Anyone?

I recently finished reading this book:I read about it on a couple of blogs that I enjoy and the reviews were very favorable. One even compared her enthusiasm for this series to her enthusiasm for the Twilight series, so as you can imagine I was very excited. But... meh. I really struggled with wanting to get through it, granted I've had some things going on, a small baby, some sickness, an impending move; and these could definitely all be factors in how much I less than loved it. So what I'm wondering is this, are any of you reading this series? If so, should I continue? I have a really hard time not finishing a series once I've started it if I didn't hate the first book, and I didn't hate this first book - although, sometimes the author says the stupidest things. Things that leave me saying "that doesn't even make sense or mean anything, you just think it sounds good!" Just ask Jordan, I read him some examples - but I kind of feel like I could just walk away. Unless someone has read the next few and believe I would be missing out if I didn't pursue it. So if you happen to have read it or are reading it now, please share your thoughts, clearly this should be top priority.

Oh Yes I Did!

Just wanted to post real quick for no other reason than to brag about how I finished reading Les Miserables today. The unabridged version. That takes some dedication my friends. Overall the story is so interesting and everything is connected in ways I didn't expect, but, when Victor Hugo goes off on a tangent, he really goes off on a tangent making about half of the book incredibly interesting and the other half feel like incredibly hard work to get through. But I'm glad I did it.

Suh-weet!

I was out and about with my friend Salli last week and we just happened to pop into a used bookstore that I've never been in before. Well, I think it was fate because look at what incredible treasure I stumbled upon...
And brace yourselves, it was only one dollar! I know!
In case you don't find this as exciting as I do, let me just tell you that it has tremendous sentimental value for me. Growing up, this movie was one of my absolute faves. I can't tell you how many hours I spent watching it with my sister Julie, while we used the arms of the sofa as our horses and performed the most dazzling displays of "horsemanship" right along with the main characters. Yeah, we were pretty good.
Also, and I know you'll all agree with me here, the boy who plays Toby Tyler, Kevin Corcoran, always made me think that's what my dad must have looked and thereby been like as a boy. I mean look at the book art alone, that mouth, the jawline, even that serious look, it's my dad, right?!
And lastly, while Jordan and I were dating we once stopped in an antique shop where I found a copy of this very same book. Being that it was an antique shop, the book was sadly not one dollar, but some price I didn't want to pay at the time. However, upon seeing it I mentioned to Jordan all about how it was one of my favorite shows, and that whole bit about Toby reminding me of my dad but I finished it up with "plus my Dad actually did runaway to the circus when he was an orphan boy..." to which Jordan responded "really?" It just has always cracked me up that for even just a few seconds he believed me about it. In retrospect I probably should have seen how long I could have kept that going, but I blew it and told the truth.
Ah, good times, good books and good finds.

Oh Mr. Rochester

It's simply impossible not to love him just a little bit.

A few days ago I finished reading Jane Eyre for the first time. Such an accomplishment for me seeing as it was neither written by J.K. Rowling nor Stephenie Meyers, and wasn't written specifically to entertain thirteen year olds. I looooved it. I thought it was so perfect. The first half did feel a little bit like work, but that all builds up to the second half which just flies by. There is a movie version that I've really liked for quite some time, and after finishing reading it I was so excited to watch it again. Then I was sad because after I watched it again I was terribly disappointed. The book was just so perfect and I know movies have to change things up, but in this version, so many times I was just like "why that?". I don't know.

Then I remembered watching this version about a year ago. When I watched it at the time I really liked it, but clinging to my high school preferences I still considered the first one to be my favorite. Well not anymore. I really must insist that you watch this version, please at least try to find a copy from your local library. It's as close to perfect as we're likely to get. It follows the story so closely, the actors are so good, I watched it last night and felt so giddy and content at the end. You'll thank me later.
Now I've moved on to Wuthering Heights, oh those Bronte sisters, I've actually tried to read Wuthering Heights at least three times before and never made it very far at all, but I've made it past my usual stopping point and am really inerested to see what ends up happening. I've also decided to keep a list in my side bar of all the books I've read so far this year, I don't expect anyone to find that of interest except me kind of like the rest of this post.

To sum up, Jane Eyre is awesome.

The End.

Book Tag

Just nerdy enough for me to be all over it.

Rules:

1. Get the book that's on your nightstand (or whatever you happen to be reading).
2. Open it to page 56 and find the 5th sentence.
3. Post the next couple of sentences on your blog, along with these instructions.
4. Do not go and find your favorite book; it has to be the one you are reading now!
5. Tag five other people to do the same.

I'm reading Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox, because I am only thirteen years old I guess. Next up on my list? Another middle reader.
Where does page 56, sentence 5 find Artemis?

And suddenly the enormity of the situation struck him hard.

"What kind of son am I?" he whispered. "A liar and a thief. All my mother has ever done was love me and try to protect me, and now she may die."
Holly helped Artemis to his feet. "You're not that person anymore, Artemis, and you love your mother, don't you?"
"Artemis huffed, embarrassed. "Yes. Of course."
"Then you are a good son. And your mother will see that as soon as I cure her."

Aha! You're hooked aren't ya?
I really enjoy these Artemis books, they're fun and exciting, smart and different. Me likey.

Passing on the tag makes me very nervous, so with a ridiculous amount of anxiety on my part I tag

Jerilee
Janelle
Alina
Amanda
Tabitha

No pressure ladies!

I Swear These Idiots Are Gonna Give Me A Stroke

Warning: If you haven't seen or read Gone with the Wind and/or don't give a crap about it, then you'll feel the same way about this post.
I'm a huge fan of Gone With the Wind, both the book and the movie. I really like Scarlett too, the book only! The miniseries version was a complete monstrosity, but I digress. Now even though I love the original movie with all of my heart, I definitely feel that there is room for an amazing, rock-my-world remake. I think that they could include a lot of things from the book that got left out of the original that would make it all that more incredible, not to mention, bring this awesome classic to a whole new generation who may not be quite as sophisticated as myself.
So every now and then I'll google 'Gone With the Wind remake' in hopes of stumbling across some announcement that I may have missed that some major studio is going to do it, and do it right. BUT, I have yet to stumble across that announcement, what I do stumble across are lots of message boards where people talk about who should play whom if they were to make a new version, and those suggestions for the most part make me want to die. Some of the more idiotic ideas are:
Scarlett,
Lindsay Lohan, are they serious? Please tell me they're not serious!
Kiera Knightley and Reece Witherspoon, not as offensive as the Lindsay Lohan suggestion, but completely wrong!
Angelina Jolie, let me explain something people, scarlett starts out at 16 and is only 28 at the end, Angelina is already twice the age of beginning scarlett.
Emmy Rossum, I hate her too much, and she's just not stunning enough
Nicole Kidman, way too old!
Mischa Barton, I'm jumping off a cliff!
I do think Scarlett is the hardest to cast so I actually have no brilliant suggestions other than that I think it should probably be someone relatively unknown in their early twenties.
Rhett
Matthew McConaughey, alright alright alright...NO!
Orlando Bloom, Nope, I loves me some Orlando Bloom, but he isn't anywhere near old enough or rugged-manly enough.
Ben Affleck, not quite.
Leonardo Dicaprio, ugh.

I'm pretty convinced that it should be Gerard Butler, if he could get the accent right, and I have faith that he could. I'd also be willing to consider Hugh Jackman, though watching The Fountain has given me some bad feelings towards him (only because it was so boring and nonsensical that it made me want to kill myself). And George Clooney, though it's hard for me to think of him as anything beside a television ER doctor even though he's legit as could be these days.
As far as Ashley goes I haven't really seen many stupid suggestions and I'm decided on Jude Law, good looking, but ultimately pretty useless and kind of more trouble than he's worth.
Melanie is also kind of hard because she's supposed to be pretty homely and aside from Julia Stiles who I wouldn't want to see playing her, you don't see many homely women in Hollywood. I'm open to Alexis Bledel, who I think is completely gorgeous, but if they moused her out then, maybe. Also maybe Ginnifer Goodwin, although anything I've ever seen her in she's pretty funny, so she'd have to play it just right.
*EDIT* I've recently become determined that Natalie Portman (beauty played way down of course) just might be THE perfect Melanie.
Anyway, I clearly have no life to have spent so much time and effort thinking about this and I'm kind of embarrassed about that but that's who I am. Do you guys have any casting suggestions?

Breaking Dawn

Just a quick warning, if you haven't finished it yet you might not want to read this post. I'm not planning on giving anything away but you never know what I'll let slip. Also, before I finished reading it, I didn't want anybody to talk to me who already had. I didn't want to know whether or not they liked it, I didn't want to know anything. So if you're at all like me in that respect, come back to this one later.






I LOVED IT! I LOVED IT! I LOVED IT!!!!! Really and truly I absolutely loved it. It was everything that I could have possibly wanted it to be and so so so much more. Apparently not everyone thinks so, which makes zero sense to me. But I'm a proud member of the Ignorant Masses. When I read a book or watch a movie I'm looking for nothing more than a good time and a little escape. I'm not critiquing, I'm not looking for it to be incredibly smart, or to change my life in anyway (those things are bonuses when you happen upon them of course, but come one, how often does that happen?), I either like it or I don't and I don't go looking to pick it apart and dissect it.
As I read this book every chapter I wanted to stop and just tell somebody "This is SO good!" So I'm sayin' it now, loud and proud, I loved it!

Sorry that this post is a little redundant, I'm kind of tired from my wonderful week with my family (which I'll probably tell you all about later, luckies) and I JUST finished the book and it is majorly on my mind.
For a tiny spoiler and the only TEENY TINY problem that I had with the whole thing check my comments section. Happy Reading!

Sick and Tired

LaRue is sick and I am oh so tired. Last night was impossible! Matilda, who is just fine decided at midnight that it was time to par-tay. She finally quieted down around 2:30, but LaRue woke up around 5:30 with sickness troubles (vomiting). I haven't been back to sleep since and I'm so tired. So today Matilda and I will stay in our pajamas, LaRue will run around in her Sleeping Beauty dress, and I'll be horribly mean and impatient. Okay, so it's basically just like every other day for us except that LaRue is sometimes throwing up.
On a more positive note I did get to take a shower today, never a guarantee. And last night I finished reading The Host. I really liked it. It took me a while to really get into it, trying to get Mostly Monkeys going took up a lot of spare time, but once I got that finished and could really focus, I really enjoyed it. Very interesting.
Soooo, anybody feel like popping over to baby-sit while I sneak in a nap? No?

Mothers Day Hodge-Podge

Very first of all I would like to wish a Happy Mothers Day to all of you wonderful and beautiful mommies, I hope you were royally pampered and lauded over today. For my part I'm a very lucky girl, early this morning Jordan gave me a fantastic gift and and helped my girlies give me the most wonderful mothers day card a girl could ask for. It heavily featured one Miss Hello Kitty, and also provided this most magical and versatile piece of jewelery.
This will pretty much go with every outfit I wear. I cannot tell you how giddy this makes my twelve year old girl heart. I can't explain why but lately I have fallen heavily back in love with all things Hello Kitty. It may have something to do with getting older and thus longing for my youth, of which Hello Kitty was a big part. At any rate out of mondo-adoration for my beautiful card and after requesting permission and struggling with feelings of guilt and exhilaration, I have already began to harvest the card for parts and made this.The glue is literally still drying, and I am no photographer, but what I am, is totally obsessed with these bookmarks. I saw the idea of using the corners of envelopes to make page corner bookmarks a few days ago and they are all I can think about now. Just ask my mom and my mom-in-law who both got their very own, personalized corner bookmarks with their mothers day cards. I'm so geeky when I get excited about a 'craft', and let me just tell you that in conjunction with these bookmarks I have more than once said to myself 'the possibilities are endless...' and by gum, they are! Soooo, if you are one to expect a card for me anytime soon, and for any reason, I think it's pretty reasonable to expect one (or more!) of these puppies to be tucked inside, and believe me, I'll probably be thinking they're the most awesome thing I've ever made. Have I ever mentioned on here that I don't have much of a life?
Anyway, I'm totally excited to use my brand new hello kitty, glitter-licious bookmark to keep my place in the aforementioned fantastic gift that Jordan got for me.
I'm really excited to read it. I haven't heard/read a ton about it, but what I have heard/read has all been good, and I just finished what I was reading and am all set to go.
By the way, I was reading Stardust by Neil Gaiman. I watched the movie Stardust a few months ago on the suggestion of my dear friend Salli (not to be confused with my dear Aunt Sally because, well, I don't have one) and I LOVED it. I thought it was so good and so fun, and then of course, when I found out it was based on a book I had to read it because that's what I do for kicks. And I loved the book too. I thought it was fun and sweet, and it reads really fast, it keeps a good pace. He writes in a way that I don't come across all the time, and I find it fun. He gives his chapters really long names like In Which We Encounter Several Other Persons, Many of Them Still Alive, With an Interest in the Fate of the Fallen Star. I love when chapter titles start with 'In Which', and I'm not even kidding about that.
Alright, well I warned you that this was a hodge-podge, and I feel like I delivered. Now I'm off to snuggle up on the couch and watch a movie.

Not Everyones Cup of Tea

Throughout the years I've had my share of odd celebrity crushes, Jeff Goldblum was my first true love... at age 14. I know, I'm not normal, but he's another post for another time. With marriage and a slightly firmer grasp on reality, they've evolved to being less of a crush thing, and more of an "I find this person fascinating" thing. Don't worry, Jordan knows, there's Johnny Depp of course, Vincent D'Onofrio, a recent newcomer is Daniel Day-Lewis he's a total chameleon right? A long time member of this list has been Christopher Walken, he's just got moxie I tell ya, anyone who has seen this knows what I'm talking about.
He was on Saturday Night Live a few weeks ago and there was some funny stuff, some not-so-funny stuff, but the thing that made me laugh the hardest was this tiny joke, buried inside a sketch that was only okay (for me anyway, just try to get Jordan to stop talken Walken, it can't be done). Anyway, I'm not so savvy with linking and online videos so the funny part is only from 2 min. 31 sec.s into it, to 2 min. 49 sec.s. I really hope you watch it or the rest of this post won't make as much sense.
But the reason that that tickles me so is probably due in large part to this classic book which was given to me as a Christmas gift from my parents, I believe my sister Julie had some hand in the selection process.
I know, right? As you can imagine this delighted and amused us for years to come. Anyway, if we open it up to page one we find...

You're probably wondering why I'd bother sharing all of this with you. I think mainly it was really exciting to have two things that I've enjoyed so much for such a long time come together in such a harmonious way. Also, I'm a freak.

My Brush With Greatness!

This is the picture of the actual brush, or as close as I came to having an actual brush with greatness. The man in the picture behind me is one Alexander McCall Smith. He is one of my favorite authors these days. He writes four series, I read three and mean to get on to the fourth but just haven't yet. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, 44 Scotland Street, & The Isabel Dalhousie books. The newest in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency was just released and so he's been going around the states doing a book tour and last night he was at the Powells in Beaverton so my friend Dani and I carpe-ed the diem and went and beheld. He was everything that I had imagined and hoped him to be and so much more! He was so funny, he seemed so down to earth and unassuming. He didn't seem to take his work too seriously, he told really amusing anecdotes and seemed so tickled by them himself as he said them, which just made him all the more endearing. I love him now more than ever - don't worry, Jordan knows.
He spoke for about half an hour, had a little Q & A time and then signed books and met with people. To my everlasting regret I didn't get to stay to meet him. My friend Dani is very much a student right now, intensely working on her thesis and she had to get back to it, we probably would have had to wait about an hour to get a turn, so we had to make due with special pictures of us somewhat near him. Special pictures which I will totally cherish by the way!
It was really such a thrill to go and see him, and I'd recommend his books to everyone. They're so sweet and have such a gentle pace and he has such a way of writing things that I'm constantly thinking "Yes! That's how it is! I've always felt that way, or thought this thing, but I'd never in a million years be able to put it to paper in such an eloquent, charming, witty way." Which incidentally reminds me that I sometimes have aspirations to write, but when I read good books that I enjoy (which is kind of my preference) I get SO discouraged and realize that I could never write anything half as enjoyable and just decide to give up. Last night our conversation kind of turned to this on the way home and Dani had such a good idea to get me over that. She suggested that I just read total piece of crap books, her author of suggestion was Anita Stansfield (resident Mormon romance writer; whom I've never actually read for myself now that I think of it, so I'm really in no place to judge) which led me to my next idea that if I ever did manage to write something I wasn't completely embarrassed by, I should try peddling it to the LDS publishing companies. For example anyone who ever okayed anything written by one Jack Weyland, something along those lines. We'll have to see how things develop.

May I Recommend...

I saw a preview for the movie Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day a few months ago and I thought it looked like a fun movie and made a note to go and see it. Well a couple of weeks ago on one of the blogs that I read, the movie and the book were listed as things that were making her happy at the moment. Well when I found out that it was a book I of course had to read it.
I adored it! I found it to be so cute, funny, sweet, fast-paced, somewhat scandalous yet innocent and highly enjoyable. It was also an incredibly easy read. Now I know I shouldn't be, but I'm a total book-cover-judger and a hardcover snob, and I just love the look of this book, it's a really sturdy paperback, and it's so pretty and I just love it. Now I look forward with even more anticipation to seeing the movie version though heaven knows when I'll be able to get around to doing that. Anyway, if you're looking for something cute and fun and quick to read I would totally recommend it.

Oh Judy...

Well I finished reading it and I was not disappointed. I had forgotten the preoccupation with not having boobs and hoping for your period (which I have to say feels like an accurate portrayal of the age) but it was really funny to reminisce. Also, reading this got me through one of the longest and most uncomfortable dentist appointments of my life, for which I am very grateful. As I read it though I think I did read it when I was younger, I didn't really remember anything about the story except for a certain postcard that is sent and received which reads only I GOT IT!!! And if you're wondering to what the IT could refer go back and read the second sentence of this post. But I'm pretty sure that reading this book must have been a major factor in my co-founding a club in the sixth grade with my friend Julie called C.A.G.O. (Cool Aikahi Girls Only). We made the other members pay dues... I'm not kidding, though I'm pretty sure it only happened once. The club like so many of my great ideas fizzled out pretty quickly.
So let me share with you my favorite excerpt from the entire book, these four girls are trying to think of a name for their club:
"We'll be the Four PTS's"
"What's it stand for?" Janie asked.
Nancy tossed her hair around and smiled."The Pre-Teen Sensations!"
"Hey, that's good," Gretchen said.
"I love it," Janie squealed.
We had a secret vote to pass the club name and naturally it passed. Then Nancy decided we should all have secret sensational names such as Alexandra, Veronica, Kimberly and Mavis. Nancy got to be Alexandra. I was Mavis.

Hee hee! It just tickles me, even now. Maybe we should start a club, any cool name ideas ladies? It could be a club name or just your "secret sensational" name, I think mine'll be Mildred. Well if anyone else wants to read it (and I know that now you're all dying to) I've got a copy you can borrow, aw heck you could even have it.

Awesome Finds

You've got to love Goodwill, sometimes. Sometimes of course you go and find absolutely nothing. Lately I'll go there every so often because (sometimes) they'll have some really cute socks, brand new ones in case that made anyone nervous, but I can't go without looking in their book section. Today while I was there I found a couple of pairs of socks and totally scored in the book department. Around here we love Arthur books, Berenstain Bears books, and Little Critter, I found loads of those today and at forty-nine cents a pop I can't stop myself. But I also stumbled across...Forty-nine cents y'all! Now you're probably wondering why on earth I'd be excited about this and the answer is I don't really know other than that I'm a big dork, and if I didn't get excited about the little things when on earth would I get to be excited? In those formative Judy Blume years I definitely read my share, Freckle Juice, Fudge, Double Fudge, Blubber, Forever, but somehow I never got around to reading this classic, so I'm really excited to further my Judy Blume education. Plus it probably won't take me all that long to read it which will really help me get a little ahead on my goal to read 50 books by the end of the year.
But what I'm even more excited about finding was this
I adore middle readers, they're more my maturity level than most adult fiction, and so I read this a year or two ago and I thought it was so charming! It's actually the second book about these kids, the first one is called Chasing Vermeer. I would love these books anyway, but now that I'm a mom I'm all about collecting books that I will want to read to and with my kids or just for them to read on their own sometime (which reminds me I ALSO found Ramona the Pest...score!). These books are fun and exciting and are all about thinking outside the box and not being afraid to ask questions and find things out for yourself, and they even manage to be somewhat educational on top of it all. Anyway, the copy that I found is a paperback in such nice condition and it was only ninety-nine cents!
Well I guess I'd better go read something if I'm gonna make my goal.