New Moon

Ok, so I don't want to give too much away, but listen...minor characters from Twilight had a major role in New Moon and Stephenie Meyer did a really good job at keeping me interested. She pulled a J.J. Abrams (you remember when all your favourite Lost characters fell to the background and "the others" became the main story line...yeah I hated it!) but Stephenie Meyer really did a good job. Though I missed my favourite characters like crazy, she really did have me caring for the new ones.

You know what's weird though, in my Twilight post, I wrote that she knew love as Shakespeare did. And it's funny because New Moon completely revolves around Romeo and Juliet. Not only does New Moon reference it a whole bunch, but the story seems to mirror the tragic play a little bit. It's kind of interesting. And it happens to be my favourite play, so I am not complaining. At first, I got a little sad when Edward (vampire) said that he had no respect for Romeo because he made really bad decisions, but he takes it back in the end for good reason! :) <3 See, I love love love Romeo. Yeah, he made some bad decisions, and even he knew he did..but he really did love Juliet. <3 And Edward really loves Bella.

Love Walked In

This one was really cute. I love that Cornelia was a cafe manager, and I loved her enthusiasm for old Katherine Hepburn movies. Hell, I am not much of a Katherine Hepburn fan, but even I got excited as Cornelia would reference a scene from one of her movies.
I liked it enough to read the sequel, but I didn't fall in love with the characters as much as I felt I should...Several characters had some realistic flaws, but the kind of flaws that make me lose faith in humanity. Even some of the background characters! But overall, it was good. And I smiled a whole lot with Cornelia's character.

Twilight

So, I admit, I fell under Edwards spell as much as Bella did. :) Vampires just make me a little weak. It must be all that blood that they suck! Ha. Ok, seriously..the book was cute. The story was good and Stephanie Meyer sure knows love as much as Shakespeare did...(they just wrote about it differently). I do think it was a great great story, and I plan to read the sequels! One question though, how are we supposed to have a midnight party for this book??? Harry Potter? Easy! Vampires, not so much!

Unaccustomed Earth

All I can say is that this book is amazing. Jhumpa Lahiri is one of my favourite writers. She just has a beautiful style and she really gets it. She understands humanity, and her insight is breathtaking!
I loved that last short story. It was longer than most and told in 3 parts...my heart ached for those characters in just a short amount of time. In all of her short stories, I immediately loved all her characters!!! Short stories hardly allow that to happen to me, yet all of hers did!

Special Topics in Calamity Physics

This book was really really bizarre. I don't think I could recommend it to anyone. There was a plethora of pop culture information that often took away from the storyline. Even though the main character was the one with all this pop culture knowledge, it felt more like it was directly coming from the author and not the character. I will admit that I got a kick out of all the references to books and movies , but it was often overwhelming when you look at it as a whole.
Ha, I did love the main character's father though, Gareth. I loved that he quoted poetry to his daughter, Byron's "She walks in beauty like the night,". And just his characters fascination with literature in general. See below:

Gareth, on travel: "There's no education superior to travel. Think of the
Motorcycle Diaries or what Montrose St. Millet wrote in Ages of
Exploration. 'To be still is to be stupid, to be stupid is to die' And
so we shall live"

Fantastic.

I did find it weird, however, that I just finished reading a book about Rebel without a Cause, and that movie was mentioned about 8 or 9 times in the book. It was all random. The girl had a James Dean poster on the 2nd page. Sal Mineo was also mentioned a bunch, as well as the movie itself. RKO pictures was mentioned, too. I mean, why is it that whenever I read a book where an era stands out, I can't escape stumbling upon it again and again without trying to for about 6 months. It happened with the 60's last year...and now again with the 50's.

Live Fast Die Young Part II

Wowsers! This book was amazing! I adored it oh so much. It gave me a new appreciation for filmmaking in the 50's. It also gave me a new appreciation for directors and what they have to go through to make a picture they are passionate about!
Best fact? I learned that I was on the sound stage that was used in the movie. And when I visited Warner Bros., it was a private tour so there wasn't anyone else on the sound stage and it was completely empty. (Sound stage 7) How amazing is that! Oh, If I had known Rebel Without a Cause was filmed there! Oh happiness and joy!!
I really highly recommened this book to anyone and everyone interested in film!