Tis the Season To Be Reading
I know my posting has been somewhat sparse lately. I’m hoping to change that now that I have some free time on my hands with the winter break in full force. My class ended last week and I am feeling like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders.
(Well, there is still that awful weight called Christmas looming over my shoulders, but that will be magically lifted as of this weekend-THANK GOD!!!)
I have so many goals and projects that I want to accomplish over the next month (LOSE 10 POUNDS!!! LOSE 10 POUNDS!!!!) but one of the ones I’m looking forward to most is catching up on some reading.
I have been reading so much lately, but none of it for pleasure. I so miss curling up with a good book/magazine without having to take notes for a paper.
Here is what I have lined up:
1. I bought this magazine a few months back because my pretend celebrity BFF, Jenna Fischer, was on the cover looking SMOKIN’ HOT!! And since I haven’t had the actual pleasure of sitting down with her over margaritas to discuss cute boys and dieting tips, I thought this would be the next best thing.
I take back what I said about taking notes. I plan to go over this article with a fine toothed comb to extract as much dieting/exercise wisdom as I can from it. I need all the help and motivation that I can get at this point.
2. Remember this Ryan Gosling book mystery?
Well, if you remember correctly, we ended up solving the mystery and found out that the book was Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion. He self- published only a few hundred copies, and I was lucky enough to get my hands on a copy. HOORAY!! Apparently the book will be published next summer, but in the meantime I CAN’T WAIT to start reading my copy!!!

3. Finally, my book club is reading this book for January:
I’ve been wanting to read The Shack for quite some time. I’ve heard a lot of good things (and some bad) about it. I think it might be one of those books that you either love or hate and I’m hoping to be in the “love it” camp. Have you read The Shack? If so, what did you think of it?
What are you reading now or plan to be reading soon? Or even better—have you read anything really great lately that I should add to my list?
Lit Flicks
A few weeks ago, Blake contacted me to let me know about a challenge that he and his sister were hosting on their blogs. Since I’m the Queen of Procrastination, I’m just now getting around to posting about it. Luckily, the challenge just started and runs through the end of February, so there is still plenty of time to participate.
The Lit Flicks Challenge runs from September 1, 2008 to February 28, 2009 and is asking people to review books, movies, books about movies, movies about books, movies based on books etc.
For Blake’s challenge, since his blog is more of a movie related site, all you have to do is read 2 books/pieces of literature that have been made into movies and then watch 5 movies that are adaptations of books, including the two films the books you read are based on. (If you are more of a reader, you can participate in his sister’s challenge which asks you to read 5 books, then see the film adaptations of two of them.)
I’m going to do a combination of the two challenges and hopefully read and review 5 books that have been turned into films. Here is my list:
1. Twilight- I had to put this one first because I just finished this book and it is all I can think of lately. I will be writing a review in the next couple of days. Just one word for now–PHENOMENAL!! I can’t wait for the movie!!
2. Stuart Little-I’m reading this book to the kids right now. It’s a fun read aloud so far. For whatever reason, I’ve yet to see the movie, so we’ll be watching it when we finish up.
3. The Time Traveler’s Wife-I actually read this book awhile ago, but the movie is coming out in a few months and I will definitely be going to see it in theaters. The fact that it stars one half of McGosling is only one of the reasons. I’m also just so curious to see how this unique and compelling story will play out on the big screen.
4. The Other Boleyn Girl-I’m in the middle of this one right now. I’ve heard mixed things about the movie, but I’m willing to give it a chance once I finish the book.
5. Jane Eyre- It took me all summer and although it was a tough read (for me), I’m proud to say that I pushed through and finished. I also watched the most recent adaptation of the book from Masterpiece Theater and I’ll be posting about that too in the next week or so.
6. Nights in Rodanthe-I haven’t read the book and I’m not totally sure about seeing the movie. I’m just adding this one in as a possible wild card pick in case I don’t get around to the other 5. I’m definitely interested in reading the book and seeing the movie because we all know the greatness that can come from a Nicholas Sparks book turned to a movie.
If you are even thinking of this movie then SHAME ON YOU!!!

That movie was horrible! No, of course I’m talking about the brilliant work of art that was The Notebook:

****Speaking of movies, don’t forget to come back on Tuesday, September 16th for the Movie Madness Carnival. To participate, all you need to do is write a movie-related post and then come back here to link up.
Thursday Thirteen: Books From the Show LOST
Do you like the show LOST?
If you answered yes to both of these questions, you should visit My Friend Amy’s blog. She is doing a reading challenge that centers around books seen or mentioned on the tv show LOST.
I’ll admit that I haven’t read most of the books on the list (which is kind of sad because a lot are classics), so I am going to try really hard to read at least 5 of them this summer. Here is a list of 13 books from the show that I haven’t read and would like to read:
- A Wrinkle in Time
- The Turn of the Screw
- Catch-22
- Carrie
- A Brief History of Time
- Moby Dick
- Prey
- Through the Looking Glass
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
- The Mysterious Island
- Heart of Darkness
- Evil Under the Sun
- The Fountainhead (pictured below)
GREEN = Books I’m reading for the challenge. (And yes, I know I’m the last person in the civilized world who has NOT read Harry Potter. Please don’t be too hard on me for this fact.)
See the complete list PLUS how they were featured on the show here.
Sidenote: This gives me a perfect opportunity to post a pic of Sawyer (Josh Holloway) in his adorable reading glasses! I’d love to be stranded on that island with him (freaky black smoke monster and all).

To see more Thursday Thirteen participants, go here.
















