The "Paper Towns" Movie Poster is Here!

John Green will debut the trailer next week!

New "The 5th Wave" Still

 

The first stills from Rick Yancy's The 5th Wave starring Chloe Grace Moretz. Coming to theaters January 2016.

#MusicMonday

I finally bought the entire Hozier album, and I am in love.

 



 

If You Like This, You'll Like...#2

These books are extremely different but they have one thing in common: A journey. Paper Towns is about young man searching for his missing classmate/neighbor/crush, and I was Here is a about a young lady searching for the truth in her friend's suicide. Paper Towns is a John Green novel, which means it's hilarious, so it's packed with a deep life lesson told in a way a teen could understand it. Gayle Forman, who wrote If I Stay, has a knack for beautifully complicating a simple story.

Both of these books are about how we see people and accepting them as they are, the disappointment we feel when we learn things aren't as we thought. I finished I Was Here at 1:30 in the morning, and I'm probably going to be a brat all day because when I finish a book I have to reflect. Gayle Forman focuses on the impact suicide has on those left behind, and forces us to question our definition of life and bravery. John Green's main character is an intellectual who has to solve a problem that doesn't involve a textbook. He starts out the book being very careful and almost forced to step outside of himself. but by the end of the book he doesn't mind.
 
If you enjoy characters who become new people and complicated mysteries, you'd enjoy either of these books. You just have to decide whether you feel like laughing or crying.

If You Like This, You'll Like....#1

 

 



 

The hardest part about finishing a good book is figuring out what to read next, or finding a similar book when the subject matter really touches you. I read Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher in 2010 and it tore me in half. It's about a young man named Clay who comes home to find a package containing seven cassette tapes each numbered one through thirteen and a map. He presses play and it's Hannah Baker, a classmate and crush who killed herself, telling him that if he's listening then he's one of the thirteen reasons she killed herself. He follows the map as he listens to her downward spiral all the while wondering what he did wrong. This is a book that has saved lives and started much needed discussions.

If you've never read it, you should. If you have read it and you liked it, then you'll like....

The Program by Suzanne Young is a semi-dystopian sci-fi novel about a young girl named Sloane and her boyfriend James. In the not-too-distant future suicide is an epidemic among teenagers and the only cure is The Program. If you're sad, you can't show it. Keep it to yourself. Tell no one because wherever you are they'll come and take you away, and when you return you'll never be the same. It's so realistic it's terrifying and it almost hurt to read.

Where Jay Asher took a psychiatrist waiting room pamphlet and put it words we could we barely digest, Suzanne Young took suicide and gave it flesh and blood. If you don't mind the ugly cry or being emotionally challenged, looking into the mirror as you read, I highly recommend these.

Down from the Mountain - A Review

Every cult has that one member who can't get with the program, who is too bold and too smart for their own good. That's Eva. Not only is she intelligent, but she enjoys learning and she's frustrated with an education that's plateaued. Eva finds out the hard way knowledge is power. The story isn't an original concept, and since we know Eva is that person, you can tell from the beginning how the story is going to end. And that's fine; it's the journey in the middle that makes all the difference.

Set in the Colorado Rockies on a farm outside of Boulder, Down from the Mountain by Elizabeth Fixmer is about a young girl who finds herself at a crossroads as she navigates between being herself and being obedient. She's isolated from the outside world, away from the heathens who aren't chosen by God. Things take a turn when Reverend Ezekiel becomes increasingly paranoid, wasting the compound's money on guns and target practice. Watching Eva discover the outside world for the first time is like watching the Wizard of Oz go from shades of gray to color. Her eyes are opened to new sights and sounds, new customs and ways of life. She's fascinated by the culture shock, unafraid despite everything she's been told since she was little.

Elizabeth Fixmer likes C.S. Lewis. The Reverend speaks about a God who punishes, who blesses only when you do what you're told; a God who wills his people to suffer when they've done wrong. Eva believes this, but she also remembers Aslan who speaks softly, and loves so gently. She remembers an Aslan who sacrificed himself for those who didn't deserve it and walks with those he's chosen. I'm a Christian and analytical by nature, and though I'm not sure if Elizabeth Fixmer intended it I couldn't help but read this book from that perspective.

Stories like these hit a nerve, but not in a bad way. I love my faith, but I know there are evil people who can take my God and turn him into something he's not. Christianity says to guard your heart, but it does not isolate. Instead it encourages stepping into the world in order to save it. It does not punish because Jesus's death was punishment meant for all and his resurrection is a sufficient victory. It broke my heart watching Eva believe the lies, but I was excited to see her walk in her own faith. Often we're warned as Christians to beware of wolves in sheep's clothing, charlatans, people who seek power and will fill your head with lies to line their pockets. Ezekiel is a charlatan, a sexual predators, and a con artist. Like many leaders he drives away the men and surrounds himself with women and children. The power to make them do whatever he says, when to eat and when to sleep, is his job. The sex and admiration is his reward. Eva threatens this, and he makes the mistake of trying to tame her.

This is a subject Ms. Fixmer is passionate about. It's clear she's not just telling a story, but she's sending a message and warning to young women, and giving a testimony about her faith and who she believes God is. Down from the Mountain is a story about freedom, and strength, and faith. It's about a girl who believed in God her whole life discovering God for the first time. This book hits stores March 1st.

Goodreads

Official Website

#MusicMonday

 



Only because I love her. I think the video is mediocre, and a little lazy, but I love this song and I love her voice.

UPDATE: You can now pre-order her debut album on iTunes! "Eyes Wide Open" drops on April 21, 2015.