A Kiss at Midnight by Eloisa James

A Kiss at Midnight. Finished 5-4-13, rating 4.25/5, romance, 370 pages, pub. 2010

Kate is 24 and lives at home with her stepmother and stepsister.  Forced to attend a ball acting as her sister, Kate meets Prince Gabriel and the expected sparks fly.  Only Kate is pretending to be betrothed to his cousin and he is expecting the arrival of his future princess.  What will happen?  I’ll never tell

This is the retelling of Cinderella, but aside from the evil stepmother and Kate wearing glass shoes one night I didn’t really see it.  The beginning with Kate’s stepmother seemed so separate from the rest of the book.  I liked Kate and Gabriel, enjoyed their interaction and really did feel their connection.  I felt it so much that the dueling storylines of what was keeping them apart seemed thin, like there should have been more.

That being said I enjoyed this lighthearted romp and liked the many characters at the palace for the ball.  Gabriel had a kind heart and was one hot prince!  Kate was a smart enough heroine, the men seemed to respond to her wit which I liked.  Overall I had fun with this one.

This was from my personal library.

Children’s Book Week Quiz – guessing closed

When I saw over at Jill’s (Rhapsody in Books) that it was Children’s Book Week I knew there would be a quiz   Let’s see if you can tell me the titles of these well-loved kids books.

I hope that you’ll try your hand at my (mostly) bookish quizzes every week, but it’s okay if you just want to play when the quiz interests you.  If you play you are eligible for a prize at the end of the round (sometime in June).  For all of the details, click here.  Submit your answers in the comment section – I will stop by and hide them throughout the week but try not to copy off anyone else    You have til Sunday to guess.

No need to know all the answers, one guess and you’ll be eligible for a prize. 

1.Harry the Dirty Dog 2.Corduroy 3.The Story of Babar the Little Elephant 4.Where the Wild Things Are 5.The Very Hungary Caterpillar 6.Harold & the Purple Crayon 7.Chicka Chicka Boom Boom 8.Blueberries for Sal 9.Make Way for Ducklings 10.The Little Engine That Could

(and I apologize that I still have not really figured out my new computer so there is no photo editing )

Answers to last week’s Age Quiz here.  Leaderboard here.

Being a mom on Mother’s Day

It ‘s almost hard to remember what my expectations were before becoming a mom.  I vaguely remember thinking that I knew it would be hard, but that I was obviously stronger than the normal woman and would handle it with ease.  I also remember that when I occasionally envisioned my small one that I pictured all of the sedate activities that I enjoyed, coloring, reading, games- you know, things that require  staying in one place for a period of time.  Oh, the joy of pregnancy, when all of these things were still possibilities

I am not a baby person.  Before I was pregnant I often joked that if I could pop out a 4-year-old we would have had six kids.  In this, my expectations panned out.  I think that first year was just to test my toughness.  My toughness is still tested every day, but that first year was something I don’t think I could handle again and get my sanity back when it was over.  Even during these terrible twos, Gage makes me smile and laugh in amazement at his intelligence and personality.  Life as a mother gets better every day and I am so blessed.

I am not the mother I thought I would be, but I am the mother Gage has got and I am trying to be the best one I can.  He inspires me to be better.

Happy Mother’s Day, ladies.  I finally feel like I’m enjoying motherhood enough to appreciate the day   It’s easy when I have this face to kiss every morning…

These were all taken the last week.  Can you believe how big he’s getting?

Age Game Quiz – guessing closed

I did this one a few years ago and thought we’d try it with some new authors and even some categories!  Just tell me who you think is youngest, if there’s more than two then list them in order from youngest to oldest.  I was surprised at the age of some!

I hope that you’ll try your hand at my (mostly) bookish quizzes every week, but it’s okay if you just want to play when the quiz interests you.  If you play you are eligible for a prize at the end of the round (sometime in June).  For all of the details, click here.  Submit your answers in the comment section – I will stop by and hide them throughout the week but try not to copy off anyone else    You have til Sunday to guess.

No need to know all the answers, one guess and you’ll be eligible for a prize. 

No Googling:)

List from Youngest to Oldest

The 20 somethings

1. Veronica Roth 24, Christopher Paolini 29

The 30 somethings

2. Maggie Stiefvater 31, John Green 35, Stephenie Meyer 39

The 40 somethings

3.  Sophie Kinsella 43, Nicholas Sparks 47, Michael Chabon 49

The 50 somethings

4. Suzanne Collins 50, E.L. James 50, Meg Wolitzer 53

The 60 somethings

5. Charlaine Harris 61,Debbie Macomber 64, George R..R. Martin 64

The 70 somethings

6. Janet Evanovich 70, Sue Grafton 73, Stuart Woods 75

The 80 somethings

7. Fern Michaels 80, John le Carre 81, Clive Cussler 81

The college fraternity brothers

8. Dan Brown 48, Harlen Coben 51

Those amusing non-fiction (sometimes) authors

9. Mary Roach 54, David Sedaris 56, Anna Quindlen 60

Not every author is from America

10. Jo Nesbo 53, Hilary Mantel 60, Jeffrey Archer 73

Answers to last week’s Z Quiz here.  Rules and Leaderboard here.

I’m Famous!

Okay, well I’m not really famous (at least not yet), but I’m playing famous in a new book that came out last week!  In 2003 a friend of mine, let’s call her Julie, asked me if I’d read a book she had written.  Of course, I said yes, and she gave me and several others her book.  After we read it she wanted our opinion and even had us all get together to talk about it.  A mere 10 years later and she’s a published author – with the book I read those many years ago.  When I received my book last week I was honored to be mentioned in the dedication.  It was so sweet of her.

The original (can you believe I still have it?!) and it’s official published version.

I haven’t read the book yet (I have a few commitments first) so I’ll tell you a little about Julie.  We met through the social group New Clevelanders and played Couples Euchre once a month.  Julie and her husband Ed were favorites of Jason and mine and we were lucky to call them friends.  Julie and Ed are such a fun couple, always challenging themselves and enjoying life.  I loved being around their spark.  They moved to Texas several years ago and we miss our competitive euchre games and fun evenings together.

You can follow Julie’s blog or follow her on Facebook.  You might see me around there too

We bought a new computer and nothing is working right   Sorry about the photo quality and cropping.  I’ll come back and fix it when I can get around on this new computer better.  And I started Bloglovin at the same time and am having all kinds of trouble.  I hate change when it makes more work for me!

April’s 5 Word Movie Reviews – with money for charity

You know the drill, add your 5 words to mine and earn $1 for charity.  Once we get to $100 the person with the most reviews will choose the charity.  Click here to see the past winners, the charities they chose and to see the other reviews you can add to.  You guys are off to a good start with $46 so far.

Edited to add-After I saw Feel good movie for 42 it seemed wrong. It is a serious movies about deplorable behavior in some.  It’s the behavior of the good guys that made me feel good.  I’m sure I just made that more confusing than it needed to be.

42, 2013 (Cast-Chadwick Boseman, Harrison Ford, Nicole Beharie)      Grade A-

Feel good movie. Loved it.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, 2011 (Cast-Thomas Horn, Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Max von Sydow)    Grade B+

Heartbreaking and emotional 9/11 journey.

Family’s love triumphs over tragedy.  (Kathy)

 Amazing story both book, movie.  (Heather)

Game Change, 2012 (Cast-Julianne Moore, Woody Harrelson, Ed Harris)       Grade B

Palin unmasked. Just as expected.

My Sarah Palin suspicions confirmed.  (Michelle)

Politics and Palin uber crazy.  (Heather)

Puss in Boots, 2011 (Cast-Anotonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis)     Grade C

Humpty Dumpty is very bitter.

Antonio Banderas, meowy booty goodness   (Heather)

Snow White and the Huntsman, 2012. (Cast-Charlize Theron, Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth)      Grade C

The Huntsman was worth it.

 Stewart is no charming princess. (Sandy)

Kristen Stewart – same expression constantly –   (Kay)

Charlize Theron tore it up!  (Michelle)

 Hot huntsman, Snow White … sad.  (Sheree)

If only she stayed dead….  (Heather)

Dog Park, 1999 (Cast-Luke Wilson, Natasha Henstridge, Janeane Garofalo Bruce McCulloch)     Grade D+

Needed more dogs, less owners.

Seconds Away by Harlan Coben

Seconds Away. Finished audio 4-28-13, rating 4/5, YA thriller, pub. 2012

Unabridged audio. 7 hours 46 minutes. Read by Nick Podehl who did a fantastic job as Mickey.

Book 2 of the Mickey Bolitar series (Book 1)

Mickey Bolitar is a smart kid with a smart mouth (just like his uncle Myron) and this book picks up just a week after the first one.  Mickey is a kid who knows how to find trouble, or maybe trouble finds him, either way, his story is a thrill ride that few high school sophomores are able to experience.  His dad is still dead (probably), his mom is still a junkie in rehab, and his uncle is still his caretaker, other than that life moves on.  He gets caught in a fire at Bat Lady’s house, find out who the bald man in the sunglasses is, tries to figure out who shot his crush and killed her mom, finds out the truth about Ema’s parents, and tries out for the basketball team.  I had forgotten how much trouble teenagers could find in a day!

I liked this one a lot, maybe even a little better than the first.  I had to suspend disbelief from the beginning, but once I did that I just hung on for the ride. Many of these storylines (Bat Lady, the Butcher, his dad’s death) are continuations from the first book, but there are so many new threads to the story that it felt new.  Some things got wrapped up, some things didn’t and I am looking forward to spending more time with Mickey in the next book.

I wish Coben would write more Myron books so I liked seeing him show up in this one.  If you like the Myron series and you are willing to read about teens then this series is lots of fun.

I checked the audio out of the library.

Pin in and do it challenge

Trish is at it again and because I seem to be challenge crazy right now I am signing up.  I will keep myself sane by signing up at the Timid level promising just 1-3 Pinterest posts this month.  Now that my A-Z challenge is over (thank you all for sticking with me!) I need to start challenging Gage with some projects I’ve pinned.  I may try other things too but my goal is Gage activities.

If you want to join in stop by Trish’s post and see the details.  It’s an easy, no stress process, I promise.  Trust me, I wouldn’t be doing it otherwise.

Z is for Z Quiz

Blogging from A-Z

It’s the end of the month and we’re finally at Z.  Needless to say, I’m glad to see this month of every day blogging done.  For today’s quiz it’s all about the Z.  Good luck.

 I hope that you’ll try your hand at my (mostly) bookish quizzes every week, but it’s okay if you just want to play when the quiz interests you.  If you play you are eligible for a prize at the end of the round (sometime in June).  For all of the details, click here.  Submit your answers in the comment section – I will stop by and hide them throughout the week but try not to copy off anyone else    You have til Sunday to guess.

No need to know all the answers, one guess and you’ll be eligible for a prize.  No Googling:)

1. This Timothy writes sci-fi novels, notably in the Star Wars series.  What’s his last name?  (I’ll give you and hint-it starts with Z) Timothy Zahn

2. This Aussie’s most popular book is about a Thief.  Marcus Zusak

3. (from Goodreads profile)  Zadie Smith

4.(from Goodreads profile)  Carlos Ruiz Zafon

5. This Frenchman died in 1902. (signature from Wikipedia)  Emile Zola

6. This Cleveland native won numerous Nebula and Hugo awards.  Best known for the Chronicles of Amber series.  Roger Zelazny

7. I loved his book about the Pigman!  Paul Zindel

Can you unscramble these author names (the z’s might not be at the beginning)

8. GME ZTERWOLI  Meg Wolitzer

9. SHOJ ZALEBL  Josh Bazell

10. DANE ZOOTNK  Dean Koontz

Answer’s to last week’s Trilogy quiz here.  Leaderboard here.

Y is for Fave Film #63 – Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

Blogging from A-Z

Cast-James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, Richard Whorf

Oscar winner for Best Lead Actor (Cagney), Best Music, Best Sound Recording

A biopic film of the renowned musical composer, playwright, actor, dancer and singer George M. Cohan, from his start in his family’s vaudeville act to his success on Broadway.  A true American success story.

Why I love it- I love musicals and I love Broadway so this movie is a perfect fit for me.  The choreography and music of the stage shows is based on the original Cohan productions and are showstoppers.  It feels like getting a behind the scenes looks at a way of life few get to experience and knowing Cohan was a real person makes it all that more enjoyable.

The music and story will make you feel proud to be an American without that theme seeming heavy-handed.  This is the story of America before and during the two World Wars and patriotism is inherent to the time.

This is the only movie I’ve ever seen James Cagney in and I’ve read it’s considered his best.  A few fun trivia facts for those who have seen the movie (or plan to), the woman who played his sister was really his sister and the woman who played his mother was actually 12 years younger than him.

This is on the AFI Best 100 movie list which is why I first saw it.  Both Jason and I were surprised at how much we liked it.  There’s singing and dancing, laugh-out-loud moments and tearful goodbyes.  The time in history makes this story of the American dream shine.

http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=A2KLqIUYrX5RVlEAtyP7w8QF;_ylu=X3oDMTBvZTdmNDc5BHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDdmlkBHZ0aWQDVjE0MA–?p=yankee+doodle+dandy&vid=d026f2aac5c49361c96bae6112c45484&l=3%3A58&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DV.5010763184079488%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DnSBTrL3EK_c&tit=Yankee+Doodle+Dandy+Trailer+%281942%29&c=24&sigr=11anq3cds&age=0&&tt=b

Check out the rest of my 100 favorite movies.