Eclipse is the third book in the Twilight series, continuing the love story between Bella and Edward and deepening the attachment that Bella has with Jake. As graduation approaches, Bella is holding Edward to his promise to her to make her a vampire, and he is holding her to her promise to marry him. Neither is wildly excited about keeping their promises to each other, and numerous arguments ensue about both of these issues. Edward also insists on no premarital sex, while Bella wants to go ahead and not wait until marriage; there are more discussions surrounding this issue and one scene in which Bella tries unsuccessfully to seduce Edward. Because sex is one of the "hot buttons" that I look for in teen reads for the library, I am really glad that they hold true to their commitment to wait until marriage but realistically portray how hard it is for them both to do so.
The main story line in this book is the conflict between the "good" vampires and the "bad" vampires who are after both Bella and Edward, mostly Bella. Edward enlists some very unlikely allies to help him, and the climatic battle between the warring sides is much more exciting than the one in book two between the good and evil vampires.
Jake continues to be a major figure is this book, and Bella must finally face her feelings towards him. As book three concluded, I am really looking forward to what will happen with the love triangle of Bella, Edward, and Jake as well as whether or not Bella finally gets her wish to become a vampire.
I like this book and will put it on the shelves for check out.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
New Moon
New Moon picks up where Twilight left off: Edward and his family have moved away and Bella is heart broken and depressed. She becomes friends with Jake from the nearby Indian reservation, and as they work on a project of restoring an old motorcycle, their friendship deepens. As she becomes more wrapped up in her friendship with Jake, Bella finally begins to snap out of her depression. Although her heart is still breaking for Edward, she is able to focus on something else. Bella and Jake become close; Jake wants to be more than friends, while Bella is content with friendship only.
But it turns out later that Jake is hiding a dark secret, and Bella feels rejected from him as well as Edward. As the story moves on, Edward and his family come back into the picture, with a climactic journey to Italy to face off with the evil Volturi vampire royal family.
As I said about Twilight (see below), this is a good book that encourages teenagers to read.
But it turns out later that Jake is hiding a dark secret, and Bella feels rejected from him as well as Edward. As the story moves on, Edward and his family come back into the picture, with a climactic journey to Italy to face off with the evil Volturi vampire royal family.
As I said about Twilight (see below), this is a good book that encourages teenagers to read.
Twilight
So many kids are reading this series that I knew that I needed to purchase it for the library. However, given the subject matter, I thought that I need to read it before I put them on check out.
Twilight is the story of Bella, a somewhat typical teenage girl, who falls in love with Edward, a non typical teenage vampire. I like the way Edward's true identity is foreshadowed in the story and wish I had never heard of the books so that I would not have known that she was going to discover that he was a vampire. I like the different characteristics that Meyer gives to vampires, like they are unnaturally strong, can read minds, and scoff at the garlic and mirror superstitions. Also, Edward and his family are "good" vampires who are trying to live peacefully with humans and scorn "bad" vampires who kill humans wantonly.
Twilight is a love story between Bella and Edward and is quite sensual without being sexual in nature. They hold each other close and occasionally kiss, but that is about it. Actually, the kissing part kind of creeps me out, as kissing the "cold, marble lips" of Edward sounds disgusting and how it turns her on is a mystery to me. But the bottom line is, no sex, and that is what I like about a book for teenagers.
The story also has quite a bit of excitement, like trying to escape being killed by the "bad" vampires. Lots of action ensues when Bella begins being pursued by an evil vampire who is out only to suck her blood and Edward and his family try to protect her.
Overall, I did like the book. It is not a book I would choose to read if I were not a high school librarian since it definitely appeals to teenagers and I did get bored at some places. However, this series is getting kids to read, and that alone makes it worthwhile.
Twilight is the story of Bella, a somewhat typical teenage girl, who falls in love with Edward, a non typical teenage vampire. I like the way Edward's true identity is foreshadowed in the story and wish I had never heard of the books so that I would not have known that she was going to discover that he was a vampire. I like the different characteristics that Meyer gives to vampires, like they are unnaturally strong, can read minds, and scoff at the garlic and mirror superstitions. Also, Edward and his family are "good" vampires who are trying to live peacefully with humans and scorn "bad" vampires who kill humans wantonly.
Twilight is a love story between Bella and Edward and is quite sensual without being sexual in nature. They hold each other close and occasionally kiss, but that is about it. Actually, the kissing part kind of creeps me out, as kissing the "cold, marble lips" of Edward sounds disgusting and how it turns her on is a mystery to me. But the bottom line is, no sex, and that is what I like about a book for teenagers.
The story also has quite a bit of excitement, like trying to escape being killed by the "bad" vampires. Lots of action ensues when Bella begins being pursued by an evil vampire who is out only to suck her blood and Edward and his family try to protect her.
Overall, I did like the book. It is not a book I would choose to read if I were not a high school librarian since it definitely appeals to teenagers and I did get bored at some places. However, this series is getting kids to read, and that alone makes it worthwhile.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Imitation of Life
I had never heard of this movie until Netflix recommended it for me. I rented both the 1934 version (Claudette Colbert) and the 1957 version (Lana Turner). They were both good; I liked the older one a little better. Then, because I got interested in it, I found the book on Amazon and ordered it. Wow, was it good! It was SO much better than either movie, and the Lana Turner version was WAY off the mark.
The book is the story of Bea Pullman from her late teen years (it actually opens at the death of her mother when she is about 16 or 17) until her mid thirties. It is the story of her marriage, her daughter Jessie, and her sudden poverty after an early widowhood. In the early thirties, before women are outside the home much, Bea is forced to be the breadwinner, providing for her invalid father, infant daughter, and herself. Delilah, a widowed black woman with a daughter (Peola) of the same age as Jessie, becomes her cook, nanny, and sitter for her father in exchange for room and board.
Bea's only hope at making a living is to go door to door to businesses selling the maple syrup that her late husband used to do as just a sideline. Eventually, she realizes that she can sell the candies that Delilah makes from the syrup, and later the waffles from Delilah's special recipe. An empire is born. After many years of struggle, Bea becomes quite the entrepreneur and business woman who is the talk of Wall Street. The story continues with the story of Bea's relationship with her daughter, her close friendship and deep respect for Delilah, and her longing for a marriage with a man she loves (Boy, does this story line have a surprise ending if you saw the movie first! I was blown away!).
The second story line of the light-skinned Peola wanting to "pass" and disowning Delilah is a very minor plot line in the book, unlike both movies, where it is the major part of the plot. Yes, it happens and my heart broke for Delilah as I read the book, but the conflict between Peola and Delilah does not even begin for real until almost 200 pages into the book. It is foreshadowed earlier in the book, but it is not in the book from beginning to end, like it is in both movies. You will find yet another surprise ending to this plot line if you saw the movie first.
I highly recommend the book and both movies of Imitation of Life.
The book is the story of Bea Pullman from her late teen years (it actually opens at the death of her mother when she is about 16 or 17) until her mid thirties. It is the story of her marriage, her daughter Jessie, and her sudden poverty after an early widowhood. In the early thirties, before women are outside the home much, Bea is forced to be the breadwinner, providing for her invalid father, infant daughter, and herself. Delilah, a widowed black woman with a daughter (Peola) of the same age as Jessie, becomes her cook, nanny, and sitter for her father in exchange for room and board.
Bea's only hope at making a living is to go door to door to businesses selling the maple syrup that her late husband used to do as just a sideline. Eventually, she realizes that she can sell the candies that Delilah makes from the syrup, and later the waffles from Delilah's special recipe. An empire is born. After many years of struggle, Bea becomes quite the entrepreneur and business woman who is the talk of Wall Street. The story continues with the story of Bea's relationship with her daughter, her close friendship and deep respect for Delilah, and her longing for a marriage with a man she loves (Boy, does this story line have a surprise ending if you saw the movie first! I was blown away!).
The second story line of the light-skinned Peola wanting to "pass" and disowning Delilah is a very minor plot line in the book, unlike both movies, where it is the major part of the plot. Yes, it happens and my heart broke for Delilah as I read the book, but the conflict between Peola and Delilah does not even begin for real until almost 200 pages into the book. It is foreshadowed earlier in the book, but it is not in the book from beginning to end, like it is in both movies. You will find yet another surprise ending to this plot line if you saw the movie first.
I highly recommend the book and both movies of Imitation of Life.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Reflections of 2008
Happy New Year! What a wild ride the past few days have been! Mama had chest pains last Saturday, and we went to the ER. Because she was having no more symptoms and her yearly physical was scheduled for Monday, the ER doc sent her home and let her take copies of the EKG and other reports with her to show to the dr. on Monday. On Monday, the dr. scheduled her for a stress test Tuesday morning. I got a call Tuesday morning from the hospital saying that she had chest pains during the stress test and that she would be taken to St. Dom. by ambulance and that I needed to call Daddy. I got him on the cell; he was on the deer stand in Leake County. We all finally got together and made it out to the hospital; she was on a nitro drip and had given her nitro for under the tongue. Our preacher made it out there as well.
When the ambulance showed up, an old friend, Philip, was the driver; we did not know that he had recently gotten his EMT license. He let David ride "shotgun" down there. Daddy wanted to run home and shave and change, and I ran a couple of errands, then we left. When we got there, she had just been wheeled into the heart cath. I was so glad that David had gone on down there since we did not get there in time to see the dr. The doc told him that when she was given the chemical stress test, the chemical actually broke a clot loose. We waited in the ICU waiting room, and Carol Anne and Kaci got there in the mean time. When they called, they said that they had found a blockage and would put in a stent. Later the dr. told us that the LDA (lateral descending artery), called the "widowmaker," was the artery that was blocked. The widowmaker is also one of the three that David's mother had blocked in June and had stents put in. He said that the blockage was the cause of her chest pains on Saturday. He was very complimentary of the hospital in Kosciusko for acting so quickly with the clot buster; he said that it had done its job and that their quick administering it to her had kept the heart from having more damage. She spent the night in the ICU, then got moved to a room yesterday. When we left yesterday afternoon, she had eaten and walked. The dr. will probably let her go today.
So that is how 2008 ended for me. It certainly makes me thankful for my many blessings over the past 12 months--David's successful surgery, our new daughter-in-law-to-be, David's mother's successful heart procedure, and that nothing worse happened to Mama's heart. I plan to read a lot in the new year and enjoy the wedding plans. The Lord is faithful.
(A few hours later) P.S. Mama and Daddy got home today. The dr. told her this morning that she definitely had a heart attack and that if it had not happened like it did, she would not be here. God is good--ALL THE TIME.
When the ambulance showed up, an old friend, Philip, was the driver; we did not know that he had recently gotten his EMT license. He let David ride "shotgun" down there. Daddy wanted to run home and shave and change, and I ran a couple of errands, then we left. When we got there, she had just been wheeled into the heart cath. I was so glad that David had gone on down there since we did not get there in time to see the dr. The doc told him that when she was given the chemical stress test, the chemical actually broke a clot loose. We waited in the ICU waiting room, and Carol Anne and Kaci got there in the mean time. When they called, they said that they had found a blockage and would put in a stent. Later the dr. told us that the LDA (lateral descending artery), called the "widowmaker," was the artery that was blocked. The widowmaker is also one of the three that David's mother had blocked in June and had stents put in. He said that the blockage was the cause of her chest pains on Saturday. He was very complimentary of the hospital in Kosciusko for acting so quickly with the clot buster; he said that it had done its job and that their quick administering it to her had kept the heart from having more damage. She spent the night in the ICU, then got moved to a room yesterday. When we left yesterday afternoon, she had eaten and walked. The dr. will probably let her go today.
So that is how 2008 ended for me. It certainly makes me thankful for my many blessings over the past 12 months--David's successful surgery, our new daughter-in-law-to-be, David's mother's successful heart procedure, and that nothing worse happened to Mama's heart. I plan to read a lot in the new year and enjoy the wedding plans. The Lord is faithful.
(A few hours later) P.S. Mama and Daddy got home today. The dr. told her this morning that she definitely had a heart attack and that if it had not happened like it did, she would not be here. God is good--ALL THE TIME.
The Memory of Old Jack
After reading Jayber Crow, I wanted to read more of Wendell Berry, so I bought several books and started with this one. The book is not very long, but packed with so much. It is told in flashback style with Jack remembering different parts of his life, a different event, person, or memory is each chapter. Several of the characters are also in Jayber Crow and promise to be in some of the future books that I will read. The book ended on a sad note, but paradoxically happy about Jack's long and eventful life. One of Berry's favorite themes, the dying out of the simple American farmer, is in this book as well. I highly recommend it and will take a brief break from reading Berry to read a couple of other things before I get to Hannah Coulter.
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