Life with Madi: Reading

Showing posts with label Reading. Show all posts

Reading.

Sunday, November 11, 2012 § 0

So I'm incredibly proud of myself. My freshman year, I hardly read at all for fun because I was taking a bunch of lit courses and had to read for that class. Over the summer, I got lazy and read maybe one book a month. Lame. This semester, however, has been different.

I think it's the fact that I'm nannying now. When I pick up the kids, I read until they're out of class. While they're doing their homework, I read. While Meg's at soccer practice, I read.

I'm inhaling books like crazy and IT FEELS GOOD. It's the beginning of a good year, y'all.

What I've read: Summer to Now-

1. The Host- Stephanie Meyer (Stefanie? I don't know.) So anyone who knows me knows that I hate Twilight with a burning, fiery passion just because I feel like Meyer's writing is akin to a 4th grader's (harsh but true). However, my Swap.com profile kept telling me to read this and I did and it was surprisingly quite awesome. Cheesy, but awesome.

2. Looking for Alaska- John Green Tears. Tears everywhere. But JESUS CHRIST this man knows how to write a book. John Green is my writing idol and I strive to be just like him one day. Including the hilarious YouTube channel with his brother. BY THE WAY, for those of you who have read this book and want to know the background on the pranks, watch this video of a young college-age Green talking about his boarding school experience:

3. An Abundance of Katherines- John Green Yeah, I was having a Green phase during the summer. But he's just fantastic, and this book is my favorite of his just because it's so hilarious and good and I love road trip novels, I do.

4. Saving June- Hannah Harrington .....Meh.

5. Fireworks over Toccoa- Jeffer Stepakoff Okay, so this book is a little predictable and your basic love story, but damn if it isn't delicious. PLUS it's set in the '40s and the main guy is italian and it's in the South and it's just so lovely.

6. My Name is Memory- Ann Brashares This is another love story, and this one tackles reincarnation and past lives. It's pretty interesting, and I've read books like this before and this was far better than the others. That said, it wasn't as amazing as I thought it would be and I had a hard time getting through it.

I read others, I'm sure, but I can't remember the rest and also I'm tired and it's late and I have to read this stupid book that I don't want to read for history. Life is CRAZY. Not really. But I gotta go do that so that's what I'm gonna do.

I really have to stop blogging when I'm this tired. My paragraphs are such gibberish.

Later,
Madi

Books.

Saturday, February 18, 2012 § 0

I realize that in my Photo a Day post, I took a picture of the book Queen Victoria for the day titled, 'what I'm reading'. I hadn't started it yet, but I used it for that day anyway, excited to begin.

It's four days later and as of this morning, I've yet to pick it up. I don't want to say I've given up on it since I never actually gave it a chance in the first place, but....

I ended up fishing out The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen this evening when I started to get a little bit homesick. I don't know what it was about this book that made me grab it, but I did.

Ok, that's a complete lie. I know exactly why I grabbed it. The Truth About Forever is a book I've already read three times. The first time I picked it up, I was in middle school and I found a copy with a tattered plastic protective cover around it in the Keller Public Library's Young Adult section. I know every character and their subsequent personality traits by heart: brooding, handsome Wes; chubby Bert who believes in the second Apocolypse as if it's his only religion; quiet, closed-away Macy. Every time I read a scene, I can tell you exactly what's going to happen, the way Macy feels, the way Wes looks at her, and if Monica sighs or scoffs.

I remember the second or third time I read this book, I don't remember which it was, but it was the day before one of my first days of school. I was really nervous, so I put this book in my backpack. That night, I slept like a baby. That morning, I got up and I was still a little nervous, but I was ready. I just kept thinking about my copy of the book tucked away in my backpack and I felt totally fine.

What is the point of all this rambling, you may be asking yourself? My point is this: there are just those books that feel like home. Like I said, tonight I started to feel a little homesick and so I reached for TTAF and after reading the first four chapters, I already feel better. I felt better because I had Macy and Wes and Monica and Wish Catering and Wally from Raleigh and the grubby beach house and all that.

I've got a lot of favorite books, and this is one of them, without a doubt. I don't care how cheesy or predictable it is, and I honestly don't care that the main character is in high school (because isn't that when all of us go through a million little crisises, anyway?)

BOOKS=HOME.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Have you guys read this yet?

Sunday, January 1, 2012 § 0

It was such an amazing book. I can only imagine how amazing it would be if they made it into a movie....and I only say that because of how vivid and beautiful the descriptions were! Made me want to literally go to the Night Circus.

READ THIS PLEASE. The end.

Water for Elephants.

Saturday, April 23, 2011 § 0

Remember when I talked about how I was reading Water for Elephants here? Well, it soon became one of my absolute favorite books. I convinced my sister to read it and so now that the movie is out, my sister, my mom and I all went to the Colleyville Cinema Grill to see it. We were so excited that we arrived an hour early, and we were first in line for the movie theater. That's dedication, folks.

After seeing the first trailer, I was so afraid that the film was going to veer away from the story like so many other book-to-movie adaptations have. However, there weren't many changes, aside from a handful of scenes nearing the end, and most of them weren't a big deal anyway.

Christoph Waltz was the most perfect August there ever was. After that terrible scene with Rosie, when Jacob confronts August in his train car, I was literally seething in my seat, shaking my head at the screen, muttering to myself, "Don't listen to a word he says, Jacob!" Yes, he literally got that much of a rise out of me. Amazing!

Reese Witherspoon was absolutely gorgeous, especially her performance scenes when she's doing her thing in the big top. I thought she was great for Marlena.

And judging by the first picture, I'm guessing I don't need to tell you how gorgeous Robert Pattinson was in this movie. After the show, my mom turned to us and said, 'Edward looked so hot!'

Maybe it was because I read the book, but I had a lot of emotional reactions to this movie (especially the menagerie scene at the end- I won't say much for those who haven't read the book, but my heart was pounding the entire time!). There's nothing like seeing one of your favorite books, something you've imagined out in your head as you read, come to life.

It was a great movie, and you should all go see it!

Day 24: Something you would find in my bag.

1. Wallet

2. Car keys

3. Phone

4. Ipod

5. Trash (candy wrappers & receipts, haha)

6. Whatever book I'm reading at the time

And not much else. I don't carry much, and yet my purse still gets terribly cluttered. How is that possible, you ask? I make it possible!

Happy Saturday,

Cooper

Day 22.

Sunday, April 17, 2011 § 0

Something that makes me different from everyone else:

I asked my sister (since it was hard to come up with one on my own; it's hard to be objective when we look at ourselves, am I right?) and she told me that what makes me different is that I'm well beyond my years.

In other words, I'm a bit of an old soul.

I absolutely hate it when people call themselves that and it's not true, but I guess when it comes to me I can see that. For one, I have a tender love for vintage/vintage inspired items.

Example: my prom dress from last year.

Absolutely loved that thing, even if it did squeeze the life out of me. The lady I bought it from told me it was from the '70s. AWESOME.

I guess another reason why is that some of my favorite movies were made decades ago.

Some I recommend:

Lili (1953)

"Based on the story by Paul Gallico, Lili stars Leslie Caron as the title character, a 16-year-old waif who runs off to join a carnival. Embittered, crippled puppeteer Mel Ferrer treats Lili with contempt; only by speaking through his puppets is Ferrer able to express his genuine love for the girl. Before this happens, however, Caron must overcome her crush on magician Jean-Pierre Aumont, who is married to the contentious Zsa Zsa Gabor." (written by Hal Erickson on Fandango.com)

So good! Leslie Caron's character (and hair) is adorable and Ferrer is so bitter but you end up loving him.

Good News (1947)

"The scene is Tait College, where everyone is in a blue funk over the dilemma of gridiron star Tom (Stanley Smith). Since the only thing he's ever passed is a football, Tom is in danger of flunking out before the Big Game. Plain-looking Connie (Mary Lawlor) is enlisted to tutor Tom through his final exams, and in the process the two students fall in love -- much to the dismay of campus vamp Patricia (Lola Lane). Managing to finagle a marriage proposal out of Tom, it looks as though Patricia will emerge triumphant, but all is set aright during the lavish Technicolor finale." (Hal Erickson, Fandango.com)

First of all, Connie's character is hilarious- during the song, 'Lucky In Love', she sings: 'Some girls are gay/ Know what to say/ But when I talk I scare the fellas away.'

Love that girl. And the fashion in this movie is over-the-top '20s (*cough* Tommy's bell-bottoms *cough*) but so top-notch. Love it all.

Meet Me In St. Louis (1944)

"In the year before the 1904 St Louis World's Fair, the four Smith daughters learn lessons of life and love, even as they prepare for a reluctant move to New York." (IMDB.com)

Judy Garland is so cute in this movie, and young! We watched this around Christmastime since a chunk of the movie takes place during the holidays, but it's a year-round film. Love it.

Others that I love but am too lazy to find pictures of and describe: On The Town, Funny Face, Holiday Inn, An American in Paris, Roman Holiday, Summer Stock, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, etc etc etc.

That's something a little different about me.

By the way, my mom bought me an adorable hat (modeled after the one Julia Roberts wears in Eat, Pray, Love) the other day at World Market, and I felt very chic and summery wearing it around Target today.

^That's at Cotton Patch. Delish lunch!

Had a fun day today. I told myself that I would read our required reading material for English instead of beginning it and Sparknote-ing the rest like I usually do (terrible habit), but I've fallen in love with a series that I can't extract my attention from! It's The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. And though Life of Pi is very interesting, I've already started City of Ashes. I'm a terrible student.

Regardless, I did stumble across a quote from Life of Pi the other day that I thought was pretty beautiful:

"The reason death sticks so closely to life isn't biological necessity—it's envy. Life is so beautiful that death has fallen in love with it, a jealous, possessive love that grabs at what it can. But life leaps over oblivion lightly, losing only a thing or two of no importance, and gloom is but the passing shadow of a cloud."

Chapter One

Hope you have a spectacular night,