Peter Pan Blog Event

For this week, there is a Peter Pan Blog Event being hosted at Wickfield and I have eagerly entered into the "My Own Neverland Photoshoot" category.

In taking pictures, I really wanted a picture with trees covering up part of the sky to give the picture a woodsy look. It ended up being more difficult than I first thought, and I wanted to take pictures at the campus at my university because I remember they had beautiful trees and gardens in some areas. I wasn't able to ultimately, but I chose to take pictures of trees and other greens in a road that is mainly empty near my home, and I also included one other picture that gave me a bit more color with leaves and a bit of a canopy as I had wanted.

Please click on the pictures to enlarge them.

The Uncommon Reader

One day while shelving books, I spotted a small thin red book and I grabbed it. It was titled The Uncommon Reader and written by Alan Bennett. I thought the cover looked very nice - it features a silhouette of a woman reading a book with a crown on her head - a silhouette of the Queen of England. She is reading very politely too, with her pinky held slightly away from the rest of her fingers.

The plot does center around the Queen of England. She one day stumbles upon a mobile library and borrows a book out of politeness. That sets off an appreciation and newfound love for reading, one that is not too welcome by other members of the staff, including the Queen's private secretary. Her love of reading grows but not everyone appreciates it, but she does manage to get across to some people, including the public. Towards the end of the story, the Queen realizes that reading will only take her so far - it is time for her to take the next step - to write.

It was at this point that I realized that the Queen's problem is my problem. There are so many books that I have that I want to read, more now that I just went to the annual book sale we go to. At the same time, I want to write, to write a book, a story, but because I spend so much time reading, I sometimes don't have time. I think I should follow the Queen's example and spend a bit more time writing now that final exams are over and I actually do have the time.

At the end of the story, the Queen announces her idea to write, and many of her staff and previous prime ministers are against it; the prime minister at the current time is worried that her book will reveal things (probably about him and others) that will be embarrassing to him, so he reminds the Queen that she must abdicate to write the book she is thinking about writing. She then asks them all, "Why do you think you are all here?" And like that, the story ends.

I really enjoyed this story. The writing was nice and calming and witty in many places. I loved the theme of reading and I love history, such as British History, so reading a story about The Queen was interesting to me. Something else I loved about the book was that Charles Dickens was mentioned at least three times. There were a few minor things that I didn't find too funny, but for the most part the book was a lovely read.

The File on Fraulein Berg

There is a book fair that I go to every year that is always so much fun; I really really love it - and I have found some of my most favorite books there - all books have something in them as my sister says, they are all something. In elementary school, when I began to go to this book fair, I found a book called The File on Fraulein Berg by Joan Lingard. Here is an excerpt from the author's web site:

1944, Belfast. World War 11 drags on and Kate, Harriet and Sally are a little bored. They long for something exciting to happen. They read spy stories and imagine themselves performing deeds of great daring.

Their heads are so full of anti-German propaganda that, when Fraulein Berg, a real live German, arrives at their school, it doesn't take them long to decide that their new teacher must be a spy. The girls now have a mission. To watch her. Follow her. Track down her every secret. Prove that she is the enemy.

But there is something that they do not know about this woman and The File on Fraulein Berg reveals a very different story - one that will haunt Kate for the rest of her life.

One thing is sure - this book has most definitely haunted me, just as the events in it must haunt the main character, Kate. The book's secret - what is revealed towards the end, is heartbreaking, heart shattering. This is a beautifully written book, the tone is nice and calming, but there is also an element of sadness; I always picture the skies gray and dull, the days slow, just as the girls see them. I cringe whenever they follow Fraulein, when the see her and when they spy on her. I remember playing many spy games when I was young, and perhaps this is one of the reasons why I cringe. I have never met anyone who has read this book, but I love it and highly recommend it. I was very lucky to have found that book that day at the book fair and to have chosen it. It still sits on my bookshelf.

Wordle Quotes

Thanks to Dickensblog, I've recently discovered Wordle and have created my own little random quotes!

Ta-da!:









Carried away, me?

Boris | God Went to Beauty School

For my Juvenile Literature course last semester, I had the pleasure of reading numerous books that did not feel like assigned reading at all. One of those books, Boris, by Cynthia Rylant, poetically tells the story of her gray cat Boris who has a lot of love and a lot of personality. The story is told from Cynthia's perspective and not only describes Boris and his way of life, but also life in general. Take, for example, this passage:

And then last cage,
last cage,
there you were, Boris.
With your gray sister.
And you stood up
and stretched
and purred
and promised, promised
you would be good
if I took her, too,
because she had
kept you alive
all those days and days and days.
Three months in a cage,
Boris, with your sister,
living in the moment
with only your memories
of leaves and rooftops
and warm brown mice.
I promise, you said,
and I believed you,
and I took home
two cats - one more
than I wanted, and
a boy at that -
but you promised,
and I knew.

There is actually another paragraph that I really loved in Boris, but sadly I don't have the book with me at the moment, so I'll have to update this post when I either check it out of the library again or buy it. Boris is an extremely beautiful book into the personality of a cat, into love, and into life, and I highly recommend it. It is beautiful to read this book and to laugh with it.

Well, imagine my surprise when I found another poetry book by Cynthia Rylant at the library - and shelved in the wrong place, with the poetry, but catalogued as a juvenile fiction book? That misplaced book was very lucky for me. Yesterday night I spent it reading God Went to Beauty School, and I loved it just as much as I loved Boris. I found something in that book that held the answer to a question that I (and probably many people) have had. See if you know what it is, from this excerpt:

GOD GOT A DOG
He never meant to.
He liked dogs, He'd
liked them ever since He was a kid,
but He didn't think
He had time for a dog now.
He was always working
and dogs needed so much attention.
God didn't know if He
could take being needed
by one more thing.
But He saw this dog
out by the tracks
and it was hungry
and cold
and lonely
and God realized
He'd made that dog
somehow,
somehow He was responsible
though He knew logically
that He had only set the
world on its course.
He couldn't be blamed
for everything.
But He saw this dog
and He felt bad
so He took it on home
and named it Ernie
and now God
has somebody
keeping His feet warm at night.

I especially loved this part because, well, I love dogs. There are so many insightful verses in this book, and it is truly uplifting, heartwarming, and enjoyable (and very funny too - Cynthia Rylant has a very good way of inserting funny parts into her writing). If you can, I really recommend you check these books out of your library. They won't take too long to read, but in the end, you will want to reread them and prolong the reading experience with these books, I'm sure.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Many have, by now, undoubtedly heard of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. Now the author of the former has penned Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. I've always been a fan of vampires; when I was a little girl in elementary school I dressed up as a vampire for Halloween, complete with cape and fangs. I loved the 2004 movie, Van Helsing, and the character of Mina Harker in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. And there is much to admire in Abraham Lincoln.

So the two together should form the following equation: Lincoln + Vampire Hunter = Awesome. I have yet to read the book and I will probably have to purchase it from the store, but there is a review of the book that states that the book has a lot of fact about Lincoln's life embedded into it, mixed with, of course, fiction. It will be interesting to see what parts of Lincoln's life were included faithfully in the book. There is even talk of a movie about this book whch Tim Burton is interested in directing. I wonder what Lincoln would have said if he knew that, more than one hundred years after he lived, he would be possibly heading to the movie theatre screen as a vampire hunter?

Lost in Austen

I love the 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, and I really like the book itself as well, so when I stumbled upon Lost in Austen (a bit late, as it was released in 2008), I was extremely excited. What girl wouldn't want to get lost in Austen's Pride and Prejudice world, to meet the strong-minded and intelligent Elizabeth, her kind sister Jane, and the many diverse and unique characters that fill this book.

My overall thoughts about the movie is that it was very entertaining, and I really did enjoy it. I thought the actors did a very good job of portraying their characters specifically for this movie adaptation. There were some things that did not bode too well with me, though. Some of the events that occur caused or were the effect of changes in personality of some of the characters. Some of the events that happen (read: Jane getting married for a bit to Mr. Collins!) I really, incredibly wish that they had not happened. In no adapation whatsoever do I wish to see Jane with Mr. Collins! This is one of the few things that I could have done without. However, I know that part of the reason that there were so many changes was because of the introduction of Amanda Price (portrayed by Jemima Rooper) into the world of Pride and Prejudice. The ending was also a bit confusing for me. Amanda had a boyfriend that was, well, compared to Darcy I suppose, less than stellar. At the end, however, it seems that perhaps he does have some good in him, and that is why the ending confuses me. It seemed, for a moment at least, as if Amanda was going to stay in the future with her boyfriend and leave the Pride and Prejudice world behind. I know it is not just in my head, but I wish someone could see that part and we could discuss it to see if it does seem that way or not.

I really liked the actors themselves - the girl who played Elizabeth (Gemma Arerton, who will be a main character in the upcoming Prince of Persia: Sands of Time) was very lovely, and I loved seeing her in the present time and seeing how that affected her when she had to go back to her time. I liked seeing her using a laptop and watching (but not listening) to the television. She says at one point that she likes watching, but not listening, to the television. Sometimes I like it to be quiet as well; I'd rather watch than hear.

I also liked the main character, Amanda, although I must admit that she could have done more to have prevented some of the things that happened, such as the wedding of Jane to Mr. Collins (yes, it did bother me that much. It should not have happened. Ever.) The actors that portrayed the Bennet family were also very interesting to see; the actress who portrayed Mrs. Bennet reminded me of the actress who played Mrs. Bennet in the 1995 BBC production. Mr. Bennet was very agreeable, and the actor chosen to portray Mr. Darcy also did a pretty good job, although I found some things that I thought were out of place for him as a character. I did not really like Mr. Bingley's character portrayal, but I did really like the actress who portrayed his sister Caroline. I particularly loved her hairstyle; I hope to try my hand at braiding and picking up my hair in a similar fashion soon.

The movie itself is, understandably, very modern and there is a lot of humor in the movie. I found myself laughing and cheering as Mrs. Bennet gives Lady Catherine a piece of her mind, something I so wish would have happened in the book. Being a modern adaptation I can see why certain things are different, but some I still didn't agree with (yes, one of them being Jane and Mr. Collins, and yes, that affects the final point count of this movie). Overall and in summary, at least a 4/5, with the 1995 BBC production holding the 5/5 still.