Twilight Movie REVIEW

Many of you know that I'm a big fan of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series and that it was actually my gateway novel to being a full fledged romance reader back in September 2006. You can actually read about how Twilight turned me on to reading romance at the following link: How I became a Romance Addict, which is actually one of my very first posts on this blog. :)

In the summer of 2007, my oldest daughter read Twilight and New Moon and became an equally big fan of the series and we waited on pins and needles for Eclipse that summer and then we spent a year discussing the books, debating Team Edward vs. Team Jacob, listening to Meyer's playlists for her novels, and speculating on the future of the series for over a year, when we read the final series installment, Breaking Dawn in August 2008. You can read our chat review of Breaking Dawn at Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer: A Mom & Daughter Chat.

When we learned that Twilight was going to be brought to the big screen, we had some mixed feelings. Our first response was excitement, but was then soon followed by extreme reservations. Like who in the world could possibly pull off playing the role of Edward? He's beyond beautiful and has an irresistible allure about him. It's not something any actor could really pull off, you know? It's one of those things that you just know, feel and sense when you're reading the book, but would be so difficult to pull off on film. Despite these reservations, we still knew we'd end up in the theaters on opening weekend. Turns out we went on opening night.

After months of over the top buzz and hype on the Twilight movie, I went to the theater to see the film with my thirteen year old daughter and one of her friends last Friday, November 21, 2008 and all three of us walked away from the theater pretty disappointed. I tried to go into the theater with an open mind, knowing I was going to like the book so much better than the movie, but was still really disappointed with the lack of depth in character and plot compared to the novel. My daughter felt similarly, as was evidenced by her grabbing and tugging at my arm, saying, "What? What are they doing? He doesn't say that! She doesn't do that! Wha! What? They're ruining it! How can they do that?" And this was all in the first fifteen, twenty minutes. I even had to "Shhhh" her!

Perhaps because I've read and reread Twilight more than once and the essence of the written story has penetrated too deeply into my mind that I can't help but be critical of the portrayal of the story on the big screen. The setting was great of course, and casting was very good for the most part. Cam Gigandet did a great job as the villain James, and Ashley Greene who played Alice Cullen was another great casting. She was just how I envisioned. Who didn't work in my opinion? Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen. I know that the fictional character makes some tough shoes to fill, but I don't think Robert Pattinson pulled off Edward Cullen at all. First of all, he didn't have the right look, but I could have gotten over that if he didn't always look so angry and brooding. He didn't capture the attention of the humans with his good looks, voice and charisma they way Edward Cullen would have. I thought that Pattinson's acting was sub par. Most of his lines seemed cold and unnatural. Not the least bit alluring.

Then there is Kristin Stewart playing Bella Swan. I think Stewart did well capturing Bella's character, but thought she went a bit overboard with the sad and confused emotions. Was Bella really that depressing in the book? I didn't think so. In the novel, we at least get inside Bella's head a bit more since it is written in her POV, so we see more of her upbeat side and sense of humor. I didn't like how she was so blah--do I dare say emo?-- throughout the film. Part of this could also be a result lacking dialogue and poor pacing in the movie.

Too many scenes and dialogue exchanges were not in the movie that would have better captured the tone of the novel. I know that it's impossible to include every sentence and every little scene in the movie, but so much was cut out that the pacing of the movie felt very choppy to me. I kept waiting for a scene between Bella and Edward that would capture the chemistry and passion between them, and it never happened. I never saw their relationship develop nor did I ever feel that strong connection between them like I did in the book.

What scenes did work?
+The parking lot scene when Edward saves Bella from Eric's van.
+When Bella meets the Cullens.
+The baseball scene.
+When Edward saves Bella from the thugs in Port Angeles.
+When Bella confronts James in the ballet studio in Pheonix.

What important scenes were missing?
+Any scene not mentioned above, because it was done completely wrong.
+The blood typing science lab. The movie needed the humor of this scene.
+The meadow scene! They totally completely botched that scene in the movie. I don't know how Meyer let them do that! It was the scene on which she bases the entire beginning and ending of the story around. The shame!
+All the other great scenes in the book that had all those great lines that never got spoken in the movie.

Simply for frame of reference, here is a summary of my and my daughter's grades for each book in the Twilight Saga as well as the Twilight movie:

Maria: Christine:

Twilight A+ Twilight A+

New Moon A New Moon A

Eclipse A Eclipse B

Breaking Dawn B Breaking Dawn C+

Twilight movie D (ouch!) Twilight movie C-

(That is the grade Maria gave me when I asked her tonight, although I'm thinking it was a melodramatic teenager response. I'll ask her again in the morning for a serious answer and see what she says and report back.)

EDITED TO ADD: November 30, 2008, 10:22 AM EST, Melodramatic teenager or not, she's sticking with the D.

Thankful for YOU!

Several weeks ago, I read a truly heartwarming blog post by my friend Sarai, who despite having been through some really tough times this past year, was able to reflect on her life and find some really wonderful and important things to be thankful for. Her positive attitude was very inspiring and has stuck with me in the corner of my heart since I read her post.

I consider myself a pretty upbeat and optimistic person--something I strive for every day, (although at times my family may say otherwise...), yet even with the best of intentions, it is often easy to lose sight of the truly important things in life: to be alive, to have food to eat and a roof over your head, to have your health, and to share yourself with someone you love. I'm thankful for all of those things and more, but for this post, I'd like to express my thanks for something many may consider low on the priority list or even relatively insignificant in the grand scheme of things in life, but is actually very important to me, and that is YOU.

Quite simply, I'm thankful for the friendships I have made through this amazing community of romance-sci fi-fantasy-reading and writing bloggers and authors. Some of you I've known for almost two years already (dd03, DarlingDiva, Terri a.k.a. moonwindt, Katiebabs, Kat), some of you for a little less (Amy C, Tracy, Anna), and some of you for only a few short weeks or months, but you are all important in my little world. You all have a great sense of humor, you're creative, smart, fun, supportive and hold a special place in my heart. Every day I look forward to interacting with you and I'm always interested in what you have to say either on your own blog or in your comments on my blog. You make me laugh, you make me cry, you make me think and you make me buy way too many books. I'm thankful for you.

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow US friends and happy-second-to-last-day-before-the-weekend to everyone! 

Cheers!
Christine :)

Contest by Viral Kung Fu*: WHAT A SCOUNDREL WANTS by Carrie Lofty

*I stole this creative contest descriptor from Ann Aguirre without permission.

Climbing out beneath the construction rubble to announce yet another generous contest hosted by the fantabulous Ann Aguirre. I love Ann's work, but I also love the way she gets so enthusiastic and passionate about spreading the word about books she herself enjoys reading. Not only does she express her love of a novel, but she goes the extra mile to literally put her money where her mouth is and gives away a copy of the very book she loved. Often times her prizes are even more generous, such as giving away multiple copies of the book and or gift certificates to favorite booksellers and often surprise bonus giveaways throughout the contest period.

Ann's latest promotional contest is for the upcoming release of Carrie Lofty's historical romance, What A Scoundrel Wants. You can visit Carrie's website HERE. Here is the gorgeous viral widget promoting the contest:



So what are you waiting for? Click on over to Ann Aguirre's blog for more information on Carrie Lofty's upcoming novel and on how to enter this fantastic contest. It's so easy and you can even do different things to get more than one entry.

And while you're visiting Ann Aguirre's blog, poke around on her website and check out what Ann's been writing lately. Aside from her popular Sirantha Jax sci fi romance series that you can read about HERE (click on the book covers for more info). Ann is also writing an urban fantasy series called the Corine Solomon series that you can read about HERE, and a paranormal series that she will be writing under the name Ava Gray that you can read HERE. And if that isn't enough? Ann is also working on a Sekrit Project that you can find absolutely nothing about (because it's secret, of course) by reading HERE.

Construction Zone: A Roof Over Our Heads

. . . brushing away the cobwebs . . .

It's been two weeks since my last post. I don't know how that happened!?! 

Well, actually ... I have an idea. It's called living and breathing the partial demolition and rebuilding of your home right before your very eyes because you are living in it, making executive decisions on architectural, electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling system changes in the field, selecting roofing, siding, doors, plumbing fixtures, appliances, flooring, tile, etc., packing away your belongings, restructuring your living arrangements and trying to take care of your husband, two kids, elderly and easily disoriented father-in-law, and four cats the best you can so that their lives go on business as usual while you barely keep your head above water. That's what makes days and days and days go by without making a single blog post or finishing a single book. Yup. That would do it, all right. 

The last post I made here on the construction was Sunday, October 26 and the framing of the first floor addition had just been completed. Despite a few delays here and there due to rain, the construction has been progressing really well. It looks as though we are ahead of schedule, which has put a bit of pressure on me to make some quick decisions on things, but I can't complain. I certainly don't want to be the cause of any loss of momentum on this project. Besides, it's good for me to have strict decision deadlines, because I tend to be indecisive and change my mind a lot when I have too much time to think about it.

So here's what's been going on in the Construction Zone:

October 30, 2008
Second floor walls have been framed. The blue tarp in the background is there to protect the existing structure since the siding has been stripped to the studs on the outside of the house. Remember my 1920s house has no insulation in the walls. We're still at the mercy of the weather until they're ready to put up the new siding at which point they will blow in insulation in the outside walls. 


The side entrance from the driveway. I'm going to love that little covered porch. :) 

November 5, 2008 

Plywood siding has been put up and window openings have been cut out. The roofers are framing the roof for the addition and marrying it to the existing roof line.

November 11-12, 2008

Roofing Day. There was a ton of hustling and bustling and plenty of noise and mess these two days. The roof shingles on the existing part of the house were removed, damaged sections of the existing roof were repaired and new roof shingles were installed on both the existing and new roofs.  The existing roof stripped:

Poof! Just like that... a new roof. 

Note the mattress and box spring ready for the dumpster. My husband and I have no bedroom right now. We'll be camping on a futon mattress on the floor in the living room for a few months. So far it's very hard and very cold. It's only been a week and already I'm thinking of buying a sleeper sofa next weekend.

All the leaves have fallen from the magnolia tree out back and I can finally take photos of the back of the house straight on. 

On Friday most of the windows in the addition got installed, but it started raining so I didn't get a chance to take pictures yet. Next up on the Construction Zone feature will be the inside of the house. Namely the part where I have no bedroom and no kitchen and a skinny piece of plywood between my dining room and the great outdoors. In the Northeast, USA. In mid November. Nice. :) 

A Pumpkin Sail

Last night my husband, youngest daughter (oldest was at another Halloween party!) and I went to a Pumpkin Sail at a local county park at which attendees bring their carved pumpkins to be lit and then set sail upon the lake at nightfall. We went for the first time a few years ago, and the images of dozens and dozens of candle lit carved pumpkins afloat on the lake in the dark of night was a stunning sight I could not forget. In the years following, it we couldn't manage to fit the Pumpkin Sail into our schedule because of homework or dance classes, or someone being sick, etc. This year, I was determined to go again and hoped to get some really good photos. I have this fancy digital SLR camera and was excited to get some professional looking photos. Well.... I guess that's where a professional photographer would have come in handy. Because I learned very quickly that it is very difficult to take quality photographs in such low light conditions. I took about 70 pictures and only about 5 of them are worthy of keeping, and even those are not so great. My photography coach, i.e., my husband, was helping me fine tune the settings, but it was still very challenging. I have a lot to learn. Good thing it's so much fun. :) 

I hope the photos I took at least give you a sense of the majesty of the Pumpkin Sail. It was quite beautiful. You can click on the images to view them full size so you can view them in their true low quality. ;)

The view was actually darker in real time. I had my camera set to let in the most light possible, with a very slow shutter speed. That's why the scene looks so well lit. 

This shot is probably my best one. At least the pumpkin faces aren't too blurry.  

My husband and photography coach. Check out the size of his . . . lens!  So sexy. ;) 

I saved the best for last--one of my husband's photos. Great composition, lighting, and focus.  

Hopefully I get in a lot of practice over the next twelve months, and my photos will be even better next year!  

Trick or Treat!

I love Halloween. The costumes, the pumpkins, the decorations, the delicious seasonal foods, the fun tricks and treats, and the candy! This Halloween, however, pretty much snuck up on me without warning since I've been so preoccupied with the house, so I feel lacked its usual fanfare that I love, but it was a fun one in the end. I managed to at least decorate the front porch a bit last weekend, and get costumes together for my girls. My 9 year old was asked to be one of the Seven Dwarfs with a bunch of her friends. [She was Bashful, of course. Didn't even have to pose shyly for costume judging or photos--she fits the mold perfectly as is. ;) ] One of the moms did a lot of legwork to get matching details for each girl, so I just had to get the pants and shirt together. Kinda lame on my part, but the efforts of the organizing mom were well rewarded when the eight girls dressed as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs won first place last Sunday in our town's Halloween Costume Contest and Parade in the group category. Yay! Little effort on my part and a first place trophy? Win win, if you ask me!

At the town Halloween Costume Contest and Parade. Happy is at a soccer game. 

My Bashful.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at the school parade today.

The school librarian dressed as Mother Goose. 

So after school today, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, along with one mom dressed as Queen Maleficent, had plans to trick or treat together for an hour or so at the shops downtown before going their separate ways to be with other friends or families in their own neighborhoods. Well, my little Dwarf came home from school with tears in her eyes over who knows what, proclaiming that she didn't want to trick or treat downtown or anywhere else with the other dwarfs or Snow White. She doesn't even want to be a dwarf. What's a mom to do? Part of me wanted to pressure her to join her group for even just half an hour because they were counting on her to complete the ensemble. But the other part of me just wanted to say forget it. She did the town Costume Contest and Parade and she played the part all day at school. Halloween is supposed to be fun and happy, not stressful or tearful. If she really doesn't want to go, I won't make her. Needless to say, the second voice was the one I listened to and agreed that she didn't have to go with the group. I took it one step further and suggested she trick or treat on her own as something different. Of course, her first reaction was, "But I don't have another costume." Hellllooooo??!!?! Years of dance costumes and a basket of assorted dress up accessories on the shelf of her closet and she doesn't have another costume? I could have pulled together maybe a dozen or more last minute costumes. We found bunny ears, she wore a white t-shirt, white tights and a white corduroy skirt and voila! An Easter Bunny. Only she used a pumpkin head instead of an Easter basket for her candy bucket. 

My little bunny. The ex Dwarf.

Looking much happier.

This year my 13 year old finally used one of her past year's dance recital costumes for a Halloween costume. Finally! It's frightening to say, but we probably have a few thousands of dollars worth of dance costumes after the 14 cumulative years of dancing between both of my girls. And finally my oldest decides to use one. She basically took a gorgeous ballet costume and cut the lace off the tutu, shortened it a bit, wore fishnet stockings, Converse sneakers, and lots of blue and black makeup to be a goth ballerina. Okaaaay. Welcome to the teens.

My goth ballerina. 

In the 'pair of scissors $72 vintage 2007 ballet recital costume.'

Goth ballerina meets ex Dwarf Easter Bunny. 

I dropped my teen off at a friends house to go trick or treating with a group. Thank goodness for cell phones, I can keep easy tabs on her throughout the afternoon and evening. 

My bunny and I called on a friend of hers who was thankfully free to trick or treat with us for a while. The girls had a really great time together and I could tell by my bunny's relaxed and carefree demeanor that I made the right call in allowing her to change her costume and her plans at the last minute.

Look at that happy face. :) 

This house had the best treats ever: coffee for weary parents! 

What a wonderful idea, don't you think? 

I just couldn't resist posting a few honorable mentions, i.e., other people's kids. 

This is a little friend of mine (I met his mom just before she got pregnant with him). He's dressed up as Michael Phelps, of course. So incredibly cute! 

Another young man whose mother I've known since before he was in her womb. He gave his very artistic and talented mother very detailed specifications on how to make his 'Candy Robot' costume. So cute. So creative. So smart! 

My bunny and her friend had a great time trick or treating together, but after two and a half hours, we started to get cold and hungry and called it a night around 6 pm. Fine by me! :)

My teen, however, has been out since 3:30 pm this afternoon. Trick or treating with this group, pizza at this one's house, then more trick or treating before I picked four of them up only to deliver them to a party at a boys house! Eeep! I'm showing up a few minutes early to pick her up because the mom promised to give me the inside scoop on some of the boys I'm not so familiar with. In fact . . . it's time to go!

Happy Halloween! 

COLDPLAY Concert Review

IZOD Center, Rutherford, NJ

October 27, 2008

I didn't really plan on writing a review for last night's concert, but when I started to type a response to the comments in the post I made yesterday, I realized I had a lot to say! So here's my first concert review. Okay, it's more of a recap than a review. Ha! Enjoy. ;)

I've only been a fan of Coldplay for about two years now and until I recently purchased their latest album Viva La Vida (EMI Records Ltd., 2008), I've only had about a dozen or so of their biggest hits on my iPod. After seeing Coldplay's outstanding performance last night, I'm an even bigger fan now. They were amazing.

The opening act was Duffy, the 24 year old Welsh singer-songwriter who debuted at number one on the UK Album charts with her recent album Rockferry. Her musical style is a neo-soulful blend of pop, soul and rock'n'roll along the lines of artists Kylie Minogue and Amy Winehouse, and while I think she and her band are very talented--based on what I've sampled at her website, anyway-- I didn't think her performance last night was that impressive. Duffy looked amazing in her tiny black lace dress, but she failed to capture the audience's attention as she barely moved across the stage and her voice and lyrics seemed lost to the sound of the band. Only two songs stood out to me, "Serious" and the popular hit "Mercy." Still, Duffy is clearly a talented young artist with a lot of potential and I think the pop charts will be seeing a lot of her in the future.

The concert. First, I'd like to make a disclaimer about my concert reviewing skills. I haven't been to a rock concert in ages, and even then I haven't been to many. I saw U2 in 1987 for their Joshua Tree Tour and then a year or so later I saw Sting. I think that was in 1988, maybe. I know I also went to an INXS Kick concert and saw The Psychedelic Furs around that time, too, but I barely remember that. Basically, my point is that maybe I'm a little out of touch about what makes an amazing concert, but regardless of my concert going experiences or lack thereof, I have to say that last night's performance by Coldplay was fantastic. The song list was a perfect blend of past hits and new tracks from their current album Viva La Vida and lead singer Chris Martin made the concert feel intimate with his natural ability to connect with his audience. Really a fantastic show.

I'm totally kicking myself in the behind today. I didn't bring a camera to the concert. I know! I know! Idiot. And I got this great little purse sized digital camera for my birthday, too. Having floor seats, I could have had some really great shots. Ah, live and learn. So I made due with my iPhone camera, which actually takes decent photos for a camera phone, but alas, no zoom capabilities, so the photos aren't that great. I swear we had better views of the band in person than these pictures suggest. Honest. Anyway, here they are:

Coldplay opened with the instrumental track, "Life in Technicolor" playing behind a sheer curtain, then the curtain lifted as they played their first vocal track, "Violet Hill."

I thought the lighting and technical effects during the concert were great. Granted it's been a while since I've been to a rock concert, but I really enjoyed the artistry in this performance. The effects weren't anything cutting edge, per se, but they complimented the music and the artists perfectly. There were these orbs suspended above the stage, and one much larger orb above the audience, and they either had varying colors and patterns swirling within them, or they were used to project live images of the band throughout the performance. Again, the orbs brought a perfect compliment to the tone of the show.

At one point, Chris Martin, while playing solo on the piano, sang "The Hardest Part" (X&Y, EMI Records Ltd., 2005) dedicated to singer, model, actress Jennifer Hudson as she grieves for the death of three family members. In case you haven't heard about the tragedy that has struck Jennifer Hudson and her family, last weekend her mother and brother were shot dead in their home and her 7 year old nephew had gone missing, only to be found dead in an abandoned car yesterday, October 27, 2008. The suspect is a family member, the estranged husband of Jennifer's sister, the father of the deceased young boy (Source: Chicago Tribune, chicagotribune.com). My heart goes out to Jennifer Hudson and her loved ones. Very sad.

Later in the concert, band members jogged off the stage and headed into the midlevel seating where they stood among the audience and played a few songs so that other fans could feel what it's like to have front row seats. One of the songs they played here is one of my favorites, "The Scientist." When he announced the song, Chris Martin playfully poked fun of the Jonas Brothers, saying it was their hit. Even my 13 year old, who saw the Jonas Brothers in concert over the summer, laughed at the humor. Chris Martin has a wonderful way about him that he can poke fun playfully without coming across insulting. That's a wonderful skill, I think.

Images of Japanese history and culture were displayed on the large screen behind the band while they performed the song "Lovers in Japan / Reign on Love" and millions of tissue paper butterflies were dropped over the floor area. I have to admit I was so happy to have had floor seats for this part. It was so beautiful.


This photo was taken during their last song and would have made a great shot if only I had a real camera. ::sigh:: I forgot what song they were playing in this photo. Maybe it was Lost.

The crowd gets Coldplay to come back out for an encore.

Which, I think, is standard and expected. I was certainly pleased, because there was one more favorite song that the band hadn't yet played . . . "Yellow."

All in all, Coldplay delivered an amazing performance last night. I'm so thrilled I was able to go, it was a wonderful, memorable night with my daughter that I'll never forget. I can't wait to see them again on their next tour.

COLDPLAY concert tonight!!!

I had been planning on attending the Literacy Signing at the NJ RWA Conference this past Saturday since at least May or June, but instead had the really fantastic opportunity to take the girls to see the 2008 Tour of Gymnastics Superstars show at the IZOD Center. It was a really great afternoon, and the excitement and joy on both of my daughter's faces the whole day weekend was priceless. The show is a choreographed performance of freestyle-type gymnastics routines featuring members of the men's and women's olympic teams as well as about a dozen other very talented performers. My youngest has been a fan of Nastia Liukin since before the Olympics, so we were so thrilled to see her perform.

So while we were at the IZOD Center, I had an impulsive moment of inspiration and decided to find out if there were any tickets available to see the alternative Rock band Coldplay in concert either Sunday or Monday night (tonight). It turns out Sunday's show was sold out but there were a handful of tickets available for Monday night's performance, so I bought two tickets for tonight's show! Since my husband isn't crazy about the band, I'm taking my thirteen year old daughter to her first ever rock concert (Sorry, I don't count the Jonas Brothers) and we're both super super excited. My husband was surprised that I was willing to take her to a concert on a school night, but she's a straight A student in honors classes and helps out with her sister and or my father-in-law without too much complaining, so I say 'why not?'--it's a great mom and daughter night out while she still doesn't mind being with me. Besides, I really want to go!!!

I told her I'd try to act and long young so she didn't feel too awkward. I asked her what she thought I should wear to look younger and she said, "A push-up bra." Niiiiiice. She said she was kidding, but I don't know. I don't think something like that would fly so fast out of her mouth if there wasn't some grain of truth to that. I told her they're the way they are because they nourished her for all those months and months when I breastfed her. And months. Embarrassment and guilt are a few of the best weapons of revenge against a teenager. Heh.

Last night my husband said he thinks I'm going to regret taking her to the Coldplay concert tonight--that she's too young and will be exposed to inappropriate behavior of audience members. Maybe I'm naive, but I'm thinking it won't be so bad. And maybe it's a good thing that I'm taking her to her first real concert, so we both find out what it's like these days before she starts wanting to go on her own with friends. I don't know, I haven't been to a grown up concert in ages. I think the last concert I went to was to see Sting on his Dream of the Blue Turtles tour in 1985. Could it be that long ago? Oh wait. I went to see jazz musician Pat Metheny in 1992 maybe. Oy! I've got to get out more.

So what was the last concert you've been to? And who would you want to see in concert if you had the opportunity?


We have floor seats FLOOR SEATS! at tonight's Coldplay concert. Nothing like diving right back into the concert scene full force, eh? Here's a video of Coldplay performing the single "Lost" from their current best selling ablum Viva La Vida.

Construction Zone: Attic Treasures

Aside from a bit of twittering and a scant blog comment here and there, I've barely been online this past week, and it's been very disconcerting. I really miss blog hopping and reading what all of you have to say--whether it be book reviews, book discussions, author news, as well as those fun insights into your personal lives. As of right now, I see I've got 230+ unread blog posts waiting for me and am already suffering from blog withdrawal. 

So what have I been up to? Well, mostly the construction project at home has me so busy, you'd think I was building it myself! The guys are making great progress. on the addition. The first floor is framed and the framing of the second floor starts tomorrow morning. By the end of the week, they will be ripping off my old roof and joining the two rooflines together as one roof. I imagine this week will be very noisy and very messy, but it will be neat to see the new shape of the house when the roof is finished.  

This is the view from the driveway where there will be steps to a small covered porch. The door will be the opening to the left, adjacent to the existing dining room windows. 

Here's a view of the back of the house, with the first floor framed. The large opening to the left is for the set of french glider doors that will have a full length sidelight windows on other side. The opening to the right of that is for the window of my father-in-law's future room.

So that's what the workers have been doing--what about me? Well, with the upcoming roofing job, we were faced with the gruesome act of completely emptying our attic. Ugh. We had one of those on site pod storage units delivered last Monday, and I started packing up clothes and books. My husband then took a day off and we completely emptied everything from the attic into the pod. Fortunately, when we had central air installed about six years ago, I combed through our things and donated or threw away a lot of items, and I was very good about only putting things in the attic that we wanted to keep. That's not to say that it wasn't a lot of stuff, but at least it was fairly organized. Most things like clothes and holiday decorations were stored in those plastic containers, but there was also luggage, some cherished children's books and toys I can't yet part with (like Goodnight Moon, Corduroy, and the toy kitchen and barbies that got played with daily for six or seven years straight), the girls' bassinet (awww!), craft supplies, college textbooks (Electromagnetic Fields and Solid State Circuits? Please. Like I'll ever read those textbooks again?) and assorted other items like a milk crate of old LPs circa 1975 to 1986. (I think I need to download The Lexicon of Love by ABC, circa 1982, onto my iPod this week. I love that album.) Fun stuff! ;) 

We also started moving furniture and belongings from our bedroom and the dining room into the pod as well, since as soon as the roof is done and the addition space is weather tight, the construction will break through into our current living space and those spaces need to be empty. Of course, the house is a mess right now because we couldn't get it all done in one day, and our weekend was busy with outside activities, so I haven't done any more packing since Friday. From my kitchen, I've only packed up my cookbooks, so I'll have a lot to pack there, too. I'm hoping to do that job at the very last minute, because I plan on cooking until the night before the kitchen is scheduled to be gutted. 

Needless to say, I still have major work cut out for myself tomorrow and the weeks to come. I hope to catch up with all of you during the week! :) 

REVIEW: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The following is a non-spoiler review of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. For a detailed discussion of the novel that includes spoilers, I have teamed up with the insightful and articulate Thea of The Book Smugglers blog for a joint discussion and book review. Please visit The Book Smugglers blog HERE. There is also a great book club discussion at Dear Author HERE.

The Hunger Games is a young adult novel by author Suzanne Collins that takes place in a future country called Panem in which the government strongly controls the industry in each of its thirteen districts and in essence also controls the prosperity of its people. In order to deter its citizens from rebelling, the government, also known as the Capitol orchestrates The Hunger Games every year in which a teenage boy and girl from each of the currently existing twelve Districts are drafted by lottery to fight to the death until there is a sole survivor in a nationally televised performance. The Hunger Games is a game of survival in the most brutal form as supplies are minimal and the arena is a vast, yet enclosed and controlled environment designed to challenge the players survival skills and force battles to the death between the players, or tributes as they are called. The winner of The Hunger Games is awarded an easy life at home, including ample food for his or her entire District for a full year.

The Hunger Games is told from the first person point of view of Katniss Everdeen, a sixteen year old girl from one of the poorest districts in Panem--District 12, the coal miners. Katniss' father was killed in a mining explosion several years prior, leaving Katniss, her sister Prim, and their mother to fend for themselves. At the time of her father's death, Katniss' mother fell into a serious depression, and Katniss was the one who took care of them, saving them from near starvation. She took to sneaking out of boundaries to hunt, gather roots, berries, leaves and other edible plant foods where she met a boy named Gale. Now they hunt together and sell or trade their catches in the market to support their families. Not only are the hunting partners, but they are also best friends who border on something more.

When officials come to District 12 to conduct the lottery for the Hunger Game tributes, Katniss' twelve year old sister Prim gets selected. Without hesitation, Katniss volunteers to take her place--an event so rare as being a tribute, especially one from the poorest district, means almost certain death. Katniss is then whisked away to the Hunger Games Arena in an undisclosed area in the Capitol along with fellow District 12 tribute, Peeta Mellark. The Hunger Games are a brutal and disturbing example of government control and the heroine Katniss is forced to not only rely on her survival skills, but also her wit, intuition and morals as she is faced with the constant question of friend or foe, fight or flee.

The Hunger Games is a powerful story about government control, desperation, and survival. It also exemplifies how individuals have the power to demonstrate their disdain for government controls or force of hand. However, there are a few conditions that could have been better explained, such as why the districts had rebelled against the Capitol years ago that lead the the Hunger Games in the first place. Also, how is it exactly that nationally televising a fight to the death of twenty four teens from around Panem would keep the masses in control and in fear of rebelling against the government? I imagine the politics of Panem will be explored in more depth in the sequels, but I felt a bit of elaboration in this novel would have better supported the value of the Hunger Games as a true deterrent to rebellion.

The Hunger Games is an intense and often violent, yet thought provoking story that shouldn't be missed. The plot is not terribly complex, yet is imaginative and keeps the reader completely engaged in Katniss' fight to survive from the very first page to the very last. Katniss is a strong heroine who knows how to survive under the most difficult situations, she follows her intuition, and she's resourceful. While she still makes mistakes, she is determined to not go down without a fight at least for her sister's sake.

The Hunger Games is a heart racing, blood pumping kind of story that makes the reader think about government, war, and even the equal distribution of basics such as food and medicine for all.

Grade: A

Other reviews:

DarlingDiva at The Things That Make Me Happy

Jia at Dear Author