Happy belated birthday, Cindy and Cami!

When I was younger, my dad used to read me My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Gannett Stiles. It was one of our favorite stories. I had never read the story on my own, so I decided to read it. When I looked for it on Amazon, I found out there were two sequels, Elmer and the Dragon and The Dragons of Blueland.

I ordered all three books in a 50-year anniversary edition called The Three Tales of My Father’s Dragon. The stories aren’t very long and they’re an easy read since they’re children’s stories. In fact, I read all three books in two days. I think they’re fun stories and something children would enjoy.

In My Father’s Dragon, Elmer Elevator travels to Wild Island to rescue a baby dragon being held captive by the abusive animals that live there. In Elmer and the Dragon, the story continues as Elmer and the dragon make their way back to Elmer’s home. In The Dragons of Blueland, the story follows the dragon as he makes his way back home to his own family.

Happy belated birthday, Greg and Jamie!

I finished reading The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman today. It’s the third and final book in the His Dark Materials trilogy.

Although the ending was bittersweet, The Amber Spyglass is my favorite of the series.  I think this is interesting because it’s the reason for all the controversy regarding the movie and the books.

In The Amber Spyglass, Will and Lyra learn what their true destiny is. That destiny is to help Dust survive. Because Dust is created by conscious thought, they must overthrow the powers trying to stop/oppress that thought. In the case of Dust, that power is The Authority and his regent Metatron. I don’t want to give any more detail about the actual story because it’ll give away too much.

After reading The Amber Spyglass, I can understand, can being the keyword, why the Christian community is so up in arms about The Golden Compass movie. However, they’re just stories! They are so fantastical; they can’t be true! Most fantasy books have a basis in reality, but deviate and become fantasy. That’s all the His Dark Materials trilogy is. I still believe in God; in fact, I think my testimony is stronger because I realize how untrue and how fantastical the stories were as I read them.

Besides, so what if the main antagonist in the story is supposed to resemble God? In my opinion, the antagonist isn’t God. In fact, The Authority is far from God. I thought of him as just a character in a book. But, if I had to compare him to a real-life being, I would compare him to one of Satan’s minions, or Satan himself, because of the way he was described in the book. Also, in other religions (folklore, legends, mythology, etc.), there are gods that are oppressive and have been overthrown by mortals. I see this trilogy like that.

I guess the main point of my rant … I mean post … is I recommend reading the books and making up your own mind about them instead of following what other people say. However, if you don’t want to read the books or see the movie, that’s your choice; just please don’t tell others not to read them because you’ve heard they were anti-God.

My rating:

The Cullens have been cast in the Twilight movie! According to my last update, we didn’t have an Emmett or Jasper yet. That’s no longer true, so let’s meet the Cullens.

From left to right: Kellan Lutz (Emmett), Nikki Reed (Rosalie), Elizabeth Reaser (Esme), Robert Pattinson (Edward), Peter Facinelli (Carlisle), Ashley Greene (Alice), and Jackson Rathbone (Jasper).

I’m not sure how I feel about the actors portraying Carlisle, Jasper or Rosalie, but I’m willing to give them a chance. So, I’ll reserve my final judgment until I see the movie in December.

As of right now, the only major characters that aren’t cast are Jacob, Charlie, Billy, and Laurent. Of course, there are a few minor characters too (e.g. Renee, Lauren, Angela). As soon as I hear anything, I’ll post the news.

Happy belated birthday, John! Happy birthday, Rachel!

I finished reading And Then There Were None (aka The Ten Little Indians) by Agatha Christie last night. It was the book for this month’s book club and it’s a book I really, really like.

While I was a Freshman in college, I had the chance to see the play. I absolutely loved the play because I’ve always loved the story. However, because it had been so long since I read the book (some time in middle school or high school), I completely forgot what happened. While I was reading the book, I thought of the play as well as another book. And, when I got to the end of the main story, read the Epilogue and the letter from the murderer, I wasn’t positive whether I’d actually read the book. I didn’t realize the book and the play ended differently. It was such a huge surprise!

I’ve been reading about the history of the book, which I think is fascinating. There have been four titles because of the racial controversy of the original title and the subsequent ones. The book I’m pretty sure I originally read and the play I saw in college was called The Ten Little Indians. The book has been made into a couple of movies as well as the play. Agatha Christie based the book on the song “10 Little Injuns” by Septimus Winner.

Ten little Injuns standin’ in a line,
One toddled home and then there were nine;

Nine little Injuns swingin’ on a gate,
One tumbled off and then there were eight.

One little, two little, three little, four little, five little Injun boys,
Six little, seven little, eight little, nine little, ten little Injun boys.

Eight little Injuns gayest under heav’n.
One went to sleep and then there were seven;

Seven little Injuns cuttin’ up their tricks,
One broke his neck and then there were six.

Six little Injuns all alive,
One kicked the bucket and then there were five;

Five little Injuns on a cellar door,
One tumbled in and then there were four.

Four little Injuns up on a spree,
One got fuddled and then there were three;

Three little Injuns out on a canoe,
One tumbled overboard and then there were two.

Two little Injuns foolin’ with a gun,
One shot t’other and then there was one;

One little Injun livin’ all alone,
He got married and then there were none.

I love Agatha Christie’s version of the poem the murderer uses to kill his victims.  And, for your enjoyment as a teaser, I’ve included it in my post:

Ten little Indian boys went out to dine;
One choked his little self and then there were nine.

Nine little Indian boys sat up very late;
One overslept himself and then there were eight.

Eight little Indian boys travelling in Devon;
One said he’d stay there and then there were seven.

Seven little Indian boys chopping up sticks;
One chopped himself in halves and then there were six.

Six little Indian boys playing with a hive;
A bumblebee stung one and then there were five.

Five little Indian boys going in for law;
One got in Chancery and then there were four.

Four little Indian boys going out to sea;
A red herring swallowed one and then there were three.

Three little Indian boys walking in the zoo;
A big bear hugged one and then there were two.

Two little Indian boys sitting in the sun;
One got frizzled up and then there was one.

One little Indian boy left all alone;
He went and hanged himself and then there were none.

If you’ve never read the book, you really should. It’s very suspenseful and a lot of fun.

My rating:

Happy birthday, Kelsey!

Some of you may know that a fourth Indiana Jones movie’s due out this year. In fact, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will be released Thursday, May 22, 2008. You have no idea how excited I am for this movie. Do you know how long this movie has been talked about and it’s finally coming into fruition? A long, long time!

My niece Amber posted a link to the teaser for me in one of her comments. My co-workers and I all huddled around my computer watching the teaser about 15 minutes ago. We’re planning a field trip on May 22, 2008 to watch the movie. (Of course, I’ll have already seen the midnight showing with Corey, but I don’t mind seeing it a second time. )

There have been a lot of exciting updates in the Stephenie Meyer universe over the past week. And, because I’m such a huge fan, I thought I’d post some things about them.

Breaking Dawn

Last Thursday (February 7), Little, Brown Books for Young Readers announced the release date for Breaking Dawn, the fourth and final book in the Twilight Saga. It’ll be released on Saturday, August 2, 2008.

Also, a special edition of Eclipse is going to be released on May 31, 2008 with a the first chapter of Breaking Dawn.

Twilight (the movie)

More characters have been cast for the Twilight movie. Here are the actors:

• Justin Chon is Eric.
• Anna Kendrick is Jessica.
• Cam Gigandet is James.
• Michael Welch is Mike.
• Peter Facinelli is Carlisle.
• Nikki Reed is Rosalie.
• Ashley Greene is Alice.
• Elizabeth Reaser is Esme.
• Rachelle LeFevre is Victoria.
• Kellan Lutz is … . His character hasn’t been released yet. (He’ll probably be Emmett, Jasper, or Laurent.)

As of today, IMDB has been updated with only Justin Chon as part of the cast. Hopefully, they’ll update everyone else soon. Also, the movie’s scheduled to be released December 12, 2008.

The Host

Stephenie received permission from Little, Brown & Company (Adult) to post an excerpt of The Host on her website today. It’s the prologue and the fourth chapter. The Host will be released on Tuesday, May 6, 2008.

Happy belated birthday, Havilah!

In November, I posted something about looking for a book called Ravenwood. I had read it once before about 10 years ago and I couldn’t remember any of the character’s names. I just remembered the basic story and a few words always came to mind when I thought of the story. After searching for well over a week, I finally found the book. Well, I have another book conundrum and I’m hoping you can help me.

The mystery book is one that I read some time around the fourth or fifth grade. I read it for school and it was a mystery. The only thing I remember about the book is that one of the clues was an anagram of some kind. “America the Beautiful” had to do with the murderer or a victim. And, the murderer or victim was named Bertha … . I have searched Google with every keyword I can think of and I can’t find the book.

I thought it was The Ten Little Indians by Agatha Christie, but it’s not. I’m reading that book right now and I’ve discovered that I’ve meshed the two stories together for quite some time. Have you read this book? If so, please let me know what it’s called.