Book Blog

I have a new blog that I am a member of. Jessie, Nick, John and I have have started a book blog "High Five Book Club" where we share and blog about the books that we read. We are also thinking about posting ending spoilers for those that can't wait till the end of the book to find out what happens, but I'm not sure if we will do that yet. The spoiler idea came from when Jessie was reading "The Thirteenth Tale" and she went online to try to find out what happens at the end, but couldn't find a spoiler site for it. Initially we left John out because he doesn't read that often, but he's been really trying to finish his current book "Angels and Demons" so we let him join in. We'll see if he contributes or not. So if you like books and reading check it out . . .
High Five Book Club.

Twilight Movie Poster

Wow, I'm so excited! New movie posters and a new trailer!

Love for "The Office" . . . and Twilight?

My new header is a tribute to "The Office" since the new episodes started last week. Yay!!!

There is an artist, tacos_rebellion, that does little office cartoons that are really cute. They didn't have the alliance scene, but here are two I like:




























Oh, thinking about vampires, I haven't really been that excited about the Twilight movie, since movies are never as good as the books, but this video clip from MTV got me excited! Watch out though there is at least one bad word spoken at the end.

http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1585325&vid=224215

Also, here is what Stephenie Meyer posted on her site about the movie:

6 fun facts from the set:

1) While watching the playback from a very intense scene with Bella and Edward, the girl next to me literally slid right out of her chair—I think her bones melted. She also may have stopped breathing for a few seconds, too. I know I did.

2) Mike Welch can dance.

3) Hugging Kellan Lutz (Emmett) is the closest you can get to hugging a vampire; he is made of granite. (But please do not try to hug Kellan without his permission. Thank you.)

4) Portland is too cold. For anyone. But especially for Arizonans.

5) Jackson Rathbone (Jasper) can really play the guitar. Our taste in music is not exactly the same, but we found common ground with Radiohead's Creep, with which he then serenaded me.

6) As you might guess, I do a lot of internal swooning on the set. However, I have an excellent poker face.

To conclude, I would like to make a few comments about Rob and Kristen, who are the true heart of this movie. First, they are both amazing actors. Second, they are channeling Edward and Bella like nobody's business. Third, you might want to bring a paper bag to the movie, because their on-screen chemistry may cause hyperventilation. That is all.

Hope you enjoyed this little bit of TV/Movie news. Yeah, I know, I have no life!

Six Word Memoirs

I came across this book, "Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure" by Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser and thought it was a great idea.

The author said the idea came from Hemingway when he proved that an entire story can be told using only 6 words: "For Sale: baby shoes, never worn." The memoirs range from funny, inspiring, and sad. Here are a few: "Found true love, married someone else." sounds like Wuthering Heights. "Followed white rabbit; became black sheep." A few famous ones: Stephen Colbert ~ "Well, I thought it was funny." Mario Batali ~ "Brought it to a boil, often."

Isn't this a great way to capture your feelings at different times in your life? So come up with your own six word memoir and share it or at least write it down for yourself! I had a hard time thinking of mine, but I think this will do for now: "Increasing in age, decreasing in maturity."

If you want hear more, check out the beginning of this youtube video. It shows different six word memoirs.

The Thirteenth Tale

This was such a good book! I was on my way to Maryland for a week of training for work and I had actually just started reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (which I still haven't finished!), but the hard back version is so big that I didn't want to lug it around with me. So, I stopped by a bookstore in the Atlanta airport to find something to read on my trip. (Paid way too much for it since I bought it in an airport, buy from Amazon or Half.com!!!) I was first attracted by the cover and once I read the summary, I was sold. I mean ghosts, mysteries, gothic suspense, come on!

I thought the book was so well written and I really loved the main character Margaret. The main characters are such lovers of books that you really feel like kindred spirits. I guess that is also why I love the Twilight Series so much. I'll have to give Twilight it's own blog entry one day. Okay, here's the summary from books-a-million:

When Margaret Lea opened the door to the past, what she confronted was her destiny.

All children mythologize their birth...So begins the prologue of reclusive author Vida Winter's collection of stories, which are as famous for the mystery of the missing thirteenth tale as they are for the delight and enchantment of the twelve that do exist.

The enigmatic Winter has spent six decades creating various outlandish life histories for herself -- all of them inventions that have brought her fame and fortune but have kept her violent and tragic past a secret. Now old and ailing, she at last wants to tell the truth about her extraordinary life. She summons biographer Margaret Lea, a young woman for whom the secret of her own birth, hidden by those who loved her most, remains an ever-present pain. Struck by a curious parallel between Miss Winter's story and her own, Margaret takes on the commission.

As Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good, Margaret is mesmerized. It is a tale of gothic strangeness featuring the Angelfield family, including the beautiful and willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess, a topiary garden and a devastating fire.

Margaret succumbs to the power of Vida's storytelling but remains suspicious of the author's sincerity. She demands the truth from Vida, and together they confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth

The Thirteenth Tale is a love letter to reading, a book for the feral reader in all of us, a return to that rich vein of storytelling that our parents loved and that we loved as children. Diane Setterfield will keep you guessing, make you wonder, move you to tears and laughter and, in the end, deposit you breathless yet satisfied back upon the shore of your everyday life.

book website