Can a married women and a married man be friends with each other? That is the central premise of the Actor and the Housewife. This friendship is complicated and every aspect of it is explored, especially the possibility of a more intimate relationship.
As always I enjoyed Shannon Hale's writing style and there were many times during this book that I found myself laughing out loud. It is an extremely well told story and I am glad that I read it but the benefit of this book is in the discussion that it can contribute and the ability to make you think about things. It made me question some of my previously held thoughts and reconsider things.
I would highly recommend that after reading this book one also read the article about Emotional Fidelity that was in the Ensign in either Aug or Sept. Between these two one could find a way to walk the careful line of friendship while married.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Emperor: The Death of Kings
The Second book in the Emporer Series and this contunues to improve upon the premise set up in the previous book. This really is a great series and the comments and critiques I offered in the post about the previous book apply here as well.
In this book both Brutus and Ceasar are making names for themselves and return to Rome as Heroes. Their friendship is renewed and they begin working together bring about the Rome that they idealized in their youth. The fractions in their relationship are begining to appear and it will be interesting to see how the next book continues to reflect how their ideals are diverging.
In this book both Brutus and Ceasar are making names for themselves and return to Rome as Heroes. Their friendship is renewed and they begin working together bring about the Rome that they idealized in their youth. The fractions in their relationship are begining to appear and it will be interesting to see how the next book continues to reflect how their ideals are diverging.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Bill Peet An Autobiography
When I was young I remember reading the picture books of an incredible author whose pictures and the verses that went along with them were entertaining enough to read over and over again. Now that I have kids of my own I have redicovered this author and shared it with my children. I had known this before but I was reminded of it again when I watched the Sword and the Stone that Bill Peet had also worked at Disney. His animation style is present all throughout the Sword and the Stone and I also catch a glimpse of it in some other Disney Animated Movies. So when I was walking through the library the other day and I saw this book on Display I thought it would be interesting.
The layout of this book was no different than any of his childrens books with about a half page of text and an illistration to accompany it. However it was almost 200 pages long. Even though this was writen to a young audience I found a lot of the information very interesting especially when he started working at Disney. He worked on every disney animated movie from Snow White to Jungle Book, however what I found most interesting were his insights into the origional workings of the Disney Company and his numerous run ins with Walt Disney including his final dispute which led to him quiting to begin writing full time.
This is an amazing story of a boy who began as a talented artist dreaming of illistrating childrens books but was no good at writing. He eventually ends up as an important person within Walt Disney's circle of colleagues. After growing into writing screen plays for annimated movies, he learns how to tell stories and begins a prolific career in writing children books. An excellent story for anyone who enjoys classic Disney annimation and Childrens books.
The layout of this book was no different than any of his childrens books with about a half page of text and an illistration to accompany it. However it was almost 200 pages long. Even though this was writen to a young audience I found a lot of the information very interesting especially when he started working at Disney. He worked on every disney animated movie from Snow White to Jungle Book, however what I found most interesting were his insights into the origional workings of the Disney Company and his numerous run ins with Walt Disney including his final dispute which led to him quiting to begin writing full time.
This is an amazing story of a boy who began as a talented artist dreaming of illistrating childrens books but was no good at writing. He eventually ends up as an important person within Walt Disney's circle of colleagues. After growing into writing screen plays for annimated movies, he learns how to tell stories and begins a prolific career in writing children books. An excellent story for anyone who enjoys classic Disney annimation and Childrens books.
The House on Mango Street
My Brother Matt introduced me to this book and I borrowed it from him because I will be working much closer with some of the Hispanic students this next year and I thought it might give me an understanding of what some of them might be experiencing.
The House on Mango Street is a series of vignettes told from the point of view of a young girl growing up in Chicago. Each chapter is a series of thoughts and experiences of this girl almost as if they were excerpted from her diary. The writing is good and some of these vignettes I appreciated more that others. I did enjoy it for the most part but there is no plot or any kind of substantial story line that keeps you reading from chapter to chapter. If this book had been any longer than it's hundred sum odd pages I would not have even come close to finishing it.
The House on Mango Street is a series of vignettes told from the point of view of a young girl growing up in Chicago. Each chapter is a series of thoughts and experiences of this girl almost as if they were excerpted from her diary. The writing is good and some of these vignettes I appreciated more that others. I did enjoy it for the most part but there is no plot or any kind of substantial story line that keeps you reading from chapter to chapter. If this book had been any longer than it's hundred sum odd pages I would not have even come close to finishing it.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
I have always had an appreciation for satire and find comedioc spoofs entertaining when they are done right. However, they are rarely done right. Because of the constant disappointment of these comdies over the past few years (Scary Movie, Date movie, Disaster Movie etc.), I have shied away from the genre for awhile. But when I read a review for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies I though it might be worth trying again.
Seth Grahame-Smith took the origional Jane Austen text and added to it the subplot of a Zombie plague sweeping England. Austens text (from as much as I can tell) is still in tact for the most part however Grahame-Smiths additions tend to appeal to the baser sex (as opposed the the fairer one). Grahame-Smith does play it for laughs as he uses his zombie plot to add over the top violence and gore. He also uses this to add motives to some characters behaviors.
One of the problems with this work, espcially at the begining, the additions were very obvious as writing styles changed. However as the book went on the changes became less obvious to the point where I had to ask some one who had actually read the book if certain things were included. The additions did tend to be entertaining especially the fight scenes between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy after he proposes (the first time) and then the fight between Lady Catherine de Bourgh and Elizabeth at the end. However the additions did get old after awile and I found myself only reading because I had never read Pride and Prejudice before and that was the story I wanted to read.
Seth Grahame-Smith took the origional Jane Austen text and added to it the subplot of a Zombie plague sweeping England. Austens text (from as much as I can tell) is still in tact for the most part however Grahame-Smiths additions tend to appeal to the baser sex (as opposed the the fairer one). Grahame-Smith does play it for laughs as he uses his zombie plot to add over the top violence and gore. He also uses this to add motives to some characters behaviors.
One of the problems with this work, espcially at the begining, the additions were very obvious as writing styles changed. However as the book went on the changes became less obvious to the point where I had to ask some one who had actually read the book if certain things were included. The additions did tend to be entertaining especially the fight scenes between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy after he proposes (the first time) and then the fight between Lady Catherine de Bourgh and Elizabeth at the end. However the additions did get old after awile and I found myself only reading because I had never read Pride and Prejudice before and that was the story I wanted to read.
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