A bit of housekeeping...

I noticed a bit of a mistake after updating my Goodreads the other week. As you might remember, I read City of Bones last year and then again this year. When I went to update this years reading challenge list, it took it OUT of my stats for last year! Yikes! I really have no idea how to fix this...and I'm sure it doesn't really matter. I just didn't want it to look like I didn't finish the reading challenge from last year! (If I go over this year, I'll put it back into last years stats...if I remember...)

And since we all need a good laugh after last nights Debbie Downer episode of Downton Abbey, take a look at this video. It's ok to laugh, really...

 

Achievement Unlocked: 35 books read in a year!

Okay guys. I have to confess. When I finished Ice Cold I thought, "If I can get my hands on The Silent Girl, I will have my reading challenge finished in a matter of days!" I confess this to you because, well, it feels like cheating. The whole point of the 35 book challenge was just that--it was supposed to be a CHALLENGE. To me, starting a book I know I could finish in two days in order to complete my goal was NOT a challenge. 

But that didn't stop me. 

So maybe I'm only half sorry?

Whichever side you take with the issue, the fact of the matter is that I finished The Silent Girl in three days (well, maybe four) and it was the 35th book I read this year! So I will claim that as a "win" and just move on with my life. 

The Silent Girl by Tess Gerritsen
After the problems I had reading Ice Cold & Last to Die out of order, things felt right reading The Silent Girl. There wasn't too much of the story that was ruined for me from previous books so I didn't feel like it was old hat in any way.
After a rather gruesome murder in Chinatown, that is somehow tied to a 19 year old case, Jane and Maura do there best to get to the bottom of the mystery without ending up on the morgue slab themselves. Maura gets to spend some time with Rat, which is great especially after the last book where I finally met him and can now piece together their story. Anthony Sansone is kind enough to drive Rat from Evensong to Maura's house in Boston. Later, Rat alludes to an interesting conversation he has with Anthony about Maura...unfortunately Rat doesn't divulge the particulars.  Drat. It is of course, one thing to think Anthony likes Maura; it is another thing entirely to know that he has confessed it. Another mystery for another book, I suppose. 

One thing I really loved about this book is that it introduces the reader to Chinese myth and folklore as well as the culture of tradition and honor. After hearing Tess Gerritsen speak about her writing and reading the afterward in the book, it is really nice to see her use her history and her family's history to tell her story. 

And that makes 35 books! I must admit that for a second there, I didn't think I was going to make it! I mean, I didn't make most of the books off the list I started the year with, but I DO own those, so I figure I have all the time in the world for them.
I'm already working out a game plan for this year. Every time I talk to Rachel (who is doing the reading challenges with me) we come up with a different number for next year. Sometimes it is 45; sometimes it is 50. Whatever. We've just decided to read through Jane Austen together, so you can look forward to plenty of dreamy posts about Mr. Darcy and Col. Brandon. Le Sigh.
As I mentioned in November, 2013 marks the 50th anniversary of the death of C. S. Lewis and my other friend and I talked about reading through his work this year too. So, that will be on the agenda. And if you give this mouse a Lewis cookie, she will probably ask for a side of J.R.R. Tolkien to go with it :)

Did you make reading goals for 2012? Did you complete them? Are you going to make a goal for 2013? I'd love to hear what you are planning on reading!

Ice Cold by Tess Gerritsen

I was in such a rush to read a new Tess Gerritsen book before I got to see her in person (which I did. Update with pictures should be up later this month!) that I did something completely unlike me and rather rash: I read her books out of order. Gasp! 
To some, this really isn't a problem. I don't know that I've ever done it before and having tried it I can whole heartedly say that I do NOT like reading books out of order. It had been probably 3 years since I had last read a Gerritsen novel and was counting myself lucky that I could remember who Jane & Maura were, let alone that Jane was married with a daughter. And Maura & Daniel? Yeah I did not remember that. Anyway...
I read Last to Die and loved it, but needed to know what had happened in the two books before it. I had missed Ice Cold & The Silent Girl, in that order. And so, in that order, I picked up where I left off, many years ago. 

Maura Isles makes a very un-Maura choice when she decides to go skiing with an old friend from college, his teenage daughter and two friends. Everything goes pear shaped when they find themselves stuck in the snow near Kingdom Come, home to a cult known as The Gathering. It would not have been too bad(well, maybe not)...except the small town/development has been abandoned for no apparent reason. What would cause families to leave windows open, serve dinner and then just disappear?   

I'm not gonna lie. Something just felt "off" in Ice Cold. Maybe it was because the whole "will Maura survive??" mystery just wasn't a mystery for me. Last to Die relies heavily on a story line that started in Ice Cold. About midway through Ice Cold we meet 16 year old named Julian Perkins who prefers to be called Rat. However, he features as more of a main character in Last to Die...so I kind of felt like I knew him already. (SPOILER) I knew they both survived the snow bound mountains of Wyoming. 
It was good Gerritsen, like always, but I think I will read them in order for always...too much gets spoiled when you ignore the plot order! 



With a little over one week left to the month, I am almost done with my challenge! I just need one more book to make my goal of 35 books in a year. I am super excited about this and almost even more excited to get started on my reading goal for next year. But one thing at a time! What will be the last book on my list? I guess I'll find out soon! What about you? What's the last book YOU will read in 2012?

November Reviews

I was ahead on my reading. 
Was. 
I was actually 3 books ahead of my reading schedule at one point. It was great.  I was totally sure I was going to reach my goal for the year.
Then this book called "The Amber Wizard" put a stop to that. Guys, I want to read this book so bad. But honestly, I'm kind of bored. And I keep picking up all these other books I want to read. And then there is this whole thing about next year being the 50th anniversary of C. S. Lewis' death and my friends and I want to read through his published works. (Yes, we are nerds. More on that hopefully later.) And I'm watching all kinds of good movies...but I won't let myself start a new book until I finish The Amber Wizard. And it's starting to get on my nerves. I'm still deciding on if it is worth finishing. Until I do that, I've been avoiding the slightly boring book by watching a ton of movies.
Here, have some movie reviews. 

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
This is one of those movies that I've heard a lot about but had put off seeing. It's rather mind-bendy, but oh so good. Boy meets girl. Girl and boy start dating. All is well. Until the fight. Girl gets mad. Boy visits her at work the next day to apologize. Girl treats boy like a stranger. Girl also seems to be dating a new boy. Old boy is confused and vents to his friends about the situation. Old boy is so distressed that his friend shows him a piece of paper. It says: Clementine Kruczynski has had Joel Barish erased from her memory. Please never mention their relationship to her again. 
Upset and very confused, Joel visits the clinic that is listed on the note. He decided that if Clementine doesn't want any memories of him, he doesn't want any of her. As the process begins, Joel relives every memory before it is erased. Somewhere during the erasing, he remembers the joyful moments, the moments of pure bliss that he shared with Clementine. And he starts to think that even if they hurt, he wants to keep some of them. It's a race against the procedure to find a way to keep some of those moments with Clementine. 

I rented the collector's edition from my library and it includes a booklet with reviews from the original release as well as some stories from ordinary viewers like me. And you, if you've seen it. As I read through the reviews, I noticed the same thought woven through all of them: cherish life. Life will eventually end. Hang on to the memories, the good and the bad. All of them are worth having. They prove you lived.

War Horse
I won't lie. The only reason I wanted to see this movie was because Benedict Cumberbatch is in it. And then I learned that Tom Hiddleston was in it. He became reason number two. I don't care. Go ahead, judge me! 
And then I actually saw the movie. Wow. So good. 
The story is about a boy called Albert...but not really. It's mostly about his horse Joey.
Joey really was supposed to be a work horse. You can't really run a failing farm with a thoroughbred, though Albert does his best. However, when their best efforts fail, Albert's father is compelled to sell Joey to the British Cavalry. Albert unwilling says goodbye to his beloved horse and we then follow the story of the Captain who bough him. Enter Tom Hiddleston. Yay! Joey goes to the front, behind enemy lines, ends up on the wrong side of the war for a bit, and then ends up home again. The main character doesn't have any lines (I mean, come on. He's a horse.) but by the end of the film I found myself crying. I have no idea why and I'm almost ashamed to admit it. Well done film. I will add that some of the war scenes I didn't like. I don't like war movies at all. But on the whole, really great film.

Skyfall
I feel that I need to preface this by telling you I'm not a classic Bond fan. Actually, I've never seen any of the "old" classic Bond films. Daniel Craig is my Bond. And really, I'm okay with that. 
I loved Casino Royale. Really. Loved it. I was so excited to see Quantum of Solace in theaters in England (which I did) a few days before the rest of the world. And...was let down miserably. Did they forget to write a plot for that one? Anyway, I was very skeptical of Skyfall. They would have to do a much better job than QoS to get my vote. 
The trailers for Skyfall did an amazing job convincing me that all would be great. Adele singing the theme song? Amazing. It's my ringtone. 
The film...well, it is better the Quantum of Solace. Absolutely. Still not on par with Casino Royale. It had a plot (yay!) and a bit more M (!!) but...
Ok, I think this is my main beef with the film. You aren't properly introduced to your villain or your "Bond girl". I vividly remember Vesper Lynd being introduced in to Bond in the train. I remember meeting the baddie at the poker game. Good. Great. Clear characters. I don't remember much about Quantum of Solace, but I'm pretty sure a lot of the characters were continuations of characters from Casino. I don't feel as if the same care was put into introducing the new characters in this film. Maybe the only really good ones were Gareth Mallory and Q. 
So I guess I give it...maybe 3.5 stars out of 5? Decent film, but for me, still a bit lacking. 




What did you think? Have you seen any of these movies? 
If not, what's the best movie you've seen recently? 

I'm sure I'll have a Christmas movie post in the next few weeks...get your favorites ready to share! 

If I loved you, I would tell you this

I just finished (and by "just finished" I mean I finished this book maybe 10 minutes ago.) If I loved you, I would tell you this by Robin Black over dinner tonight. I don't think it quite took me a week. I have three other reviews on tap for this month already but figured, since I finished it and had time to write, I should get a review up pronto. 
I have been speaking to many people about this book over the last few days. I don't always do that, talk to people about what I'm reading, unless people ask me. There are few books that demand my attention and require me to spread their story to others around me. It's like when I started Hunger Games or Why We Broke Up. Those stories gave me no choice but to go to all of my friends and say, unasked and possibly unwanted, "Have you heard of this book? You NEED to read it." When I told my co-worker that I had finally finished the book, she asked what I thought. I replied simply and truthfully: My emotions hurt. 

If I loved you, I would tell you this is a collection of ten short stories that Robin Black says took her nearly 8 years to write. Before they were a book, she tells us in the Acknowledgements, they existed individually in various literary journals. On their own, they are beautiful; in a bound collection, they are haunting. That doesn't even  come close to describing the book, really. 
Perhaps this is a better way to describe the book: 

What makes this such an exquisite collection is the way Robin Black brings unpredictable elements into the emotional lives of her characters, creating that special kind of literary magic where a reader experiences everything right alongside them and it all feels new. -- Hanna Tinti

 I'm sitting here, typing and re-typing, erasing and re-writing the same sentence in an attempt to properly describe this book. It's the story of love and loss, of joy and deep hurt. It hits and resurfaces emotions you didn't remember you had or tried so hard to forget. It is story of a father and his blind daughter trying to overcome the boundaries caused by her blindness, only to find that they seem to communicate more with what is left unsaid rather than unseen. It is the unsent letter of a woman with cancer to her uncaring neighbor who is disputing property boundary lines at the worst of times. She is shocked not by his actions, but with the total and complete disregard of common sense manners. Had he been kinder, maybe she would have explained their situation; as it was, she kept the situation to herself and tried to politely argue the age old lines that had been honored for years before the young man moved in next door.  

I will tell you this: it put me in a funk. I have been in a weird place, emotionally, for the week and I think I will need to blame the book. Not a "shame one you!" kind of blame. Just a "huh, well at least there is an explanation" kind of blame. 
Don't let me talk you out of reading this book, though. I promise, it's worth it.

THE KILL ORDER

I finished Kill Order last night over dinner. Whoa. 

Ok, some thing I feel still aren't clear. Maybe I'm expecting too much from the series. Maybe it's been too long since I read the first three for everything to make sense. Maybe he has more in the works. I don't know. 

Final word? I wasn't disappointed. 

Before the Maze, before Thomas, before the elevator from nowhere, the world was plunged into a chaos when solar flares sent scorching heat around the world, melted the ice caps and released radiation that killed millions. Settlements were set up in an attempt to live -- or at least simply survive -- in this new world. Those barely-surving settlements along with what little peace they are able to find are destroyed when Bergs come into the area and begin shooting people with no warning and no explanation. There is something odd about their method though. The darts sometimes kill instantly. And that is a mercy. But sometimes it takes days...

I couldn't have predicted the ending. Well, maybe if I had tried I could have done. But I wanted to see where Dashner would take me and not try to figure out on my own. His trilogy was really great at surprising me as a I read and I wanted to give Kill Order the same respect. 

Like I said, I almost feel that I have more questions now than I did before I read Kill Order. But that's not a bad thing, is it? Because a day later, I am still thinking about it, mulling it over, thinking of "what if's" and trying to make things connect in my head. And isn't that the whole point of stories? Yes to help you escape, introduce you to a new world. But when that new world can keep you past the story, isn't that the mark of a good story teller? 

Do you think about books and characters after you've finished reading a story? What do you think makes -- or breaks -- a story? 

Six+ month review

Anyone want to explain to me how it is already August?! 

I have been reading a lot (ok and watching Game of Thrones, too. Have you seen series one?? So good!) but I am still struggling with finishing books. I have so many things going on and sometimes my books end up on the back burner. It doesn't mean I'm reading boring books, or that I don't want to read. Promise. Sometimes stuff gets in the way, life gets in the way, or I just choose to read slowly. 
However, I've just learned a very important lesson: apparently, I can finish a fairly long book if I just put my mind to it and choose to do it.

I check out a book called I am forbidden by Anouk Markovits sometime at the end of June...and didn't get around to reading it until about 4 days before it was due. I was busy reading Good Omens, trying to get through The Wizard of Earthsea and starting a new book was not in my plans. And then I got hooked on Eureka and lost about two weeks of my life.  Not that that is a bad thing...never! It just well...anyway. Back to the book.
I read two nights hardcore. I mean I went to bed early and propped myself up with pillows and just read. During coffee the next morning, I read. I would get comfy and read after work, get ready for bed and read some more. I put such a hurting on that book! I will confess that I was more in a hurry to finish the book than I was to understand the book at times. I did lose my place a few times in the narrative, but I was able to pick it back up. 

I first heard about the book from Goodreads (which tells me that though I am at 54% of my reading goal, at my current pace I am 2 books behind schedule. Thanks guys.). Actually, the Goodreads monthly newsletter accounts for most of my "new" finds these days. I love it. 
At first, the book seemed to be about a couple of Jewish kids during and after the war.  Not quite. It tracks the beginning of a Jewish family who takes in an orphaned Jewish girl, Mila, after the war. She becomes the oldest in the family, embracing and learning the ways of faith while the families natural daughter, Atara, questions the faith in a way that is only acceptable for men in the faith. She is repeatedly told that the questions she asks could be answered if she were a boy learning to be a rabbi. At the time and in culture, girls were raised with "enough" knowledge of the faith in order to raise a family in the proper Jewish way. 
Mila and Atara take different paths once they grow up and the book chronicles more of Mila's choices and legacy than her sister's. One reason I think this really works for the books is because even though Mila is supposedly the "better" daughter in keeping the Torah and the proper ways she is taught in order to raise a family, her choices aren't easy. How often are the stories we read about the rebel daughter picking her way through the tough of life because it is more interesting than the "perfect daughter" doing what is expected and having everything turn out ok? I think "I Am Forbidden" shows us that even the path that is considered right and proper has plenty of trouble and heartache of it's own. No one is safe. 

It was a bit of a juvenile read, but not to the point of being immature. There is a whole post I could write about the way Mila interprets the Torah when she is looking for answers, but I won't. If you do pick it up, let me tell you that there IS a glossary at the back of the book. I wish I had known that while I was wading through the many Hebrew & Yiddish words throughout the book.


I forgot to tell you that when it was all said and done, I was a few days late returning I am Forbidden. Oops. I am absolutely rubbish at library due dates. And when I just wasn't making progress on Good Omens, I broke down and headed over to my local used books store. One of the many benefits of Gently Used Books is that they have a search & reserve feature. So I emailed to see if they had Good Omens and The Wizard of Earthsea. They had both and reserved them for me to pick up later in the week. I own both now and was able to return my almost overdue library books without too much of a fuss. I'm trying to grow here, people. Really. 
I am almost done with Good Omens and when I'm done with that, I HAVE to pick up The Journal of Curious Letters...because it is due in 10 days. And I don't want another 3 days of intense reading with the purpose of "just getting through" a book. I want to enjoy and relish in the new adventures and characters without feeling rushed. 

Sorry the updates have been few and far between. I just have been behind on my reading. Though now I know that Goodreads is not-so-silently judging me about reaching my goal, I might just be a little more on top of my goals. 

Tribute to Maze Runner

I was perfectly content to live in a post-Hunger Game world. Well, as content as you can be when your heart is ripped out of your chest, stomped on and returned to you in a pile. I had gotten my friends addicted to the series, so at least I had a few people to commiserate with after the series ended. And then of course the film came out, prolonging the true end of the series. I am a bit of a minority, but I loved the film. I thought it was done well, even with bits of the story twisted up and tweaked. It had me on the edge of me seat during key moments, like the tribute parade and the entrance to the arena--even though I KNEW how things would end! Lovely. 
So there I was, minding my own business, when my friend says, "Oh, have you read 'The Maze Runner'?"

I guess that was his payback to me for getting him addicted to The Hunger Games. 
 
I proceed to loose about 3 weeks in this series. When I finally finished book 2, The Scorch Trials, I put 2 copies of The Death Cure on hold at the library. I needed to find out what happened next, and right now!


I've asked my friend to type up a little blurb about the books for ya'll so that is in the works. I really had time to only read one other book this month. More on that a little later. The last two months of reviews will be up shortly. 


I've picked up "The Wizards of Earthsea" finally, so I'm currently working on that. 
After Hunger Games & the Maze Runner books (which will soon have a prequel! So excited!), I have no idea what I'm going to read next!

march reviews

April already? How in the world did that happen? 
I will admit that March has been a bit of a blur for me. I'm not sure I can tell you what happened last month except work. I worked a lot. I watched a lot of TV. I didn't sleep as much as I needed to sleep. And I didn't read as much as I wanted to. 

I finally got around to reading Dear John by Nicholas Sparks. (What? No, not just because Channing Tatum is in the movie! Well...)
I read this book after finishing the awful book Juliette. It is how I discovered that written dialouge is very important in a book and will, in fact, make or break my interest in a story. Moving right along... I had mixed feelings about the book. In part, I hated it. Building up a romance, sending boy across oceans to a war, girl breaking up with him in a letter (so wrong!)--and so many other things-- I just couldn't handle it. But part of me thought, as I wiped the tear from my eye, "Love doesn't always work out the way we want it to, and sometimes that is for the best." So I guess that is the moral of that story. 
(Also, Channing Tatum is hot. The end.)


Another book I picked up to read because I want to eventually see the movie is One Day by David Nicholls. I suppose I didn't learn my "love doesn't always work out the way we want it to" lesson, because this book was like Dear John on that level, times 1,000. I cried at this book. It is the well known story of two imperfect people (Dexter & Emma) who are perfect for each other...but can't get their life together long enough to actually be together. Except for those few moments when all is right in the world, and tho moments are so few and so far between.The book is called "One Day" because each chapter tracks their events on July 15th St. Swithun's Day, from graduation day from university and for the next 20 years. 
**Update** I did get to see the movie too. Love it. I cried at the book, but I sobbed and wept at the film. 
My vote is a whole-hearted "yes" to both the reading of the book and the viewing of the film. You need to see this. Yes, even though Ann Hathaway is in it and fakes an accent. It doesn't suck as much as I thought it would. 

And let's not forget the much anticipated movie of the month: The Hunger Games! This was another Gettysburg find for me. Again, I told everyone and all my friends got hooked as well. I know it is long over due, but make sure you see this. I think it was beautifully done and I loved it. I mean, as much as you can love seeing a bunch of teens running around killing each other because of a corrupt government...but I think the adaptation was beautiful.


TV Series, Mini-series & film stuff (aka David Tennant Month)


As I said, I watched a lot of TV in March. Well I did not lie. I started re-watching Doctor Who when I got a friend of mine hooked and so I just kept going. I love David Tennant's Doctor. Love love love. I loved Christopher Eccleston too...but I double loved David's. So there was lots of Doctor Who happening. 

I also saw the BBC's Casanova. Also with David Tennant. Also with Russel T. Davies of Doctor Who fame. It was chock full of other brilliant British actors, too. All in all, a great miniseries. My little sister, who sometimes has trouble with all of the BBC I watch, even loved it. I mean really, it's just great. 




The Chatterley Affair
During my year at Gettysburg, I read Lady Chatterley's Lover and watched the mini-series by Ken Russel. I loved parts of the film (Sean Bean? Yes please!) and parts of the books. Well, lots of parts of the book. I couldn't tell you all of the parts, but I know I have a bookmark full of quotes. I feel it's a very honest look at what relationships are, the emotions that are involved and, like we learned in When Harry Met Sally..., how sex (whether you have it or not) gets in the way. 
This film, The Chatterley Affair, is about the trial of the book in England in 1960. Parts of the story are fictional, but many of the witnesses and their testimony for the book are true. This was a very publicized event and the main purpose was to decide if D. H. Laurence was just publishing smut, or if his book actually contained any literary value. Some of the perspectives of the people who testified were really interesting, especially Richard Hoggart's view of Laurence's purpose of using the F-word (sorry). The fact that David Tennant played the character Richard Hoggart, well...that was just for fun :) 
 

success!

I did it! 

I finished three books in January! I totally didn't think I was going to make that goal. (And have to admit that I wasn't even thinking about my book goal when I crammed those last few pages in before bed last night...)

You will notice something missing from the blog: reviews of all the books I've read so far. Funny, that was meant to be the whole reason for this blog! 


I'm still deciding if I'm going to do a month long review (all three in one blog entry) or reviews as I finish the books (which obviously did not happen this month...). Any suggestions or preferences from my readers? 


I'll leave you with a teaser to the review with the list of books I've read for the month of January:

• The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon
• The Help by Kathryn Stockett
• The Vow by Kim Carpenter 

And no, A Clash of Kings is NOT on the list. I hope I can have it done sometime before the summer. Man, that books is LONG!

is there such a thing as too many books?

Just in case you didn't quite understand the problem I have with wanting to read more books than I actually have time for from my last post, let me tell you a little about my morning.

Since the snow did it's little magical dance, I didn't have to go into work today. Instead, I went to the library with my dad to drop off some movies.*  I swear, that's all I was going to do. 

I left with a new book. That was not on my list for this year. Oops.

How will I ever have time to finish all of these library books?! Gah. Well at least I have a few extra hours today to read, and I guess I know exactly what I'll be doing tomorrow afternoon! 


*For the curious, I was returning Easy A, The English Patient, and season 1 of Dollhouse. And yes, I recommend all of them. If you decide to watch The English Patient, don't forget the tissues.

book love

If you would ever stop me on the street and demand I open my bag, you will find at least one paperback novel. Depending, of course, on the size of my bag. I carry my iPod with me almost all of the time as well. That holds about 8 or 9 classic type books that I would like to or am currently reading. There is a stack of 3 or 4 books on my bedside table, in the event that I forget to get the current book I am reading out of my bag or if the book I am reading is too big to fit in my bag. 

All of that said, (and yes, every bit of it is true), I have only read one complete book this month! If this is any indication of my reading patterns for this year, I'm not sure I'll make it to my goal. I also realize that if I am only reading 2 or 3 books a month, this blog won't be updated very often. On the first problem of not reaching my goal, I have no other solution except to keep pressing on. On the second problem, I have a solution. 

I have asked a number of my fellow readers to consider doing some guest blogging for me while I am trying to make it through the mountain of reading I have planned for this year. I hope to have more information for you soon. I also hope to have a review up soon for the first book I've completed: The Story of Beautiful Girl. 


In the meantime, I've picked up "A Clash of Kings" and am attempting to plow through all 1009 pages. I am about 130 pages in, which feels like not much at all, but I am enjoying it much more than I did "A Game of Thrones" at this same point in the book. 
I have also picked up "The Help," something I am really excited about. A bunch of people have been asking me if I've read it and I am kind of tired of saying no! Plus, everyone had good things to say about the movie, so I'd like to have some kind of frame of reference when I eventually get around to see it. I picked it up the last time I was at the library (the book, not the movie), so I do have a shorter deadline than I do with "Clash of Kings."


This might not be the most exciting entry ever, but I wanted to give you a little bit more of a glimpse into my reading life. And, after seeing the incredible film "Extremely Close & Incredibly Loud," the book by the same title by Jonathan Safran Foer has been added to my reading list. I recommend the movie highly, but I suggest you take an entire box of tissues with you to the theatre. Trust me. You will thank me later.

welcome

When I was in London, I had to read "Great Expectations" for one of my literature classes.
As much as I love literature, British literature, and every single part of my class at London Metropolitan University, I deeply despise this book.

Deeply.

However, while I was reading it I happened upon the phrase "scattered wits."

Scattered wits take a long time picking up; and often, before I had got them well together, they would be dispersed in all directions by one stray thought...

And somewhere through all the Dickens hate (as an English major, I'm allowed *some* hate, right?) those two words stuck with me.

So I went online to check if 'scattered wits' was a blog name through Google. It was not and so I snatched it up...and have been sitting on it for the past three years.

From the beginning I decided I wanted to keep it as a book/movie review type blog, since I already had a personal blog going. I read a lot of books and love recommending them to friends. I'm not saying I'll have fabulously brilliant things to say about everything I read. I just like to share.

A few days into January, I also set a goal for myself on Goodreads to read 35 books this year. Everybody else was setting goals, and so I gave into the peer pressure. I figured this blog would be a really good way to keep track of that as well.

I hope to bring you reviews of good books, good movies and maybe a book or film (or two) that just doesn't make the "must" list. But as Pip said, sometimes one single thought can derail the train, so I make no promises...

A few books on my to read list:

A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin
The Four Loves by C. S. Lewis
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
Scarlet by Stephen Lawhead
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon
The Chronicles of Narnia and Philosophy edited by Bassham & Walls