5 things i'm loving right now (march)

how in the world is it march already?!  cray.  i get my hopes all up because in georgia- march means spring is coming (and from the sound of it- it's already been spring all winter back home).  here in illinois, that's just not the case- today it was 60 degrees- how delightful, right?  by that evening it was 35 and sleeting.  boo.  all i know is that warmer weather is definitely around some corner & spring begins in march + daylight savings time begins!

here's what i'm loving this month...

modcloth!  i love modcloth every month, but there's extra love for them right now.  i'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of my stylish surprise.  omg- what am i getting?!?  i guess we'll find out this weekend.  i can't wait to see.  i love that modcloth does surprising little treats + they have top notch customer service.  i'm so excited to be apart of their modsquad again this year!!

this book!  i've just started reading it and i'm really excited to see what's in store.  i'm sure i'm in for a rude awakening.  we're always making small changes to make our diet better.  for lent i've decided to give up coke.  so far i'm 1 week in and i really haven't had any cravings for it yet.  we'll see how the next 5 weeks go!

the hunger games movie!!!  i just finished reading the trilogy earlier this week.  i loved it.  i'm really excited to see the movie.  dave wants to read the series too, so i'm hoping i can at least get him to finish the first book in time to see the movie opening weekend.  anyone else a fan?

hair tutorials (not my own- but from other people).  they are the source of my greatest joy and my greatest frustration.  there are a few that i've mastered quite easily and some that i just can't get no matter how long i try.  seriously, i need someone to teach me the secret to back combing (just can't seem to get it right) and how to pull the top part of my hair up (just can't ever get that right either).  and i hated my long hair so much- but  now it's too short...  

i am obsessed with iced coffee (and coffee in general right now).  i go through stages with coffee- i drink it for weeks and then i quit drinking it for months.   right now i'm drinking hot coffee and iced coffee.  i have to say how much i love mcdonald's iced coffee.  we don't go there very often- rarely, but lately i've been making a stop there for some delish iced coffee.  i usually get a small with cream only & vanilla sugar-free syrup.  only 60 calories in that.  yesssss.  

what are you loving this month?  

linking up.

oh, and for crying out loud, have you entered my totally awesome giveaway?  i guess at least 2 people read my blog!!

mommy reads in 2011

i wanted to read more in 2011- so i took on the page to screen challenge over at reading extensively.  the goal was to read books that were turned into movies/tv shows and if you chose, to watch the corresponding movie/show.  i thought i could do at least 5- i definitely passed my expectations. 

so many people say that once they have a baby, they don't have time to read anymore...  baloney.  if you like to read- read.  you probably have the time.  i didn't read 100 books this year, but i read a few...  i think i did pretty well.

in 2011 i read...

1. the lovely bones - alice sebold
2. carrie - stephen king
3. BUtterfield 8 - john o'hara
4. the virgin suicides - jeffery eugenides
5. the accidental billionaires - ben mezrich
6. twilight - stephanie meyer
7. eclipse - stephanie meyer
8. new moon - stephanie meyer
9.  breaking dawn - stephanie meyer
10. between a rock & a hard place - aron ralston
11. something borrowed - emily giffin
12. the help - kathryn sockett
13. eat, pray, love - elizabeth gilbert
14. push - sapphire
15. dear john - nicholas sparks
16. water for elephants - sara gruen

not book challenge related, but i also read:
17.  garden anywhere - alys fowler
18.  your first triathlon - joe friel

and started in 2011, but finished in 2012... (19.) shutter island.

so i finished 16 books for the challenge!!! (!!)  pdg.  want to know what i thought of the books i read in 2011?  you can find it all right here.  now it's on to 2012....

wish list friday: things to read

i read a lot of books this year, which makes me very happy.  i want to get into more reading and less watching last year (which is probably why our dvr is full) and i did it!  i'll post more later on the books i did read in 2011 (which were all books made into movies).  this year i'm going to read whatever the heck i want.  i've gotten so many books in the last year or so, but i didn't read them last year because they didn't fit into the challenge criteria.  here's to reading about anything & everything!

5th avenue, 5 a.m. by sam wasson.  i just finished what i was reading and this is on my night stand ready to read.  this book is all about the making of breakfast at tiffany's from novel to film and how hepburn's portrayal of holly golightly changed women in film.  breakfast at tiffany's is one of my favorite films.

in defense of food by michael pollan.  dave got this for me last year and i still haven't read it.  i feel like i've made an improvement to how i eat, but i still have a long ways to go.

the hunger games by suzanne collins.  i've been waiting to dive into this trilogy... but i only have book 1... noooo!

drowning ruth by christina schwarz.  i'm not an oprah fan, but her book club books are usually wonderful reads.  i'm very excited about this psychological thriller!

frankly, my dear: gone with the wind revisited by molly haskell.  gwtw is my favorite movie of all time and i'm excited to read a little more about the background of the movie and book.

taste & see by john piper.  looking forward to starting this devotional.

is everybody hanging out without me (and other concerns) by mindy kaling.  i actually don't own this book yet, but i'm definitely planning on reading it.  love mindy on the office.

nice girls don't change the world by lynne hybels.  i received this book for mother's day at church last year or the year before... just haven't gotten around to reading it yet.

the immortal life of henrietta lacks by rebecca skloot.  henrietta lacks died at the age of 31 in 1951.  her cells were taken from her body w\o anyone's persmission and became the multi-billion dollar foundation of modern science, yet her family had no idea and lived in poverty and poor health.  it sounds too crazy to be true, yet it is.  

organized simplicity: the clutter-free approach to intentional living by tsh oxenreider.  i'm dying to be uncluttered, and we're getting there very slowly, but there's always more that can be done.  

well, those are just a few of the books that i'm wanting to read soon!  have you read any of these books?  are you planning on reading any of these books?  what's on your book wish list- please share!

mommy reads: water for elephants

water for elephants

i'm so glad i was able to end 2011 on a good note as far as reading goes.  there have definitely been some ups & downs this year, but this was definitely a high.  

jacob jankowski is a 23 year old vet student at cornell only days away from taking his finals and joining his father's practice.  however, his parents are tragically killed in a car accident and jacob learns that his father mortgaged their home (this is right after the stock market crash) to send jacob to school and he is left with nothing.  jacob is so overcome with grief, that he walks out on his exams and just starts walking- when a train comes by, he jumps it, not knowing how much his life is about to change.  jacob has jumped a train belonging to the benzini brothers circus.  he gets a permanent job by telling the ringmaster & animal trainer that he is a veterinarian.  trouble begins to brew though when jacob falls in love with marlena- the star of the show and wife of animal trainer august.  the story is told in flashbacks by jacob at the age of ninety, or ninety-three.  

sara gruen is a wonderful writer and the story kept me entertained from start to finish.  i also saw the movie and really enjoyed it.  it doesn't hurt that it stars rob pattinson- but i thought it was a good interpretation of the book.  a major character was morphed into another character, which took away from some of the story, but in the end was probably the best thing for the movie.  i'd recommend both.  charming story

book 4/5, movie 4/5.

mommy reads: dear john

dear john

i think i've reached my limit of nicholas sparks books. first i read the notebook- the 2 main characters die together at the end (sad, but happy b\c they loved each other so much), then i read a walk to remember- sad because the girl dies at the end when she's only 18.  then i read dear john.  surprisingly, no one died at the end, but i wanted to kill myself for reading another nicholas sparks book....  read on... unless you're going to read this at some point (which i've already advised you not to)... in which you shouldn't because... spoiler alert.

john tyree bad boy turned soldier meets savannah curtis while on r&r.  she's a college student building houses for habitat with a bunch of other college students, including her friend tim, who happens to be in love with her.  they immediately fall in love- but john's only home for 2 weeks.  savannah also meets john's reclusive, distant father, who she diagnoses with asperger's, much to john's dismay.  john happens to pay more attention to his father after this though and realizes savannah is probably right.  john's father is a big time coin collector, and he used to collect with his dad until they got into a huge fight about it.  after the 2 weeks john goes back to germany and they write letters to each other.  everything's going to work out though because john's time in the army is almost up- but did i mention they met in the summer of 2001?  oops.  well, john decides to reenlist after 9-11 adding another 2 years on- but him & savannah continue to write letters.  he comes home to visit again, and you can tell there is distance between him.  john gets sent to war (i swear i thought he would die, but he doesn't) and while he's gone he gets a real "dear john" letter- savannah is breaking up with him b\c she's in love with someone else.  john reenlists again, but is soon called home b\c his father is sick.  his father dies eventually and john comes home to settle his estate.  while at home he decides to pay savannah a visit, it's there he learns that she has married tim and they are the caretakers of tim's brother alan b\c tim's parent died in a car accident.  tim is no where to be found though... but wait... the next day savannah takes john to see tim- he has lymphoma and really needs expensive experimental treatment that insurance won't cover.  it's obvious that savannah is still in love with john, and we know john still loves savannah, but john leaves, sells his father's entire coin collection (except for one) and anonymously donates all of the money to tim.  in the end, we find out that tim took well to treatment and is going to live.  

seriously?!  all i could think about when she dumped him (in the middle of a war, no less) was that she was such a rotten b.  then, she halfway tries to seduce him, and then he sells his father's entire coin collection and donates it just so her husband will live.  the husband that she fell in love with while they were still together...  

the movie was a completely different story... literally.  it should have been entitled "dear john (very) loosely based on the book dear john."  i mean, some of the details were the same, but so much of it was different- if you don't like the details of a book- then don't make a movie "based" on it.  

disappointments, both of them.  

book 2/5, movie 1/5. 

mommy reads: push

push

i wanted to read the novel push by sapphire after hearing about the movie adaptation "precious" that came out in 2009.  i read the book once back in 2009, but just recently got around to seeing the movie- so i wanted to re-read the book to refresh me before viewing the film.  

precious jones is 16 years old, and pregnant with her 2nd child- by her own father.  she's illiterate, abused by her mother, and has just been kicked out of school for being pregnant.  her principal sets her up in an alternative school where her teacher sees precious not just as another casualty of harlem and the system, but as a person with an opportunity to become somebody. 

this book is a hard read.  it's written from the point of view of precious and i guess you could call that a ghetto dialect.  you must remember that although she has gone to school, that she is for the most part, uneducated.  if you can read through the dialect, then the book is a pretty "easy" read...  the novel is short (less than 200 pages).  you begin through precious's thoughts and dialogue with people around her, and by the end you are reading through her writing.  what makes this a tough read is the actual words and nature of the story.  precious explains her sexual, verbal and physical abuse in very graphic detail- it's hard to stomach, and hard to believe that people actually go through things like that in life.  that people are hurt by those they trust the most.  hurt by those who were put on this earth to be their protectors.  precious goes to show that despite your past, you can pick yourself back up and work to have a successful life, despite whatever plans the "system" may have for you.  so as painful as the book is to read, you're definitely cheering for precious to pick herself up and get her life together- and what's in store for precious will definitely have you cheering!

the movie is equally painful to watch in that you actually see the abuse with your eyes, but it can't touch the book in getting into the innermost thoughts of precious.  it also doesn't give you as deep of a look into precious's journey to literacy and her journaling with her teacher, blue rain.  

overall, i enjoyed both.  great read, despite the heavy subject matter.  award-winning film.  

book 4/5.  movie 4/5

mommy reads: breaking dawn

since it's taking me for-ev-er to re-read epl, i thought i'd go ahead & do my review of breaking dawn since the movie just came out on friday.

i feel like it took me forever to read this book.  i enjoyed it, but it was really long, really, really long.  here's the rundown:  bella finally marries edward, they have sex, bella gets pregnant w\ a half-vampire.  vampire babies can't exist, the volturi comes to kill the vampire baby, there's a huge fight.  the end.  i enjoyed the book- long but solid.  good way to end it- you can't go on and do these forever.

dave & i saw breaking dawn part 1 at the midnight showing friday morning.  i know there are so many people who hate the books, movies, etc.  i look at it like this: there are books and movies you take seriously, and the rest are just for fun.  this is my just for fun.  i can read the book and feel like i'm on a little break for a couple hours a day.  i can watch the movie, enjoy it whilst laughing at the bad acting & silly dialogue.  do i enjoy the movies?  yes.  are they oscar-worthy?  never.

i really liked the movie.  dave hated it- that's to be expected.  it set things up perfectly for part 2 without leaving a cliffhanger that leaves you dying for the next year.  edward is a total hottie & bella's wedding dress is gorgeous.  this movie was basically a set-up for the final movie- and that's where the real stuff will happen.

did you see breaking dawn?

book 3/5.  movie 3/5.

mommy reads: something borrowed

i decided to read something borrowed again because i had just forced my way through between a rock & a hard place, and i needed an easy read.  that and the fact that we had the movie saved on our dvr from a bunch of expiring free ppv movies.  it wasn't really a movie i wanted to see, but we were out of options and time was running out.  i read this book and its sequel, something blue many years ago.  spoiler:  i liked something blue WAY more than i liked something borrowed...  here's the review...

rachel & darcy have been best friends since childhood.  shy, "plain" rachel busted her butt through law school and now hates her job as an attorney for a large firm in nyc.  boisterous and gorgeous darcy has skated by through life on her looks, has a fabulous job & a gorgeous fiancee.  on the eve of rachel's 30th bday, darcy throws her a surprise party, where rachel ends up sleeping with darcy's fiancee.  she thinks it's just a fling, but neither of them can forget... but the question rachel has for dex is will he or won't he call off his engagement to darcy to be with rachel.... 

i have a few problems.  the book is a good book, but the entire premise of it is a girl who basically steals her best friend's fiancee, and then spends the rest of the novel trying to justify it by remembering all the bad things darcy has ever done to her in  their lives and only seeing the negative personality traits of her supposed best friend.  sure, darcy is shallow, egotistical and self-centered, but does that mean that she deserves to be cheated on by the 2 people she trusts the most?  and yes, the ending does have a twist, which the "heroine" uses to further justify her case... but still.  no.  everyone in this novel needs a good, loud wake up call.  i mean, you find yourself cheering for rachel & dex- they're in love, they had a missed connection years ago when they attended law school together (it was rachel who introduced him to darcy in the first place), but just because you knew him first doesn't make a difference- it doesn't give you the right.  in the end, no one wins.  including me for reading it again.  so although the story has no moral value, but you can't help but kind of like it.  i'm torn.  but seriously, if you take time to read this book- read the sequel- it's definitely better.  hint:  darcy's the heroine.

the movie wasn't much better.  kate hudson plays darcy, which i can totally see- BUT i have a problem when actors don't even physically resemble the characters they're playing.  darcy was supposed to be a tanned brunette- and kate hudson is not that.  i also think kate hudson was pregnant when this was filmed- b\c she totally has pregnant face.  there were also characters missing, and total story changes.  john krasinski was a welcome addition to the movie although his character was a minor part of the novel (look for him more in the 2nd book (and film, apparently)).  also, i can't ever decide if i think ginnifer goodwin is cute, or annoys me to no end.  same with kate hudson.  skip it.

book:  2.5\5.  movie 1\5. 

sad times.  all our books have been packed for our move and i can't find them.  nooooooooooooo!

mommy reads: the twilight saga- eclipse

i just finished eclipse heading into this weekend which puts me at 3 books in 3 weeks... and not just any 3 books, 3 somewhat long books.  i'm out of control... sorta like a newborn vampire- which is funny becaus eclipse starts off with seattle being hit by a string of murders- murders that the cullen clan believe are the results of newborns.  as far as the main characters go- eclipse picks up right where new moon left off.  edward has asked bella to marry him, but she's still torn between him (who she knows she really loves) and jacob.  i have to say, i wasn't really big on the love triangle aspect.  in fact, i'm pretty sure if i told my husband i loved him most and would pick him, but was still in love with someone else... i think he'd tell me to hit the road.  ijs.  so, i wasn't a big fan of that, but i did enjoy the further development of the story leading us closer to bella becoming a vampire- which included her high school graduation, and the ultimatum that she gives edward that finally brings them to an agreement over marrying/changing.  i ended up watching the movie before i started the book though, and i really enjoyed the movie as well.  is there a team jasper?  because, sign me up for that ish.  so overall, i loved both, but they just left me waiting on pins & needles for breaking dawn!  woot!

movie/book 3.5/5!

mommy reads: new moon

well, i am so relieved to know that i'm not the only 30 year old woman who is addicted to twilight in the movie & book form and drools over robert pattinson.  i mean, i could have a cardboard cutout of him in my guest bedroom, but i don't.... sadly.  ;)

i finished the 2nd book in the twilight saga- new moon in record time compared to the 1st.  i am averaging a book per week- and that is a record for me at this stage in my life.  i finished the 1st book, and immediately wanted to see the movie, and then i watched the 1st movie and wanted to see the next 2.  so i had a twilathon and then i started new moon.  i already knew new moon would be probably be my least favorite book b\c the movie is pretty depressing, because and robert pattinson isn't in the majority of it.  he's replaced in hotness by taylor lautner, but i'm definitely not team jacob, plus taylor lautner is still a teenager.  it just isn't the same.  so, i knew i had this to look forward to in the book....

new moon starts with bella swan crying doom & gloom over her 18th (omg, she's so old) birthday.  now she's officially 1 year older than her vampire boyfriend, edward cullen.  when she attends a party thrown for her by the cullens, she gets a paper cut while opening a gift and is almost attacked by edward's brother jasper, who is the newest to the vegetarian vampire lifestyle.  because of this, and his desire to protect her at all costs- edward lies to bella, telling her he doesn't love her anymore and that he has to leave with his family, and bella is just dumb enough to believe him.  bella becomes a walking ad for prozac, until she finally decides to become an adrenaline junkie with the help of her friend and soon to be werewolf, who happens to be in love with her, jacob black.  i'll leave it at that. 

i did enjoy the book, i just didn't enjoy it as much as the 1st.  it was a little slow-moving with poor bella being in her depressed state, and i was just thinking in my head the entire time- oh, just reunite with your true love edward already!  the book was a very dark time for bella- if you've had your heart broken, you may relate to how bella felt when edward left- especially if you think of it from the perspective of an 18 year old.  by the end, i was just ready to see bella (and edward) happy again and reunited.

regarding the movie.  you ask, how can you make a 2nd twilight movie with very little robert pattinson? well, taylor lautner finally sheds the horrible wig, shreds out some abs and loses most of his clothes when he joins the gang of jorts-wearing, shirtless werewolves.  his character helps carry the movie during the absence of rp.  overall, i enjoyed it, b\c i'm a twilight freak now.  le sigh.

book & movie: 3/5

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mommy reads: ::sigh:: twilight

yes, believe it or not, this is still melissa.  no one is holding my blog hostage in order to write an entry about twilight.  sadly, i read it myself.  if you know me very well, you know that i am not really into the science fiction/fantasy type stuff.  i am very anti- vampire/witch/wizard/zombie/your choice of scary entity here.  i have not read any henry porter books, nor do i want to.  i did not watch buffy.  i don't particularly care for lord of the rings.  nor do i see the appeal.  i have felt the same way about twilight from the get go.  laughing at it, and anyone else who liked it.  things were going so well in my twilightless life....

rewind back:  sunday, july 31, 2011.  dave & i had gone out the night before with friends for our birthdays.  ian stayed w\ dave's dad, so we stayed the night there too.  it was late when we got back, and didn't want to sneak into bed w\ ian sleeping in the pnp, so we decided to sleep in the basement.  dave had hockey practice the next morning, and the basement bedroom stays pitch black all day, so i was really shocked when dave called and it was after 10 and ian was still asleep.  we were going to meet dave's dad for breakfast, so i wanted ian to sleep as long as he could so he wouldn't be immediately hungry & cranky upon waking up.  i was bored and my phone doesn't have service on the nightstand.  there were a few books sitting there.  one happened to be twilight.  i picked it up and looked at it for a while, and thought, "i'll read this until dave gets here and then i'll hide it way and never touch it again."  so i read a chapter or 2 and dave was back.  i put the book down quickly, he comes in and this conversation ensues:

d:  what have you been doing
m:  nothing
d: what's that look for
m:  i've been reading twilight, and i like it, who am i?!

so, i read the book.  and i liked it.  and then i watched the 1st movie. and before you know it, it's thursday (today) and i've seen all 3 movies and have read 2 of the books.  seriously.  who am i?!  we've had this conversation every day this week.  have you ever had something that you really really loved, but you wanted to keep it a secret b\c you were embarrassed about it.  for me, that was nsync about 12 years ago....  now it's twilight.  gah.  you probably want a review at least... 

"i'm the world's best predator, aren't i?  everything about me invites you in- my voice, my face, even my smell.  as if i need any of that!  as if you could outrun me.  as if you could fight me off."

what can i really say about twilight?  the books aren't going to be winning a pulitzer for writing, obviously.  they are intended for young adults, and it's a story about young adults.  a romance story with suspense thrown in.  for me, i loved it, even if it hurts me to type that.  the story goes:  bella swan moves to forks, washington to live with her dad.  the first day of school she notices the most beautiful boy she's ever seen, but he seems totally put off by her.  she's intrigued.  they forge a reluctant (on his part) friendship and fall in love with each other.  one catch- he's a vampire, and she's "just his brand of heroin."  it sounds really silly typing it out, and it is, but i can't help it- the book was really enjoyable.  i enjoyed the book more in that it was detailed more than the movie, but i enjoyed the movie for its visual aspects.  i think you know what i mean (team edward).  this coming from someone who really doesn't find rob pattinson incredibly attractive. 

seriously, if i even say anything else, i'm going to need someone to slap me to make sure i'm still myself.  and that is a 30 year old with a kid.  not a 17 year old who is obsessed with vampires.  whatever.

4/5 stars.  only because i can't see edward when i'm reading the book.  same for the movie- only b\c it left out details and i kept having to stop & explain things to dave.  that's right.


*by the way, i get that twilight was cool like 5 years ago, so i'm way behind on that bandwagon...

mommy reads: the accidental billionaires

if you haven't heard of the book the accidental billionaires, i'm sure you've heard of the movie the social network.  haven't heard of that?  then i'm sure you've heard of facebook.  the accidental billionaires the founding of facebook a tale of money|sex|genius|and betrayal is a narrative novel by ben mezrich that tells the tale of the founding of the social network that we love/hate called facebook.  starting out as just a hack in a harvard dorm room to the billion dollar company it is today; the accidental billionaires shares all the dirty details behind the founding and growing of facebook.  mark zuckerberg & eduardo saverin start thefacebook from mark's harvard dorm in 2004 using mark's computer skills and eduardo's money.  from there the site explodes- mark drops out of harvard and moves to palo alto, ca to run the business while eduardo stays in school.  the friends grow apart, mark pushes eduardo out of facebook.  if you've seen the movie, reading the book is definitely not necessary.  you won't really learn anything new.  i actually found the movie to be far more interesting than the book, and jesse eisenberg is definitely a far more likeable mark zuckerberg.  if you haven't seen the movie, i'd definitely recommend it.  it's a very interesting look at the founding of facebook.  it's definitely not what most people probably think it is.  it took me 2 months to read this book b\c it started very slow, and the writing style was just weird to me.  this is probably one of my least favorite books that i've read... at least in a while.  

1/5 stars.  rent the movie instead. 

mommy reads: the virgin suicides

i don't know what led me to want to read this book, but i'm glad i did.  i saw this movie back in college- but i fell asleep and i don't remember anything about it, so i guess i didn't see it...  

the virgin suicides is a story is narrated by an anonymous group of narrators- teenage boys, now adults who went to school and were neighbors of the lisbon family.  the story follows the year of the suicides among the lisbon girls and how their deaths affected their entire neighborhood.  

what i loved about this book is was the descriptive narration.  it really just made the book.  you actual felt like you were living in the neighborhood and apart of the tragedy.  i really enjoy it when you read a book and the book actually takes you there.  where you feel you're so much apart of the story that you can see the house the girls live in, and feel their silent pain.  

i'd definitely recommend this book.  it took me a little bit of time to get into, but i think that's mostly because we've been so busy around here.  i think anyone would enjoy it.  the book doesn't dwell too much on the morbidity of the suicides themselves, but there are still depressing aspects.  i can't imagine a person feeling so much pain that the only way out would be to end their own life, but it's obviously a way many people feel.  

4/5

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mommy reads: BUtterfield 8

elizabeth taylor is one of my favorite actresses, and i saw the movie BUtterfield 8 several years ago.  i felt it was a fitting tribute that i was reading BUtterfield 8 when she passed away.  i'm not even sure how i found out it was based on a novel- but i received the book recently and was really excited to read it.  i wish i could say my excitement followed me to the end of the book...  john o'hara based BUtterfield 8 on the death of ny socialite starr faithfull.  this book is definitely a character study, but sometimes it studied the wrong characters.  it started off soooooooo slow- i didn't think i would ever get into it.  there were characters that didn't have anything to do with the story, and it studied them in depth, and then you never heard about them again...  the main character, gloria wandrous is glamorous, yet promiscuous girl who gets involved with a married man, weston liggett.  the book follows their tumultuous relationship.  as i already said, the book was difficult to follow, especially when it was following characters that had nothing to do with the story.  also, BUtterfield 8 was mentioned many times in the movie, but never in the book, other than to explain that it was the name of the telephone exchange.  there isn't too much else to really explain about the book- it's considered an american classic, but it definitely had mixed reviews from what i could find.  

i saw the movie again after reading the book- it's definitely easier to follow than the book!  the movie has a really interesting back story though.  it was the last movie elizabeth taylor (28 at the time) made for mgm in order to finish fulfill her contract and allow her to move on to 20th century fox to make cleopatra.  eddie fisher, who plays gloria's best friend steve- had just left his wife debbie reynolds to marry taylor.  fisher & taylor hated the movie, calling it "butterball 4."  she hated it not only b\c she was being forced to make the movie, but because the american public saw her in the same light as her character gloria, after stealing fisher from reynolds.  although she hated the movie, taylor won the 1960 best actress academy award- which also wasn't without drama.  taylor nearly died while making cleopatra (which nearly bankrupted 20th century fox) and many people feel she received the "pity vote."  while making cleopatra, taylor began a public affair with her costar richard burton, which later led to her divorce from fisher.  

anyway, there's your movie history for the day...  as far as the book goes 2\5 stars.  movie 3\5.  

have you entered my giveaway yet? 

mommy reads: carrie

go me.  i have finished yet another book.  which probably explains why i have had little time for anything else.  my email inbox is a mess, i haven't been reading my favorite blogs.  just books. 

carrie is probably my favorite horror movie.  i prefer my thriller/horror movies to be more on the side of creepy/funny rather than bloody/gutty.  and carrie has just enough unintentional humor for me to enjoy it.  

carrie was written in 1974 by stephen king- his first published novel.  it also is one of the most commonly banned books in school.  carrie was adapted into a movie in 1976- which is one of the most popularly watched movies by teens on halloween.   sissy spacek and piper laurie were both nominated for academy awards for their performances! 

ok, i'll say it now.  i enjoyed the movie better than the book on this one.  the book was a little hard to follow with its style of writing- which is written through narration + the use of book excerpts, magazine articles and interviews.  the movie stays pretty true to the book, but there are parts of the story that aren't included and new parts added in.  the biggest difference is in prom night.  surprisingly, the book is WAY more violent than the movie.  shocker.  i don't know if i didn't enjoy the book as much just b\c i already knew how much i loved the movie.  i guess it's scarier to see something than to read about it!  if you haven't read the book, you're probably fine either way, but you should definitely see the movie- even if you don't like scary movies!

book:  2.5/5.  movie 4.5/5

mommy reads: book review- can you keep a secret?

i was lucky enough to participate in a book swap over at a pretty place to play.  i was eventually paired up with elsie from little sprout growing, and i anxiously and excitedly waited for my book to arrive.

the book i read for the swap was can you keep a secret? by sophie kinsella.  i hate to admit this, but i am going to start off by saying this:  i was very, very nervous when i first opened the package and saw this book.  my husband had bought me confessions of a shopaholic (also by sophie kinsella) a few years ago- and i read it and i really didn't like it.  it was supposed to be a cutesy story, but i found myself absolutely loathing the main character- i was totally unsympathetic to her plight and it ruined the entire book for me.  i dreaded i would feel the same way about this book..

about the book:  can you keep a secret centers around the main character, emma corrigan.  emma is single (but with a "perfect" boyfriend), working for a marketing company (hoping to get a promised promotion), and always living in the shadow of her cousin.  after blowing a big presentation on her first solo business trip, she boards a plane back home, feeling pretty dejected.  fate finds her bumped to business class- and when the plane experiences turbulence, feeling that she's going to die, emma shares every last secret from the funny to the serious with her handsome seatmate.  emma's world is turned upside down when that stranger turns out to be the ceo of her company.

my thoughts:  i needed this book.  i have acquired a lot of  books about babies, and my rule has been to alternate those books with books of my choice.  my last 2 personal non-baby/parenting picks have dealt with really serious subject matters, and i needed something light.  i also enjoyed that it was a quick, easy read (it took me a week instead of months to finish).  once i started, i had a hard time putting it down!  i found myself reading a couple nights after 1 am... oops.  i thought the book asked some good questions- what would you do if someone divulged every one of their secrets to you?   would you tell all your secrets to your spouse/best friend/significant other?  do you keep secrets from your spouse/bf/so?  is it safe to keep secrets like emma kept because she knew that telling the person would hurt their feelings?  is anyone without secrets?  while i can only answer these questions for myself- i do think that everyone has different answers to these questions.  i don't think that anyone can ever be "secret-free" for too long.

so to elsie, thank you for sending me this book!  i really enjoyed it...  and i learned (again) to not judge a book by its cover author!

mommy reads. book review: babywise ii

on becoming babywise book ii is the follow up to the successful/controversial on becoming babywise.  people can say what they will about it, but it is a healthy and for me a very successful parenting method.  people hate it, but whatever.  i don't criticize your parenting, so keep your nose out of mine. although i don't find as much controversy on it now as in the past, there are still people who are very anti-babywise.  i don't agree with other people 100%, and i don't expect them to agree with me 100%, but claims that these books are "child abuse" are immature and outlandish.  i have a very happy, healthy 9 month old who sleeps and eats better than most babies i know (maybe i'm just lucky)!

with all that said, now for the book review.  this book definitely didn't have all the information that book one has, but by the time you are at the point to move onto book two, sleeping and eating habits are most likely set in stone.  the book goes back and reviews the basics, reminds you the importance of keeping your marriage a priority and not just making the baby #1 while completely neglecting your spouse.  it then gets into information that you will need to parent your "pretoddler" which it considers to be 5-15 months.  yes, 5 months old is way too early i would say to consider your baby a pretoddler, but around 5 months they are no longer considered a newborn, and considered an infant, and an infant is indeed a pretoddler.

there are 5 main chapters in the book.

1.  mealtime activities.  this chapter talks about when to introduce cereal, how to do it, and how to introduce fruits and vegetables into your child's diet.  it also talks about finger foods, juice, snacks, weaning your baby and dealing with finicky eaters.

2.  highchair manners.  this chapter covered verbal instruction, methods of correction, common highchair problems (flipping plate, hands in mouth, raspberries, etc).

3.  waketime activities.  alone playtime, starting roomtime.

4.  thoughts on discipline.  how to consistently discipline and setting boundaries.

5  naps and nighttime sleep.  basically a refresher on common sleep issues.

to me, the most helpful chapters were the chapter on highchair manners and the chapter on discipline.  meals are a time where your child just doesnt' know what to do and they need the proper instruction.  i followed some of the methods in the highchair manners chapter from the get-go and ian is very well behaved while eating.  we don't have a lot of problems that parents seem to have.  he is pretty good about eating and staying clean.  we usually only have to correct him once or twice during a meal.  the discipline chapter was beneficial because i have a very curious baby.  ian is into EVERYTHING.  now that he's crawling, he's all over the place, so we have had to really set boundaries on where he can be, what he can touch and not touch.  this book provides correction methods that are safe for young children.

the book also contained an appendix, which was probably the most helpful section of all, and made reading the book worthwhile.  the appendix contained a section on child language development and teaching your baby sign language.  there were 14 signs with written and illustrated instructions.  so helpful.  i have been working on some with ian (please, all done, more, i love you, hungry, thank you, no and stop) and slowly integrating in the rest (eat, drink, thirsty, mommy, daddy, and milk (not in the book)).  as i said before, this section alone would make the book worth the buy.

so overall, it was just a reiteration of babywise, but there were a few helpful sections in dealing with your child as they get older.  it wasn't a must read, but for any babywise moms out there, you would probably find it very beneficial!

3 out of 4 stars (just for the sign language section) 2.5 or 2 without!

**special thanks to lulu from lulu in los angeles for sending me this book!! 

mommy reads- say you're one of them

 

i finally finished reading say you're one of them (it took me forever).  i thought i was going to just breeze through this book, partially b\c i read it to be 5 short stories- and i just thought, "i'll read one a day."  riiiight.  when one of the short stories is 100+ pages, and took me 2 months alone to read... well.

this book had rave reviews- it was part of oprah's bookclub (which doesn't make a lick of difference to me, b\c i couldn't care less about her).  i wish i could also give it a rave review- but it left me so depressed, i'm not sure i'll ever read again.

syoot is 5 short stories set in 5 different african nations.  each story is told from the point of view of a child- and although the stories are fictional in and of themselves, the horrors of what happened in the stories are real in africa.  uwem akpan is a wonderful writer- and he told the stories from a child's advantage so well- but i don't know if i cracked a smile once while reading the book.  in fact, it just kept getting more and more depressing the deeper into it i got.  while i understand why the book got such wonderful reviews, as it was very well written.  it was just a giant depress-fest to me though.  i definitely need something more uplifting the next 10 books i read to make up for this one.

i definitely recommend this book if you would like a worldview into what's going on in africa's war-torn nations- and what children in africa are going through on a daily basis.  if you like happy books though- stay away.

3 stars out of 5 (only for the writing)

next up- it's back to a parenting/baby book.

mommy reads! book review: the baby food bible

i was finally able to finish the baby food bible last night.  the baby food bible touts itself as "a complete guide to feeding your child, from infancy on."  while the book was very informative, i don't know if i'd go as far as to call it the bible of baby food.  starting baby food is yet another confusing process in the step of child rearing.  everyone has a different opinion on what is right and what is not.  i have 3 different books regarding baby food, and each of them list a different group of foods as first foods. 

the bfb starts out talking about childhood obesity rates, and how children are now eating french fries as their vegetable of choice.  it then goes into saying that starting your children out with a variety of healthy foods will help them make healthy choices well into adulthood.  i definitely plan on introducing ian to a variety of foods while he's young.  i love food- i love trying new food and being adventurous.  i want him to have the same healthy appetite!  bfb has informative charts listing various foods, and when they should be introduced to your child- it also lists daily nutritional requirements for your child for things such as fiber and dairy.  

my favorite part of the book (and the reason it took me so long to read it) was chapter 4:  superior foods.  chapter 4 had an a-z (apple to zucchini) listing of the best foods for baby with cooking instructions, ways to incorporate the food into family meals and any precautions to take.  i wish i was lying when i said i took the entire chapter and made a detailed excel spreadsheet with all the foods listed.  i must say though, even that chapter was a little unorganized in its writing.  the same information wouldn't be listed for each food item- for instance- each food would usually list the following:

- the food w\ some information about it

- how to prepare it before cooking

- how to cook it in the oven/stove

- how to microwave it

- what to do once it's cooked

- how long it will keep in the fridge/freezer

- how long it can sit before it needs to be prepared

the reason i say usually is because with some of the foods, it would be missing some of this information.  consistency, people!  the book was downhill once this chapter was over.  the next chapter had recipes, followed by how to feed your toddler, school-age child, and different precautions (nitrate poisoning, allergies, etc).  then like that the book just abruptly ended.  i was expecting at least a summation of everything in the book, but what was i really expecting...  

so obviously i wasn't a huge fan of the book.  chapter 4 was its only saving grace.  other than that the author sounded a bit pretentious at times, and she only had daughters, so a lot of the charts she listed pertained to nutrition for girls.  i am definitely going to use my excel spreadsheet that i spent hours on as a guide while cooking- and if i don't, well this book was a waste of time.  

rating:  2.5\5.  without chapter 4: 0.5\5.

next up.  i'm reading say you're one of them.  i should finish this much quicker because it doesn't require me making a ridiculous spreadsheet.  i've decided to alternate baby books with "real" books, or i'll most likely go insane.

(sorry if i'm all over the place.  i'm on the verge of insanity this week.  really, y'all).

mommy reads! book review- all this and heaven too

if you know anything about me at all, you know i love classic movies.  in fact, i prefer them to new movies.  maybe it's because we don't go to the theater a lot.  who knows.  but i'd much rather see a movie on tcm than anything new.  drives husband crazy.

 

so i had seen the movie all this, and heaven too a few years ago.  i don't remember much about it now (i know i really enjoyed it), but i remember that the acting was good, and the story was very compelling.  it features bette davis, charles boyer and barbara o'neil. it was through watching the movie that i found out it was based on a book.

i actually received the book from husband well over a year ago, but it got packed away in the move and forgotten.  i came across it recently and decided i would give it a read.  what i found upon reading was much more interesting.

all this, and heaven too is a fictionalized account of actual events.  the author, rachel field, was the great niece of the heroine, henriette deluzy-desportes, and although her great aunt died before she was even born, her story compelled her enough to write about it.  the basis of the story is- mademoiselle d leaves england to return to her native france to become a nanny for the duc and duchesse de praslin.  the duchesse is obsessively in love with her husband, almost to the neglect of her children, and the duc does not return her love.  mademoiselle d and the duc are drawn to each other, but can obviously never be together.  their friendship becomes tabloid fodder, the duchesse ends up murdered and henriette has to plead her case in order to be set free.  this was one of the most notorious murder trials in all of france's history and led to the fall of the monarchy.   

i had a really hard time getting into this book.  it probably took me 3 months to get 100 pages in, but once i hit my stride, i found it easy to keep going, and was able to finish the rest of the book in about 2 weeks.  it definitely made me wish i knew french because i would've had a lot easier of a time trying to pronounce words and names.   once i got really into the book the story was quite compelling, and i had a hard time putting the book down.  i thought that the story ended quite well- and what you thought was going to be a murder mystery ended up being the story of a beautiful romance.  i wish the author had known more about mademoiselle desportes' life, but the way she tells it, you would hardly forget it was fictionalized.  i only wish i could know what had become of the praslin children, but i'm sure mademoiselle desportes and ms. field do as well.  

i'd definitely recommend this if you're into murder mysteries, classic movies, french history, american history, or romance.  not my new favorite book, but i'd probably read it again.

2.5 stars out of 5