6 posts tagged “books”
Oh my god - so many books - so little time. But, I'm going to go with one that "enhances" my life because I've been thinking about it a lot lately -
All of the Harry Potter books.
When I first started the series, it was right after Book 3 came out. I was single mom struggling to work full-time and finish my second college degree. I had almost no money and someone had given me a Books-A-Million gift certificate to thank me for helping them with a project. I remember wishing they had given me cash so I could, you know, pay bills - but whatever.
I bought all three of the books and I'm not sure why. I had never heard of them before, but I'd always been a fan of reading kids books, since I wanted to have stuff to talk to my son (who was four at the time) about. I read all three books in one weekend and it was such a wonderful escape from my lonely life that I immediately latched onto them and read them again. A professor of mine had read them too and he's the one who told me how popular they were.
Since then? I've celebrated ever Midnight release. We see every movie the day it comes out. My son and I enjoy the series together, sharing news tidbits we've heard, having parties celebrating book releases, and just enjoying the world of Harry Potter.
As a mother to a pre-teen, one of my biggest priorities is always having things that my son and I can continue to share, to keep the lines of communication open. Like with any relationship, if you have nothing in common - bonds weaken, and I need us to be a strong team through the upcoming teen years. As we approach the final book in the series, the excitement grows, but so does the sorrow because I will feel like a chapter in my life ends with the release of book 7.
I've been reading Linda Holmes write recaps a Television Without Pity for years under the name Miss Alli. She writes brilliant summaries of some of my favorite reality TV shows (Survivor and The Amazing Race) and she always has great analysis of personalities and characters. That prompted me to read her personal journal at Frolic and Detour where she wrote one of my favorite internet pieces ever about all of the versions of "That Guy" that exist.
Well, she teamed up with someone she met through her internet writings and collaborated on the above book. And even though I'm not single (THANK GOD) it gives excellent advice. My favorite excerpt from the book discusses how ridiculous it is to drag out an argument you know you've lost (I do that crap ALL THE TIME.) I can't wait to buy the book not only to support one of the "bloggers" I was reading before I even know what a "blog" was, but to also possibly use some of the wisdom in how to make my marriage function a little better.
I heard a commercial on the radio the other day for the next book in the series of "James Patterson's Winged Max" and I got really excited. I read When the Wind Blows and Lake House and was thrilled to hear there was a third. Well, turns out? That he took the characters from those adult books and turned them into teen books. I have no idea if they're any good or not. I want to re-read the two adult ones first, but my son is reading the first of the teen series. I hope he has a good report on them.
My son made me swear on all that is holy that I'd read the book HOOT before it came out at the theaters. So, since it's a kids book and I knew I could read it in one day, I read it two weeks ago. It was really good and LilZ and I went and saw it at the new Rave Theater last week. Jimmy Buffet did almost the entire soundtrack for the movie and I believe he played a part in producing on top of his role in it as a teacher. I guess he really wanted to be behind the project. It was a decent adaptation but the changed the ending a bit and I'm not sure why.
Although the cover was completely different on MY version, this is the book LilZ is reading right now and it makes me so happy I could cry. I loved that book in middle school and dreamed of having bizarre powers of my own. I remember actually trying to move things by looking at them while also quizzing my mother about any medications she may have taken when she was pregnant with me (how the girl in the book got her powers). LilZ found an old copy at my in-laws and has been reading it. *sigh* Now if only he would find
I took the W.O.M.B.A.T test at www.jkrowling.com last week, did you? It was so damn hard and my son and I were discussing that there seemed like there were several questions on it that you could argue several of the answers to be correct. I finally got my grade today and I got an "E" for "Exceeds Expectations". I have heard several people received "O"s for "Outstanding" but I think they cheated.
