Books I Wish I'd Read Sooner: Revolution by Jennifer Donnely

Every now and then (maybe more often than not) I totally miss the boat on a stellar YA book, and when I finally discover it for myself I wish I'd read it sooner. In the case of Revolution by Jennifer Donnely, I'm tempted to blame the blurbs I'd read, which, combined with something about the cover art on our school library's copy, really gave me the wrong impression of this book - I was thinking that time travel would be a major piece of the plot. It's not that I don't like time travel, but I had an Outlander hangover at the time. Spoiler alert: there might not be any actual time travel involved. I'm so glad I gave Revolution a chance, because it's now one of my all-time favorites.

Not only did I overcome my wrong impression about the structure of the book, I was also almost turned off by its opening scene - our narrator, Andi, is doing drugs with a bunch of pretentious rich kids with ridiculous names who she doesn't even like. If I know I probably couldn't keep a book in an eighth-grade classroom library, I'm a lot less likely to stick with it. But I did, and thankfully Andi left that uncomfortable world fairly quickly - for a combination of reasons I won't spoil, her father forces her to accompany him on a work trip to France (poor kid, right?).  I ended up connecting with Andi for a lot of reasons - I could, after all, write my own book about an artistic high achiever who deals with depression and almost self-destructs after losing a family member in December. Andi's grief over her younger brother's death is keeping her from moving forward, and her father is hoping the trip to France will help her clear her mind and finish the work required to earn her high school diploma.

"Every heart is made of stories." 

- Jennifer Donnelly, Revolution

Andi's father, a genius genetic scientist, and his colleague, a historian, are studying the preserved heart said to belong to Marie Antoinette's son, Louis XVII, who was imprisoned in a tower following the French Revolution. Andi finds a diary written by a girl her age during the Revolution and most of the novel's historical fiction element comes through the diary entries she reads. Everything I know about the Revolution comes from Les Miserables, so I learned a lot from the rich historical detail Donnelly includes in the story.  I loved the French setting, my heart ached for Andi's Revolutionary counterpart, Alex, and I was rooting for Andi and her sweet new friend Virgil. Donnelly's teen characters speak with a Gilmore Girls level of clever and sarcasm, and when the story does break away from dialogue, her prose, in Andi's descriptions of modern-day Paris and Alex's passionate diary entries, is lyrical and lovely

lately in entertainment.

lately in entertainment - april/may 2016

movies.

Captain America: Civil War - Though it often feels like yet another Avengers ensemble film (only Hulk and Thor are absent from the lineup), the storyline of Civil War is driven by Steve Rogers' priorities coming into conflict with Tony Stark's values. Already under a microscope after the disaster in Sokovia (the end of Age of Ultron), the Avengers are basically grounded by the U.N. after Scarlet Witch accidentally sends an explosion into an occupied building. Just as he had to face the consequences of being an arms dealer in the first Iron Man movie, Tony Stark is confronted with the human collateral damage caused by the Avengers, and supports international oversight for the superhero team. Captain America doesn't trust the plan - as he puts it, "the safest hands are still our own." Where I thought I was going to clearly side with Steve going in to the movie, the film actually forces viewers to consider and understand both points of view - and to see the blind spots in each hero's vision. 

Steve's blind spot, of course, is his best friend turned supersoldier, Bucky Barnes, who is on the run from authorities after being framed for a bombing attack, and who the Internet has convinced me is a precious cinnamon roll. In pursuit of the real bomber, Steve teams up with Sam Wilson, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, and Scott Lang (Ant-Man), who is just thrilled to meet big-name superheroes, with sneaky help from Agent 13 (Sharon Carter). Tony teams up with Rhodey, Black Widow, Vision, Black Panther, and his ringer, Spiderman, who's freaking out even more than Scott. The resulting fight is the most comic book thing I've ever seen on screen, complete with a Spider-Man who is finally an actual teenager narrating his experiences the whole time. Obviously, someone's going to get hurt with that much muscle and power facing off, and the characters end up learning a lot of things they never wanted to know. I'd be fine with Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely writing and Anthony and Joe Russo directing everything Marvel from now on - every character had clear, often conflicted, motivations that seemed completely believable.

The Huntsman: Winter's War - Since Thor isn't in Civil War, we also had to show our love for Chris Hemsworth by seeing his current film with "war" in the title. I was surprised by how much I actually loved Snow White and the Huntsman, but was a little skeptical about this prequel until I read a newspaper review that described it as the kind of movie that's so bad, it's good, and classed it with Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters. Far from the gruff, silent Huntsman of the original film, Chris Hemsworth chews up the scenery and seems to love every minute of it. At the beginning of the movie, we learn that even though Snow White's kingdom is at peace, the mirror is driving her mad. She orders the mirror to be taken to Sanctuary so that the kingdom will be safe from its dark magic - but it is stolen along the way. Her husband, King William (hello there, Sam Claflin), and dispatches Eric, the Huntsman, to find the mirror, along with a couple of dwarves who insist on accompanying him (Nick Frost reprises his role from the first movie). This storyline allows the filmmakers to include Snow White in the form of a disheveled Kristen Stewart stand-on shown only from the back, then move the plot away from her kingdom so it's less strange that she isn't in the film. The threat to the mirror turns out to be Freya, Queen Ravenna's younger sister who basically turned into an evil version of Elsa from Frozen when she was betrayed by her lover. She's the one who kidnapped Eric when he was young and turned him and an army of other children into her elite Huntsmen, and the one responsible for the apparent death of his wife, Sara (if you've seen the commercials, you've surely worked out that Sara is alive). Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt, and Jessica Chastain all seem to have a great time playing badass women in this movie, and there are even female dwarves this time around.


books.

Our Own Country by Jodi Daynard - The American Revolution isn't a period of history I've done much reading about, but I got sucked in to this historical fiction novel. The main character, Eliza Boylston, is the daughter of a wealthy merchant and lives a charmed life in Cambridge, Massachusetts. While it's completely normal to her to visit homes staffed with stableboys, coachmen, footmen, maids, butlers, and cooks - all slaves - Eliza's one real quirk is that she feels most comfortable in the kitchen, and her family's cook Cassie is her one real friend. For Eliza, there has never been any doubt that Cassie and other slaves are human, but she has never had to question their standing in her privileged society. As the Revolution comes close to home, Eliza's parents can no longer pretend that concessions like wearing homespun fabrics instead of imported gowns are mere inconveniences, nor can they ignore their son Jeb's participation in the rebellion when he marries Elizabeth Lee and moves to Braintree, home of John and Abigail Adams and "the despicable Quincys." Eliza takes for granted her family's beautiful home and wealth until personal tragedies devastate her and Cassie, forever turning her against her family's idea of "society." In 1775, the Boylstons have to leave Cambridge to seek refuge with an uncle in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where she falls in love with a slave named John Watkins and makes a choice that will change her family forever. Though the synopsis I read led me to believe Our Own Country would be a romance novel, I would classify it as a bildungsroman - Eliza's coming of age and transition from naïveté to independence.  Though the Boylstons are fictional, Daynard obviously conducted intense research to write this novel, and it made me want to learn more about the Adamses, the Quincys, and their pastoral home.

How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran - I'm going to try to keep up with Emma Watson's Our Shared Shelf book club picks, and luckily my local library has British journalist and feminist Caitlin Moran's book available in ebook format! As Moran's wry personal essays (with titles like "I Become Furry!" and "I Need a Bra!") make clear, becoming a woman is very confusing and happens, whether we want it to or not, without a manual. Moran's writing is reflective of her working-class British roots (the very first page had me Googling to find out what a Yob was), pop culture literacy, and intelligence. Raised in cramped public housing with five younger siblings by parents who were the only hippies in town, Moran's pubescent milestones were common knowledge. Her focus as a feminist, and the lens through which she presents the instances in her life when being a woman was most perplexing, is not "on the big stuff like pay inequality," but on "all those littler, stupider, more obvious day-to-day problems with being a woman," or, in other words, "All the Patriarchal Bullshit." Her response is to "look it in the eye, squarely, for a minute, and then start laughing at it."

The Exiled Queen by Cinda Williams Chima - Finally got around to reading the second book in this series recommended to me by several of my students and I liked it even more than the first because the two main characters' storylines finally came together for good - at a magical school! Is there a better setting for YA literature? As the book begins, former streetlord Han Alister and his best friend Fire Dancer are headed to Oden's Ford, the campus that is home to Mystwerk House. Princess Raisa is masquerading as a cadet at Wein House, the military school, to escape themarriage her mother tried to force on her. Their mutual enemy, wealthy and powerful Micah Bayar, and his twin sister are also bound for Mystwerk House, meaning that Han and Raisa both have to keep their guard up. At Oden's Ford, finally surrounded by people from all walks of life, Raisa learns that she will need to understand much more than politics to be a good queen, and Han finds out that the Bayars aren't the only ones after his secrets. Chima combines effortlessly lovely prose with witty dialogue and action-packed suspense.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a digital ARC of Our Own Country free from the publisher through NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

spring reading challenge ideas and recommendations

I've read fifteen books so far in 2016 and feel like my love of reading for pleasure has been re-ignited by reading a wide variety books. Reading challenges really help me mix it up and avoid falling into a reading rut or getting series fatigue! Here are a few books that are on my to-be-read list this spring, and a few spring break reading recommendations for you (titles link to Goodreads), inspired by my favorite challenges.

From The Modern Mrs. Darcy's 2016 Reading Challenge: A book you should have read in school

 

• My pick: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith - As an English major, I often felt like I was the only one who hadn't read this novel in high school; it seems to be part of so many readers' lists of favorites.
• My recommendation: Antigone by Sophocles - We read this play in tenth grade English and it was A Moment for me. I love that waaaaay back in Ancient Greece, Sophocles was writing about a strong, powerful woman, but the character who really mattered to me in high school was Ismene, Antigone's meek sister who must decide whether to follow tradition, follow her sisters' lead, or forge her own path.

From Popsugar's 2016 Ultimate Reading Challenge: A book set in Europe

• My pick: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr - This book set during World War II was on all the must-reads last year, was a NYT best seller, and won the Pulitzer Prize. The plot, about a WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE blind French girl and an orphaned German boy working for the Nazis, sounds intriguing. 
• My recommendation: Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys - It amazes me that I've studied World War II for years now and there are always stories and aspects of that span of time that I realize I know almost nothing about; this YA historical fiction novel is about a Lithuanian family sent to a work camp in Siberia under Stalin's orders. It is a heartbreaking book and a favorite among librarians, teachers, and students at my school.

From Stxrybooks' 2016 Reading Challenge: A book with a character that is similar to you

• My pick: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly - I put out a call for books featuring characters like me on Facebook and my friend Marci, a librarian I've known since sixth grade, said Calpurnia's a lot like me when I was younger - a girl who loves nature, learning, and her family. I'm really looking forward to this one.
• My recommendation: The Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich - I think the reason I'm so addicted to this mystery series is because Stephanie Plum is such a real woman - she'd rather have Twinkies than a salad, her family drives her crazy, she's comfiest in jeans and a t-shirt, and she knows her attraction to bad boys is no good for her. It's so much fun to read about a lady who's kick-ass in her own way, not because she's a superspy but because she trusts her gut.

From Worthington Ave.'s 2016 Reading List: A book that's becoming a movie this year

• My pick: Me Before You by Jojo Moyes - The trailer for the film based on this book makes it look heartwrenching and amazing.
• My recommendation: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness - We added this novel to our eighth grade curriculum after one of my colleagues fell in love with it and realized it would fill a big "magical realism" gap in our collection. Conor's mother has cancer, he's being mercilessly bullied at school, his father is basically absent from his life, and he's been sent to live with his overbearing grandmother. When the yew tree in his backyard comes to life on a nightly basis, Conor doesn't know whether to be terrified or vindicated. Liam Neeson is going to be the voice of the monster in the movie, and I can't wait!

What are you looking forward to reading this spring? You can see 

my first list of reading ideas and recommendations for 2016 here.

Book Review: Deception at Sable Hill: A Chicago World's Fair Mystery by Shelley Gray

Since several of the best books I've read as a BookLook Blogger have been historical romance, I decided to get back into that genre this month. Since one of my reading goals this years is to read more mysteries, Deception at Sable Hill was the perfect choice, especially considering that I've been a fan of the Victorian era since elementary school. Set in the fall of 1893 as the World's Fair comes to an end in Chicago, Deception at Sable Hill presents a likeable heroine in Eloisa Carstairs, who comes from a wealthy and well-connected family but seems determined to shatter her mother's dreams by not marrying any of the suitors she is constantly presented with - most of whom seem determined to lure her into shady corners. 

Eloisa's society friends are abuzz because a dangerous slasher is on the loose, seeming to target the most eligible debutantes in town. Detective Sean Ryan, having worked his way up through the ranks of the Chicago police despite his background in a poor Irish family and dangerous neighborhood, meets Eloisa when he is chosen to provide security at a fancy ball alongside his partner, Owen Howard. He discerns the dark secret she's haunted by - an assault she's convinced will ruin her reputation if anyone finds out - and convinces her that she is blameless. Soon, she feels more comfortable with Sean and in his world than at the society functions where attacks continue to occur, but even as they grow closer the two know that neither will be accepted in the other's sphere. As the fair's closure on Halloween draws near, Sean and Owen must find the Society Slasher before the attacker gets to Eloisa.

I enjoyed reading about Chicago at the end of the Gilded Age, and appreciated that Gray's female characters represented a diverse range of well-developed personalities - from Eloisa's protective, traditional mother, to her sweet maid Juliet and Sean's spunky sister Katie, who dreams of being a journalist à la Nellie Bly. Rather than a will-they-or-won't-they, Eloisa and Sean's romance is a compelling how-will-they, despite a little jealousy on Sean's part and some stubbornness on Eloisa's. Finally, the Society Slasher presents an intriguing mystery - just when I thought I'd solved the case, I realized that I'd been wrong all along. I hope that Shelley Gray will write more about these characters - I'd be interested to learn how they face the turn of the century, and their differences, together.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

my late summer in entertainment

my late summer in entertainment

books i read

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed (Memoir) - Since this book is insanely popular (and for good reason), I'm sure you already know that Cheryl Strayed, aka advice columnist Dear Sugar, dropped everything and hiked the Pacific Crest Trail.  That's what I knew going in, anyway. I'm glad I finally got around to reading this one, because it kind of blew my mind and challenged the way I think about many aspects of life.  Before Cheryl hikes the PCT, she is in a terrible downward spiral following her mother's death.  In said downward spiral, she makes the kind of choices that would usually lead to me putting down a book, but her writing style is so honest, straightforward, and funny even when describing bleak situations, that I had to keep reading - I was rooting for her to turn things around even when I wasn't sure she was capable of doing so.  On little more than a whim, she packs her very heavy bag, puts on some hiking boots that don't really fit, and takes to a trail that will guide her through California, Oregon, and Washington in every climate imaginable.  The idea of doing something like what Cheryl did - hiking alone, as a woman, through unknown territory - absolutely terrifies me. But Cheryl proves that terrifying things can be done, one step at a time.  I can't wait to see Reese Witherspoon play Cheryl in the film version, especially since much of the dialogue in the trailer is straight from the book.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (Historical Fantasy) - When I heard that a new television series was coming out based on a series of novels about a womanwho travels through time to 1700s Scotland and falls in love, I decided to check it out - I mean, how could you go wrong with a little bit of fantasy, a little historical fiction, and a lot of romance?  Unfortunately, I didn't pay attention to the detail that the show is on Starz, which we don't get, but fortunately, I did fall head-over-heels in love with the book.  Claire, the main character, is already feeling out of place in 1945 when she and her husband, Frank, are finally reunited after their years of service in the English army - Claire as a combat nurse and Frank as a spy.  She and Frank are on a second honeymoon of sorts in Scotland, and Frank, a history professor, is fascinated by the traditions they observe on their trip, especially the Druid ritual they see the local women participating in around a circle of standing stones.  When they return to the site of the ritual, Claire is transported to Scotland in 1743, where danger is a constant fact of life, feudal society is still in full effect, and her nursing skills come in very handy.  She is taken in by a highland clan, including dashing young Jamie McTavish.  While the love scenes in this book are a little more scandalous than what my YA-loving heart is used to, I can't resist the romance between Claire and Jamie, and it's hard to put the book down when someone is in danger of being murdered in basically every other chapter.  


Everneath by Brodi Ashton (YA Fantasy Romance) - I checked Everneath out of the school library because one of  my students said it was the best book she'd ever read.  The book reminded me pleasantly of other YA folkloric retellings I've enjoyed, like Carrie Jones' Need and Nancy Werlin's Impossible.  Everneath puts a modern, high school spin on the Greek myth of Persephone and Hades.  At the beginning of the novel, Nikki has just returned to her regular life after being, by all accounts, missing for six months.  Through flashbacks, we learn that reeling from her mother's death in a car accident and believing her boyfriend, Jack, has been unfaithful, Nikki had happily accepted her rock star friend Cole's offer to take away her pain - by taking her to the underworld, where he would feed off her energy for what felt like a century.  Nikki's return is anything but smooth, and she has only six months to smooth over the relationships with Jack, her best friend, and her distant father before she must return to Cole and the Everneath - unless she can find a way to remain on the Surface.  There were definitely some plot holes - her father, the mayor of the Utah town in which the book takes place, seemed to accept not knowing where his daughter had been for six months - but overall I enjoyed reading this new twist on a familiar myth.

movies i saw

Guardians of the Galaxy - As much of a geek as I can be, and as much as this movie was promoted, I still didn't really know what to expect going into the theater.  While I was basically familiar with characters like Iron-Man and Thor going into the previous Marvel movies, I really didn't understand how there could even be a successful series including (what look like) a raccoon and a tree as major characters.  However, from pretty much the first strains of 80's music, I was along for the ride.  My love of Chris Pratt is no secret, and he brings a lot of heart to one of my favorite storytelling tropes - a ragtag bunch of misfits saving the world.  Zoe Saldana is awesome as always, Dave Bautista is surprisingly funny as a warrior who takes everything literally, and the "raccoon" and "tree" ended up being my favorites after all.  There's so much quirky goodness in this movie.

The Croods - When I am home alone, I like to watch cartoon movies.  I don't know why, it's just my thing.  I remembered the previews for this one looking cute when it was in theaters, and Emma Stone voicing a cavegirl is kind of an irresistible premise.  What I did not expect was that a movie about a family of cave people escaping from catastrophic natural disasters would make me ugly cry.  The overprotectice cave dad/rebellious and independent cave daughter dynamic really got me in the feels.


television favorites

You're the Worst - A show on FX that has at least three different kinds of warnings on it is not my usual fare, but I guess I've really been mixing it up lately and I gave this comedy a chance this summer.  The show begins when Jimmy, a sarcastic and oblivious writer, and Gretchen, a public relations agent with self-destructive tendencies, meet at the wedding of Jimmy's ex - he's basically there to heckle the bride and Gretchen is stealing gifts.  Their "what could it hurt?" one-night stand gets complicated as they realize that they actually kinda like each other, at least better than anyone else.  The subsequent episodes have been less raunchy and way funnier than the pilot and the show has a weird sweetness that has really grown on me.

What's been keeping you entertained lately?  Do 

you have any recommendations for me to check out?

Linking Up:

midsummer in entertainment

books i read

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (Psychological Thriller) - Gillian Flynn is a very creative author - the twists and turns in this book pretty much blew my mind.  In case you haven't gotten your hands on this bestseller yet, it's the story of a married couple, Nick and Amy, and what happens when Nick returns home from work one morning to find Amy missing and their home in disarray.  As the authorities investigate Amy's disappearance, it becomes obvious that their once perfect seeming marriage was imploding, and Nick becomes the prime suspect. The first part of the book alternates between Nick's narration and excerpts from Amy's diary, found in the crime scene.  Nick finds himself the beleaguered object of a media frenzy, and his appearances on press conferences and a television show that is obviously based on Nancy Grace leave him stunned and shaken; meanwhile, Amy's journal entries present her as a woman who was doing her best to be a loving wife to a volatile man.  It was hard to tell whose side of the story was the trustworthy one.  Flynn was definitely able to surprise me, and the story built suspense so well that I felt like I had to keep reading, but by the end, I didn't like any of the characters and I was absolutely mortified by the ending. 

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman (Fantasy/Parody) - This book has been on my to-read list for ages; although it was published in 1990, for some reason a few years ago it became very popular in the Harry Potter fandom and I thought it was actually a new book when it fact it had simply been re-released in hardcover.  Neil Gaiman is one of my all-time favorite authors, but I've never read anything by Terry Pratchett; Good Omens reads like it is written in one voice, full of equal parts whimsy and sarcasm.  The book's two main characters, Aziraphale and Crowley, are an angel and a demon, respectively, and have become friends since the whole Garden of Eden thing, learning to like humanity and help each other out with their respective duties when it's convenient.  The central plot is a parody of The Omen: Satan's spawn is going to be born on Earth, ushering in the apocalypse.  Aziraphale and Crowley decide to work together to prevent the world's end, setting a comedy of errors in motion.  The hilarious footnotes alone make reading the book worthwhile.

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier (Gothic Romance) - This is my mom's favorite book and she's been encouraging me to read it for years. I am so glad I finally did! Rebecca is set in the 20th century, but reads like a classic Gothic mystery.  The narrator, a young woman traveling in Monte Carlo as a companion to a wealthy, society-obsessed lady, begins an awkward friendship with the widower Maxim de Winter.  She believes he has befriended her out of pity or a sense of chivalry, so she is shocked when he proposes.  After their honeymoon, Maxim takes her to his family estate, Manderley, where they will live.  At Manderley, the narrator begins to collect details about Maxim's wife, Rebecca, whose influence still reigns over the home, its staff, and, seemingly, Maxim himself.  Daphne du Maurier's skillful worldbuilding pulled me in and the atmosphere of the story kept me reading although there is little actual action. I did NOT see the story's major twist coming. As a fan of classic Gothic novels like Jane Eyre, I could see where du Maurier probably drew her inspiration, but I think fans of modern psychological thrillers like Gone Girl would enjoy Rebecca as well.


movies i saw

Belle - I can't say enough good things about this beautiful period film directed by Amma Asante.  It is based on a real historical person, Dido Elizabeth Belle, pictured in a 1779 painting alongside her cousin, Lady Elizabeth Murray.  The painting is exceptional because it presents a black woman and a white woman on the same eye level.  The girls' great-uncle, Lord Mansfield,was the Chief Justice of the British Court, and the film centers on one of his most important rulings.  In Asante's story, Dido Belle's father comes to retrieve her when her mother dies.  A Royal Navy officer, he takes her to live in the family home before heading back to sea, asking his uncle and aunt to love her as if she is their own.  They do their best to raise Dido as a proper English lady alongside her cousin Bette, while acknowledging societal norms that prevent her from ever feeling like a full-fledged family member.  When Dido learns, via her uncle's handsome young apprentice, about the case he is working on, in which slaves were thrown overboard from a ship, she becomes more interested than her uncle would like her to be.  While Bette's focus is on love and marriage, Dido's is on social justice. It is essential to her that her uncle rule against the ship's owner, that the slaves be regarded as human beings rather than cargo.  Gugu Mbatha-Raw is absolutely wonderful as Dido, and I think any fan of period pieces, love stories, and strong female characters will love this movie.  See if your local indie theater is playing this one, and if so, go see it!

Pacific Rim - When this movie came out, the previews made it look like a cross between Battleship and Transformers, which completely turned me off.  That's a shame, because when I finally got around to watching it I fell in love with the characters.  In the movie, Earth has been attacked by alien monsters who come through a breach in the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.  The only way to fight the monsters, apparently, is through giant robots that are so difficult to operate that they require two pilots linked in some kind of mind-meld.  Charlie Hunnam plays Raleigh, a pilot who has been re-recruited following his brother's death. When he arrives in Hong Kong, he takes an interest in Mako, the Japanese director of the program who dreams of becoming a pilot.  Even though Raleigh and Mako's emotions make them slightly unstable as pilots, they become a team.  I love Guillermo del Toro for making Mako a really strong, capable female character who is also very emotional.  I also love him for casting Charlie Day as a crazy scientist with tattoo sleeves who has been studying the aliens for so long he kind of loves them.  It's not the greatest written movie ever, but it is fun to watch and word on the web has it del Toro is working on a sequel.

Ender's Game - Apparently I'm on a sci-fi kick when it comes to movies?  The Orson Scott Card novel this movie is based on is a science fiction classic, and one I frequently recommend to my students.  The story focuses on Ender Wiggin, a child enrolled in Battle School, a program that trains gifted children to fight the alien species that attacked Earth and may return at any time. Pegged as a potential leader, Ender is constantly being watched by the school's superior officer, Colonel Graff (Harrison Ford doing a perfect job) and psychologist, Major Anderson (Viola Davis, flawless as always), even as he is subjected to horrible bullying and aggression at the hands of the other students.  I haven't read the book in years, but this adaptation seemed very faithful to the spirit of the book, and as I watched, I started to remember the scenes and characters.  I would really enjoy sharing this movie, and the book it's based on, with the right group of students.


television favorites

The Night Shift - I've mentioned this show, set in a San Antonio hospital's emergency department, a few other times here on the blog, and it keeps getting better as the characters get more fleshed out.  I think my favorite character is Krista the intern: find out your love interest is gay?  Become his best friend, drop truth bombs on him as needed, and keep being an awesome doctor.  The season finale had a cliffhanger ending that was absolutely insane. Come back soon, Night Shift!

So You Think You Can Dance - Things have finally started to get interesting on SYTYCD!  The top 20 dancers have performed in their own styles, with partners from a different style, and, this week, with the partners they'll be sticking with for a while.  There have already been some amazing dances that will probably be performed again when we get into the finale shows!

What's been keeping you entertained lately?  Do 

you have any recommendations for me to check out?

Linking Up:
Little Friday at The Grits Blog

Book Review: Bluebonnet Bride by Colleen Coble

My summer reading list is always heavy on historical fiction - I love the opportunity to travel vicariously to new places and to other time periods!  I recently finished Bluebonnet Bride, a sweet novella by Christian writer Colleen Coble set in Texas in 1907.  Since several of my favorite stories begin with adventuresome women arriving in the West on trains, I was instantly sucked in.  Elli Korpela has come to America from Finland as a mail order bride in order to escape a forced engagement to a greedy neighbor. Her handsome new husband Nathan has been working to support his family since he was a teenager and has had no time for courting, and wants a woman's help raising his four-year-old orphaned niece Hannah. 

After a picturesque wedding at Nathan's friends' mansion, Butterfly Palace, they return to a charming little house, but their newfound domestic bliss is quickly cut short when Elli is attacked by a nighttime intruder. As they begin to investigate the attack, Nathan and Elli aren't sure if the intruder was a striking worker from the granite quarry where Nathan is foreman, or someone working for Elli's former fiance - who she suspects killed her wealthy father. 

The story's central mystery - what is the intruder looking for? - was interesting enough to hold my attention, and while the intruder's identity was a surprise, the threat never seemed truly frightening.  Additionally, the subplot about labor problems at the quarry is never really resolved. 

As a novella, Bluebonnet Bride has lace space for character development than a longer work. Elli is devoted to Hannah even though to readers, the little girl is a flat porcelain doll of a character.  Elli and Nathan are more dynamic, and their romance is Hallmark-style perfection: even though they're both attracted to each other at first sight, Nathan remains respectful, considerate, and keeps his distance.  Elli falls in love with his devotion to Hannah and his protective nature toward her, and he falls in love with her spirit and determination. Their belief that God has brought them together gives them both a sense of security in their new relationship.  The romance is chaste enough that I would feel perfectly comfortable recommending this book to a younger reader.  The story is an easy read, and a great temporary escape from modern life.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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Book Review: A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller

A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller (YA Historical Fiction)
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In A Mad, Wicked Folly, seventeen-year-old British society girl Victoria Darling dreams of becoming a professional artist like her idols in the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.  When she poses nude for the art class she attends in secret, she is kicked out of her Paris finishing school and sent home immediately.  In London, her parents start working on damage control - her mother hires a new lady's maid who will prepare Vicky for her debut to the king and her marriage to an Oxford student from a titled family.  Strong-willed Victoria refuses to give up on her dream and decides to apply to the Royal College of Art, though her parents have confiscated her supplies and keep her time filled with dance lessons and social calls.  In her plan to complete her college application while preserving her family's tenuous place in the aristocracy, Vicky is forced to sneak around and lie to her parents.  In search of interesting subjects for her sketchbook, Vicky is drawn into the dangerous world of the suffrage movement and to a sympathetic young police constable who shares her artistic bent.

Sharon Biggs Waller draws readers into the Edwardian period in a very natural way: the Art Nouveau movement is referenced in the posters Vicky's friend from art school designs rather than in an art history lesson, the suffrage movement is a natural source of conflict for a young woman in the city, and innovations such as flush toilets, automobiles, and the Underground serve to move the story along.  I'm intrigued by the social divisions that were so prevalent during this era, and Waller explores them through the characters Vicky interacts with, from women who work in factories and fight for the right to vote, to the Darling family's servants, who must enter through the back door, to Mrs. Darling's world of calling cards, carriages, and corsets.  Though Vicky finds allies to help her chase her dreams, she is often too focused on her own goals to help others and too caught up in the formal way she's been raised to form genuine friendships.  Her determination made me root for her all the way, though, and the book was full of reminders for me, as a modern woman, not to take my own freedoms for granted.

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I won my copy of A Mad, Wicked Folly in a Goodreads giveaway, and now I want to share it with one of you lovely readers!  Enter below to win an ARC of the book, which will be on sale January 2014.

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