Okay, so things are gettin' a little crazy... I'm back in school. Senior year (BYU-I). English Major. Let's just say there is reading happening. Lot's of it. 

I am currently in the middle of 4 posts... there are so many great things to share!

Coming soon...
-Jane Austen love
-William Shakespeare
-Short story discoveries
and
-The Hunger Games book/movie post

In the meantime, be entertained by this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuRuwR2JSXI

Julian Smith is a... special person..

VINCE FLYNN!!

Okay, so I am the only girl in my family. I have four brothers. They have taught me well. One of my older brothers continually introduces me to a side of literature that I most likely would not have run across on my own. He is quite a reader (11 books in about the last two months) and we like to share our little gems with each other. He has gotten into the Vince Flynn series; thrilling political conspiracy theory novels filled with military action, noble causes, and quite a few people with very short tempers. Term Limits is the first of the series. Flynn's books mostly center on a Jason-Bourne, can-do-anything-and-everything type character (I am told) named Mitch Rapp. Term Limits introduces other characters who continue throughout the series, but does not include Rapp.

Term Limits starts off with a night violence in the high up political world. Three of Washington's most powerful (and most corrupt) politicians are silently assasinated. Silently, that is, until the next morning. Along with anonymous demands from the assassins and a pledge to continued killing if the political leaders don't follow through with their always lofty election promises, Special Agent McMahon of the FBI is assigned to invesigate the unsettling, virtually untraceable, and unraveling case.

This book was 612 intriguing pages long. Flynn's story development is incredible. He pulls you in, gives you just enough information to be curious, and then drops an unpredictable surprise on you that sucks you in and ensures you will never get anything done until the last page. There are a lot of characters and the perspective (3rd person) switches between each of them in the different places that they are. They start out about a chapter or half a chapter apart, but as the stories get more intertwined, you start jumping between consciousnesses almost every other paragraph! It's very exciting.

My only caution to this book is the language. As I previously stated, these characters have pretty short tempers and not a lot of self-control over their sailor-mouth, so to speak. Just get a black marker, however, and you are set!

Great book by a skilled story teller, Vince Flynn.

Read my brother's Vince Flynn post here!

Thirty Nine Steps

Heavens, it has been a while! Crazy, crazy semester right now. But quickly, right now I am reading a book called Thirty Nine Step for my Victorian/Modern period British Literature class. It was written in 1915 (Modern period) and was one of the first of the "man on the run" thriller archetype. It is the first in a series of Richard Hannay adventure/mystery novels, kind of like the modern day Jack Ryan from the popular thriller novels by author Tom Clancy. Alfred Hitchcock made an adaption of the Richard Hannay stories.
So, just for that historical aspect of it, it is an interesting book. But, I have very much enjoyed the story as well. It is a pretty quick read and a fun story. I'm not quite finished with it yet, but I am excited to find out what happens to Hannay! He's on the run and right in the middle a deep seeded conspiracy!

Pages to Hours

I am not always a fan of movie-adaptions of books. In fact, while closing up the sandwich shop I worked at a couple of months ago, I announced to my co-worker (in a dramatic moment of rash decision) that I was going to boycott any and all movies that are supposed to be books! 

Okay, so that was a little over the top, and I'm pretty sure I saw a book-movie that weekend or so. But, the sentiment behind it is still true. I am always weary of my favorite books getting ruined in the theaters. The perfect representation of a beloved book is always a toss up and fairly impossible feat for film makers to achieve. When a million people read a book, that means there are a million different images of each character, setting, event, etc.



In My Opinion:
Movies that have failed their Books-
Twilight (Mostly just the two main characters.. and the music..)
The Indian in the Cupboard, 1995 version
Beastly
Percy Jackson
Eargon (So I've heard. I haven't read the book)

Movies that made their books proud-
Harry Potter
A Christmas Carol
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Pride and Prejudice, 2006
and
Jane Eyre, 2011!

I went on a little trip with my brother this past weekend and on the flight home, I experienced my first in-flight movie. I usually only fly a couple hour flights. This one was five. The captain announced that the attendants would be coming around and selling headphones for our in flight movie. "Today we will be viewing Jane Eyre". I was pretty excited. I looove this book, and didn't see the movie when it was in theaters, but the previews for it had given me hope about the movie. Sure enough, it was fantastic! Mia Wasikowska (Alice in the recent Alice and Wonderland) and Michael Fassbender did a credit to the Charlotte Bronte's classic characters Jane and Mr. Rochester. It was beautifully filmed, casted well, and stayed close to the story, making only appropriate changes (necessary for movie audience vs. book audience). There is something about stories from this time period that just get to me. Book or movie. Thank you Cary Fukunaga for giving us a nearly perfect representation of a nearly perfect romance.
Maybe I need to give a little more slack to the book-to-movie makers out there...

The Indian In The Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Oh my, I had never read this book before as it seems almost all children have. I am 20 years old and I loved it! The best books are the books that span the age range! The Indian in the Cupboard is about a boy named Omri living with his family in England. For Omri's birthday, he gets two seemingly odd birthday presents. From his best friend, Patrick, he gets a plastic indian that Patrick had no use for, and from one of his brothers, an old cupboard that he found outside. The indian bores and almost irritates Omri, but the cupboard intrigues him. He finds a key amongst his mother's collection of keys that mysteriously fits the lock, and in desiring to store something in his now lockable cupboard, places the indian inside and goes to sleep. Next thing he knows, he is awoken to a strange sound from inside the cupboard. Yes, something is moving inside the cupboard. A little nervous and confused, he opens the door and there stands his toy indian.. only he is not a toy anymore...

Omri learns about respect, friendship, and responsibilty in this exciting, unique, and very entertaining tale of a British boy, an American Indian, and a Western Cowboy!

As a side note, I would not recommend the 1995 version of the movie...


View all my reviews

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a fantastic story! Number the Stars is a story centered on a ten year old girl, Annemarie Johansen, but about her family and the people who secretly fought back against the Nazi's in their attempt to rid the world of a group of the people: The Jews. I think that the actions of people like the Johansens were some of the bravest standing-up that happened in the war (in no way discounting the bravery of the soldiers...). Annemarie's best friend, Ellen, is a jew. These two girls learn first hand about cruelty and fear, but also courage, strength, and love in this Historical Fiction account of WWII from a child's perspective.


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Even Walden had to have booksheves!

Whether you own two books, eight hundred books, or plan on someday owning a book, you, no doubt, need a bookcase. I found this great site that shares 20 creative bookshelf ideas! Some extravegant, some pratical, and some just down right... different.. these are all great! (My favorite is the first one!) Check 'em out!
Click Here