Twilight

So all the hype about Twilight....I watched as Steve's students, former students, athletes, my former athletes OBSESSED over this book series. Then a few of my adult friends started saying how good they were, everyone's so excited for the movie, blah, blah, blah. You would think it was the apocalypse of literary genius the way everyone was talking....it created buzz like the Harry Potter series.

So on Friday night, I caved to the peer pressure and bought the book. Started it Sat a.m. and finished it Sunday afternoon. It was a good book - interesting story, characters that pull you in, mindless enjoyable book consumption. So last night I went to see the movie, and what a disappointment. Usually movies are never as good as the books that inspired them, but i thought that the Twilight movie totally missed the mark. I would guess that most people who saw the movie without reading the book wouldn't have cared for the movie at all. They glossed over so much, filled in gaps with additional material NOT in the book (I HATE that), sped through important dialogues for the sake of time, etc. etc. With Twilight grossing over 70 million at the box office this weekend, I think it's too bad that they didn't just make the movie a little longer and kept in more of the key elements that create the foundations for the story.
I WILL say that they did an outstanding job of casting.....Robert Pattinson who plays Edward Cullen (the vampire) is described in the book as an otherworldly type of beautiful. Compelling, but almost shocking to look at. Pattinson (also played Cedric Diggory in the Harry Potter movies) himself is a gorgeous piece of man, but when you add in the hair and makeup to make him look like a vampire? They totally hit the nail on the head - he WAS otherworldly, compelling...beautiful. He justified the movie for me because well...he's nice to look at for 2 hours. I think he's this next generation's Brad Pitt. YUM.

My overall impression? The books are good. They are romance novels geared towards young adults (I can see why highschool girls are batty over them) so the reading level makes for a quick and easy read. The movie's okay -IF you read the books and are interested in the story and the actualization of the characters on film.....if you haven't read the book: skip the movie - you'll miss out on a lot.

If you like stories about vampires and fantasy-type fiction, a more "adult" type book along those lines would be The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. I read it a few years back when I worked at Books A Million. It took me a LONG time to read - it's a pretty thick book - but it's more along the lines of a DaVinci Code-esque suspense/thriller following a mystery surrounding Dracula. Did you know that legends of Dracula have some elements of historical truth to it?? Vlad the Impaler, a cruel Romanian ruler from the 15th Century inspired Bram Stoker's famous novel, and stories and legends about vampires have been around for centuries. True story. Google it if you're bored one day. :)

So that's my history lesson, movie review, book review and book recommendation for the day.
Happy Monday!

The Shack

Have you read it?? I just finished it last night and it is AMAZING.
Seriously....one of those books that will change how you think about God forever. But it's a fictional story...and one that will pull you in - I could hardly put it down and finished it in 2 days. Oh, and it made me cry....and books don't typically have that affect on me. It's just....WOW.

Go buy it, or check it out from the library, or borrow it from a friend straight away.

And if you've already read it.....did you think it was as incredible as I did?

fjewkleijksma

Ok, so that blog title means nothing...but I was drawing a blank for a title, so I just smacked on the keys and that's what came out.

Thanks for your participitation in the "it would make my day post..." although there were a few slackers out there who i know didn't participate (you know who you are)...may the fleas of a thousand camels bite your feet in bed tonight....not that I'm bitter about it or anything.

Let's see...what's new around here?? It's been awhile since I've gone a week without blogging, but I'm not sure there's anything exciting that has occurred worth blogging about....

I read The Kite Runner this week and it was excellent. I'm eagerly anticipating when the movie based on the book comes out....i think it will be an excellent film for the general American public to see (if they haven't already read the book).....excuse me, where's my soap box? Ahh yes, there it is. Like I said, an excellent film for the general public to see...a poignant reminder that the people of Afghanistan are actually human beings and that blip that you skim in the NYTimes or page 4B of USA Today is about people, mothers, babies, children like yours....not just a big red target for bombs and missiles or a treasure trove of oil.

Anyway. Stepping down now.

I'm also starting to read The Spiderwick Chronicles, also coming to theatres just because I have a soft spot for children's literature and if it's good (and I anticipate it will be) I'm excited to read it to the boys one day....a few chapters a night before bed when they get older and yes I am corny and old school like that and shut the heck up about it.

That's about it around here....here's a few pictures of Owen, enjoying our nice weather and making some sidewalk art a few days ago. I'm wondering when he got so big and less like a preschooler and more like a boy....if you could inform me as to how and when that happened, I'd appreciate.
Have a great weekend!

Procrastination, thy name is Tammi

Or maybe it should read: Burnt Out: thy Name is Tammi.
I feel like I've been going 100mph on fumes for the last week--anyone else feeling that way?

There are about 200 other things that i SHOULD be doing right now, but I think I'm going to go sit on the couch and read a chapter or two of my book and escape from my to-do list for a little bit.

And I'll do my best to NOT feel guilty about it.

The Deathly Hallows

JUST finished reading the final installment of the Harry Potter books.

Great googly-moogly!

It was outstanding.

Freaking superb.

Absolutely the best fictional story I've ever had the pleasure of reading.

J.K. Rowling is simply brilliant.

I still can't believe it.

What a great read.

I don't think I've ever actually been sad that book series is finished, but I could hardly put it down for the last 100 pages, it was so blasted good.

Haven't read the Harry Potter books?? Are you bloody mad?? Go buy them right now and read them all. You won't regret it.