The Pillars of the Earth

In the summer I was wondering aimlessly through a book store when I came across Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth. It seemed interesting and funnily enough I found it's roughly 1000 pages more comforting than daunting. So I read it.

Over the course of the next two weeks or so I ate, slept, and breathed in Kingsbridge (where the book takes place). It was completely engrossing. The basic plot is built around the...well, building :-p,  of Kingsbridge Cathedral. It follows the lives of character's involved in the building of the cathedral. Most of it is centred on Jack, a young builder and Aliena, the daughter of an earl. There's a whole bunch of other character's and stories going on ,though. Pretty much all lots of life are presented from the Prior of Kingsbridge to the King. It's an amazing book and before long you believe completely in the characters. The second volume World Without End also kicks butt!

I realize that this might sound boring (so what? Their building a church. Good for them!) But don't take my word for it. I can't do it justice. You should just read it and see what you think. They're really is something for everyone, trust me on this one!

If ya don't feel like reading an 1000 page book, would could always watch the miniseries. It's really great! They did a very good job of bringing the novel to life. I'm a big fan of The Tudors and I was really glad that I had something to replace it with. Almost, at least! Unfortunately this week is the last episode :-( so if you want to check it out you  had better be fast!

                                                                                                                                                  

What You're Reading This Week...Right?

So since I started off my blog by rambling on about what I've been reading, Mr J came up with the awesome idea that I should post The New York Times Bestsellers List and talk about it a bit... so here it goes...
Here is the combined Print and e-book Fiction List for this week

This Week		Last Week	Combined Print & E-Book Fiction	Weeks on List
1		1	TICK TOCK, by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge. (Little, Brown.) The New York detective Michael Bennett enlists the help of a former colleague to solve a rash of horrifying crimes that are throwing the city into chaos.	3
2			ALONE, by Lisa Gardner. (Random House.) A woman who survived a horrible childhood abduction may have tricked the Massachusetts police sniper Bobby Dodge into killing her husband.	1
3		2	THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, by Stieg Larsson. (Knopf Doubleday.) A hacker and a journalist investigate the disappearance of a Swedish heiress 40 years earlier; the first volume in the Millennium trilogy.	3
			Sunday Book Review | Books of The Times Review
4			A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES, by Deborah Harkness. (Penguin Group.) The recovery of a lost ancient manuscript in a library at Oxford sets a fantastical underworld stirring.	1
5		4	THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET’S NEST, by Stieg Larsson. (Knopf Doubleday.) The third volume of the Millennium trilogy, about a Swedish hacker and a journalist.	3
			Sunday Book Review | Books of The Times Review | Excerpt | Related Article
6		3	THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE, by Stieg Larsson. (Knopf Doubleday.) In the second volume of the Millennium trilogy, a Swedish hacker becomes a murder suspect.	3
			Sunday Book Review | Books of The Times Review | Excerpt
7		5	WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, by Sara Gruen. (Algonquin.) After his parents die in a car accident, young veterinary student — and an elephant — save a Depression-era circus.	3
			Sunday Book Review | Related Article
8		6	CUTTING FOR STONE, by Abraham Verghese. (Knopf Doubleday.) Twin brothers, conjoined at birth and then separated, grow up amid the political turmoil of Ethiopia.	3
			Sunday Book Review | Excerpt
9		7	THE HELP, by Kathryn Stockett. (Penguin Group.) A young white woman and two black maids in 1960s Mississippi.	3
			Books of The Times Review
10		8	THE CONFESSION, by John Grisham. (Knopf Doubleday.) A criminal wants to save an innocent man on death row, but he must convince the authorities he’s telling the truth.	3
			Books of The Times Review
11		11	DEAD OR ALIVE, by Tom Clancy with Grant Blackwood. (Penguin Group.) Familiar Clancy characters appear as an intelligence group tracks a vicious terrorist called the Emir.	3
12		13	ROOM, by Emma Donoghue. (Little, Brown.) The entire world of the 5-year-old boy who narrates this novel is the 11-by-11-foot room in which his mother is being held prisoner.	3
			Sunday Book Review | Books of The Times Review
13		9	MARRYING DAISY BELLAMY, by Susan Wiggs. (Harlequin.) A woman struggles for years to choose between two men. And then, one fateful day, the decision is made for her.	3
14			THE SECRET SOLDIER, by Alex Berenson. (Penguin Group.) When the king of Saudi Arabia is threatened, the former C.I.A. operative John Wells goes undercover to help.	1
15		12	STRATEGIC MOVES, by Stuart Woods. (Penguin Group.) In the 19th Stone Barrington novel, the New York lawyer works with the C.I.A. to transport a fugitive.	3

So scanning through this list I realized that I haven't read any of these books. I've heard of a few of them or seen them in stores but I haven't actually read any. Maybe I should...

I sometimes wonder if bestseller lists in general are all that accurate. Authors seem so proud if they get on the New York Times Bestsellers list. But does it really mean anything?I mean yes they sell; but do people actually enjoy reading them? I've bought quite a few books that I thought I would enjoy that ending up being flops. Would a most enjoyed books list be better?

I need help from you guys here. Has anyone read these books? Are they any good? What am I missing?

If It Ain't Broke, Should Ya Fix It?

Alright, so I was minding my own business, flipping through a reccent issue of Chatelaine when I came across something that stopped me in my tracks and demanded to be read.

It was in the book club section (anyone who read my first blog shouldn't be surprised that I gravitated toward this section:-)) that I stumbled across it. It seemed innocent enough: a review of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. 'So? Wasn't that book written like 200 hundered years ago?' you may ask. But this edition was somewhat different. The full title read, 'Pride and Prejudice: The WILD AND WANTON Edition'.

Currently there is a fad for playing with the classics. Out of this fad came such titles as Pride and Prejudice and Zoombies, Sense and Sensibility and Seamonsters as well as Wuthuring Bites. Personally these novels make me feel sick. To me they seem like a last ditch attempt to get teenagers to read the classics by using the vampire/zoombie/whatever fad. I think that they are in extremly poor taste. As for the other books that use historical figures in the same way, such as Abraham Lincon: Vampire Hunter, Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter and Henry VIII: Wolfman don't even get me started....

But to this wild and wanton thing is a whole other level. Adding vampires and seamonsters to the classics seemly...well, silly. But adding sex just seems wrong. It really says something about socieity when you need to add sex to make people read a book. I guess the adage that sex sells is true. It's really sad, If you ask me.

The point could be made that this wild and wanton series (there is also a wild and wanton wuthuring heights) is written for modern audiences, it's giving these books a wider readership, times have changed. Well all I really have to say to that is that they are classics for a reason. People have loved them before they included vampires, zoombies or even sex. And I think people will contine to love then in the future, sans vampires.

I think we should be teaching future generations to appreciate the classics the way they are and leave the classics alone. They're already great!

What do you think?
VS

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Letters to Juliet

So I read this book not that long ago called "Letters to Juliet"(the book the movie was based on) and it got me thinking.

The book is all about the letters that people have been writing to "Juliet" since sometime during the 1930's. The are a group of people of answer all these thousands of letters. People write to Juliet for advice on their love problems and Juliet's secertaries, as the people who answer are called, write them back. At the face value this idea might seem a little silly. Juliet isn't real, she is a fictional character. Why do people write to her when they know she isn't real?

It's human nature to look for help with your problems. Writing to Juliet makes people feel like they don't have to face their problems alone. And after years of experince and thousands of letters every year, Juliet's secertaries are pretty good at answering calls for help :-)

Another reason why so many people write to Juliet  is because they want to belive that she is real. Everyone wants to have something to believe in. Even though you know in your head Juliet isn't real, there will always be a part of you that seceretly thinks she exists. That's just the way we are.

And maybe, just maybe, she is real. Maybe this whole idea of writing Juliet letters makes her real. Maybe each and everyone of those letters sent by all those thousands of people, has made her real.

In Spite of All the Danger

Here is a video of my favourite scene from the movie Nowhere Boy as well as the original version by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. This is the first song they ever wrote and recorded. Enjoy!

Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand

First off excuse my German.I might of spelt some words wrong. I can't even spell very well in English:-)
So maybe I should explain where this seemingly random title came from. Auf Deutsch Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand means I Want to Hold Your Hand. Sound familiar? It should! It's the title of a song written by a little band from Liverpool called The Beatles. I was listening to this song, In German(cuz I'm just that cool) and it made me think "how cool is this? You know you're great when you can write songs in two languages and their both awesome!"(even if the person listening doesn't understand what is being said!) What's the point of this rambleing? Just that The Beatles are the coolest band ever!

In case you didn't know the original members of the band were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Pete Best and Stuart Sutcliffe. Their first album, "Please, Please Me" came out on March 22 1963. By the time the album was recorded  Stuart had left and Pete had been replaced by Ringo Starr. The Fab Four. Their last album, "Let It Be" was relased on May 8 1970. In less than ten years The Beatles had changed the face of music.

All four of them came from fairly humble beginnings. Their first group, started by John Lennon was called The Quarrymen. They played some gigs around Liverpool. And than the band, now called The Beatles, went of to Hambourg. That's were the German comes from:-) The rest is history. It was all shaggy hair, screaming girls and great music.

What's my favourite Beatles song, you ask? Good question! I hate to pick one. But if my life depended on it I would probably say " I Should Have Known Better" from "A Hard Day's Night" What can I say? I just love it. "A Hard Days Night " is a great album and a great movie. If you havn't seen it, youtube it now! It's very clean :-)

I think great music transends barriers. Age, race, even language. And I think The Beatles definitly did that, eight days a week!

Whatcha Reading?

Let's be honest here. I may as well tell you that I have never writen a blog before. Until a few days ago the thought never even occured to me . So I guess I'll start out by talking about something I know A LOT about: books. Sounds pretty boring, huh? And I must admit some books are boring. But some books are great. More than great life changing even. While reading a book you can go anywhere and be anyone. It's kind of like a super power... but without the spider bite or nuclear waste. Hopefully.

One of the most annoying things in the world is when you are really into a book and someone comes up to you and asks, "Whatcha reading?". My standard answer is always something along the lines of "a book. Duh!" So to make up for all the times I gave people who were really interested in what book I currently had my nose stuck in that answer, I have decided it to talk about it here. At least for this week...

So what am I reading? Well, I just recently finished reaing "Revolutionary Road" by Richard Yates. This book (or at least the story)recieved a lot of attention when it was made into a movie starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo Di Caprio in their first movie since "Titanic". They both said they were looking to work together on something as dramaticly different as possible. And I have to say that in most ways they found it in Revolutionary Road".

 I really enjoyed reading this novel. The characterization was really brilliant and Frank and April Wheeler seemed quite real to me. Richard Yates has a way of quietly bringing things to your attention instead of hitting you over the head with them. I also found the contrast between the deep theme(discontent with the life you lead) and the light, bright feeling of the 1950's interesting. Despite the deep theme of the book I never felt bogged down by it. Perhaps this is because the charaters seemed so vivid.

 I think the big lesson to be learned from "Revolutionary Road" is know thyself. AKA Figure out if you actually want to get married and have kids before you go ahead and do it. Overall I think that everyone should read this book because it's a real thinker and makes you reflect on your own life and descions...

And that's what I'm reading!