Coraline...read the book before seeing the movie!

By Neil Gaiman...my husband has often recommended that I read Neil Gaiman...not just his novels but his graphic novels as well. I had already read STARDUST...and then purchased an illustrated version as well...it was incredible. I had finished reading it RIGHT before the movie. Now, with Coraline. I listened to this book over a year ago...and now with the movie released I thought it would be interesting to mention it. It is a MUST READ...and if you like to listen, the audio is perfect! It is CREEPY...I was very creeped out by the book (of course it doesn't take much). I had told my husband that the book was a juvenile or young adult...he raised his eyebrows and said REALLY? Tomorrow I plan to see it on the big screen and I am very excited!

Here is what AMAZON.COM review has to say...Coraline lives with her preoccupied parents in part of a huge old house--a house so huge that other people live in it, too... round, old former actresses Miss Spink and Miss Forcible and their aging Highland terriers ("We trod the boards, luvvy") and the mustachioed old man under the roof ("'The reason you cannot see the mouse circus,' said the man upstairs, 'is that the mice are not yet ready and rehearsed.'") Coraline contents herself for weeks with exploring the vast garden and grounds. But with a little rain she becomes bored--so bored that she begins to count everything blue (153), the windows (21), and the doors (14). And it is the 14th door that--sometimes blocked with a wall of bricks--opens up for Coraline into an entirely alternate universe. Now, if you're thinking fondly of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe or Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, you're on the wrong track. Neil Gaiman's Coraline is far darker, far stranger, playing on our deepest fears. And, like Roald Dahl's work, it is delicious.
What's on the other side of the door? A distorted-mirror world, containing presumably everything Coraline has ever dreamed of... people who pronounce her name correctly (not "Caroline"), delicious meals (not like her father's overblown "recipes"), an unusually pink and green bedroom (not like her dull one), and plenty of horrible (very un-boring) marvels, like a man made out of live rats. The creepiest part, however, is her mirrored parents, her "other mother" and her "other father"--people who look just like her own parents, but with big, shiny, black button eyes, paper-white skin... and a keen desire to keep her on their side of the door. To make creepy creepier, Coraline has been illustrated masterfully in scritchy, terrifying ink drawings by British mixed-media artist and Sandman cover illustrator Dave McKean. This delightful, funny, haunting, scary as heck, fairy-tale novel is about as fine as they come. Highly recommended. (Ages 11 and older) --Karin Snelson --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Reading...

Okay, so it has taken me nearly 2 weeks to post. I am so sorry. I really am reading. I just haven't FINISHED anything. I am currently reading The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski...which is FABULOUS, but it is taking me awhile. Normally I speed through books...especially the young adult ones...but this is a little deeper and is taking me a little longer. I have been reading it for two weeks and I am only half way through. AMAZING! I am also reading THE A LIST by Zoey Dean...I am halfway, but only started it a couple of days ago because I am afraid to take the other book into the bathtub with me (more expensive and thicker). I am also reading magazines, newspapers and articles online...so, I am still reading even if I haven't posted a book recently! So, hopefully you are reading too! I hope to post a few more books before school starts...and then my frequency of reading will drop...can't read and study at the same time. I give myself a deal...do schoolwork, read the magazines, short stories, etc, and once the quarter is over...read until the next quarter starts. UGH, it is torture, but usually helps keep me on task!

Peter and the Secret of Rundoon

By Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson...In this action-packed conclusion to the Starcatchers trilogy, Peter and Molly find themselves in the dangerous land of Rundoon, ruled by the evil King Zarboff, who takes great delight in watching his pet snake, Kundalini, consume anyone who displeases him. But that’s just the start of the trouble facing our heroes, who once again find themselves pitted against the evil shadow creature, Lord Ombra, in a struggle to save themselves and Molly’s father - not to mention the entire planet - from an unthinkable end. Meanwhile, back in Never Land, a tribal war is under way, and while Peter is off fighting to save the world, a young Mollusk princess has no choice but to join forces with sinister pirates to save her island from the vicious Scorpions. Peter and the Secret of Rundoon is a wild desert adventure - with flying camels, magic carpets, and evil shadows - that literally zooms toward an unforgettable and unimaginable climax. Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson have teamed together once again to pen a story with unrelenting action and adventure that can be enjoyed by listeners of all ages

I have finally finished this trilogy...LOVED every minute of it even though my husband claims that Jim Dale's voice puts him right to sleep. I didn't get through the audio as fast as I normally do...but that means I am driving less. Anyway, equally as good as the first two...and again, more explanations about Peter, where he comes from, how he does what he does, etc!

Something Blue

By Emily Giffin...picks up where Something Borrowed leaves off...and tells you a little more about Darcy, a character I grew to despise in Something Borrowed. But...this book shows how a self centered, selfish, brat can change and find true love and in the same process really find herself and change into a better person. I am not sure I could buy it...but over time this whiny pregnant 29 year old grows on you. Trust me, there are several moments you wish she would just get over herself...but in the end, she ends up being a good person. If you read Something Borrowed and want to see how Darcy takes the situation, this is a good read. If you didn't like Darcy to begin with, I am not sure how much you will grow to like her in this book...but try it, who knows!

The Harmony Silk Factory

By Tash Aw...this was recommended to me by a library patron, in fact she gave me her own copy so I could read it.

From the Publishers Weekly review
Aw slices his first novel into three segments, wherein three characters dissect the nature of Johnny Lim, a controversial figure in 1940s Malaysia. Depending on the teller, Johnny was a Communist leader, an informer for the Japanese, a dangerous black-market trader, a working-class Chinese man too in awe of his aristocratic wife to have sex with her, or a loyal friend. Long after Johnny's death, we hear these conflicting accounts from his grown son, Jasper; his wife, Snow (through the lens of her 1941 diary); and his English expatriate friend, Peter Wormwood. The chief benefit of this structural trick is to make palpable the limitations of each character's perspective, and that's no mean feat. But Aw's prose, though often witty and taut, is not equally convincing in all its guises. Jasper is the typical alienated son who burns to discover all the crimes his father committed; this also makes him the typical unreliable narrator (when his father kills a mosquito that had bitten him, Jasper cites this as proof of an innate "streak of malice"). When Snow takes over, Johnny suddenly resembles a more ordinary man, while she—adored by her son, whose birth caused her death—reveals herself to be a fallible character and an unfaithful wife. The most boisterous and enjoyable thread of this story belongs to Peter, with whose chipper English patter Aw, oddly enough, seems most at home.

I haven't been able to put it down. I normally read more than one book at a time...well I have only read magazines while reading this book. You are introduced to the main character Johnny, and honestly you are not sure whether to like him, hate him, admire him, or what...he works his way up from nothing and makes something of himself in Malaysia. The book isn't written from his point of view, but from the people he meets, Peter and Snow and his son, Jasper. He makes friends, enemies and gets married along the way. I don't want to give anything away...but the history is interesting and the characters are well developed. And...through all of the book you really aren't sure what to think of Johnny. I would definitely recommend this book.

Something Borrowed

By Emily Giffin....from the back cover...Meet Rachel White, a young attorney living and working in Manhattan. Rachel has always been the consummate good girl - until her thirtieth birthday party, when her best friend Darcy throws her a party. That night, after too many drinks, Rachel ends up in bed with Darcy's fiance. Although she wakes up determined to put the one night fling behind her, Rachel is horrified to discover that she has genuine feelings for the one guy she should run away from. In her wildest dreams (or worst nightmare?) this is the last thing on earth Rachel could have ever imagined happening. As the September wedding date nears, Rachel knows she has to make a choice. In doing so, she discovers that the lines between right and wrong can be blurry, endings aren't always neat, and sometimes you have to risk it all to win true happiness. Something Borrowed is a phenomenal debut novel that will have you laughing, crying, and calling your best friend.

So...I wasn't sure what to think going into it...at first I am thinking, you should NEVER EVER be okay with a best friend sleeping with your fiance...but as the plot unfolds....it just isn't as cut and dry as that. And...I have been recommended this book by several friends...so I thought I would give it a shot! It definitely takes some twists and turns...and while I often disagreed with some of the decisions made...all in all I was surprised at how much I ended up enjoying the novel...and I didn't want to put it down.