Precious

This weekend I was at home to celebrate the holidays with my sister & bro-in-law, who were in town to celebrate Christmas early. I took a trip to the local mall to do some shopping and the B. Dalton is closing (Barnes & Nobles buyout) so they were having a 40% sale!! Typically, I do not buy books because I try to always get them at the library, it's part of my live green initiative. However, I never pass up a 40% off sale. I walked around the store grabbing every book I've wanted to read that I haven't yet. Then Ryan made me cut down my pile....bummer. I bought Pure by Sapphire, commonly known as the book, the movie Precious is based on. Now, I knew some back story and expected the book to be depressing. Boy was I wrong, the book is FAR more depressing than I ever imagined. I see how Monique would be nominated for every award possible for portraying the mother of Precious. I haven't even seen the movie, but based on the book that would be quite the character to portray. It's even more depressing because it's a true story. Good read and very short I read it Saturday in about 5 hours.

Book Review: "Love Season"

I borrowed "Love Season" by Elin Hilderbrand from a friend, after borrowing a previous book by Erin "Barefoot". "Barefoot" was enjoyable with a surprising ending - at first I thought it was just a book version of "Beaches" (you know..."you are the wind beneath my wings") but a far more cheerful ending. It took me about 3 weeks to actually start "Love Season" (sorry Carrie), I have to be in a reading mood. Once I started it took me about 5 days to complete (note: I have a 3-hour round-trip daily commute), so let's just say I have down time :)

Although, the book left me wanting more....what happened to Miles & Sallie? Do Renata and Dan leave Nantucket or stay with Marguerite? Does Porter really never talk to his niece, and how could he leave Marguerite!? So many questions and I need answers! Does Cade really give up on Renata?

What I loved about the book - was that it all takes place during one very long, hot, summer day - but yet it spans an entire lifetime. The characters were all so intriguing and I could picture them all perfectly in my mind. Also, the book has many a French reference, which will easily win me over.

Overall, I recommend the book and I enjoyed the tiny references to "Barefoot" in the book. During the dinner party, the conversation changed to a mother of three with cancer....hm, what could that be referencing? However, the book left me wanting more...it didn't feel complete to me.

Reading Update

This morning on my daily commute I finally started "The Lovely Bones"....bottom line...riveting. I read through chapter 4 this morning and hated putting the book down to head into work. The movie comes out in December (and clearly I'll have the book finished by this Friday). The cast has some real potential to make a great movie. Mark Wahlberg plays the father, interesting casting here, but he has been moving towards more serious roles in the past few years. He is a father of a few kids, so I think that is key in casting. Rachel Weisz is the mother, and clearly she is an amazing actress. Stanley Tucci plays Mr. Harvey, which I am NOT a fan of....I LOVE Stanley Tucci, but the idea of him playing Mr. Harvey weirds me out. I think it'll forever ruin Stanley Tucci for me. The movie is directed by Peter Jackson, which makes me think Lord of The Rings...District 9...easily leads into The Lovely Bones, right??? Anyways, I have faith the movie will be well done with Peter Jackson.