Good morning. I am coffee free this morning….. but on purpose. 😀 I am going to my first weigh in this morning with a friend and I am anal about eating or drinking anything before weigh in. No worries – my weigh in is at 8:30 am and I will stop for coffee on my way to work after.
Last night myself and a mix of book club gals and friends, went to the 7 pm showing of The Help. I was warned previously by Kathy at Bermuda Onion to bring Kleenex, which I forgot and did need. 😛
I felt the movie was a wonderful stem off the book. While not all scenes ran as the book did, it was a close comparison and changes were small and probably so the movie (which was 2 1/5 hours long) did not become a 3 to 4 hour movie! 😀
The characters were wonderful – Skeeter played by Emma Stone did a wonderful job and Aibileen by Viola Davis, was breathtakingly true to the character. Of course… if you know me…. my heart and my laugh was given time and again to Minny. Minny was outspoken, rough around the edges, and in her home life… abused.
The seven of us in the theater as well as the rest of the theater rolled with laughter when it came to the confrontation between Minny and Hilly. Hilly, by the way, cast by Bryce Dallas Howard also did wonderful! In fact there is no part taken that I would say did not feel true to the book.
I laughed and I cried, and I laughed and I cried again. I highly recommend if this movie comes close to you that you see it. AND – bring the Kleenex. 😉
Janie Crawford is a beautiful free-spirited Southern Black girl in the 1930’s. With her parents long dead, Janie is raised be her grandmother. At sixteen she is seen kissing the neighbor boy, Johnny Taylor. Her grandmother, in fear that Janie will wind up being treated like a mule for some man, she arranges for her to be married to Logan Killicks, a man in his 60’s who is looking for a wife to help him take care of his farm.
Janie wants more from life so when opportunity comes literally knocking at her door she runs away with a man she just met and becomes Mrs. Joe Starks. She soon finds out that to Joe she is a trophy wife and therefore must act as such. Soon Janie feels trapped again.
And so the story goes on – when something happens to Joe, Janie again finds herself a free woman, but not with finances to back her up. When a drifter who goes by the name of Tea Cake comes to town Janie finds herself attracted to this mysterious man. The two eventually become man and wife and their life together really is what makes this book.
Here is yet another read I would probably not have picked up. When I found it on the sale list at audible.com I thought this may be a good time to try this one and I am so glad I did. If you have not experienced this book on audio then you are truly missing out. The rich southern voice of narrator Ruby Dee was a treat to listen too. Ruby mastered the voices from deep male, to the young voice of Janie.
The book impressed me. It is a deep love story that I wasn’t anticipating, and maybe that made me appreciate it all the more. Janie and Tea Cake make some of the modern-day literary couples look dull in comparison. And all that is from the book…
just wait until you add the movie.
I had timed my finishing of the book with the arrival of the movie from Netflix. I wasn’t sure what I thought I would find in this movie…but it wasn’t this. Halli Berry is the perfect person to play Janie. She is a beautiful woman, just as Janie was described and she was the image of the free-spirited girl that I had read about.
If I thought the love story was touching in the book… on the screen, seeing the great love between Tea Cake and Janie was heart wrenching – and this from a person who does not read romance! I was so touched by the their story again… even as fresh as it was in my mind from just hours before ending the book…
I highly recommend both. Definitely do not miss out on this great novel and movie.
As the story goes… Kitty (Naomi Watts) has found herself to be quite choosy on who she will choose as a husband. It certainly it is not from lack of effort on the men’s part, yet Kitty knows she is beautiful and really feels that a woman does not need to have a man in her life to feel complete. Her parents disagree.
One day, after a particular awkward argument at home when her mother flat-out asks Kitty how much longer she plans to count on her father to support her – Kitty takes a walk and finds herself in the company of a fairly new acquaintance, Walter (Edward Norton). When out of the blue, Walter proposes, Kitty is taken aback and laughs telling him that she hardly knows him and surely he does not expect an answer. Upon returning home, she overheard her mother on the phone gushing over Kitty’s sister new proposal and saying that of course Kitty will probably never get married. Kitty quickly returns to Walter with a “yes, she will marry him.”
As expected, Kitty soon finds that her lack on knowing Walter is a problem. He in quite introverted, used to accompanying himself only and honestly she finds him boring. When they attend a party together and she is introduced to Charles Townsend, Kitty finds herself drawn to this man who is exciting, adventurous,outgoing, and really everything that Walter is not.
An affair is soon taking place between Kitty and Charles, never mind that Charles too is married and Kitty is sure that if they could only dump their current spouses that life would be a fairy tale of happily ever after.
When Walter inevitably finds out, he offers Kitty a divorce if only Charles will marry her. Kitty soon finds herself in a rude awakening that carries her sullen and broken to where Walter is taking her, to a small Chinese village where Walter is to help with the cholera outbreak that is taking the lives of everyone in contact with it. Kitty is sure that Walter is trying to kill her… but soon finds herself taken in with her surroundings of the poor and the abandoned, and grows into someone she never knew was in her.
I recently read and reviewed The Painted Veil by W Somerset Maugham and I was surprised how much I fell in love with this story. As mentioned in my review, Kitty annoyed me to no end. She was selfish and stuck on herself. Even in the end when I thought there may be a turning point in the story – Kitty again let me down. I can say by the end of the read, I understood Kitty and her weaknesses, but I sure did not need to accept them or like them.
As per my habit, I have found that I enjoy reading books and then if movies are available to actively search them out. That is what I did in this case, and added to my Netflix Que this movie.
Having now seen the movie I have to say, no matter what you thought of the book, the movie is worth seeing. First of all, you never have to twist my arm too bad to have me watch anything with Edward Norton in it. I think he is a brilliant actor and he came through again in Painted Veil.
Book and movie are not the same. I wish, the book would have been written as the movie was. Yes, I just said that. I found the story more heart wrenching the way the movie came together – and I found that in the end, Kitty was someone who truly had grown and became a woman I was impressed with. She truly found herself literally and figuratively in a monastery for orphans. And to see how both she and Walter deal with the affair is very realistic. Truly, Walter is a more likable character too – as the movie gives him more heart and depth than the book did.
I was touched deeply by this movie and encourage you if you have not seen it to really treat yourself to an amazing story.
Eddie Morra, is broke, dirty looking, unfocused and down on his luck. He is contracted to write a book, but can not seem to write a word. He spends his days snoozing, occasionally boozing, and basically wasting air. His girlfriend has just told him that enough is enough and she needs to move on. Eddie…. can’t blame her.
And then Eddie runs into his ex- brother-in-law who asks him to catch up over a beer or two. As they talk, Eddies brother-in-law says he can help Eddie with what ails him and offers us a clear pill in a small bag. At first Eddie refuses, he may have many faults, but drug use is not one of them. It’s clean, Eddie is assured. They call it NZT and it just makes you clear-headed, taps into that 80% of the brain that we do not use.
Eddie eventually thinks what does he have to lose, and takes the pill. Minutes later – his life changes forever.
Clear headed, Eddie can recall everything he has ever seen on tv, read in a book, learned, experienced…. he is filled with energy and writes his book in four hours.
Of course, he returns to the brother-in-law to get more of this miracle pill, but finds that his brother-in-law has been killed. Eddie searches the apartment and is able to find the hidden stash of the NZT and starts taking it daily.
He starts working out and getting in shape, he gets his scraggly hair cut and looks good. His brain works so fast he is able to comprehend stock market changes and starts making money, thousands of dollars a day…. but it is not fast enough. Eddie takes out a “loan” from a shady character who threatens to skin Eddie if the money is not returned. Eddie uses this money to make larger investments and the money rolls in…. people take notice and soon Eddie is working for the biggest financial dude in the world…. he has everything he needs and money to purchase things he doesn’t….
but Eddie is not the only one looking for NZT and he soon learns that people are watching, and he starts to find hours missing that he can not account for and learning that others who have been on the drug are either dying or dead.
I LOVED this movie and I have seen it twice. Fast action, and while I am no advocate for drugs – there is a message within this movie that really makes you think about unlimited power and what happens when it is in the wrong (and right) hands.
When you see all that NZT does in the movie, how much a person can accomplish, how much it opens your mind up… you can see the draw… especially for a guy like Eddie who really can not sink much lower.
Part of it is honestly I really enjoy this actor, he’s quick, he’s witty, and easy on the eyes. (Yes… I said it). 😛 I thought he had just showed up on the radar in the last couple years when I seen him in movies like: A Team, Valentines Day, He’s Just Not That Into You and in Hangover.
Then the other day I was watching Failure To Launch on tv and noticed that he played the roll of one of Mathew McConaughley’s friends….
Bradley Cooper and Matthew MacCoughley in Failure To Launch
and I was surprised and I had not picked up on that. I also found that he played in Yes Man, with Jim Carrey. Now that just makes me like him even more as here he was pretty much this supporting actor who someone seen potential in. I like that. I have always rooted for the underdog. It’s just my way.
Jim Carrey and Bradley Cooper
I think we keep an eye on Bradley Cooper. I bet there are more big roles coming for him and I think he is just getting started.
I highly recommend if you are a movie lover, go and see Limitless at the theater. For this book girl (who seems to be lacking in the reading department lately…) this move was an awesome break from a long movie free winter.
Finally! Yesterday afternoon Chance and I ventured 23 miles past out local movie theater (with our noses in the air) as we made our way to a newer and rumored more “cushy” theater. We stopped at a Dairy Queen brazier in the area and stocked up on burgers and fries which I promptly placed in my purse.
Yes…. yes I did.
All of this for what you may ask?
The much awaited showing of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows of course!
We arrived early and were thrilled to walk into a theater that had large comfortable chairs and plenty of room. I literally “SSSQQQQQUUUEEEEEDDDD” when the opening to the movie came on the screen (seriously – ask Chance… I did.) I grabbed my mushroom swiss out of my purse and got comfortable.
I loved it.
LOVED IT!!!
I know sometimes it is hard for such a long anticipated movie to live up to the hype but I was not disappointed. True to the book each scene was like a chapter… coming to life! Hold on to your seats… if you are like me, The Deathly Hallows will send you back in time and suddenly I was remembering the first books, and my kids reactions – and the excitement to see them reading and talking excitedly about a book….
I really have a lot of memories entwined within these books!
There are several moments in the movie I would love to chat about but I do not want to spoil anything
Halloween Costume 2011?
for anyone who has not seen this yet. Let me just say I have always enjoyed watching Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix. She is so incredible in this role. (She may be my next Halloween costume!)
I remember this was the book that was such a leap for me. I loved the characters and I loved the setting of Hogwarts… when circumstances pulled Harry, Hermione, and Ron away from the school… I wasn’t sure where they were headed or what this meant for the storyline, but I was in. All in. J K Rowling did not disappoint me them and the movie did not disappoint me now. In all honesty, it was an emotional experience to see this characters on the big screen working towards finishing up a much beloved series.
In a word: Bitter sweet.
I would highly recommend you see it. In fact, I will see it again when my son is in town this weekend.
I recently watched the movie Sylvia, the story of the turmoil life that was Sylvia Plath’s. Having recently read The Bell Jar for book club I found myself fascinated with the woman behind the words.
The movie is mainly about Plath’s life at the point that Ted Hughes (eventual husband) comes into her life. The start of their time together is much like a fairy tale of fun romance from meeting each other, to Ted tossing small rocks at her window at night. It appears to be the start of something beautiful. However, soon Sylvia finds herself struggling to write the poems she is known for and becomes more and more consumed with her husbands doings.
I really enjoyed seeing this side of the Sylvia Plath story. No, enjoyed doesn’t sound right…. I really appreciated being able to see this side of the story. Having read The Bell Jar and knowing the little bit that I knew about Sylvia and her life, this really pieced things together between the strange passion of the book, and the flame that burned inside Sylvia herself.
When I went on-line I was fascinated to see how many books are out centered around either Sylvia’s writing, or her life as well as her husband Ted’s.
On February 11th, 1963, Sylvia Plath committed suicide. She was found dead in her kitchen having inhaled gas from her oven.
A year later Ted Hughes oversaw the publication of her last manuscript of poems. The collection, ‘Ariel’ became one of the most celebrated and widely read books of poetry of the 20th century,and made Sylvia an icon for generations of readers.
In 1998, Ted Hughes broke a thirty year silence about Sylvia with the publication of ‘Birthday Letters’, a series of poems telling the story of their relationship. He died of cancer a few weeks later.
Overall I would say this is a wonderful companion to The Bell Jar.
After a blurred trauma over the summer, Melinda enters high school a selective mute. Struggling with school, friends, and family, she tells the dark tale of her experiences, and why she has chosen not to speak.
During Banned Books week I had the opportunity to review the book SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson. The book was brought to my attention during the big hype about the recent controversy surrounding the book and its status as a banned and challenged book. I read the book and found it to be very well and tastefully done.
While doing a little research on the book I was surprised to discover it had also been a movie. Surprise #2 was that the lead role of Melinda was played by non other than Kristen Stewart (you may know her better as Bella in the Twilight movies). I was instantly fascinated with this early role for Kristen as well as the movie itself.
Thank goodness for the miracle that is Netflix. I was able to find the movie that was released in 2004.
I appreciated the movie as much as I appreciated the book. Again, I was brought to the brink as I relived the books harder parts through the screen. Kristen Stewart does well in this role being at first silent with fear and later, able to SPEAK of what has happened to her. I found this movie to a wonderful companion to the book and highly recommend this to those who have had the opportunity to read this heartfelt book of a young girl’s life after rape.
Harriet Vanger, a young member of a very wealthy Swedish family disappears at the age of 16. Gone without a trace, 40 years later, Harriet’s Uncle is still haunted by her absence… was she murdered? If so by who?
Mikael Blomkvist part owner of the magazine Millenium has just taken a huge hit to the pocket-book. Caught in a libel conviction he decided to take a breather from the magazine until the heat wears off and instead of a break, finds himself hired by Harriet’s uncle to research and try to find evidence as to what happened all those years ago. With the help of a very damaged young tattooed computer hacker Lisbeth Salander, Mikael finds himself searching for pieces that will change the lives of all involved.
Sound popcorn worthy? Well…. it depends on who you ask. This was my book club, The Bookies, pick for our September read. Due to a crazy busy month, by the time we reviewed this book last week I was not finished. Not even close to being finished. However, I think that really gave me an outside look at an interesting and somewhat hard discussion with our book club.
Our group met at a lovely Mexican restaurant and over assorted yummy dishes (I was so tired I forgot to order!) we discussed this book. This book brought out mixed opinions, strong opinions on both sides. I had ladies in the group who loved the read, found it interesting, fast paced, and fabulous. Several of the girls in the group had already moved on to books two and three. I had a couple that found it pretty neutral, even predictable, and had guessed the outcome long before the final pages were turned. And there were a few that hated the book. And I do not use that word lightly. The book brought up some hard memories and the gory, graphic parts of the book were found to be too much, as well as Mikael’s promiscuous behavior ( he seemed to have no problem sleeping with an assortment of women,including one who was his best friend, and married and her husband did not care).
While you may be reading that above paragraph and think the review must have been just a battle and a nightmare, no, it was quite the contrary. This remarkable group of strong women that I have the pleasure of meeting with each month (and have since August of 2001), are very respectful of each others opinions. I, having not completed the book at the time of review, really found this discussion to be intense and as I say often, the books that bring out the emotions in us are usually the best reviews, especially when we come up with an assortment of feelings about the book.
One of the thoughts that touched me was while what happens to the character of Lisbeth Salander is horrible, cruel, and truly hard to read, this really shows how strong of a woman she is and for those who have went on to read the other books, they feel that this first book really lays out the ground work of how she became who she is.
Read from my back deck (and a part in Finland, Minnesota)
Flash forward a few days ahead to where I have finished the books and these are my thoughts I would like to add:
Yes, there are parts of the book that are graphic and hard to read. I was a little glad I had a heads up about that through my book club because at the time of our discussion I was at a part in the book where things were flowing along much like a Sherlock Holmes read… solving a crime, looking for clues, just with the twisted addition of a very unusual relationship between Mikael and Erika.
While this book is pretty much centered around the activities of Mikael, it is to my understanding that in the next book and the one after, it is actually Lisbeth who takes the lead character role and I find that an interesting turn from our author. Actually, it is quite brilliant to bring Lisbeth in as a background character and then make her more important as the series goes on.
I ended the book very much satisfied that I had just read a good mystery and I would continue on with this series.
It is a fact that Stieg Larsson was contracted for 10 books when he wrote the three books in this series. Before these books were published, Stieg died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 50. It was his girlfriend who brought the books into the publisher and all three books were published.
After I finished reading the book, I rented the movie to see what these characters would play out like. While I have heard great thoughts about the movie, I have to disagree. The character of Erika seemed to soft and always looked on the verge of tears. In the book her relationship with Mikael is ongoing and she is frequently featured. In the movie, I am not sure I would have understood the depth of the relationship if I had not read the book first.
As in most movies from books, many parts were left out including one of the crucial moments in the book that lets you really understand what Lisbeth is made of. I was surprised that it was omitted and still wonder if I just blinked and missed it. Overall thoughts on the movie: It looks like they are making American versions of all three of the books into movies. Currently the movie I watched was the swedish one with English subtitles. I would be interested in seeing how the new version will change from the one I seen.
Last week I read and reviewed To Kill A Mockingbird, easily naming this as one of my now all time favorite reads. The book was so well written, so smart, so engaging…. I just fell in love with it and I am so impressed with Harper Lee’s writing style and the story that she tells.
After finishing the book, I knew I wanted to see the movie and was lucky enough to find it at one of our few remaining video rental stores (uhhh yeah… whats with all the Red Boxes anyway?). I brought the movie with us camping this weekend and watched it with my husband as well as with our company which included two young girls ages 9 and 12. It is fair to say that i was actually a little jealous that they were able to experience this show at the ages they are where I am currently in my 40’s and seeing it for the first time.
The movie was… well, wonderful. Gregory Peck made an incredible Aticus and listening to him was just as I had pictured he would be, evenly tempered, wise in his speech, and gentle in his manner. It was wonderful to watch the book come alive before my eyes, and having just finished the book I enjoyed watching how it all played out on the screen.
As in all movies, parts of the book are lost. One of my favorite parts in the book was the end when Scout is walking home in the turkey costume and while that is in the movie, they cut out a lot of the story behind that part of the book, which I missed.
Over all I would highly recommend that everyone first read the book – you will not be sorry, and secondly, watch the movie, both are worth your time and you will forever have this wonderful piece of culture known as To Kill A Mockingbird.
Did you know that To Kill A Mockingbird was a banned book?
Fact: Challenged in Eden Valley, Minn. (1977) and temporarily banned due to words “damn” and “whore lady” used in the novel.Challenged in the Vernon Verona Sherill, N.Y School District (1980) as a “filthy, trashy novel:” Challenged at the Warren, Ind.Township schools (1981) because the book does “psychological damage to the positive integration process ” and “represents institutionalized racism under the guise of good literature:” After unsuccessfully banning Lee’s novel, three black parents resigned from the township human relations advisory council. Challenged in the Waukegan, III. School District (1984) because the novel uses the word “nigger.” Challenged in the Kansas City, Mo. junior high schools (1985). Challenged at the Park Hill, Mo. Junior High School (1985) because the novel “contains profanity and racial slurs:” Retained on a supplemental eighth grade reading list in the Casa Grande, Ariz. Elementary School District (1985), despite the protests by black parents and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People who charged the book was unfit for junior high use. Challenged at the Santa Cruz, Calif. Schools (1995) because of its racial themes. Removed from the Southwood High School Library in Caddo Parish, La. (1995) because the book’s language and content were objectionable. Challenged at the Moss Point, Miss. School District (1996) because the novel contains a racial epithet. Banned from the Lindale,Tex. advanced placement English reading list (1996) because the book “conflicted with the values of the community.” Challenged by a Glynn County, Ga. (2001) school board member because of profanity. The novel was retained. Returned to the freshman reading list at Muskogee, Okla. High School (2001) despite complaints over the years from black students and parents about racial slurs in the text. Challenged in the Normal, ILL Community High Schools sophomore literature class (2003) as being degrading to African Americans. Challenged at the Stanford Middle School in Durham, N.C. (2004) because the 1961 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel uses the word “nigger.”
Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school . . . again. No matter how hard he tries, he can’t seem to stay out of trouble. But can he really be expected to stand by and watch while a bully picks on his scrawny best friend? Or not defend himself against his pre-algebra teacher when she turns into a monster and tries to kill him? Of course, no one believes Percy about the monster incident; he’s not even sure he believes himself.
Until the Minotaur chases him to summer camp.
Suddenly, mythical creatures seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy’s Greek mythology textbook and into his life. The gods of Mount Olympus, he’s coming to realize, are very much alive in the twenty-first century. And worse, he’s angered a few of them: Zeus’s master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.
Now Percy has just ten days to find and return Zeus’s stolen property, and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. On a daring road trip from their summer camp in New York to the gates of the Underworld in Los Angeles, Percy and his friends–one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena–will face a host of enemies determined to stop them. To succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of failure and betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.
ψ ψ ψ ψ ψ ψ ψ
Before I begin my review… I would like to share with you why I read this book. Two words really: Harry Potter. I had heard that this could be compared to the likes of the phenomenon that is Harry Potter.
(Pause for dramatic effect)
Now I know it is not safe for me (not even in the comforts of my own home) to say that I am the biggest Harry Potter fan that ever lived. No doubt as soon as those words would leave my fingertips, you would hear later that I was found dead next to my lap top having been strangled with a gryffindor scarf. Or, OR – I may find myself suffering from one of the three unforgivable curses. So instead I will just say that I am a real admirer of JK Rowling’s work and find the whole Harry Potter world fascinating.
THE BOOK
That being said, a book that is to be in the likes of the former mentioned was one that had to be read. I picked up this book, The Lightning Thief and was prepared for the adventure.
In the first part of the book I was surprised to find it written in such a young way. The wording was kiddish and while this is a book written for 9 – 12 year olds, I immediately felt that this was not going to be anywhere near the quick delightful wit of the Rowling Books.
My hope was to read the book and then see the movie but as I struggled through the first pages on the book I felt that maybe seeing the movie would help to jump-start the book for me. So, I went and did something I would usually never do, before finishing the book, I went to the movie. (more on that later)
The movie did what I had hoped it would – it made me want to complete the book version and along with comments I heard through my blog here and on Twitter that it was worth it to keep reading, that is would pick up…. I read on.
As the book turns toward the quest of Percy Jackson and his two unlikely friends, a daughter of a god and a satyr (half man half donkey), the book indeed took on a stronger appeal to me. I found myself doing what I always do when I am really enjoying a book – it is with me everywhere I can hope to squeeze in a few minutes to read (the bathroom while I blow dry my hair, at the table while I eat breakfast, in the car for long stop lights and trains, and next to when I watch tv to pick up during commercials or during low-interest in what I am watching.
Book recommended? Yes…. just hang on through the slow start and kiddish language…. it gets better.
Will I continue with the series? Jury is still out but I think if I can find the books I probably will just to see where they go. I will not be reading them with the urgency I did the Harry Potter books, but I do admit I am curious to read what happens next. (My nineteen year old son is on the fifth and last book of the series and loved them).
THE MOVIE
The movie was likable right from the start and didn’t have the slow uptake I felt the book had. Incredible scenes led to my interest in finishing the book. I thought the scenes at the Lotus Casino and the magic cookie were brilliant. I like movies (and books) that are just smart in how they put things together.
I thought how it all came together at the end was a bit too neat…. I can’t give anything away here but it really was a quick act of putting everything in its proper place and kind of left me with a bit of “come on….”
Book VS MOVIE
I have to believe the internet is shouting about the huge differences between the movie and the book. As I completed the book I was actually shocked on how different the two were in how the story unfolds, even the fact that the movie left out key characters and changed the outcome in so much I thought on the spoiler page I would list them out. I would love for anyone who have read the book and seen the movie to join me there for a “rant” about the differences and a chance to discuss in more depth what that was all about.
I purchased my copy of the book in Illinois at Borders
Book Journey 