Well-Mannered Frivolity

In honor of the upcoming Harry Potter reading challenge

Wendy

1 day countdown to Learn Nothing Day

Tomorrow is Learn Nothing Day, and unschooling holiday of sorts. I can't wait to see what learning activities we will have to give up.

Wendy

Looks like I will be rereading Harry Potter

 

Calling all muggles!  Do you aspire to master the craft of wizardry or witchcraft?  Well if so you can start your research here!

**waves wand**

Introducing the Harry Potter Reading Challenge

<<cough cough>> Dang all that awesome mist and fog is getting me all verklempt.

Anyway, the deets:

What: Read or listen to all seven books in the Harry Potter series

• Sorcerer’s Stone
• Chamber of Secrets
• Prisoner of Azkaban
• Goblet of Fire
• Order of the Pheonix
• Half-Blood Prince
• Deathly Hallows

When: The challenge will run from August 1, 2009 to July 31, 2010.  I know we’re all busy with life and work and other such fun things so join up whenever you want, there are no deadlines to the challenge besides the end date above. 

Where: E-to the Everywhere!  Post reviews on your blog, chat about it on messageboards, post vlogs or podcasts, comment on and converse about it in the monthly post I create here on Galleysmith.  It’s entirely up to you, as long as there is some evidence of your having completed each book along the way you are good to go.

If you want to play along you can sign up here

Wendy

12 Rounds

We watched 12 Rounds starring John Cena tonight. Lest you think I am a negligent mother for allowing my children to watch such a violent movie (and let us not forget the bad language), you can rest assured in the knowledge that they only watch violent (and bad language) saturated movies if they star professional wrestlers. 

12 Rounds wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. It was all action with very little actual acting which was a good thing. I mean, I like John Cena (I mean, he's nowhere near  Edge), but let's face it, it's a good thing he has professional wrestling to fall back on.

12 Rounds was also much better than Cena's previous flick, The Marine.The Marine featured a scene where some gangster types were wandering around the marsh in South Carolina, during the middle of Summer, wearing suits. People, I live in South Carolina. I wouldn 't even wander around my own backyard in a suit, let alone the marsh. Just thinking about the unreasonably summertime weather (and Edge) has me a little sweaty.

What the hell was I talking about? Oh yeah, 12 Rounds. While 12 Rounds was much better than I expected, it wasn't the all time greatest movie starring a pro wrestler. That dubious honor goes to John Carpenter's  They Live starring Rowdy Roddy Piper. How could you not love a movie that features the memorable quote "I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass... and I'm all out of bubblegum." That's good stuff, I tell ya.

One more thing....after I did a little poking around on  IMDB.com I have discovered a remake of They Live will be out in 2011. Seriously?

<3

Wendy

Teaser Tuesday

 Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!   

"The yellow light in the cabin is unusually dark. I blink repeatedly and hold the gun limply in my hands"
Q & A: A Novel  Vikas Swarup

<3,
Wendy

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

She had a taste for sugar, however, and this meant that a doughnut or a cake might follow the sandwich. She was a traditionally built lady, after all, and she did not have to worry about dress size, unlike those poor, neurotic people who were always looking in mirrors and thinking that they were too big.

Morality for Beautiful Girls (No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, Book 3)
Alexander McCall Smith

<3
Wendy

The Sunday Salon

It's just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . . Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak's groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can't resist-books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau. This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.

I don't remember where I first heard about The Book Thief. I probably read about in on someone's blog and then put it on hold at the library and  promptly forgot about it. I do that a lot. I wish I could thank whoever recommended it to me. It would not be an exaggeration to say that The Book Thief is now in my top 5 list. Maybe even top 3.

Liesel, the book thief, pockets her first book at the age of 9 at her younger brother's funeral. The book is The Gravedigger's Handbook. After she arrives at her foster parent's house she starts having nightmares about her brother's death. Her foster father, Hans, reads to Liesel from the Gravedigger's Handbook each night after she awakens from her nightmares. Then Han's uses the book to teach her how to read.  Later, she "acquires" more books--some stolen, some given to her, and some made for her. 

Leisel's story is narrated by Death.  I was a little put off by this at first. I thought it might make the tone of the book a little pretentious. I was wrong.  Death really takes you through depth of the human spirit, both cruel and humane. I was brought to the brink of despair, and then a little sliver of hope would shine through. Just as I was feeling hopeful, despair came back, and so on.  By the end of the book I was sobbing for both the good and the bad.

I will be sad to hand this one back over to the library.

<3
Wendy

Somebody had entirely too much time on his hands

Wendy

Cute or creepy?

Wendy

Enjoy

Natalie Portman's Shaved Head - Sophisticated Side Ponytail

<3,
Wendy