Trapped – Kevin Bacon at his creepiest; young Dakota Fanning is brilliant.

The Debt – Very slow for a spy thriller; intriguing concept; excellent acting.

The Descendants – Beautifully filmed, excellent script, George Clooney deserves an Oscar win.

One Day – Loved the book, but it didn’t work on film; disappointing.

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Post tags: movies

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Delaney has a new project called “Storytellers:”

What do one-legged crows, space trains that traverse a sky colored “between navy blue and royal,” and huge smiling Unicorns – all have in common?

They all make appearances in Delaney’s latest project, a series of e-books called “Frank Delaney Storytellers.” And they’re all part and parcel of the fabric of modern myth, invented in homage to a particular ancient discipline: that of the itinerant storyteller, who drew upon fantastic leaps of the imagination, actual history of local lands, and a trove of national mythology. The Storyteller’s mission reminded his countrymen of their own past, recycled their traditions and created great entertainment in the doing.

You can get a taste of the magical, lyrical world of Frank Delaney’s writing for free for the next two days. The first two stories in the “Storytellers” series are currently available free for Kindle readers (and you can download a free Kindle app for your computer or iPod or iPhone): The Druid and The Girl Who Lived on the Moon. Each story also includes the first chapter of The Last Storyteller.

Enjoy!

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Post tags: ebooks, frank delaney, freebies, irish fiction, short fiction, short stories

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This review was previously posted on my personal blog on May 27, 2008.

Jennifer Graham is a newly-single mother, trying to cope with her new and unfamiliar situtation. Formerly a Congressional aide, she is having a hard time finding a job on Capitol Hill, since her ex-husband still works there. He has left Jennifer for the nanny, and for the first time Jennifer is responsible for the household finances and full-time care of her two sons. She has one son embarking on teenager-dom, one who’s ready to start school, a mother whose heart is in the right place but more often hinders than helps, and no home or financial prospects.

Into the midst of this mess comes the announcement that Jennifer has inherited Fairlawn Funeral Home in a small town in Florida. Jennifer, her sons, and her mom head to the tiny town of Mt. Dora, intent on fixing Fairlawn up, selling it, and using the money to start over again back in Virginia. But God has other plans.

The characters in this book are well-rounded – they each have their strengths, their flaws, and their blindness to their own weaknesses. The relationship between Jennifer and her mother seem especially real, as they try to navigate the boundaries of their relationship. Jennifer needs her mother’s support and help, but she doesn’t need to be mothered. Jennifer is trying to walk out her divorce in the most godly way possible, while her mom sees a future of hurt if she isn’t realistic. Both of these strong women are memorable characters, and I look forward to more of them in the next book in the series, She Always Wore Red.

© CarrieK for BOOKS AND MOVIES, 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: christian fiction, contemporary fiction

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But then I saw a couple of bloggers, bloggers who enjoyed the books, post that they liked the movie. I decided to keep an open mind and check it out.

To my surprise, I didn’t hate it. Now, before you think I’m giving it a full endorsement, let me say that I didn’t love it, either. There were some things that the film-makers did well, and some that they didn’t. First, the script – the screenwriters did a pretty good job of adapting the book, in spite of a slow beginning. I wasn’t crazy with how it started out – the first dinner scene at Stephanie’s parents’ house was awkward and not funny, and that’s mostly because the casting for Mr. and Mrs. Plum and Grandma Mazur just wasn’t right.

Debbie Reynolds is a fantastic actress, but she is no Grandma Mazur. She’s not nearly old and shriveled enough, and is too va-va-voom. In the book, when Grandma Mazur raves about wanting a thong, it’s funny because you can’t imagine this old, prune-like woman wearing one. When Debbie Reynolds makes the crack, you figure she’s probably already got a couple dozen.

Next, Mr. Plum. I always pictured Kevin Arnold’s dad from The Wonder Years – the strong and silent type who expresses his irritation in grunts and pissed-off expressions. He hardly says a word in the books, and it’s only when he’s been pushed way past his limit. In the film, Mr. Plum complains about Grandma Mazur in a whiny voice – it doesn’t have quite the same effect. Mrs. Plum was okay, but nothing spectacular.

Okay, let’s talk about a few characters they got right: Vinnie, Lula, and Connie. None of these characters make huge appearances in the film, but they all were cast well and I can see how funny they would be in the sequels. Also, Benito Ramirez – the actor who played the boxer-slash-murderer-slash-rapist was very creepy and shudder-inducing.

Now, my apologies to all of you who had held out hope that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson would play Ranger, but I could never picture him playing the part. Yes, he has the build, but he’s not Latino. Daniel Sunjata was absolutely perfect as Ranger – I hope they make a sequel simply so I can see him in the role again!

My biggest surprise was how much I bought Jason O’Mara as Joe Morelli. I know, I know, O’Mara is so Irish he’s barely lost his accent, and he doesn’t have brown eyes like melted chocolate, but he gets Morelli. The way he carries himself, the way he can switch from completely pissed to turning on the sex appeal, the way he says, “cupcake”…. I actually LOVED him as Morelli. So sue me.

Of course, that just leaves Katherine Heigl as Stephanie Plum. And I still believe that this was a casting mistake on the part of the producers. She wasn’t as horrible as I expected, but she wasn’t Stephanie either. She acted like Stephanie, but she didn’t become Stephanie, if that makes any sense. Her accent came and went – mostly went – until she hit a funny line, and then it was like she was doing a Robert De Niro impression, and not a good one. There were a few scenes where she was good – the scene with Benito Ramirez, the scenes with Lula, and she did have good chemistry with both men. I think she could get better – but, just in case any of the producers are reading my blog looking for advice for a possible sequel – she needs to drop the accent. If she can’t get it, she should just use her own voice and the New Jersey euphemisms – it will sound much more authentic than a really bad accent that comes and goes.

So, there you have it – it wasn’t everything I could have hoped for, but it wasn’t as bad as I expected, either.

(One other little nit-picky comment: pronunciation of names. Because I listened to all of the books on audio, I heard names like Kuntz and Mazur pronounced by Lorelei King, narrator extraordinaire, and was bugged when they were pronounced differently in the film.)

© CarrieK for BOOKS AND MOVIES, 2012. | Permalink | 14 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: book to film, janet evanovich, movies, stephanie plum

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Mailbox Monday is being hosted in February at Metro Reader. Click over to add your link and check out other bloggers’ mailboxes!

The Red Book by Deborah Copaken Kogan – ARC from the publisher – Isn’t that cover gorgeous?

These last four are the result of my time spent at Barnes & Noble Friday night:

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley

A Collection of Essays by George Orwell

Dead of Night by Jonathan Maberry

© CarrieK for BOOKS AND MOVIES, 2012. | Permalink | 22 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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It would have been a lot more fun if Kevin was with me, but I still managed to enjoy myself. As a homeschooling mom whose husband is unemployed (and before he was laid off, he telecommuted), alone-time is not in my vocabulary. I am very rarely alone – and if I am alone at home, there are always plenty of chores and other obligations to draw my attention. To be alone in a city with restaurants, movie theaters, and Barnes & Noble – and with a fantastic hotel room with a soaking tub waiting for me – felt very decadent.

I saw two movies in the theater: The Descendants and One for the Money. For the first, let me just say that George Clooney’s Oscar nod is very well deserved. It was excellent. For the second – you’ll just have to wait for my review later this week. I also watched One Day in the hotel room – what a disappointment. That is definitely not a book that translated well onto the screen. Plus, as much as I love Anne Hathaway, she couldn’t decide if Emma’s accent was Scottish, Londoner, or someplace else.

After some deliciously unhurried time at Barnes & Noble, I came away with four titles – you can see them in tomorrow’s Mailbox Monday post, even though they didn’t really arrive in my mailbox. I soaked in the tub with a book (a review copy that I didn’t mind getting a bit water-logged), read a lot, and tried not to feel guilty about having all this luxury to myself. I was hoping that by Saturday morning Kevin would feel good enough to join me and I’d keep the room for a second night, but he is still sick, so I came home last night, bringing home Chinese food for Kevin and I to eat while watching Blue Bloods on DVD.

Today, I will spend the morning – the last of our kid-free time – with Kevin. This afternoon, the kids will be home with Kevin, and I, being the only person in the family interested in watching the big game, will be watching the Super Bowl at my folks’ house. Go, Giants!

Will you be watching the game today? Or will you be reading – and if so, what?

I’ll leave you with a wrap-up of my reading in January:

Thanks for the Memories by Cecilia Ahern (audiobook) – 4 stars – my review

Tipperary by Frank Delaney – 4 stars – my review

While My Sister Sleeps by Barbara Delisnky (audiobook) – 4 stars – my review

The Scorch Trials by James Dashner (read-aloud) – 5 stars

That Distant Land: The Collected Stories by Wendell Berry – 5 stars

Dust and Decay by Jonathan Maberry – 4 stars – my review

Plum Wine by Angela Davis-Gardner – 3 stars – my review

The Passage by Justin Cronin (audiobook) – 5 stars – my review

What He Must Be If He Wants to Marry My Daughter by Voddie Baucham Jr. – 4 stars

The Informationist by Taylor Stevens – 5 stars – my review

The Annotated Persuasion by Jane Austen – 5 stars (review to come)

The Death Cure by James Dashner (read-aloud) – 5 stars – my review

Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool (audiobook) – 5 stars (review to come)

© CarrieK for BOOKS AND MOVIES, 2012. | Permalink | 24 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: sunday salon

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Post tags: personal

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Yet the conversation, such as it was, revealed almost nothing. The only topics were location (at mall/at McDonald’s/at skate park) and mood. Everything is lame. Everyone is lame. Parents, friends, school, any activity. The jokes of the other texter are lame. Lord, is it any wonder that zombies are enjoying a resurgence in pop culture? This generation is the new walking dead, except they lumber away from brains, disdainful of anything that requires thought, passion, participation. He imagines his daughters vacant-eyed, arms stretched in front of them, tottering down the street, moaning: “No brains, no brains.” But still texting, all the while.

~ p. 220, The Most Dangerous Thing by Laura Lippman

Now, I don’t believe that all teenagers fall into this category, but I’ve certainly come across my share of them!

© CarrieK for BOOKS AND MOVIES, 2012. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: commonplace book

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The Yellow House by Patricia Falvey

Goodreads synopsis: “The Yellow House” delves into the passion and politics of Northern Ireland at the beginning of the 20th century. Eileen O’Neill’s family is torn apart by religious intolerance and secrets from the past, but she is determined to reclaim her ancestral home and reunite her family.

Remember, you don’t have to be participating in the Ireland Challenge to take part in the read-along – everyone is welcome. We will start on March 1st, and I will have a reading and discussion schedule up closer to that date. Hopefully that will give those of you who don’t already have the book a chance to get your hands on a copy. Looking forward to it!

© CarrieK for BOOKS AND MOVIES, 2012. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: ireland reading challenge, read-alongs

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This review will not contain spoilers for The Death Cure, but may contain spoilers for the first two books in the series, The Maze Runner and The Scorch Trials.

Thomas has endured the Maze. He has survived the Scorch. He is now faced with the ultimate decision – does he trust WICKED and go along with their plans? Are they “good,” as Teresa keeps saying they are? Can he even trust Teresa? And will he ever understand the full extent of his involvement in the Trials?

I know that’s not much of a plot synopsis, but, trust me, you don’t want this spoiled for you. Part of the genius of this series is the way Dashner doles out information, bit by bit, allowing the reader to attempt to put the pieces together for him- or herself.

Honestly, I had my doubts about this book. I wasn’t sure if Dashner would be able to wrap it up to my satisfaction, but he did. I finished reading the book aloud to my boys this morning, and during the last two chapters, I simply couldn’t read fast enough, stumbling over the words as Noah tapped his toe nervously and he and Jonathan and Josiah hung on my every word. We were all very happy with the way it ended, the way things were wrapped up – except for one plot point toward the end that it may take me years to forgive Dashner for, even if I understand his reason for going in that direction.

Did every single loose end get tied up in a neat little bow? No, and I think that is the basis of some of the dissatisfaction I’m seeing on the book’s Goodreads page. Do I understand why the subjects were sent through the Maze and the Scorch, what WICKED was trying to accomplish? Yes, absolutely. Do I know if WICKED is good or not? Well, I won’t spoil anything, except to say that good and evil are black and white, and the world is made up of grey areas.

I also think that Dashner will wrap up even more of those loose ends and answer a couple of my unanswered questions when the prequel, The Kill Order comes out this summer. The boys and I just might be ready for another roller-coaster read-aloud by then.

© CarrieK for BOOKS AND MOVIES, 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dystopian fiction, science fiction, YA fiction

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