weren't two crazy teenagers who fell in love when they saw how pretty they both were. These two get to know each other as people, and love each other for who they actually are. And I think that's something really beautiful that the author was able to show to every one who reads the book.
Although this may not be the saddest or funniest book out, in my opinion, out of all of the books I've read (believe me, that's a lot), this has to be the most realistic in the most perfect way.
I won't say anymore, because it's something I think everyone should read in their own way.
BUT, I 100% recommend this for any and every young girl out there, because every girl should know that they don't have to be perfect for everyone, because the one who's perfect for them will love them as they are.
O.

The Love Club ep

I recently downloaded this album and fell in love almost instantly. It's by a 16 year old New Zealand girl, who goes by the name of 'Lorde', and features the song "Royals" (which is really popular at the moment).
It has 6 tracks on it; The Love Club, Royals, Bravado, Million Dollar Bills, Biting Down and a Bravado Remix. I'd heard 'Royals' on the radio before, so of course that was my initial favourite.. HOWEVER, I really grown to like 'The Love Club' after listening to it because it has this crazy catchy tune to it!
I haven't really connected with 'Million Dollar Bills' or 'Biting Down', because they have a bit of a techno kind of alternate feel to them. But, I think that that contributes a lot to the album, because it shows that Lorde takes on some different types of music, not just classic pop stuff.
I think it's a pretty good ep, and I can't wait to get a full album out of her, because she has a really cool voice, that you wouldn't pick to be a teenage girl's. This is a pretty short entry, but if anyone knows of any music like this tweet me, because it's really fresh and there's not many singers around with her kind of music.
O.

The Mortal Instruments

This is about both the movie and the book, because I SAW THE MOVIE LAST NIGHT!

There are six of these books, and I read them ages ago - immediately becoming a fan, with the twitter account dedicated to it and all. They're the perfect mix of fight scenes and romance, but they do get a little weird at the end of book one to book three.
It's about this group of people, called Shadowhunters, who fight demons and keep the world safe, and of course there's that one girl who is a normal teenager until she finds out that her parents are really powerful Shadowhunters. The two love interests (there's really only one, but anyway) are Jace and Simon. I absolutely loved Jace is the books because he was supposed to be mega gorgeous, and also had all these hilarious lines about how good he was. BUT, in the movie I liked Simon just that little bit more, because, well, ROBERT SHEEHAN. He's actually an actor from the TV show 'Misfits' (which I wrote about recently) and is per-fect.
I think I liked the movie more than I liked the books.... Which is weird because a lot of book readers find issues with the movie! Anyway, I think it's probably one of the best adaptions I've seen in a long time, basically because of how perfect the casting was. I didn't think they would be, but each and everyone of the characters was exactly how I imagined they would be. They also stuck to the plot pretty closely and threw a A LOT of quotes from the book in there, which is something I absolutely loved!
They did skip a few parts and put things from book three in there, so if you're the kind of person who is reads book one, watches movie one, etc. THIS ISN'T A GOOD IDEA! If you're reading the books now, and don't want any spoilers, then I really suggest you wait until you're onto book four.
All in all, I thought it was super cheesy, but absolute perfection.
O.

Misfits

I have this friend from school who is a massive movie and TV fan. He gives heaps good suggestions about what the best shows are to watch and about 90% of the time, he's absolutely spot on.
The show I'm getting hooked on at the moment is a show called "Misfits", which came out in England sometime around 2009. It's about a group of young offenders who get struck by lightning while doing their community service and start to develop these "super powers".
Robert Sheehan - who is playing Simon in 'The Mortal Instruments' (which comes out in 8 days!!!) - and Iwan Rheon (a pretty dang good singer) are two of the main characters in it, and are a fairly large part of the attraction to the show for me, because they're two of the many people I love.
The language in it is pretty rough and there is some violence, so I definitely DON'T recommend it for the younger audiences. I'm pretty okay with the violence and a bit of swearing, however, they do use A LOT of bad language, which is really something I can't stress enough, because I really think it's something that younger kids shouldn't be subject to hearing.
BUT, if you're into a bit of action mixed with the supernatural kind of thing (like me), then this is totally something worth looking into!
Sayonara.
O.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

So if there's one thing I really love, it's books that are then made into movies. Right now, a lot of the books I've read over the past few years that are being made into a movie and in general, I'm really excited for all of them! One of these books is 'Divergent' by Veronica Roth.
I was sitting on the fence about this book and I'm still not really sure how much I liked it. It was set in another dystopian kind of world; ever since 'The Hunger Games' became big, these types of books have become a lot more common.
I think that I liked the first one and I'd probably tell readers that it's a good read, but there is a sequel and it just drags it out a bit too much.
My advice would be to read the first one, and if you really really really like it, then go on to the next one. BUT if you thought it was just OKAY, then I'll bet you don't like the next one...
So, do what I did with Twilight and just wait for the movies!
Ciao -O

The Beginning And The End Of Everything

A couple of weeks ago, Australian musician Josh Pyke released his newest album, titled 'The Beginning And The End of Everything'. His music is what I think's called 'Indie Folk', a bit similar to Lisa Mitchell and maybe Boy and Bear. I've had a major admiration for his music since I was about 10, and I both blame and thank my brothers for this. So, if you were hoping this was going to be critical or whatever, keep hoping - because the only fault with this album is that I want more.

I will seriously question anyone's sanity who thinks that any part of his music is only "okay", because while he might not have the catchy, up beat tunes of a Justin Bieber song, Josh Pyke definitely rivals Taylor Swift in the lyric department.

"Time is like the ocean, you can only hold a little in your hands". WHO THINKS LIKE THAT!?!?? A lyrical genius, that's who. I mean, get that he's saying we don't have a lot of time on our hands, but surely I'm not the only one who would phrase that more along the lines of "we don't have much time". Yes, okay, people write songs! But this guy has written so many amazing songs that always seem to hit the mark perfectly, and this new album has just done it again. I love all the songs on this record, but my favourites would have to be 'Haunt You Love' and 'Feet of Clay'.

So, I really suggest that anyone out there who hasn't already heard his music goes and finds it now, and I'll try and post a link to the clip for 'Leeward Side' for anyone that wants it!

O.

Leeward Side