Top Ten Tuesday: Characters I Would Switch Places With... for a time

Funny! I thought this would be an easy list prompt from The Broke and the Bookish today! But I'm struggling! What characters would I want to trade places with, even for just 24 hours? Some characters I love, but STILL wouldn't really want to trade places with them at all.... Katniss for instance. I don't think I could be her even for a short time.

Anyway, here's what I've come up with.

Top Ten Characters I Would Trade Places With for 24 Hours

1. Arwen from Lord of the Rings: so I could be a beautiful elf and love on Aragorn :)
2. Hermione from Harry Potter: so I could be smart and have adventures!
3. Mia Thermopolis from The Princess Diaries: so I could have a make over and meet Michael
4. Anna from Anna and the French Kiss: so I could go to Paris and meet an English dude
5. Lizzy from Pride and Prejudice: so I could meet Mr. Darcy "in real life"!
6. Mary from The Secret Garden: so I could live in a gloomy English mansion yet have the means to perk it up
7. Jo from Little Women: so I could make a different decision!
8. Denna from The Name of the Wind: so I could meet Kvothe "in real life"! BUT only for 24 hours because her life is way too hard for me.
9. Marian from any Robin Hood story: so I could be loved by Robin of course... and shoot arrows.
10. The Queen of Atolia from The Queen of Atolia: to meet Gen of course, however, to live with what I did to him? Not sure I could handle that even for 24 hours....

Hmmm... I'm sure if I were to do this another day, it would all come out differently, but today, that's what I've got!

Who would you put on your list?

The Sunday Salon: Camping... DONE!

The second week of camping is now over! I've survived. This second camping trip was "for real"... completely unplugged with no connection to the world for four days. Also... no showers. I've never felt so gross in my life, or had such a wonderful shower in my life as I did yesterday when we finally got home!

For those four days, I was in charge of feeding 21 girls and five adults. It was a hard thing, but everything turned out great and all went well. I'm just glad that it's over and that I can go on with the rest of the summer without worrying about it anymore!

Anyway, so this makes the second week of no reading... at all. I'm so hoping to get back into the swing of things this next week. I don't know... maybe I've lost the groove all together. Wow, that would be pretty sad! But I do feel a little out of practice or something!

I rewarded myself for surviving the two weeks of camping with Batman yesterday! Full thoughts tomorrow, but I totally enjoyed it.

Anyway, here's to a new week! A new month! And a new chance to get some books read!

Movie Review: The Dark Knight Rises

Movie: The Dark Knight Rises
Genre: Fantasy
Starring: Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Gary Oldman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Rating: PG-13
My Rating: Two thumbs up!

I would have gone to this movie last weekend had my life not been so crazy. As it was, I decided it would be a good reward to myself for surviving a couple of camping weeks. So it was with great relief and happiness that I actually found myself sitting in the IMAX theater Saturday night, with all the camping stress behind me, and all the Batman intensity in front of me!

I went into this movie not really knowing much, having tried to avoid the spoilers (which was easy to do since I was off grid for so many days!) But it was a bit dampening to know of the events in Colorado and it did tend to make me view all the violent shooting scenes, of which there were many, in a bit of a different light. Seriously, I can't begin to imagine the trauma of those people who, like me, where so excited to see the movie. Sad.

Anyway, this movie begins with our hero living a reclusive life after he decided to take the rap for Two Face's crimes at the end of movie two. But when a new villain appears on the scene, he is forced to bring the suit out of the closet to save his city of Gotham.

But this new villain, wow... he's a bit much for Batman to handle! And then Batman finds himself in a bit of a predicament that keeps us all on the edge of our seats, even if it IS a bit predictable what will happen.

How's that for a simple, spoiler free sum up? Ha.

You know, the thing I love most about this movie is the music. However, there were issues in that the music sometimes, often I should say, overpowered the dialogue, and I truly had trouble understanding what was going on because of that. In fact, at the end, I missed a really key moment when someone said something that I so needed to hear! Gah!!! Frustrating!!! I guess I'll just have to go see it again!

I loved Anne Hathaway's portrayal of Catwoman. Very funny... some great comedic relief moments from her!

I also thought Gary Oldman revved up his Commissioner Gordon character several notches. He was fantastic!

And I was so excited to see The Scarecrow (aka. beautiful Cillian Murphy) make a little appearance! What a sweet bad dude he is! :)

And of course, I thought Joseph Gordon-Levitt did an awesome job too. Will we see him in future movies? I guess we'll see!!

In the end, even though it's a long long movie (nearly three hours)  and even though I think I missed much of the details of the plot, I loved every minute. I'm going to miss these guys!

Have you seen it yet? What do you think?

Music Stuck in My Head: Soundtracks!

Wow! It's been awhile since I've done a solely music post! And since I'm off camping this week and have been scheduling posts all week... I thought it was a perfect time to do another one.

So what have I been listening to lately? Besides Gotye?

The Dark Knight Rises soundtrack, even though I have yet to see the movie:

The Amazing Spider-man soundtrack:

I'm sad to be missing the opening ceremonies of the Olympics today. Will you be sure and tell me what cool songs I missed? Please? I'm totally serious about this. Let me know what they sang and who was there and what cool stuff went down.

Speaking of which, do you know who sang in the 2002 opening ceremonies here in SLC? Or wait, maybe it was the closing? According to this YouTube video, it was. Sadly, this doesn't show much of his 20 year old self, but still. Wow.

Okay, I guess that's all I've been listening to lately. Not much actually. I need something new and exciting! I need a to be going to a rock concert, really. Sigh.

Photoaday July Days 17 to 23

Photoaday July brought to you by Fat Mum Slim.

Top Ten Tuesday: Vivid Worlds

I've taken a little break from posting a Top Ten list, feeling somehow uninspired or unable to come up with decent lists suddenly! What's up with that? But this week's prompt from The Broke and the Bookish is about favorite vivid worlds, where vivid, to me, means unforgettable! Colorful! Detailed! And just plain cool.

At first I thought this would mean most of the worlds I would think of would be in fantasy books, but then I realized that I also felt it pertained to worlds from history. So I've divided my list into two sections as you will see.

Ten Favorite Vivid Worlds

From Fantasy

1. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien: fantasy worlds on which all others are based
2. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson: fascinating fantasy world
3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: a now very familiar dystopian world
4. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling: a now very familiar fantasy world!
5. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell: a science fiction world that is insanely gripping

From History

6. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: Regency time period
7. Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck: The Dust Bowl and Great Depression
8. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak: Germany in WWII
9. Katherine by Anya Seton: Tudor times
10. The Far Pavilions by M. M. Kaye: vibrant India

Ah... once again... it turns out that the list contains some of my all time favorite books. Funny how that happens, yes?

What would be on your list?

The Sunday Salon: One Down One to Go

You'll all be happy to know that I've survived the first camping trip! I am furiously washing and trying to furiously rest up for the next one this coming week. Today I have plans to relax like crazy, and then tomorrow I will have to jump into prep work before leaving again.

I am so tired!

I haven't read or watched anything at all this week! I took three books with me on this first camping adventure. The first day I hauled the book around with me all day long as I watched kids swim and boat and such, but I think I only managed two pages of reading.

So I gave up reading for the all the rest of the days. Good thing I took those books!

The adventure this week will be even worse as far as reading time goes, but I may take something just in case.

But instead of reading, I did a few other things.

Hiked through a cave,

ran around in a wind storm,

took pictures of sunsets

and bees,

visited an old church building,

learned about the Oregon Trail,

and ate lots of food.

Here's hoping I'll be back here next week saying I survived Camping Trip Two!!

Where in the World Are You Reading: Local Bookstore

A bunch of my favorite bloggers (Trish, Kelly and Lisa) have started a new fun monthly bookish meme called Where in the World Are You Reading? How could I not participate!?? Please click here for the main details.

This month's theme is: your local bookstore. Sadly, the only real local bookstore I have now that Borders is gone, is Barnes and Noble. While they are fine for an emergency, I don't often go there for my bookish needs. They do have some fun author events though, which I will support when I can.

However, a few miles away in Salt Lake, there is a very cool local bookstore called The King's English. I'm often wishing this store was a little bit closer to me because they have non-stop author events that I'd love to go to more often! As it is, I manage to go to maybe two or three a year.

This store is situated in what used to be a house, I think, so the store wanders in and out of many little rooms, each devoted to a different genre. A few years after opening, they bought out the part of the building next to them and expanded their kids and YA sections. It's a very quaint and cozy space.

The owner, Betsy Burton, has written a book about her story, which I've read and found fascinating! As a bonus, each chapter ends with a book list that pertains in part to that chapter. I love it.

What do you love about your local bookstore? Write up a post and participate! Come here to link up.

Next month's prompt: Library.

Book Review: Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt

Book: Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt
Genre: YA Contemporary
Rating:'''''

For: Fun
From: library

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It seems like I'd heard of this book awhile back, but when the library staff promoted it as a great summer read during the teen kick off program the other day I knew it was finally time to read it.&>


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Somehow I ended up with it from the library shortly after putting it on hold. Not sure how that happened, and it was quite the mix up too, but all is well, and I'm legally okay to actually have it now! :)&>


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Then, I read it in a day. Which either tells you it was easy fast reading, or I was very much in the mood for it... or that I actually had time that day. Or, it could be a bit of all three!&>


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The story is about a girl whose dad is sick, and she's not dealing with it so very well. So she has to go to the school counselor which will hopefully help her. As part of that endeavor, she is supposed to choose a object to focus on and write about it. Turns out, she has been starring at the back of Sean Griswold's head for years now, since he is ALWAYS sitting in front of her, and suddenly, she decides to focus on that!&>


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Well, as you may, guess, this leads to focusing on the rest of poor unsuspecting Sean, which turns into quite the fun, and sweet story. And along the way, she manages to deal with the troubling sad bits of her life too.&>


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It's a really cute story and a lot of fun, mixed with some great lessons learned too. Because of that, it feels more real than many of the YA books these days, and I think that's the biggest reason for much of its appeal.&>


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Bottom line: I really enjoyed this one a lot.

Other Reviews:

Alternate Readality
Annette's Book Spot
My Friend Amy
Everyday Reading

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Photoaday July Days 12-16

Wow, doing these pictures every day sure makes me realize how fast times flies. Dang, I don't need that! Anyway, here's what I've come up with for the past few days:

Book Review: Caribbean Crossroads by Connie Sokol

Book: Caribbean Crossroads by Connie Sokol
Genre: Romance
Rating:'''''
For: Fun
From: Kindle promo

Here's yet another Utah author to promote! She is popular local speaker who does some pretty awesome presentations on self esteem and inspiring women to be all they can be. I've been to several and have loved them and laugh my head off nearly through the whole thing. Very fun.

As part of that, she's written a bunch of non-fiction self help type books, but suddenly I find out she's written this fun romance. Granted, it's self published and only in e-book format... I think. But it came across my path and being a little familiar with her, I jumped at the chance to see what this was about.

As it turns out, it was pretty much just what I was in the mood for. A sweet, simple fun romance.... one that takes place on a cruise ship which I always thought would be a fun setting. The two meet because they are both performers on the ship. The girl is just coming out of a relationship where she's been pretty badly hurt. The guy is struggling a bit trying to figure out what he wants in life, what direction he needs to take, etc.

The first half is them getting together on the ship which was all fun and romantic and exciting. The second half is them trying to figure out what to do about it. That second half did drag a bit for me and the internal dialogue got a bit repetitive for me, which is about the only complaint I have with the book.

I would consider this a so-called fluffy beach read, which as I mentioned, seemed to be what I was in the mood for last week. Even if there was no beach (or cruise) for me!

Bottom line: I liked it. It was fun!

Other Reviews:

LDS Women's Book Reviews
Getting Your Read On
The Book Bug
Fire and Ice

Book Review: Lady Susan by Jane Austen

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Book: Lady Susan by Jane Austen
Genre: Classic
Rating:'''''
For: book club
From: Free e-book

When the book club informally decided to "catch up" on Jane Austen books this month, I decided since I've read the big six (some several times) I would read a couple of the small more obscure titles... such as this one, Lady Susan.

It's a very small book written in letter form. So many letter writers, in fact, that I had a hard time following who was who and what they had to do with each other, but I finally caught on!

The plot is a simple one. Lady Susan is a bit of a trampy lady who wants to marry this young dude, even though she is first, newly widowed, and second, seeing another guy (who happens to be already married.) The letters are between the sister of this young guy and her mom, wherein she laments this Lady Susan intruding on their lives and fears for the well being of her brother.

Also, we see the true mind set of Lady Susan as she writes to her equally trampy friend to let her know how all the scheming is going.

In the middle of it all is a sweet young girl, Lady Susan's daughter, who actually loves the young fellow herself. So she is competition with her mom... and a mom that hates her at that!

So how will it all end up? Read it to find out!

As I said, I had a hard time following, but about half way through it clicked in and I found myself a bit intrigued. However, then the story is just dropped and she wraps everyone up quickly and bam, it's over. There could have been so much more!! I felt let down and disappointed!

However, she was just learning this writing craft after all. She was just 19 years old when it was written. And I doubt she ever had plans for it to see the light of day.

Bottom line: It was okay, and interesting in a way.

Other Reviews:

Life Time Reading Plan
Becky's Book Reviews
Reviews by Lola
Lit and Life
Iris on Books

Pitch Dark Days Tour and Eoin Colfer

I have a couple more author events to report on!

Last Wednesday I went with Jenny and my daughter Toto, to Salt Lake to see four authors who were part of the Pitch Dark Days Tour. They were Aprilynne Pike promoting her final book of the Wings trilogy, Destined, S.J. Kincaid, a new author promoting her first book, Insignia,  Dan Wells who was promoting Partials, and finally Veronica Roth promoting Insurgent.

We barely got there in time as there was a massive traffic jam that caused us grief, but we made it and had seats thanks to Jessica from The Bluestocking Society. Whew. The authors participated on a panel where they took questions from the audience and had us all rolling with laughter for the most part. (How do they get to be so funny?) I was much surprised with how young Veronica Roth is. Also, she is very pretty.  (As Enna pointed out, she looked a lot like Mary from Downton Abbey) Later I found out she is a mere 23 years old. What is up with that? Wow. Dan Wells was on his funny game as usually and especially had us laughing when it was mentioned that some authors have a little "audience" voice in their head saying "is it time for kissing now, or is it time for killing so and so off?" and he says he has that problem in real life! "Is it time for kissing now? Or killing?" Loved that.

Anyway, we then waited for our turn to get some books signed. I had Aprilynne sign my Destined copy, and then I bought a (very expensive) copy of The Hollow City for Dan to sign. I was happy that they both recognized me which makes me feel validated... or something. Dan has come to know that I may have crossed over to the stalking side, but for most authors, I think that's a good thing. While chatting with him, he also took a chocolate kiss there from the table and signed it for my daughter. She may just have to save it for awhile. She is anxiously awaiting the day that I deem her old enough to read his books! (She can read Partials, but I'd like her to be a bit older for the rest of them still!)

Afterwards, a bunch of us blogger buddies went out to eat, and it was all fun and good times!

Then yesterday evening I went (again with Jenny!) to see Eoin Colfer... author of the Aritmus Fowl series. (Eoin pronounced OWEN... now you know!!)  This is a book, well books since I read a couple,  that I read YEARS ago... way before blogging came into my life. I just remember it was violent for a middle grade book! But after hearing a reenactment of the whole series during this presentation, I  just may want to revisit these books.

Anyway, this author was pretty much one of the funniest ones yet! And that's saying  a lot because, as I mentioned above, they seem to ALL be funny. But he was truly doing a regular stand up comedy act. It was awesome! We had a great time and were so very glad to have taken the time out of a crazy evening to go.

Pride and Prejudice Read Along Part Two: Chapters 13-26

This week we read chapters 13 to 25 in our Pride and Prejudice Read Along. Much of these chapters had to do with Mr. Collins and his proposal, and with Mr. Wickham's appearance and his story about Darcy. Also, we had some more classic encounters between Darcy and Elizabeth.

Here are a few things I highlighted as I read:

• "And though prepared, as he told Elizabeth, to meet with folly and conceit in every other room of the house, he was used to be free from them there." This is Mr. Bennet thinking about his library. Have you noticed that his library is his sanctuary? I so totally relate with him! He can run from Mrs. Bennet here, and have solitude. It so bugs him when Mr. Collins invades that privacy.. poor guy. Anyway, I love this quote.
• "Upon my word!" Another phrase from the time that I feel the need to bring back! We do use "my word" sometimes or "Oh my word!!" It's fun to see that modern day variation of this older usage. Still... I like upon my word, better!
• "The moment of her release from him was ecstasy." Wow... it really MUST have been a trial to dance with Mr. Collins! I wonder how many of us have felt this very way about any sort of akward social connection?
• I love it when Elizabeth tries to get Mr. Darcy to talk while they dance saying that she has mentioned the dance, and now it was his turn to mention the room or the couples. Again, one of my favorite scenes. 
• And later he tries by saying, "What think you of books?" Now... you can't help but like him, yes?? And Elizabeth cuts him off and says that they could never talk about books since there's no way they'll agree and he says, " I am sorry you think so, but if that be the case, there can at least be no want of subject. We may compare our different opinions." And there is the whole purpose of book clubs and book blogs and book discussion in general, don't you think? Way to go, Mr. Darcy!
• Don't you ever feel just a little bad for Mr. Collins? Granted, he didn't love Elizabeth at all, but still he was hoping so bad that she didn't know what she was saying when she says no! Funny.
• "We are all in an uproar!" Mrs. Bennet and her reaction to the whole Mr. Collins proposal makes me laugh. And then when Mr. Bennet says to Elizabeth, "From this day yo must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do NOT marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you DO!" Don't you just feeling like cheering at that point? 
• Charlotte's philosophy of marriage is sad, but mostly likely the norm. "Miss Lucas accepted him solely from the pure and disinterested desire of an establishment...." 

The Sunday Salon: If Wishes Were Fishes

I've decided that my regular Sunday journal-y post is getting old now, so I'm thinking of going back to the previous way I thought of Sunday pots, which is similar, but different. Before, it was mostly just a rambly post about whatever I'm thinking at the moment and a bit of a report on the week's reading and other fun sorts of things.

Not sure exactly what I want to do, but I'm tired of those other posts now and so we'll see what happens here if I just bag them for a bit.

On Reading

Anyway, this week I devoured a book called Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt. Awesome title don't you think? And I finished a fun summer-y romance e-book called Caribbean Crossroads by Connie Sokol. I'm a bit behind in reviews and hope to catch up this week (which means write them all today!) So we'll see how that goes.

But now I'm floundering and haven't picked up anything else! Just the Pride and Prejudice re-read and the ongoing quest to get through the "original" Robin Hood, which is fun, but seems to get pushed to the bottom of the pile.

So what should I read next? 

I went to a fun author event on Wednesday, which I hope to report about this week too, along with the event I'll be heading to tomorrow. Gosh, I've got lots to do!

On Watching

Sadly, we didn't get much Buffy watched this week. We did watch three episodes way last Sunday afternoon and I remember thinking that I'm just not getting the whole Angel love... that he seemed like a flat boring character... and then just the very next episode he turned bad again, and suddenly he had some life (strange yes?) to him! That was interesting. And then suddenly Oz is... well... you know... having his own issues too and becoming more a part of the whole crowd. Very fun. I'm anxious to watch more, but it may be awhile. Life is going to get crazy... very very crazy.

HEY! Guess what I got? New speakers!!! Did I ever tell you how about how I love speakers? And our little home theater has always been incomplete, so I finally got a center speaker and a subwoofer. Cool.. and geeky. I know. But now we can FEEL those loud parts... really FEEL them! So exited.

So, I bought The Dark Knight and we watched it last night. It was awesome, but I swear, I don't really know what happens in that movie. And The Joker creeps me out so bad that I have to close my eyes and I really can't believe that it's the same dude as my beautiful Heath Ledger/A Knight's Tale/William Thatcher dude. How can that even be? My head can't make that happen. Ah...still sad about him.

And now tonight, I'm also very excited to watch Falling Skies with a subwoofer! Ha. Seriously. And the guys in the house are very excited to catch up with Breaking Bad tonight too.

What is a cool movie I should watch to test out my new bass thumping subwoofer? I would love suggestions!

On Wishing

I have some wishes. They are things like I wish I could go to ComicCon some day. I think I yearn for this even more than the BEA thing. I wish I could go to Paris and Switzerland instead of camping for two weeks. (I have a friend heading of on the plane for France this very moment!) I wish that I could go to the midnight showing of Batman.... but I will wait for a week and see it then, I hope. I wish the fires would stop starting and that it would rain more. But we did get some rain yesterday and it's been so wonderful. Cleans the air out so well and feels so nice. 


Just some of the wishes I'm wishing. What are you wishing for this summer?

Well, so that's all for now. I'm anxious about the next couple of weeks, so here's hoping I manage it all. Hopefully I'll be around here and there, but it may be a bit hit and miss. Just in case you are wondering!

Movie Review: Snow White and the Huntsman

Movie: Snow White and the Huntsman
Genre: Fantasy Drama
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron
Rating: PG-13
My Rating: One Thumb Up

I wasn't sure I would even go to see this movie, but being in a mood a few weeks ago and just NEEDING a movie so bad, and there wasn't much else to pick from, we ended up at this one. I was worried mostly about the Kristen Stewart thing... she just creeps me out.  I'd heard she wasn't too bad in this movie, and it's true, she wasn't, but I'm just not a fan. She's a crappy actress.

But the movie and story were fun! It's pretty much the familiar Snow White story turned dark... very very dark! With a few twists here and there. And a wicked witch that is so so wicked and the sweet Snow White, who was childhood friends with the prince actually.

And a huntsman with a back story!

And some very endearing dwarfs.

And a most creepy and scary haunted forest.

It was a non-stop action packed, beautifully filmed movie and I was very much entertained, which is the whole point of movies, right?

Chris Hemsworth was awesome, of course, and perfect for the part of the huntsman. The prince was equally interesting (played by Sam Claflin, who I've never heard of) but I felt we didn't get to know him very well. And Charlize Theron as the wicked stepmother was amazing. But Kristen Stewart was blah as usual.

Also sadly, nothing stood out music-wise.

Bottom line: I enjoyed it, really.

Here's the trailer, if you are interested:

And P.S. I'm seeing on IMDB that they've announced the second movie. Well, of course!!

Photoaday July Days 7-11

Photoaday July brought to you by Fat Mum Slim.

Book Review: Forever Odd by Dean Koontz

Book: Forever Odd by Dean Koontz
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Rating: '''''
For: Fun
From: Jenny gave this one to me for my birthday... I think it was!

I may have mentioned before how much my IRL friend and reading buddy Jenny loves this character... Odd Thomas. She strongly persuaded me to read the first book awhile back and I must say, I caught the appeal! What a dude! So I've been anxious to catch up with his continuing story in this second book.

We start off shortly after the first book ended, and it ended with quite the traumatic event in Odd's life. In fact, I'm surprised he's really even functioning on any level at all. But like the trooper he is, he is still out there helping to solve crimes and working closely with the police....thanks to his special gift.

The book opens with a familiar guy in the town coming to him for help. There's been a grisly murder, and as bad as that is, the thing that upsets Odd the most is that his very good, yet disabled, friend has been kidnapped. The rest of the book is his quest to find and rescue this friend, and that takes him on an adventure like you wouldn't believe!

I was gripping the pages pretty much throughout! What a ride. I may have forgotten to breathe a few times too. This kid is so sweet and nice and subtly funny, that you can't help but love him. And in loving him, you find yourself very invested in his well being! Then he goes and puts himself in some pretty major peril! Thus we have the breath-holding, page-gripping moments!

The writing is very fun and easy too. I would have never thought I would enjoy an author such as this one. There's my book snobbery coming out, but definitely not an author I would have picked up on my own. And THIS is why we talk books with people and branch out and read different things!

Bottom line: I really enjoyed it a lot.

Other Reviews:

Prairie Horizons
Annotation Nation
Bloodstained Book Reviews

Top Ten Tuesday: A 13 Year Old's Favorites!

The list prompt for Top Ten Tuesday over at The Broke and the Bookish today is.... whatever you want! So I decided to ask my 13 year old daughter (Toto) what her current favorite Top Ten books of all time are. She defines a favorite as a book that makes her want to keep reading during the day (to her... reading is for just before bedtime!)  Here's what she came up with... in no particular order.

Toto's Top Ten Favorite Books

1. Pendragon by D.J. MacHale
2. Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George
3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
4. Palace of Mirrors by Margaret Peterson Haddix
5. Variant by Robison Wells
6. Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen
7. Deep and Dark and Dangerous by Mary Downing Hahn
8. Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass
9. The Schwa Was Here by Neal Shusterman
10. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

There's a bunch on there that are favorites of mine too! How about you?

Pride and Prejudice Read Along: Week One

For book club this month we are having a sort of Jane Austen month. Those who haven't read anything by her are reading something, and those that have perhaps one or two books that they haven't read, are reading those. Jenni Elyse, who comes to book club, has been on a quest for quite some time to simply read Pride and Prejudice, a quest which in fact sparked this book club endeavor. As part of her mission to read this book, she's created a read along. How could I not join in and read again for the fourth(?) time this wonderful book? It's probably been three or four years since my last re-reading, so I figured what better time to read it again and join in on the discussion over at Jenni's blog and also participate in our book clubs Jane Austen focus.

Beside, now that I can read it on my Kindle, I'm having a blast with the highlighting feature and have things to share! Mostly it's stuff that just makes me smile, stuff that gets stuck in my head and stuff from my favorite scenes of the movie... stuff like this:

• "The astonishment of the ladies was just what he wished..." Ah Mr. Bennet... you are SUCH a tease!
• "He was the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world and everyone hoped that he would never come there again." Seriously? Are you SURE about that?
• "She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt ME!" Poor Darcy...will he ever live these words down.
• And this quite long declination of the difference between vanity and pride which I will only quote a part: "A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us." What think you to that? I like it.
• "But no sooner had he made it clear to himself and his friends that she hardly had a good feature in her face, than he began to find it was rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes." Wait, what? Already he changes his mind? Darcy, Darcy, that didn't take long dude!!
• "Mr. Darcy is all politeness." Did you catch the sarcasm here?
• "I am all astonishment." Now THIS phrase is one of my favorites and one I would like to incorporate into my every day speech. Are you with me?
• "I am no longer surprised at your knowing only six accomplished women. I rather wonder now at your knowing ANY." One of my favorite scenes... let the banter begin!
• "This is too much to remember at night all the foolish things that were said in the morning." Love this observation from Bingley. He's spot on don't you think?
• Another favorite scene is when Darcy explains why he shouldn't join the ladies in a "turn about the room." Makes me grin every time.

Here are the discussion questions that Jenni Elyse posted which she found here. These are for our assigned reading... Chapters 1 through 12.

In Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen presents an interesting view of 19th century life in England. A key part of her presentation involves humor. Describe the presence of humor in the beginning of the novel. What examples of humor do you find? (e.g. in the dialogue between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet.) What does this humor suggest about the tone of the novel?

I love the humor... and I wouldn't have guessed that it would have really been so much a part of their life back then. They always seem so stoic and serious, yes? But in this house, definitely not. I love it. And including it here I think suggests that the tone of the novel, overall, is light and fun. Even though some serious stuff is about to go down.

This novel addresses a variety of themes, including issues involving marriage, financial status, and social appearances. The novel begins with one of the most famous first sentences in all novels. What does this sentence mean? What is the view of marriage that it suggests? In what ways is the conversation between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet in chapter one a commentary on this sentence?

It means that girls have to get married in order to survive basically. Or at least everyone thinks that anyway. And that if a dude arrives on the scene, is unmarried and has money, he will be looked at as ripe pickings! I'm thinking that the first chapter is what many households must have gone through as their girls get to be a certain... it's sort of an arranged marriage kind of discussion, but not. Know what I mean?

All the major families (e.g. the Bennets, the Bingleys, the Lucas and the Darcys) are introduced with explanation of the fortune they have and the place they live in. What does this suggest about the importance of money and social status in this novel?

Money and social status if very important, in fact, we see that Darcy is so very bugged that the Bennets don't' quite measure up and wow... all sorts of problems occur because of this issue.

What is Elizabeth's first impression of Darcy? What does she overhear him say? What is her opinion of him after that? Is her opinion based only on appearance or other more substantial criteria? How about Mrs. Bennet's view of Darcy?

As we know, Elizabeth thinks Darcy is proud and haughty and she hears him say that she is only tolerable. It makes her decide that she wants nothing at all to do with him forever more.

As Elizabeth and Jane stay at Netherfield, what more does Elizabeth learn about Bingley's sisters? How would you describe the relationship between Miss Bingley and Darcy? Does Elizabeth's view of Darcy change? Does Darcy's view of Elizabeth change? By the time that Elizabeth returns to Lonbourn, Darcy has conflicting feelings about Elizabeth. What does he feel? What does he decide to do about it?

Well, obviously Darcy's view is rapidly changing. I think Elizabeth's is slowly changing. She finds him witty at least I'm sure, because of the banter that begins here. She sees that Miss Bingley pretty much flings herself at him, not so very subtly.... which she finds a bit funny I think. Darcy is very nervous about his feelings, and I think he pretty much runs away, does he not?

That's all for this time... I hope you find it fun to follow my observations on this re-reading of a favorite book. I, myself, am planning on having a blast with it.

The Sunday Salon Sunday Rambles

Happy Sunday!!

Outside my window: Hot and sunny this Sunday afternoon. The haze from the fires isn't as bad as it's been though, so that's a good thing. We can actually breathe when we go out.

I am cannot stop listening to: Gotye. All the time, Goyte. I'm thinking this one is not a passing fancy, but one that's going to stick with me, know what I mean? I'm sorry, you my readers, may have to be dealing with this for quite some time.

Song of the week: A new-to-me Gotye song I discovered just the other day, one not on my CD, has been really quite fun to play over and over:






Oh, and you must listen to this one too, please? It's a little more "normal" so don't be scared.




TV Talk:  Buffy Buffy Buffy! Oh, and I watched one Dr. Who episode, and I watched Falling Skies last Sunday. Wahoo for that show! And... that's about all the TV for me this past week. 

READING REPORT: 
Books Finished: Lady Susan by Jane Austen. 
Books Started: Caribbean Crossroads by Connie Sokol
Books Up Next: You know, I'm winging it this month... I have no idea until I'm actually reading it. 

I am thinking wondering: if ennui is a true physical ailment. I have some kids who seem to be very much affected with it! What to do what to do? (Def: A gripping listlessness or melancholia caused by boredom;) Actually, I've been feeling a bit affected too, with reading and blogging and all manner of other normal pursuits. I'm hoping that once this month is over I can concentrate and feel "normal" again. Here's hoping.

I'm grateful for: for my Kindle, because I seem to be warming up to this whole e-reader thing and all my books lately have been on that thing. Truly loving it.

Around the house: Nothing new at all to report, nothing new on the bedroom redoing, nothing organized lately, nothing fixed or rearranged. Nothing. 

Favorite things of the week: Going to see Spiderman. That was sweet. I need to see another one... movie. But there's nothing much else good that's out right now. Just waiting for Batman. Then what's next after that? 

Utah Book Bloggers: If you got an email from me with a blogger interview assignment, I need to know what day in August you'd like to post your interview! Let me know!



Family Matters: Tomorrow everyone works! Here's the schedule for five people: 9 to 1, noon to 6, 10:30 to 7, 11 to 3, and 9 to 6. And I think we'll all have transportation!  Only the youngest will not be out and about, but all this means she has to get herself to violin lessons! If we can fix her bike! Anyway, yeah for "lazy" summer days, right? 

The coming week: Get ready for camp. Both camps. One family, one church. Buy food, plan activities, prepare, try not to stress, stay calm, buy more food, clean trailer. Buy food. Oh wait... is there a book event I'm going to this week? Jenny? Yes? I think so, okay, so not EVERYTHING will be camp prep this week!



Well, I think that's all I have for now. See you around!

Photoaday July Day 1 through 6

The City Creek Center in Salt Lake City

In addition to going to Spider-man for our 4th of July celebrations, we finally managed a trip to the much talked about new mall right in the heart of Salt Lake City called City Creek Center. It was a beautiful place! And huge! Much bigger than I expected. We didn't shop much, but did end up with some chocolate and some lunch. Anyway, I had a blast taking some pictures and wanted to share.

I wish we would have had more time to see it all, but at least we managed a little. It was really fun!

Buffy Watch Season Two Episodes 9-12

I didn't think I'd have some Buffy to report on this week, but yesterday Kelly and I managed four more episodes. Maybe we'll do more today and tomorrow too, but we'll see.

This time as I watched, I had fun jotting down some lines that stuck out to me. Enjoy!
(I'm interested if major Buffy fans can identify who is saying each of these lines. Give it a try!)

Season Two

Episode 9: What's My Line? Part 1

"That's not a nothing face, that's a something face."
"I lurk."
"I have frog fear."

In the end... this one was sort of boring. I mean, I know it was mostly a build up for the next episode which concludes things, but this first one was just okay for me. Sorry big fans....

Episode 10: What's My Line? Part 2

My first thought as the episode opened was this one.... Angel, you are a vampire! You can bust the cage! I know you can!

"I am flummoxed." "What's the flum?"
"I don't do worms."
"Hey, your hair is... brown."
"Angel's our friend, except I don't  like him."
"I am the bugman... kukucachoo." (this one made me laugh out loud literally)

Kissing music... classic! More out loud laughing. Love this new development with Xander and Cordelia!
Also love Willow and Oz walking away talking so perfectly geeky.

In the end... I really enjoyed this one, so very funny.

Episode 11: Ted

"That's the sound she makes when she is speechless with geeker joy."

John Ritter!
It's the food people, the food!
Ah nice... erroneous Mormon joke. Ha ha. :)

In the end....it was ho hum... even with John Ritter. But it was nice to see him again. He was sufficiently creepy for this episode.

Episode 12: Bad Eggs

(oops.... no lines were jotted down during this one!)

Creepy egg things. Ew gross.
Once again, I love the whole Xander Cordelia thing... and I'm getting a kick out of the fact that they are trying to keep it a secret. I'm wondering, though, how long they can keep this gag working. I can see it getting old pretty fast.

In the end... I have not much to say about this one. Kelly and I decided to sum it up in one word... WEIRD!

We are finding that we enjoy the episodes that feature the vampires (even if they are wimpy) and not the other strange and creepy creatures that are being dreamed up. As always, I'm very interested in the developing relationships. I'm rooting for whatever makes Giles happy, and for Willow and Oz. Not sure what I'm thinking about Buffy and Angel at the moment... it's turned into just kissing which is not as fun as bantering back and forth. Make sense? Anyway... we'll see!!

June Reading Recap

Hey look at that! I read some books this month!

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein: Two British girls join the forces in WWII, one as a pilot and one as a spy.

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake: This guy hunts ghosts, but when he comes to hung Anna, things change.

I Believe in Jesus Too by Mark S. Nielsen: Children all over the world share how they worship.

About a Boy by Nick Hornby: Will feels no connection with the world until he meets Marcus.

Cayman Summer by Angela Morrison: Michael and Leesie have a happily ever after.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline: Wade competes in a futuristic video game to win the virtual reality world called Oasis.

Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne: Fourteen kids are stranded in a department store after a disaster occurs.

Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale: Miri goes to the big city to go to school and help advise the new princess. (Review to come later... this book will be released in August.)

Not bad, but I'm still ten books behind if I want to read 100 this year. Yeah, whatever. My favorites of this bunch: About a Boy, and Code Name Verity... and probably Ready Player One too.

Plans for July:

• Keep working on Robin Hood, which I've totally neglected.
• Re-read A Tale of Two Cities
• Re-read Pride and Prejudice with Jenni.
• Read for the first time the two little, early Jane Austen books... Lady Susan and Love and Friendship
• Finish Forever Odd, maybe even this very today!
• Read one or two from this list.
• Gear up for Utah Book Month in August!

Review: The Hollow City by Dan Wells

Book: The Hollow City by Dan Wells
Genre: Horror/ Psychological Thriller
Rating: '''''
For: Review (and Support Local Authors!)
From: ARC borrowed from the library staff (to be released July 3, 2012)

Back a few months ago when Dan Wells visited the library and did a little presentation, he left the staff with an ARC for this book. It immediately fell into my hands since the fact that I'm a bit of a fan has spread through the ranks. Needless to say, I was so very excited. In fact, it's quite possible I may have squealed a bit.

Now finally, since it's being released this week, I can tell you about it!

I read the book in about two sittings. It's a mind boggling, fascinating look inside the mind of a schizophrenic patient that left me feeling so... so... confused and crazy!

Michael is the main character and we learn from the very start that he has had some issues determining what is real in his life, and what is not. He knows he has these issues and is very forthcoming about them, but that doesn't change the fact that he can't figure a lot of things out and doesn't know what's going on around him.

Since the book is in first person, and we are only in his head... guess who else can't determine what is real.... or not? Or what exactly is going on? Yes, we, the readers.

I LOVED this! Even if it did make me crazy! Which is the whole point I think, to feel crazy. Literally.

So Michael ends up in the psychiatric ward of the hospital and is being visited by his one or two friends, including a doctor who is trying to help him. One of his many issues is that he feels like he is being watched and monitored, especially through electronic devices. He has a major problem with them! And he's not sure the doctor is friend or foe either. In fact, is the doctor in on the whole bad thing that Michael thinks is going on?

Good question Michael!

He also keeps seeing some very strange faceless creatures... which is especially creepy. And he is constantly telling himself that they are not real. But.... are they?

I was going to mention the hollow city itself, but I think I'll just let you read it and find out for yourself what that all has to do with anything. I'm afraid of giving too much away. But I will say that after I read the last page I thought, "What the heck just happened? Did I just read what I think I read? Oh my gosh! I am so confused!"

Now granted, some of you may find finishing a book and feeling confused not such a good thing, but I found it fun and entertaining and quite the blast. My next step was make sure Jenny had the book as soon as as she could and then I told her she had to read it FAST so we could talk. She was done in just a day or two and we talked everything through and got it all figured out! Ha!

And now... I can't wait for you ALL to read it and we can all talk together and see if we can make sense of this story! Okay, is it a plan? Let me know when you are done!

Bottom line: I loved this one! Everything about it... the writing, the characters, the story and yes, even the craziness!

Other Reviews:

Elitist Book Reviews
Shallee McArthur
Afterglow Book Reviews

Buffy Watch Thoughts: Season 2 Ep. 1-9

This week, we started season two of Buffy The Vampire Slayer! Wahoo! We (as in Kelly and I and sometimes Allison) had three different Buffy Watch sessions during the week and managed a total of nine episodes!

Here are my random thought, mostly jotted down while watching and edited and added to a little after the fact.

Sunday Buffy Watch

Ep. 1 When She was Bad

-- Hey look! There's an official love interest for Giles! Yay!
-- Willow and Xander.... cute almost kiss. Was that for real?
-- Ah... something's up with Buffy... she is acting very very strange!
-- Still wimpy vampires... yes, very wimpy.
-- In the end, even after the episode, I'm still not sure what was wrong with Buffy... just slayer angst-y?

Ep.2 Some Assembly Required

--Let Giles keep talking British... please!? No more trying to stop him... hello.
-- A sneaking Angel... sweet. Love how he just pops up here and there.
-- Enjoying more funny Cordelia... she really cracks me up.
-- Zombie talk... gross
--Wow, a Frankenstein sort of thing going on here?
-- In the end, the episode quite creeped me out, and was really quite sad.

Ep. 3 School Hard

-- Wahoo! Spike! Now, we'll finally see what you are all talking about!!
-- Okay, I thought he would be less wimpy, but he still was a bit.
-- Something is up with the principle... yep, I know it.
-- The kid is gone? Just like that? The anointed one... poof?
-- In the end, I truly did enjoy the Spike swagger... very fun.

Ep. 4 Inca Mummy Girl

-- More corpses! Nice!
--Seth Green who? Everyone was excited to see him, I wasn't familiar with him, so looked him up. Now, he does sort of look familiar, but not sure from where. Much of what he's been on, I haven't seen. Anyway, I'm going to like his character, Oz, quite a bit I predict.
--Poor Xander... really. I feel like saying that a lot with him. And by the way, I miss his floppy hair!
-- In the end, I quite enjoyed this episode and feeling for poor Xander... and poor Willow too.

Wednesday Buffy Watch

Ep. 5 Reptile Boy

--Senior in college and a junior in high school... that's just wrong and weird all around.
-- And besides, something is so up with that guy!
-- Fraternity parties... not good
-- Lizard boy looks pretty fake.
-- In the end, eh, okay, whatever.

Ep. 6 Halloween

-- Nice that the vamps just desintigrate after staking! No mess!
--  Angel... the cuddly kind!
-- I was feeling a bit confused at one point, but realized afterwards that it was supposed to be that way. Once I got the way of things, I thought it was quite fun actually.
-- I'm sure Xander's actor dude thought it was a blast to change up his character for this episode. He did a great job. Do you think Buffy had fun acting wimpy too? Maybe.
-- In the end, I thought this one was really fun actually.

Thursday Buffy Watch
(I didn't jot many notes this sessions, many many interruptions!)

Ep. 7: Lie to Me

-- Willow is weird, yes?
--Buffy says she loves Angel, but she can't really love Angel... yet. Sheesh, she hardly knows him... I mean, have they even really TALKED yet?
-- In the end, I can't really remember this one much. Seems like Spike was in it, and we got some back story on Dru and Angel, but already I've forgotten!!

Ep. 8: The Dark Age

--Giles squirming when whats-her-face is around... love it.
--Love the back story on Giles... I can't seem to get enough of him.
-- Still having a hard time not thinking of him as Arthur's dad though, but it's getting there.
-- In the end, I enjoyed this one... felt packed with emotion.

So, there you have it! My Buffy thoughts of the week, for what it's worth!! I do see a difference in the two seasons just because the characters have more emotion and the episodes are just silly stuff. I mean, there's still a lot of silly stuff, but with more depth... or something. I have no idea what I'm talking about!

I think there's more Buffy watches to come this week, but I'm not sure when.

P.S. GAH! Beware when looking up Buffy pictures to post... spoilers anyone??! Sheesh. Teach me to do that again.