Stuff White People Like #127...

While perusing another blog for the first time today, Everyday I Write The Book, I ran across this hilarious account of how people feel when they know a book they want to read is about to be released as a film otherwise known as "Stuff White People Like #127":

"...these announcements create a ticking time bomb where by a white person must read the book in ADVANCE of the release of the movie. This is done partly so that they can engage in the popular activity of complaining about how the movie failed to capture the essence of the book. But more importantly, once a book has been made into a movie, a white person can no longer read that book. To have read the book after the movie is one of the great crimes in white culture, and under no circumstances should you ever admit to doing this. Literally dozens of white friendships have imploded when it was revealed that someone read Fight Club after 1999."

Once again, I could not have said it better myself...I cannot tell you how many conversations I've had with people EACH and every time a book based movie comes out.

"Oh yeah, I really want to finish the book so I can go see the movie...." - ALL THE TIME.

So of course with the impending theatrical releases of "Julie and Julia" and "The Time Traveler's Wife" I tell myself each day that I will start one of these books and work on finishing it quickly so I can go see the movie while it is still in the theater. I've been wanting to read "Julie and Julia" for some time now and just got my mom's copy from her last week but "The Time Traveler's Wife" has been on my to-do list for much longer. I think it was my book for book club last September... Maybe now that I've seen the amazing movie previews it will spur me on to actually start the book though. Love Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana is someone I could definitely stare at for a few hours.


Hopefully neither of these movies will end up being the great tragedy that was the "Confessions of a Shopaholic" movie or "My Sister's Keeper" whose theatrical adaptation can be described as nothing short of purely criminal. I did not see the movie but was told about the cheap-o ending, why Jodi Picoult signed off on that is beyond me.

(Anyone know if authors actually have to 'approve' things when they make a movie? If I wrote a book that was being turned into a movie, script approval would be in my contract for sure.)

Maybe today will be the day I start one of these books - they are both coming out in 2-3 weeks so I need to get started!

Book Review: Change of Heart

It took me longer than normal to get into this Jodi Picoult book - I did read My Sister's Keeper in three days DURING the work week. That was a book I could not put down, I took it everywhere I went and even stopped into Starbucks a time or two when I had 20 to 30 minutes to kill just to read more and see what would happen next. Talk about a pageturner! Sidenote: I don't know about you but while reading My Sister's Keeper I never in a million billion years would have pictured Cameron Diaz as the mom. Interesting casting choice. I guess she's got to break out of those silly, somewhat annoying, 20-something roles sometime. After all, the girl is going to be 37 this year - how is that even possible?? No wonder she needed to go ahead and get a more serious act, I think her days of being able to pull off a "What Happens In Vegas" or "The Sweetest Thing" are definitely over! (and in looking up her age I just realized she has the same bday as my mom...interesting...)

So back to the task at hand, Change of Heart. As I said before, it was a little harder to get into than your normal Jodi Picoult but it was so interesting and so worth it in the end. (And by the end I was rushing home at lunch and after work to keep reading...how does she do that EVERY time??) There isnt' a ton of action but in true Picoult fashion, she never diappoints with the twists and turns. This book also had a lot of issues involving law and religion. You could tell she really had to do her homework when writing this one. It left lots of room for discussion and really made you think about how you would react to certain situations.

Last night was our book club meeting to discuss this book. Of course there was not much actual 'book discussion' going on but we did manage to get a little more in than normal. We also surprised one of our book club members with a surprise baby book shower! Two girls in our club came up with the idea and we all thought it was so cute. We couldn't wait to go out and buy fun childrens' books. The hostess, Heather, even got all these fun teddy bear cookies with blue sprinkles and petit fours and pecan cookies with blue icing. She had all of it out on a table where everyone was putting their gifts when they waked in and luckily when the guest of honor, Ali, walked in, she didn't even notice! She was really surprised when we walked her back into the living room for her shower and she realized she'd missed the pile of gifts and blue desserts!

Everyone brought such cute books - it was so fun to see what each person brought and hear about what they remember reading when they were little. This will be a very well read baby boy!

Some of our favorites were:

The book club selection for next month is "Drowning Ruth" by Christina Schwarz. I've got to start that soon...

(I'm taking a break from the house post today - I promise to do the master bath and the recipes from the housewarming party soon!)

Straight Up and Dirty

...is how I always order my martinis - kidding! - is the title of the book club pick for this month! (I just realized I've never had a 'real' martini, guess its about time...)

From Publisher’s Weekly: (via Amazon.com)
One month after discovering her husband was having an affair, 20-something Klein made him her "Wasbund" and started trying to find a man to date again-or better, a "pair and a spare," as her telephone therapist advised. She "rodated" desperately, searching for someone to repair her wounded ego. She even found a reasonably suitable boyfriend-only she broke it off when he suggested living together. At one point she faced the truth she'd avoided from the beginning, that she had to learn to appreciate herself for her own accomplishments before she could have a healthy relationship with a man. While there's nothing new about that story line-indeed, it's curiously proto-feminist for a recent Barnard grad-Klein's sense of humor is downright wicked. Her ex-mother-in-law was a "shrub of a woman" who "sounded like she'd swallowed a southerner" and looked "like a transvestite who had a one-night stand with a disco ball." Then there's "Mr. Madras Pants," who "carried a degree in poplin with a minor in seersucker... the type of man who was at complete ease when sending his order back to the kitchen." In the end, Klein's is a great, fun read.

I have a friend who read it with her group a few months ago and raved about it so much that I went ahead and read it in February just to see what all the fuss was about. (Unfortunately she does not have a blog so I can’t link to hers on here – I’m hoping this comment in here will just be something else to make her start one though! I’ve been trying!) When her group read the book she told me that she really learned a lot about relationships and that she saw different aspects of several of our friends and things that had happened in their relationships. I was very curious to read this to see where I fell into this and it was all very interesting. One thing I know we have in common is a severe aversion to Chardonnay - don't get me started! - which comes up a few times in the book. But there were other things that she thought and felt that made me think of myself as well. The writer is witty and the language will probably catch you off guard at times but it’s a great girly read. Perfect for the beach!

This book is also a memoir of sorts which, to me, made it all the more interesting because I was actually thinking about this specific person the whole time and how these things actually happened to her. There is a disclaimer at the beginning of the book saying that a few things were embellished to make things a little more humorous or exciting, but I think the big things are all true. (Smart move by her. We don't want another "Million Little Pieces" scandal on our hands!) Then when the book was over I found myself wondering what she was doing now and how things turned out. Luckily she has kept up with the daily updates on her life on her blog so you can still follow along and see how things are going for her now. So far everyone who has finished it for book club has really enjoyed it and I’m looking forward to getting together with everyone and discussing the book later this month.

So, because I have already finished the book for book club this month, I started a new non-club book last night, “The Friday Night Knitting Club” by Kate Jacobs. I have been seeing this around for a few years now and finally bought it for myself with the last round of books I got on half.com. (By the way if you haven’t bought books on half.com yet you are missing out!) A few years ago (2003, I think) I decided I wanted to learn to knit and asked for yarn, knitting needles and some instructional books for Christmas. I taught myself, and my mom, to knit from a book and spent the better part of a week working on a scarf that I still love years later. I feel like I go through phases with knitting, sometimes I’m just totally addicted to it and then I’ll go for months, or even years lately without picking up the needles. I hadn’t made anything in at least 2 years (Its hard to knit when you get a puppy, then also when that puppy grows up and wants to be in your lap ALL the time!) and then started up again a few months ago during a long weekend at the beach with my family. It took me a little while to remember exactly how to start and I think I may have to get the books back out when the scarf is done to figure out how to finish it up but I just love it. The only thing I know how to knit is scarves which do not require much talent but something about it is just addicting. I have bags of scarves I’ve never even worn, I’ve just wanted to make them. I love picking out the yarn and imagining how the finished product will turn out.

I’m only about 20 pages into this book but just that little bit has me hooked. I read online that USA Today calls it “Steel Magnolias set in Manhattan” – sounds pretty good to me! Oddly I’ve heard a lot of other people talking about this book lately even though it was released 2 years ago. Its even the book club pick for my local Borders bookstore this month! I have heard some talk of it being turned into a movie with Julia Roberts so now I’m glad I’ll be finishing before the movie comes out – the books are always so much better. I’m hoping it will also inspire me to branch out beyond scarves. Guess we’ll have to wait and see on that one!

Confession...

I am loving this book so much that I went to Starbucks on my lunch break yesterday strictly to find out what would happen next! If you have not read “A Thousand Splendid Suns” I HIGHLY recommend it. The author, Khaled Hosseini, also wrote “The Kite Runner”. We read his first novel, “The Kite Runner”, for book club about a year ago. Book club is usually really code for ‘girls night at someone’s house with wine and appetizers’ without much talk about the book but “The Kite Runner” really sparked a lot of discussion and I have a feeling “A Thousand Splendid Suns” will do the same.

Our meeting is this Thursday and will be at my friend Heather’s house. She has a really cute blog, Tiny’s Treats, and is always cooking up something yummy in her kitchen. I’m excited to see what she has planned for our meeting on Thursday!

Taking an hour to read at lunch really was a nice break in the day, especially with the pretty weather. I usually take my lunch to work so coming up with something to do besides eat on my lunch break can be difficult at times. Of course I do have errands to run from time to time and its always easy to go shopping or breeze through Target. But that usually leads to me buying things I don’t really need and just spending money because I’m bored. I was so glad I had remembered to stick my book in the car yesterday morning. I may have to make this ‘reading lunch’ a regular thing!