contest time

Fellow blogger and a YA author, Ms. Lisa Shafer, is running a contest for her two half-vampire books. I think the boy might enjoy reading them. So I've entered her contest to win a hard copy of each.

http://www.lisashafer.blogspot.com/

She has a very fun, informative, and entertaining blog. Check it out!

the great gatsby

The middle kid rented a couple of movies while we were at the library last week. She chose Rock of Ages and Mirror, Mirror. I had seen Rock of Ages already as hubby and I rented it one weekend, but we had not seen Mirror, Mirror.

But, this post isn't about either movie, although both were fun to watch. I particularly enjoyed singing along with Rock of Ages. And even though Tom Cruise was in the movie, I have to admit he did a great job playing the drunken, aging rocker. Mirror, Mirror was humorous and Julia Roberts stole the show with her snarky queen.

I digress. What I was really excited to see was the preview for The Great Gatsby. Leonardo DiCaprio is going to play Gatsby. Brilliant! The sets, costumes, and cinematography visible in the preview looked incredible. I know that is what a preview is supposed to do. They are designed to make the film look awesome, and this one did. What really hooked me was the billboard. Yep, there were those eye glasses looking down from on high. Took me right back to my freshman year in Mr. Van Goey's class when he had us offer up ideas on just what those glasses might mean.

Now, the preview said the movie was going to be released Christmas 2012. Guess that didn't happen. Not sure what is going on with Baz Luhrmann and this film. Guess I need to head over to IMDB and check things out.

And remember, Dr. T.J. Eckleburg is watching!!

books into movies

Just saw where Anne Rice posted that her book, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, will be made into a movie. She seems thrilled with the husband and wife team who have adapted the novel into a screenplay and just as excited about the fact that Christopher Columbus is directing it.

I've never gotten over the fact Hollywood cast Tom Cruise as Lestat. Blech. Even though Interview with the Vampire was a much better movie than Queen of the Damned, I thought Stewart Townsend did a wonderful job as Lestat.

The Hunger Games will be coming to the big screen soon and I'm anxious to see how that book translates into a movie. I was pleased with the choice of actress for Katniss.

Books into movies.....I was never a fan until they brought the Harry Potter ones to life on the big screen. It can be done, and it can be done well.

Here's wishing Anne Rice good luck with this transformation!

so many books to read, so little time

I'm not making much of a dent in my TBR pile. I have two Arthurian mysteries starring the one-armed Malgwyn. I have one Enola Holmes YA mystery. I have two Faythe Sanders urban fantasies. And I have another YA title, this one by Holly Black.  The pile is a bit tall and it is lingering about much too long. I need to get some serious reading done this weekend, or some of these will have to be returned to the library for another day. Ugh.

In the meantime, I saw the new mega long fantasy from Patrick Rothfuss has hit the shelves. I still haven't read the final book from Jean Auel. I'm falling behind.......but, that is to be expected now that I'm at work 24 hours a week.  Hours I used to spend doing other things, like reading.

I made the mistake of going into B&N yesterday, that is how I realized how far behind I am in my reading, to kill some time while the middle kid worked out with her new club coach.

Yes, always soccer drama going on in our club. Another Brit at the helm of her team....this time a college coach is taking the reins as his former club team, a group of girls who are going to be seniors in high school this year, declared he couldn't take them any further than he had in their soccer development. Hmmmmm. Sounds like maybe some girls and or parents didn't get the DI looks/scholarships they'd convinced themselves they deserved.

Anyway, we loved our old coach and the girls love this new coach. So, in the end, bully for us! I think it will all work out well and to our advantage to have the new Englishman on the sidelines.

And that is all for this week.....Liz, over and out!

and off they come

Taking the middle kid to the orthodontist today. Her braces are coming off at long last. She's been counting down for the last month and has already requested I bring an apple when I pick her up. First thing she is going to do is bite into a nice crisp Fuji!!

While I was out for my errands yesterday, I swung by the library and picked up the three Dresden Files books they had. I guess I'm going to have to go into the online catalog and see if they own the rest of them or if I can have them sent from other locations. I also need to check and see if they have the next two books in this Margaret of Ashbury series I've started. I'm really enjoying this book by Judith Merkle Riley. I also had a short chat with one of the librarians about the state of the collection and my daughters latest trip to B&N. Yep, when you see rows upon rows of new fiction at the bookstore and nothing in the library trouble is a brewing. I don't have hundreds of dollars to keep them in the latest published YA fiction titles and apparently neither does the library.

I think the days of the Friends money going towards 'fluff' purchases is coming to an end. Perhaps it is time for a concerted effort to bolster the collection budget for specific areas.

Now a totally different topic....while I was at Costco last week I popped into the liquor store after I did my general grocery shopping. How convenient that they have one right next door! I was on a mission to find a wine I had seen advertised in The New Yorker. The name of the wine intrigued me (Cupcake) and I was interested enough to see what they had available. Well, the delightful and very knowledgeable salesman/manager got his handy dandy pocket wine rating notebook out and proceeded to enlighten me on a variety of wines. I didn't purchase any of the Cupcake ones as he said the cute name didn't match up with the taste in his opinion except on one white wine, which I don't usually drink in the cooler months. I'm more of a red wine girl when the temps start to dip. So, I did end up purchasing two wines from Chile. Never had Chilean wine before, but the Frontera is excellent.....enjoyed a glass the other night with the steak we had. I bought three bottles, two from Chile's Concha y Toro and one Ravenswood, which will most likely last me until the spring thaw!

Looks like the rain has moved out....and the paper has just been delivered.

Happy Wednesday.

hunker down

Our weather had taken a severe right turn into FALL. It rained all day yesterday, non stop and the temperature stayed well below 60. Brrrr. Ugh. I made a huge crockpot full of beef stew and then made a huge pot of chili. We had the stew last night for supper and will have the chili today.

I'm off to the library and bookstore today to help one of the girls move all the good donations she pulled last week to save for the store. They have to be relocated into the stocking closet, but it shouldn't take very long at all. Then I need to hit the grocery store for a few oddball items I seem to keep forgetting, like corn starch, noodle soup and dandruff shampoo!!

"The Magicians" is a slow read. I can only take small doses of it. How to describe....literary fiction about magicians, serious, dark, adult, interesting. This isn't a gobble it up quick sort of book...more like you have to just nibble your way through it. I'm enjoying it, but will be ready for some lighter fare once I am finished.

The oldest had great success over her away game soccer weekend. They won all three games and all three were shutouts for her as the keeper. Yeah!! The middle kid is quite the U8 referee according to reports from those at the scene. She did a great job of explaining to the players the rules of the game etc. It was 'her' field and she was in charge!! Love it. The youngest enjoyed watching a show on some science channel about ten way to annihilate the planet....he is not alone in his geekiness as there are lots of adults out there who are as intrigued with black holes as he is.

If the fields dry out we may have a soccer game and a soccer practice this evening...off to look at the forecast and the super duper double doppler radar screens for our area.

Happy Monday.