Category: Blogging from A-Z

K is for Koonz Kid Kills Keaton Knight

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Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads.

Looks like my kid is ready for summer!

gage in sunglasses


Blogging from A to Z

bookA Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux

I remember reading this soon after it was first  published in 1989 and falling in love with the historical time travel romance.  The time travel aspect seems so passe these days, but 20+ years ago I was hooked.  I went on to read and enjoy more of Deveraux’s historicals but this probably still my favorite.  A 16th century knight meets a modern day young woman and sparks fly.  I’ve read it a few times over the years and have loved it every time.

authorDean Koontz

I have always preferred Koontz to Stephen King, although King has impressed me over the last several years.  Koontz, to his credit, never needs an editor 🙂  He wrote one of my favorite trilogy-ish books ever, the Moonlight Bay books.  He hasn’t had the splashy career of King, maybe because of King’s great success with the movies of his books, but I think he is a more skilled and solid writer.

movieKill Bill, Volumes 1&2 (2003,2004)

By far my favorite Quentin Tarantino movie(s).  Maybe it’s because all the women kick butt: Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Darryl Hannah, Vivica Fox.  This was out of my comfort zone a bit but I really liked it.  Do you have  favorite Tarantino movie?  I’ve seen a few but haven’t really loved any of them.

actorDiane Keaton

As I looked over Diane’s list of movies, I realize that I like her more than I do the movies she’s in.  I like watching her nervous energy onscreen.  She’s been in some classics (Godfather, Annie Hall) but I prefer some of her other, more standard fare.  I loved Baby Boom, Father of the Bride, Something’s Gotta Give. As I look at that list I see that they are roles of her as a mother in different phases of her life.  I’ve seen them all more than once and loved them every time.  What about you? Do you have a favorite Diane movie?

 

 

J is for Joaquin Judgement of Jennifer, Joyce & Jane

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Maybe This TimeMaybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie.  Finished 4-10-14, rating 4.5/5, haunted romantic comedy, 342 pages, pub. 2010

Andie Miller wants to marry her fiancé and leave behind everything in her past, especially her ex-husband.  A very distant cousin of his has died and left him as the guardian of two orphans who have driven out three nannies already. He needs a very special person to take care of the situation and he knows Andie can handle anything. 

When Andie meets the two children she quickly realizes things are much worse than she feared. The place is a mess, the children aren’t your average delinquents, and the creepy old house is being run by the worst housekeeper since Mrs. Danvers. What’s worse, Andie’s fiancé thinks this is all a plan by North to get Andie back. 

What follows is a hilarious adventure in exorcism, including a self-doubting parapsychologist, an annoyed medium, her Tarot-card reading mother, an avenging ex-mother-in-law, and, of course, her jealous fiancé. And just when she thinks things couldn’t get more complicated, North shows up on the doorstep making her wonder if maybe this time things could be different between them. 

from Goodreads

Fun, fun, fun!  I loved this romp in a haunted Ohio castle.  Crusie will have you chuckling out loud and leave you with a smile on your face. Andie is a great heroine, easy to like, and the kids are damaged enough to make her show her grit.  And that’s before the ghosts show up.  Lots of great characters, a moody castle, ghosts to sort out, a murder, and sex.  What more could you want?

I love Crusie’s writing.  Her books are always lighthearted and the canvas of characters is always colorful.

 

authorBrenda Joyce

I consider Joyce my go-to historical romance author.  I loved her Deadly series and consider it one of my all-time favorites (I reviewed the 9 romanctic suspense series here).  When I checked with Goodreads, I have 23 of her 50+ books marked as read.  This makes me very happy because it means I can turn to her for years to come.  A must try for historical romance readers!

bookJane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

This was the first work of literature that I read on my own.  I think I was trying to impress my freshman English teacher during our free reading time in class.  I did reread it sometime after college and I watched a bunch of the movie adaptations (most are pretty good).  I also saw the musical during its short stay on Broadway.  It was excellent and I was sad to see that it closed early.  Anyway, this is all to say that this classic gothic romance has it all: love, death, abuse, madness, money, power, a family made not born into, and finally, peace.

movieJudgement at Nuremberg, 1961

In 1948, four Nazis are tried for war crimes.  You can’t go wrong with this all-star cast-Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Maxmilian Schell, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland.  See the very dramati courtroom scene….

 

actorJoaquin Phoenix

This was a hard one.  I could have just as easily chosen Hugh Jackman (more easily actually), but if I am honest I find Joaquin so much more interesting.   Maybe it’s his bohemian childhood and the tragedy of witnessing the death of his brother, Phoenix, but he brings such heft to each of the characters he portrays.  I liked him in Walk the Line, and he was my favorite actor in Gladiator, but his latest, Her, I haven’t seen yet because the premise freaks me out a little.  Have you seen it?

 

I is for It’s Ian Into Isabel

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movieIt Happened One Night, 1934

It Happened One Night (1934) PosterClark Gable and Claudette Colbert were flawless in this slapstick romantic comedy.  She, a spoiled heiress, and he, a reporter on the story, match wits and sparks fly.  It won 5 Oscars (Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Writing) and is well worth checking out.  One of my all time faves.

bookInto the Wilderness by Sara Donati

This is a must read for fans of Diana Gabaldon, or for those who love epic tales of adventure and romance. Elizabeth Cameron sails to New York in the late 1700’s to join her father; judge of a small mountain village called Paradise. It chronicles her journey from genteel England, to the rough laws and harsh prejudice of the New World.  Paradise is full of unique characters,  rife with hostility toward the Mohawk living on Lake in the Clouds. Elizabeth comes to be a teacher, but her father has other plans for her. To secure his own wealth, Elizabeth’s father intends for her to marry Richard Todd, the wealthiest man in Paradise. Instead, Elizabeth falls in love with Nathaniel from Lake in the Clouds.

actorIan McKellen

His recurring roles of Magneto in the X-Men films and Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings  and Hobbit trilogies have cemented him as the go-to guy for complex characters.  He is fun to watch, even if he’s being bad.  Do you have a favorite of his outside of these roles?  I admit I’m not as familiar with his other movies as I should be.

authorIsabel Allende

I read her first book, The House of Spirits,  and loved it.  This 1982 novel, with strong women and magical realism, put this Chilean on the map.  I’ve only read one of her other novels, Daughter of Fortune, and loved it too.  I want to read more.  Do you have a favorite Allende book?

H is for Harry Hoffman’s Hunger Hepburn

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He Did This Just For YouHe Did This Just For You. Finished 4-9-14, Christian, 64 pages, pub. 2000

My cousin gave me this slim book(let) a few years ago and I just got around to taking the 20 minutes or so to read it.  This is a great book to give a person to explain the Christian faith in the simplest of terms.  There’s nothing new here, but it might be a good thing to have to pass along to someone who needs reassurance.  The very cool art on the cover was left for Lucado by an anonymous churchgoer.

 

actorKatharine Hepburn

Katharine Hepburn was a woman before her time.  Now she would be considered a rebel, or trend setter, but back in the 1930’s her independent and feisty nature turned audiences off and after successes she became known as box office poison.  Until a turn on Broadway in The Philadelphia Story gave her an opportunity to turn her reputation around.  She bought the rights to the story and in 1940 made one of my favorite movies ever.  Her outspoken personality, unconventional life, and a 25 year affair with actor Spencer Tracy make her one of the more interesting (and talented) actresses of the 20th century.  I think I’ve seen about 10 of her movies and consider some of them my favorites – Desk Set (1957), State of the Union (1948), Summertime (1955).  Do you have a favorite movie of hers?

movieThe Hunger Games, 2012

I have a confession to make.  I have not read The Hunger Games trilogy (gasp!).  I was impressed by how well done the movie was and I fell in love with Katniss.  She was a bad ass and I loved her bravery and smarts in the face of opposition.  The games themselves were cool and I was on the edge of my seat to see what would happen next. I liked the next movie too and am so looking forward to watching the rest. Maybe because I love the movie(s) so much I have no desire to read the books.  That may be a first for me.

bookHarry Potter series by JK Rowling

I admit that I didn’t fall in love with the series until book 3, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, but after that I couldn’t get enough.  For those of you who have read the whole series you understand when I say that I remember where I was when THAT BAD THING happened in book 6.  I was visiting a friend in Chicago and I was trying to sneak in some reading time before dinner and then, bam!, tears.  I had to pull myself together enough to look like a normal adult who wasn’t all wrapped up in Harry Potter and I think it worked.  I am looking forward to reading these with Gage someday, but they may be a little too magical for him.  Time will tell.

authorBeth Hoffman

Beth’s first book Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt was the first book I read in 2010, then I was able to interview her through an exchange of emails before finally meeting her for the first time all in the same month!  I was able to meet her again last year when she was on her book tour with Looking for Me and consider her one of warmest and most genuinely appreciative authors I’ve met.  She also makes the time to stop by here and leave comments, isn’t she cool?  Listen to her speak if you can and for sure read her two books, both are excellent!

 

G is for Gabaldon Grants Gilbert Glass Grapes

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The Tuesday quiz will be the next post!

actorCary Grant

A few fun facts about the suave Archibald Leach…He was born in England in 1904.  When we was 12 his mother suffered a severe nervous breakdown so he ran away at 13 and joined Bob Pender’s Troupe, but his father found him and brought him home.  A year and half later he rejoined the troupe (with his father’s blessing) and travelled around England before the troupe headed to New York City in 1920. He worked as a stilt walker at Coney Island and as an audience plant with a mind-reading act before working on Broadway. He became a US citizen in 1942.  Married five times, divorced four and the father of one child.  He died in 1986 at the age of 82 of a stroke.

My favorite Cary movie if The Philadelphia Story.  Do you have a favorite?

bookThe Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls

Jeannette writes about her childhood traveling from state to state with her parents and three siblings.  She starts by telling her first memory, when she was boiling hotdogs and caught herself on fire – at the age of three.  She spends six weeks in the hospital before her father breaks her out.  So begins the adventure that is her life.  The children grow up in extreme poverty.

It is the even-handed way that Walls tells her story that makes this book so wonderful.  She is not bitter or pointing fingers.  During her childhood years she and her siblings accepted their life and their parents and it was only later after  a move to West Virginia when things became unbearable that she became frustrated.  I am in such awe of her ability to come out of her situation intact and successful.  I don’t really want to spoil too many details because I think once you start reading it you won’t be able to put it down and at 288 pages it won’t take you long to finish.  Cannot recommend it highly enough.

authorDiana Gabaldon

I read the first four books in her Outlander series back to back and this was no small feet since they were all 600+ pages.  I also read them at a time when I was still working for Barnes & Noble and hand sold these to many customers, even quite a few men!  It has romance and adventure, history, war and time travel.  I met her at a book signing and she was smart and beautiful, add that to talented and she’s an easy pick!

movieWhat’s Eating Gilbert Grape, 1993

Usually I fall in love with the performances or the story, but in this case I can’t choose one because I loved them both.  Obviously, Johnny Depp is going to give you a good performance and this is one of his most normal roles.  He plays a long-suffering man of the house struggling to keep it all together with little thought to his needs.  But DiCaprio’s Arnie equally shines and he was more than deserving of the Academy Award nomination.  This was Leonardo before Titanic and showing his acting chops.  I was amazed at what he pulled off.  Those two performances alone make this movie a must see.

 

F is for Four Freeman Foresters Fellowship

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movieFour Weddings and a Funeral, 1994

This British comedy has an outstanding cast, not all of whom I was familiar with, and the humor is sometimes more subtle than in-your-face.  You really have to pay attention to appreciate all of the details.  Hugh Grant is the core of the movie but it is really the supporing cast who makes it so much fun – Kristin Scott Thomas, John Hannah, Andie McDowell, Simon Callow, James Fleet.

Watch it and get ready for wedding season 🙂

bookFellowship of the Ring by J.R.R Tolkien

I read this for a college class and loved it, this was way before the movies came out and I fell in love with them.  I didn’t have much experience with science fiction or fantasy and I was immediately drawn into Tolkien’s Middle Earth and the many adventures that awaited me there.  I should note that I’ve only read this first one.  I’ve tried to read The Two Towers several times over the years and have never made it past halfway before setting it aside.

actorMorgan Freeman

Is there anything he can’t do onscreen? He elevates every movie that he’s in, even when it’s a smaller part.  My five favorite Freeman roles would be 1.’Red” (Shawshank Redemption)  2.Somerset (Se7en)  3.John Rawlings (Glory)  4.Joe Clark (Lean on Me)  5. Fox (Batman trilogy)  What’s yours?

 

authorE.M. Forster

I’ve only read two books by Forster.  I read A Room with a View in 2011 and this is what I wrote.

I loved this short gem of a romance.  It addresses a young woman’s coming of age during the early 1900′s, a time that demanded little from her.  Lucy knew she wanted more, but she didn’t know what more meant.  Because she was scared of her feelings for a man who did not follow society’s rules she fled home to the security of a place that told her what her place was in the world.

I loved Lucy’s transformation and the humor Forster used to make this book fun and still important.  I loved the whole thing and was especially charmed by the end. 

Until I went back and read that I had forgotten I liked it that much.  I read Howard’s End in 2005, pre-blogging, and parts of that story have stayed with me over the years.  Given these two books I feel good about my F choice.  I need to read his most well know work, A Passage to India.  Have you read it?

E is for Ever Ethan Emerson’s Executioners

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Daily bookish and filmish picks.

bookThe Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer

This  book about convicts and the death penalty is one that challenged the way I thought about both.  It’s based on a true story in 1976 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1980.  I read this 15 or so years ago and I still remember the way it made me feel.  If you can commit to over 1,000 pages, it’s worth it!  I’d say 3 might be a little young to appreciate it but Gage wanted to take a look over breakfast anyway.

execu

 

 

movieEver After, 1998

I’ve seen this movie more times than I’m willing to admit.  This is a  romantic retelling of the fairytale Cinderella as the great great great-granddaughter of the real Cinderella wants to set the record straight.   Drew was luminous as Danielle/Cinderella.  And Angelica Huston as the stepmother?  Perfection.  This is a Cinderella story that I think has a great message for girls.  Hint-Cinderella doesn’t wait to be rescued, she takes care of  that herself.

authorRalph Waldo Emerson

In college, I took a class on transcendental authors during a particularly difficult time, it was the quarter that my grandfather was sick and passed away. I was forced to read and keep a journal and these writers (Emerson, Thoreau) really comforted me somehow.  I’m sure some of my world view comes directly from reading them.  I haven’t taken the time to read them in awhile and I need to remedy that.  Here’s a quote that I need to keep handy as I reach my limit of the new 3-year-old tantrums I’ve been living with.

“Men are what their mothers made them.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you want to try Emerson or think that you should, read Self-Reliance, start here.

actorEthan Hawke

He’s been in some very good movies – Dead Poets Society, Reality Bites, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead.  I find him likeable and enjoy his performances.  I did think it was in poor form to knock up the nanny though.  Was he trying to become a cliché?

D is for DaVinci Dirties Deaver Downey

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These are the same four categories every day and the best match I could come up with for the letter.  It was a good mental exercise!   Some people have been commenting that they are all time favorites, but unless I say so that’s not the case.  But they are the best person, book or movie for each letter 🙂

authorJeffery Deaver

I really love Deaver’s series about a former NYPD criminologist who became a quadriplegic in the line of duty, Lincoln Rhyme. Great mysteries with lots of red herrings and flawed characters.  I’ve read and loved the first 9 of the series and #10 came out last year so I need to find time for it.  The first book, The Bone Collector, was turned into a movie starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie that was pretty good.  I’ve read some of his standalones and prefer to revisit Lincoln instead.  He was a lawyer before turning to writing full-time.  Good choice!

actorRobert Downey Jr.

I first remember seeing Downey in Weird Science back in 1985 (watch this 30 second clip, he’s totally 80’s)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHKH7a-FqlE

But it wasn’t until the sugary sweet romance, Only You, in 1994 with Marissa Tomei that I recognized his good looks and charm.  He had well-known addiction issues that kept him off the screen for awhile but he managed to keep acting and rebounded with amazing commercial success as Sherlock Holmes and Tony Stark (Iron Man and Avengers movies).  He is so quick and witty that he brings a spark to all of his roles.  I loved him in Tropic Thunder and The Soloist along with many others.  He’s so fun to watch and brings energy to every movie he’s in.

movieDirty Dancing, 1987

This movie takes me back to my teens every time I see it.  There are so many cultural references that make it a must see for teen girls, I think.  I loved the story of an awkward girl falling for an older, much more experienced man and I adore the soundtrack. She’s Like the Wind makes me melancholy when I hear it, maybe, due to the lost innocence of youth.

bookThe DaVinci Code by Dan Brown

I loved this book. Once I started reading it was impossible for me to put down.  Honestly, we were going to a party  (and I love parties) the day I started reading and I took the book with me in the car so that I could read for the 15 minutes it took us to get there, never mind that I get sick if I read in the car.  Luckily no headache but I was grumpy that I had to put it down.

I love puzzles, I love fast-paced thrillers, and I thought the story of a possible descendent of Jesus was captivating.  Some people won’t read it because of the sacrilege of Jesus having a child.  Okay.  But it is fiction so I don’t think your religious views are really going to be challenged here.  I’ve gone on to read all of Dan Brown’s books but this is still my favorite one.  Although I liked Digital Fortress too and that starts with a D 🙂

C is for Craig Coben’s Christian Crash Confederacy

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Product DetailsAmerican on Purpose by Craig Ferguson. Finished book 4-2-14, rating 4/5, memoir, 268 pages, published 2009

There’s just something about Craig Ferguson that I love.  I don’t often watch his show BUT BG (Before Gage) I was able to catch him more often.  I think it’s the twinkle in his eye, his Scottish accent, and his intelligence that make him so easy to watch.  If you are a fan of his then you should read this book.  It tells of his life growing up in Scotland and his love affair with America from a young age.  He is first rocker, then stand-up comedian, then actor, but through it all he is an alcoholic with a drug problem.  His wrap-up at the end of why he became an American citizen will make you smile,  be a little proud and give some hope for our idealized potential (if you are American).  He tells his stories with humor, embarrassment, appreciation of his good luck, and honesty.  It was good memoir for fans.

This book is in my personal library and I finally read it!

 

authorHarlan Coben

I fell in love with Coben when I first read Tell No One in 2001 and went on to gobble up everything he wrote.  I had a chance to meet him at a book signing in Houston and he was so personable and funny and so appreciative of all the fans who had turned out that it made me that much more happy to support his career.   I actually purchase his new books in hardcover, one of the few I do that for.

bookA Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

Some of you may know this Pulitzer Prize winning book (In 1969, at the age of 32 this college instructor took his own life. It was three years later that his mother found his manuscript and handed it over to Walker Percy. He in turn handed it over to the people who would make it a publishing success.)  The tragedy of how it came to be published adds an extra layer to the book, a books that is full of layers already.  It’s satire, the characters are outrageous and the New Orleans setting is perfect.  Not for everyone, but I laughed, a lot, and fell in love with Ignatius J. Reilly.

 

actorChristian Bale

He got me as Bruce Wayne in 2005’s  Batman Begins. I have gone on to watch and love him in so many other movies; The Prestige, 3:10 to Yuma, American Psycho.  The man has range and depth and I’m likely to watch any movie that he’s in the cast.  Do you have a favorite Bale movie?

movieCrash, 2004

I saw this many times the year it came out. I loved each of the individual stories and I loved how they all came together.  It made me think about stereotypes and how much one act or person can affect so many others.  It won an Oscar Best Picture and I don’t think you can go wrong with this all-star cast.

B is for Bullock’s Beloved Blume Breakfast

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movieBreakfast Club, 1985

breakfast clubAs a child of the 80’s and a lover of all things John Hughes, it is no surprise that this is my choice.  I loved all of Hughes’s movies but this is the one that takes me back to high school.  It’s about the stereotypes we want people fall in line with and how much we can grow when they don’t.  Five students were stuck together for an eight-hour detention (I can’t believe this is ever true, is it?) and  they learn more about how much they are alike than different.  At one point in time I had large chunks of this movie memorized and my friends and I would act out the dialogue.  Fun times 🙂  I hope this classic will stand the test of time, but just for fun let’s do a recast…

The Brain – Josh Hutcherson

The Jock – Taylor Lautner

The Prom Queen – Jennifer Lawrence

The Basket-case – Emma Watson

The Criminal – Alex Pettyfer

The Principal – Bryan Cranston

My cut-ff age was 24.  What do you think?  Have any nominations?  Maybe I’ll chance my dream cast 🙂

actorSandra Bullock

I fell in love with her in While You Were Sleeping in 1995 and have had a girl crush ever since.  That movie is one of my go-to comfort movies.  The woman can do little wrong (Except maybe choose better husbands in real life. Never did get the whole Jesse James thing).  She is pretty and funny and has a sparkle in her eye just to let you know that she’s on to you.  The Proposal and The Blind Side are two other favorite performances, she won an Oscar for The Blind Side.  Do you have a favorite Sandy movie?

bookBeloved by Toni Morrison

When I read this in 2012 I fell in love.  The writing is perfection and the story of ex-slaves after the war was heartbreaking and triumphant.  I consider this a must read, but be prepared for a slow start.  Don’t give up, it’s worth the ride.

 Paul D had only begun, what he was telling her was only the beginning when her fingers on his knee, soft and reassuring, stopped him.  Just as well.  Just as well.  Saying more might push them both to a place they couldn’t get back from.  He would keep the rest where it belonged: in that tobacco tin buried in his chest where a red heart used to be.  Its lid rusted shut.  He would not pry it loose now in front of this sweet sturdy woman, for if she got a whiff of the contents it would shame him.  (p. 86)

I just checked the movie out of the library and am anxious to see if  Oprah can do Sethe justice.

authorJudy Blume

I still have my childhood copy of Are You There God? It’s me, Margaret and it’s well-worn.  I don’t know many women my age that didn’t read it.  Blume gets it.  She wrote about getting your period, masturbation, teen sex, divorce. bullies, all things that are still so relevent today.  She didn’t shy away from hot button topics.  I remember a copy of Forever (there was sex!) was passed around in the fifth grade like it was porn and I guess in the fifth grade it was!  I’ve read most of her books for younger teens and even her few adult books (they didn’t work as well for me, but Wifey had t he same embracing of taboo subjects) and consider her a classic children and young adult and pre-teen author.  I wonder how she reads to the new generation. Do they still read her books?