Anna and the French Kiss

I tend not to read much contemporary fiction, either in YA or adult fiction. But there was so much buzz about Anna and the French Kiss and I follow Stephanie Perkins on Twitter, so when I saw it on the shelf at work I decided to give it a whirl.

I've read a few YA romancey books in the last year, but haven't ever been excited enough to talk about them. But Anna and the French Kiss is not your average YA romance. In the absolute best way possible.

Yes, there is romance. And yes there is kissing (after all it IS called Anna and the French KISS) but it's so much more than that.

Her characters are so complex and rich and ALIVE. I seriously feel like if I went to Paris I might run into Anna and Etienne at the movie theatre. <3

Not really spoilery summary:
Anna is sent off to the School of America in Paris against her will. She doesn't speak French and just wanted to finish out her senior year of high school in peace, but her Dad has other ideas and doesn't seem to care what she thinks.
Fortunately she meets Meredith on her first day and then Meredith introduces her to her group of friends and suddenly it doesn't seem like such a lonely place after all. Especially when she meets Etienne St. Clair. Who unfortunately already has a girlfriend. But in some ways that takes the pressure off. They can just be friends and talk and get to know each other without the pressure of wondering where the relationship is going. Until Anna starts to realize that she might want more than friendship. And it seems like he might too. And things get complicated.

As much fun as the romance part of it was, the stuff I loved was the background of the characters and how absolutely real they felt in their reactions and interactions. Sure there are the typical misunderstandings and such, but they don't feel cliched or overdone. I really feel like I got to know these people.

It's not often that I cry over this kind of book, but I found myself tearing up several times (yes, I am a big crybaby) and I laughed quite a bit too.

And did I mention that I totally need to meet an Etienne that's my age. He has a BRITISH ACCENT and he likes history and random facts <3

Ahem.

In short - if you like a good story with romance, humor and rich characters, you should love this book.

Warning - there is some brief language including the F-word, but it is basically in one scene and isn't gratuitous. I am pretty sensitive to profanity, so I like to warn people about it.

Doctor Who?

I grew up watching sci-fi and fantasy. I practically lived with the Star Trek crews - from the original to NG to DS9 to (my personal favorite) Voyager. (we weren't a big fan of Enterprise)

Watched all 3 Star Wars videos until they were warbly (in ye olde dark ages with VHS) and loved movies like Flight of the Navigator, StarGate, and Tron.

We (well, my Mom, Dad, Naomi and I) like to latch onto a tv show and watch it from start to finish on DVD. We recently worked through StarGate SG1, and then StarGate Atlantis.

Then Naomi and I made Mom and Dad watch Firefly (*sigh* Nathan Filion).

Mom, Dad, and I are currently on the 5th and final season of Babylon 5 and Naomi and Mom have been watching Farscape online. But the four of us have now embarked on a journey with the last time lord.

Mom and Dad watched Doctor Who long before the reboot, and I know I saw a few episodes here and there, but it was never something I really latched on to. Then Naomi borrowed season 4 of the new series from the library (it was the only one in our library system) and started watching it with Mom and Dad. I jumped in about half way through and crammed to watch what I had missed before we had to return it. We loved it.

I found season 1 and 2 for a great bundle price and we started from the beginning. Having seen David Tennant as Doctor Who in Season 4, I wasn't sure what to think of Christopher Eccleston in Season 1, but he was fantastic. However, as they say, your first doctor tends to be your favorite. I was actually really sad to see Eccleston go, but Tennant is something really special.

Season 1 was fun, Season 2 had some spectacular episodes (one of my favorite is "The Girl in the Fireplace" - Brilliant!), but Season 3 shows a depth of emotion in the doctor that is absolutely phenomenal as well as just fantastically ... yes, I have to say it again, brilliant episodes! David Tennant emotes such passion and pathos carrying the memory of the events of the season 2 finale and season 3 premier all the way into the finale of season 3. I won't say what the event was for those of you that haven't seen it. I'm very anti-spoilery. But the episodes of season 3 have a richness and a depth that is overpowering.

"The Shakespeare Code" was so much fun. "Family of Blood" really stretched my view of what the Doctor really is and if "Blink" doesn't give you nightmares, well then you're stronger than I am.

I'm really excited to rewatch Season 4 with the history of seasons 1-3 behind me and I really would like to start back at the beginning again, because I have a feeling it will be even better and richer the second time.

So there's my plug for Doctor Who. Brilliant writing and acting. What more could you ask for?

A. A. Milne love-fest

Yesterday I came across this link (on the marvelous A. Victoria Mixon's site ... but she's a story for another day) and stayed up way too late reading off of it:

It's a collection of essays by A. A. Milne - a man who is fast becoming my favorite all time writer.

Half of you are thinking who is that?

And half of you are thinking, oh yeah, the Winnie-the-Pooh guy.

Please let me tell you, this man is brilliant.

I first discovered him through the Winnie-the-Pooh stories - Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner - which are funny and sweet and not just kid's stories. If you haven't read them, do yourself a favor. I am a huge classic Pooh fan and I kind of collect what little classic Pooh paraphernalia I can find, but that is not the only reason I love Milne.




I moved on from the Pooh stories to his poetry - When We Were Very Young and Now We Are Six are his two collections. Again they are billed as children's poems, but they are rich and the rhyme schemes are brilliant and catchy.




Then, a few years ago, we got in at Borders a book called The Sunny Side, which is a collection of his essays. I devoured it and wished that I could be best friends with him and his family. He has a dry, quirky sense of humor and, even though most of them were written in the 20's they're still so pertinent to today. Some of them are almost precursors to Dave Barry with a wry look at every day life that will have you laughing because you've LIVED it - or at least can relate to it.

After that I set off on a mission to find other stuff that he had written and I stumbled across The Red House Mystery. It's a tongue in cheek Sherlock Holmesian type mystery story that is absolutely charming. It was recently re-released.


I also discovered Once On a Time, a hilarious parody on fairy tales that he wrote for his wife. (I found it in e-books. It hasn't been re-released recently, but there are used copies available) I also picked up a biography, which I haven't gotten to yet, but think I'm going to attack over break.

Go check out the site with some of his essays. They're all short (a lot of them were written for Punch) and it will be a great pick me up for your day.

Have you ever been in the quandary of how to sort and organize your personal library? Yeah, Milne too.

Get frustrated when other people move your things? Check out his essay, "The Old Order Changes."

Or read about the TRUE pleasure of writing!

If you love a good story with a wry sense of humor then please, do yourself a favor and pick up any of A. A. Milne's works. I guarantee you will enjoy it!

MockingJay

I finished MockingJay yesterday. The beginning of this post isn't spoilery in ruining specifics of the book. I just want to share my experience, particularly with others who have read it. If you don't like any kind of spoilery stuff, then you might not want to read this at all, but it should be safe until I warn you otherwise. About half way down :)

This book shattered my heart into a million pieces.

It gave me the hope that I could put it back together.

I cried till my eyes burned and my head ached.

I laughed and sobbed in the same breath.

It broke me.

It inspired me.

It wakened something in my soul.

It's not a book you can read and then walk away from.

It will eat into your mind.

The thoughts and ideas will haunt you, affect you, make you really think and ponder and consider things you never have.

All in a marvelous way.

SPOILER TERRITORY

I'm glad it wasn't a book with a straight-up "happily ever after" ending.

For one thing, it wouldn't have fit with the tone of the over-arching story, it wouldn't have made sense for Katniss.

The society is so rife with trouble and a terrible history that it can't be changed overnight. It can't be changed in a generation. Great strides can be made, but a complete turnaround isn't going to happen. The entire thought process of an entire civilization has to be altered. It isn't easy and Collins never tries to hide that fact.

I've heard some people say that some of the details were too explicit.

I'm reading it as an adult, so I honestly would have to go back and read it again thinking about this, but I never felt that she was gratuitous. It is a terrible period in this nation's history. Revolutions are not easy and are rarely bloodless. There is nearly always a high human cost. Collins puts a face on it so that we mourn deeply as each of them falls.

I am tearing up as I type this. The deaths of Boggs and Finnick affected me nearly as intensely as the death of Prim.

Watching the hatred eat at Gale and seeing the depravity of Peeta's hijacking made my heart ache.

This is not an easy book and it is not meant to be. If there is one thing that I have seen with Collins, whether in the Hunger Games series or in the Underland Chronicles, it is that she is not afraid to tackle these intense and deep issues. War, poverty, government control, death, loyalty, sacrifice and so many other universal themes are dealt with, but through the eyes of the individual. Whether with Katniss or Gregor we take the journey with them, we love with them, we hate with them, we struggle with them and we see how the bigger issues affect a single community, a single family, a single person.

Yet in the midst of all that pain and grief there are the beautiful gems of hope and love that make you realize that all is not lost.

The return of Prim's cat.

Peeta planting the primroses.

The birth of Finnick's child.

So I am glad that Suzanne Collins didn't take the "easy" road and wrap everything up nicely. I'm glad that she left the people in pieces, just trying to continue their life after infinite tragedy. I'm glad that I will be thinking about this book for days and months and years. That I will want to go back and read it again and again and be able to glean something new from it each time.

I am glad that a couple of years ago I discovered this little book titled The Hunger Games.

Basically Books, Blessings and Beauty

My sister was right - who can resist writing a post about books on "B" day?

Wednesday we went on a shopping trip for some sister time and found our way to the local Salvation Army. We did not find what we went in for, but there was something calling us, inexorably drawing us to the back of the store. You guessed it - the book wall.

We spent a while browsing, reading, picking through. Love, love, love books. :D

Between the thrift store and a recent trip to the library and the advance reader copies I got from my job, I got all of these lovelies in the last week for under $5! Sweet muffins!

This is to show you how very deep and dangerously my book psychosis runs. Here are some pictures of my books:

This is my big book case.

This is the pile of books in front of the big book case that do not fit on the shelves.

This is the pile of mainly children's picture books that are stacked in front of...

... these shelves, which are packed to bowing point.

Then of course there is my special Lost bookshelf.

And my audio books.

And my notebook/how-to books.

That doesn't even count the books I have in boxes - all my anthologies from college, cookbooks and other children's books I know I don't need out right now.

Dear husband-to-be, wherever and whomever you are,

please understand that my books will be coming with me. That I love each and every one of them and that I have already sorted through and gotten rid of as many as I probably ever will. Also please know that we have not yet met and therefore I will probably have about twice as many as this by the time we someday wed.

Yours truly,

Rebecca

I'm sick I tell you! Sick! Oh, but what a blissful sickness. These books can take me pretty much anywhere I want to travel, inspire so many emotions. It's mah-velous.

I've read a couple of really good books recently and I just wanted to share one of them here.

Little Bee by Chris Cleave.

Oh, what a gorgeous book. You will laugh, you will cry. It will move you. Little Bee's voice is so authentic and vivid and lovely. I did not want to put it down. If you love a beautiful, bittersweet story, then you must read this book.

Books have always been such a blessing in my life. Maybe that's why I want to write books myself. I'm beginning to feel the flame of writing passion flare up again. For a while I was so stagnant about it. Being around all of you people, whether you write about your life, your writing, your owls (I'm talking to you, Joan!) or whatever else your passion is, is so inspiring! For this reason I will forever be grateful to LOST. Because without it I doubt I would have discovered this marvelous online community. And now the thought of never having met ya'll is just distressing! Lovelies that I want to keep in touch with for as long as we both shall blog :)

and that brings me to my final little note for tonight.

Today is Good Friday. This week has been such a mad rush for me. Manager on vacation at work, trying to do twice as much with half as much, writing, blogging, reading and trying to keep sane in the midst of it all.

Tonight was such a wonderful moment. We had an evening service at our church, but we did it differently than we ever have before. We sat around a long table and sang and meditated on the wonderful history that led to the Passover and to Jesus telling his disciples to take and eat and then sharing the matzah and the wine (well, grape juice) with each other, passing it around the table. It was such a beautiful moment to take a breath and remember what this day and what this coming Sunday represent.

It will never cease to amaze me that God himself became human just so that he could die. Now there is some crazy. The marvel of it is that he didn't stay dead. He's alive now and He did it all so I could be with Him forever. That gives me chills.

We sang a beautiful song tonight and I wanted to put up a YouTube video or something of it, but couldn't find a version I liked so I'm just going to leave you with the lyrics...

I Stand in Awe

by Mark Altrogge

You are beautiful beyond description

Too marvelous for words

Too wonderful for comprehension

Like nothing ever seen or heard

Who can grasp Your infinite wisdom?

Who can fathom the depths of Your love?

You are beautiful beyond description

Majesty enthroned above

And I stand, I stand in awe of You

And I stand, I stand in awe of You

Holy God to Whom all praise is due

And I stand in awe of you.

You are beautiful beyond description

Yet God crushed You for my sin

In agony and deep affliction

Cut off that I might enter in

Who can grasp such tender compassion?

Who can fathom this mercy so free?

You are beautiful beyond description

Lamb of God Who died for me

And I stand, I stand in awe of You

And I stand, I stand in awe of You

Holy God to Whom all praise is due

And I stand in awe of You

This Movie Changed My Life

I recently watched a movie that forever changed my life. That movie was “Princess Caraboo”.

This is possibly THE worst cover I have ever seen in my entire life.

Contrary to appearances, Princess Caraboo was actually quite attractive.

It all started innocently enough. As AchingHope and I were heading out to the library, our brother, Dave, asked us to pick him up a good movie. We perused the DVD section and my eyes fell on “Princess Caraboo” and I knew it would be the perfect movie to tease him with. So we got it, mainly as a joke, and returned home. (We also picked up “Creature From the Black Lagoon” for him, so he was happy. No. Seriously.)

Well, since we had the movie, AchingHope and I decided that we should watch it before returning it. Just for kicks.

I don’t want to give away the twist at the end, but I thought I would review the movie for you here so everyone can understand the wonder that is “Princess Caraboo.”

As you can tell from the title, this is a movie about a girl that is wandering in Regency England wearing a pair of trousers, a rough shirt and a turban. She is found and brought to a nearby town. The vicar decides that she must be someone important. This is obvious because she is dressed oddly, carries her head at an angle and can speak no English.

I am a Princess as you can tell by my grungy shirt and exotic hand gestures.

The vicar brings her to the Worrells. For no apparent reason. At first, Mrs. Worrell takes her in.

You can tell how important we are - our furniture is made out of shells!

but then, Mr. Worrell sends her to the magistrate.

The magistrate wishes to imprison or hang her for begging, but Cute Vagrant Boy stands up for her. Unfortunately, he is already under penalty of imprisonment, so his word means nothing. Also unfortunately, Creepy Stalker Journalist stands up for her too. Not so unfortunately Mrs. Worrell shows up. The magistrate agrees to leave her in the custody of the Worrells.

I am a Cute Vagrant Boy. Therefore my word means nothing

I am a Creepy Stalker Journalist. Therefore my word means everything.

She returns to the Worrell's house where she astounds them by refusing to allow them to take off her turban, stating her name as Caraboo and writing in a strange, unknown language.

This is the universal signal for leave my hat alone!

The servants of the house are jealous, particularly the French butler – Frank Sauce. He is my favorite character. His outfits alone are worth watching the movie

Frank Sauce is Saucey!

Of course the only logical conclusion everyone can come to is that Caraboo must be an Oriental Princess. So the family spends a small fortune on clothing, a fancy four poster princess bed and whatever else Caraboo desires. Fortunately, she cannot speak English, so she doesn’t ask much.

You can tell I am a Princess because I have declared my own fashions!

Plaid must always be worn with floral.

Through a series of misadventures including cigar smoking,

praying on the roof,

standing on a ladder behind a tree,

and dancing with the creepily insane Prince Regent,

Caraboo wins the hearts of everyone around her. Mainly because Mr. Worrell sees her as a way to gain confidence from investors for his business in the West Indies and because everyone else sees her as a novelty.

Except the servants. They decide they actually really like her.

To the Princess Caraboo!

Everyone is happy until creepy, stalker journalist (also known as Mr. Grouch) decides to poke his nose into her business.

She had a book in English! Therefore she must be a fraud!

He decides that she may not actually be an Oriental Princess and sets out to ruin everyone's fun. However, he does this while claiming that if she really had taken everyone in and made everything up then he would "cherish her forever". Um.... STALKER! Creepy! Stalker!

I will climb a wall to break into the Prince Regent's Palace

to prove you are a fraud because I love you!

I will not give away the twist, but I will say this is the first chick flick-esque movie where I have actually pleaded with the movie for it not to end with a kiss.

They may have had me choose you in the movie,

but I'm glad I don't actually have to kiss my stalker, 'cause that would just be awkward...

I would have ended the movie with Caraboo getting on the ship and discovering that Cute Vagrant Boy was working on it while Creepy Stalker Journalist got run over by a horse. Now that would have been a good ending.

What I Read This Year - Post 4

Wow. This is my final post. I think I'll do this monthly or quarterly instead of yearly, because this was kind of ridiculous, but I had so much fun with it. Alrighty here we go.....

71. Finding Lost: Season 1 and 2 by Nikki Stafford (A fantastic, can't live without it guide to Lost. I read this along with our rewatch over the hiatus and it was amazing and informative and hilarious. Love it.)

72. The Van Alen Legacy by Melissa De La Cruz (The fourth book in this series. Pretty good. It had been too long since I had read the first ones and it took me a bit to figure out what was going on, but I enjoyed it.)

73. In a Perfect World by Laura Kasischke (It seems like this book should be depressing when you read the premise, but it totally wasn't. A very sweet story. I really enjoyed it.)

74. Return to the Hundred Acre Wood by David Benedictus (I am a HUGE Winnie-the-Pooh fan - the original stories with the Shepard illustrations. I thought this looked fun. I was very disappointed with it. I felt that it lacked the charm and the accessibility of the originals. It seemed like the author was just trying too hard and it came off awkward to me.)

75. Heat Wave by Richard Castle (Castle is one of my all time favorite shows airing and this was like reading an episode of the show - but one written by Castle. Absolutely hysterical. I about died laughing when I saw that the "Castle" character in the book was named "Rook". If you don't get it look at the two quoted words and think geek. Yeah, I am one.)

76. Perfect Mistake by Kate Brian (Another novel in the Privileged series. Absolutely love her characterizations. I am dying for the next book in this series.)

77. Vampire Diaries: The Awakening and The Struggle by L.J. Smith (I admit I read these because of the tv show. I enjoyed them. Very different than the show, but good.)

78. Finding Lost: Season 3 by Nikki Stafford (Have I mentioned that these are the best guides you could ever hope to have when watching Lost? No? Well, these are the best guides you could ever hope to have when watching Lost! Go buy them!)

79. Tempted by P.C. and Kristin Cast (The most recent book in their House of Night series. Very interesting.)

80. Evernight by Claudia Gray (Totally not what I expected in a good way. I keep forgetting to pick up the sequel, but I am dying to know what happens next!)

81. Vampire Diaries: The Fury and Dark Awakening by L.J. Smith (Enjoyed this continuation of the series, but I'm really wondering how close to the book plot the tv show is going to be, because it's totally not at all like this right now.)

82. Finding Lost: Season 4 by Nikki Stafford (If you own season 4 of Lost, then you need to own this book too. So great! and no, Nikki pays me nothing to say any of this, but you should totally check out her blog! We have WAY too much fun over there!)

83. Lord of the Flies by William Golding (I had never read this before. I didn't have what you might call a "normal" high school experience. So now I'm going back and reading a lot of the stuff people usually read in high school. Besides, this was referenced on Lost and has like a million parallels! It was so much fun to look at that. Crazy, crazy book though. And sad.)

84. Ophelia Joined the Group Maidens That Don't Float: Classic Lit Signs on to Facebook by Sarah Schmelling (I knew she had to be an English major, because only one of us would come up with such a hysterically crazy idea as this. She took plots and characters and created Facebook feeds. So Funny. LOL moments like - Jane Eyre joined the group "governesses that love their masters" - Maria VonTrapp likes this - not word for word, but you get the idea. Great fun.)

85. Bone by Jeff Smith (This was the one volume compilation of the ten Bone books. I absolutely adored this book. It was so fantastic! I'm just starting to get into graphic novels and this one was a winner for me.)


So that does it. Wow! 85 books! I can hardly believe it. A lot of good authors and stories, a few duds, but a pretty good average. Thanks for putting up with my extreme English major geekiness and maybe you walked away with a few book ideas. Leave me any of your recommendations. I'm always looking for something good to read! :)

What I Read This Year - Post 3

Whew... This is taking more posts than I anticipated, but I love books, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.


51. Elyon by Ted Dekker (Another title in his YA series. Pretty good)

52. Raven Rise by D.J. MacHale

53. Soldiers of Halla by D.J. MacHale (The final book in the series. It was satisfying. There was a whole lot of exposition, but there really wasn't any other way to explain all the mythology so that the ending worked. All in all a nice end to a series I thoroughly enjoyed.)

54. Thirteenth Child by Particia Wrede (Loved it. Historical fantasy? How do you make THAT work? She does. I want to read the next one.)

55. Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Another book our store focused on. Very dense prose. I really liked it, but it took me a while to get through it.)

56. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (Absolutely heartbreaking and beautifully written. This is one of those books that will stay with you.)

57. The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf (Fascinating book with a great twist.)

58. Wild At Heart by John Eldredge (The counterpart to Captivating, this book explores God's design for and of men. Very enlightening.)

59. Sold by Patricia McCormick (A heartrending fictional account of a real atrocity - the sale of young girls and women into prostitution.)

60. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (A very good book. I read this one on the recommendation of Blam and thoroughly enjoyed it. If you like Harry Potter or Percy Jackson you should enjoy this one, too.)

61. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster (I had never read this before and now I want to know why! It was amazing and I loved all the play on words. Fun, fun, fun.)

62. Evil at Heart by Chelsea Cain (I picked up an ARC of her second book, Sweetheart, quickly saw it was a sequel, so I read her first one, Heartsick first. Not my usual fare at all, but it totally sucked me in. Liked the first one a lot. Second one was okay. Third one was necessary to wrap things up, but started to feel like a repeat of the first two. I hope she moves to new characters for her next book.)

63. Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink (Not only is this book fantastic, but Michelle is one of the nicest authors you will ever meet. I am lucky enough that she is a local author and came to do a signing at our store. She is a fantastic lady and her book is wonderful. I am dying for the sequel to come out.)

64. The End by Lemony Snicket (Listened to this on audio. I've read the entire Series of Unfortunate Events multiple times. I love it so much.)

65. The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket (Another audio.)

66. A Summer to Remember by Mary Balogh (I really like the way Mary draws her characters. They are great.)

67. The Guinea Pig Diaries by A.J. Jacobs (A friend of mine recommended The Know-It-All to me a few years ago and I've been following Jacobs' books ever since. This one was fun, but I preferred his first two books over it.)

68. The Earl Claims His Wife by Cathy Maxwell (I feel really bad because I can't remember anything about this book or why I picked it up.)

69. Sweet Revenge by Diane Mott Davidson (I got this book on audio and fell in love with the author. I like a good mystery and she delivers with character, plot, humor and heart.)

70. Suspicion by Kate Brian (Another book in the Private series. I'm pretty sure Kate is a Lost fan after reading this book. Deserted islands, a character named Sawyer that always has his nose in a book... I recognize the signs :)

Well, one more post ought to finish this up. Maybe I'll get to that tomorrow.