Author: stacybuckeye

Actors Turned Novelists Quiz – guessing closed

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Quite a few actors and actresses have penned novels.  (well, some had help :)).  Do you think you can match the celebrity with a title of one of their books?  And no I’m not going to help you with who the celebrities are.  You don’t need to know their names anyway!  Good luck!

You have until noon Sunday to submit your answers as a comment.  Comment will be hidden until I post the answers.  No Googling!

This round will last til August.  The person with the most points will win a B&N gift card (total $ based on # of total participants, so please play) and a randomly selected participant will win a fun prize from me.

Leaderboard and rules here.

1. Hugh Laurie  G. The Gun Seller

2.Steve Martin  C. Shopgirl  

3.  Carrie Fisher  F. Postcards from the Edge

4. Craig Ferguson  B. Between the Bridge and the River

5.Ethan Hawke  A. The Hottest State  

6. Gene Hackman  J. Payback at Morning Creek 

7.Meg Tilly   H. Porcupine

8. William Shatner  D. Star Trek:Captain’s Blood

9.  Pamela Anderson   E. Star Struck

10.Courtney Thorne Smith   I. Outside In

 

Politics. I’m almost afraid to write this post.

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Mandy at The Well-Read Wife decided to start a book club.  She loves Michael Ian Black and he co-wrote a book with Meghan McCain, America, You Sexy Bitch.  These two political opposites decided to travel across the country together in an RV to see what they could find out about the state of our country.  Mandy generously offered the first 47 bloggers who responded a free book for her first book club.  I was happy that I made the cut.

Politics can turn people off and divide people.  I certainly don’t want to make this a political blog, but will give you my political background so that you know where I’m coming from.  I grew up in a Democrat house and called the party my own through my college years.  After college I considered myself an Independent, mainly because I didn’t want any party to think they had my vote just because I labeled myself one way or another.  This past spring I wanted to vote in Ohio’s primary and the only one that meant anything was the Republican ticket so I had to declare myself a Republican to vote in it. I am most certainly a RINO – Republican in Name Only.  So, there you have it, my own 20-some voting years as a little bit of everything.  I obviously consider myself a moderate.  And actually, being a moderate in Ohio during a presidential year gives me a feeling of inflated importance when I listen to any of the news channels.  Or listen to the robocalls.  Or turn on the tv and see any commercial/ad.

I am only a few chapters into this book but wanted to participate in Mandy’s discussion.  I like smart women who speak their minds so I had a general sense of liking Meghan McCain.  I really don’t know much about Michael Ian Black, but I did like him in the tv show Ed a few years ago.  I actually liked Meghan more before I started reading this book.  I found her to be more ideological than I thought she might be.  Michael, although calling himself a Democrat, didn’t seem to be trying to rally readers to his party.  These are my first impressions and they are subject to change.

America, You Sexy Bitch: A Love Letter to FreedomI’m choosing one of Mandy’s discussion questions to answer-

2. Michael’s Crocs? Hot or not?  (Michael wore Crocs and linen pants on his trip through Arizona)  I am choosing to answer this one because it is the easiest one of the five.  I love Gage’s Crocs and feel that Crocs are best on kids.  By best, I mean they should only be worn by children.  This may instigate more ill feelings than my thoughts on their gun control or “freedom isn’t free” discussion, but I’m willing to risk it.

I’ll be back with more thoughts as I read, but wanted to acknowledge Mandy and thank her for the chance to be a part of her first book club 🙂  If you have read or are reading the book you can be a part of the book club too!

Sundays with Gage – A Quest for Good Manners

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Gage will be 21 months old this week, can you believe it?!  Every day I see his mind working in new ways and it is exciting and fun to watch and encourage.  (The encouraging part is also exhausting, but that’s another post)  I see some toddlers his age doing the most amazing things, like listening to their mamas, drinking from a big boy cup, NOT throwing their sippy cups to the floor, not throwing most things on the floor from their lofty perch in the high chair…Anyway, Gage has a lot to learn about manners.  In the past week or so he’s started saying please (or peas in Gage-speak) with some encouragement and I’m very excited about that!  So, it was a no brainer when I was offered to review the book The Quest for Good Manners by Karin Lefranc and illustrated by Hannah Neale.  I read it to Gage while he was eating breakfast this morning and he was surprising engaged.  I thought there might be too many words, but he was captivated by the illustrations and listened to the whole book.  We took it on our morning walk and I took some pictures of his reactions to the story and pictures…

A Quest for Good Manners follows Princess Rosalind and her pet dragon, Sparkler, on their journey to find good manners.  From the wizard Percival she learns how to handle a fork, from the fairy with purple wings how to say please, thank you, you’re welcome and I’m sorry,  and from Lady Grace how to behave at the dinner able and showing kindness and consideration.

It was the perfect amount of teaching with the perfect amount of story and with a beautiful full-page illustration on every page, this is an easy one to recommend.  Gage and I both loved it. I liked the lesson and I think Gage really liked the pictures.  A fire breathing dragon that burps is going to be a hit with any little boy I think.

I suggest going to the website where you’ll find fun, printable activities for the kids that follow the story.  Placements, coloring pages, connect the dots, and a quiz (you all know how much I love quizzes.  Poor Gage).

A Quest for Good MannersA Quest for Good Manners by Karin Lefranc and illustrated by Hannah Neale.  Facebook page.  Website.

I’m giving this 5 stars!!!  Thanks so much to Karin for sending me a copy of her book.  It’s a hit in our house.

Friday Movie Talk – Are some books just too long to be good movies?

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I love last week’s discussion about Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher.  There is an overwhelming dislike for this casting and I’m happy to be validated on at least one of my choices for a recast.  Several of you thought Hugh Jackman could pull it off and two of you were on board with Shemar Moore.  Any other suggestions for the perfect Jack Reacher?

Over the past week Jason and I have watched War & Peace – all 209 minutes of it.  I had planned to do a book vs. movie post about it, but even just thinking about comparing the two gave me a headache.  War and Peace by Tolstoy is a powerhouse of a book.  It takes time, reflection, some notes, and a great deal of concentration.  It’s a worthwhile endeavor and one best tackled with a friend (thanks Molly!).  The movie starring Audrey Hepburn and Henry Fonda is fine, but surely a watered down version of the novel. It was good, but not a powerhouse by any means.  Jason hasn’t read the book but he still enjoyed the movie, especially the war parts 🙂

What I’m wondering is if some books are just too long and involved to make good movies.  I checked out Pillars of the Earth the miniseries from the library and am thinking that a miniseries has a better chance of being faithful to at least the spirit of the book.   As much as I love the Outlander series by Gabaldon I can see it failing as a movie.  Same for Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts.

Any other books that are just too long or complex to make a good movie?

The Best Advice I Ever Got by Katie Couric

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The Best Advice I Ever Got: Lessons from Extraordinary LivesFinished audio 7-10-12, rating 3/5, inspirational, pub. 2011

Unabridged audio 7 1/2 hours.  Read by Katie Couric and Paul Boehmer, Hillary Huber, Mirron Willis, Adenrele Ojo, Rosalyn Landor

Katie Couric was asked to give a commencement speech a few years ago and it became the inspiration for this book of advice from well-known people from all avenues of life, the only common trait being that they are successful.  Katie tells a little bit of her life in each of the sections, but this is really about the  other 114 people who contributed their two cents.

I was inspired by the do not let fear stop you crowd – and there were many (Anna Quindlen, Helen Mirren, Maria Shriver to name a few).   There were a few stand out stories to me.  Bill Cosby’s story about his first big stand-up gig was funny and with the take home lesson to always be yourself and not be intimidated.  I am not a Suze Orman fan so I didn’t really know anything about how she came to be a financial guru and I found her story so surprising.  I had no idea that a waitress could walk into a bank and get a job as a stockbroker, essentially.  And how she kept the job was even more surprising.  Oh, and Couric could have taken out Donald Trump’s advice and I would have been okay with that. Seriously, the guy may be successful but he’s a nut.

I liked the book.  As an audio book it only half worked for me.  After a few hours the entries all started to run together and kind of ruin the importance of the whole project.  I think this would work better in print where you could pick it up and read an entry or two at a time.  Katie’s warmth came through loud and clear and the other readers were fine.  It was more the nature of the book that led to my disappointment in the audio.

I think the book would be a nice gift for graduates or anyone starting a new phase in their life.  I checked out the audio from the library.

Are you looking for a quiz?

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This is how I’m feeling about the quiz this week.  After half-heartedly working on two quizzes, I’ve decided to wait for inspiration to strike and come back next week with something fun and exciting.  Okay, at least I’ll try for something fun and exciting, but I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself.

If you take a photo of yourself making this face and post in on your blog, Twitter, or Facebook, you’ll get an automatic 100 points!  Please let me know where I can find the evidence, LOL.

UPDATE- FIzzy Jill has taken me up on the 100 point offer.  Please go take a look at her imitation pucker 🙂

If you are looking for a good word challenge I always enjoy the daily one at m-w.com. (Here)

Answers to last week’s quiz here.

We have a winner…

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I forgot to draw a winner for the Cinder audio giveaway last week, so Gage decided to help me…Wrighty wins!!  The audio will be on its way in the next few days, Debbie!  Thanks to all who entered.

Sundays with Gage – Beating the heat

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It’s been sweltering here, like most of the US, and there are only so many ways to keep your toddler entertained in air conditioning.  Last Sunday we headed to the JCC (Jewish Community Center) and took advantage of a free week at the facilities.  Lucky for us being Jewish is not a requirement and they finished an $18m renovation two years ago so the place is very nice.  Gage got to go to the pool four times and loved this fountain pool best.  We’re considering joining for the summer just so he have this much fun every weekend.

 You can’t even see half of the fountains in this photo.  A total homerun for little kids. And all free!

We also had the grandparents here this week.  A storm took out their electricity last Friday and it didn’t come on til late Wednesday, so they packed up and spent some time enjoying their grandson, air conditioning, and TV.

Hope you are all finding ways to stay cool.

Tom Cruise is Jack Reacher?

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I don’t think so!  I hate to send more negative energy Tom’s way this week, but when I saw the stills from the upcoming Jack Reacher movie I had a visceral reaction and it wasn’t good.  Jack Reacher (of Lee Child’s awesome series) is a 6’5″ vigilante killing machine.  His size and mere look are imposing.  Tom Cruise is many things, but that he ain’t.  Lee Child has said this about the choice, “Reacher’s size in the books is a metaphor for an unstoppable force, which Cruise portrays in his own way.”  Um, okay, but I don’t believe you.

Have you read the series?  How do you feel about Tom as Reacher?  If the studio wanted a big name attached they could have gone with these two perfect choices, both over 6’2″ and highly watchable…

 or

Who do you think would be the perfect Jack Reacher?

Never Tell a Lie by Hallie Ephron

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Never Tell a LieNever Tell a Lie  Finished 7-4-12, rating 3.5/5, 271 pages, pub. 2009

After several miscarriages Ivy and David Rose are finally nine months pregnant.  They hold a yard sale to clean out the house before baby Sprout arrives and a surprising customer shows up, an oft maligned girl from their high school who looks like a new woman and who is nine months pregnant as well.  When the woman disappears and no remembers seeing her leave the yard sale, David and Ivy come under police scrutiny.

Having just been pregnant two years ago I could really feel for Ivy. I completely understood the need for a yard sale and house clean/purge.  I was worried that she had to deal with so much stress and something would happen to the baby or even that the experience she’d waited so long for would be tainted by media attention and David’s lies.  This is the driving storyline that kept me reading.  I wanted to know that Ivy and baby were going to be okay.

The mystery itself, what happened to Melinda White, was solid, but could have used a few more twisty turns.  I suspected what happened from the beginning and I was right, although I had no idea the motive behind it or the extreme, crazy plot that played out in the end.  It was super fast-paced and hard to put down.

This is Hallie’s first novel.  I reviewed Hallie’s 1001 Books for Every Mood a few years ago (here) and I also interviewed her (here).  She is a lovely author and I thought of her after her sister Nora died last week.  So I picked up her book from my shelf and dug in.