Poignant: 1) : painfully affecting the feelings : PIERCING (2) : deeply affecting : TOUCHING. See: “Goodbye Mr. Chips” by James Hilton.

Ok, I made that last part up. But, the best word to describe “Goodbye Mr. Chips” is poignant. It is a simple, short story, but one that touches at the heartstrings. The refreshing part is that it does not resort to contrived situations. It just told its story in a plain and simple, almost distant way.

The story revolves around Mr. Chips, a Latin teacher and sometime-headmaster of a school called Brookfield, in England. Brookfield is described as an average school. Not bad, but not first-tier either. That is the same description given about Mr. Chips: a solid individual, but not someone who would be called “outstanding.” He and his school would be a perfect fit for many years. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s not just a tv series, folks, it’s a real book. Yes, indeedy, and a good one, too. I would suggest watching the series if you have not yet because I think it helps you get a grip on what the heck is going on in the book. This is one of those books that keep you going without mercy. There aren’t any lulls, so if you like that sort of fast-paced action in your literary diet, you’ll enjoy this book. My only complaint would be that Butcher sort of throws you into the story with a sink-or-swim mentality. If I hadn’t seen this series on the sci-fi channel, it’s very likely I never would’ve pick up the books. If I’d picked one of these up in the store, it would’ve been a tough sell. There’s not a lot of explaining going on in the book. It’s very catch-as-can. By the time I finished the book I had my feet under me, but it felt like this book should have been third or even fourth in the series, not book one.
I did, however, enjoy this book immensely. Read the rest of this entry »

I have to review this whole series again. I read two of these books yesterday and it made me deleriously happy. If you enjoy romance novels, or even mythology and culture, just the tiniest bit, then these books would be a great choice for you to read. Admittedly, these books are not laden with testosterone (with the exception of the extremely gorgeous male main characters, of course) so it’s not what I would call a guy read, but I think any girl could read these and be happy. Kenyon does her research well, and her creation of characters is wonderful. Every character, even the ones that appear in passing, have depth and the reader always feels included in the story. It’s almost conspiratorial. I love these books and I really do highly recommend them.
Now, I will say that there are certain books in the series thus far that have driven me up a wall with lack of resolution or explanation, but it doesn’t detract from the wonderfulness that is the Dark-Hunter series.
Go get these books. Read. Laugh. Cry. Enjoy.
Read one of these books? Tell us what you think!

As reported on Monday, May 7, 2007, on E! Online, Movie studio Dreamworks, helmed by Steven Spielberg, has optioned the rights to create a movie based on the best selling novel, ‘The Lovely Bones’.

In early 2005, “Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson optioned the movie rights to the book by Alice Seibold, and wrote a script with his wife, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens. He has been shopping his script to studios ever since:

According to trade reports, the studio committed late Friday to shelling out at least $65 million to make Peter Jackson‘s adaptation of Alice Sebold’s best-selling 2002 novel about the murder of a 14-year-old girl and what it does to her family—as narrated by the victim’s spirit after the fact.

…

Cameras are expected to roll on The Lovely Bones in October in Pennsylvania and New Zealand, with Jackson surmizing that the finished product will be ready for a late 2008 release.

Site Admin Grand High Poobah recently named the Lovely Bones as #5 on her list of “Life Changing Books.”

*** UPDATE *** According to The Hollywood Reporter, Rachel Weisz and Ryan Gosling have  been cast as Abigail and Jack Salmon.  The role of Susie Salmon has not yet been cast.

4. “This Present Darkness”, by Frank E. Peretti

It must have been close to 20 years ago that I spent an entire school year visiting a small Christian bookstore in an average mall in a small city. Every trip to that mall (which occurred at least once a week, sometimes more) included a trip to that store, where I would inevitably go to the same place: past the two rotating displays on either side of me, past the checkout desk to my right and the display case to my left, and just past the rotating display of small Christian and inspirational posters, where I would take a left turn, and walk about 6 feet to the last aisle, where I would turn right. There, at the bottom of the shelf lay a book that I would pick up, hold, and wish I could afford. Read the rest of this entry »

Second in the Keys to the Kingdom series, this book is just as exciting as Mister Monday, and it’s off to a great start. I have not yet finished this book, but I am about halfway through and so far it is absolutely wonderful! Grim Tuesday has a breif prologue to give a little background on Grim Tuesday, and a little information on what the bad guys are up to, then you pick up right where Mister Monday left off. If you’re wondering how that’s possible after reading the end of Mister Monday, just remember time is a slippery thing between the House and the Secondary Realms, yes? (Don’t worry, I didn’t just give something big away, that’s just a tidbit.)
As Dame Primus predicted, Grim Tuesday and the Morrow Days are not happy about Arthur becoming the new Monday. Grim Tuesday, however, is the only one currently in the position to take action. The Morrow Days, however, have come up with a pretty devious solution to their problem and they conspire with Grim Tuesday to force Arthur to give up the first Key. Arthur is now forced to leave his world for the House in order to keep his family – and his world – safe.
I would highly recommend this series.