King Arthur Movie Tristan

title: She-Rain: A Story of Hope

author: Michael Cogdill

published: 2010

genre: fiction

pages: 349

first line: Scraps of fog, adrift on the ridges of Appalachia.


rated: 4 out of 5





She-Rain: A Story of Hope is one of those books that really draws you in from page one. Starting off in 1921 in North Carolina, the story is about a young boy named Frankie Locke Junior who witnesses and experiences abuse in his home at the hands of his drug addicted father.


Having a close relationship with his mother and grandparents helps Frank remain strong. At school he meets Mary Lizbeth, and as the years pass the two never forget one another. They form a common bond through the hardships they both suffer.

Like a mountain laurel flower trying to blossom inside a bottle. Pink-white petals pressing soft but determined against the glass. The shared nectar of that bottle had recently become another of my secrets-our secret from the entire town.

Due to an incident concerning his mother, Frankie winds up leaving home. He does it to protect his mother, but his heart breaks at leaving her and Mary Lizbeth behind.


While on the run, a woman named Sophia Proctor helps Frankie. He winds up falling in love with her.

I remember Sophia murmured something about tears healing well, especially when they've been stored and aged a long while from hurts that seem behind us. She cried harder after she said that.

I enjoyed reading She-Rain, it is definitely a story about overcoming hardship and finding and holding onto love. There is alot of sadness to this story, but hope as well. I really liked the relationship between Frank and Mary Lizbeth, and hoped the two would end up together. I also liked how Frank would have flashbacks of his grandmother and the advice she gave him.


This is the type of book that needs to be discussed after reading it, I think it would make a great selection for a book club.

In the rise of crickets and peep frogs, Granny spread out her mountain mystic view of things again, and the whole wagon treated it as sacred for a moment. She'd often speak of how a little scrap of fog tears from a rain cloud. Floats on the waves of blue ridge as if a wisp off a bride. Granny and others called it she-rain, I suppose for its womanly drape, white as a wedding gown.

Author Bio

Michael Cogdill is blessed as one of the most honored television storytellers in America. His cache of awards includes 24 Emmys and the National Edward R. Murrow for a broad range of achievement, from live reporting to long-form storytelling. His television credits as a journalist include CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, and The Today Show, and Michael's interview history crosses a wide horizon: The Reverend Billy Graham, Dr. Mehmet Oz of Oprah fame, Dr. Henry Kissinger, Abby Hoffman, Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator John McCain, Howard K. Smith, James Brown, Keith Lockhart of the Boston Pops and many other newsmakers. His coverage credits include Presidents and Vice Presidents of the United States.


Michael spent ten years writing She-Rain, letting it evolve into a world of fiction drawn from his upbringing in Western North Carolina but reaching far beyond. His other writing credits are Cracker the Crab and the Sideways Afternoon -- a children's motivational book, and a self-help volume, Raise the Haze. Michael makes his home in South Carolina with his wife, Jill (a publishing entrepreneur), and their second-generation golden retriever, Maggie. He's currently working on his second novel.


For more information, please visit http://she-rain.blogspot.com.





Special thanks to Caitlin over @ FSB Associates for sending me a copy of this book.

Currently, working on how I'll do my portfolio up for my college interview. It won't be until next year, but I might as well start now and take the pressure off myself for this year! In case you didn't know, I want to study Fashion Journalism in the London College of Fashion (fingers crossed!).
I've asked people for advice on facebook and twitter, on how to arrange a portfolio and what to include. I'm really appreciating the feedback and I am writing it all down in my portfolio notebook!
I was hoping that some of my Thunder + Threads readers could help me out too? To the right I have my formspring box, you can leave me a message/question there and you can choose to be anonymous or sign it. You can give me some advice there or leave me a comment!
Thanks a million guys. :)

title: Dear Jane Austen: A Heroine's Guide to Life and Love

author: Patrice Hannon


pages: 156

published: 2005

first line: Who is there?


rated: 4 out of 5

Just between us-imagine that I am whispering to you now- a few of my letters escaped Cass's fire and scissors, and speak from the eighteenth century in proof of what I tell you. But to wear one's heart on one's sleeve is a fairly certain way to have it broken, you know.

Yours most faithfully,

Jane Austen

Dear Jane Austen: A Heroine's Guide to Life and Love is a fun little book that is written in the voice of Jane Austen giving advice on love and life to current day females. This book made me smile, it's a well written tribute to Jane Austen that I think most fans of hers would enjoy.



The book starts in 1816 where Jane Austen is finishing off the last sentence of Persuasion when her niece comes in with letters for her. Women write to Jane asking her for advice on life and love.


Jane gives some sound advice, while making references to her novels as well as to the people in her own life, such as her sister. There are also several Austen novel quotes throughout the book.



I finished this book in one sitting and really enjoyed it. I laughed out loud at a few of Jane's comments. Especially when Jane refers to gothic novels like Wuthering Heights:

Dear Jane Austen:

Help! I have reached the age where I won't tell my age and I will die if I don't land a husband soon. Why am I still single? I read every relationship book that comes down the pike, take every man-catching class offered in my town, watch all the dating experts on television....

Dear Jane, tell me before I give up on men completely and take the veil: how can I live happily ever after like Elizabeth Bennet?

-Wish I Were a Heroine



Yes, I have been studying your society for some time and am well acquainted with its absurdities. As as friend I would urge you to strive for some measure of self-command. Indeed, your hysterical raving would not be amiss in a Gothic novel, or something by one of those Brontes who, after all my labour to entertain women with sparkling comedies having only genius, wit, and taste to recommend them, set the poor creatures back hundreds of years with stories full of improbable circumstances and unnatural characters.

These novels are fine entertainment, not unlike the sort my Catherine adored, but it is not in them that human nature is to be found. Catherine discovered that General Tilney had neither poisoned his wife nor imprisoned her deep in the recesses of Northanger Abbey, and unless it is your custom to form attachments with men who do such things-or who walk the moors in the moonlight with the ghosts of lovers twenty years dead as Heathcliff does-you should not look to such books-or their present-day descendants, Hollywood romances-for pictures of real men and women.

I do think that the author catches Jane's voice well, and this book is a fun escape
for any Janeite looking for a quick and entertaining read.

By the bye, I have recently made a survey of your circulating library, where I was astonished to find volumes containing enough conduct guides to stretch, if laid end to end, from Bath to Southampton. It is evident that my Emma is not the only clueless female.

Author Patrice Hannon really does give some good advice through the voice of Jane.

The minds of men and women alike run too much upon the phenomenon I understand to be comprehended in the word "chemistry". The charm of personal attraction is intoxicating, but beware the dangers of an attachment formed solely or even primarily on such superficial grounds.

The questions are very specific and the answers are thought out and very well written. You can see how knowledgeable the author is concerning Jane Austen's work as well as her private life. She even refers to Austen's lesser known works such as Lady Susan and The Watsons. I recommend this book to any Jane Austen fan. It is a quick and sweet Austen fix.

Each fortnight you have to write a blog post about an historical fiction book of your choice (it might even be something you already read before), but it MUST be related to the letter of the week.


You have several possibilities:


- the first letter of the title


- the first letter of the author's first name or surname


- the first letter of a character's first name or surname


- the first letter of a place where an historical event took place






My pick for this round is Jane Boleyn a.k.a. Lady Rochford.


She was married to George Boleyn and was sister in law to the famous Anne Boleyn.
Jane's marriage to George was an unhappy one, it is said that George was homosexual. He was also very close to his sister Anne, preferring her company above anyone elses. Jane's testimony against Anne and George played a huge role in having them beheaded. Supposedly Jane accused them of having sexual relations. Historians say that Jane was jealous of the close relationship her husband had with his sister Anne, and this is what fueled her to testify against them.


Several years later, Jane became lady-in-waiting to Henry's 5th wife Catherine Howard. Eventually she and the queen were charged with treason and were held in the Tower of London. Apparently Jane had been helping Queen Catherine meet with her lover, Thomas Culpepper, behind the King's back. It has been said that Jane had a full nervous breakdown while in the Tower and eventually went insane. It's unsure whether Jane was faking insanity to get a pardon or really went mad. Jane watched as the queen was beheaded, before going to the chopping block herself. Such drama!



I recommend reading The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory if you want to read some good historical fiction that has Jane Boleyn as a central character.

April is National Poetry Month and what better time than now to read and celebrate poetry? Serena has organized the National Poetry Month Blog Tour and I am happy to be a part of that.



My regular blog readers might have figured out by now that I do enjoy poetry. Emily Dickinson, Langston Hughes and Robert Frost are among my favorites. Not too long ago I discovered the wonderful work of Pablo Neruda through the recommendation of fellow book blogger, Kelly. I read Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair and was amazed at the beauty and sadness to this collection of poems.
First published in 1924 as Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada, and translated in 1969, this collection of poetry is about love, loss and heartache.

I like reading Neruda's poetry in Spanish best, I feel it does lose something in translation. I think one of the reasons I enjoy his poems so much is simply because there is both beauty and pain to his words.








Neruda was born Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto on July 12, 1904 in Chile. His mother Rosa Basoalto, died two months after he was born. He showed a love of literature from an early age and took great inpsiration from Walt Whitman. By 1920 he took the pseudonym of Pablo Neruda, which he is thought to have taken from Czech poet Jan Neruda. Neruda was twenty when Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair was published, and this collection of poems made him a celebrity. In 1971 Neruda won the Nobel Prize for Literature. He is said to have almost always written using green ink because it was the color of Hope. Neruda was a diplomat and very much involved in politics. He was known as 'the people's poet'. From the 1940's and on, his works mostly reflected the political struggle in South America.



He passed away of heart failure on September 23, 1973.



It's hard for me to pick just one favorite Neruda poem, but I will leave you with a favorite called 'If You Forget Me'.


I want you to know
one thing.



You know how this is:

if I look

at the crystal moon, at the red branch

of the slow autumn at my window,

if I touch

near the fire

the impalpable ash

or the wrinkled body of the log,

everything carries me to you,

as if everything that exists:

aromas, light, metals,

were little boats that sail

toward those isles of yours that wait for me.




Well, now,

if little by little you stop loving me

I shall stop loving you little by little.



If suddenly

you forget me

do not look for me,

for I shall already have forgotten you.



If you think it long and mad,

the wind of banners

that passes through my life,

and you decide

to leave me at the shore

of the heart where I have roots,

remember

that on that day,

at that hour,

I shall lift my arms

and my roots will set off

to seek another land.



But

if each day,

each hour,

you feel that you are destined for me

with implacable sweetness,

if each day a flower

climbs up to your lips to seek me,

ah my love, ah my own,

in me all that fire is repeated,

in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,

my love feeds on your love, beloved,

and as long as you live it will be in your arms

without leaving mine.




The video below is of Madonna reading this poem. I think it's really nicely done, especially the music that follows.




What do you think of this poem? Feel free to discuss. I think my favorite line is:

everything carries me to you,

as if everything that exists:

aromas, light, metals,

were little boats that sail

toward those isles of yours that wait for me.

For me this poem is about a love that survives distance and time. About two people that are meant to be together even if they are apart.



You can read more of Pablo Neruda's work
here. I hope you will check him out if you haven't already done so.


Stop by Serena's blog to see the other bloggers on the tour and see the other poets that are being showcased.

Hello blog friends. Happy Friday! I hope you all have a great weekend.

Please stop by tomorrow when i'll be participating in Serena's National Poetry Month Blog Tour.


I'm up next on the tour, and i'll be showcasing a favorite poet of mine, Pablo Neruda.

1.) Rams, Sam Bradford: They needed a QB, and Bradford is the best available. Good pick.

2.) Lions, Ndamukong Suh: Suh is a huge stud, and should make an immediate impact. Good pick.

Just watched the coors light commercial for the draft keg beer tap thing. Awesome.

Steve Young is an idiot. He only talks about himself.

3.) Bucs, Gerald McCoy: Another solid pick, everyone saw this coming.

McCoy is very emotional, understandable. Breaking news, he is also a giant.

4.) Redskins, Trent Williams: Williams is really really athletic, and quite a specimen. Kiper already has one wrong...not surprised.

These highlights are crazy....

At least he's well spoken...yikes

Wow, Eric Berry looks to be going to the Chiefs...

5.) Chiefs, Eric Berry: Stuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuud. Great pick.

Berry might make the biggest impact of all rookies...

6.) Seahawks, Russell Okung: Great feet, oh and he put up 38 reps...yikes.

So far I don't have any beef with the first six picks.

Trucks and beer, I think we know who watches the draft.

If they take a CB, they gotta go Haden and not Wilson...

7.) Browns, Joe Haden: Great player he could be shutdown in a couple of years, this is a solid pick. The Browns could certainly use some D.

This Oakland pick could get interesting...Al Davis is a nutbag...

Gruden is a stud, really funny dude

8.) Raiders, Rolando McClain: Kind of a reach here, but he is the top LB in the draft. They needed a lot of other things, like a QB!!!...could be another disappointing year for da raddddassss

9.) Bills, CJ Spiller: Stud stud stud stud stud stud stud...enough said. Monster stud. A little surprising, but, he is electric.

add another one to the list, pizza. Beer, trucks, pizza...

10.) Jags, Tyson Alualu: I have no idea....good player, but...little high

San Fran getting this pick from Denver...any SF fans in the house...tikko???

Man this coors light home draft is soooo sweet....

11.) 49ers, Anthony Davis: This dude is really good, they really wanted him and they traded to get him. Good pick for the 49ers.

pick is in........

Fins trade pick to Chargers

12.) Chargers, Ryan Matthews: Had him as my #3 RB. He is really solid, big guy, fast, and can carry the load. I like this pick. Jahvid Best is now the best RB left.

another trade brewing....

Denver trades with Philly, Philly looking to take Earl Thomas from Texas.

13.) Eagles, Brandon Graham: Graham is a really good player, but most people (everyone) thought Earl Thomas would go here. Being a big blue fan I saw a lot of Graham, and he is special. Interesting pick with Derrick Morgan available, but this kid can play.

Seahawks should be next pending any trades

14.) Hawks, Earl Thomas: and finally Earl goes. This kid is super fast and will be able to start right away. He had 8 int's this year and this is a good pick.

the gggggggggggggggggggggggmen next...this could get interesting

15.) Giants, Jason Pierre Paul: Too many DE's available to pass on them. I would of gone with Derrick Morgan, but Paul is really sweet.....he can do a backflip...wow...freak

Gruden is killing it...

the Vince Young's are now on the clock...

16.) Titans, Derrick Morgan: Morgan finally went. this is a very good pick for the Titans. He is a run stuffer and will have an immediate impact in Tennessee.

san fran on the clock...is alex smith thier QB???

17.) San Fran, Mike Iupati: He pushes people around...frank gore and alex smith show...aka frank gore show

what will steel city do?...no QB for first 6 games...

18.) Steelers, Maurkice Pouncey: This dude can play anywhere on the line. Very versatile. They will probably plug him in at guard...

19.) Falcons, Sean Weatherspoon: Decent pick, super athlete. B-

Texans next on the clock

20.) Texans, Kareem Jackson: 2nd CB to go. Bama makes good DB's and Jackson is very versatile...

Erin Andrews is reporting that Jimmy Clausen is waiting...thanks

21.) Jermaine Gresham: Palmers new best friend, best TE in the draft. Coming off of a injury...stud

New England just traded their pick the the Broncos...they always trade their pick...

22.) Broncos, Demaryius Thomas: thought Dez Bryant would go here, but because of his character he did not. Thomas is a big guy that can replace Marshall. But he played at a running school...should be interesting

packers next

23.) Packers, Bryan Bulaga: Blocks people...

the new york post had Bulaga at #5, good job guys...

Pats next...maybe

dallas has moved up to take Dez

24.) Cowboys, Dez Bryant: This guy is the best WR in the draft, he is an absolute monster and can do it all. He is strong and fast, kick and punt returns a long with monster skill set at WR

Ravens on the clock....still thinking that Dez is a great pick...Roy Williams is a bum

TIM TEBOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

what is going on....???????????

Jimmy Clausen is still on the board, and the Broncos are going to take Tim Tebow...WOW...this is crazy...REAAAAAAAACH....but this kid wins...Wildcat???

still recovering...this is crazy...

25.) Broncos, Tim Tebow:...still amazed...

Cards on the clock now...

26.) Cards, Dan Williams: Good pick here

Pats are on the clock....mayyyyyyyybe

pick is in..mayyyyyyyyyyyybe

27.) Pats, Devin McCourty: solid DB and the Pats certainly need it...

Fins next...

28.) Dolphins, Jared Odrick: Good pick here, great with his hands...

Jets next...

29.) Jets, Kyle Wilson: Boise State product...versatile...nickel package and dime stand up

Adrian Peterson's team nexxxxt...

Let's go Thunder...#beatLA

pick traded to the Lions

30.) Lions, Jahvid Best: Whooooo hooooooo love it. Calvin Johnson, Kevin Smith, and Jahvid...bunch of studs...they might win 4 games

highlights of Jahvid=ridiculous

colts next....borrrring

31.) Colts, Jerry Hughes: Big time stud...great motor...great moxy...winning attitude...great pick here for the Colts

Champs next

32.) Saints, Patrick Robinson: a good pick up for the Saints...

and that wraps up the first round...

go Thunder...

title: The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure


author: William Goldman


genre: fantasy/romance/humor

published: 1973

pages: 414

first line: This is my favorite book in all the world, though I have never read it.

rated: 4 out of 5








What can I say about The Princess Bride? I both liked it and disliked it. I liked the story overall.


For the most part it's a unique and fun read. I like that it's a fairy tale with romance, adventure and humor.




What I disliked was that author William Goldman makes it seem as though S. Morgenstern wrote the book, and that Goldman's version of the story is the 'good parts version'. That annoyed me so very much!



And the amount of writing that he used during the beginning and the end of the story to re-inforce this was a bit much for me. I didn't so much mind his commentary within the story, some of it made me laugh.



It's funny because in the introduction Goldman tells a convincing tale about this being abridgement of an earlier novel. So I fell for it. I tend to google 'new to me authors' and anything in a book that I'm unfamiliar with, so I googled S. Morgenstern only to find out Goldman invented him. Which made perfect sense to me then because I kept thinking this really sounded far-fetched. Especially when Goldman brings Stephen King into the mix as a native of Florin who is in cahoots with the curators at the S. Morgenstern museum.





Anyway, once the story takes off, the beautiful Buttercup lives in the countryside in Florin and is the envy of all the females in town because of her beauty. Long story short, Buttercup falls in love with the Farm Boy Westley. Westley tells her he is leaving for America to claim his fortune so he can return and marry her.
Buttercup is overjoyed and the two finally have their first kiss.

There have been five great kisses since 1642 B.C., when Saul and Delilah Korn's inadvertent discovery swept across Western civilization. (Before then couples hooked thumbs.) And the precise rating of kisses is a terribly difficult thing, often leading to great controversy, because although everyone agrees with the formula of affection time purity times intensity time duration, no one has ever been completely satisfied with how much weight each element should receive. But on any system, there are five that everyone agrees deserve full marks.


Well, this one left them all behind.

Westley isn't gone too long before Buttercup receives news that he has been killed by the Dread Pirate Roberts. She swears to never love again. She ends up being engaged to Prince Humperdinck, but lets him know that she will never love him. One day while Buttercup is out on one of her horse rides, she is kidnapped by a Sicilian, a Spaniard named Inigo and a giant named Fezzik. Soon after the kidnapping, the trio realize they are being followed by a 'man in black'.






There is so much to The Princess Bride that I can't really go into it all. I think most of us have seen the film. The book captivated me as soon as the actual story started.



I really enjoyed the witty dialogue and all the characters. Besides Buttercup and Westley, Inigo and Fezzik quickly became favorite characters as well. I enjoyed how Goldman went into their story lines and backgrounds also.


The dialogue was funny throughout the book.
This is Buttercup's parents debating over who would go see what the Count and Countess want when they arrive at the couples doorstep:

"What could they want to ask me about?" he said.


"Go see, go see," Buttercup's mother told him.


"You go. Please."


"No. You. Please."


"We'll both go."


They both went. Trembling...

For the most part I thought it was fun the way Goldman comments throughout the story in (parentheses) and italics. But as I said before, the way he kept going on and on about S. Morgenstern and the original Princess Bride got to be too much for me. All in all, I'm glad I read it and would recommend it. Because of the storyline, the dialogue and the great characters I gave it a 4 star rating. There's some great lines in this book.






Here's a few of my favorite tidbits:

"If you're teasing me Westley, I'm just going to kill you."


"How can you even dream I might be teasing?"


"Well, you haven't once said you loved me."


"That's all you need? Easy. I love you. Okay? Want it louder? I love you.
Spell it out, should I? I ell-oh-vee-ee why-oh-you. Want it backward? You love I."

Her heart was a secret garden and the walls were very high. "I loved once," Buttercup said after a moment. "It worked out badly."

The six-fingered sword.


How it danced in the moonlight. How glorious and true. Inigo brought it to his lips and with all the fervor in his great Spanish heart kissed the metal...

But just as he knew that the sun was obliged to rise each morning in the east, no matter how much a western arisal might have pleased it, so he knew that Buttercup was obliged to spend her love on him. Gold was inviting, and so was royalty, but they could not match the fever in his heart, and sooner or later she would have to catch it. She had less choice than the sun.

I think the film is fantastic. They did a great job bringing this story to the big screen, and the actors portrayed the characters really well. The book and movie are very similar, and some of the book is directly quoted in the film.