Movies: "Twilight" and "Marley & Me"

Both these books helped me reach my measely goal of reading 6 books in 2009.  It's no secret from my other posts that I did not like "Twilight", but I did enjoy "Marley & Me" - it is just a basic 'this is my life' story, but I found it well written and it kept my interest.  I knew I'd end up in tears, and I was right. 

I've always preferred reading the book instead of watching the movie, and most often opt not to bother with the movie, but with these two, I was curious to see how each translated to the big screen.  So upon a lucky trip to the library, both were in!  I quickly grabbed the cases and then went to look to make movie night the trifecta with "Mystic River", but no such luck.

Back at home, neither garnered interest from the hubby, in fact, he looked at me and said "did you actually think I'd want to watch these movies?"  Truth be told, NO I didn't, and that was fine by me, but I has to ask. :-)

I watched "Twilight" first and liked the movie much better than the book.  I thought Kristin Stewart played a good part - better than Rob Pattinson (?) as Edward - too much make-up made his face look strange.  Now I want to see "New Moon", but will trudge through the book first.  uugh.

"Marley & Me" was the next night.  I loved the Jennifer Aniston 'Jenny' and the Owen Wilson 'John' - a great paring.  Eric Dane and Alan Arkin made for great supporting roles.  But Marley - the dog they got was spot-on from the book.  I couldn't stop laughing at the obedience school scene - and hubby reminded me that I shouldn't wake the sleeping child! 

Any others care to chime in on these two?  Or other movie / book combos?

Another New Year's Resolution: Read Books

This is a repeat of last year's resolution, and while I did up the ante, it ain't by much! Some history: I had stacks of magazines built up from subscriptions that I couldn't bear to throw away without thoroughly reading first - the guilt of 'wasted' money prevailed in my attempt to clean the house. So what I chose to do was let most of my subscriptions lapse with exceptions for Coastal Living (I can dream of the beautifully decorated retirement home right on the Ocean or a lake), Country Living, Redbook (at $8/year I cannot give up the affordable fashion spreads, money-management articles that I constantly put in front of my husband so he can ignore, and 'best new products' bc I am a product whore), and US Weekly (the best maternity gift I received!). I also limit myself to a one-day commute to get through the magazines, or else it is garbage.

This freed up commute time to get back into reading books. I forgot how much I truly enjoy reading a good story. Last year's resolution was to read five books and I managed to meet the goal and almost got in a sixth, but ended up finishing "Crooked" by Louisa Luna in early January. My 2009 resolution is for six books - hence, my barely upped-ante. I will read different types of books too - chick-lit, classics, non-fiction, thrillers. My downfall is the same as my magazine downfall - I usually stick to finishing the book even if I don't like it because I don't like to leave loose-ends. There are two books from at least 8 to 10 years ago that I haven't finished and to this day, still consider going back to finish "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" and "Snow Falling on Cedars" (both were too slow-moving for me - I needed some sort of SOMETHING to happen).

BUT, onto my 2009 reading! And I admit that when I check-out people's blogs, I go to the Profile to see what books others call 'favorites'. My first finished book for 2009 was "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Seibold. Right from the get-go it captured my interest with the despicable crime and narration from the perspective of the murdered Susie Salomon, but it is the infuriating lack of apprehended suspect, the unraveling of the family, and the building of a life that became the sad story for me. And there were moments on the LIRR or NYC subway when I had to have a tissue in hand. "Lula Boutique" blog owner mentions this book as one of her favorites and I can see why.

I'm currently reading the Ned Kelly story and don't like the author's style of writing, but I'm struggling to finish it and get that "check mark" next to book #2 (I'm counting "Crooked" as a 1/2 read - hee hee). Next up is "The Reader" as many of you know Kate Winslet won the Academy Award for her role, so I'm hoping it is a good story as I tend to respect Ms. Winslet's film choices.

Lula Boutique also listed "Go Ask Alice" by Anonymous as a favorite - and I read this back in junior high school. I thought about re-reading it a week before I read her profile, so this will be on my 2009 list, as will "The Fountainhead" and "The DaVinci Code".

Anyone care to through out some more titles?? All welcome!