Who Likes Jane Austen?

It was a rainy day in the valley this past Saturday so I decided to spend my early afternoon taking in a movie. I decided to see The Jane Austen Book Club. The movie is based on the book by Karen Joy Fowler.

The basic premise of the story is that 6 people form together for a book club, thus the Jane Austen book club. Each person will be responsible for holding the book club meeting at their place for each book. The 6 following books by Jane Austen are:

Sense and Sensibility
Northanger Abbey
Emma
Mansfield Park
Pride & Prejudice
Persuasion

Overall, the movie was good. There were some really funny scenes and the cast is full of good actors and actresses: Maria Bello, Amy Brenneman, Maggie Grace, the wonderful Emily Blunt (who doesn’t love her?), Jimmy Smits, and Hugh Dancy (oh my, he’s so cute!)

I’ve been reading the novel and in this case, I think the movie may be actually better than the book. I usually prefer books to the movies…but I enjoyed the movie much much more. The book can have its’ dull moments and go off on different tangents not related to the story at hand. I do agree that if anyone hasn’t ready any Austen, this could be a good introduction her novels.

Either read it or see it.

Harry Potter 2.0

Since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows came out on July 21st, I’ve read it twice now. I love everything Potter. I’m a big fan. Now that it’s the end, I needed to find some new series to read. After doing extensive research on Amazon and Google, I found a couple of series that may intrigue those who are followers of Harry, Ron, and Hermione and all things Hogwarts.

The first series is called Septimus Heap by Angie Sage. Like HP, the series will include 7 books. So far, only 3 have been published:

1. Magyk
2. Flyte
3. Physik

I have read Magyk and Flyte so far and I’ve enjoyed them very much. The books are really easy to read and follow. The plot is entertaining and tells a beautiful adventurous tale of the Heaps. Septimus Heap (our hero) is the seventh son of a seventh son. The number 7 plays a big role in the book. I’ll admit, when I first started reading Magyk, it was hard for me to get into (but I know it’s because I had just finished the last Harry Potter book twice and loved every minute of it!) Once I got involved with Septimus‘ story, I was hooked.

The newest series I’m reading is called the Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. There will be 5 books in the series. The first 3 books are out now:

1. The Lightning Thief
2. The Sea of Monsters
3. The Titan’s Curse

I just started reading Book 1 and I’m about 100 pages in and I’m hooked! If you love Greek Mythology, you’ll understand and know all references made to gods like Zeus, Hera, Dionysus, Aphrodite and a lot more. Percy Jackson is always finding himself in the middle of trouble (kind of like Harry), he even has black hair and piercing green eyes. If you can get past that, the book is funny, adventurous, and easy to read.

If you are still yearning for Harry, these 2 series may put you at ease for the time being. Check them out!

Giving It Another Shot

Recently, my good friend C started her own blog. My oldest sister P-C has been writing a blog for the past few months now. I decided that if these 2 people can keep up and contribute to their blog in a timely manner, then I should really give it another go. Why? Well, I really want to write a novel and I figure as long as I blog about daily crap that happens then it will push me to really start writing and concentrate on my book. I hope it helps me.

I remember the good ol’ days when would write all the time. By the time I was in my 1st or 2nd year of college I had written 4 chapters for this silly teen romance novel. I never did go further on it, I am stuck on chapter 5. Maybe I will get motivated and complete this silly romance one day. I may be biased, but it does have a good plot line and story. It seems that Adolescent and Teen Adult novels are very popular these days with such series as Gossip Girl and A-List. Although these books are very popular amongst teenage girls these days, my novel doesn’t consist of teenage sex, drugs, language, and crassness as these books do.

The teen romance novel isn’t the book I want to write and complete. I have had another idea for my novel since I got out of college 3 years ago and during the time when I was getting married. I am writing a novel that I hope will be regarded and respected like Amy Tan, Maxine Hong Kingston, and Jhumpha Lahiri’s works. I want my book to be a bestseller. I have been an avid reader since I was a little girl and this is what I want to be — a successful writer. I am not going to give out any details because I don’t want my ideas to get stolen. I’m being safe here.

Well, wish me luck that I get the first few chapters of my novel out by the end of this year.