Moving On

Dear Blog Readers,

If there are any of you still reading...                                                                             

I'd like to invite you to join me over at my new blog The Shadowlands

It's the start of another new adventure.  :)

10(ish) Books I'd Like to see on the Big Screen

I saw this tag going around (on Facebook) and there are LOTS of books I would like to see on the big screen.

All of these must be done true to the book.  Some alterations are ok, because obviously not everything translates well from the page to the screen, but as long as it's a good adaptation I want to SEE IT!!!

Here we go.

1.  The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (why hasn't this been made before????????????????)

2.  The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (trilogy)  (I think it is being made... yay!)

3.  The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis (this is one of my favorite Narnia books... but I say that about all of them.... :)

4.  Savvy by Ingrid Law (This would be LOVE)

5.  To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (I know there's already an excellent movie adaptation of this one.  And updated version would be awesome too though.  If it was done right.)

6.  The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall (I <3 The Penderwicks.  There should be more fiction like this for kids.  And there should be movies so kids also have great things to watch.)

7.  Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (I have heard rumors of this one being in the making for YEARS.  It needs to just get DONE!)

8.  The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare (Um, it's awesome.  'Nuff said.)

9.  Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (On 2nd thought maybe it should be a TV miniseries.  In order to do it right it would have to be like a 10 hour movie... so, maybe a miniseries would be good.)

10. Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson (There's a niche for it.  It would sell. Make it!)

11.  Goose Girl by Shannon Hale (Any of Shannon Hale's books would make beautiful movies.)

12.  This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti (I'm actually surprised that some Christian movie making company hasn't picked this one up yet.)

13.  A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (It's a classic. More people should know about it.)

14.  The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart (The Benedict Society books are the books I hold all other Kids' Fiction up to as a standard.  Everything should be this clean, this exciting, this educational.)

XIV is the new X.  :-P

Hey Good Lookin' Whatcha' Got Cookin'?

  

Looks like BROWNIES...

 YUM

Dressed in Holiday Style

    My coworkers and I are easily the hippest, funnest, coolest elves, Florists in town.

And my sister who came to pick me up from work and stayed to take pictures of me and my awesome co-workers.

Jazzy Jingle Bells

 Happy Holidays from the City Children's Choir!

Of which my little brother is a proud member.

He wore these light up reindeer antlers that he had to keep switching on constantly throughout the concert because they only blinked for 20 seconds or so after pressing the button.  So, of course he had to keep reaching up and pressing the button.  I don't know who bought him those antlers.  *whistles innocently*

Luke and his friend Elizabeth.  "Choir is FUN!!!!"

And with little siblings.  Who are adorable.  :)
 

JJ Heller Love

JJ Heller is easily my favorite recording artist.

That's saying a lot coming from the girl who can find enjoyment in almost any type of music (obviously exception would be heavy metal, whether or not it's even music is debatable.)  But, although I have a wide range of tastes, and a big list of favorite songs it's not often that I find an ARTIST that I love.  As in, I pretty much love every song she's ever recorded.  I love her sound.  I love her image.  I love that she's an independent artist.  I love that her music is understated and simple with amazing, killer lyrics.  I love that she has an  adorable baby girl that she features along with her adorable sewing projects on her adorable blog  I love that she and her husband travel together and give beautiful un-pretentious concerts where the audience feels more like they're in the Heller's living room than in a concert hall.  By the way, I know about the concerts, because I went to see them a couple weekends ago at the Outeredge Stage (which is awesome by the way.)

See?

 And I took some friends with me.  'Cause it's always good to spread the JJ Heller love. 

My friends drink a lot of coffee.

Then we went to Barnes and Noble and shopped in the used book section on the way home.

So, it was basically a perfect weekend. 

November Book List

101. Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller (****)  Re-read.  This time for my book club.  I liked it just as much this time around, found myself asking myself more questions.  I seem to find deeper themes when I re-hear or re-read something. 

102.  The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine (***)  Also a re-read but, mainly because I was really in the mood for something fluffy.  I know.  *blush* 

103.  Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson (****)  I didn't love this book as much as I loved Gilead.  I feel like there's so much more than just the words and the surface story in Robinson's works.  The main theme is Transience, or the deep, undercurrent of transience in three generations of women.  It's a story about danger and beauty, family ties and the lack of family ties.... basically, it's a story about opposite themes and ideas and philosophies.  The characters are constantly at odds with society, culture and even themselves.  Even the title of the book "Housekeeping" sounds crisp and tidy like clean sheets and bread baking, but the story itself is untidy, dark and reclusive.  I'm still thinking about this book... I don't think I can really explain what it all meant to me, but I can't get one phrase out of my head.  In the first few chapters of the book, one woman's three daughters grow up and move away from home one by one, they all leave and almost never look back "She had never taught them to be kind to her."  I wonder if we have to teach people to be kind to us?  I wonder a lot of things...

104.  Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (***)  I didn't love this one as much as I did Steinbeck's The Pearl.  There are a lot of interesting concepts in this novella.  Tons of language though, so be warned. 

105.  Gone Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright -(****)  Cute.  Classic childhood summer.

106.  Les Miserables by Victor Hugo -(*****)  Are there words for the epic-ness of this book?  I think not.  I LOVE it.  Everyone should read it.  Everyone. 

107.  Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (***)  I think I would have gotten much more out of this book if I knew more about Chinese culture.  As it is, I learned a lot about cultures mixing how it works and how it doesn't.  And generational relationships. 

108.  N or M? by Agatha Christie (****)  I think just about any Tommy and Tuppence fan would love this book.  It's so them.  :)