Insurgent(Divergent # 2) by Veronica Roth.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian Divergent series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature.

Insurgent is an extraordinary book. It highlights the erratic love and the journey Tris and Tobias endure to test their love - through deceit, war , secrets and hard times.

I found myself becoming more emotionally attached to these characters than in the first book. I've learned so much about them and willingly embraced their strong personalities. All of the characters interact together in such a believable way and their personalities are explained so well,that I felt I was embedded in their world as their shadows. 

I admire Veronica Roth's clever descriptive passages- My eyes did not want to skim over the descriptive parts but rather get engulfed in them.Veronica Roth is an unquestionably gifted story teller.

Tris's character developed so much:Her divergent personality is more defined- we see a lot of traits from all of the factions shine through, she has become more mature and selfless(maybe powered by guilt but still a positive development). 

The ending was completely unexpected! The truth connects the divergent and Tris in ways the factions could of never predicted. A clearly super,suspenseful ending which will result in readers eagerly waiting to devour the concluding book of the Divergent Series.

My Cat Catch Book Rating Scale above- I was absolutely amazing!(5/5 cats)

Cat Cat Rating Scale- http://minstrelcrazy.blogspot.ie/p/reviews.html

There is absolutely  nothing else I wanted from the book and I felt elated after reading such a fantastic, nail biting story. There is no other conclusion but to give this book a whopping 5/5 cats.

New Year's Resolutions

Nearly everybody secretly wishes to change in some way even if he or she is unwilling to admit it. The New Year is the chance for people to set a goal(s) that he/she hopes to achieve for the upcoming year. Why? Simple- nobody's perfect. Some people may wish to have a healthier life style, others may wish to change parts of their personality,go traveling etc.

Part of my New Year's Resolution is taking on the 2013 Book Challenge. I have never participated in a book challenge before and I am naturally quite excited. My goal is to read fifty books. I have a list made out for the challenge but it is not set in stone as there undoubtedly will be great releases in 2013. The genres are quite varied: from YA books to classics, contemporary, children's etc.Some authors that are on the list: Roald Dahl, Cassandra Clare, Libba Bray, Scott Westerfeld, Christopher Paolini, Meg Cabot, Charles Dickens, Emily Bronte, J.R.K Tolkien and many others. My 2013 Book Challenge collage below.

The second part of my New Year's Resolution is to be more proactive. This evolves taking on the book challenge but also to stop being lazy and get things done. I have felt somewhat guilty the past few days: I have been going to bed really late, waking up really late -my excuse was that I was reading...Still I should change that. Also I haven't been outside in about five days(very depressing) and I seem to be spending a lot of time obsessing over my blog which results in staying in my pajamas all day. I love to blog and read but I feel that I am spending too much time doing those activities and it is consuming my life and my relationships. I am rambling right now...Someone might ask"Why are you taking on the 2013 Book Challenge then?" My answer"I'm somewhat reckless..."

Just to clear this up with myself and yourself: My second part of my New Year's Resolution is to be more proactive but to not give up reading or blogging.

Ramble finished...So, what is your New Year's Resolution?

The Infernal Devices 1: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

The Infernal Devices 1: Clockwork Angel

                                                             by Cassandra Clare

Magic is dangerous – but love is more dangerous still... When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray arrives in England during the reign of Queen Victoria, something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural fold stalk the gaslit streets. Friendless and hunted, Tessa seeks refuge with the Shadowhunters, a band of warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons. Drawn ever deeper into their world, she finds herself fascinated by – and torn between – two best friends and quickly realizes that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.

Tessa journeyed to England to find her brother Nathaniel. Instead of finding him at the dock, she is kidnapped by the Dark sisters.They train her against her will to transform into other people. They keep repeating that it is a great honor and that the Magister will be pleased- the Magister is the leader of the secret organisation called the Pandemonium Club which the Dark sisters are members of. He plans to marry Tessa which will enable him to withhold her great power.

Tessa is rescued from her predicament by the Sadowhunters of the London institute. They promise to search for her brother. She is distrustful and weary towards them at first as she thinks they want to manipulate her great power but she soon befriends them. Tessa quickly falls into another predicament. She finds herself torn between two of the Shadowhunters: Jem, the thoughtful, understanding gentle soul and Will the erratic, blue eyed angel who pretends to be something he's not.

It is a tale of magical beasts, heartbreak, secrets and death. I did enjoy the tale but I did have a few problems with different sections of the book. I wasn't convinced about the setting,I truly didn't feel London build up around me like it should of done...One of the main twists was too obvious- I unintentionally guessed the twist and I was disappointed as a result of the blatantly obvious climax. I read on half-heartedly but discovered that the book redeemed itself as the ending was not too bad.

Overall it was worth the read.
My Cat Catch Book Rating Scale above- I liked it(3.5/5 cats)

Cat Cat Rating Scale- http://minstrelcrazy.blogspot.ie/p/reviews.html

Catch Cat Book Rating Scale.

Book Reviews

I have made a Catch Cat rating scale for my book reviews...

It is basically the five star rating except with cats with expressions.

 This is how books will be rated:

It was horrible! 

It was okay.

I liked it.

I really liked it.

It was absolutely amazing!

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Jonas's world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear or pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the Community. When Jonas turns twelve, he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back.

The world in which Jonas inhabits is a colourless world controlled strictly by a group called the Elders(they are a council who make all of the decisions)  The first twelve years of a each persons life is celebrated- Year twelve being the most important year. When a child turns twelve he/she is given a career based on the Elders observation of the child - The Elders determine this through what community work the child has done and by his/her personality. Jonas at the twelve ceremony is chosen to be the Receiver of Memory. He is given a couple of guidelines such as he is allowed to lie and that he can't talk about his training etc. The former Receiver's job is to transfer memories of the world to Jonas by placing his hands on Jonas's bare back. Jonas is fascinated by lovely memories such as snow but is horrified by others like war...

The Giver is a light heartened take on pain and suffering. It shows the importance of remembering such pain but also to remember the wonders of the world. It is a story of growth on how a boy discovers the true history of the world, he acquires right and wrong and ventures out into the world to seek out the aspects of life which have been hidden from his community. It is a fabulous story of bravery, knowledge, adventure ,understanding and change. It is a book that leaves behind a trail of appreciation within the reader for the simple things in life such as the magic of colour.

My Cat Catch Book Rating Scale above- I really liked it(4/5 cats)

Cat Cat Rating Scale- http://minstrelcrazy.blogspot.ie/p/reviews.html

Unfortunately the ending reminded me of 'I am David' by Anne Holm. I know is may be unfair to take one cat off my rating for it just because it reminded me of 'I am David'- A book that I don't particularly like. But when the ending started to remind me of 'I am David' it truly dampened my reading experience so I have to take that into account.

Pursuit of Happiness

My brother wrote a short note to me before. I have it stuck down in my scrapbook for safe keeping.
-----------------------------------------------------
time:07:44                                                        
                                           4/12/07
                   Hi Catherine,

               by the time you
                 read this I will
               be after writing
                a letter to you just
           so it wastes your time
                "ha ha!!"
             
                  Your gratfully,
                      Barry
               sign Barry

------------------------------------------------------

Just like that note, I truly feel that I am wasting my time and other people's time with my waffling about topics  that perhaps are exactly that - time wasting. But to what cost? I enjoy writing, typing and by doing so I hope that others enjoy reading my material...Enjoying life is not time wasted...
I read, play the keyboard, draw, watch The Big Bang Theory simply because these activities make me happy. I spend my time searching for inspiration,motivation and happiness.I search online for inspirational quotes, I print them out and hang them in my room...Why? Well, when life gets hard , I have words of wisdom to help me through what ever  obstacle I face.Also, I watch Youtube videos -many you-tubers give great advice...Like for example: ActuallyAlexa http://www.youtube.com/user/ActuallyAlexa?feature=watch    ActuallyAlexa once said along the lines of this "If you want to skip down an aisle in the supermarket, do it for there is no point in worrying about what other people think as long as it makes you happy." I hope that quote hasn't strayed too far from what she actually said(I tried to find which video of her's where it came from- resulted in failure).

  I took the above photo.It is of my cat's food bowl on top of the car(We used to feed our cats Active and Tiggles on top of the car so Chloe our dog couldn't eat their food...) I love it so much as it is simply so inspiring. Don't you think?

Some quotes concerning happiness:

"In the hopes of reaching the moon men fail to see the flowers that blossom at their feet."
                   -Albert Schweitzer

“Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.” 
   ― Marthe Troly-Curtin, Phrynette Married


“There's nothing like deep breaths after laughing that hard. Nothing in the world like a sore stomach for the right reasons.” 
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”

― Dr. Seuss

I may be repeating myself somewhat but here are some guidelines I use for my pursuit of happiness:

1.Engage oneself in whatever interests one may have for example-Join clubs that are orientated around the stuff one likes to do.

2.Search online for inspirational quotes,  print them out and hang them in one's room.

3.Wear wristbands with words of inspiration, motivation and wisdom on them. One may decide to wear a wristband with"Stay Strong" written on it.

4. Try to surround oneself with happy, positive people. Negative people naturally bring people down- even if unintentionally.

5. Be positive. Do not look at situations as a half empty glass but a half full one.

6. When you have the opportunity to laugh, then laugh. The same concept to smiling.

These guidelines are defiantly a bit more serious than my previous PLAFIC steps on blogging...

New Comer to Blogging

                                                             

Hello there World...I am Catch. It can be awkward  to have the nickname 'Catch', simply because when people are throwing things to each other they may shout"CATCH!"Low and behold I turn, only to be disappointed...Maybe I should consider reinventing my nickname to Kitkat or Cathy or even Cat...

Wow...I feel nervous. Why? Well, basically I don't want to screw up and write a lot of meaningless stuff('waffle' as my previous history teacher would say) Where to start? What to write? Well, I suppose at the beginning would be appropriate...Oh and to answer your second question Catch- You can write about absolutely anything! Maybe not about death threats and terrorist plans but other than that...

Waffle steps to follow when blogging:
1. Pretend your writing to Santa Claus
2. Lose the mass sermons(Santa is a busy man)
3.Always, always, always suck up to Santa. Nobody wants coal in their stocking.
4.Forget fun! This is completely serious blogging...'Clink' that is the sound of shackles-no escape...Did I mention freedom earlier? Ignore that. What I really meant is you will live out your life as a blogger shackled to Blogging forever...
5. If any enjoyment from blogging materializes, whip it back...Misery is your life from now on.
6. Cut out the sarcasm! Your making me sick!

Rightio, If I follow those simple six steps PLAFIC, then and only then will I become an accomplished blogger...

Peace out World,

From Catch.