Gofita's Pages

Taft 2012: A Novel By Jason Heller

2012-01-15T22:00:00.001-07:00

William Howard Taft pulls a Rip Van Winkle and wakes up 100 years later just in time for the 2012 presidential election.

I really enjoyed the premise behind this. I learned a lot more about President Taft. It was fun to see our country and century through his early twentieth century eyes. I also would love to truly have a legitimate third party in America. I think it really would balance the political spectrum out more.

The one thing I had a hard time with was the flow of the story. It feels like the author had an idea he felt passionately about and then used the story to further this. Thus the characters felt a bit two-dimensional.

But overall, it was a fun read and had a lot of insight. Yeah to Quirk Books for offering another fun story to the mix.

*I received this book from the publisher.

For more information visit the Taft2012 website.

Best and Worst of 2011

2012-01-02T21:12:00.001-07:00

Happy New Year, everyone! Yeah to the wonderful books of 2011 and on to the wonderful books of 2012! Everyone's gotta do the list, so here are mine.

Here are my top five best reads of the year 2011:

1. Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George. It was one of the first reads of the year and it was enchanting.

2. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly. A wonderful coming-of-age story.

3. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. Perkins just had a way of making France and her characters come alive. Anna was fun and real, and the story was just adorable.

4. Hounded by Kevin Hearne. This was such an amazing surprise! An urban fantasy adventure that made me laugh, cry...maybe not cry, but lots of adventure, action, and humor that you won't want to miss. Go read it. NOW!

5. Looking For Alaska by John Green. This is a modern classic. Heart-breaking, but it asks a lot of questions and doesn't have easy answers.

Top Two worst books...(pretty good year if I only had two!)

1. Across the Universe by Beth Revis. Too much preaching along a semi-decent sci-fi back drop...annoyed.

2. Jane: A Modern-retelling of Jane Eyre by April Lindner. Started off great and then got bogged down by literally transferring every detail of classic story to modern-day. DID NOT work.

Hope everyone enjoys a wonderful year of reading!

A Little Break and Figuring it Out

2011-12-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

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I've been pretty sporadic in my writing this year. I started this blog 2.5 years ago so I could express my love of books and movies. Starting this blog has been a life-changer for me, literally. I want to thank everyone I've met blogging these last couple of years. You are amazing and you have inspired me. I've been able to converse with authors and review their books. I've been able to participate in reading challenges, book giveaways, book tours, write guest posts, review movies, etc. It's been amazing! Thank you all for letting me in to your lives and your world of books.

But right now I'm kind of in a rut and need to take a break. I want to revamp the blog and get it organized and figure out how I want to get it going again.

I may write a post or two like I've been doing but I felt like I wanted to take an official leave of absence for a tiny bit (though I am reviewing a Quirk Book in January...). I hope I'll be back soon rearing to go soon! Thanks for reading my humble little post from time-to-time.

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I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and New Year as well! Oh, and happy reading!

One Line Movie Reviews

2011-10-21T17:02:00.000-06:00

1. The Kids Are All Right (2010): A touching story on how an unorthodox family keeps it together.

Rating: A-

2. Stake Land (2010): Vampire zombies ravage the land...bloody and weird.

Rating: C-

3. The Ledge (2011): Love, philosophy, religion, and tragedy all rolled into one.

Rating: B+

4. Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004): Lots of action, conspiracies, and zombie mayhem!

Rating: B

5. Resident Evil: Extinction (2007): A little cheesier, both in action and dialogue, than the first two.

Rating: C

6. Horrible Bosses (2011): Crazy funny, so much so that my drink sprayed out my nose!

Rating: B

7. MST3K: The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed Up Zombies (1997)(1964 for original movie): The Mystery Science Theater team is the only thing that keeps this one funny and witty!

Rating: (B+ for commentary and F for actual movie)

8. Luther (2010): (BBC TV show) The victim sometimes die, a sociopath can have a heart, and yeah this is a fantastic TV show.

Rating: B+

9. Capitalism: A Love Story (2009): Heart-wrenching stories but it didn't sit well with me since he uses emotion rather than facts and logic to persuade.

Rating: C-

Monday Movie Meme- All About Cars...

2011-10-17T10:38:00.000-06:00

This week’s Monday Movie Meme (hosted by Madlab) invites participants to "give me some that you like where a car is one of the central characters in the film." So let's think of the cars!

1. Christine (1983): A nerdish boy buys a strange car with an evil mind of its own and his nature starts to change to reflect it.

2. Transformers (2007): Shia LeBeouf gets a yellow mustang that can transform into a robot. Bumble Bee was the coolest transformer, well any character, period in that movie.

Zombies Vs. Unicorns by Holly Black & My Life As a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland

2011-09-24T23:33:00.000-06:00

Part of Velvet's September's Zombies Event!

Genre: young adult, zombies, fantasy
FTC Disclosure: borrowed from library
Published: 2010
Pages: 415
Content: zombie violence and unicorn mayhem.

Summary: The best darn humorous zombie and unicorn anthology ever!

Funny. This is an anthology of stories on zombies and unicorns (separate stories). Holly Black is a unicorn fan and Justine Larbalestier is the zombie lover. They both have little dialogues at the beginning of each story describing why respective story beats out the unicorn or the zombie! They're both very witty. The stories are each unique, and some are funny and some are violent. You just never know what you're going to get. One has a unicorn farting rose-smelling farts, one has zombies as everyday Joes.

I loved me some unicorns as a little girl but now that I'm older and "mature," I love me some brainzzzz ;) So go team ZOMBIE!!!!!

Rating: 4 stars

Genre: paranormal, urban fantasy, zombies, mystery
FTC Disclosure: bought from Smith's
Published: 2011
Pages: 310
Content: Lots of zombie brainzzzz and lovin'.

Summary: Surprisingly awesome rendition of zombie lore, humor, and crime fiction!

The cover alone made me wanna get it! It's just awesome. And the story does not disappoint. Angel is a white trash loser. Pain killer addict, lives with her abusive dad, and can't keep a job...til she wakes up in the hospital with a poor memory of how she got there and a desire for brainzzzz. All she gets is a note that says go to the morgue, you've got a job, along with a some bottles of brain goo.

It takes her a bit to figure out she's dead and a zombie but it's fun getting there. It's fun watching her change and get her life together. And she's a zombie!!!! Rowland's zombie world is just awesome. Zombies can be the good guys; they just gotta eat the brains!!! They don't even have to be fresh. Throw in a cute cop romance...and her trying to solve who made her a zombie and why people keep turning up with their heads missing. Only a mystery Angel can solve. Brainzzzzz.

So yes, go pick up this book. Go!!! Eat your brains first, though.

Rating: 4.5 stars

One Line Movie Reviews

2011-09-14T13:51:00.000-06:00

1. Daybreakers (2009): An interesting take on the vampire mythology.

Rating: C+

2. The Wolfman (2010): Decent spin on the classic and a great one to start the Halloween season with!

Rating: C+

3. Hackers (1995): Cheesy, predictable, but fun little movie with a really young Angelina Jolie!

Rating: B-

4. Rango (2011): Surprisingly cute, strange, and loveable!

Rating: A-

5. Limitless (2011): If only everyone could take smart pills, maybe we could really save the world!

Rating: B+

6. Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005): Jolie and Pitt really do have chemistry!

Rating: B+

7. 300 (2006): Visually stunning, bloody with good action, yup, pretty good.

Rating: B-

8. The Conspirator (2010): Fantastic analogy about government and politics today; very insightful.

Rating: A-

9. Snatch (2000): Brad Pitt's unintelligible accent is definitely worth it!

Rating: B-

10. Kick-Ass (2010): Whoa! Way disturbing...

Rating: C-

Semptember Zombies 2011!!!!!

2011-09-06T10:38:00.000-06:00

Velvet of vvb32reads is hosting Semptember Zombies 2011 from Sept 20-30! Come join her and others joining her for lots of zombie horror and goodness. I'll be having my own zombie sightings and reviews on Sept. 25! Click here for schedule and the zombie badge and schedule will be on the right side for future reference! Yeah!

The Iron Druid Chronicles (Hounded, Hexed, Hammered) by Kevin Hearne

2011-08-30T20:56:00.000-06:00

Genre: Urban fantasy
FTC Disclosure: borrowed from library
Published: 2011
Pages: 289
Content: It's got blood, some language, and lovin!
Reason for reading: I saw the cover on Goodreads and knew I had to read it!

I just can't say enough how much I am loving this series. The first three were just released with three more early next year. Atticus is a 2500-year-old butt-kicking, smart, witty, and all around loveable Druid who is being hounded by all sorts of gods and their henchies for a magical sword he took a few hundred or so years ago. He has found a way to bind himself to an iron elemental which makes him really uber powerful when it comes to fighting demons, fey, demi-gods, and gods themselves. He also happens to have an agreement with his goddess the Morrigan, who has agreed to never take his soul...not that it'll stop another reaper from doing it...

Yeah, this is just one hilarious romp. Hearne knows his stuff, both historical and modern. He's up on the pop culture and has a lot to say through these wonderful characters. He combines elements of mythology, science, history, religion, everything into a fascinating world. In this world Thor is a big old meany and all the other gods hate him, Jesus likes beer and has a sense of humor. We also get to meet other lightning gods, Irish gods, Norse gods, Native American spirits and gods. Yup, it's all in here and it all meets together for one amazing and fun time. I can't recommend these books enough. Oh, and he has a wolf hound that he can talk to telepathically who thinks Genghis Khan got a bad rap...!

So yes, pick up these books and fall in love like I did!!!! Go...yes, go!

Rating: 5+ Stars!!!!

Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

2011-08-18T08:00:00.005-06:00

Genre: young adult, paranormal
FTC Disclosure: bought from Walmart
Published: 2011
Pages: 348
Content: Some bloody bits.

Summary: A mysterious island.

An abandoned orphanage.

A strange collection of very curious photographs.

It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

One Line Review: A creative idea for a book with the old, weird pictures.

Ransom Riggs is definitely creative and did a great job with splicing together a story from an old set of photographs.

But that also is somewhat why it's not quite a four star for me. The story seemed a bit contrived at times, which it was since he had to make stuff up to fit the pictures.

Also the ending was...lackluster. I was expecting something pretty big to happen and all we was something like if the Harry Potter series had ended with Harry walking into the forest to face his doom...I hope there's a second book because so much is left unanswered and in the air. If there's not one in the works? Shame on Riggs.

Overall, it was a fun and different read. I loved the crazy old photos and enjoyed his story telling.

Persuasion by Jane Austen

2011-08-12T08:00:00.000-06:00

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Genre: classics, historical, romance
FTC Disclosure: bought from Barnes & Noble
Published: 1817
Pages: 249 (via e-book)
Content: Nothing offensive.

One Line Review: Smart and witty social commentary with a yummy sailor and more annoying family members!

I hate to admit this but Pride and Prejudice is my favorite Jane Austen novel (just because everyone's favorite is P&P and I so want to be different...), but Persuasion is definitely make second favorite!

I just love the story of lost love found again. Wentworth and Anne grow more in love and more as people through their years apart. It's a great love story. This is the second reading and I loved it even more!

I read this as part of the Classics Bribe Reading Challenge by the Quirky Girls!

One Line Movie Reviews

2011-08-08T14:01:00.000-06:00

1. Along Came Polly (2004): Nothing special about this one; it's already forgotten.

Rating: C-

2. The Man in the Moon (1991): Depressing but interesting coming-of-age story starring wee Reese Witherspoon.

Rating: B+

3. I Am Number Four (2011): Interesting story but cheesily implemented.

Rating: C

4. The Adjustment Bureau (2011): Crazy story, wonderfully done with lots of interesting philosophy thrown in.

Rating: B+

5. Source Code (2011): A mind-blowing time travel mystery!

Rating: B+

6. Trainspotting (1996): Disturbing and yet funny look at heroine addiction.

Rating: B-

One Line Movie Reviews

2011-07-27T10:23:00.000-06:00

1. Beastly (2011): Too much "sugar" in this one.

Rating: C-

2. Temple Grandin (2010): Amazing biography of a woman with autism who designed humane slaughter houses.

Rating: A+

3. Sucker Punch (2011): Surreal and dark and simply mind-boggling!

Rating: B+

4. Battle: Los Angeles (2011): Mediocre take on aliens attacking the world again.

Rating: C

5. Red Riding Hood (2011): Twilight's version of Red Riding Hood, but with a bit of passion.

Rating: B-

6. The Village (2004): A few twists and turns along the way but really disturbing in the end.

Rating: B

7. Lincoln Lawyer (2011): Intense, well-acted, and a great get-you-back plot!

Rating: B+

Monday Movie Meme- Summer Lovin'...

2011-07-25T11:20:00.000-06:00

Feature Presentation...

MONDAY MOVIE MEME

hosted by Molly of The Bumbles Blog.

Summer movies...

1. Grease (1978): I watched this classic constantly as a teen over the summer break!

2. Weekend at Bernie's (1989): Also a classic as a teen. How long can they get away with carrying around a dead guy??

3. Raising Arizona (1987): It's a classic anytime but it seems to be more of a summer classic in my house!

4. Seconhand Lions (2003): Just a feel good summer adventure!

Monday Movie Meme- Favorite Film of 2011

2011-07-18T10:13:00.000-06:00

Feature Presentation...

MONDAY MOVIE MEME

hosted by Molly of The Bumbles Blog.

This week pick your favorite film you've seen this year whether it came out this year or not. I don't know if I can just leave it at one...Hmmm.

Favorite movie in theater this year:

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 7.2: This was an amazing end to a great series. I was literally blown away both emotionally and visually.

Favorite non-theater movie(s) seen this year:

1. The King's Speech (2010): Heart-warming, funny, smart. I absolutely loved this story.

2. 127 Hours (2010): Though visually a bit graphic, this story really inspired me. It made me think about survival and the will of the human spirit. Amazing.

Monday Movie Meme- Heat Wave!

2011-07-10T22:30:00.000-06:00

Feature Presentation...

MONDAY MOVIE MEME

hosted by Molly of the Bumbles Blog.

This week is all about movies with lots of summer heat!

1. Sister Act (1992): There isn't a huge heat wave in this one, but it does have scenes in Vegas and they sing the Heat Wave song!

I would do more but just can't think of any! It was a toughie this week!

One Line Movie Reviews

2011-07-01T09:17:00.000-06:00

1. Gulliver's Travels (2010): Silly movie with cheesy effects, fair.

Rating: C

2. The Fighter (2010): Knockout performances by Bale and his mom, and Amy Adams!

Rating: A-

3. The Switch (2010): A surprisingly heart-warming, funny story with great performances.

Rating: A-

4. Blue Valentine (2010): A very well done but very depressing unlove story.

Rating: B+

5. Gnomeo & Juliet (2011): Cute kids show on forgiveness and tolerance, and it ends way happier than the original!

Rating: B+

6. Morning Glory (2010): Another funny and touching show on priorities and friendship.

Rating: B+

7. Inside Job (2010): An excellent documentary on the how, why, and what of the current economic disaster.

Rating: A+

8. The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010): Better than expected but still a bit cheesy.

Rating: B-

9. Brokeback Mountain (2005): Excellent story and performances but wow horribly depressing but made me think.

Rating: B+

10. Sunshine Cleaning (2008): Love Amy Adams; just a great "we are all human" story.

Rating: B+

11. Blazing Saddles (1974): Not as funny as Spaceballs but still pretty good.

Rating: B-

12. Damages: Season One (2007): Intense and ambiguous when it comes to ethics and morality.

Rating: A

13. Mystery Science Theater 3000: Hercules Against the Moon Men (1992): Many awesome quotable quotes from "Princess Bride."

Rating: B

Where I Play Short 'N Sweet Book Review Updates!

2011-06-28T15:48:00.001-06:00

It's been a really busy month so I haven't been keeping up on my book reviews like I want. So I'm just throwing short versions out of all the books I've read this last month or two!

1. Bloodshot by Cherie Priest (read March 19-April 7): Fun story and premise but Raylene (vampire protagonist) was really annoying but no "Angel," which was a nice change. Overall a fun story and I look forward to more in the series. 3.5 stars.

Genre: urban fantasy
FTC Disclosure: library
Published: 2011
Pages: 359
Content: Bloodsucking violence and language!

2. I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak (read April 6-15): Zusak can write, that's for sure. But I didn't enjoy the moral ambiguity in this one. The ending was lackluster for me. I enjoyed The Book Thief more. 2 stars.

Genre: Young adult

FTC Disclosure: library
Published: 2002

Pages: 356

Content: Mild violence, sex, and language.

3. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins (read April 15-22): Fabulous! This one was just pure pleasure and fun. Anna's journey is one to be remembered! 4 stars.

Genre: Young adult

FTC Disclosure: library
Published: 2010
Pages: 372

Content: Language and sexual themes.

4. Where She Went by Gayle Forman (listened from April 21-26): This is the sequel to If I Stay. This was a perfect ending to the story. Forman really knows how to punch out emotion and make you feel like you've been crying all night. Beautiful, just beautiful. 4 stars.

Genre: Young adult

FTC Disclosure: library
Published: 2011

Pages: audiobook on 5 discs
Content: Language.

5. Matched by Ally Condie (read April 27-30): Not my favorite dystopia teen novel. Characters were a bit boring, and I have a good idea how it'll end...but it was an overall decent read. 3 stars.

Genre: Young adult, dystopia
FTC Disclosure: borrowed from friend

Published: 2010
Pages: 366

Content: Implied violence.

6. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathon Safron Foer (read May 11-17). I loved following Oskar on his journey to discover the last vestige of his father after his tragic death in the 9-11 terrorist attack. Beautiful writing, beautiful characters. It's weird and different, and I loved it! 4 stars.

Genre: contemporary fiction
FTC Disclosure: library
Published: 2005

Pages: 326
Content: Language and violence.

Monday Movie Meme- Epic Battle Scenes!

2011-06-27T13:07:00.000-06:00

Feature Presentation...

MONDAY MOVIE MEME

hosted by Molly of The Bumbles Blog.

This week is all about those awesome epic battles!

1. Back to the Future (1985): OK, no big battle scenes here but I love how epic the scene is with Marty's father and Biff, where he finally stands up to Biff and sends him flying! Sorry, but that's just epic in my mind.

2. Braveheart (1995): Awesome, awesome epic battle scene in the end with Mel. It's a classic.

3. The Matrix (1999): The scene where Neo finally realizes what he can do with the Matrix is awesome. Buh-bye Agent Smith.

Monday Movie Meme- Gifts That Keep On Giving...

2011-06-06T10:51:00.000-06:00

Feature Presentation...

MONDAY MOVIE MEME

hosted by Molly of The Bumbles Blog.

This weeks theme is all about movies that involve the giving and getting of gifts....

1. A Walk to Remember (2002): Shane West changes his ways as he falls for the dying preacher's daughter and ends up making her a telescope!

2. Stardust (2007): Young Tristan wants to prove his love for the local snob girl and sets outside the Wall to find her a star...ends up being a gift of coal dust.

3. Return to Me (2000): David Duchovny gives Minnie Driver a new bike with all the trimmings and basket and bell ringer! She even takes the fabulous gift over to Italy.

4. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937): One of the most wicked gifts is the infamous poisoned apple by the wicked witch!

The Winner Is..........................................

2011-06-04T12:10:00.000-06:00

Thanks to everyone who signed up for my giveaway! I really enjoyed the book and hope.................................................................................................................................................................
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Phastings!!!!! enjoys the book!!!!

Thanks again to everyone for participating!

Heather

On Stranger Tides Giveaway Ends Tonight!

2011-06-03T09:52:00.000-06:00

Just a reminder that you have till midnight MST to sign up for my giveaway! Thanks to all who are participating! Good luck to all!

Classics Bribe Summer Challenge!

2011-06-01T06:00:00.000-06:00

Molly from The Bumbles Blog and Quirky Girls Read is hosting The Classics Bribe Challenge and giveaway this summer!

Details: Check out any of these links for more details!

Summer Reading Classics Challenge & Giveaway:

Read at least 1 Classic over the summer – between June 1st and the end of Labor Day Weekend, September 5th

You can have begun the Classic prior to June 1st, but it needs to have been completed between the challenge dates above

Post a review on your blog of each Classic that you read during the challenge period and reference a link to this The Classic Bribe challenge page

Link to each of your reviews separately by clicking on Mr. Linky below

Each linked review counts as 1 entry – no entry limit per blogger – read and review as many as you like

Each entry builds up $1 toward an Amazon gift card – the more entries the higher the balance can grow – capped at $35

Random winner selected Labor Day weekend from all entries- no restrictions on region

Winner receives the full Amazon gift card balance accumulated based on entries received

I have a huge shelf full of TBR classics, including a shelf on my Nook! The Portrait of Dorian Gray, Persuasion, and Middlemarch have been on my mind lately....so these are my top three this summer! Join the challenge and join the fun!

On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers and Giveaway! CLOSED!

2011-05-31T06:00:00.006-06:00

As part of vvb32 reads's ...and a bottle o'rum-Pirates all May, I be reviewing On Stranger Tides and be givin' away a brand new book as part of me bootie!

Genre: adventure, piratey
FTC Disclosure: bought from Amazon.com
Published: 1987
Pages: 336
Content: zombie and pirate mayhem and a bit o'romancin'....

Ahoy, me hearties. This be a grand adventure fer any pirate! We follow Jack Shandy as he be taken captive aboard the Jenny...he be fightin' the bocors, the zombies, and the dreaded Blackbeard, as well as savin' t'love of his life, Elizabeth. Lots o'rum to be had, swords t'be fought, and zombies t'kill in this harrowing tale of t'Fountain o'Youth and the strange tides that be....

Ratin': 4/5 stars! Ahoy! A pirates life for me!!!!

If this book be o'interest please leave your name, email address and why ye be lovin' t'pirates' life! That be all, me hearties. Ye be havin' til Friday at midnight to enter MST and me wee lil' boy will be drawing randomly from 'is pirate hat! Winners will be notified by email and please be respondin' within 24 hours or I will be forced to choose a new winnah! Arrrr, me be not wantin' to do that. Name, email, why ye be lovin' t'pirates life! Or no entry....

Dead men tell no tales....Arrrr....Enter at yer own risk!!! ;)

CLOSED GIVEAWAY

The Parting Glass...RMT: Pirates! Wrap-up

2011-05-30T08:00:00.002-06:00

Today’s the wrap day for Random Magic Tour: Pirates!.
 
As one of the mates - ahoy, matey! - sailing with this crew of
buccaneers, would like to say thank you for visiting the blog on May 25 for

my review and how to dress like a pirate post, and hope you also

enjoyed some of the other great blogs on the tour.

I'm also reviewing On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers for Velvet over

at vvb32 reads and am hosting a giveaway for the book tomorrow. So come

back for a chance to win!

Thanks for stopping by and hope you enjoyed the tour!


  
For the wrap day of the tour, we’re just going to raise a final pint
o’ grog to say thanks for the good company and may your days be filled
with smooth seas ahead, good grub, solid comrades, romance and
adventure. Yaaaargh.
 
As this particular traditional toasting song goes, good night and joy
be to you all!

PSSSSSSSS......

Message in a Bottle: visit Liana's Paper Doll Blog today to see the Pirate

Queen Sasha and read more about her at

Moonlight Gleam's Bookshelf!!!!!!

How to Dress Like a Pirate and The Sea Hawk

2011-05-25T13:00:00.008-06:00

Random Magic Schedule

Reading about Captain Jack, the pirate king, was quite a treat! He's definitely what I think of when I think pirate. Here's what he looks like:

"The king of sea thieves was decked out in eye patch, peg leg, curly black hair, and big floppy hat with a floofy ostrich feather, as if he'd stepped out of a coloring book about pirates." (p. 216)

starcostumes.com

Imagine him to look a bit like this:

 Well, maybe a bit fatter and dirtier and maybe with a floofier hat:

funhousetheatrical.com

Dressing like a pirate is fun anytime of the year!!!!

Here's what me hubby and I like to dress as:

 Here's some fun pirate fashion for the ladies!

This is a great one with pants, sexy but not porny

costumesgalore.net

Here's for the wee lasses:

buypiratecostumes.com

Here are some pirate accessories to go with any ensemble:

Skull Bag

Fancy necklace and earrings.

Kiera's sword.

For the buccaneers:

Cartoon getup is sooo in season!

Three classics!

When all else fails go for an awesome pirate bandana, me hearties!

They will never fail you in a pinch.

Drink up me hearties, yo ho!

Random Magic Tour: Pirates!
Bonus: Free audio book: The Sea Hawk

As part of Random Magic Tour: Pirates!, it’d be fun to
swap some great pirate yarns - or just listen to a few great tales
about the sweet trade, the black flag, pirate queens or the Brethren of the Coast.
 
On this blog, you can listen to the audio book The Sea Hawk, by
Rafael Sabatini. Here’s a description of this novel about vengeance,
adventure, and the brethren of the Barbary coast:

From Wikipedia: The Sea Hawk is a novel by Rafael Sabatini, originally
published in 1915. The story is set in the late 16th century, and
concerns a Cornish sea-faring gentleman, Sir Oliver Tressilian, who is
villainously betrayed by a jealous brother. After being forced to
serve as a slave on a Spanish galley, Sir Oliver is liberated by
Barbary pirates. He joins the pirates under the name ‘Sakr-el-Bahr,’
the hawk of the sea, and swears vengeance against his brother.

If you enjoy the stories, you can download a free MP3 version of this
classic book:

Listen to or download audio book (MP3 format)The Sea Hawk by Rafael Sabatini.
Courtesy of LibriVox.

Click here

RMT: Pirates! Special Bonus Feature- Pirate Movie Night!

2011-05-25T09:53:00.001-06:00

Random Magic Tour

 
Pirate Movie Night
 
The world of Random Magic is vivid and painted in bold and brilliant colors,

and the Nine Muses actually paint

with the colors of life, itself.
 
A lot of people have commented that Random Magic unfolds
visually, like a movie, and that it would make a great movie. And Random Magic

Tour: Pirates! is all about pirates.
 
So, the special bonus feature on the tour today is -- pirate movie
night! Grab your popcorn, get comfortable, and pick your drama: Either
a feature film about the return of Long John Silver, that infamous
character who originated in the novel Treasure Island, or a
marathon of the first season of The Buccaneers.
 
The Buccaneers can currently only be viewed in the U.S.,
Canada, and selected other regions, so Return to Treasure
Island is provided for international viewers, so that everyone has
a chance to enjoy pirate movie night.
 
Oh, and for a pirate quote from Random Magic? Sure, here’s a quick one:
 
  
Random Magic quote of the piratey persuasion:
 "'Aye! Use yer deadlights, mates,’
yelled Hammer Jack, ‘the captain’s naught but a scurvy tar -- let's
send 'im to Jack Ketch! Take the ship!’
‘Crk!’ said the parrot."
 
And here’s a quick run of pre-feature trailers! A book trailer for
Random Magic and a short, pirate and odd international film --
that’s for the people who love indie, quirky, international and art
films, Random Magic author Sasha Soren enjoys unusual, cool projects.
 
COMING ATTRACTIONS
 
Random Magic video short

Shown above: Book trailer, Random Magic
Find Random Magic: Amazon  | Kindle


 
Shown above: Short film, Pirate Girl vs. Evil Toys
The film is in Swedish only, with no subtitles, but you won’t need
subtitles to know what’s going on, as it’s a quirky, stop-motion
action short.
 
MAIN FEATURES

 
Shown above: Start marathon, The Buccaneers (Season One), The
adventures of Captain Dan Tempest (Robert
Shaw).
This episode: Captain Woodes Rogers arrives with an official pardon,
from King George, for all pirates. Most of the pirates accept the
King’s offer, but Blackbeard and his gang resist, make a getaway, and
scheme to have Rogers’ own ship attack the island.
All episodes
Viewing license and info: Rightsholder approval, includes advertising,
free, available to viewers in selected regions. Recommendation:
Viewers in U.S., Canada, U.K., some other regions.
 
 
Shown above: Feature film, Return to Treasure Island
About: Captain Long John Silver heads back to Treasure Island to see
if he can dig up a buried treasure.
Viewing license and info: Public domain film, available to viewers in
most regions. Recommendation: International viewers.
Get an audio book version of Treasure Island: Listen or
download.
 
For international fans of animation, a second feature has also been
provided below:
 
 
Shown above: Series episode, Yolanda, Daughter of the Black Corsair
About: Spanish cartoon series dubbed into English. Based on the
adventure novels, originally in Italian, by Emilio Salgari.
Viewing license and info: Rightsholder approval (BRB), free, advertising.

Recommendation:
International viewers. You might also enjoy reading about more pirate
queens during the RMT tour!
 
Finally, for people who enjoy some of the cool indie show selections
on YouTube, here’s a video discussion about pirates, from this very
tour!
 
 
Shown above: Documentary or YouTube reality series - Book Lover-BookChicks

discusses real-life pirates.
Viewing license and info: Rightsholder approval, YouTube show, host is
LexieVamp666, pirates episode
specifically for Random Magic Tour: Pirates!
 
If you’d like to find more cool piratey things, feel free to join us
on the tour, there’s a lot going on --
features about pirate grub, gear and eats, music and games, a great
art series, an interesting series on pirate queens, lots of prizes and
a fun treasure hunt.
 
Set sail with us! Browse the tour schedule.
 
Here's another interesting tour feature you might also enjoy: Find
some pirate plunder, with Little Pirate Prizes, these aren't marked on
the schedule and they're not part of the hunt, but they’re out there
for visitors to find and they could be ANYWHERE! Find some Little
Pirate Prizes.


 
Have fun and good luck!

Random Magic by Sasha Soren

2011-05-25T06:00:00.016-06:00

Genre: fantasy, humor
FTC Disclosure: received from author for review
Published: 2010
Pages: 397
Content: Nothing to get antsy about

This was definitely a different book. It was really quirky and zany and kind of tough to understand what was going on with whom and why and how even. A few parts got more serious and were easier to understand and then it got zany again and back to bewilderment. She has a lot of mythical and literary references that just went completely over my head. I'm sure over half the book went over my head in that case. I'd like to read it again one day and take the time to look this stuff up!

But I loved Winnie. She's the best thing about the whole book. She's strong, smart, funny, zany, sassy, etc. A great heroine. I love strong female characters. Henry? Henry who? Yeah, I don't really have much to say about him since he wasn't a strong presence in the book. He didn't really have any qualities I remember...Plus the one time he's alone and not with Winnie the book goes all serious and hits us over the head with morality and right and wrong. I'm not sure if the author was doing that on purpose or not...the book is crazy, whacky fun...so it could be.

This book definitely isn't for everyone. I liked it but I just didn't understand a lot of it and that made it hard to get through. I liked what she was trying to do, though and I'm sure there are some really smart people out there who get most of it and makes it amazing.

I received the book courtesy of the author and this in no way affected my review.

Rating: 3.5/5

Join me later today for my piece on how to dress like a pirate!

Thanks for dropping by, hope you enjoyed your visit here! Here's another
interesting tour feature for the Random Magic Tour that you might also enjoy.

 
The main Rum + Plunder treasure hunt is open internationally!
Here’s a fun way to win something piratey and cool:
Browse prizes at vvb32 reads or join the hunt… (click coin for more info).

Click here

Bonus: Find even more pirate plunder, with Little Pirate Prizes,
these aren't marked on the schedule and they're not part of the hunt,
but they're out there for visitors to find, so have fun finding some
cute pirate things. Follow the tour schedule!
 
Have fun and good luck!

One Line Movie Reviews

2011-05-17T08:00:00.003-06:00

1. Due Date (2010): Aye, this be yer typical bosom buddy comedy an' nothin' special, arrrr.

Rating: C

2. The King's Speech (2010): Shiver me timbers, this be an excellent, touchin' story on that nefarious head o' state King George VI overcomin' his demons.

Rating: A+

3. The Tourist (2010): Be that Cap'n Jack...er, is Johnny Depp just a normal math teacher from the States?

Rating: B-

4. How Do You Know (2010): There be too many issues...gender roles, feminism, love/relationships, which turned this into some vile smellin' swill.

Rating: C+

5. Fair Game (2010): This be a sea worthy docudrama on why de Bush President invaded Iraq.

Rating: A+

6. Tron: Legacy (2010): Weird and confusing continuation of the original Tron.

Rating: C

Monday Movie Meme- Farming Movies

2011-05-16T12:15:00.000-06:00

Feature Presentation...

MONDAY MOVIE MEME

hosted by Molly of The Bumbles Blog.

1. Charlotte's Web (2006): Charlotte is the spider on the farm trying to save her dear pig!

2. Babe (1995): Another farm pig, Babe, helps out on the farm. He's some pig.

3. Shane (1953): Shane tries to make himself at home with a local family on their homestead/ranch. Lots of farming and then fighting!

4. City Slickers (1991): Billy Crystal and friends take a ranching trip together and learn how to steer cattle and live their lives.

Like Water For Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

2011-05-15T12:51:00.000-06:00

Genre: tall tale, fantasy, magical realism
FTC Disclosure: bought from a second-hand store
Published: 1989
Pages: 256
Content: language, sex

Amazon.com summary: Each chapter of screenwriter Esquivel's utterly charming interpretation of life in turn-of-the-century Mexico begins with a recipe--not surprisingly, since so much of the action of this exquisite first novel (a bestseller in Mexico) centers around the kitchen, the heart and soul of a traditional Mexican family. The youngest daughter of a well-born rancher, Tita has always known her destiny: to remain single and care for her aging mother. When she falls in love, her mother quickly scotches the liaison and tyrannically dictates that Tita's sister Rosaura must marry the luckless suitor, Pedro, in her place. But Tita has one weapon left--her cooking. Esquivel mischievously appropriates the techniques of magical realism to make Tita's contact with food sensual, instinctual and often explosive. Forced to make the cake for her sister's wedding, Tita pours her emotions into the task; each guest who samples a piece bursts into tears. Esquivel does a splendid job of describing the frustration, love and hope expressed through the most domestic and feminine of arts, family cooking, suggesting by implication the limited options available to Mexican women of this period. Tita's unrequited love for Pedro survives the Mexican Revolution the births of Rosaura and Pedro's children, even a proposal of marriage from an eligible doctor. In a poignant conclusion, Tita manages to break the bonds of tradition, if not for herself, then for future generations.

Wow. This is quite the different book. My first book with magical realism was Garden Spells. So I'm not sure how other books in the genre are...but this one was a far cry from realism! I would say this is more of a myth/tall-tale. While interesting, it just wasn't my book. Glad I read it but it was just a bit too bizarre for me. I went into it expecting a little more realism. Though, the movie now interests me. I wonder how they went about making this one...

The story does have a theme of love conquers all (even an overbearing abusive dead mother)!

Rating: 2.5/5 stars

2011-05-10T17:23:00.000-06:00

RMT: Pirates!
 
Random Magic Tour: Pirates!
May 10-30, 2011
About: Random Magic
Tour organization: Lyrika Publicis
Triton Tavern proprietress and guest relations: vvb32reads

Contact the tour: @RandomMagicTour

Random Magic Tour Schedule.

Rum + Plunder Treasure Hunt (May 11-30)
Win some marrrrrvelous plunder!
Browse prizes
and
Bonus: Little Pirate Prizes
Cool surprise treasures scattered throughout the tour…

Arrr! It be de beginnins' of some Pirate Talk, Reviews n'Fun, Arrrr!

2011-05-06T14:39:00.000-06:00

I be joinin' the blog tour of Random Magic by Sasha Soren on May 25th with a reviews and giveaways and some classy pirate dressin' how-tos! I also be tryin' me reviews n'other stuff throughout the month in dis here pirate talk (we'll see how it goes...). Check out the RMT: Pirates! link for tour updates and schedule! Also check out Velvet over at vvb32 reads; she has awesome pirate stuff going on all month long!

Monday Movie Meme- Upward! Ho!

2011-05-02T10:42:00.000-06:00

Feature Presentation...

MONDAY MOVIE MEME

hosted by Molly of the Bumbles Blog.

This week is all about taking to the air!

1. The Rocketeer (1991): Billy Campbell takes to the sky with a rocket pack to fight the evil commies!

2. The Kite Runner (2007): Is a metaphor to rise above our troubles and learn how to forgive. A tragic but important story.

3. October Sky (1999): About a boy's love of space and science and how he eventually became a rocket scientist.

4. Hot Shots! (1991): I thought I'd go with the spoof of Top Gun rather than Top Gun!

Monday Movie Meme- Memorable Facial Hair

2011-04-25T17:38:00.001-06:00

Feature Presentation...

MONDAY MOVIE MEME

Hosted by Molly of The Bumbles Blog!

1. Roger Rabbit from Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988): He's a rabbit so he's got facial hair! Just loved the movie.

2. Michael Gross and Fred Ward in Tremors (1990): The funniest horror movie ever!

yaboon.com

Movieactors.com

3. Tom Hanks in Cast Away (2000): I think Tom sports the beard well!

4. Will Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness (2006): A good look for him...but I do like him clean-shaven. But the movie was amazing.

5. Jeremy Northam in An Ideal Husband (1999): He's yummy and this is one of my favorites!

Fanpix.net

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

2011-04-15T12:59:00.002-06:00

goodreads.com

Genre: young adult, fantasy, supernatural
FTC Disclosure: bought from Amazon.com
Published: 2009
Pages: 563
Content: mild language and violence.

Garcia and Stohl really opened up a new world with this series. I've been looking for a fun series to really sink my teeth into and this one is it. It's not the greatest but it's fun and different and has a rich storyline.

The story is told from Ethan's point of view...a boy's voice. Definitely different but I honestly didn't notice so his voice as a boy wasn't really distinct! Anyway, he lives in a small Southern town called Gatlin where everybody knows everyone and outsiders are just not welcome. That's where Lena comes in. She's the niece of the local crazy "Boo Radley." He's a recluse and the town hates him and thus hate her. But Ethan can't get her out of his mind because she's the girl he's been dreaming about for the past year and 2, she literally is in his head...telepathically. Strange things happen when she's around and Ethan eventually realizes that she is a Caster/witch.

This was just a fun story. I enjoyed their budding relationship. I enjoyed the mythology of the Caster world. I liked that there weren't any love triangles. Those really bug me right now and neither was a "bad boy" who treated the one they love like sh**. So it had all those things going for it.

Some of the bad things...sometimes the story dragged on a bit too long. Also, the essence of the story is like every other paranormal teen novel. We have one person who's some kind of supernatural being who loves a mortal human and somehow they can't be together...sigh.

But overall, a fun story and looking forward to the next in the series.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Other Covers:


Bulgarian


Catalan


Dutch and Flemish


French


German


Serbian

Quite a few covers for this one. I had no idea! I really like the Serbian cover and the German cover. They give it a more personal feel. The French one, I don't get. That pic doesn't really have anything to do with the story. The Dutch/Flemish version feels like a throwback to the 70s...just does, don't know why! The Catalan cover is more like the American version but more bland. The Bulgarian one is mysterious. I like that one too. But my faves are the Serbian and German covers. What about you?

All cover pics were taken from goodreads.com.

One Line Movie Reviews

2011-04-13T08:00:00.000-06:00

1. 127 Hours (2010): Beautiful story of never giving up and living life to the fullest!

Rating: A

2. Trekkies (1997): Documentary on those who love Star Trek so much they even make their dental assistants wear uniforms!

Rating: B

3. Tangled (2010): Wonderful story on being true to who you are and learning to think for yourself!

Rating: A

4. Monsters Vs. Aliens (2009): This is one funny and creative movie!

Rating: A-

Room by Emma Donoghue

2011-04-06T22:24:00.000-06:00

Genre: contemporary fiction, kidnapping, abuse
FTC Disclosure: bought from Barnes and Noble
Published: 2010
Pages: 210
Content: abuse theme, psychological trauma

There may be a spoiler or two in here! Sorry!

I went through a lot of emotions with this book, and I think that makes for a great book in the end. The whole story is told through the eyes of Jack, a five-year-old boy. His whole world is contained within a tiny room with only his mother for company. We soon learn that she was kidnapped at age 19 and has been held captive for seven years in this tiny room...after two years she had Jack.

The book goes through so many themes/ideas. One that struck me was this woman's relationship with her son Jack. She worked really hard to make his life as normal as possible given the circumstances...I kept thinking what I would have done in a situation like that. She said that Jack was her miracle. I think it was her way of being able to hold on and keep her own sanity. But that also got me thinking about what that really means...she had Jack for purely selfish reasons...and it shows after they escape and start to integrate into the real world. But that's what makes this book so intriguing. There are just so many emotions that run. I have no idea what I would really do in a situation like that, but I can tell you what I'd think I do. And isn't that what we always do when we here about other people's experiences and situations?

One thing I didn't like was the perspective of Jack. The storytelling was distracting from his point of view even though it also made it different. There were some inconsistencies as well in his dialogue...like he'd know a word at one time and then not know it later on. It was kind of weird. Also a few plot holes, too.

I thought the last half of the book really picked up after they try and reintegrate. We see how Jack's mother completely loses it after having kept it together soley for her son during their captivity. I liked how Jack was able to slowly start opening up to his other family aka grandparents, uncle, aunt, cousin. I'll admit, though, it was brutal to see how Jack's mother treats him after their escape. That's where the selfish part of her comes in. Since the book was written from Jack's perspective, he is the one character I truly care about. So I found myself really getting angry with his mother when she starts shutting down and not paying attention to him for a bit...but then I would think about what she went through...yeah, it's understandable.

Whew. Basically, this book made me think. I got really mad at times and then wondered why I was mad. I had to think from so many different perspectives...mine, mother, Jack, his grandparents. It's a journey that tears you down and then builds you back up.

Monday Movie Meme- Women Behind Bars

2011-04-04T10:23:00.000-06:00

Feature Presentation...

MONDAY MOVIE MEME

hosted by Molly of The Bumbles Blog.

This week is all about women and the prison system, or being held captive.

1. Chicken Run (2000): OK, the chicken aren't technically women...but they are female and they are working hard at trying to fly the coup!

2. Women's Prison (2002): Documentary on women in prison in Iran.

One Line Movie Reviews

2011-03-30T08:00:00.002-06:00

1. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2009): Lisbeth is one kick-butt, tragic heroine.

Rating: A

2. The Girl Who Played With Fire (2009): Lisbeth seeks revenge and learns more about the great conspiracy.

Rating: A

3. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2009): Her friend Mikael helps Lisbeth, who's on trial for murder, discover who the bad guys really are and bring them to justice!

Rating: A

4. Angela's Ashes (1999): Frank McCourt's tragic but inspiring childhood during the Depression, poor, and in Ireland.

Rating: B+

5. Life As We Know It (2010): Heart-wrenching romantic-comedy that made me cry while I knew the final outcome from the previews!

Rating: B+

6. 3:10 to Yuma (2007): Brilliant western with superb acting from Christian Bale and Russell Crowe.

Rating: B+

7. How to Train Your Dragon (2010): Loveable dragons, bad parenting, and action make this a fabulous movie!

Rating: A

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

2011-03-29T16:09:00.000-06:00

Genre: memoir
FTC Disclosure: bought from Dragons and Fairytales
Published: 2006
Pages: 288
Content: Violence and language

Summary: Jeannette Walls puts all her childhood memories into a book and explores the good and the bad of growing up with crazy, crazy-smart, and crazy-negligent parents.

Review: Jeannette describes her crazy, poverty-stricken childhood. Her parents were definitely off their rockers and were pretty much horrible parents. Her mother hardly seemed to care whether they were there or not and pretty much left them to raise themselves. Her father was overly paranoid, an alcoholic, and put his kids in a lot of dangerous situations.

She starts off when she was three and was making herself a hotdog over the stove and her dress caught on fire and she received third degree burns. She writes from an unemotional distance. It's like she was separating herself from the traumatic events of her childhood. I thought this was a little off-putting and one in which I couldn't quite connect with her or her family. She does put a few quotes in or lessons she learned after the crazy stuff but not much...in the end it just was done. I expect a memoir to be a bit on the uplifting side and this one just didn't pack the emotional oomph I was looking for.

The kids turned out OK, but I'm not sure what she was trying to tell us about her story. "Look how crazy my family was and how I turned out???" Maybe she just wanted it told and that was that. I don't know, maybe I was expecting too much from this one.

But overall, it was a fascinating and yet horrible story. It was like a train wreck...you just couldn't look away.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Other covers:

I like the car jumper! It definitely pops the story for me.

Monday Movie Meme- Madness!

2011-03-28T10:29:00.000-06:00

Feature Presentation...

MONDAY MOVIE MEME

hosted by Molly of The Bumbles Blog.

This week is all about movies with mad, insane, psychotic, whichever characters and/or movies!

1. Rebecca (1940): Rebecca and her maid Mrs. Danvers all insane and very creepy!

2. The Shining (1980): Jack Nicholson knows how to make any character he plays extra creepy and that is not exception in this one...where he tries to kill his whole family.

3. The Dark Knight (2008): Heath Ledger played the Joker brilliantly mad!

4. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003): Gollum, Saruman, Sauron, even Bilbo and eventually Frodo all are and go a bit crazy from the ring in these!

Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch

2011-03-27T08:00:00.005-06:00

Genre: Science fiction, romance
FTC Disclosure: borrowed from library
Published: 2010
Pages: 389
Content: Sex, violence, language.

Yeah, it's all about Kitty Kat. She's the one perfect woman on Earth and every straight man, whether alien, parasite, or human wants her...

This was a very silly book. Kitty happens to take out Superbing aka human-infested parasite while coming out of jury duty. She's quick on her feet and says a lot of sarcastic and snappy things, oh and she's beautiful. So the Men in Black/Armani pick her up and take her to their secret headquarters and recruit her in their battle to save Earth from the evil parasites that turn into Superbeings when they take on human/mammalian hosts. So yea, lots of silly fun stuff going on here...like all of the aliens are from Alpha Centauri and are just humans but a million times better...better looking, faster, stronger, etc.

Make a long story short...it's silly and it's fun. It's got lots of action and witty and not-witty dialogue. But I could never buy the actual story. It wasn't coherent enough for me. There were so many plot holes and inconsistencies with Kitty that I had a hard time really loving this one. I'm not sure if the author was trying to literally say Kitty was the perfect woman or not. But having her pretty much solve everything and do everything that many aliens and humans couldn't over so many years was just something I wasn't buying.

There were a few other things I didn't like about Kitty/the book or I should say the author...she made Kitty out to be not overly religious and yet super religious. Her parents brought her up a freethinker and yet her daddy treats her like her virginity is the most precious commodity she has ever had. She believes in God, she doesn't know, then all the bad people in the book don't believe in God...sigh. She has lots of great sex but feels horrible about it. She calls herself a slut and other horrible things. She talks about the double standard of men and women regarding this issue and yet still believes it. Ugh! I don't get it, Gini Koch! Just because some people may not believe in God doesn't make them evil parasitic Superbeings and just because people have a healthy sexuality doesn't make them sluts!!! For crying out loud!

This book reminds me of those blockbuster action movies. Lots of action and witty dialogue but no real substance or storyline to speak of. Get your thrills and move on.

Rating: 2.5/5 stars

Wish by Alexandra Bullen

2011-03-26T11:26:00.000-06:00

Genre: young adult, fantasy
FTC Disclosure: Nookbook from Barnes and Noble
Published: 2010
Pages: 256
Content: Nothing offensive.

I really liked this one. It was different and that is definitely good in the inundated market that is YA fiction.

Olivia has just moved to San Francisco with her parents after the death of her twin sister Violet. She's devastated and is trying to find a way to fit in at her new school and deal with her sister being gone. The author takes us back a bit so we get to know Violet...as the exact opposite of Olivia. Violet was outgoing and fun, she had all the friends and the great fashion sense.

Olivia eventually finds Violet's last dress she bought and decides to wear that for her mom's party, only it has a rip and needs to be mended. This takes her to Posey's shop. She's the modern-day fairy godmother! Olivia gets three dresses to make three wishes with.

Mayhem ensues when she wishes her sister back...as a ghost along with the other two wishes.

I enjoyed the sisters' interaction, how Violet tried to help Olivia get friends and the new boyfriend. It was a cute story about moving on and learning to live.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Other Covers:


German version

Polish version

Paperback English version

So which one do you like best? I like the overall design of the Polish cover but the model looks like she has a baby bump starting and she looks really annoyed with those rolling eyes! The German version is simple and pretty. I also like the paperback version with a closeup and the disappearing sparkles for her dress.

My pick would be the German cover! But all are pretty in their own way.

One Line Movie Reviews

2011-03-23T11:41:00.000-06:00

1. Buried (2010): I also felt trapped in the coffin.

Rating: B+

2. You Again (2010): Silly but cute romantic comedy with Betty White and Kristen Bell.

Rating B-

3. The Next Three Days (2010): Different kind of thriller and ended differently than expected.

Rating: B+

4. The Social Network (2010): Interesting look at Facebook's creation but a bit boring.

Rating: C+

5. Never Let Me Go (2010): Excellent acting but super depressing, and it made me think.

Rating: B

6. The Other Guys (2010): Dumber than expected.

Rating: C-

7. The Expendables (2010): Meh.

Rating: D+

8. Idiocracy (2006): This could really be our future...

Rating: C

9. Memento (2000): Excellent mystery and look at memory.

Rating: B+

10. Salt (2010): Felt like I was watching anti-Russian and communist propaganda the whole time.

Rating: D-

11. The A-Team (2010): Fun and now I want to watch the original series.

Rating: B

12. Knight and Day (2010): Tom Cruise continues to creep me out but it was still a fun movie.

Rating: B-

13. Easy A (2010): I loved this one unexpectedly.

Rating: A-

14. Killers (2010): Surprising performance by Ashton Kutcher.

Rating: A-

Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken

2011-03-22T15:00:00.000-06:00

Genre: Young adult, fantasy
FTC Disclosure: library
Published: 2010
Pages: 354
Content: Mild violence.

I was expecting a lot more from this one...

Sydelle lives on the outskirts of her kingdom which is all but forgotten by her king...until the wizard North shows up to change everything. Her kingdom is going to war with another one and she and North must make it to negotiations with important information.

But North wants her for a reason...she's really great at weaving and can even patch up his wizarding cloaks without breaking their magic. Weird things seem to happen whenever she is sad or angry...another wizard is following her and North. North himself is moody and is holding secrets.

This all sounds great and it could've been. It really fell flat for me. Some of the scenes were confusing. I didn't know where people were and what actually was happening until after the fact. I also didn't get their attraction. After North is unconscious a friend of his tells her that she should love him since he hasn't had a lot of it in his life...so she does! Oh, poor North, even though he's a big jerk and treats me like I'm 2 and yet calls me Darling for no apparent reasons, I guess I'll like him, no love him. Yeah, I didn't buy it.

Also, the world of Brightly Woven wasn't described very well. It makes me wonder if she's planning more books in the future. But the world and its magic and the characters in it just didn't have any meat.

I'm being generous with the 3 stars since the story was different and I do enjoy fantasy and there wasn't a love triangle...so bonus.

I wish she had decided on an adult fantasy so she could have fleshed out the characters and turned it into a trilogy with details and character development, then it could've been something.

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Image Source: Goodreads

German cover:

I really like the U.S. cover the best. The German one doesn't have the fantasy feel to it that goes along with the story. Which one do you like best?

Forgotten English- Englottogaster

2011-03-22T08:00:00.002-06:00

Englottogaster: One who speaks from his belly; a ventriloquist.
___William Turton's Medical Glossary, 1802

Early Ventriloquism

About the yeare of our Lord, 1554, a wenche who came form Glocester named Elizabeth Croft, about the age of eighteene yeares, stoode uppon a Scaffolde at Poules Cross all the sermon tyme, where shee confessed, that she being moved by dyvers lewde persons thereutno hadde upon the fourteenth of Marche laste, before passed coutnerfaited certayne speaches in an house without Aldersgate of London, throughe the whyche the pople of the whole city were wonderfully molested, for that all men mighte heare the voice but not see hir person. Some saide it was an Angell, some saide a voyce from heave, and some the Holie Ghost. Thys was called the Spirite in the Wall...The penance being ended and the people satisfied, the officers of the Courte tooke the woman and shut hir for a tyme in the prison, but after did shee returne to her owne countrie, and was noe more hearde of.

---Adin William's Lays and Legends of Gloucestershire, 1878

Source: Jeffrey Kacirk's Forgotten English calendar for Monday March 14, 2011

Image Source: See Mike Draw.

Monday Movie Meme- Food!

2011-03-21T12:36:00.000-06:00

Feature Presentation...

MONDAY MOVIE MEME

hosted by Molly of The Bumbles Blog.

This week is all about movies with some memorable food scenes!

1. Enchanted (2007): The pizza scene with the chipmunk and Nathaniel was hilarious!

Image Source
2. Whip It (2009): This has an awesome roller derby ladies' food fight!

Image Source
3. The Great Race (1965): Pie scene! Lots and lots of pies!

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4. Hot Shots! (1991): Can you ever eat bacon and green olives the same again?

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Prom and Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg

2011-03-20T11:01:00.000-06:00

Genre: young adult, romance, Austen-inspired
FTC Disclosure: borrowed from library.
Published: 2011
Pages: 231
Content: Nothing offensive.

This is a super fast, light, and fun read. I breezed through it in a couple of hours.

Pros: It was short and sweet.
Cons: It was short. It could have used a bit more, not much, just a tiny bit more with character development and story. The relationship between Lizzie and Darcy felt a bit forced. The language was also a bit cheesy. But it's not supposed to be a masterpiece. I think if someone hasn't read Pride and Prejudice before this would be a fun way to get them introduced and onto the real thing.

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Image Source: Goodreads

Monday Movie Meme: Bookish Movies

2011-03-14T09:50:00.000-06:00

Feature Presentation...

MONDAY MOVIE MEME

hosted by Molly of The Bumbles Blog.

This week is all about those movies with books and bookish themes...so not necessarily book-to-movie adaptations.

The Jane Austen Book Club (2007): While this is a book too, the movie is all about Jane Austen's books and how they affect this little book club that reads them.

Beauty and the Beast (1991): Belle is a total bookworm! Her nose is always stuck in a book!

Dan In Real Life (2007): Dan meets the woman of his dreams in the local book store and ends up giving her a million suggestions to read. The woman ends up buying all of them!

Stranger Than Fiction (2006): Will Farrell becomes the main character in Emma Thompson's latest book...where she always kills them in the end. Can he convince her he's real and that he doesn't want to die?

Things i LOVE

2011-03-11T21:15:00.000-07:00

St. James Park, London

Image Source

Parks, especially with the weather warming up and my son can go play outside!

My local library.

My NookColor.

Free eBooks like She Walks in Beauty and Darcy's Voyage.

Movie trailer for the new Jane Eyre movie. (Can't wait to see it!!!)

Celebrating my husband's birthday at Wing Nutz.

Cuddling with my little boy before bedtime.

Monday Movie Meme- Weighty Movies

2011-03-07T09:33:00.000-07:00

Feature Presentation...

MONDAY MOVIE MEME

hosted by Molly of The Bumbles Blog.

This week features movies whose characters who want to lose or need to gain extra pounds.

1. Tommy Boy (1995): Tommy is not the brightest bulb in the tanning booth but he sure is the sweetest. Many fat jokes are thrown his way and he even manages to break a bench he's sitting on. But he ends up saving the day!

2. Hairspray (2007): Tracy is a chubby but happy and bubbly teenager in Baltimore in the 60s. She doesn't let her weight get in the way of her dreams to dance and change the world! Go, Tracy!

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

2011-03-03T12:48:00.000-07:00

*My copy

Genre: Modern classic, Jane Eyre-inspired, mystery
FTC Disclosure: bought second-hand.
Published: 1938
Pages: 380
Content: PG for mild violence. Nothing really offensive.

Mrs. de Winter lives in the shadow of the former Mrs. de Winter, Rebecca. She thinks everyone loved her more, especially her new husband Maxim. But she soon learns that all is not what it seems, especially Rebecca and her housekeeper Mrs. Danvers.

Pros: The mystery was excellent. Who was Rebecca? What really happened to her? Mrs. Danvers? Yup, it was good. I definitely saw the Jane Eyre influences throughout the book, which was also fun. Du Maurier really had a way of describing the setting. I could see the big house they live in, the garden and ocean, etc.

The main thing I enjoyed was her moral ambiguity at the end...SPOILER ALERT....................................................................................................................................................................

Maxim is not a very likable guy either. He's mean and brutish and moody and demanding but he seems like a decent enough person....and then you find out he really did kill his wife. I kept thinking it would be some sort of accidental death by him or Rebecca was so devious she convinced him that he had done it when she really had just killed herself...but, nope, he did it and he wasn't really sorry about it. In order to avoid the awful controversy of divorce with his sociopathic wife, he'd rather just kill her instead. Granted, it wasn't premeditated murder but he still brought the gun and shot her dead. So I was left to ponder some things. Was what he did really justified? No. He should definitely have gone to prison for what he did. But you kind of feel for him and his new wife and they painted such a horrible picture of Rebecca so you don't feel too bad she died....but still. Anyway, good stuff.

END SPOILER ALERT!

The ending was just kind of left in the air...what happened? She never wrote a sequel...sigh. Good stuff.

Cons: I just had a hard time caring about our protagonist Mrs. de Winter...she was just so timid and shy and didn't seem to have much of a backbone. She was always whining about trying to please her husband all the time...would he like this, is he mad about this, etc. I understand why she was like this...but this didn't make her sympathetic. Maxim wasn't likable, either. I kept thinking he was kind of a pedophile, I mean, he kept referring to her as a child and treating her as one...petting her head, making her feel stupid, etc. She was half his age, but still....kind of creepy.

But overall, a great classic mystery! And is definitely worth a read!

Rating: 4 stars

Other Covers:


+

I wish I had gotten my hands on one of these editions! I really like them both but the blue R-ed one really stands out to me.

*Image Source from Yet Another Wordpress Blog.
+Image Source from Book Stains.
=Image Source from The Bookish Type.

Black Swan

2011-02-21T22:37:00.000-07:00

Whoa! This movie was intense. It's one of the best I've seen in a really long time and it's a movie I never ever want to see again. Natalie Portman is just amazing in this one. I worried about her after her lackluster performance in the prequels of Star Wars...(OK, I can't really blame just her...). She wholeheartedly deserves her Oscar nomination. I have plans on seeing the other nominees soon so I can't quite judge the other ladies. It's just an amazing movie. This movie is movie art. This is part of what movie making is all about. Pure awesomeness.

image source: OnlineMovieHut.com

Monday Movie Meme- Should Be Sequels

2011-02-21T10:05:00.000-07:00

Feature Presentation...

MONDAY MOVIE MEME

Hosted by Molly at The Bumbles Blog. Above picture also taken from The Bumbles Blog.

This week is all about movies that should have sequels but don't. We want to know who and what and where and why and they, Hollywood, has just not given that to us yet...

1. Pirates of the Caribbean 3 2007...yes, the 4th one is out this May but we don't have any of our faves in it besides Captain Jack...no Will Turner as Davy Jones or Elizabeth Swan...I didn't like the ending of the third and I want a new sequel!!!

2. X-Men 3 2006- I want more of all of them. I love Wolverine but I just want more of the whole gang. Bring back Cyclops as some sort of energy being...something!

3. Independence Day 2006- I'd love to see if they achieved world peace or if the aliens came back for more. It would've been a cheesy sequel! But I'm a sucker for those!

4. Star Wars Prequels 1999-2005- Yes, they've been done but can we just forget those were made and do them again?T This time without Jar-Jar and Hayden Christensen.

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

2011-02-13T10:38:00.000-07:00

Genre: Young adult, dystopia, sci-fi
FTC Disclosure: borrowed from local library
Published: 2011
Pages: 398
Content: Adult situations, nothing really offensive.

Description from Goodreads.com:

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.
Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.
Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

This looked like a fantastic read, a sci-fi/dystopia, and a beautiful cover!!! I knew it was going to be great....OK, not so much.

Good Things: The story is interesting. I liked the plot of a teen getting unfrozen before her time and coming to grips with a new life and a crazy dystopian regime on a spaceship. Revis could have gone a lot of place with this one.

Bad Things: The sad thing is the story could have been so much better, everything could have been so much better. The main characters Amy and Elder were pretty one-dimensional and I didn't really care much about them. Another thing, Revis kept bringing religion and non-religion into her storyline...like since this is a totalitarian regime they must not believe in God anymore because only nonbelievers are cruel and eat babies or something and think Hitler was the best leader in the world and would white wash world Earth history....sigh. I also didn't like her views on sex and love...Amy kept being ashamed of herself and feeling guilty about stuff. This book really felt like a really weird Sunday school parable lesson.

The story could have been great but the delivery was poor. I'm not planning on picking up the next ones...maybe I'll just cheat and read the last chapters.

Rating: 2/5 stars

Little Bee by Chris Cleave

2011-02-09T13:41:00.000-07:00

Genre: contemporary fiction, social commentary
FTC Disclosure: bought from Target
Published: 2008
Pages: 266
Content: There is some language, violence, and sexual situations.

In a Line: I liked it! I really liked it!

I just really enjoyed how Cleave was able to tell the story by using two completely different women. I loved each woman's perspective. They each had something to learn and something to share.

Little Bee is a refugee from Nigeria fleeing for her life. Sarah is a magazine editor who has just lost her husband. Little Bee seeks out Sarah since she is the only person she knows in England after she leaves the refugee center. Sarah struggles with mourning her husband, raising her son Charlie, and figuring out how to deal with the skeletons in her closet. Little Bee has secrets too...But they both learn how to forgive, to move on, and to love.

Sarah isn't perfect, far from it...but it made her more real, a deeply flawed and human character but one that can rise above it all and live. Little Bee is young and yet so wise beyond her years. She is able to sense what is needed and provide it. The bond that forms is truly remarkable.

The story is horrific and beautiful and I really enjoyed being along for the ride. This is an important story to be told on immigration and refugee centers as well as commentary on how Africa continues to be forgotten. It's a beautiful wake-up and I recommend it for everyone.

Quote: I felt my heart take off lightly like a butterfly and I though, yes, this is it, something has survived in me, something that does not need to run anymore, because it is worth more than all the money in the world and its currency, its true home, is the living. And not just the living in this particular country or in that particular country, but the secret, irresistible heart of the living. I smiled back at Charlie and I knew that the hopes of this whole human world could fit inside one soul.

New Jane Eyre Movie

2011-02-08T09:57:00.001-07:00

It looks like we are to have another movie adaptation of Jane Eyre! I must admit I'm pretty excited. Each adaptation has its own unique take on my favorite classic novel. Well, I haven't seen every single adaptation there is...that would take awhile. Just look on IMDB and you'll see what I mean. But of the ones I have seen, the only one that I didn't like was the 1970 TV version with George C. Scott. I just couldn't buy George as my Mr. Rochester...ick.

The latest film opens March 11! First, here is the movie poster...

What do you think? I like it....though, the only thing I'd say against it is the shadow of Rochester is kind of weird...but overall, I think it establishes the mood of the story.

Now the trailer....

How about the trailer? It makes me really excited to see the film!!! I can't wait. It looks dark and mysterious...granted they probably threw in all the Gothic elements to sell the movie in the trailer... I say that because one of the big points of the book was the triumph of love. Also, Dame Judi Dench is in there! I love her. Focus Pictures also did the last Pride and Prejudice adaptation which is my favorite! So it has all the elements to be an amazing movie and adaptation! Here's to hoping!


Mia Wasikowska as Jane

Michael Fassbender as Mr. Rochester

TV Friday--Bones

2011-02-04T09:31:00.001-07:00

I've been a huge fan of the TV show Bones since it premiered back in 2005 of Fox. It's been an amazing run over the last five seasons. Forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan and FBI agent Seeley Booth have had an awesome relationship. All the supporting cast like quirky and fun and free-wheeling Angela and conspiracy theorist and genius Jack Hodgins. All of this has made the show one of the best on TV with character development and great acting and stories.

Except what has happened with season six???? It's been tragic to watch the writing go completely down hill this last season. It's almost as if the actors don't care anymore...their acting has been pretty subpar and the writing? Well, they've made Dr. Brennan a laughing stock now. She's been so socially inept for the first few seasons but she was starting to come into her own until this season... She's saying really awkward things that she just wouldn't say and do. I don't know. This rant will only make sense for those who have watched the show faithfully but I just needed to say my piece. I'm really hoping they get things turned around soon. I miss my favorite show.

And for those who are fans...am I just losing my mind? Or do you feel the least bit disappointed in this season like I do?

Anyone have any shows they love/have loved that started or are starting to go downhill? Would love to hear about them.

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jaqueline Kelly

2011-02-02T10:43:00.000-07:00

Genre: young adult, historical
FTC Disclosure: borrowed from library
Published: 2009
Pages: 340
Content: G, nothing offensive.

Thoughts in a line: Calpurnia learns about who she is and what she wants and how to deal with life with the help of her scientist grandfather.

Almost twelve Calpurnia, being the only girl out of seven, and living in 1899 in Texas, learns a lot about what is expected of her as a girl and as a girl who carries the name of Tate. Her mother wants her to be a socialite and learn to cook and sew and swoon so she can catch a good husband. But all Calpurnia wants to do is learn and be who she wants to be.

The summer of 1899 Calpurnia finds to courage to go talk to her "scary" grandfather who spends all of his time doing experiments in the shed out back. Her grandfather is so excited to share what he knows with her and to have someone actually in the family care about what he is doing, he takes Calpurnia under his wing and begins to teach about science and how to apply it in her everyday life.

Nothing huge happens in this story. It takes place over about six months. It is just the telling of how a little girl begins to dream and begins to see how she can realize her dreams. She can do and be what she wants; it's her decision. Her mind opens up and expands to take in the whole world. This is such a beautiful novel. Every young girl should read it.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Monday Movie Meme: Horribly Bad Accents

2011-01-31T12:17:00.001-07:00

Feature Presentation...

MONDAY MOVIE MEME

hosted by Molly of The Bumbles Blog.

This week is all about those actors that have horribly bad accents in their movies....so many to choose from.

1. Cary Elwes in Twister (1996). Not only is he trying for an American accent but a Southernish type accent and fails horribly.

2. Drew Barrymore in Ever After (1998). I think everyone was actually supposed to have a French accent in the movie but that's tougher so...English it was in France...but Drew just couldn't quite cut it even with the English accent.

3. Harrison Ford in K-19: The Widowmaker (2002). Harrison attempts a Russian accent....not so great.

4. David Boreanaz in the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003). I know it's not a movie but his character Angel was born in Ireland and somehow he loses it in modern-day times (being a really old vampire and all) but in flashbacks...his attempt was horrible!!!! Just a pet peeve of mine I wanted to get off my chest.

5. Alan Rickman in Die Hard (1988). I couldn't tell what accent he was trying to achieve....Russian, German, English, American? Then I realized he was supposed to be German....yikes.

6. Honorable mention goes to the entire crew of Valkyrie (2008)...I guess they couldn't count on any of the actors to pull off a semi-authentic German accent so half of them chose for an English accent and the others stuck with American. It was hard to get into and believe that they were really German.

Great English accent for an American goes to Gwyneth Paltrow in Emma (1996). Great British actors with American accents go to Hugh Laurie for House (2004-present)(TV) and Damian Lewis for Life (2007-2009) (TV).

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

2011-01-26T22:22:00.000-07:00

Genre: youth fiction,
FTC Disclosure: borrowed from library
Published: 2007
Pages: 288
Content: PG-13

In a Line: Powerful commentary on how our lives touch others in so many ways for the good and for the worst.

We meet Clay as he receives a box of cassette tapes...they are from a girl Hannah who recently committed suicide. He listens hauntingly as her voice explains why she she has done this...She gives 13 reasons why she decided to commit suicide and Clay desperately wants to find out why she did what she did and why he is on the tapes.

This was a really clever idea. We get into Hannah's head and find out who she is and what led her to the unthinkable act of taking her own life. We slowly learn how Clay fits into all of it and how Hannah has affected his life. Everyone on the tape starts connecting to each other....At first I wondered what would be so horrible to tip her over the edge but as time went on I realized that it's not necessarily big stuff. Everyone is different. We each have our hangups and problems. I think Asher's main point was that you never know how your actions can affect others. The things that happened to Hannah...well, probably most teens would learn to deal somehow, graduate, and move on...but sometimes that's not the case. I think it's a good wakeup call to really think about how we treat people and the effect it can have, good or bad. So sometimes it is the little things. And yeah, it is really messed up what Hannah does by making and sending those tapes...which is why I really enjoyed this book. It wasn't just a cliche reason...there is no real rhyme or reason to why people decide to take their own lives; that's the point. People's lives will forever be changed by Hannah's actions, her suicide, and now her tapes. What are those people going to do? Give up or move forward?

Asher wrote a very compelling and complex novel and it opens up dialogue, another reason for read this book.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Other cover...

I think I actually like this version better. It feels more to the point for me. This must be the UK cover.

Monday Movie Meme- Aches and Pains and Sick in the Head...

2011-01-24T16:07:00.000-07:00

Feature Presentation...

MONDAY MOVIE MEME

hosted by Molly of The Bumbles Blog.

This week is all about illness, whether it be mental or physical or both.

1. Dying Young (1991): It's been awhile since I've seen this. But I do remember being really sad and enjoying it all at the same time.

2. Sahara (2005): Can Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz find an old Civil War ship and save the world from a horrible disease????

3. Philadelphia (1993): A beautiful performance by Tom Hanks who sues his company for firing him after they find out he has AIDS.

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

2011-01-22T10:16:00.001-07:00

Genre: youth fiction
FTC Disclosure: borrowed from library
Published: 2006
Pages: 419
Content: PG-13 for language and dealing with suicide, death, and other issues.

In a sentence: A disjointed start but ended with a complex and beautiful story.

I will admit that the first 180 pages or so were a struggle to get through. The story jumped all over the place. I couldn't tell if was dreams or flashbacks being told. I couldn't wrap my head around territory wars in a small town in Australia with rival schools. I didn't understand why I was supposed to care. So I was debating whether or not to keep reading at 150 pages...I checked out a few reviews that said to hang in there. So I did. I'm really glad I did. Within 30-40 pages the story starts to unravel and you see who is who, why, and how.

Taylor was abandoned by her mother at a 7-11 at the age of eleven. She was picked up by Hannah who counsels at the local charity boarding school Jellicoe Road. We learn bits and pieces about what's going on...Taylor looked for her mom a few years before with a local Cadet named Jonah Griggs; Jellicoe Road, the Townies (local high school), and the Cadets are in territorial wars during the school year. This one didn't make much since till later....Hannah, Taylor's one mother figure, takes off one weekend without a word and leaves behind a manuscript describing five people and their lives here on Jellicoe Road...is it fiction or is Taylor somehow connected? Confused? I was....

That's my one main complaint with this one. It took too long to get into and bring the story together. I can understand why she did it, to a point. But I think Marchetta could have simplified and gotten to the point a bit early on. Some of the negative reviews said they couldn't even finish it and get past those first 200 pages. 200 pages is a lot to ask a reader. I stuck around because I'd read her earlier novel Saving Francesca, which was marvelous. And by the time it ended and the pieces were put together, I found I didn't care as much as I wanted to.

But overall, the last half of the book is excellent. She really brings the characters around and into focus. She has a way with building these intricate relationships all together. I loved all of the characters. Taylor was vulnerable but independent and a wonderful mind. Jonah is the bad boy but never too bad and had a big romantic heart and a complicated history. He was real. Even the supporting characters really supported (I know that sounds dumb, but true). Even though I can't fathom why Taylor's mom gave her up, etc, I at least can sympathize with what she's gone through. I also love how she weaves the topic of death. (That sounds weird...). How does death affect us? How does it affect a group of kids that experience its aftermath together? How does it continue to haunt us throughout the rest of our lives?

It's a great discussion book and gets you thinking. Stick with it for the first 200 pages and you will be glad you did.

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

This cover is the Australian one. The title is originally On the Jellicoe Road...which I find more fitting for the overall theme of the book. I also like the original cover best. I find I'm more interested in the novel and would want to read it. Go Australia on this one!

Monday Movie Meme--Religious Roles

2011-01-17T11:01:00.001-07:00

Feature Presentation...

MONDAY MOVIE MEME

hosted by Molly of the Bumbles Blog.

This week's meme is celebrating Martin Luther King Junior Day. He was a powerful political leader and religious leader as well. Pick some movies with memorable or infamous religious characters.

1. Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996). Yeah, this twisted priest really creeped me out!

2. Father Gabriel from The Mission (1986): He cared, really cared. Heart-wrenching movie...beautiful music but can never ever watch it again.

3. Palmer Joss from Contact (1997): Both Jodie Foster's character and this one struggled with the balance between faith and science, with Palmer representing the faith side. Really well done.

Garden Spells by Sarah Allen Addison

2011-01-11T08:00:00.001-07:00

Genre: magical-realism, Southern fiction, romance
FTC Disclosure: bought from Barnes and Noble
Published: 2007
Pages: Nookbook (176)
Content: PG-13 for swearing and love-making!

This was a great way to start the new year of book reading. I really enjoyed this magical story of two sisters with uncanny powers. I loved Allen's wit and charm and how she developed the relationship between the two sisters. It's a short story but it packs a lot of "magic" in that time.

This is a story of Claire and Sydney, exact opposites. They are both able to learn from one another and learn how to live life to its fullest. Of course, there are some snags along the way...but I really enjoy magical-realism. It's just normal for the two sisters to have some "power." Claire can whip up anything from her magic garden to influence others...their emotions, thoughts, etc. Sydney has a way with hair and her daughter has an uncanny way of knowing where things belong and they have a tree that throws apples, moves chairs, and can tell people their most powerful life event...it's a great story, full of love and magic and mystery.

Rating: 5/5

Monday Movie--Building!

2011-01-10T16:42:00.000-07:00

Feature Presentation...

MONDAY MOVIE MEME

hosted by Molly of The Bumbles Blog.

Name some movies where people build and build!

1. Field of Dreams (1989)--the most obvious one...Kevin Costner is haunted by baseball voices and spirits until he builds them a baseball park.

2. The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill, But Came Down a Mountain (1995)-- Hugh Grant helps a small village turn their little hill into an official mountain!

3. The Replacements (2000)--Another sporty team building movie. Cheesy but fun.

4. Music and Lyrics (2007)--Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore work together to "build" a new song!

The Phantom of Pemberley by Regina Jeffers

2011-01-06T08:00:00.001-07:00

Genre: austen-inspired, historical fiction
FTC Disclosure: Won as a gift from Velvet of vvb32 reads.com
Published: 2010
Pages: 409
Content: PG-13 for violence

A big thanks to Velvet for this lovely book!

It was a fun December read. I enjoy reading Austen fan fiction and this one hit the spot for a winter cozy read.

We join Darcy and Elizabeth 14 months after their wedding...it's winter and a storm is a brewing...a few unannounced guests arrive along with Elizabeth's sister Lydia. Soon people start dying, things go missing, suspicious people are roaming around in secret passages...who is it? Yup, it's a mystery. A ghost, a mad-man or woman? It's up to the Darcy duo to figure it out before it's too late!!!!

OK, the writing was cheesy. Darcy and Elizabeth couldn't say anything to each other without swooning and mooning and cheesing it up so much that I rolled my eyes a lot...Jeffers isn't the most gifted author but the story was intriguing. I figured out the who but not everything til the end. It's worth a read.

Rating: 3/5

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George

2011-01-05T09:59:00.001-07:00

Genre: young adult, fantasy
FTC Disclosure: bought from Dragons and Fairy Tales, signed
Published: 2008
Pages: 376
Content: PG

Excellent fairy-tale retelling. She really makes the story come alive. The characters were heart-warming and felt well-fleshed out. She adds so many elements from Norwegian folklore and mythology to magical elements of fairies and trolls and the Winds.

Pika means girl and she is without a name since her mother basically disowned her at birth. She lives in a large family in a small home in an eternal winter. Her only true friend is her brother Hans Peter and pet Wolf Rollo. An ice bear shows up at her door one night and asks her to come stay with him in his ice palace for a year; she agrees to go to help her family become rich. She soon discovers that the palace and the creatures have been cursed and she struggles to find a way to free them and her ice bear from these evil enchantments.

I loved the flow of the story and pika's voice. She was sincere and strong and yet innocent. George really knows how to tell a story and she completely succeeded in this one. Highly recommended.

Rating: 5/5

Happy Birthday, J.R.R. Tolkien!

2011-01-03T18:38:00.000-07:00

Yup, it's his birthday today. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973) would be 119 years old today! The author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy was also a philologist (the study of literary texts and of written records, the establishment of their authenticity and their original form, and the determination of their meaning) who taught Anglo-Saxon and Middle English literature at Oxford for 24 years. He also worked on the New English Dictionary, which eventually became the Oxford English Dictionary, from 1918 to 1920. His main focus was on words beginning with w...such as wavy, whisking through willfulness. He was specifically involved in researching the words wag, walrus, wampum, warm, wasp, water, wick, and winter.

Monday Movie Meme- Transformations

2011-01-03T09:39:00.000-07:00

Feature Presentation...

MONDAY MOVIE MEME

hosted by The Bumbles Blog! This week is all about character transformations. Either for the good or the bad.

1. Phil Connors from Groundhog Day (1993).
2. Jack from Fight Club (1999).
3. Gru from Despicable Me (2010).
4. Scrooge from A Christmas Carol (Take your pick of many adaptations).

2010 Wrap Up and Resolutions

2011-01-01T21:55:00.000-07:00

Due to my partial hiatus, I did not finish any of my challenges...well, I'm sure I completed the YA challenge I joined but I didn't have time to follow it, update it, etc. I stopped my TV meme...I really want to start that up again, but no can do til I'm done with school....

I read a total of 78 books this year and reviewed all but about twenty or so...

I also participated in the Pemberley Ball and Helluva Halloween challenge. I failed all of my challenges...sigh. I had a great first year of blogging in 2009 but 2010 brought new challenges with parenting and school and thus my partial hiatus.

At least for the first part of the year, I plan to maintain the hiatus...I do want to pick up one meme and review more of the books I read. I am planning on participating in Pirate theme in May! Yeah, and I'm hoping to start the Everything Austen Challenge this year since I missed it in 2010. I also need to finish school! And my plan is to read more of the books already on my shelf and to buy less books!!!! (we'll see if that one happens...).

Overall, this year was a challenge. I missed participating in the blogging world and the challenges. I hope to return to that soon! Just want to say thanks to everyone who takes a gander once in a while at my blog and for all those who have such amazing blogs! I get so many great posting ideas and book ideas from you. Have a wonderful year!

Best Reads of 2010

2010-12-31T10:08:00.000-07:00

Fiction:

1. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver- This is a book everyone should read...I feel like it's a classic or will be.

2. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith- A modern classic for good reason. A beautiful coming of age story.

3. Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross- Fantastic writing about the alleged female pope back in the 900s or so. I just loved it.

4. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver- Also a soon-to-be modern classic. Makes you think about religion, U.S., and what we're really contributing to the world to make it a better place for all. Beautiful.

5. Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta- A beautiful story of how one girl is trying to fit in at an all-boys school, deal with her mother's mental illness and somehow maintain her own sanity. Marchetta is an amazing writer.

6. North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley- How does someone break away from the emotional and verbal abuse of a father and find her own beauty? Heart-warming, sad, thoughtful all describe this amazing novel.

7. If I Stay by Gayle Forman- Such a beautiful and different novel. A fast read and one that really made go wow.

8. Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon- A book about books! Mystery, intrigue, romance, death, it's all in here set in Spain. I was in Spain for a bit and it took me back there. Loved it.

9. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest- Steampunk and zombies. I couldn't have asked for more. Action and characters that I actually cared for. Great.

10. The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte by Syrie James- James really made Charlotte and her family come alive. I learned so many things I didn't know before.

Honorable mention goes to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows- An epistolary novel and it was done tremendously. I really fell in love with the Guernsey Isles and want to visit some day.

Non-fiction

1. Death From the Skies by Phil Plait- Great book on how the Earth and the Universe will end some day when we're all really dead and recycled.

2. Bad Astronomy by Phil Plait- He clears up misconceptions about science and other space hoaxes. Really fascinating.

3. Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali- Beautiful story of her journey out of Islam and her fight for women's rights and the fight to also save herself.

4. The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan- Concise and readable talking about how important science and critical thinking are in our world today.

5. The Varieties of Scientific Experience by Carl Sagan- A collection of several of his lectures. Really informative. The man was a genius.

6. The Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd- Her journey out of her religion and into her own spirituality. Really amazing.

7. Game Change by John Heilemann- I loved all the tidbits Heilemann gathered about what went on behind the scenes with the major presidential candidates. Pretty scary, too....

Honorable mention goes to The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean- All about the stories behind all the elements on the periodic table. Great read.

Worst Reads of 2010

2010-12-30T10:00:00.001-07:00

It's that time of year again...it's time to wrap up the year in reading and blogging. I didn't do a lot of blogging due to school and life and this year will probably be the same...but I am hoping by next year to get back into blogging...how I did it the first year. I love meeting new people through their blogs and I get so many exciting read ideas and lots of giveaways and information and balls and reading challenges....it's wonderful, but no time yet...sigh. I'll get to my year wrap up soon but before that I want to list the books that I really didn't like that much, that just didn't do it for me. Tomorrow I'll add my best reads of 2010 (keep in mind not all of the books were published in 2010 just what I read in 2010). Here they are in no particular order....

1. Chasing the Night by Iris Johansen: I didn't get around to reviewing this one on my blog...so no link. Predictable mystery with nothing truly exciting or thought-provoking.

2. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins: Not that it really was the worst read...but I was soooo disappointed in this book as the final one in the Hunger Games trilogy, so thus it goes on the worst list for me this year.

3. Betrayals by Lili St. Crow: Another one I never got around to reviewing on my blog...the first book was interesting so I thought I'd give this second in the series a try...disappointed again and probably will not be going back for more.

4. The Affinity Bridge by George Mann: I really wanted to like this one since I love me a good steampunk novel in Victorian England...sigh, really lackluster, no real character development, and cliche.

5. Hot Springs by Geoffrey Becker: I won this book and it looked interesting. The writing was good, but I just didn't resonate with the characters or the story.

6. Hush: An Irish Princess' Tale by Donna Jo Napoli: I read this for book club. A great folklore that wasn't done with the panache I was hoping for. The topic was pretty heavy and I just don't think the author handled it well as a young adult novel. Just meh.

7. Jane Bites Back by Michael Thomas Ford: I really had high hopes for this one. I thought it was going to be a really fun Austen-in-modern-times parody. It was just meh. Jane was a bit too fickle for me in this one. The vampire story just fell flat.

8. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater: Just didn't resonate with me. All the characters were pretty annoying and why do they have to get rid of the parents????

9. The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson: Why oh why did she have to ruin the ending with an epilogue? Great story otherwise but the ending ruined it all for me.

10. According to Jane by Marilyn Brant: Another book I had high hope for. Great cover, austen-inspired, romance. It had all the ingredients! I am not fond of books where the heroine pines away for a total jerk for years and years and then he finally realizes he loves her but he's still a jerk, no real redeeming quality! Dumb, dumb, dumb. Worst read of the year.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

2010-12-29T17:08:00.000-07:00

Genre: young adult
FTC Disclosure: received via Goodreads.com Swap
Published: 2010
Pages: 472
Content: PG-13 for language and teen drama.

Yeah, I loved this book. I read this in two days and it's over 400 pages. Kid? What kid for two days? Yeah, I'm terrible. But I couldn't put this one down. It was so unique and telling and interesting.

Samantha Kingston is pretty and popular and beeyotch with her three friends. They rule the school and everyone knows it. After a harrowing incident at a party, Sam and three friends lose control of the car...Sam soon finds herself repeating the same day over and over again. She learns new things each day, what's important, and starts to put the pieces together about why she's repeating this day and how she can break the cycle.

Each day is the same and yet completely different. Oliver really knows how to make the characters come alive. Even though Sam and her friends are so mean, you find out what really makes them tick and why they are who they are...we're all just human and trying to cope with life.

This is such an important novel for anyone to read. I hope it really resonates with teens and gets them thinking about why they act the way they do. I love books that make me think and this one does. Read it; it's that good.

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Dreadnought by Cherie Priest

2010-12-20T18:01:00.000-07:00

Genre: Steampunk, historical
FTC Disclosure: bought from Borders
Published: 2010
Pages: 400
Content: PG-13 for war and zombie violence.

One Line Review: This one wasn't as wonderful as the original Boneshaker, but it was still fun.

Priest links the two novels together at the end, which was fun to see some of the original characters.

Mercy Lynch is a nurse in the South during the Civil War and receives a telegram telling her to come and see her long-lost father before he passes. So she takes passage on a dirigible and soon a train bound for the West...along the way she meets quite the characters and zombies! Will she survive and make it to see her father? Well, I'm sure you can guess that but it's about the journey!

Mercy was a fun heroine. She is tough and smart and quick on her feet and yet still has her weaknesses and vulnerabilities.

Priest always paints a wonderful alternative history here in the States. The Civil War is going on forever and Texas is its own country.

Overall a great addition to the series!

Rating: 4/5

The Booty From the Pemberley Ball!!!!

2010-12-10T13:30:00.000-07:00

Lady Vee was so generous to provide me with some booty from the Pemberley Ball! The Darcy Surprise Pack, indeed!!!!

Jane Austen necklace got cut off...sigh. It is beautiful!

I received the book The Phantom of Pemberley by Regina Jeffers, Pride and Prejudice Paper Dolls, a Starbucks coffee sample and dark chocolate bar (yummy)!, two Jane Austenesque pages and cards! And a beautiful Jane Austen necklace! This was more than I could have hoped for! Thank you, Lady Vee.

My fondest regards,
Lady Godiva