twilight

twilight
twilight saga #1
stephenie meyer
little, brown & co.
published 2006

Isabella Swan's move to Forks, a perpetually rainy town in Washington, could have been the most boring move she ever made.  When she meets the mysterious, alluring Edward Cullen - a vampire - her life takes a thrilling and terrifying romantic turn.

This is comfort reading for me.  This is my 5th reading in as many years.  It's the most I've read a single book, especially in such a short amount of time.  Usually I can't reread a book until a decade or two has gone by.

And please spare me the vitriol.  I know it's not a Pulitzer Prize winning book.  I know the writing is amateurish and the plot goes against my more feminist views, but it is truly escapism when I read this book.  It reminds me of falling in love for the first time.  Those few weeks or months learning everything you can about that person.  The butterflies and the thrill of seeing them again when you haven't seen them in oh say, a couple of hours.

Then there's the setting.  The green, rainy gloom.  The cold, grey beach covered in colored glass pebbles.  You can say what you like about Meyer's writing, but she definitely can bring Forks to life.  And this setting is my kind of place!

I just love this book.  And I probably always will.

confessions of a clutterer: kitchen day one

Today is day two of my get out house de-cluttered project.  I've decided to start with the kitchen for a couple of reasons:

1. It's where I spend most of my time cleaning.  Every surface in the kitchen is covered.  We have the kitchen table, an island, a butcher block, shelves & my desk.  There's always stuff on them.  I'll clean them off and the 2 days later they're covered again.  I don't know how it happens.
2. It's the biggest project in the house.  Part of me worries that this will overwhelm me and I'll give up, but I feel like I'm determined in a whole new way and I'll finish what I started.
3. I could break it up into smaller sections so it wouldn't be so overwhelming - I hope.
4. The kitchen is the center of the house.  Everything happens in the kitchen and if we could get that under control everything would flow better.
5. Once I finish the kitchen I'll be able to do anything!!

I tackled the desk first.  It's been a mess pretty much since we moved it from my 'office' (which is now Olivia's room) to the kitchen.  Here's my before:

I did a really bad job of capturing the awfulness of this area!  It doesn't look that bad in this picture (but it does look pretty messy).  I have a cart next to the desk which I got to organize my paper and junk since the desk only has that one drawer.  The cart is full of everything that I didn't want on the table.  Also, underneath the desk is a shelf of sorts that you can kind of see at the bottom of the picture.  There's no reason to that madness.

Here's what it looks like now:

Soooooo much better!

I cleared everything off, either threw it away or filed it away.  I have two file boxes.  One for my Girl Scout troop stuff and one for my personal stuff.  In the cart I have paper, photo paper, envelopes, pens, pencils, markers & notebooks.

I love repurposing my stuff.  I use the tea tins for rubber bands and erasers (I use a lot of pencils).  The Glee card game was a gift from a friend, but no one could pay it with me because either they hadn't watched the first season or they just weren't Gleeks like me.  So I took the cards out and I'm using the tin for my furoshikis (Japanese fabric used for wrapping presents or food containers to take to a party, etc.).  And even though the Eclipse gum container is plastic and kind of plain, the top sticker has Edward, Bella & Jacob on it so I had to find something to do with it.  It carries my thumbtacks.  :)

Awhile ago Ray and I saw these sugar skull tequila bottles at Costco except they were MUCH bigger and kind of pricey for tequila I never tasted.  We were at BevMo looking for something and found two of them in small baby versions.  Score!  Ray went to another BevMo and found the third one so we have a complete set!  I also have my yummy smelling Orange Clove candle that was a gift from one of my GS Moms last year.  It takes me forever to burn them.  I'm pretty stingy with my candles.  I don't know why!

That's what I got done on day one.  Stay tuned for day two....cabinets!!

confessions of a clutterer

A month ago I got to reading more about a bunch of different ideas all centered around living better.  Everything from doing more yoga, eating whole, real foods and living a little more frugally.  It all started with all natural insect repellant (that I haven't tried yet).  I found that recipe and from there found another blog and another blog and another blog and so on.  It's been enlightening, to say the least.  Some are a little over the top for me.  A little too focused on religion or too strict or I get that underlying sense of judgement, but lots of bloggers out there are all about doing what you can and they'll help you get to wherever that may be.

The library has also been a great resource.  I've looked into raising chickens, soap making, green cleaning, whole food cooking & canning.  While I do love finding info online I also like having that book in my hand so I can quickly flip through while I'm in the process.  It's not quite the same 'flipping' through my iPad to find what I need.  There's lots of reviews on every book I've looked into and some people love them and some hate them so instead of spending hundreds of dollars on books that end up not being what I want I've been checking them out from the library when I can find them and then today I bought a couple that I really loved.

One of them is Green Clean by Linda Mason Hunter & Mikki Halpin It's a great little guide to cleaning.  Sounds simple enough, and it is, but I think it's fantastic.  The book itself is waterproof & stain resistant which means I can have it nearby while I'm spraying or mopping and not worry about ruining the book.  Inside you'll find a short explanation as to why we should try to use less chemicals and what's really in the brand name cleaning products we use without really thinking about it.

Then, they systematically go room by room with a scheduled check list for daily, weekly & monthly chores.  Here and there they've peppered the book with helpful tidbits on how to clean keep your dishwasher clean, houseplants that will purify your air quality the best, and what you can and can't recycle.

I don't mind cleaning.  In fact, I kind of enjoy it.  It's one of those things that you can immediately see the results.  There's an great feeling of accomplishment when you've gotten your house clean.  The thing that's difficult for me is that no matter how much cleaning I do, it seems like it's neverending.  I know there's always going to be dirty dishes and dirty clothes, but I'm talking about how there's just everything everywhere.  I can't keep up with it.

I guess the step that I missed was the 'getting rid of the clutter' step.

Now, I come from a long line of clutter collectors.  I wouldn't necessarily call us 'hoarders', but it's close.  We're sentimental and we all have collections of stuff.  Ticket stubs, t-shirts, baby toys, figurines, etc.  When Ray and I got married I had a lot of junk.  As the years have gone by I've whittled most of it down.  My parents dropped off crates of baby clothes, school work, yearbooks, toys and blankets a couple of years ago.  At one time they had the intention of buying us each a footlocker and keeping our mementos in there.  Of course, it spread to a few crates in addition to that footlocker.

After making sure my parents didn't care what I did with everything I got rid of most of it and only kept what could fit in the footlocker.  I have my mementos from bar crawling, Vegas trips, ticket stubs and stuff from when Ray and I were dating in a small box about double the size of a shoebox.  I have a book (School Years Memory Keeper) that I got at Costco that I keep a few things from each year of school for Emma and a birthday memory book where her birthday party memories go in.  So not too bad.

Of course, that's not it.  I have a crate of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV, not movie) and I have bookshelves cluttered with not only books, but Twilight junk, figurines and Legos.  So it's not completely under control!

But after reading Green Clean I'm determined to get everything under control.  I'd like to get rid of at least 75% of my clutter.  I feel like if I can do that across the board, linens, kitchen gear, paperwork, toys, clothes, etc. then cleaning will become a much more satisfying chore.

My plan for the next couple of weeks (although I'm hoping it takes only a week *fingers crossed*) is to get our house under control.  If I can get that done then I can focus on getting our meal plans done and get rid of the processed foods and move onto my other projects.....and work on convincing Ray we need to raise a couple of chickens.

All the advice says to start and finish one room - or section - at a time.  Here's my to-do list:

• Kitchen/Dining Room
1. My desk
2. Dining room table & kitchen island
3. Kitchen cabinets
4. Refrigerators - inside & top
5. Kitchen shelves

• Living Room
1. Baby's toys
2. Bookshelves/cabinets

• Hallway
1. Linen closet
2. Bookshelf
3. Coat closet

• Master Bedroom
1. Night stand
2. 6' Bookshelves
3. Short bookshelf
4. Closet
5. Dresser

• Master Bathroom
1. Sink Cabinet
2. Above the toilet cabinet
3. Shower

• Guest Bathroom
1. Sink Cabinet
2. Above the toilet cabinet

• Emma's Room
1. Closet
2. Bookshelf
3. Toy Bins
4. Dresser

• Olivia's Room
1. Bookshelf
2. Wardrobe
3. Crib drawer
4. Changing table
5. Closet

It sounds like a lot now that I've typed it all up.  Ugh.  Some it's not going to be take too long.  I can probably do both bathrooms & the hallway closets in an hour.  And Emma's room has been de-cluttered so I just have to make sure we haven't gotten out of control there again.  Olivia's closet is going to be somewhat of a nightmare because it's basically full of stuff of mine.  Olivia's room used to be my office and when we cleaned out her room I never got to the closet.  *sigh*

I've taken 'before' pictures and I'll post them as I finish.  It's pretty embarrassing, but I'm going to show you anyway!  I worked on my desk today, but I'll post about that tomorrow since this has turned into a 70 page post already!

Here we go!

virgin book reader envy

It's been quite some time since I've written a post that wasn't a book review!

I just finished reading three books that I loved (Stolen Prey, Delusion in Death & Mad River), but knew I was going to love and one book that I hated, but thought I would enjoy (I, Michael Bennett).  Even though that's a 75% positive rating I still feel kind of, I don't know...bummed?

John Sandford's two books were so good, especially Stolen Prey, but it's been awhile since I've read something truly astounding.  Something that made me lose my mind, or my heart.  The last one was Luther about three months ago.  That doesn't sound that long ago, but since I read Luther I've read 53 books.  I started going through book recommendations on GoodReads, Shelfari & Amazon and it got me thinking about the books I have loved and how I wish I could erase my memory of them so I could read them again without any expectations.

You know what I'm talking about.  There are those books you read and recommend to friends, half jealous because they get to read them for the first time and all you can do is read them again....and even though I have read some of these multiple times and loved them even the second, third, fourth or even fifth time, I still wish I could get that first time read back.  If I could erase my memory of these books and start again here's my list of books I'd do that for.

It seems weird to expound on how much I loved this book.  It's not a warm and fuzzy feel good kind of story.  Chevy Steven's Still Missing is about a woman who is kidnapped and held captive for more than a year, raped and abused repeatedly.  But it was so damn brilliant.  It kept me on the edge of my seat - literally.  I was heartbroken, elated at times, terrified and blown away.  I wasn't expecting what happened.  At all.  It was nothing short of brilliant.

I read What We Keep by Elizabeth Berg too many years ago to count, but the lyrical prose has stayed with me all these years.  Page 30, concerning dreams of fairies became the bar to which I set stories like these.  I wanted magic where there wasn't necessarily going to be magic.  Berg wove beautiful words into this story that haunted me for over a decade.

In the beginning I got Sarah Addison Allen's book The Girl Who Chased the Moon for free from a Barnes & Noble special.  I had it for months before I finally read it and when I did I immediately went out to search for the rest of Allen's books.  They were all just so beautiful, but TGWCM was an unexpected delight.  Like Still Missing I just didn't know what I was getting into so it made everything all the sweeter.  Full of magic, first love, finding love again, family, friends and mystery.  It had everything and more.

Seriously, did you think I wouldn't include this one??  Now I had avoided the Twilight craze.  In fact, I scoffed at it.  So many nutsos going insane over this vampire book immediately turned me off, but one of those nutsos was my friend and she told me I must read it.  She guaranteed I would love it and if I didn't get the books she was going to drop them off on my doorstep.  So I waited a bit longer until all four books came out and went and got them from the library.  With a doubting heart I started Twilight and at page 98 I had to call my husband so I could tell him 'I LOVE THIS BOOK.' and I became one of those nutsos.  I didn't even care.  There was something about this story that tugged at me.  The writing was soooo not perfect, the plot kind of ludicrous and it was far from having a socially acceptable female 'heroine', but I loved it.  Every bit of it.  Maybe it was the first love aspect, or the setting, or the silly differences Meyer made in her vampires.  Whatever it was I loved it and while I enjoyed all four books (6 if you count Midnight Sun and The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner) the first one was my favorite.  The first meeting, the first kiss, the first time he saves her life - let's face it, we can roar all we want, but sometimes we just want that knight in sparkly armor.

*image found on Favim

This one's rather obvious, although it's not a single book, but an entire series.  Of course, I'm talking about J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.  Each and every book I loved.  It doesn't matter how many times I read them, they never get old and I still feel them pull the same emotions out of me as they did the first time.  It's one of the only books I've loved the movies almost as much as I loved the books.  I love the world that Rowling created, the language and the people.  I love that she created a series that you can think about, talk about with others and it never gets old.  There were times when I wanted to throttle Harry, but that was okay because even though the books carried his name there were so many characters that brought the stories together and Harry wouldn't have been Harry had it not been for Hermione, Ron, Snape, Dumbledore, Neville, and so many others.

Now that I've told you the books I wish I could go back and read for the first time, what are yours??  I'm always looking for new books to read!

fifty shades of annoying the ever living crap out of me

I read an article today on cnn.com about Explaining 'Fifty Shades' Wild Success. And dang it, I wanted it explained to me!

This whole phenomenon is utterly baffling to me.

I have collected erotica for about 18 years now.  And no, I'm not talking about Johanna Lindsay-like smut books, but classics by Anais Nin, Henry Miller, Anne Desclos and then pretty much everything that Susie Bright puts out there as well as Maxim Jakubowski, so on and so forth.  Altogether I have over 30 anthologies and novels both fiction & autobiographical.

So maybe that's why nothing in here is 'tee-hee' shocking to me or blush rendering.  I've read it all before - and then some - except by authors who can write.  I swear this is some of the worst writing I've ever read and I do consider Stephenie Meyer a bad writer despite my love for the books.  I have repeatedly picked up the first book and just can't stomach the over the top obviousness of it, the terrible character names and the cliched catch phrases and 'oh my god no one should be this good-looking' lines.  Meyer already did that thankyouverymuch.

So when I read this article I realized how maybe I'm just not in that 50 Shades demographic.  Here's my take:

Most of the people I know who have read the books, raved about them and then badgered me to get them are Twilight fans.  Not surprising considering this trilogy was written by a Twilight fan on a Twilight fan fiction site.  There is an interesting phenomenon (ha!  I used that word twice and spelled it right each time) in which someone who is a Twilight fan will mention a book she likes and it slowly catches on until the damn thing has a movie deal (The Hunger Games, I Am Number Four - gag -, The Mortal Instrument series, The Beautiful Creatures series).  This can be both awesome (Hunger Games) and bloody awful (I Am Number Four).  One of the most common review quotes on the back cover of YA Supernatural/Romance books is 'Fans of Twilight will love this book!'

And it makes sense.  I wasn't a big YA reader until I picked up the Twilight books.  Now I would say I've read more YA in the past 3 years than general fiction.  When you find a genre you like you tend to stick with it until you've made yourself sick of it.  And the covers (which is pointed out in the cnn piece) is very Twilight like.  Very simple, bold, curious covers in only a few colors.  Even for me, someone who most certainly judges a book by its cover, it's appealing.

The subset of readers who were not Twilight fans that rave over this book are the people who rolled their eyes at the Twilight madness and called Bella a horrible female role model and Edward a psycho stalker.  They knew enough about the books because deep down they really wanted to read them, but their hipster attitudes didn't want to be part of that crowd.  So they turned up their noses to the series because it was childish and unrealistic because, you know, books aren't supposed to be any sort of fantasy.

So these people, they saw 50 Shades and thought, now here's a book I can read and I'll be cool because it's got handcuffs and butt plugs in it and that's soooooo shocking.  There's not a sparkly vampire to be seen!  Plus, you've got the added bonus of not having to be found searching the teen section at Barnes & Noble for the book.  You shall be in Grown-Up-Book-Land.

I'm not saying I won't read these books and possibly end up loving them.  I own them.  I owned the Twilight series for about 6 months before I finally gave in and read them, but I waded through 82 pages of that book and fell in love.  This one, it's been a shitstorm in my head just trying to get through the first chapter.

Honest to Buddha I just don't get it.  I cannot stomach this writing.  It's almost a crime against the erotica genre.  On the other hand it's nice to see women so readily relishing in some porn without being ashamed so, carry on! 

Power to the porn!

this has got to be a joke

Have y'all seen this?

My first response to this was 'what the frak?!'  Isn't this everything that Katniss is against??  Isn't this the worst part of the Capitol?  Then I thought about all those Twilight fans out there who insist that Twilight sold out when they started marketing with Burger King and with Valentine candies.  They said that's why they're such big Hunger Games fans because of everything Katniss represents.

Oh really?  The movie hasn't even come out yet and their first big marketing campaign is NAIL POLISH!?!  Are you kidding me?  That's not selling out?  Puh-leeze.  What do you think about The Hunger Games now?

My third thought?  'Dang those are cool eyelashes.'

books vs. movies

There are two types of people.  Those who read books and those who wait until those books are turned into movies.  Back in the day there wasn't too much of this, or if it was it wasn't so widely advertised.

Now, thanks to Harry Potter & Twilight movie rights for books are being snapped up as soon as it hits the Best Seller's List or before it's actually published and now, before it's actually written.

For awhile I was a little irritated by these practices.  I want those movie watching people to come up with their own ideas.  Aren't they supposed to be creative?  I want to protect my book reading people.  We'll still be called nerds, but dang it we should have GOOD books to read.  Of course, I have no qualms about the Harry Potter or Twilight movies.  Duh, I'm a potterhead, or a tweirdo ... however you want to define me.  While I want the movies to be as true to the books as they can be I also understand they can't always and to me the movies have been a wonderfully illustrated companion to the book.  I know that Twilight and all the movies thereafter are not winning any Oscars, but I love them because it's what was in my head while I was reading played out on the screen.

I think the only time I was upset was after seeing Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince.  The Dumbledore-Harry-Malfoy-Snape scene in the end literally had me gripping my hands over my mouth to keep from screaming obscenities.  But it is what it is.

2011 saw a ton of books-turned-movies and 2012 isn't going to be any different.  What bugs me is that stuff is getting turned into movies before I can even get my hands on the books!  Though, sometimes that's not always a bad thing.

Amanda Hocking began writing during her free time and finished 17 novels.  In April of 2010 she began self-publishing them in eBook format and by March of 2011 she had sold over a million copies of 9 books and made two million dollars in sales.  Pretty impressive for a self published author.  When I saw that her Trylle trilogy was purchased to turn into a movie I was intrigued.  The cover art was interesting and the story sounded good.  Even better, I saw Hocking as a determined young woman who made her dreams come true, right?

Unfortunately (and of course this is only my opinion), the first book, Switched was a flaming pile of crap.  The story IS interesting.  A young girl, whose mother tried to kill her when she was 6 discovers she's a changeling and returns to the world she was taken from to live the life she was meant to live.  The writing however, was awful.  It read like something a middle school student wrote for a school project.  It was the worst book I read in 2011.

And now it's going to be a movie? 

I get that someone else will write the screenplay and it's just her idea that the movie will be based on, but come on!  What's even more impressive is that she made two million dollars off books she was charging $1.99 for!  And now, the Trylle trilogy is going to be published in hardcover.  I cannot believe that the literary world is so hurting for material that they will print this stuff!

Stephenie Meyer's The Host will be coming out in movie form soon.  I'm sure the next in the HORRIBLE I Am Number Four series will get crapped out as a movie.  They're still trying to make Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, though for some reason that one seems to be jinxed.  The screenplay for A Discovery of Witches will be penned by Proof writer David Auburn and even The Great Gatsby is getting a Hollywood makeover this year.

I don't know.  It seems that everywhere people are running out of originality.  I'd just like to find a few more books that blow my mind.  Is there anything out there like that anymore?

breaking out for some vamps

So yesterday was the day we were waiting for.

Kim and I were to meet JeNae & Jennifer at the theater to see Breaking Dawn, Part 1 at 11:59.  Kim and I spent the evening text messaging about how cool we are while our husbands made fun of us.

By the time it was time to head out everyone was asleep and Kim texted to say she was outside my house waiting for me.  I get in the car and she says 'I feel like we're sneaking out!'  The greatest thing about Morgan Hill is that at 11:20 pm there is NO ONE driving around so you feel like you're the only people in the world.  Dead town.

Of course, last night, everyone in Morgan Hill was at the movie theater standing in line.  And because Kim and I are so cool we walk up just as they start letting people into the theater and they just wave us in.  Whopee!  No line waiting!

The movie was exactly what I expected.  I laughed & got teary & rolled my eyes, but dang I had fun.  JeNae and I ganged up on Kim and her Team Jacob-ness (bleck) and then Kim almost cut off the circulation in my arm as the birth scene got a little too graphic for her.

Slight spoiler alert for one paragraph!!  I wondered how they were going to do Jacob's part of the book.  For about 90% of it he's in wolf form and all the communication is done in their heads.  They did well in that most of the time Jacob, Leah and Seth were in human form so they could just speak, but there was one point where all the wolves are communicating with weird voice overs and I must say it was lame.

The best part of the night?  Seeing a 80 something year old man coming out with two slightly younger gentlemen.  See!?!  Everyone loves Twilight!

Now get yourselves to the theater!

only a few hours to go!!!

Tonight's the night - finally!!!  If you'll notice on my sidebar there are only 12 hours left until Breaking Dawn!!  Woo hoo!  I'll be there at 11:59 with my fellow Twinerds.  So excited!!

I'm bummed that it's going to be just Part 1, but I guess it just prolongs the fun for one more year, right?  And sometime between this one and the next we'll have the first of The Hunger Games.  Which I just recently saw the newest preview for.  Did anyone else watch it?  What did you think?  Even though I've read the books when I started watching the preview I thought 'Too much, too much!'  It felt like there was too much given away in the preview.  Stuff that, visually I kind of wanted to be surprised, but oh well.

I'm still not a fan of that Josh kid as Peeta.  He looks awful with blonde hair.  Ugh.  But I am excited to see the movie.  It looks fantastic!

But let's focus here.  Back to Edward & Bella and that other kid I don't care for.  I'm so interested to see how they do the whole entire part of his 'book'.  Since most of it was in his head (and in the heads of the other wolves) and Edward can't translate everything I'm wondering how much Jacob will be a wolf?  I'm also wondering when they'll cut it off to go on to the next.  I'm thinking it'll be at the end of Jacob's book.  But we'll see.  I can't wait!!

puh-leaze … like i would ignore this??

Did you think that I am not super excited about this??  You would be mistaken. 

*sigh* *squee* I can’t wait!!!!!!!!!!

yes, i too was shocked and surprised

I read a lot of books and have probably read well over 1,000 in my lifetime so far.  Generally I stick to the same genre (romantic suspense or psychological thrillers and government conspiracy types) but sometimes I’ll branch out when I feel like I’ve run out of books to read.  Reading Twilight opened up a whole new genre that I really hadn’t tried before, YA Fantasy and YA Fiction.  I was surprised to find how much I enjoyed the fantasy genre in YA though I’ve only just now started an adult fantasy book.

Sometimes in my branching out I’ll read something rather reluctantly because either the hype surrounding the book drives me to a frenzied state of curiosity (thank you spell check as I would’ve sworn curiosity was spelled cursiousity) or because the guilt of not reading some classic breaks me down.

And some of those I’ve finished and thought to myself ‘Self, you were right.  That was not your kind of book’ but sometimes I’m just in love with it and rather surprised at myself.

This may be revealing more than I should about my taste in books (or rather lack thereof) but I’m going to tell you anyway.  These are the books that surprised me the most.

I can’t even remember when I read this one, but I know I was pretty young when I did.  At this point in my reading career I was obsessed with Dean Koontz & Stephen King.  The idea of reading a 1000 plus book that wasn’t It didn’t really sound that appealing, but I really wanted to watch the movie and even then I was a firm believer in reading the book before seeing the movie.  I devoured the book.  Scarlett was a brat, of course, but she was captivating and for some reason, against better judgment you rooted for her.  I guess what was even more surprising was that I loved Scalett by Alexandra Ripley just as much as I loved Gone with the Wind.  Oh, and the movie … the best.

In college I read this one as an assignment for my Asian-American Lit class.  To me, any book that is assigned is doomed to fail on my like-o-meter.  Amy Tan’s masterpiece wasn’t one of them.  While not Chinese myself I felt a kinship to Jing-Mei “June'” and her love-hate relationship to her more traditional mother.  I was intrigued and horrified at the lengths the women of the club went through to make their way to the United States.  I learned things I never knew before about a culture that I had grown up somewhat exposed to.  The book haunted me and stuck to me like very little else ever has in such a way.  It started my love of Gail Tsukiyama’s Chinese and Japanese based books.

At first I balked at reading this mainly because of the little sticker claiming Oprah loved it.  Now, I think Oprah is fantabulous, but she and I do not share the same taste in books, but my aunt passed it down to me so for lack of anything better to read I picked it up.  And boy, was I glad I did.  Definitely not a warm & fuzzy book Lamb delves into a twisted and complicated book about mental illness, sexual abuse, betrayal and heartbreak.  Sounds depressing, I know and it is, but so well written and multi-layered that I fell into the book and wished so badly I could reach in and fix Thomas and find some way to make Dominick happy.  The story had such a way of sucking the reader in and making you invest so much of yourself that in the end you feel wrung dry, but somehow wildly triumphant.

I generally don’t like books that take place earlier than 1970.  First I feel like I can’t relate.  I spend much of the book wondering how they could possibly get anything done without any sort of modern technology (I know, I’m a boob) and the author tries to write as they spoke back then and I just can’t get into it.  When my book club chose this one as one of our monthly reads I was slightly disappointed, but also mildly curious about the subject matter.  Taking place sometime during or just after the Crusades (I believe) the reader finds a town in England that is cursed with a child killer.  No one is able to solve the crimes and the King calls upon his Italian cousin to help.  The cousin sends a forensic investigator who is trained in ‘The Art of Death’ hoping maybe this professional might be able to gleam facts from the deceased children’s bodies and solve the murders.  The only problem?  She’s a woman.  The writing was superb.  Ariana Franklin gives the sense that people are speaking the way speech was back in the day, but doesn’t confuse you with the actual patterns.  The story itself is twisting and dark, the suspense – magnificent!

I loathe non-fiction (unless it’s true crime) and the touchy-feely-goodness of this book really put me off.  But again, I succumbed to the pressure of society and because I wanted to see the movie I picked up the book … and I loved it.  The beginning was an awakening for me.  I had been where Elizabeth had been.  I had been married and left for reasons my ex couldn’t really understand – nor did he really want to.  I fell into another relationship that drained me emotionally, but I didn’t have the courage to walk away from everything the way she did.  Oh, I was green with envy at the personal journey she took to find what she was looking for in herself.  I cried so many times throughout the book, was charmed by some of it and reflected on others.  I haven’t picked up Committed yet and not really sure I will, but this one’s a keeper.

And finally there’s Twilight.  I remember way back, way, way back I started seeing the name ‘Edward Cullen’ pop up in weird places.  Once I even saw something that said ‘Edward Cullen could kick Angel’s ass’ and thought ‘whoa there, you can just go straight to hell now’.  My sister and I wondered what all this Edward Cullen nonsense was until I discovered it was a teeny bopper book.  Dismissed.

But then my friends who were not book friends started asking me if I had read the books.  Shocked when I said I hadn’t they insisted that this was right up my alley and I must go pick it up at once.  When my friend Gina basically told me our friendship depended on me reading the books I shrugged and found the cheapest copy I could get online.  But there were four books in the series and I never read any series without having all the books on hand so I waited until I had all four.  This drove Gina nuts.

I dragged my feet.  I really didn’t want to read a teen romance and being a Buffy loyalist I couldn’t see loving any vampire more than Angel.  But I’d had enough bullying so I began reading.

I got to page 83.  Set the book down and called Ray and told him ‘I LOVE this book.’  Now, when I read a book I read 6 at the same time.  I divide the book into 1/6 sections read one section and move onto the next.  It keeps my ADD under control.  I got to the end of the first section and forced myself to put it down.  By the time I got to Eclipse my 6 book requirement went out the window.

And I get all the critiques on the book.  No, it isn’t well written, but it is a well told story.  Yes, Bella could be annoying and probably did take a whole generation of young girls back to the days before feminism, but dangnabbit I loved it.  I loved the courtship and the anticipation.  I loved to hate Jacob.  I loved the Quileute lore.  I loved the setting.  I loved the surrounding characters.  I loved the fierce loyalty both clans possessed.  Most of all, I loved remembering what it was like to be in love for the first time.  I am jealous of the people who have not yet read these books, but will someday pick them up and read them for the first time.

So there it is folks.  What books have you read that surprised you?

Well, Yes, I’m a Geek.

I used to watch movies a lot.  A lot a lot a lot a lot.  Lately they’ve kind of taken a backseat to reading and other stuff.  I think I’ve mentioned before the gross amount of TV I have backlogged as well.

There’s quite a few movies slated to be remade (or as they call it now ‘rebooted’ so as not to seem tired and boring).  I can honestly say that I have never once been excited about a remake.  There have been ones that I’ve liked, but I never heard of a remake and thought to myself, now that sounds like a good idea.
So it got me thinking about movies I do love and because you all know how I love my lists I’ve decided to compile a list of my faves.  These aren’t in any particular order.  If I were to do that I would be here all day.

1. Dream for an Insomniac – Beautifully written, dialogue centric.  This movie literally changed my life.
   
2. Annie – I still know every song and have the greatest memories of playing Annie in my cousins' closet.  Pretending we were all orphans trying to escape after Ms. Hannigan locks us up.
   
3. Grease – For some reason my mom thought this movie was appropriate for children.  Of course, it wasn’t until I was older that I realized just how scandalous those songs were!
   
4. Charade – Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant.  Comedy, romance, intrigue.  Need I say more?
   
5. Casablanca – I remember thinking that this movie was probably going to be overrated.  Oh, but it wasn’t.  It’s called a classic for a reason people!
   
6. You’ve Got Mail – *gasp* A remake??  Yes, but out of the Meg Ryan & Tom Hanks pair ups this is my favorite.  I love the script, I cry every time she sees herself twirling with her mother in the bookstore and it’s about books!
   
7. Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back & Return of the Jedi – I loathe the newest additions to the Star Wars saga, but these three (in my mind they will always be the first three) were the most amazing and perfect movies I had ever seen as a kid – and they still are.
   
8. Chasing Amy – Oh, Kevin you slay me with your words.  The dialogue in this movie is priceless.  Do people really talk like this?  Who cares!  It’s so awesome and even though he’d done amazing things before this (ahem Clerks!) this is the movie that put Kevin Smith on everyone’s radar.
   
9. Clerks & Mallrats – I love the quote-ability of Kevin Smith’s movies, but these are the classics and they are not to be messed with.
   
10. Memento – This movie blew my mind the first time I saw it.  Genius.
    
11. Amelie – charming, sweet, funny and in French!
    
12. The Godfather Part II – The first was great, the third was okay, but the second was my favorite.  And the reason why I always loved Robert DeNiro.
    
13. A Place in the Sun – This was the first black and white movie I had ever seen.  I was sick, home from school and it was on Channel 36.  Not only is this movie based on a book, but it was also a remake!  Originally a book, An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser (which was based on a true story) the movie of the same name was released in 1931.  When Paramount began to make noises about not making A Place in the Sun, director George Stevens sued them for breach of contract.  His movie began filming in 1949.  Elizabeth Taylor was only 17 at the time and she was exquisite.  I remember being stunned by her beauty and the story was so heartbreaking and tragic.  It was a piece of art.

I could probably go on and on some more, but I fear you would all either lose interest or find my taste in movies to be nuts.  Though, I will readily admit that most, if not all of the movies I would add to this list haven’t seen a movie theatre in at least 10 years.  You’ll also be so kind to note that I didn’t include any of the Twilight, Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings movies.  While I love them, I love them more for being a visual version of books I love more than just movies I love.  But I still love ‘em!

So what’s on your list?  Are there any movies coming out soon that you’re excited for?  I think the only thing I’m excited about right now is Sucker Punch.  It looks AH-Mazing!

Books, Books, Books

I get a lot of friends who ask me for book recommendations.  And why not, I’ve read A LOT of books in my time.  Now, I’m not going to be one of those people who tells you that you must read the classics or socially aware books ‘cause those aren’t really my favorites so feel free to look down your nose at my selections!

What We Keep by Elizabeth Berg

During the plane ride across country that will take Ginny Young to see the mother she has not seen in 35 years Ginny thinks back to the last summer she spent with her mother.  Elizabeth Berg writes a story that is quietly powerful and amazingly lyrical.

The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer

When Bella Swan leaves sunny Phoenix for the ever cloudy Forks, Washington she never thinks that the place she dreads to go will be the place that forever changes her life … and death.  Of course, I must include this series, mainly the first.  There’s something about the first book in a series that is unforgettable.  Despite loving the rest of the series Twilight will always be my favorite.

Intensity by Dean Koontz

Unable to sleep in the home of her best friend’s family Chyna becomes the only witness to the brutal murder of her friend’s family and the kidnapping of Laura.  Knowing she must do whatever she can to save her best friend she sneaks onto the killer’s RV until she can figure out how to save them both.  And then she discovers the name of the sociopath’s next victim and she knows she must save this stranger and destroy her enemy.  The book takes place in maybe a 24-36 hour time period and the title says it all.  One of the most intense novels I’ve ever read.

The Language of Threads by Gail Tsukiyama

The Language of Threads is actually the sequel to the Women of the Silk which I didn’t read.  This story follows a young woman, Pei and her young charge Ji Shen in Hong Kong in the 1930s.  It’s a story of determination and survival and the lengths one woman will go through to help those who have helped her.

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

A love that literally stands the test of time.  A beautiful story about a time traveler and the woman who falls madly and deeply in love with him.  I was hesitant to read this one at first.  I thought time traveling wasn’t really my thing and the back and forth telling of time took a little getting used to, but once I was in I was invested.  It was a brilliant blend of science fiction and romance.  Just be prepared with a box or two of tissues nearby.

My Best Friend’s Girl by Dorothy Koomson

Another tearjerker.  And when I say tearjerker I mean more like tsunami of tears and snot.  This book broke my heart, but it was so beautiful.  Kamryn agrees to meet her former best friend, Adele who years ago did something that Kamryn could never forgive.  What Adele has to ask Kamryn will once again change her life.

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

Okay.  If you don’t know anything about this series I would ask that you please crawl out from under the rock you’ve been under.  If you haven’t read them I ask you, why?  If you’ve started to read them and ‘just couldn’t get into it’ I question whether or not you are actually human.  And that is really all I need to say about that.

Go forth and read people!

So Maybe I’m a Little Late to the Party

I don’t watch award shows because I pretty much think they’re bullshit.  It’s only really been in the last few years that any of the movies nominated for an Oscar are movies I’d actually watch and generally when something is nominated for an Oscar or Golden Globe and I like it that means it won’t win.

But I thought for sure the winner this year was clear.  Inception SHOULD HAVE WON!  I don’t care if it might have been based on an Scrooge McDuck comic 100 years ago!  It was brilliant!  Social Network may have been interesting and/or fascinating, but come on people!  Christopher Nolan, you were robbed and you should punch someone in the mouth.

Inception was creative, visually stunning, intriguing and AMAZING!  Joseph Gordon-Levitt was perfection and the rest of the cast wasn’t too shabby either.  I’m so irritated with the whole thing.  Screwed.  Up.  Was it because it was sci-fi-y?  Was it because the main Japanese character was actually played by a Japanese guy?  Was it because everyone wants to ignore Leonadro DiCaprio?  I guess if anyone should be punching people in the mouth it’s that guy.  He should definitely do some punching.

Speaking of movies….

*photo from Big Shiny Robot

Let me just say ‘ohmygoodnessthankyouverymuch’. 

Oh Twilight, How I Love Thee So

Today I just about died when I saw the pictures of Volturi Vampires. They all look gorgeous and nearly just how I pictured them. Dakota Fanning is perfect as Jane! Every little bit more I see of New Moon the more excited I get for the movie! November cannot come soon enough!!

You can click on Jane's picture to read more about the Volturi Vamps on TwiCrack's fabulous blog.

Back in July Ray and I went to Comic Con where we were amazed at how many things there were to see and do. Alas, getting to see any of the Twilight things were not in the cards. We were only there for one day and there was just too much to see to get to everything. I was quite excited to learn there will be a convention JUST ABOUT TWILIGHT in San Francisco in February. How perfect is that?

But wait, it gets better.

The same convention will also be held in Seattle, WA. A mere 3 and a half hours from Forks, WA. Seattle is also the home of Dahlia Lounge and Lola. My sister and I spent an afternoon at my parents' house watching a marathon of The Best Thing I Ever Ate on the Food Network. If you've never seen this show you should tune in. Celebrity chefs all talk about their favorite foods and where to find them. Dahlia Lounge has Lemon-Scallion Crab Cakes and Lola serves up some made to order donuts. Yes, Made To Order Donuts. I must eat these. And bring some home to my sister.

However, I'm not sure Ray would enjoy 3 fun filled days reveling in all that is Twilight. Emma might enjoy it. Three years old and she knows who Bella and Edward are. What can I say? My girl's got taste. I might be able to lure Ray to Seattle with the promise of delicious donuts. We will see.....