I know it’s a risky move to watch a tv show or movie based off a book before reading it, but these things happen to the best of us. Usually it means I will be unable to read the book, already knowing the plot. This was true for the first half of Dead Until Dark, the first in a series by Charlaine Harris that the hit show True Blood is based off of. I’d just rented the first season on Netflix, which like the book, tells the story of Sukie Stackhouse, a modern day southern belle who happens to fall for a vampire.

In the story, vampires have just “come out” to society and are attempting to mainstream their way into society. I’d already started watching the show and was several episodes in, when I found out about the book series. It took me awhile to track down a copy of the book and meanwhile there was the tv show, in all it’s deliciousness. I couldn’t resist – I love a good vampire story and this one intrigued me. I really liked the spin they took on vampires and the idea of them trying to live peacefully among the living without pretending to be something else.

When I managed to snag a review copy of the book, I was feeling all kinds of guilty. I’d cheated on the first rule of Book Lovers: Always read the book first!!! I vowed to finish this book no matter what – never mind the new baby I gave birth to in the middle (seriously, my timing could not have been worse). I couldn’t help but compare the two and for awhile, I preferred the tv show – it’s easier to look at pretty pictures, let’s be honest), but either the writing got better halfway through, or I just finally got into it – either way, I ended up really liking it.

The book and tv show have a lot of major differences, although some major things like “Whodunnit” are the same. It was kind of hard to enjoy some scenes where the “villain” of the story seems nice and normal and I’m thinking, “Run away you fool!” This is probably what made it really hard to enjoy initially – knowing who the killer was. Oh well.

I did end up liking the book and definitely plan to read book two, Club Dead. So which one did I like better? TV show or book? I honestly cannot say! I think they did a great job making the two into their own things, both with pros and cons over the other – so you can enjoy both versions of the same basic story. I also plan to watch season two of True Blood when it comes out on DVD.

Are you a fan of all things Sukie Stackhouse? What do you think – which is better, the book or the show?

I am something of a bookworm and one of my favorite gifts to give is, you guessed it, books. I love scouring bookstores or online websites like Amazon.com for the perfect read for my loved one. But after awhile, book giving can seem a bit stale – or maybe you want to go one step farther to make the gift really special. One cool option I just found out about is Inscribe-it.com.Their website allows you to buy a book (they have dozens upon dozens) and add your own personal inscription and picture to the inside page. I got my three year old a book called, How The Zebra Got It’s Stripes – a sweet, colorful story which tells several possible (and silly) stories of how the Zebras came into their black and white stripes. I thought the quality of the book was beautiful and my son loved that it was dedicated to him – making it his very own book.

Adding your inscription really couldn’t be easier. I thought the software was the perfect combination of easy but with all the details you’d want. Here’s an example screen shot of the webpage where you add your inscription:

It gives you the option to choose your font color and size, add the picture of your choice and it even gives you sample dedication ideas if you are having a case of writer’s block – which I totally was. The dedication page looks like just the same quality as all the other pages in the book – so it won’t look like an after thought or anything. I thought it came out perfectly and my son has been requesting his new book at bedtime nonstop since it arrived.

Want to win a free book from Inscribe-it.com? They are having a Twitter-based giveaway: Submit a dedication via Twitter – anything you like, so long as you keep it to 140 characters or less! Each week Inscribe-it will randomly draw a winning dedication from all the entries of the week. The winner can choose any book from their catalog and add a dedication and photo for FREE! Each dedication you tweet will earn you an extra entry into the contest. Just reply to any tweet on Inscribe-it’s Twitter page, or begin your own tweet with @Inscribe_it!

Grade: B+

Last week I finished reading Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen, an addictively delicious read that I won in a giveaway at Serendipty’s blog. This book tells the story of the Waverly family, particularly sisters Claire and Sydney, whose infamous garden in Bascom, North Carolina grows edible flowers that seem to have a magical effect on the people who eat them, never mind their precocious apple tree with powers of its own. The Waverly family has always been tied to this magical garden and each member seems to be equally blessed with a touch of magic. But like anyone, they are also afflicted with the same kinds of misfortunes, hang ups and romantic entanglements that effect us all. The characters are very relatable and the way in which each of their stories weaves together is fascinating.

So, on the one hand, I adored this light romantic read with a fantasy twist – I rooted for the main characters and looked forward to seeing how everything would play out – but a large part of me can’t quite seem to shake the similarities to the movie Practical Magic. I’m not sure if this is a coincidence but it made it hard for me not to compare the two stories which have many similarities – although it certainly didn’t keep me from devouring the book within a week, which for me lately is very fast. Also, given that the book and the movie are so similar, I’d wager that if you liked one, you will like the other.

1. Mix 1 cup of water with a couple drops of food coloring
2. Add in 2 cups of corn starch and mix until combined
3. Add in extra corn starch or food coloring if desired
   

Dan found that our potato masher (click the link to see what ours looks like, as they are all different) worked the best for mixing this stuff – you want something fairly sturdy that can get in there and make sure all the corn starch gets mixed in. Once it’s all mixed in and colored to your liking, get your hands in there and get ooblecking!

So what is this oobleck stuff? Well, it’s a bit of a mystery mixture – it doesn’t seem to know if it’s a liquid or a solid – you can roll it into a ball in your hands but if you stop applying pressure it will ooze through your fingers. Punch the mixture and it will feel as hard as a brick wall (or so) or touch it gently with your finger and it will be as ooey gooey as it looks.

If your kid gets really messy (as they should) and it splatters on the table or you let it sit on your hands long enough, it will eventually dry to look something like glue. Crush that dry stuff with your finger and it will turn to dust. The dust can be vacuumed or swept up and thrown away – which makes for easy clean up. My husband also found that if you dip a tissue into the mixture (carefully) and remove it, the gooey oobleck will turn dry right away because all the moisture will be taken out of the mix. Science is fun!

• Want to store your oobleck for another day? Put it into a Ziplock bag and refrigerate. You might want to label it – I’d hate to be the person who tried to eat it – yuck!
• Word of warning: Do NOT dump your oobleck down the kitchen sink – it can clog the drain!

Grade: A

I can still remember stumbling across The Sweet Potato Queens’ Book Of Love several years back and just falling in love with the whole idea of SPQ and more importantly, falling in love with Chocolate Stuff™, a recipe I’ve devoured several times over since first reading about it (it is seriously that good). The SPQ’s Queen Boss Lady, Jill Conner Browne, has written several nonfiction books that will help you fall in love, get married and / or divorced, have children, cook great food and more.

So when their first fictional book came out, The Sweet Potato Queens’ First Big-Ass Novel: Stuff We Didn’t Actually Do, but Could Have, and May Yet, I was pretty eager to get my hands on a copy, which I did, but somehow in the mix of life, love and babies I forgot I’d gotten it. I know, lame. But it was a lucky thing in some ways, because a couple weeks ago I was lamenting the complete and utter lack of anything good to read in my bookshelf that is literally overflowing with books I have yet to read except none of them were the RIGHT book that would fulfill my need for a light hearted, funny, feel good literary experience, when I saw my forgotten copy. It was like fate.

I really had no idea what kind of novel I was delving into – but with good faith and fond memories of Chocolate Stuff™, I jumped in and found the perfect light read – chick lit in all the glory that once gave the genre a good name. It tells a tale about overcoming and surviving life’s not so fabulous moments in the company of good people – a coming of age novel where things don’t always go right but they do eventually work out – with the help of good friends and good food.

The novel begins in the fictional childhood of SPQ Jill Conner Browne and eventually settles into her life as a young adult and beyond and her friendships with Mary Bennett, Patsy, Gerald and Tammy – it (fictionally) tells the story of how the Sweet Potato Queens came to be and the lives and friendships of each SPQ. The general theme of this story is that sometimes you have to step in and create your own success and embrace your inner Queen – because if you won’t embrace it, who will? I devoured this book quickly and I’d eagerly recommend this to any fan of “chick lit” – any woman who’s experienced the pros and cons of life – and anyone who likes good humor, good food and good writing.

You can visit the Sweet Potato Queens online at www.sweetpotatoqueens.com.

Last Tuesday Sophie Kinsella’s book turned movie Confessions of a Shopaholic was released on DVD and Blu-Ray. For me, the release of this movie was huge – I loved the book and I love a good chick flick. I was mildly concerned that, like so many other books turned into movies, it wouldn’t live up to the hype in my mind, but rest assured, this movie was gooooood – like eating chocolate covered strawberries in a bubble bath while reading your favorite book and the kids are nowhere to be seen or heard good.

I think Kinsella’s original book was done a tremendous amount of justice – watching this movie doesn’t feel like seeing a poor rehashing of a well loved book – it feels fresh and exciting and well written and thoroughly enjoyable. This movie has got everything – it’s well written and funny and it makes you laugh and cry. And the seriously cute male lead, Luke Brandon (played by Hugh Dancy), who isn’t a jerk and does all the perfect things that the perfect guy would do – like paying an exorbitant amount of money to a hot dog vendor so that a cute stranger, main character Rebecca Bloomwood (played by Isla Fisher), can buy the perfect green scarf for her fake aunt in the hospital – that didn’t hurt either.

Rebecca has a lot of fake things going on – like her fake Finnish descent, fake excuses for not paying her bills and not accepting her status as a serious shopaholic – not to mention her fake qualifications and reasonings for becoming a financial journalist for Luke Brandon’s magazine, Successful Savings. But somehow, for awhile at least, she pulls it all off. Even when she’s being ridiculous, you can’t help but root for her. Isla Fisher did a terrific job with this part – I can’t imagine anyone else in her (gorgeous) stiletto shoes.

And Dancy and Fisher are just two of the great actors and actresses that made up the cast in this movie – Some other terrific cast members include Bloomwood’s best friend Suze, who is played by Krysten Ritter – who you might remember from her roles in Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mars, Gossip Girl, 27 Dresses AND What Happens In Vegas – I’ve loved this girl in everything I’ve seen her in and this movie was no exception – she’s really incredible. Two other big names are Joan Cusack and John Goodman (do I even need to mention the laundry list of great things we’ve seen them in?) who play Rebecca’s parents, who are basically the opposite of their daughter as far as money is concerned, which is good because she’ll need all the help and support from them she can get when that other stiletto finally drops!

If you have read the book, I think you will be very pleased with the movie version and if you haven’t read the book – don’t worry, it’s totally not a prerequisite. So if you are looking for the perfect romantic comedy to snuggle down with – Confessions of a Shopaholic is definitely it, in my humble opinion – I give it a solid A for Awesome.

Just a heads up to all of the Stephanie Plum fans out there – Evanovich’s newest Plum novel, Finger Lickin’ Fifteen hit bookstore shelves today. I know I am anxiously looking forward to reading the latest installment. If you are also waiting impatiently for your next Plum fix, you can satiate the cravings a tiny bit with the new online tour of The Burg – take a peek inside Morelli’s house, figure out how to get from The Bail Bonds building to Cluck In a Bucket – and more, of course. This website is super cute and one I don’t think any Plum fan will want to miss.

Grade: A

Did you know that Dan Brown’s infamous book-turned-movie, The Da Vinci Code, is actually the second book in a series – Angels & Demons being the first book? A lot of Dan Brown fans seem to disagree about which of these two Robert Langdon adventures was the best, and usually it’s whichever book they read first. I read The Da Vinci Code a few years ago and remember that it took me a REALLY long time to get into, but when I did, I loved it. I also really enjoyed the movie based off the book. So when I found out they were making a movie version of Angels & Demons I decided I should probably get around to reading it now before I broke down and saw the movie – I don’t know about you, but once I’ve seen the movie, the odds of me reading the book are slim to none.

I guess you could say it took me awhile to get into Angels & Demons also, as I’ve picked up and put down this book a few times, but the truth is I just have far too many books vying for my attention because when I did finally re-pick up this book a month ago, it did not take much effort for me to get into the story at all. The only reason it took me an entire month to read it is probably the simple fact that I moved halfway across the country in the middle of reading it. And to go against the norm, I think I’m going to have to say that, although it was the second book I read, Angels & Demons was probably my favorite of the two Robert Langdon adventures.

This story had so many twists and turns, constantly building in ways I rarely saw coming. Dan Brown seems to enjoy leading his readers astray and I constantly found myself being duped by him, thinking I had for sure figured out a plot twist only to be completely proven wrong. And really, having read The Da Vinci Code, I should have seen this coming, but I didn’t. He surprised me with just about every turn from beginning to end and the end… wow. Yeah, never saw it coming, but loved it.

I don’t want to give too many details or give too much away because that element of surprise – it’s really part of the enjoyment of reading this book. But if you are interested in religion, conspiracy theories, science, action and adventure, whodunnit mysteries, travel – anything like that – this book has it all and then some. I really enjoyed it and I’m planning to read the newest Robert Langdon adventure, The Lost Symbol, which comes out this September.

Have you read Angels & Demons or any of Dan Brown’s other books? Which one is your favorite? Least favorite? Have you seen or will you see the movies?

I recently had the opportunity to spend a week with the Kindle 2, Amazon’s 6 inch wireless reading device. While I’m still on the fence about whether or not these electronic “books” will or should replace our beloved paper varieties, I did enjoy my Kindle experience. At $359 I’m not sure I’d consider this a purchase to make lightly, but if you can afford it, I think you’ll be very pleased with the Kindle 2. Here are some of my likes and dislikes:

• Like: When your Kindle is delivered to you it wil come already registered to your Amazon.com account so you can start loading it up with books right away – no need to hook it up to the computer or anything, out of the box you are ready to go.
• Like: So now that I know how to use my Kindle I find that I am loving it! With the help of that handy little button, navigation is a breeze. You can very easily access the Amazon store to buy books or preview them – and since the Kindle operates with a wireless connection similar to what a cellphone uses, you don’t have to worry about figuring out how to get online with it – it just works.
• Like: The new “Instant Dictionary Lookup” – Kindle 2 comes pre-installed with the New Oxford American Dictionary and its 250,000 word definitions. With this, you can instantly look up a word while reading, simply by hovering over it with your little navigation tool. No more hopping online to Google a definition or stopping to pull out a dictionary – or just skimming over the word and hoping to figure it out, like I usually do – I think this feature is awesome especially for students reading an assigned book with it.
• Like: The “Read To Me” feature and the Adjustable Text Sizes allow you to tailor your reading experience – people who need to read Large Print will be able to use the Kindle with ease and if your eyes are getting tired or you’d prefer to be read to, just turn on Text To Speech. You can switch back and forth between reading and listening and your spot will automatically be saved. You can choose from six different text sizes so the words are just the right size for you.
• Like: Read your blogs, magazines and newspapers on the Kindle – Over 1,200 blogs are available on Kindle including blogs like Wired, VF Daily and James Wolcott’s Blog from Vanity Fair. These subscriptions are billed monthly – blogs starting at $0.99 a month, newspapers ranging from $5.99 – $14.99 a month and magazines from $1.25 to $3.49 a month.
• Like: Another cool feature for students or anyone who likes to take notes, bookmark pages, highlight passages, etc. All these features are offered on the Kindle 2 – you can even view your notes, highlights, and bookmarks from one page – the My Clippings and the My Notes & Marks sections.
• Like: Electronic Ink Technology – The actual reading experience is really nice – with their cool E Ink Technology you don’t have to worry about glares or a backlight – the Kindle never gets warm and it is light enough to hold comfortably. Flipping the pages is easy and you can pretty quickly forget that you are using a machine and focus on the story.
• Like: I really can’t get passed the slim design. Imagine if you could put all your kids’ text books onto this one device – no more humongous backpacks! Or packing for a trip, trying to decide which books to take with you – take them all and it takes up the same space! You can hold over 1,500 books on your Kindle 2!

Those are probably my favorite things, but of course there are some things I didn’t like:

• Dislike: I think I might be the dumbest person on the planet but it literally took me hours to figure out how to navigate this thing. It took my husband about three seconds. I’ll share with you the two important things you’ll need to know, that I didn’t figure out until after a lot of head banging and why me-ing:

1. On the bottom right corner of your Kindle 2 you will see a small square button with the words MENU above and BACK below. That little square button is your “5-way navigation system” – you’ll use it anytime you want to scroll up, down, left or right within a page by simply pushing it slightly in that direction and you’ll press it anytime you want to click on something.
2. The instruction manual for your Kindle 2 is underneath the black plastic tray that your Kindle will be resting in when it arrives to you. For some reason I didn’t think anything would be behind that – but you’ll find that and also the battery charger underneath the Kindle “tray” – pretty important!

• Dislike: And okay, there’s that whole price thing again. $359 is a lot of money and most of the books you look at on the Kindle Store are about $10 – that’s not bad if you tend to buy all hardcover books, but it’s still a lot – and since you can only read it on your Kindle, you are bound to it.
• Dislike: That it’s gone. ::sniff, sniff::

Seriously I had a lot of fun trying out the new Kindle 2 and I only wish I could afford to buy one of my very own.

Do you own a Kindle? What do you like about it? Dislike?

Grade: A+

The first thing you should know is that I am a huge fan of Stephenie Meyer and loved the Twilight series. The second thing you should know is that I had a lot of reservations about reading her other book, The Host, and even after I bought it, I waited a long time to read it, picking it up and putting it down several times. The third thing you should know is that when I finally sat down and read it, forcing myself to get past that first chapter and dispelling my disbelief and ignoring that part of my brain that said, “A love triangle / body snatching story, really?” … after all that, I loved it. I did.

This story is unlike anything I’ve ever read, except maybe Twilight. Meyer’s writing style really shines through in this and if you think about it, a love story with a super natural twist? Yeah they are similar. It takes place right here on Earth, except things are a bit different now as we’ve been taken over by an alien planet who have literally snatched our bodies out right from under us. But who is the bad guy in this story? It depends on whose point of view you are reading. And in this one, we get both points of view, often at the same time. Because something has happened to the main character and her body  that has almost never happened before – the host’s mind and soul have not left the body. Cramped quarters, am I right?

I expected myself to relate to and find myself sympathetic to the poor girl whose body has been snatched, but Meyer’s writing is so phenomenal that by the end of the book you really do find yourself rooting for and cheering on the soul, or the alien who took over her body. And it doesn’t really take that long to be honest. The love story in the book is intriguing and at times just utterly impossible, but Meyer really fleshes out the whole thing and ends with a solution that works – but not without tormenting your (the readers) feelings the whole way. I also love the details she gives of all the other worlds that these souls have taken over, why they took over Earth, how they take over … basically she leaves no stone unturned, hence the enormous size of this book. And yeah, it’s a long book – and alot happens, the story constantly evolving, but after a couple of chapters I don’t think you’ll mind the length. I got really sucked into this one and loved spending time with it every night. And now… here… on the other side? Having finished this book, I find myself in a similar place as at the end of each Twilight series book – wishing I hadn’t finished reading.

I loved The Host by Stephenie Meyer and would recommend it to guys and gals alike – my husband is starting to read it right now in fact.

Have you read The Host? Are you planning to? Why, why not, and if you did read it, what did you think?