King Arthur Movie Tristan

title: Penelope

release date: February 2008

genre: fantasy/romance/comedy

rated: PG

plot: A modern day romantic tale about a young girl's inspiring journey, a mysterious family secret and the power of love. With all odds against her, in order for Penelope to break the family curse, she must find true love with "one of her own kind." The warm and funny adventure leads her to realize the most important life lesson, "I like myself the way I am."

rated: 5 stars




Penelope Wilhern is an heiress, but there is a curse on her family. The curse was placed centuries ago by a witch, and now Penelope has a snout for a nose and pig ears. In order to break the curse, Penelope has to find true love with 'one of her own kind'-meaning someone rich like herself. Her overprotective parents keep her in hiding her entire life, until one day they can find her a husband to break the curse. Only problem is, now that she is all grown up, whenever the suitors see her face, they run away. Until a guy named Max shows up. Penelope allows him to visit her at home while she stays hidden behind a one way mirror, so Max can't see her face. After a few visits, she comes out and reveals herself. Max is not repulsed and does not want to run away from her. But, Max knows he is not 'one of her own kind', meaning he is not rich and therefore cannot break the curse. Soon after, Penelope decides to leave home and see the real world. She wants to be free.







I really liked this movie, it's a fairytale/love story. It was cute and the storyline was sweet. I think the film was perfectly cast with Christina Ricci playing Penelope and James McAvoy playing Max. Reese Witherspoon, who produced the film, also has a small role. If you're looking for something light and fun, you might enjoy this one!

Hello everyone, I hope you all have a great Friday. I've had a very busy week, so wasn't able to visit my blog friends much. I will be doing some blog reading later tonight.


And i've been busy reading as always. I finally finished up The Kingmaking . It was great. My review and author interview will be up on March
4th. I've also been busy crocheting and got a little amigurumi done.









I made my first project using the Creepy Cute Crochet pattern book that Book Zombie sent me.



This is Tabitha, and she is a vampire witch.







She enjoys reading, casting spells and walking in cemetaries late at night....









Have a great day everybody :o) And thanks for stopping by.

In the mood for some thrills and chills? Curl up with this 1921 collection of spooky tales by some of the English language’s best writers. Such masters of the supernatural as Edgar Allen Poe, Ambrose Bierce, and Arthur Machen bring you terrifying tales of revenge from beyond the grave, frightening stories of shadowy spirits who threaten their victims’ sanity, and touching pieces about love and devotion that know no (earthly) bounds.

I have been reading Famous Modern Ghost Stories a little bit every day courtesy of Daily Lit. As I read, I've decided to review the short stories one by one. This way I can give each story the attention it deserves. Here is my first review:








First in this collection is a short story called:

THE WILLOWS by by Algernon Blackwood

first line: After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Buda-Pesth, the Danube enters a region of singular loneliness and desolation, where its waters spread away on all sides regardless of a main channel, and the country becomes a swamp for miles upon miles, covered by a vast sea of low willow-bushes.

rated: creepy






Two friends go on a canoe trip down the Danube river. They decide to camp on an island surrounded by willows, but once there, they become stranded. This is how the 'willows' are described:

humble bushes, with rounded tops and soft outline, swaying on slender stems that answer to the least pressure of the wind; supple as grasses, and so continually shifting that they somehow give the impression that the entire plain is moving and alive






That first night that they make camp, strange things happens throughout the night, strange noises are heard and in the morning, the two men find that their boat is broken, an oar is gone and the other oar is damaged. Each man is suspicious of the other.
They also notice odd sounds and movement that seem to be coming from the willows. But though they are afraid, each man is trying to keep his cool and not let these strange events mess with thier heads.

With this multitude of willows, however, it was something far different, I felt. Some essence emanated from them that besieged the heart. A sense of awe awakened, true, but of awe touched somewhere by a vague terror. Their serried ranks growing everywhere darker about me as the shadows deepened, moving furiously yet softly in the wind, woke in me the curious and unwelcome suggestion that we had trespassed here upon the borders of an alien world, a world where we were intruders, a world where we were not wanted or invited to remain--where we ran grave risks perhaps!

Another strange thing that happens is a constant 'humming' sound. The men cannot pinpoint where it is coming from or what it actually sounds like, but it is freaking them out. Also, after spending the first night on the island, in the morning, the men notice some of thier food is missing.

But the willows especially: for ever they went on chattering and talking among themselves, laughing a little, shrilly crying out, sometimes sighing--but what it was they made so much to-do about belonged to the secret life of the great plain they inhabited. And it was utterly alien to the world I knew, or to that of the wild yet kindly elements. They made me think of a host of beings from another plane of life, another evolution altogether, perhaps, all discussing a mystery known only to themselves. I watched them moving busily together, oddly shaking their big bushy heads, twirling their myriad leaves even when there was no wind. They moved of their own will as though alive, and they touched, by some incalculable method, my own keen sense of the horrible.

They mend their boat as best as they can and contemplate making a run for it, to try to go down the river and escape off the haunted island. But to go downstream would mean to go into 50 more miles of willows. So instead, they wait it out.

"Look! By my soul!" he whispered, and for the first time in my experience I knew what it was to hear tears of terror in a human voice. He was pointing to the fire, some fifty feet away. I followed the direction of his finger, and I swear my heart missed a beat.


There, in front of the dim glow, something was moving.

One night, one of the men begins sleep talking, saying things about making a sacrifice to the willows. Then he tries to drown himself. The other man saves him.
I won't give away any more of the story, but this was a good one. It was just the right length, had a creepy plot, and a good ending.

"The Willows" was the personal favorite story of H.P. Lovecraft, who wrote in his treatise Supernatural Horror in Literature, "Here art and restraint in narrative reach their very highest development, and an impression of lasting poignancy is produced without a single strained passage or a single false note.

quoted from wikipedia

title: 30 Days of Night



released: 19 October 2007

genre: horror

rated: 4 out of 5




plot: After an Alaskan town is plunged into darkness for a month, it is attacked by a bloodthirsty gang of vampires.







In 30 Days of Night , the town of Barrow, Alaska is getting prepared for their annual period during winter when the sun doesn't come up for 30 days. Some of the townspeople head out of town until this period is over.



The sheriff, played by Josh Hartnett, stays behind among others, like his estranged wife. Soon enough vampires begin attacking the town. They slaughter most of the town, the few that are left surviving stay together and hide out, moving from place to place, hoping to wait out the 30 days until the sun finally rises.






I always enjoy a good scary movie, and this one was good. The vampires were creepy and so was the setting. My one problem with this movie was the ending. They royally messed it up. It was like they wanted to add a romantic ending where it didn't belong. And the ending was highly unlikely. If you've seen this film, I'm talking about the two people who 'romantically' watched the sun rise together.


Although I didn't like the ending, all in all, this was a good vampire film.

title: Baron Thinks Dogs Are People Too!


author: Laurie Dean

published: 2008

first line: Baron was a young dog who loved people.


genre: childrens





rated: 4 out of 5





The family dog, Baron, has got alot of enegry. But he was getting a little too wild, and wound up getting sent to obedience school. No one knew all Baron wanted was a best friend. He does wind up learning to obey and behave, and in the end Baron gets what he always wanted, a best friend.


This was a cute book, my daughter enjoyed it and she liked Baron, she especially thought it was cute when he was misbehaving.

"In Baron Thinks Dogs are People Too, I show how maintaining a functional family life and being a good friend depends on making an honest effort and maintaining a sincere heart," -Laurie Dean

About the author:

Laurie Dean brings a unique background to children's' literature. With over thirty years as a stay at home mom, she has an in-depth, practical knowledge of children's relations. Dean is also a relaxation expert, combining her backgrounds as a licensed massage therapist and Reiki master. And as director of a church nursery, Dean developed keen insight into the important role reading aloud plays in child development.

Operation Smile benefits from the book as well. Dean will donate $1 for each book she sells from their site to help the medical charity repair cleft palates and cleft lips among needy children throughout the world.


visit the authors website: http://www.baronthinks.com/

Flaming June by Frederick Leighton



Wordless Wednesday

Dirty Little Angels is being released March 1st.

Set in the slums of New Orleans, among clusters of crack houses and abandoned buildings, Dirty Little Angels is the story of sixteen year old Hailey Trosclair. When the Trosclair family suffers a string of financial hardships and a miscarriage, Hailey finds herself looking to God to save her family. When her prayers go unanswered, Hailey puts her faith in Moses Watkins, a failed preacher and ex-con. Fascinated by Moses's lopsided view of religion, Hailey, and her brother Cyrus, begin spending time down at an abandoned bank that Moses plans to convert into a drive-through church. Gradually, though, Moses's twisted religious beliefs become increasingly more violent, and Hailey and Cyrus soon
find themselves trapped in a world of danger and fear from which there may be no escape.

click here to read the first chapter









Chris is also the author of a collection of poems called Haunted Bones.

Teaser Tuesdays asks:

Grab your current read.

Let the book fall open to a random page.

Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.

They made me think of a host of beings from another plane of life, another evolution altogether, perhaps, all discussing a mystery known only to themselves. I watched them moving busily together, oddly shaking their big bushy heads, twirling their myriad leaves even when there was no wind.

-THE WILLOWS by by Algernon Blackwood from the short story collection, Famous Modern Ghost Stories.








I have been reading Famous Modern Ghost Stories a little bit every day courtesy of Daily Lit.

I recently read and reviewed Enchanted Again. Author Nancy Madore, has kindly taken time out of her busy schedule to grant me a blog interview!!











Bookworm:
Welcome Nancy, and thank you for taking the time to do a blog interview. Please tell us a bit about yourself.


Nancy: Hi, Naida. Thank you for inviting me to onto your blog. I've been writing women's erotic romance for about six or seven years. My objective when I began was to write erotica that is "female friendly," meaning without female stereotypes, and particularly, to write it so that every woman can enjoy the stories and fantasies while imagining herself in the starring role. I'm not sure if you noticed it or not, but in Enchanted Again there aren't any physical descriptions of the female characters to distract women readers. Most people don't even realize that its missing until I mention it. I focus heavily on the erotic behaviors, not on what the female characters look like. Too, I try to write about their behaviors, even the destructive ones, without judgment. I'm trying to dissuade the thinking that erotica and romance are more believable for "perfect" women. I think every woman is lovable.

When I'm not writing, I'm selling women's shoes, so I'm pretty lucky, because I'm almost always doing something that I love.




Bookworm: Enchanted Again is your second book featuring erotic fairy tales. Where did you get the idea to write fairy tales with an erotic twist? Will you be writing a third book?


Nancy: Actually, Enchanted Again is my third book, and we're already in the editing stage of my fourth. I began with the first Enchanted, which is a collection of fairy tales re-written with an erotic twist. That book features stories like Goldilocks and the Three Barons, and Beauty and the Beast. I basically re-wrote the fairy tales with a sexual fantasy in each story. My research into women's fantasies inspired my second book, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, where I re-wrote that classic fairy tale with each princess suffering from a secret sexual dysfunction. In Enchanted Again, the book you read, I wrote more modern day stories that were simply inspired by the classic nursery rhymes. I've always loved fairy tales, folk tales, nursery rhymes and fables, ever since I was a little girl. I was reading the fairy tale, East of the Wind and West of the Moon to a child when it occurred to me how "grown up" some of the themes in fairy tales were. Once I got the idea to re-write them it was amazingly easy. The most popular sexual fantasies seemed to fit perfectly with the most popular fairy tales. Coincidence?


Bookworm: Sorry for the mix up, I had no idea about 'The Twelve Dancing Princesses'.







Bookworm: The covers of both Enchanted and Enchanted again are gorgeous. Who chooses your book covers?



Nancy: I wish I could take credit for those covers! Aren't they magnificent? Harlequin has a design team and they really try to capture the mood of the book through the cover. Wait until you see the one coming out in November. It is the most beautiful one yet!





Bookworm: Where does your inspiration come from?



Nancy: Mostly, it comes from research. I'll be researching one thing and stumble onto all kinds of other things. It happens all the time. I've always felt that truth is stranger than fiction, so I try to glean my "fantasy" stories from real life events. For example, my fourth book, Enchanted Dreams, features stories of the supernatural. There are vampires and aliens and even ghosts. There's so much of this kind of thing out there right now that I could have done just about anything, but I found that the most fascinating stories, to me anyway, were the true life ones, where women really believed they had undergone some kind of paranormal experience. Their stories had me captivated. I also got ideas from reading about the origins of some of the legends and folklore of the paranormal.


Bookworm: Which of your own books is your favorite?


Nancy:My favorite is Enchanted Dreams, because the stories are longer and have more character development. The fairy tales were fun, but in re-writing them, you're kind of stuck with the existing story line to a degree. With Enchanted Again and Enchanted Dreams I had a chance to really let my imagination wander and see where it would take me.




Bookworm:How long does it usually take you to write a book?


Nancy:It takes about a year, the better part of which is research. I do a lot of prep work too, as I have to plan out every detail before I begin writing. After all that, the words go down pretty quickly.




Bookworm:Who are your favorite authors and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

Nancy: Edgar Allen Poe, Stephen King and Oscar Wilde are definitely in the top ten. I enjoy writers who stimulate the imagination. I've read everything I could put my hands on by Poe, even his essays. There's just something about the way he used words...it's truly humbling. I would give anything to be able to write like him!



Bookworm: What would you like to say to your readers?

Nancy: Thank you.





Bookworm: Last but not least, if you were stranded on a deserted island, and were allowed to bring three items with you, what would they be?


Nancy: My fiance, my books, and a still (as in for making alcohol).





Bookworm: Thank you again for stopping by my blog for an interview, best of luck!

Nancy: Thanks again for having me, and for reviewing my book.




--------------------------------------

If you haven't read Enchanted Again, and are a fan of erotic fiction, I highly recommend it!


Visit Nancy's website here: Nancy Madore

Mailbox Mondays


Some great books came in the mail this past week:





The Ten-Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer


She examines what happens in families and communities when educated women “opt out” of the work force for a few years in order to be full-time mothers, and then somehow don’t find their way back. Combining a remarkable big-picture view with a more intimate perspective, it confronts the issues of motherhood and work with refreshing intelligence, sensitivity, and cultural insight.







I received an ARC from Sourcebooks: Pemberley Manor: Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice continues... by Kathryn L. Nelson

How does "happily ever after" really work?


As marriage brings an end to a romantic tale, it begins a new story: how does "happily ever after" really work? While Jane Bennet and Charles Bingley might be expected to get on famously, Mr. and Mrs. Darcy will surely need to work on their communication skills.


What forces in Darcy's past would give such a good man so difficult a public demeanor? The author posits an imaginative family background for Darcy from which he would have inherited his sense of social superiority and duty to the family name.


When Darcy reverts to type, will Elizabeth's stubborn optimism win the day after the honeymoon is over? While they say that opposites attract, how long can Lizzy and Darcy's fundamentally different personalities get along without friction? Can they learn to understand each other? Can their love prevail over the inevitable clashes?

In this Jane Austen-inspired comedy, love story, and exploration of identity and destiny, a modern LA girl wakes up as an Englishwoman in Austen's time.
After nursing a broken engagement with Jane Austen novels and Absolut, Courtney Stone wakes up and finds herself not in her Los Angeles bedroom or even in her own body, but inside the bedchamber of a woman in Regency England. Who but an Austen addict like herself could concoct such a fantasy?

Some of my blog readers may remember my raving over Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict.


Well, the sequel is finally coming! Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict will be available June 25, 2009! This will be the perfect summer read.






If you haven't read Laurie Viera's Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, I recommend reading it, so you can be ready for the sequel :)




About the author:

When not indulging herself in re-readings of Jane Austen’s six novels, Laurie Viera Rigler is a freelance book editor who teaches writing workshops, including classes in storytelling technique at Vroman’s, Southern California's oldest and largest independent bookstore.

visit the author's website:

http://www.janeaustenaddict.com/