Matthew 6:26

'Look at the birds of the air;

they do not sow or reap or store away in barns,

and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

Are you not much more valuable than they?'

This picture may not be the best I've taken this week, but it does signify a big achievement for me. Last year, at Uni, I cooked very little, I didn't really feel comfortable in the kitchen. This year I decided I would make more of an effort, I feel more comfortable and last night I cooked a veritable feast. It sure wasn't perfect but y'know baby steps.

I even did roast parsnips and orange and balsamic vinegar gravy. I know what I'd change for next time, but it definitely wasn't a bad meal!

Maybe this year I'll be more settled and push myself out of my comfort zone more.

Linking up to Your Sunday Best @ A Rural Journal.

How was your week?

Rowen

Book Beginnings: Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins

The third and final book in my set of Hunger Games posts.

'I stared down at my shoes, watching as a fine layer of ash settles on the worn leather.'

This beginning is a little more traumatic than those featured in books one and two. It pays a successful homage to the disaster which the people of Katniss' District suffered as the result of her actions. The disaster which she herself escaped in many ways. 

In comparison with the other two books I think that it's much more representative of the book as a whole. 

In other news if I made a mistake in the typing up of this beginning you'll have to forgive me as I left my copy of the book at home and had to get my brother to relay it to me over the phone. We're fairly sure we got it right between us :) Yes this does mean I've already read it...

I'm linking up to Book Beginnings @ Rose City Reader. 

What beginning have you got?

Rowen

For related posts:

• Book Beginnings: The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
• The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
• Book Beginnings: Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
• Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
• Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire, was for me, as it seems to have been for most people, even better than The Hunger Games. The problem I then find is that I can't define what made it so good. 

I found myself reading Catching Fire to the point where I couldn't actually put it down, I even read some in my lunch-break, both aspects of which are much less common these days than before I sat my A-Levels. I actually read Catching Fire in about 24 hours. It was fabulous.

I like that the three parts of the book seemed very distinct, you could definitely see them separately but they still worked well as a whole. I also liked that the book picked up effectively from where the first book left off, with Peeta and Katniss having a very stand-off-ish relationship. 

I liked that Katniss tried to second-guess president Snow and ended up distrustful of a much wider range of people. It made for some very dramatic scenes.

I liked that Katniss' feelings for Peeta developed into some which were a lot more honest than in the previous book. You could actually believe her emotions, and it was fun watching her fall into them. I also enjoyed viewing the conflict she felt over Gale and Peeta, but you could see Gale take a step back.

However my absolute favourite part of the book was the complete cliffhanger of an ending!

I had been planning to link up to Speed Date Night @ The Book Swarm but I seem to have exceeded the word count, shows just how good this book is I guess. 

Happy Reading

Rowen

For related posts:

• Book Beginnings: The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
• The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
• Book Beginnings: Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
• Book Beginnings: Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins
• Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins

This Morning

This morning Lectures started, so I got up at 4.45 to travel halfway across the country to make it back in time. I made it to Hatfield about 7.45 and then spent about 45 minutes getting a bus and walking from the campus to my house for this year. That's easier said than done when you're wheeling a suitcase. I literally dumped my stuff and headed straight to lectures.

Today's been a fun day.

But my reward was this morning when I got to watch the sun rise on my train journey!

How was your morning?

Rowen

Luke 12:27

'Consider the Lilies,

how they grow:

they neither toil nor spin,

yet I tell you,

even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.'

This week's been a strange one. It was about my fifth last day at the same place of work and my sister moved out today. She's starting at the UEA to do maths, I guess it runs in the family, but she's been uber-excited about it!

These flowers were on the font at Church this morning, they have some beautiful displays.

I'm linking up to Your Sunday Best @ A Rural Journal and Weekend Flowers @ Tina's PicStory.

How was your week?

Rowen

Book Beginnings: Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins

A little more of the same as last week. Like I said I raced through this trilogy, it was positively warp speed!

'I clasp the flask between my hands even though the warmth from the tea has long since leached into the frozen air.'

In many ways this beginning holds echoes of the beginning of the first book. It is early morning, the calm before the storm.

Once again the beginning is almost too quiet for the book. Your thoughts?

Linking up to Book Beginnings @ Rose City Reader.

Rowen

For related posts:

• Book Beginnings: The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
• The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
• Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
• Book Beginnings: Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins
• Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

I dealt with the Hunger Games a bit out of order for my taste. My friend came to stay with me the weekend the film was released, at a point at which I'd not yet read the book, and so we went and saw it. Frankly the movie thrilled me, I felt a range of emotions course through me as I watched it, and unusually I could only hope that the book lived up to my expectations.

The book did all this and more. I think the film was very true to it, but the two dealt with the same content from different angles. The book is very personal, told using Katniss' raw emotions; anger, fear, love. The film contains these elements, but they're almost held in sterile containers compared to the book, instead it takes you more behind the scenes, demonstrates just how much the game-makers are manufacturing the Hunger Games.

The plot of the Hunger Games is central to it's success I feel. It's a topic which so many of us have thought on and questioned at some point or another. It's a fascinating premise. We live in a world of Reality Tv and cosmetic images, and we do need to question at what point the whole thing just becomes too much. I don't think it would take a lot for our culture to reach the one Katniss lives in.

I liked the maturity of Katniss as a character, the way in which although all her life she has suffered at the hands of the Capitol she doesn't instantly condemn all it's citizens to the same mold. She's willing to learn to like these people and she empathizes with those close to her, particularly her design and makeover team.

Even if you don't particularly like this genre it's a fascinating read for it's moral implications, something I think was sewn perfectly into the setting of a wonderful story. I loved the Hunger Games, I barely put it down.

Rowen


For related posts:

• Book Beginnings: The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
• Book Beginnings: Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
• Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
• Book Beginnings: Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins
• Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins