Abducted by Monday Memories

Wow, today I finally FINALLY finished cleaning out my googlereader!!!!!! GO ME!!!

And now it is time to share a Monday Memory! Hosted by Annette!

I have always loved to read, ever since I was really little. I would spend all day during my summer vacation reading one book after another. One of the authors that I LOVED was R.L. Stine.

I mostly read the Fear Street books because I was never really that fond of the Goosebump books.

I read all of the Silent Night books and the Cheerleader books. I think I even read a couple of the Babysitter books but not all of them.

I remember sitting out side on our swing set just devouring the books. And I still have very vivid images in my head of some of the scenes out of his books.

I remember one of the Silent Night books had a girl being stalked in a department store.

And I know that in one of the Cheerleader books someone drowns in a lake and then there is a scene when the main girl goes out on the lake, that is now frozen over, and I remember she looks down and can see the girl who drowned under the ice. That scared the crap out of me when I was little!

This weekend I actually took some time and reread the book The New Girl by R.L. Stine which was AWFUL! The whole time I just couldn't believe I ever liked those books. I mean it was really really bad!

But then I reread Cheerleaders: The First Evil and I LOVED IT!!! That is the R.L. Stine that I know and loved! Now I can't wait to reread the rest of the Cheerleader series...

...and also I'm now in the mood to watch Bring It On again!

One of the blogs I love to follow is at fakesteph.com and this last month she got to go to this book festival thing where she got to hear a lot of authors talk about their writing process. If you click on the link I provided above you can read her post on what R.L. Stine had to say.

Thanks again for sharing that Steph!

Plus, if you head over to Reviewsin5 you can read Andrea's post on her Top 5 Favorite Disney/Pixar films!

Have a great Memorial Day!

Abducted by Narnia

I love the Chronicles of Narnia Series and I wanted to do something special to bring the journey through Narnia to a close.

So, I've created my own list called...

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS: ABOUT NARNIA!

Even if you didn't get to read through the chronicles with me, please feel free to add some of your own answers to the list in comments or leave a link to your blog in the comments, so we can all share in our favorite things!

1. Favorite Book: The Silver Chair! I'm pretty sure I've said enough about this so if you have any questions as to why, just click on the link.

2. Favorite Creatures: The Dufflepuds! The Dufflepuds are discovered on The Magician Coriakin's Island in chapter 9 of the Voyage of the Dawn Treader. They are good natured and a little eccentric. For most of the story they are invisible but then Lucy sets them straight. They are adorable little creatures who hop around on one foot. I've just always found them really funny and cute.

3. Favorite Character: Puddleglum. I love Puddleglum, he is such a great character! I also really like Mr. Tumnuss from the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe but he is barely in the story, and I think I am mostly just fond of him because of James McAvoy's portrayal. But Puddleglum is kind and brave and clever and loyal.

4. Favorite Pevensie: Edmund. I always found Lucy to be a little goody-goody and Susan a little-miss-know-it-all. Peter is a good leader but kind of bossy. Edmund has such growth and development. We really get to see his character get tried and evolve and by the end of tLtW&tW he becomes a really good character and a good brother.

5. Favorite Aslan Moment: Mine is him at the end of The Horse and The Boy when he gives the whole speech about how he was always there. I don't remember quite how he says it but he is basically saying "I was the cat that comforted you, I was the lion that scared courage into you, I was the one that protected you." I really love that moment. As cliche as it sounds, it always reminded me of that footprints poem about how Jesus is the one carrying you. It is just this beautiful moment when he is saying, I was always here, when you were scared and weak and confused, I was always there.

6. Favorite Line: Well, seeing on how I recently had it tattooed on my leg, I would say that my favorite line would have to be the speech that begins with "Suppose we have only dreamed..." You can click on the link HERE to see the pictures of my tattoo and read the full quote.

7. Favorite Villain: For me it is actually Uncle Andrew from the Magician's Nephew. Sure, the White Witch and the Green Witch are scary and cause more damage, but I guess I find Uncle Andrew to be more entertaining and so therefore I like him more. He was evil no doubt, and cruel. But...I don't know...I just like him.

8. Favorite Tear Jerk Moment: In the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, when Lucy and Susan are crying over Aslan's body and then the mice come up. At first the girls think the mice are there to defile the body and then they realize that the mice are there to chew away at the cords that bind him. I don't know, there is just something about that moment, that realization, that get's me. Every time.

9. Favorite Audio Book: Okay, there are just some books that you have to listen to the audio versions of. This series is one of them! Hearing them read aloud by some amazing talent is chilling and heart warming at the same time. Mostly they are read by Broadway talent but some notable names would include Lynn Redgrave and Patrick Stewart. But my personal favorite is hearing Kenneth Branagh read to me The Magician's Nephew. I mean it is just perfect! As far as I am concerned this man can do no wrong anyway, but still, he adds just the right amount of humor in his voice that is just perfect for reading Digory and Polly, and even Uncle Andrew. That is also why I probably like Uncle Andrew as much as I do. Because with Kenneth Branagh reading him to me I can't help but picture Uncle Andrew as an eviler version of Professor Lockhart.

10. Favorite Film Adaptation: Without a doubt, hands down, the Walt Disney and Walden Media production of The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe!

The casting was perfect, the screenplay was perfect, the special affects were once again, PERFECT! I love this book and this film version is a direct reflection of it! I will be the first to admit that the quality in the adaptations has been slipping ever so slightly with each additional adaptation to be released but this first one was flawless!

Okay, so that brings an end to my journey through Narnia!

I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

For those of you who missed any, here is a list of all of my posts:

The Magician's Nephew

The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe

The Horse and His Boy

Prince Caspian

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The Silver Chair

The Last Battle

And if you haven't had enough of me yet, be sure to check out Reviewsin5.com! Andrea has her next top 5 post coming on Monday!

Blog Hop 5/27

It has been a really long time since I've done one of these, but since I was up early enough I figured I would do some blog hopping before heading off to work.

The Blog Hop is hosted by Crazy For Books and this weeks question is...

"What book-to-movie adaptation have you most liked? Which have you disliked?"

Hmm...that is kind of a hard question.

I would say that some of my favorites have been the Lord of The Ring series. They were slightly different from the books but they were a perfect reflection of them.

I also really loved the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice!

And of course the first two Harry Potter adaptations were excellent. 3 and 4 weren't bad either but the first two were really good when held up to the books.

As far as which ones I liked least,

Mansfield Park (1999), The Count of Monte Cristo (2002), and Dracula (1992).

I mean seriously, when I watched each one of those movies after reading the books all I was thinking was "What the hell was that?"

What really irks me though isn't that they want to make changes to a book before making the adaptation. Like I said The Lord of The Ring series made changes and I liked it better for it. Also, Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby and The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham, they both had big changes to their plots when it came to the film adaptations, and I personally loved them.

No, what really irks me is when the films make these huge changes to the plot and then advertise it as "Bram Stoker's Dracula" or "Edmond Dantes' The Count of Monte Cristo"

If you insist on making changes to the plot, DO NOT link the author's name to it because then you are just going to piss me off!

I mean I never saw any press clippings where Bram Stoker approved of that piece of crap movie. So, if there are any out there send them my way.

Have a great day!

Abducted by The Last Battle

The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis

For some reason this has never been one of my favorites in the Narnia series. And what is funny is I can never really remember the plot. But then whenever I start it again it all comes back to me and I'm like "Oh, yeah, I like this one."

I'm going to have to warn you now that there will be some spoilers in this post. If you haven't read the last book in the Narnia series and don't want to know how it all ends yet then don't read any farther.

Stop reading....

right now....

Everybody ready to keep going?

Awesome!

Okay, so The Last Battle is basically split into two acts or books or sections, however you want to look at it.

In the first half of the book we are introduced to the last king of Narnia, King Tirian. There is an ape, Shift, who is using his power of persuasion on a donkey named Puzzle (who is adorable). Using Puzzle as a pawn, Shift convinces the Calormen armies to start a war against King Tirian.

Eustace and Jill are sent into Narnia to help and the battle begins.

And, man, what a battle!

I mean this is the battle to end all battles!

And it is told in heartbreaking detail.

The whole first part of this book is captivating and heart racing! You almost don't want to put it down because you have to know what happens. How does it all end?

And how does it all end?

Everybody dies.

Thus begins the second half of the book.

When I was in middle school and high school my friends and I would write notes back and forth to each other. Mostly the notes were about gossip but sometimes we would spend our time in class telling stories back and forth. Each of us adding on the next paragraph. Then whichever one of us had the note at the end of the hour would finish off the story with the same line each time...

"She opened the car door and the whole world exploded. The end."

"He looked up at the sky and the whole world exploded. The end."

And I think a part of me never liked this last book in the Narnia series because I always thought that Lewis, having everyone die and Narnia be destroyed reminded me of those

notes. For us, it was just a quick way to end the story before the bell rang.

But, I really don't think that was what Lewis was trying to do. In fact, I know that it wasn't. He wasn't looking for a quick way to end this series of books, he was just bringing it full circle.

Even still, I've never really liked the last half of the book.

I guess it also might be because the beginning half of the book is so action packed that the last half comes across as boring. Kind of ending the series on a downer.

Over all, I love that Lewis does bring the books full circle in the end. I love that all the old characters from

all the other stories are brought back. I love that we get to hear what has happened to them all as they have aged. I even kind of liked that Susan, wasn't included because it brought a small amount of reality to the stories in it's own way.

I loved Puzzle in this book. He was so cute I just wanted to hug him every time he felt down on himself.

I liked King Tirian, he was a good king and I'm glad Lewis ended the series with such a strong figure.

I love that Eustace and Jill are the ones that come back. Mainly because, well, with the Silver Chair being my favorite book, I'm glad that their pairing get's to be acknowledged again.

There is a lot of religious symbolism going on in this book. I think more so in this one and in The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, then in any of the other 5 books, including The Magician's Nephew. There is so much symbolism going on that it is hard to really even start talking about any of it for fear that it would monopolize my whole post.

I'm sad that our journey through Narnia has come to an end, but I do have one more post I'm going to do. I've made a list of my Top 10 Favorite Things About Narnia and I'll post that on Saturday.

Hope everyone is having a great week. Surviving all the Spring storms!

Don't forget to stop by Reviewsin5 to check out our finale thoughts on COLIN FIRTH and Jeremy's thoughts on his favorite HOCKEY MOVIES!

Abducted by INK

Well, I am sorry for having been gone for a while but I have been really busy!

My friend KATE has been in town this past week and we have had the greatest time! One of the things that she wanted to do while she was here was to have us get literary tattoos.

AND WE DID!!!

I know you all have been on pins and needles waiting to hear about my tattoo because it involves my favorite moment in The Silver Chair that I refused to share with you guys when I posted my review for that book.

So, I wont keep you waiting any longer...

here is what the actually tattoo looks like up close...

and here is what it looks like in relation to the rest of my foot...

So as you can see it is a little towards the inside of the front of my left ankle.

"Suppose we have only dreamed..." is the beginning to a speech that the character Puddleglum gives towards the end of chapter 12.

Basically it's like this...

The Green Witch has come back to find Eustace, Jill, Prince Rillian, and Puddleglum free in the underworld. She begins to use her magic and her powers of persuasion to convince them that there is no over-world. That they have been merely dreaming and that they made it all up, including Aslan.

The children and the Prince are eventually taken over by the Green Witch's magic and they succumb to her. But not Puddleglum!

He stands up to her and says...

"Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things--trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones...I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia. "

That is my most favorite part in my most favorite book.

It has always resinated with me, ever since the first time I read it.

In life I have my own beliefs. I am a Catholic. I do believe in God. And even if I were to die tomorrow and find out that I'm wrong, I wouldn't care. My beliefs have made me a better person, they have given me hope and strength and comfort in times when nothing else has. To be perfectly honest, I'm still pretty messed up, I'm not perfect. But I remember how lost I was before I found my faith and I know how it has saved me. So even if I could be wrong, I'm going to stand by my beliefs no matter what.

And that is basically what Puddleglum is stating in his little speech.

I hope everyone has had a great week!

And don't worry, I'm finishing a lot of books this weekend so get ready for some hard hitting posts coming your way on Nick Hornby, If I Stay, and The Last Battle, followed by my Ten Favorite Things About Narnia which will be the post that brings our journey through Narnia to an end.

Also, over at REVIEWSIN5.com you can read our thoughts on Colin Firths performance in Love Actually, along with Andrea's Top 5 "Pay Attention Movies". My next post will be on Monday so stay tuned.

Abducted by Monday Memories

I'm running a little late with my Monday Memory but I'm hoping to get it in just under the wire.

This Monday Annette posted about when she first read The Hobbit.

I read it a few years ago but don't really remember it. I'm excited to see the movie though so maybe I'll re-read it.

Since that doesn't make for a very good memory to share, I thought I would go with...

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

The book is written by Goldman but it is presented as if it were an abridgment of a work by S. Morgenstern. So through out the book Goldman tells the story of Buttercup and Wesley but every now and then he inturupts and says something like; "Now here is a part where Morgenstern goes on and on about Buttercups hair treatments and her overall dental hygiene. But I'm going to skip that because my son and I hated that part."

I didn't know that Morgenstern was a pseudonym for Goldman so I thought all those parts were real.

What made it worse is that at some points in the story Goldman would go on and on about how fat his son was and I remember thinking, "That poor kid!" I mean if it had been real, th

en his father had just abridged a classic that would be passed on through generations and everyone will know that he was chubby when he was little.

It wasn't until after I finished reading it that I found out the truth. I was talking to my friend Kate about how much I loved the book and she said something along the lines of "Yeah, I loved that book too, but I didn't know until after I read it that there was no Morgenstern." And I think I said something like, "Ha ha...um, yeah...of course there was no Morgenstern...it was so obvious...can't believe you fell for that Kate, geeze!"

I hope everyone had a great Monday!

I'm getting really excited because Kate is coming to see me in exactly...

WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!