#BooksWithBeddes: Reboot by Amy Tintera

Title: Reboot *link goes to my Goodreads review*

Author: Amy Tintera

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Ehhh, I don't know what it was about this one, but I didn't love it. I didn't hate it either, which was a bit of a relief. The premise was super interesting. After a devastating virus kills most of the population, a handful begin to rise again from the dead, "rebooted". However, these reboots are stronger, faster and less emotional. Sort of sociopathic clones. Anyways, the HARC is the domineering, controlling governmental agency designed to house these reboots and use them to capture criminals and clean up the streets. 

I couldn't get out of my head the idea of zombies, especially since one experiment makes some of the reboots go out of control and start tearing into people. I'm not a huge zombie fan, so that lessened my appreciation somewhat. The other part was just how unbelievable the central love story was. 

The protagonist, Wren 178, was dead for 178 mins before rebooting. The longer you are dead, the less human you are when you return. So it's really hard to identify with her emotionally when she is so dead on the inside. Except that she isn't. She still has feelings, even though she isn't supposed to have them? And then her love interest, Callum, still has all of his human emotions and he loves Wren for some inexplicable reason? I don't know. I like love stories to have a little more meat on the bones than "Oh she's pretty? I must like her then!"

Oh well. I did find there is a second book, I don't know if I'm super interested in finding out how it all ends though...

#BooksWithBeddes: Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

Title: Days of Blood and Starlight *link goes to my Goodreads review*

Author: Laini Taylor

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

For someone who reads as much as I do, it's odd that such a big book gives me pause. A 300 pg book? Psh! Done in no time. Start creeping over 400 pages and suddenly, I have the hardest time maintaining interest enough to get started. Never mind that once I get started I get completely swept away. 

Well, most of the time. Days of Blood and Starlight is a different story. There is so much going on and so much at stake, that I had to stop after every couple of chapters to maintain my emotional balance. (I really get into books.)

The premise: Karou is one of the Chimaera, the half human-half creature race that are in open rebellion to the Seraphim, a race of angels with blazing wings. In the first book, she learns of a betrayal from someone close to her and in this second one, she must decide how far she is willing to take things in her need to avenge her race. 

This series takes an interesting look into the nature of war and the people who fight in it. Neither side is innocent, that much is painfully clear as the book goes on. But how do you stop fighting once you start? How do you answer someone's pain that you've caused? 

Days of Blood and Starlight is aptly named. Since it is war that they are involved in, there is so much death and blood. I am afraid that there could never be a movie because to do it right would be too gruesome for the silver screen. There is also the matter of the pain tithe for magic. Even though this concept is brutal, it makes so much sense. You can't get something from nothing (although that seems like the very purpose of magic) and in this world, to conduct any sort of magic, you need a reservoir of pain to purchase it. Cringeworthy, indeed, but it makes you think more about what is worth the pain. 

If you had the power to do anything you wanted, but at a cost, would you still do it?

#BooksWithBeddes: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo

Title: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane                              *link goes to my Goodreads review*

Author: Kate DiCamillo

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This may be the book nerd in me, but I've always wanted to be part of a book club. I love reading books, but it's even better when you can share books with other people and talk about your thoughts and feelings. It makes me think more deeply about the things I read and helps broaden my literary taste and helps me see things from other people's perspectives. 

Book clubs are tricky, because it seems really daunting to start one, but then again if you don't start one, you have to wait to be invited to one. When I moved to my first official job, somehow (I don't really remember) but somehow I got invited to a book club and I loved it. I got to know more people in the community, I was surrounded by other readers, and we discussed books! Dream come true. 

This is the explanation behind  this book, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. It was this month's book club book, and a little different than the ones we've read before. First of all, it's a children's book, I would say 8-10 year old. But it's so good. I love saying that because at first, I was a little skeptical about reading it. Not that I couldn't, just why would I want to? I'm glad to say, this little book changed my mind.

Simply put, it's about a china rabbit who is cold and uncaring. He is separated from his owner and goes on many different kinds of adventures and learns about love along the way. So sweet and so much heart. This would be a lovely bedtime book, to read a chapter each night with a child. Some day, right? 

Good Eats: Molly's

Good Eats: I'm a fan of food. So for my Good Eats series, I will highlight either good recipes or restaurants that I've recently come across.

Restaurant Review: Molly's

Last Friday was Girls Night Out (GNO henceforth) to see Pride and Prejudice at BYU. Of course, with such an event, you have to go out for dinner! I've always wanted to try Molly's while I was going to school in Provo, but it was only open for lunch and it was inconvenient. Well, ta da! It was open for dinner on Friday. 

We popped on by and it was busy! Which is always a good sign. The restaurant was a little small, but the food was delicious. The eating area was light and friendly. It is homestyle BBQ with the most gorgeous dinner rolls I think I've ever seen. The lemonade was sweet with a little splash of pineapple juice, which made is 10x better than any other lemonade I've had recently.

Lastly, if nothing else convinces you, four words: chocolate-cream-cheese-cake. Yes, it was real and it was beautiful delicious.

Entertainment Wednesday: Community

Entertainment Wednesday: Once a week, I will highlight some pop culture element that I'm currently enjoying at the moment. Sound off in the comments if there is something that I need to see.

Community on NBC: A critical darling with a cult following. I do love the absurd, so my taste in TV shows is a little bizarre. I like Parks and Rec but I hate The Office. I do NOT like Arrested Development but I like 30 Rock. 

I was a little worried that it would be strange, considering the very small but very vocal minority at my school that was advocating it. But when one is stranded at a drama competition two hours away, one commits to certain things. 

I started watching it on Sunday...which turned into an all-day affair. Then Monday after school. And Tuesday. I've made it through Season 1 already. 

Community is fantastic for several reasons. 1.) Endlessly quotable 2.) Highly unique 3.) Fast paced and always engaging 4.) A lovable group of misfits. I realize that I am probably behind the times but I fully support this TV show.

Be warned, I've been told that I have a fascination with jerks. I loved TV jerks. Elliot from Leverage, Danny Castellano from The Mindy Project, Jake Peralta from Brooklyn 99. So Jeff Winger is a tool,  I will admit that. But I can't help it! I love him still. 

The real gem of the show, though, is Abed. His observations on human nature and media stereotypes is hilarious, wise, timely and brilliant. 

So give it a shot if you haven't yet. Let me know when you get to the Paintball episode. Oh, you'll know what I mean when you see it.

#BooksWithBeddes: 300th Book Read Celebration

Folks, this is an occasion: My 300th read book is official on Goodreads as of tonight! We must do what we can to celebrate. I've included my Goodreads review for your viewing pleasure. And this is how I celebrate! (I live the adventurous life.)


Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Three and half stars, I think.
Genre: retold classic, alternative narrators. love triangles
Summary: This is the story of Peter Pan, but told from Tinkerbell's point of view as an omniscient third person narrator. As a fairy, she can tell the thought, feelings and memories of the people around her. She is tied to Tiger Lily first, and of course, Peter, later. Tinkerbell narrates Tiger Lily's background and how she meets and falls in love with Peter. But it isn't a love affair that is meant to last because Tiger Lily is engaged to be married, Captain Hook wants Peter Pan dead, and another girl, by the name of Wendy, comes into the picture.
Response: This was a suggestion by one of my students, and I had to read it quick because she had already promised it to another friend. It was a quick read.
The writing was beautiful and had a haunting sort of lyricism to it. I love the unusual narrator. I don't really like Tinkerbell as a character from the original Disney story, or her other reincarnations in those straight-to-DVD movies. But Tinkerbell as the narrator is genius. The author explains why she can't talk, and how she met Tiger Lily, Peter Pan and the Lost Boys.  As a fairy, she is privy to people's thoughts, and feelings, even the ones that are kept deep inside.
This Neverland was parts beauty, mystery and danger. This retelling of Peter Pan had a much darker edge to it that I was expecting. It wasn't the Neverland of Disney's imagination. In a way, it was an appropriate Neverland for a grown up audience.
Tiger Lily wasn't the most sympathetic character. I felt she was too cold and distant for me to really care about her, but the supporting cast of characters were spot on. I think this book broke my heart a little, but it also patched it up too.


View all my reviews

The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown (Movie Review)

Or in other words, Stockholm Syndrome on the Silver Screen.

Sometimes, I get in movie phases. Recently, I've been in a black-and-white kind of mood. I do have quite the collection on hand of pre-1960 movies, but sometimes, it's nice to try something that you've never seen and have no reference for. Hence, Netflix!

Netflix knows me so well. There is a whole queue of classic films, just for me. ;)

The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown

Ironically, there wasn't a hint of pink to be seen in the whole movie! I'd like to know where people get the titles from sometimes. The only nightgown on screen was clearly white and was the most modest thing I've ever seen. Unless they mentioned it was pink in the script and I just didn't hear it? But even in black and white film, you can tell when something is supposed to be colored, right?

Look at that nightgown: pioneers wore more revealing things!

Anyway, I can't say this film has lots to recommend it. Jane Russell is supposed to be a big deal, and she was appropriately the best part of the movie. Everyone else was very stiff, especially her romantic lead.

However, the part that intrigued me, was at the very beginning. Jane drives through the studio lot, obviously a big deal by how easily she breezes by everything. She parks where she wants and tells her producer that she wants more shots of her in the trailer she previews. So I expect her to be another Singin' in the Rain drama queen: shallow, conceited and not too bright.

I was surprised then when she was talking to a friend, getting ready for a premiere when she says that it was ok for everyone to boss her around, but when she tries to do the EXACT SAME THINGS, she is villainized for it. And it's so true. Women in male dominated fields are villified for demonstrating the same traits that male counterparts earn praise for. And I was intrigued that she would express that opinion, which was pretty forward thinking for a film from the 50's.

Otherwise, the script is pretty weak, the acting more-so, and the premise that one would fall in love with someone that originally just wanted to take (monetary) advantage of them is kind of squirm-worthy. But I will say Jane's actress is a note-worthy feminist trying to have some control over her career and I found it blog-worthy.

The End.

Swayze Night with the Sister

To preface this post, I've wanted to see this movie for ages, like ever since I fell deeply in love with Tom Jones and his "She's a Lady" song. 

I found out that it was featured on this movie with the super long title, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar. Basically, it features Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes, and John Leguizamo as drag queens. And basically, they change everyone's live they meet. 

It was a little hard to get past Swayze in a dress. But he was just so CLASSY. Seriously, I would have worn any one of Swayze outfits. 

I found out that Swayze and Snipes were up for the Academy awards for best actor and best supporting actor. Dudes, they totally should have gotten it. You try acting wearing high heels and well tailored dresses.

Of course, it can't be Swayze night without another Swayze film. And that is the ultimate classic, Dirty Dancing. 

                                                        

Mmmmmhmm, folks, Johnny Castle. The sis and I have a lot of fun imagining the perfect casting of the ultimate remake. You know it's going to happen eventually. 

This is what we think so far: 

Baby: Jennifer Lawerence (seriously, she is basically perfect for every role.)

Johnny Castle: Tatum Channing

Baby's father: Mark Harmon

Baby's mother: Jennifer Grey (it would be perfect if she did a cameo as the mother)

uhhhh...that is about as far as we got. But it would be perfect if Hollywood would just listen to us!

Apparently, I need to watch Ghost, another Swayze classic. It's too bad he went so young and such a hard way to go. Very talented actor.

Um, this is kind of AWESOME

I spied it in the library and I HAD to get it. Mostly because I saw a preview of it on another movie and I noticed James MacAvoy was in it as Macbeth, and I was like, DANG, that has to be good. So I finally checked it out and ladies and gentlemen...
It has blown me away. They retell four of Shakespeare's classic plays: Taming of the Shrew, Much Ado about Nothing, Macbeth, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. I watched two today and they were SUPERB. You'd think that there wouldn't be much more that could be said about the Bard, but the way the actors and directors interpreted the play...they seriously couldn't have done a better job. They made it classic and contemporary all at once. Believable yet delightfully imaginative. LOVED IT.
BBC, you've done yourself proud.
Review? Consider it highly recommended.

Bruno Mars + Janelle Monae

 Like I mentioned before, this was my first "real" concert that I've attended. It was loud. Awesome. Overall, it was a good experience. I've included a couple of videos from Bruno Mars' songs. The sound is pretty good, even if the video is lacking. Also, there were these girls in front of us who were beyond annoying, so just do as we did and try to ignore them.
Janelle Monae was super talented and she sang all the songs that I wanted her to sing. Her voice was awesome. She did drift around on the vocal scale a little to showcase her voice which got a little old but still she was absolutely unique.
Bruno Mars was just as talented and a little more mainstream. But oh my goodness, all the pre-teen girls in the audience went absolutely WILD. I wasn't as familiar with Bruno's songs, so I wasn't as involved.
Wahla! My first legitimate concert. Check.

Good Eats: Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

At the start of the new spring semester, we got new FHE families. (For those of you who unfamiliar with LDS terminology, go here.) I wanted to make a good impression on my fellow wardmates, so I brainstormed some good eats ideas. Nay was in a cookie mood, so she suggested Cookies and Cream cupcakes. At first I was hesitant, but I found a recipe. (Here)
Aaaand, it was a hit!
Seriously, these are good stuff. A little on the rich side, so they are definitely a special time dessert. But they are soo good.
When I was topping them off with the icing, I kind of felt like DC Cupcakes except without all the drama and whining. I don't really understand the whole cupcake craze. I mean, seriously, a whole wedding cake out of cupcakes? But they are ok sometimes, and this recipe is so good. It's definitely going in my cookbook.

Movie Review: Something Borrowed

UPDATE: My Something Borrowed post came back! Woo! Thanks, Blogger!
 
So I just got home from watching this movie and I have to vent. To be considered a valid movie critic I should probably wait [probably] and put some objective thought into this, but nah, we are just going to go with what comes to mind.

Totally not worth the almost two hour run time. [I know, I know. I regularly watch movies with much longer run times. The thing is, they are actually good. So there, take that Hollywood.]

Rachel is in love with Dex for years but he is going to marry her best jerk-of-a-friend Darcy. Thanks to an overabundance of alcohol, Dex finds out that Rachel likes him and he tells her that he likes her back. Well, what do you know? Thus, the plot of the movie revolves around Rachel and Dex trying to figure out this thing [I am not even going to dignify whatever they have with the term "relationship"] while keeping Darcy in the dark. Meanwhile, Darcy has her own secrets and Johnathan Krasinski plays Rachel's other best friend who has his own flame.

Flaws:

1. Rachel plays the victim the whole movie. Enough with the "woe is me" crap. Grow a backbone, woman!
2. Rachel constantly enables Darcy's narcissism. It begins to drag on after awhile.
3. Darcy is a jerk without a soul who only likes to party. I can handle jerks as long as there is some explanation. No one becomes a jerk just because. There is always a reason and it's lazy screenwriting to not go into it.
4. Dex is passive, personality-less, and cowardly. [Albeit, he is attractive. This is his only strength in the entire movie.] Seriously man, be a man.
5. Way too much sex for the sake of sex without any meaning.
6. Rachel ends up with the wrong guy. [Strictly a matter of opinion, but hey, it's my blog.]
7. I hate the best friend love story. Breaks my heart every  time.

Strengths:

1. John Krasinski is really the only likable character. However, he has his own flaws, which in the end work in his favor. He isn't perfect but he is a heck of a lot better than the rest of the characters.
2. Like I mentioned earlier, Dex is attractive. That is his only strength. Except, over the course of the movie he loses man-points by failing to stand up to his fiance, chase his dreams, go after the girl he actually loves, admit his real feelings, to stand up to his parents, etc, etc. What does Rachel see in him? Only heaven knows, really, at this point. I'm pretty sure she doesn't even know why she likes the man.

Summary:

I knew from the get-go that this movie wasn't garnering rave reviews, so I pretty much got what I asked for. Still, it had such potential if only it was completely different...

P.S: I spent the whole movie trying to figure this out, but what exactly is the "something borrowed" that the title referred to? I realize that this movie is based on a book [it's definitely not on the "to-read" list] with the same title, but really, it doesn't make any sense. I get that it is referencing the whole "something borrowed, something blue, something old and something new" wedding tradition but either I missed the borrowed metaphor or it was completely absent which is another example of bad writing. Trust me, it's all in the hand of the writers.

Good Eats: JCW Burger Boys

A variety of condiments!

Sometimes my roommates and I joke around that we should start a burger blog. Actually, we aren't joking that much. There is a startling variety of burger places in Utah Valley. And we eat at a lot of them and we still haven't run out of new burger places to eat at. So, like I said, we kind of like burger pros or something.
I had read about JCW's when they were still in Lehi or American Fork (so far enough away from Provo that it would have been an extra special trip to make it out there for just a simple dinner). But then they moved to Provo! And poof, we had no more excuses not to go. So we did.
It was a celebratory end-of-semester/finals thing with the roomies.

Product Placement

 Overall, the food is really good burger food. The fries were nice and thick and hot! The burgers were huge and they had a variety of toppings and flavors. Seriously, if you get more than one patty, it makes it hard to get into your mouth. The buns were different too. I can't really describe it which is another sign that I am not the best food blogger, but one fault was that the buns crumbled pretty quickly as you were trying to eat the thing. So there were some pros and cons there.

This is Stell's "how-am-I-supposed-to-eat-this-thing" face

Close up shot of the goodness...

So definitely wouldn't come here every night for health reasons (obviously...) and a little pricey but if you want some good burger joint food with a nice, clean atmosphere, JCW's is a good choice. If you are at all familiar with the Burger Supreme/Crown Burger/Apollo Burger (I swear, they were all started by the same people...) chain here in UT then you have a pretty good idea of what the food tastes like but unlike those places which are very dark on the inside (maroon tiling and dark wood paneling come off somewhat dour when you are trying to enjoy your dinner) JCW's is bright, clean, and happy.

My Shake face. Specifically ice cream shake-face.

Oh! And their ice cream is de-lish. They also come in huge sizes, so underestimate your hunger pains and get a small or mini. Trust me, you will be glad you did. You don't get as much for your money as say Iceberg shakes, but in the world of ice cream, they are not too shabby.
P.S. Blogger has been all sorts of messed up. I don't know where my review on the movie Something Borrowed  went, but I am kinda bummed that it is gone now...I don't have the energy to rant about it again. Hopefully it will get restored. It was a good one too. :(