TUESDAY TOP THREE: Book to Movie Adaptations

Lately I feel like there has been a huge push by movie makers to turn successful books into movies. Sometimes I love this, but most of the time it isn't so great. BUT, the upside is that I end up reading  books that I may not have heard about. And it's kinda fun to see/debate who gets cast for main character roles. (I like to read books before I see the movie to preserve the integrity of the book and so I can envision the characters myself before Hollywood casts that person for me.)

It's really hard for me to narrow this list down to 3, so I've also included a list of book/movie combos that I enjoyed.

Downgrade...

When I started this blog I was really ambitious in thinking that I could read 100 books a year. Once I re-evaluated how much time that would take and knowing that I wanted to actually hit my goal...I downgraded to 80 books. Which I don't think is too shabby!

Anyways, you may have noticed it change in my masthead (or my handy dandy reading challenge widget) and I wanted to address it for all you inquiring minds!

Chalked Up: Inside Elite Gymnastics' Merciless Coaching, Overzealous Parents, Eating Disorders, and Elusive Olympic Dreams by Jennifer Sey

I could not put this book down. But not because I was dying to find out what happens next (because we know the outcome at the beginning of the book). I had to keep reading because this book blew me away about what really goes on behind the scenes. I think we all have an idea of what it's like to be an elite gymnast, but to have it told in a story like this is really wild!

Publisher's Weekly review:  
Sey writes of her career in internationally competitive gymnastics, which culminated when she won the 1986 U.S. national championship at age 17. From the start Sey was an underdog, ever the second-best athlete on the team hoping to prove herself with tenacity and toughness. She endured numerous injuries—including a broken femur, which could have ended her career—as well as an eating disorder, depression, isolation and tremendous strain on her family. With each new sacrifice that her parents and brother made to support her, the stakes crept higher, inuring them all to gymnastics' inherent physical and psychological trauma. After claiming the U.S. title, Sey was shell-shocked and exhausted, suddenly robbed of her lifelong motivation. I'd always been a fighter, a come-from-behind girl. Now that I was on top, the battle would be unwinnable. The memoir's poignant glimpses at Sey's adult struggle to reckon with her past are regrettably sparse, and her prose occasionally lapses into wordiness, but overall, she has written a courageous story befitting a comeback kid—a timely release for the 2008 Olympics.

Beach Reads!

It's that time of year when I'm trying to plan out my summer trips. And one of the reasons I enjoy summer vacation is because it's the time that I power through an obscene amount of books. (A good beach read to me is a book that doesn't require a lot of brain power and will not make me overly sad or mad.)

So in the spirit of upcoming summer vacations, below is a list of books that I have on my list to read and seem like some solid beach reads....

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

This book was really good. As in, I would pick this book up again and re-read it later on.

Fair warning though, it is a Young Adult book...but don't turn your nose up at it because of that because I think it's a book that we could all relate to.

Back of book summary: (the description sounds a little juvenile, but trust me...it's not as teeny bopper as it sounds) What if you had only one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?
Samantha Kingston has it all: the world's most crush-worthy boyfriend, three amazing best friends, and first pick of everything at Thomas Jefferson High—from the best table in the cafeteria to the choicest parking spot. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life. Instead, it turns out to be her last.

Then she gets a second chance. Seven chances, in fact. Reliving her last day during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death—and discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing.

Let's Take the Long Way Home: Gail Caldwell

This is a good book...BUT it's not a book for me. I only made it halfway through the book, and that's after skimming through many pages hoping for something else. So this is the 2nd book that I have not finished within the past month, which is pretty unheard of for me.

I think my problem is that when I have a preconceived notion about a book and it doesn't turn out how I expected, I either really love or really hate it. Unfortunately, this was not a good book experience for me.

What I thought the book was about:
Two very close friends who bonded over their love of dogs. One of the friends dies of cancer and the surviving friend writes a book about their friendship. I expect cute stories about the them bonding, their dogs, etc. That's not what I got.

What the book is about: 
A grief memoir written by the surviving friend. She describes how they met (through their dogs) and their uncanny similarities: both writers, recovering alcoholics, love of dog training, swimming/rowing, etc. It was all very interesting to read about their friendship, but there was no happy in the book. It was only about how the friend is gone (died of cancer at age 43) and how sad the author was about it.

I looked up other reviews of the book to see what other people thought and it was a very well-received book when it came out. It celebrates the power of friendship, embracing life, and getting through hard times. TIDBIT: The author has won a Pulitzer (but not for this book).

I'm sure that if I were able to stick it out and read the entire book that I would appreciate the story and the superb writing, but this book just didn't do it for me.

Rank: Unfinished.

On Vacation

Apologies for the blog neglect, I've been on vacation for the past few days.

But while I was gone, I managed to get through 2 more books. One was a disappointment, and the other was pretty good. Stay tuned for upcoming posts!

TUESDAY TOP THREE: Blogs

I really enjoy a good blog. I consider blog reading to be my "smoke break" during the day. It's the time that I can check out for about 5-10 minutes and I often feel better once I get it out of my system. I do not have a lengthy blog-roll because I am very picky about blogs that I follow.

A good blog to me is:
- Consistent posting...4-5 times a week
- Relevant topics. And if they aren't relevant, then they're at least intriguing enough that I want to read them.
- Prefer humorous posts.
- Simple design. I've seen so many blogs that have over-designed themselves and it looks like flowers and streamers have thrown up on my computer screen.
- Pretty pictures.

All that being said, here are the top 3 blogs that I am loving right now...

Bossypants by Tina Fey

I don't think that I could express how much I LOOOOOVED this book. Go out and read it now. I finished it last night and have already hounded 2 or 3 people in the office to add this to their reading list.

I knew going into this book that I would like it and it would be a good read, but I did not anticipate how much I would enjoy this book. I spent most of yesterday sprawled out on the couch reading...and reading excerpts out loud to Ethan. This is one of the first books that I've actually used the highlighter function of the Kindle for. There were just too many funny parts that I wanted to remember.

Funny Funny

I stumbled across Jennifer Lancaster in 2006 when my BFF recommended Bitter is the New Black to me. She has a very distinct writing style that that really got me tickled at times. Her books are based on her life experiences, but their told in a very snarky, witty tone. A lot of what she says feels like the inner dialogue that runs through my head as I people watch in the mall (or in other public places)...you know, the snotty stuff you would never say out loud.

(If you need a reference point, her writing style reminds me a lot of David Sedaris. But more gossipy and girly. Or Chelsea Handler...but without the sex references.)

Her first book was Bitter is the New Black: Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smart-Ass, or Why You Should Never Carry a Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office. This specific memoir centered around the author losing her cushy job and having to essentially slum it with the commoners. She's very self-centered in her observations and at times you can't believe she did/said that, but if you take it with a grain of salt it's actually very funny.
Rank: B

The other book of hers that I read was: Bright Lights, Big Ass: A Self-Indulgent, Surly, Ex-Sorority Girl's Guide to Why it Often Sucks in the City, or Who Are These Idiots and Why Do They Live Next Door to Me? This memoir is based on city-life and how challenging it can be...chock-full of hilarious observations about the weirdos that you run into everyday.
Rank: B

She wrote a couple other memoir-esque books, but I haven't read them. Honestly, I think 2 is all I can take. They're really funny books, but after a while they start to hit a pattern that stops being original and can feel a little one-note. A Publishers Weekly review I read says it best, "Her humor is a bit like junk food—something you can enjoy when no one is looking." And just like junk food...you can only have so much.

Anyways, the reason I stumbled back on Jenn Lancaster is that I noticed she has a new book coming out in May. But it's not her standard memoir. It's a chick-lit book!! Just in time for summer too! The book description on Amazon tells us that it's about an Amish-Zombie-Teen Romance author and her husband renovating their house...and all the humor that can accompany that. Looks like another book for the Wish List.

Sweet Valley Confidential by Francine Pascal

I finished Sweet Valley Confidential last night. And it was so bad that it was good. This may have been the most poorly written book that I've ever read, but it was a nice break from the other books I've been reading. And it was mindless, juicy, extremely pointless, and a fun flashback.

Quick Plot Download: Elizabeth and Todd Wilkens are engaged (remember her boyfriend from high school?) Well, Todd and Jessica start to have an affair and Elizabeth finds out. She gets pissed (understandably) and jets off to New York. The story picks up 8 months after Elizabeth find out about the affair...we learn more about the back story through a series of flashbacks.

Library List

I love my Kindle. But I have a problem...I buy too many books on my Kindle. I have a backlog of about 8 books just waiting to be read and I keep buying books that I want to read. So in order to keep my wallet from screaming at me any more, I'm going back to ye olde library.

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
This book was recently recommended to me by a guy that I work with. It sounds like it may be one of those "smart books" that I try to avoid because they're too heavy on history and morals...but we have similar book tastes and the reviews I read on it have been outstanding so I think I'll give it a try.

Based off the back cover, this is one of those true-story, unbelievable survival stories. An Olympic runner-turned-Army guy is on a plane that crashes into the ocean. From there he encounters being adrift at sea, sharks, and Japanese POW camp. I'm sure it's going to be made into a movie. Hollywood can't leave books like this alone. (This comes from the same person who wrote Seabiscuit.)

Skippy Dies by Paul Murray
I'm not going to lie...the first thing that drew me to this book is the cover. It's so vibrant and looks like such a beachy, girly book that I had to find out more. And then I found out that that it's a book about adolescence (zing!), and that there's a ragtag group of friends (double zing!), AND someone dies (ZINGZINGZING!)

So yeah. It's about a group of 14 year old boys at an all boys school. Their friend Skippy dies and as we learn about his death, we also learn about each of the boys that he was friends with.

It's gotten really good reviews, so I'm going to give it a go.

TUESDAY TOP THREE: Thrillers

I've always been a sucker for a good thriller. A good thriller (to me), makes me want to keep reading, but also want put the book down because 1) it's freaking me out OR 2) I don't want it to end.

Polygamy!

It's been a while since I've read this book, but it's one of my top recommended memoirs.
(DISCLAIMER: I don't remember all the nitty gritty details of this book, so I referenced this Time article to jog my memory http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1675126,00.html)

This book is really fascinating because it opens the doors on a subject that we (or at least I) don't really know much about...polygamy. Keep in mind this isn't the polygamy that you see on Sister Wives on TLC, but is more about the "old school" polygamy that is borderline cult-like. This is polygamy as it relates to Warren Jeffs. Warren Jeffs is the supposed "prophet" for the religious sect Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). He was notably placed on the FBI's Most Wanted List for rape, incest, bigamy, etc. I'm not sure how many wives and kids he had, but his dad had about 60 kids and 19-20 wives....so I imagine Warren's number was up there as well.

I'm in a book rut.

I haven't done this in a while, but I kicked the book I was reading to the curb and decided I wasn't going to finish it.

I normally love everything Stephen King writes, but this time I just couldn't get into the book. It's the first of a 7 book series (The Dark Tower series). I've read that this series is supposed to be amazing and people have compared it to the epic-ness of The Stand...but with a Lord of the Rings twist. I also heard that the first book was kinda hard to get through.