The Tapestry trilogy

I just finished reading the second book in The Tapestry trilogy, The Second Siege (the third book is due next year). I had a lengthy discussion with C about whether or not the series was a Harry Potter rip-off. While I have to say that there are many similarities, there are a number of differences.

The major difference, to me, anyway, is that The Tapestry books are rooted firmly in mythology. Now, don't get me wrong - Rowling is also clearly a student of mythology, and she draws on that knowledge. But The Tapestry books draw on these myths for major characters and story lines. The main character, Max McDaniels, is Cuchulain reborn, and he's frequently referred to as "the Hound of Rowan" (also the name of book one of the series). He and his roommate at Rowan, an academy for "gifted" students (really those with a talent for magic), get themselves caught up in incredible and very dangerous adventures to protect their school and the world at large from the Demon Astaroth.

Although some of the characters come across as stock characters, these are pretty good reads, and I enjoyed them. I'll be looking forward to book three.

Movie Review: Persuasion (BBC)

I watched Jane Austen's Persuasion the other night - the 2007 version that was shown on PBS' Masterpiece Theatre this past year. I also saw recently another version (1995), with Ciarin Hinds as Captain Wentworth.

I definitely liked the 2007 version better, and this mainly revolves around my dislike of Hinds as a romantic lead. Anyone who's seen a film adaptation of an Austen novel knows that the male lead is inevitably brooding. Hinds just comes across as antagonistic - something that I also found watching him play Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre. He doesn't even really come across as likable at the end of the story.

Twilight series

I just re-read the first two books in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, Twilight and New Moon. I certainly don't classify this series as classic literature or anything like that - even I was a little freaked out that I was reading a romance story that revolved around vampires and werewolves. But I do have to say that Meyer definitely tells a good story and gives you realistic characters to sink your teeth into. (Har.)

I've read some reviews that really pull Bella apart as a character, claiming she's not a believable character and that she's selfish and lets Edward tell her what to do. (This is actually why I re-read these books - I didn't remember feeling that Bella was such a whiny push-over.) And I have to say that while the Bella in New Moon is definitely a complete basket case over Edward, it's not without reason - he did leave her, and manage to convince her that he'd never come back. Other than that, I found Bella to be a very strong, believable character. She continually holds her own against vampires and werewolves, and her plan for escaping James in Twilight is way more realistic than any of the vampires'.

Edward, however, does tick me off in New Moon. I mean, for a guy who professes undying love for Bella, what the hell is he doing leaving her all alone and completely undefended? Even if he felt he had to leave, he definitely should have had some sort of contingency plan for keeping an eye on Bella, who is, after all, incapable of going anywhere or doing anything without falling down and hurting herself. Oh yeah - and some vampires have already tried to kill her.

I keep thinking back to my reading of the last two books in the series as well (I read the fourth book when it came out in August, so that's pretty fresh in my mind). Two comments: first, what the hell is with the name Reneesme?!? Second, Jacob imprinting on Reneesme still freaks me out. Not even just that he'd been all about Bella until R. showed up (by being born), but just the fact that she's an infant. I mean, come on. I know it's not even necessarily supposed to be a romantic thing on the werewolf's part, but it's still icky.

But, all criticisms aside, I loved these books. Stephenie Meyer is an amazing storyteller, and Bella and Edward are great characters. I could wish that they weren't quite so inward-oriented, since that leads to bad things; and also, the pace of Twilight is almost laughable. They dance around one another for months, barely speaking and brooding almost continuously, and then suddenly they declare that they're beyond boyfriend/girlfriend and Bella is part of the Cullen family. And then, practically the next minute, they're racing to save Bella from the tracker James. But then, it's fiction - which many reviewers don't seem to have a strong grasp on.

My Favorites

Everyone who loves books has a list in their head of their "favorite" books. Sometimes they're books that they come back to again and again, and some are books that struck a chord at a certain stage of their life. Here's my list of favorites:

JRR Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings trilogy
JK Rowling, The Harry Potter series
CS Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia series
Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
LM Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables series and Emily of New Moon series
Jane Austen, Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, Emma
Susan Cooper, The Dark is Rising series

Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl
Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls
Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Charles Dickens, David Copperfield

I can remember my first reading of each of these books or series very vividly. It's amazing how just thinking about a certain book can spark a flood of memories about what was going on in my life when I was reading it.

The Sisters Grimm

I just finished the fifth and sixth books in the series The Sisters Grimm, called Magic and Other Misdemeanors and Tales from the Hood. Each of the books in this series (there are six already published, with at least two more to come) is a fast read. There's lots of action, mystery, suspense, and fairy tale characters who turn out to be real. The Sisters Grimm are two young girls (Sabrina and Daphne) who are descendants of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, who wrote the fairy tales.

Some of the characterizations within the series can be a bit one-dimensional, but at least some of this is due to point of view issues (the main character is Sabrina, and she's got some serious issues with trust and her inability to allow certain other people to have an opinion or make a contribution). I really enjoy this series, and I especially love when fairy tales are "twisted" and you get to see an alternate version of what might have happened in the story.

These are fun reads, and I definitely recommend them. I have enjoyed reading these books as a bit of a break from some of the more serious fare that I read.

The Manchurian Candidate

Last night, we watched The Manchurian Candidate. C was watching it for a class, and I was just along for the ride.

The story is of a group of American soldiers that gets captured in Korea (in 1952) and gets brainwashed. One member of the group becomes an assassin, and upon their return to the United States after an 18-month tour, he gets introduced to his American operative.

I was really impressed with how this story unfolded. It was absolutely chilling at times - and Angela Lansbury (as the assassin's mother) is amazing. Plus, who doesn't like getting to watch Frank Sinatra thinking he's losing his mind? Old Blue Eyes is just fun to watch.

Verdict: Watch it! I'm pretty squeamish about over-the-top violence, but this movie is fairly low on the gore factor - though there are at least half-a-dozen on-screen deaths. Having said that, this is definitely a PG-13 movie. Younger children would just find it disturbing and confusing.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

I'm playing around a bit with the design/layout and also the color scheme. I'd like to get more of an ochre-colored background than the yellowish color I've got right now.

Also, I'm going to start posting my recent reads and reviewing them. Yay! I've been keeping a reading journal since I was in high school, but I've always wished that I wrote down more about what I liked/didn't like about a book. I have a pretty hazy memory of some books, and some I can't remember at all. :(