She’s straightened her hair, she’s moved to Manhattan and she’s released a pop album.  Taylor Swift has changed a lot in the past few years and nothing reflects this more than her new album, 1989.

For many years we have known Taylor as the sweet, emotional, country girl whose album covers featured her flowing curls and innocent face. Much like the girl, the music on those albums was also sweet, emotional and country.  The songs had many singer/songwriter melodies with a banjo, and truck references thrown in to emphasize the whole country aspect of her albums. However, after the first record, each became increasingly more pop. Her penultimate album, Red, stretched so far into pop territory that it featured mellow dub-step influences.  Yet, it was still performed at country music award shows and followed by Luke Bryan songs on various radio stations.  Now, eight years since Taylor took over the radio and earned the worship of millions of girls, she has made the bold move to completely abandon any country ties with 1989.

The album is entitled 1989 for two reasons.  The first being that it was the year its creator was born.  Second, the music is said to be inspired by a various ’80s icons, such as David Bowie and Madonna. In fact,the album cover was made to emulate one of Bowie’s.  To the majority of her listeners that were born in the ’90s, the music sounds like the indie style pop music of today.  Songs like Out of The Woods  and Wish You Would sound remarkably similar to current pop band The Bleachers.  Also, songs like Bad Blood clearly are influenced by Taylor’s good friend Lorde. But her ability to combine these influences with her own personal voice makes these songs unique.

1989 differs not only in style, but subject matter as well.  Swift is well-known for her songs about relationships that spur fans to sing their hearts out after a successful first date or a devastating last date.  These songs have been criticized as melodramatic, far too emotional and immature.  Perhaps as a demonstration as her developed maturity, Taylor strays away from this subject.  There are still several love-sick songs, but they are much less “why me”  and more “this is the way it is.”  This is shown through the lyrics in Blank Space: “So it’s gonna be forever, or we’re gonna go down in flames. You can tell me when it’s over, if the  high was worth the pain.”  She also explores more themes of self development and the excitements that her new life offers.  The songs reflect a far more independent and, I think, better role model than before.

There is one feature of 1989 that strongly relates to her previous albums.  All of them provide a clear picture of their lyricist.  Taylor writes as though she is within the privacy of her own diary  and, because of that, she has never lost the deeply personal voice that touches millions. I can’t wait to hear what else that voice has to say.

Check out her latest video.

Sixteen-year-old Lydia Lee appears to have it all. She spends hours on the phone each evening, talking to friends. She dives into advanced science classes in the hopes of one day becoming a doctor. She’s polite to her parents, agreeing to their every request without so much as a grumble or complaint.

But, as her family is soon to find out, picture-perfect Lydia is only an illusion. When she goes missing and is found dead, drowned in a local lake, her family struggles to understand what happened. They eventually realize that everything they thought they knew about Lydia was wrong.

In Everything I Never Told You, author Celeste Ng explores what it’s like to be a minority. Lydia’s father was the only Chinese-American student in all of his schools growing up. Her white mother was the sole woman pursuing a medical degree in a time most people thought women went to college only to catch a husband. Their biracial marriage in the 1950s was rare, and in some states, illegal. In the town where Lydia grew up in the 1970s, there is no one outside of her family who looks like her. In all of their experiences, being the minority meant facing taunts, isolation and limited opportunities.

Those limited opportunities haunted Lydia’s parents, who transferred all of their hopes and dreams onto her. Lydia struggled under the weight of their expectations, creating a public face that masked her unhappiness and insecurity. While readers are shown what is going through each character’s mind — during the current investigation into Lydia’s death and in the decades before — it is clear that the family members never shared their experiences and feelings with one another. If they had, maybe they could have helped one another. Or maybe they would have been further weighed down with guilt and shame. We’ll never know. And while readers learn what Lydia was thinking the night she died, her parents and siblings never do. They are left with countless questions that they will never be able to answer.

This is not a happy book, but it is an interesting one. Reading about the experiences of Lydia and her family through their eyes brought home the challenges faced by anyone who feels isolated or unaccepted because of their race, religion or sexual orientation. Some of us will never experience this firsthand. Books like this help us better understand what others may be going through.

Another plus is that the book is written like a mystery, with the opening line telling us “Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet.” Pieces of the puzzle are slowly revealed as the author alternates between present time and the past.

I’d recommend this book to anyone who likes realistic fiction about families or mysteries that aren’t necessarily about detectives and crimes. Fans of Ellen Hopkins’ books may also like this. Even though it is not written in verse, it is the same kind of story of dysfunctional families and survivors of tragedy that Hopkins often writes about.

As the cold weather approaches, I know I find myself anywhere but outside when it comes to staying warm! Don’t get me wrong, I love the winter, but without the beach, the pool, or even the backyard to chill out, I grow bored with my surroundings. Where does one go for excitement during such a cold season?!

Might I suggest . . .  Patriot Cinemas?

For you fellow students who may not know of Patriot Cinemas, it is the Hanover movie theater! I don’t know about you, but I sure remember going to the movies all the time back in middle school. Why not pay them another visit this holiday season? Sometimes it does get a bit cold in the theaters, but throw on a fleece jacket with some fuzzy socks and boots and you’ll be good to go!

Located right behind the Hanover mall at 1775 Washington Street, the theater has all of your ‘need-to-see’ movies for this season. Currently showing “Horrible Bosses 2,” “Penguins of Madagascar” (showing in both 3D and 2D based upon your preference), “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 1,” “Dumb and Dumber to” (no, that is not a misspelling of “two”), “Big Hero 6,” and so many other great options! Check out the rest of the shows online at patriotcinemas.com. You can check out the shows coming soon, or you can even buy your tickets right from the website. If only you could buy the popcorn and snacks online too!

Did I mention the beyond affordable cost for the movie tickets???

Adults– $9.50
Children under 12 – $6.50
Seniors (65 & over) – $6.50
Daily Bargain Matinees until 6:00pm– All Seats $6.50
SUPER TUESDAYS !! All Seats for All Shows – $5.00
(3D Movies – $2.50 Premium Fee for all Admissions)

Close your eyes and imagine the smell of buttery popcorn, the sweet flavor of the cherry ice slushies, the delectable taste of cheesy nachos, and the anticipation of the movie you’re about to view. Sounds good to me! Looks like I’m going to be seeing a movie this upcoming Tuesday! How could I skip out on a $5 movie ticket!?!? Now all I need is somebody to go with . . . any takers?

Warning: Contains spoilers if you have not yet seen Mockingjay or read the books.

In the eyes of many, the third installment of The Hunger Games did not disappoint. Theaters everywhere hosted 8 pm, 10 pm and midnight premieres which fans attended, both dressed up as characters and clad in pajamas per usual. For myself, I sported a t-shirt with the widely known symbol of the mockingjay glistening in gold, surrounded by flames. According to online sources, including insidemovies.com, Mockingjay conquered the weekend’s ticket sales, and may possibly be the biggest opening of the year. While being compared to previous films as not grossing enough money in its opening weekend, the film itself was as spectacular as the original Hunger Games and its sequel, Catching Fire.

Mockingjay is emotion-evoking not only because  of the context and plot that dedicated fans will already know (a rebellion against the tyrannical Capitol), but with Katniss’ pleas for peace, humanity, and justice for her fellow victor, Peeta, who was left behind when she was rescued from the Quarter Quell. Even non-readers of the book can have their heartstrings pulled during the powerful District 8 scene, when Katniss visits a hospital of wounded only to see it bombed moments later by Capitol forces. The moment is empowering to Katniss, making it clear to her that she is the one who needs to bring justice to the people, and, more importantly, that she is capable of doing so.

We see a wide variety of both new and old characters in the film, including President Coin, the leader of District 13, who was reluctant to belief Katniss could lead the rebellion, but did not come across as resistant and suspicious as she did in the book. Gale, who was celebrated as a hero for rescuing many people before District 12 was destroyed, was eager to join the fight but still stood in support of a sometimes fragile, traumatized Katniss. A battered Peeta, whose scars from the Capitol’s torture grew worse as the movie went on, was a crushing sight for many fans.

Colleen Dowd, an HHS student in attendance at the Patriot Cinemas 8 pm premiere, has never read the third book of the series but is a “huge fan of the character Finnick.” Devastated that the woman he loves is being held by the Capitol after his escape, Finnick struggles to hold himself together and then delivers a crushing blow to the evil President Snow. (spoiler alert: Mockingjay Part 2 is not going to leave Colleen very happy)

During the highly emotional scenes, it was hard not to hear the intake of breaths from many fans and viewers in the theater. Junior Annika Rowland, a fan of the series and a bibliophile says, “I thought Mockingjay was great, except there was not much action compared to the last two films, in my opinion. I’m looking forward to seeing the second part of Mockingjay.”

Mockingjay followed the recent trend of splitting the final, highly anticipated last film adaptation in a book series into two, such as Harry Potter and Twilight. Viewers are in store for a lot of tears, and a lot of action, when the final installment of the movie premieres next November.