Last week’s quiz (here) was all about the best sports movies. My husband did have to break 3 ties (The Karate Kid and Field of Dreams, Bull Durham and Hoosiers, The Husler and Miracle) After my scientific poll of 19 people (myself included) these are the results…
#16 The Mighty Ducks
#15 Caddyshack
#14 Miracle
#13 The Hustler
#12 Brian’s Song
#11 The Natural
#10 Bull Durham
#9 Hoosiers
#6 Rudy
#2 Rocky
and the top sports movie is
Gage has had a great weekend with family and basketball. My cousin Bill and his wife Jenny came on Friday and watched Ohio State win in the first round of the tournament and today, the three of us (2 OSU grads and one current student) went to the arena and watched the Buckeyes dominate. Gage didn’t get to go to the game, but he did spend most of the weekend watching basketball with the guys.
Next Sunday may not be another basketball post, but I can’t promise anything.
Finished 3-14-11, rating 3/5, fiction, 353 pages, pub. 2010
Panic seized him. He wasn’t prepared. He had nothing to suggest.
He hung up.
In the quiet his emotions drifted from disgust to depression. There was, however, no escape from his behavior, his acting like a lovesick teenager, not a person who uses his mind for a living, and he wondered if he had lost through nonuse what others had, the ability to communicate on a personal, even intimate, level.
page 45
Norm Armstein is a very successful corporate lawyer who has always been in love with his sister-in-law, if only his thick-headed brother hadn’t found her first they may have enjoyed a very happy life together. After his last ill-fated trip back home to Isaactown, and Bev, he believes he sees her walking in Manhattan and follows her. Only it’s not her, but a younger woman who befriends him. Norm’s job is like a noose hanging around his neck and Harriet and her daughter are much-needed in his life.
Norm is like many who are lucky enough to have high paying jobs and not enough time to enjoy the fruits of his labor. His attraction to Bev has colored his dating life for over 20 years and he has never truly been in love. So, the story is about Norm finding a life in his middle age and how that life might fit in with a girlfriend and her daughter.
The story itself was good, but it was a slow read. It had a lot of detail that really slowed the whole story down to a crawl, but that may have been purposeful, since the story was introspective. As much as I enjoyed the idea of Norm’s story I found it hard to really care about him and even Harriet. At first I felt for Bev and the life she chose/got stuck in, but in the end I didn’t care for her character either. Solid writing and story, just not the story for me.
This was generously sent to me by the author.
Okay, this one is going to be fun, but may take a few minutes to complete! I’m going to have you fill out a bracket for the BEST SPORTS MOVIES! I’m giving you 32 sports movies YOU must choose the SWEET SIXTEEN, ELITE EIGHT, FINAL FOUR and THE WINNER for best sports movie. Start by numbering 1-16, then start choosing your movie selections IN ORDER! So, #1 is your choice for the winner, 1-4 would be the Final Four, 1-8 are your Elite Eight, and 1-16 are your Sweet Sixteen. Yes, you only have one #1, and one #2, etc. Any questions, please leave a comment and I’ll answer it for everyone.
How are you going to score points this week? Read on if you care to know the gory details, if not get to filling out your best movies choices 🙂 I’ll tally up everyone’s votes for the best 16 movies. If the movie is someone’s top choice it will get 4 points, Final Four 3 points, Elite Eight 2 points and Sweet Sixteen 1 point. Once the movies are scored you will earn points accordingly. The top movie will be worth 16 points if it’s on your list, the second movie is worth 15 points, etc. and an extra point if the movie is in the correct category. If there is a tie in the movies my hubby will choose (since he will not be biased in any way and he’s probably seen all of these) Yes, this means there is a possible 148 points this week.
A few rules…No cheating. No looking at other commenter answers. Yes, we’re going by the honor system…Your first answers will be the only ones accepted…Have fun! This round for every participant I have (currently at $29) I will put in a $ for a B&N gift card or a Babies R Us gift card for the winner. Even if you play only once you are eligible to win the second prize (something special I pick out) and you will be adding money to the kitty for the winner.
Answers to last week’s quiz here. Current Leaderboard here.
Your 32 choices…
There are so many choices! Fun week 🙂
1. The Breakfast Club (1985) A whole Saturday locked in a library? Sign me up!
2. You’ve Got Mail (1998) A cute romance featuring the big bad bookstore taking out the small independent bookstore.
3. The Book of Eli (2010) This post apocalyptic world is a dangerous place and the power is found in The Book.
4. The Proposal (2009) This hate/love relationship between a publishing editor and her writer/assistant is a bestseller.
5. Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) This classic has a few great New York Public Library scenes. I love the one where Paul Baby signs his own book in front of the disbelieving librarian!
Do you have a favorite? Visit The Bumbles for more choices.
It’s not secret we are college sports nuts here. I love my Ohio State Buckeyes and Jason loves his Michigan State Spartans, but where does that leave Gage? My Buckeyes are poised to be the #1 team in the NCAA tournament, WooHoo! And with a win over Purdue, the Spartans have also solidified their place in March Madness for the 14th year in a row. So Gage is choosing to double his fun and make both of his parents happy…
I don’t think I’m wrong when I say he looks happier as a Buckeye!
We’ve watched a lot (too much) basketball here this weekend as both of our teams went far in the Big 10 Tournament, but that will only get worse over the next few weeks.
Every year since we’ve known each other Jason and I have had a March Madness bracket wager. The winner gets to choose the next 5 movies we see at the theater. We have been to the movies twice in the 4 1/2 months since Gage arrived, so the winner will have to find a sitter for movie night too!
So, will you be watching the tournament and filling out your brackets? Who will you be rooting for?
Finished 3-2-11, rating 4/5, romance, 385 pages, pub. 2011
Lucy, daughter of the former President of the United States, is preparing to walk down the aisle to marry Mr. Perfect, Ted Beaudine ,when her best friend, Meg voices doubts about the marriage. Lucy takes them to heart and walks out on Ted at the church. Meg is blamed by everyone and is asked to stay in the small Texas town for a few days to see if Lucy returns. But not only is Meg completely broke and cut off from her family, she is also stranded in the town when everyone blames her for the heartbreak of their mayor, Ted. Needless to say, life is not easy for Meg as the women of Wynette blacklist her and do everything possible to make her life miserable. But Meg was having problems before getting stuck in town and it forces her to confront her roaming and aimless ways.
I’ve read every Susan Elizabeth Phillips romance. They are fast, fun, sassy, and usually feature spunky heroines and alpha male heroes. This is as good as her best and it features wonderful secondary characters who jump off the page. Meg was born with a silver spoon and yet has done nothing with her life. This is her story of growing up. Ted was also born with a silver spoon and can do no wrong. When these two are forced together they come to recognize the best and worst in each other.
This book will feel like hanging out with old friends, especially if you’ve read any of Phillip’s past books. Ted showed up in two previous novels (Fancy Pants & Lady Be Good), Ted’s parents were the story of Fancy Pants. Meg was in What I Did For Love and her parents story was told in Glitter Baby. Lucy and her parents appeared in First Lady and Lady Be Good had four of the citizens of Wynette. With all of that the book could have seemed crowded with characters, but it wasn’t. They each had their own personalities and because they were fully developed characters it made this story so much richer. You do not need to have read any of the other books to fully enjoy this one.
I don’t read a lot of contemporary romances, but I make the exception for Phillips and am never disappointed.
This is from my personal library.
Finished 2-28-11, rating 3.5/5, fiction, pub. 2008
Unabridged audio is 8 hours, 2 minutes. Narrated by Karen White.
Josey Cirrini is a 27-year-old who hides sweets and romance novels in her closet so her perfect southern belle mother doesn’t see them. She lives in servitude of her mother with no life of her own until a local woman shows up in her closet to hide out for a while, seemingly to escape a boyfriend. She draws Josey out of her shell and she starts to develop relationships that her mother doesn’t approve of. Chloe and Adam both give Josey the confidence she needs to take a look at life in the small North Carolina town where everyone remembers her as a mean child.
I sympathized with Josey, but only so far. I understand about living in a small town, but her knee jerk reaction to her father’s death (this happened before the book began) and her choices because of it seemed extreme. I was much more interested in Chloe’s mysterious book ability. When Chloe had a need in her life the perfect book would appear in front of her. How awesome would this be? I totally loved Chloe’s story and her transformation. I think this is why I liked but didn’t love the book, I wanted Chloe to be the main character, not Josey. I wanted to give Josey a little tough love pep talk.
Lots of people told me I would like this one better that Allen’s first book, Garden Spells, but I didn’t. Maybe I was expecting too much. It was good, but I didn’t love it like I did Garden Spells. I wanted a little more magic.
I checked this audio out of the library.
It seems like I just did one of these, but when I was at the library over the weekend I couldn’t help myself. Tell me the title of the book for 8 points and the author for an additional 2. If you tell me the theme I’ll give you an extra 10 points! You have until Friday at noon to submit your answers. Good luck (I think it’s tough)!
A few rules…No cheating. No googling or looking at other commenter answers. Yes, we’re going by the honor system…Your first answers will be the only ones accepted…Have fun!
This round for every participant I have (currently at $29) I will put in a $ for a B&N gift card or a Babies R Us gift card for the winner. Even if you play only once you are eligible to win the second prize (something special I pick out) and you will be adding money to the kitty for the winner.
Answers to last week’s Rachel McAdams Quiz here. Current Leaderboard here.
1. Beloew Zero by CJ Box
2. Every Last One by Anna Quindlen
3. A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
4. Three by Ted Dekker
5. Bangkok 8 by John Burdett
6. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
7. Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith
8. 61 Hours by Lee Child
9. The 351 Books of Irma Arcuri by David Bajo
10. The Man Who Ate the 747 by Ben Sherwood
Stacy's Books 