A Book and a Movie

Once upon a time I used to blog about books and movies. I just checked, the last post I did about a book was Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt in  August 2011. The last movie was when The Help came out the same month. I have actually seen quite a few movies and read a lot of books since then. I can't say any that I loved quite as much as The Help but I am going to try and blog some favorites more often because I like having an ongoing list of books and movies I like on this old blog. So in that spirit this is a post about a book and a movie.  I have lunch with some dear friends every Wednesday. We discuss and attempt to solve all the world's problems. Let me tell you, it hasn't been easy lately. I have been reading this book, Safe Passage lately. It is the story of two sisters, unmarried due to the small numbers of men who came back from World War II, who are able to use their resulting independence as single women to acheive amazing things. First they discover opera in the 1920's which sounds like an amazing, beautiful world. They don't have a lot of money so they wait in line for long periods of time to get cheap galley seats. As they do this they meet some of the opera stars, eventually getting to know them well and become friends with some. These friendships eventually morph into a huge refugee project to save people before the outbreak of World War II. They would have their opera friends plan performances in Austria and Germany to give them an excuse to go over so often. They would wear people's jewelry out so that when they got out they would have some money to live on. They also arranged sponsers so people could get out of Germany to England. They saved 29 people. It was an inspiring book, a little heavy on the opera in the first hundred pages for someone who knows very little about it but still really enjoyable.

While reading Safe Passage and during those conversations with my friends I found myself wondering if people are still like that. How many will risk their lives, use their personal funds to save someone they don't know just because it is the right thing to do. Would I? Then I went with my mother to see the movie The Impossible. Amazing movie. Exhausting movie. Just in case you aren't familiar it is the story of a family vacationing in Thailand when the Tsunami hit. The kind of story that has to be true to work because no one would believe it otherwise. Fair warning though, during the tsunami scene I kept wondering why I was putting myself through this. Hard to watch, you feel like you are drowning yourself. But there were some answers to my question as to whether people are still good like they were during World War II. There is a scene where the mother and one boy are trying to get to a safer spot in case there are more waves. Severely injured, she and her son hear a child crying. Her son tries to talk her into continuing on arguing that she doesn't even have the energy to move herself let alone save another person. But even though she may be dying she tells her son they have to, even if it is the very last thing they do. There are several instances like this throughout the movie, I guess that is part of what made it so good!

The Help

Today was the day I have been waiting for. I got to go to the movie The Help. One of my favorite books last year, I have been excited but nervous that they might ruin it. They didn't. It was great! The casting was perfect. Skeeter wasn't quite the way I pictured her, I think she was better. The maids Minnie and Abelienne were perfect. Perhaps best of all was Hilly, the villain. Who knew Ron Howard (aka Opie)'s daughter could be so evil? She was, she was perfectly awful. Made me grateful for my kind, lovely friends. But let's talk about the clothes. Loved them! I did mention to Brittany I felt like I should dress up to attend this movie. Sort of like the Harry Potter fans do. I still feel bad I didn't at least amp up my hairspray use and add a headband. Seriously, it was the kind of movie I love. Set in another time period which is always fun but wonderfully thoughtful. There were times I was embarrassed to be a white person, even though the events portrayed happened before I was even born. It also made me proud to be a human being, especially a woman. The maids who tell the stories are so courageous and also share a certain sisterhood. Beautiful movie, based on a wonderful book!

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt

It has been awhile since I have found a book I enjoyed as much as this In fact it reminds me of The Help. Like The Help it is also set in the South, in the 60's. It is the story of Cee Cee, a twelve year old girl who escapes her life with an absentee father and mentally ill mother by reading, my favorite mode of escape too. After a tragic accident, Cee Cee is rescued by her aunt Tootie and introduced to an whole new world. Maybe it is that world and the strong women in it that remind me of The Help. I thoroughly enjoyed the character, the moment of conflict and the resolution. I miss it now that I have finished it, always the sign of a good book. My sister has my copy and is using it for her book club. When I get it back it will be making the rounds of my lunch group, cause I can't wait to have someone to discuss this one with!

Oh my goodness! Look at that first comment! The author left me a comment! I have chills, now I wish I had enumerated even more things I loved about this book because there were really so many!

Literary Help

We need some help from my book-loving friends, and I know I have a lot of them. Brittany is on a biography/autobiography kick and we need suggestions. Anyone have a favorite? She is okay with adult fare-assuming the subject didn't lead too risque a life. Any suggestions would be appreciated, she has read these two lately which I have read and liked but now my well of suggestions has run dry. Help!

The Forgotten Garden

The girls that I lunch with have been talking about this book for awhile now. I don't know why I was so slow to jump in. My friend Sarah lent it to me which was wonderful. However, she and my other friends should have warned me. This book was not healthy to the life of my family or cleanliness of my house. Not to mention the dark circles under my eyes from staying up too late reading it. I just wanted to lock myself in a room and not stop reading until my eyes couldn't read anymore. Of course I was also determined not to read it too quickly because then its 545 pages of wonderfulness would be over. Like it is now. Now what will I read? I have been thinking about the characters all day and I miss them. Always the sign of a good book.

The Grimm Street Girls

Had to post this one, Brittany worked so hard on this book report and it turned out so cute! She drew each character onto white fabric and then embroidered them. Then we turned them into little pillow-dolls. She also drew a map of their neighborhood which we burnt the edges of to make it look old. After which I had to make sure the kids where clear on how they are not to play with fire-even though we had fun doing it!

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

It has been a long time since I have read a book that has sparked such debate as this one. We have talked about it at lunch, I have talked to family and friends about it and I have thought about it a lot. I found it fascinating, but I find most autobiographical accounts written with skill and humor interesting, and something the Today show left out when I saw them talk about this book was that it really is more of a memoir than how-to book. There is definitely a shock value to the way Amy Chua parents. I could definitely never be her kind of Tiger Mother. For one thing I don't have the stamina. Also, I can't stand contention and the atmosphere I imagine reigned in their home would probably kill me right off. Although, don't misunderstand, this mother does yell and make ultimatums and lose it on occasion but those times always make me feel so rotten I could never live with that happening on a daily basis. There is one thing however, that I completely agree with her on though. We "Western" parents are really soft on our kids, so many times we could really expect so much more. I really do believe that kids are little self-fulfilling prophecies. They will so often do and become what we expect them to. If we expect good grades, they will most often do a lot to deliver them. If we expect them to do nothing, they will do that too. I guess for me it comes down to method, I sure don't know that I am doing anything right, but I'm pretty sure I couldn't use most of Chau's methods.

Halfway through this book I went to a Stake Women's Conference where the theme was Becoming Covenant Women. All throughout the keynote speaker, Sister Jensen's, talk I thought about this book. At one point she made the point that she thought that covenant women should be nice. There are many instances Amy Chua relates in which she seems to enjoy how not nice she is. True, the results she gets are fantastic, but I still wonder at what price. Another speaker talked about Julie Beck's talk last year at Women's Conference about being a lioness at the gate. Hmmm, what an idea The Tiger Mother vs. The Lioness Mother. Both are ferocious defenders of their children. Both want important things for their children, both are willing to sacrifice everything they can if it will help their kids achieve important goals. The Tiger Mother wants her child to accomplish everything and learn everything they can. The Lioness Mother does want her child to be very educated but also to be kind, compassionate, strong, and pure. Most important of all to return to their Heavenly Father having learned how to be like Him.

So, I would definitely recommend this book. It was entertaining and thought provoking. I think I will be a better mom, at least for awhile, for having read it. I have thought more about what I want for my kids and how we might get there and how can that be bad? Now I am off to do more flash cards and make sure Brittany practised her violin.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Finally! A good book! I have been reading a lot of fluff lately, just couldn't find anything to really sink my teeth into. I actually started this once before but I guess I was still in too fluffy a mindset. But when my friend Tif mentioned it in a post I thought I would give it another shot because she has great book taste. I am so glad I did! I stayed up late last night to finish it and today I miss the characters just like I did when I finished The Help and The Sweet Potato Pie Literary Club. In fact it reminded me a lot of The Help, they both deal with a period of time we are less than proud of. It is the story of two kids, I suppose it would be considered a coming of age story, living in World War II Seattle. One Henry, is Chinese American and the other Keiko, is Japanese American. Keiko is sent to a Japanese interment camp and becomes lost to Henry. Forty years later some of her families belongings are found in an old hotel Japanese families had used to story precious belongings they hoped to reclaim when the war was over but never had. The unfolding story is one of a boy and girl and a boy and his family during a time that is past. As I am sure you can tell, I really enjoyed it and recommend it!

Garlic and Sapphires

Okay, so I am really in a good book drought. This is the best thing I have read all Summer. This and her other three books. Ruth Reichl was the food critic for the New York Times. Her memoirs are funny, and of course full of food. I really enjoyed them. Not as much as I enjoyed The Help last Summer though. Anyone read anything good? Oh, and I tried The Hunger Games and I just couldn't love it. I just don't want to know about kids fighting and killing each other. So other than that send me your suggestions!

Books

I have been trying to get this posted for a week. It is harder to find time to write the book review than it was to read the book!

First, Dancing at the Rascal Fair by Ivan Doig. This was the book for the Book Blogging Babes for January. I am glad Liz recommended this one. I love when someone helps me find an author I might otherwise never have found on my own. She said the author's style reminded her of Stegner. I agree but I think I liked Stegner's characters more. It is the not unusual story of live in the frontier west. I love that subject, it always makes me so glad I live in this century. It was a very engrossing story of two men and how their lives and families develop as they make a new life in Montana. I thought the two men created an interesting contrast. They were a perfect example of the different ways people handle challenges in life. One becomes bitter as things don't go according to his great plan. The other, while not perfectly happy tries to do the right thing and have a good life. As Liz and Janice have both mentioned enough about Anna, I did wonder if it would have bugged me as much if I weren't married. Right after I finished Dancing I read Messenger by Jeni Stepank. Do you remember seeing this amazing boy on Oprah? I do. I remember how absolutely mesmerizing this amazing child was. Such an old soul yet, joyful soul. Watching him always made me think how we are encouraged to be like a child. This is a book his mother wrote about his life and their life together. Amazing poetry and quotes through the whole thing. I am kicking myself that I returned it so I can't list a bunch for you although my very favorite was his personal philosophy to play after every storm. Amazing boy, amazing mother. I found this book even more engrossing than Dancing at the Rascal Fair and that is saying something. I was afraid for the end to come though, I mean you know from the beginning he dies young and I don't do well with bad things happening to children. But I couldn't stop reading it and didn't cry like I thought I would. I found myself wanting to be better after reading this book, better mother, better person, better peacemaker. That is exactly what Mattie would have wanted us all to feel.

The Book Blogging Babes are reading E.M. Forster's Room with a view in February, one of my faorites! Want to join us?

Finally, a Good Book!

It has been a long time since I found a book I felt this enthusiastic about. Motherboard, recommended it to me a few weeks ago and all I can say is Thank you! It is the story of Juliet, a writer who is struggling to come up with her next book subject in the months that followed World War II. She receives a letter from a stranger who lives on one of the Channel islands that was occupied by the Nazis during the war. They and other members of the community begin a correspondence. So the format of the whole book is a collection of letters, not usually my favorite style but this time I loved it. The author was able to make the different characters have their own voices this way. I have to say it made me long for days when people wrote letters. Yes, email is great and you don't have to wait long for a response but there is something to be said for anticipation. You could tell the authors of the letters were so eager to receive their next letter. I miss that. This is just a lovely book, if you are at all fond of this time period like I am this is great one too. Today I am already missing the characters, always a sign of a good book!

Some Good Books

I have mentioned I have had a shortage of good books lately. So it usually helps to switch genres. Brittany was in a book drought too so I decided to investigate some children's Lit we both could enjoy. I thought I would share some that we have liked, okay Brittany liked, I haven't read them all yet. A new author we hadn't read before, Eva Ibbotson. Two are pictured here, we both really liked The Secret of Platform 13, Which Which is a newer one we were waiting for from the library. They are fantasy, reccomended for readers of Harry Potter, but I would have to say light fantasy with a sense of humor. She has quite a few books, which is always nice so Miss B won't run out for awhile. She really liked Framed by Frank Cottrell Boyce, the guy who wrote Millions. It is about a family who are art theives. She has read several by Blue Balliett. She has listened to and read Chasing Vermeer several times. This author has several books too.
We just discovered The Royal Diary series thanks to a gifted book from my friend Circe. They are historical fiction, diaries of young girls throughout history. Marie Antoinette, Cleopatra, Queen Elizabeth. The list goes on and on. So far I have found three authors who write these. Kathryn Lasky, Kristiana Gregory and Carolyn Meyer.

Just thought I would share, summer vacation is just around the corner and a steady supply of books are a must for Brittany's survival.

Geisha, A Life

As I have mentioned I have been in a bit of a book slump. When this happens, I have found it helps to switch genres. So I went back to my old favourite, autobiographies. I was wandering the stacks at the library and found this one. I thought it was really interesting. I read Memoirs of a Geisha which after reading this one I realize really was fiction. This woman was hailed as the best geisha of her generation but eventually left it after finding it too demanding and confining. I learned there is a misconception of what exactly a geisha does. As she puts they were selling art, not bodies. Customers come to be entertained by dance, music, excellent food and conversation. She does make it clear that romantic entanglements did sometimes occur. The sort of "entertaining" portrayed in Memoirs of a Geisha occurred in another area completely and while those women were similarly trained they also underwent a ritual which consisted of her being ceremoniously "deflowered" after a customer had paid for the privilege. This has led to some of the confusion as to what it means to be a geisha. I found it fascinating to learn the rigorous training she went through to become a very famous dancer and the top geisha for many years. I would reccomend this one, especially it you want something really different.

Book Shortage

Have you noticed it has been awhile since I blogged a book? That is because I just haven't found a really good one in awhile. You know, one that I liked so much I had to tell everyone I know who is a reader. I am open for suggestions.

I did read a sequel to a book I liked awhile back. The first one is called The Friday Night Knitting Club. It is about a group of women who become friends through their knitting. It is an unusual book for me to like. The reason is a bit of a spoiler. My mom is a breast cancer survivor so any book that involves people getting the Big C is a turn off for me. So there, I gave a bit away, but the point is that I still liked the book.

My sister discovered that there is a sequel. Knit Two. I just finished it this weekend. I liked it even better! Maybe because there was no Big C, but I think it was really because the characters developed more.

I spent an hour at the library during Brittany's ballet class. I just can't seem to get excited about anything. I don't want super serious but that seems to be leaving me with fluff. Anyone read anything great lately?

More Christmas Books

Here a couple more of my favorite Christmas books I have been having fun reading lately.

If you haven't read any of the Mitford series by Jan Karon you are missing a great escape. Fun, lovable characters show up again at Christmas in this one. As my friend Tif put it, I wish they could live in my neighborhood.

Two from Galilee. This one is a bit controversial. It is a fictionalized version of Joseph and Mary's story. I love it because it reminds me that they were real people. I have had some friends not love it, feeling it inappropriate to put words in such sacred people's mouths. But I feel it is done well, with respect and faith. Let me know what you think if you have read it. Reading it is a Christmas tradition for me.

Christmas Fiction

I have been taking my friend Janice's suggestion and reading some Christmas novels this year. This is probably the best one I have read so far. It had really likable characters, a nice story and just enough sappiness to make me happy at Christmas!

Good Night, Mr. Tom

I've decided to plug my pick for the Book Blogging Babes book club. For those of you who may not know, a group of us formed an online book club. It is great fun, we all take turns picking the book of the month and then we review it either on our own blogs or the book club blog. So feel free to join us!

So November was my month to pick. I chose Good Night Mr. Tom by Michelle Magorian. It is about a young boy who is evacuated out of London to the country at the beginning of World War Two. I have to admit this is a time period I have always been fascinated by. I have loved this book for a long time, have recommended it for other book clubs although I haven't used it for one before. I am having a great time re-reading it and trying to decide what exactly it is that I like about the story. I should finish this week. I will let you know when my review is posted over here.

Frankenstein

Now how is that for a supporting photo?! I found this book cover on Amazon and thought it was perfect for my little review of the book we Book Blogging Babes read together this month. This was a classic I had never read and probably wouldn't have read on my own--not a science fiction person. But I didn't realize it would have so many elements of other classics I enjoy like the Bronte and Austen books. That same sort of language and style of storytelling I thought. Having said that I have to confess as much as I love Austen, Bronte and E.M. Forster I have to be in just the right mood for them. A sit down and slowly concentrate on this book mood. Lucky for me I was in that sort of mood and really enjoyed it. It was so much more complex and really less creepy than I expected. So put all your Herman Munster type notions aside and read it next October in anticipation of Halloween. I am going to do it again I think!

I love Doris Day!

Okay, here is a bit of a confession for you. I love to read celebrity autobiographies on occasion. I don't know why I am a tad bit embarrassed by this guilty pleasure, I guess somehow I am afraid it lumps me with the supporters of the paparazzi. I do prefer autobiographies, my rational is that if they wrote about their lives they are basically inviting me in, right? Although I must honestly admit that I will on occasion read a biography too, but I always feel like I more accurately get to understand a person when they are the contributor. Probably more accurate too. My very favorites are actors and actresses from Hollywood's golden age. I adored Katherine Hepburn and Audrey Hepburn's books. I really enjoyed this one too. I have always loved Doris Day, Pillow Talk is a major fixture of my growing up memories. She definitely one of the actresses responsible for my love of old movies. I really enjoyed her book too. I was written about thirty years ago. She was very honest and frank I felt, not trying to glitz up her "image", a word she says she hates. Somehow it is always a bit of a comfort to remember that everyone, even beautiful, funny, lovely Hollywood people have problems. Sometimes lots of them. But what I enjoyed was that this wasn't a "woe -is-me" book. It really was about surviving some really awful things, sometimes having a terrible time getting through them, and then still staying that lovely, lite-up lady that was so fun to watch!

The Road

This was this month's book club choice for The Book Blogging Babes. I have to admit right up front that this book was not for the faint of heart and I was faint of heart. I stuck with it for about 60 pages and then gave myself permission to quit. It took me to places I just didn't want to go. Because it was so well written I was truly transported to the author's world. Problem was I don't want to hang out in a Post Apocalyptic world. I don't think I am a Pollyanna, lots of books I read take me to uncomfortable places but this one, probably because it was so well done, was just too disturbing. If you want to read some great discussion about this book go over here. These girls were much more open-minded and insightful than I.