New Book Announced For The Twilight Series March 30, 2010

Stephenie Meyer announced today that she has written a companion book to Eclipse based on the newborn Bree who is a significant character in Eclipse. The book will be called The Short Second Life Of Bree Tanner. I am interested to see how Bree’s story will be expanded into a full book and how the other characters will be portrayed but I’m not so sold on this being her first release after the Host.  I know I am pretty excited about the Host sequel and prequel that are apparently coming out and would much rather have seen those debut before additional novels about secondary characters from the Twilight series.  Oh well.

The book will be released June 5th and a dollar of every sale will go to the Red Cross.  Also, apparently you will be able to read the entire book online for a month after the release?  That is according to MTV Movie blog.

Shutter Island – Dennis Lehane

Having not yet read Mystic River (also written by Lehane) I decided to pick up Shutter Island based on the hype surrounding the upcoming/now recently released movie.  The book starts quickly and draws the reader into the story by creating and air of mystery and suspense in the first few pages.  The sense of not getting the whole story stays with you until the crazy twist at the end of the book (which I thought I had pegged and was completely wrong).  I’m still not sure if the reason I enjoyed this book so much was due to picturing Leonardo DiCaprio throughout the entire book or because the story line is so compelling and different.  Either way, this was a fun read though it definitely felt like you were reading a movie script.  I love mysteries and couldn’t put this down.  Can’t wait to go see the movie!

Percy Jackson and the Olympians – The Lightning Thief March 21, 2010

Percy Jackson & The Olympians, The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan.  The first book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series was definitely very much what I was expecting from a series that has done exceedingly well among young adults.  The writing was clever and the story moved quickly but as expected, there was a heavy dose of what-adults-think-kids-think-is-cool add-ins.  Much like my dad saying “JK! JK!” or my mom signing her AIM chats “xoxo, MOM” , the times where Riordan throws in language to try and identify with his audience is glaringly obvious.  I wonder if kids pick up on this too or if they just think, wow, this old guy totally gets me!  Either way, the story was a fun read and I loved Riordan’s incorporation of the Greek mythology into our modern day world.  I will most likely read the next few books in the series but finished The Lightning Thief needing a break where I will  be reading something else in the interim.  If you enjoy Greek history or mythology and are looking for a fun, quick read, The Lightning Thief is a good choice.

I am also looking forward to seeing the movie adaptation although it looks like they decided to make Percy a bit older than 12.  Also, I definitely pictured Annabeth as a blond in the book.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! March 17, 2010

In honor of St. Patrick’s day and of all things involving green beer, Guinness and a few shots of Baileys, I decided to make a list of my top four favorite literary pubs/cafes.  Each of these holds some historical significance with books/writers.

1. The George Inn – London.  The George is one of my favorite pubs in London, located in Southwark right near Borough Market.  It has a huge outdoor area which is perfect for a post-borough-market pint in the sunshine (on those rare sunshine-y days in London).  The George Inn is about 400 years old and was built as the “George and Dragon” but was destroyed by fire in 1676.  After the pub was rebuilt and subsequently renamed, it was visited by Charles Dickens (who references the pub in Little Dorrit) as well as William Shakespeare (the pub is fairly close to the Globe).

The George Inn

Drawing of the George in 1870

2. The Fitzroy Tavern – London.  This pub, located between Goodge Street and Tottenham Court was visited by George Orwell, Virginia Woolf, and George Bernard Shaw among others.  My personal favorite story about this pub was that a drunken Dylan Thomas (a famous Welsh poet quoted as saying “An alcoholic is someone you don’t like, who drinks as much as you do”) would write poetry on napkins and hand them out to women in the bar he was trying to hit on.

The Fitzroy

3. The Elephant House – Edinburgh.  This famous pub is one I have yet to visit but have been dying to go to mostly due to the fact that Harry Potter was born here.  J K Rowling wrote a good portion of the books in this cafe/pub and could frequently be seen writing here.  After doing some additional research I also noticed that Ian Rankin (Inspector Rebus novels) and Alexander McCall Smith (no. 1 ladies detective agency) also did a portion of their writing here.  Two more great reasons to get to this pub ASAP.

Elephant House in Edinburgh

Where Harry Potter was written!

4. Les Deux Magots – Paris. Famous for visits from Ernest Hemingway but really an all around awesome cafe on Paris’s Left Bank.   Also said to have been visited by Jean Paul Sartre and Oscar Wilde.   Located right by the Saint-Germain-des-Prés metro stop (St. Germain is also my favorite place to stay when I visit Paris!).

Les Deux Magots

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo March 15, 2010

This past weekend I went to see the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo based off the popular book by Steig Larsson. I was put off the book halfway through the graphic rape scene but persevered and ended up enjoying the book in the end despite a few pitfalls (namely Larsson’s propensity towards wordiness when speaking about the Millennium and its financial & political ties). I’m glad I finished the first book though as the second book (The Girl Who Played With Fire) far surpassed the first in terms of story line and character development.

I thought the movie did an excellent job of cutting down on the slower parts of the book and focusing on the more exciting parts (as most movie adaptations tend to do) and as a result, enjoyed the movie much more than I enjoyed the book. Also, the actress they chose to play Lisbeth was spot on (I changed my mind about this half way through the movie) and was the perfect combination of awkward, violent and child like just as she is in the book.   I would definitely recommend seeing the movie even if you have not yet read the book series.  Be prepared for the violent scenes, some of them are difficult to watch.

Daunt Books Hampstead March 14, 2010

I made my first visit into a Daunt Books today and loved it! I think their organizational style is amazing, especially for those that love to travel. Books are arranged by region which include travel book such as Lonely Planet, followed by non-fiction books and novels about the area or written by authors from the area. A great place to stop before your next holiday 🙂

View Map

The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom

I recently finished Mitch Albom’s The Five People You Meet in Heaven. After going through a bit of a rough period, I was looking for a bounce back book to get me focused on the things that mattered and to renew my excitement for reading. While this book wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, it did provide an enjoyable distraction and was a fairly interesting story (not to mention a very quick read). Albom bases the story on the idea that the human race is all connected; thus making small changes in your own life has a ripple affect that changes the lives of people only remotely connected to you. The story focuses on a relatively simple man named Eddie who thinks his life has been a failure.  Eddie is shown how his life affected others and created something positive despite his limited accomplishments (in this way, the book is similar to “It’s A Wonderful Life”- although sadly, Eddie realizes his life’s successes only after his life has ended).

I did enjoy the final message of the book – every life has something positive to offer others, no matter how small it may seem to the beholder.  It also reinforced the idea that every decision has many, many consequences despite the size of the decision.

All in all, a good, quick read but not the knock it out of the park inspirational I was expecting.