a picture is worth a thousand words

so a movie must be worth a lot.

a lot of amazing books have been made into movies, for some, this turned out to be a really really good thing. for others... well.. they might have a fan base, but once they hit the theatres, a lot of the fans were horrifed.

and these are my favorite movies based on books.

the lord of the rings trilogy. these books are beloved world wide, and when the they came to the screen, they were helmed by peter jackson, who was a giant fan. Christopher Lee, who played Sarumon, not only rereads the books every year, but met and was friends with JRR Tolkien, and Peter Jackson happily looked to him for advice. The movies are very true to the books, only differing in a few places. The story is brought to life with love and care and lots of awesome.

Stardust is a sweeping fantasy with a love story, some bite and lots of comedy. The book was written by Neil Gaiman, who is much beloved to me, who has a blog: http://journal.neilgaiman.com/ . Stardust is definitly one of my favorite books by Neil. It starts off in a sleepy little hamlet in England, and then whips over the wall into a world of magic and adventure.

Coraline is a creepy young adult thriller, also written by Neil Gaiman. Coraline is stuck in the country with parents who are too busy working to spend too much time with her. She finds a secret door that leads into the other house, where she has another set of parents, who not only want to spend time with her, but are delighted too. Things are not what they seem in this sinister other world, and soon Coraline is fighting for her life.

The Chronicles of Narnia books are one of my favorite series from when i was little. And when i heard that Disney was joining forces with Walden media to make them into movies, i cried. We went to see the lion the witch and the wardrobe in theatre, but it was sold out so we got stuck with the 4th harry potter movie. When i finally got my hands on the dvd i laughed, cried and cheered my way through the movie. I awaited Prince Caspian like the rabid fangirl that i am. I cheered for casting news, and eagerly waited seeing my favorite character in the verse being brought to life. I giggled and cheer and cried my way through the movie when i finally got to see it. It was well done, and better than i thought it could be. Then disney dropped the ball and cancelled the rest of the movies. I cried. Fox picked up the ball and i cried even more. i am eagerly waiting for dec 10th, when the voyage of the dawn treader will hit theatres.

the princess bride is possibly the best ever movie adapted from a novel. It has been deemed 50th of Bravo's 100 funniest movies, and 22nd of what afi considers the 100 greatest love stories. The movie is a cult classic, and gives life to the story in the best sort of way.

i should mention harry potter here, and the twilight stories. Harry potter brought a reading renaissance to the youth (and adults of the world). The books flew off shelves, and once the movies were made they opened the doors for many other movies. If the harry potter books and movies were not so popular, odds are that the narnia movies would not have been made. People are into fantasy books again, and there are some amazing stories out there. Eventually a lot of them will be movies.

the twilight books are like crack. they are horrible for you, cost money and don't have a lot of substance, but they take you away and give you an escape. Bella is a useless mary sue, and Edward is creepy, stalker-ific and sparkly. they are romantic, if you find a pale dude who is much older than his love interest spending all night watching her sleep. Normally, horror movies have plot points like that. And while these books have vampires and werewolves, they are definitly not the traditional types. but they are fun, and good reads. the movies can be a little train wrecky with robert patternsons acting range being worse than Keanu Reeves, Kristen Stewarts dead eyes, the horrible stunt work and lack luster special effects. But they are popular and you can't argue with popularity*. I should add that in this case, i bash with love, i have the first three books and have seen both the movies. I absolutely can not wait for the last movie, just to see how they deal with the ... more interesting plot points that pop out... er up in breaking dawn.



*well you could, but you'd be wrong.

non fiction list

updating the non fiction list

3. official book club selection, kathy griffen
4. illustrated birds of north america, national geographic
5. where to see wildlife on vancouver island, kim goldberg
6. growing 101 herbs that heal, tammi harting
7. sticks, stones, mud homes
8. naugty needles

fiction list

updating the fiction list

17. ghouls just want to have fun, victoria laurie
18.highlanders touch, karen marie moening
19. faefever, karen marie moening
20. bloodfever, karen marie moening
21. dead man loving, casey daniels
22. the mulberry tree, jude deveraux
23. trust me, janye ann krentz
24. killer insight, victoria laurie
25. we'll always have parrots, donna andrews
26. desperado city, rebecca coleman
27. sharing knife: passage, lois mcmaster bujold
28. sharing knife: beguilment, lois mcmaster bujold
29: sharing knife: legacy, lois mcmaster bujold

things i get from my mom

i've mentioned before that my parents are big on reading.
i get my love of historical romance novels, and alot of my collection of historical romance novels from my mom.

when i started reading her books, i was only allowed to read the skinny ones at first (because they had no sex scenes), and then i was allowed to read the anthologies, and then i was allowed free reign of her collection. those books gave me a unique insight into alot of history, putting me on the path to becoming a history geek. most of them took place in england or scotland, but a few here and there showed me slices of the world ages ago.

My mom really likes regency romances. This has totally passed onto me. In fact in history class, i once answered the question "what is the most important fact about king george III?" with "he was crazy! it was really sad and tragic, and then his fat, philandering son got to run the country." the actual answer was that he was the last king of the colonies.

my favorite romance novel authors are among my moms. i'm really glad shes got good taste in books. so here are the best of the ones i found through my moms books, and my faverite books by each author.

Jo Beverly - writes some awesome books. Her two series that i love the most are her company of rogues series, of which she recently put out the final book, and her Malloren books. My favorite book by her is definetly lady beware

Catherine Coulter tends to write in trilogies, but i like that just fine. Her historical novels are mostly set in the regency era, and shes got a bunch of modern thrillers. My favorite trilogy by her is definitly the legacy series, and my favorite book is the Valentines Legacy.

Julie Garwood is amazing. I love her stuff. if i have to pick one book of hers, it would totally be Heartbreaker, even though its set in the modern era. Its a thriller, and its awesome. I even made my husband read it and he loved it.

Jude Deveraux has written 30 some odd books about the Montgomery and Taggart families, and these books run from the dark ages to modern times. Shes got 30 or 40 other books, and thankfully mom got tired of reading her so she gave me most of them. (thanks mom!) I love the Montgomery Taggart books, and my favorite book by her is called Sweet Liar. I've read it so much that i wore out the copy my mom passed to me, and then i got a new one, and i had to replace it last year.

Judith McNaught wrote the book that is considered to have invented the regency romance genre. she has 16 books out with one more on the way. My favorite book by her is Until You.

Mary Jo Putney writes really really good rakes, and reforms them really really well. She has a couple series out, and my two favorites are the Fallen Angels series, and the silk series. and my fav book by her is River of Fire.

Last but certainly not least is Jayne Anne Krentz/Amanda Quick/Jayne Castle/Stephanie James/Jayne Bently/Jayne Taylor. One person, many many pen names. She is considered to have invented the futuristic romance, and the paranormal futuristic romance genres. I love love everything i've read by her. But if i have to pick one... for each pen name, it would be Trust me by Krentz, Desire by Quick, Dark Light by Castle, and Renaisance Man by James.

so if your looking for a new romance author, i highly reccomend all these authors. They are fantastic and funny and you will find yourself swept off your feet and transported to another time and place.

fiction list

1. best in show, laurien berenson
2. hounded to death, laurien berenson
3. chow down, laurien berenson
4. jingle bell bark, laurien berenson
5. foundation, m lackey
6. no nest for the wicket, donna andrews
7. 6 geese a slaying, donna andrews
8. crouching buzzard, leaping loon donna andrews
9. cockateils at 7, donna andrews
10. owls well that ends well, donna andrews
11. unseen academials, terry pratchett
12. deads daughter amber benson
13. winter study, nevada barr
14. hard truth, nevada barr
15. track of the cat, nevada barr
16. endangered species, nevada barr

i have a bunch more i need to add, i just need to find the paper i wrote them down on. my orginization skills are not where i shine the brightest. lol.

book meme2

1. One book that changed your life- the finovar tapestry by guy gavriel kay
2. One book that you've read more than once american gods by neil gaiman
3. One book you'd want on a desert island the complete works of shakespear
4. One book that made you laugh- the royal pain- mary janice davidson
5. One book that made you cry - the last light of the sun by guy gavriel kay (ok, so EVERY book by him makes me cry)
6. One book that you wish had been written. how not to be a moron
7. One book that you wish had never been written. can not answer.
8. One book you're currently reading. the complete birds of north america
9. One book you've been meaning to read. micheal swanwicks new one

lets talk about murder

i love a good mystery. I like to be kept at the edge of my seat and chew my finger nails and wait for the crime to be commited again. I love smart leads, who don't do stupid things when they are chasing a murderer. I like traps and tricks and good writing.

I also have a thing for good series. I love finding new authors (and by new, i mean new to me) who have a good bunch of books under their belts. i can dive in and read until i'm caught up to the latest or until i get to the end of the series. I blame my parents for this, because they got me in to the Laurence Saunders Archie McNally books. I remeber seeing my dad with various books in the series, and then they discovered audio books for road trips. And then i was hooked. I have sucessfully passed my adoration for those books on to my husband. And that meant that we could listen to the audio books on our long roadtrips. Which worked awesomely going across the country twice.


anyways now that i'm done fangirling over Archie Mcnally let me fan girl over some other crime solvers.

Nevada Barr writes the Anna Pidgeon series, each book is set in a different national park in the states, as Anna Pidgeon is a Law Enforcement Officer with in the parks system. Each book is well written and full of love of the land where the mysteries are un-furling. I found my way into her series thanks to a mis-shelving. I though it was a romance novel in a national park. It was a delightful surpise when people started dying. There are 15 books in the series, and while it is great to read them in order, they can also be read out of series and still make fantastic sense.

Victoria Laurie writes two amazing series, both with a touch of the paranormal. The Pyschic Eye books follow the adventures of Abby Cooper a professional pyschic. There are 7 books in the series so far. Then theres the ghost hunters series, so far with 3 great books.

Diane Mott Davidson writes a absolutely fantastic series of food books, wrapped around the life of Goldy Schulz, caterer of awesome. The series is 15 books long now, and each book comes with a bunch of fantastic recipies, all for food that Goldy creates in the book. These books make my so hungry, and the recipies are all fantastic and work.

Donna Andrews writes the Meg Langslow Mystery books. Meg is a black smith with a horrible talent for solving crimes. The running theme of the books are the birds that pop up in each different mystery. The books are also really funny. I may have woken up the husband giggling my way through one of them more than once. There are currently 11 books in the series.

Jd Robb, wirtes the In Death books. Following the cases of Lt. Eve Dallas in New york, circa the mid 21st century. Lt Dallas is dark and smart as a whip. Not a people person, but as the series goes along she is slowly surrounded by an excellent group of friends and co-workers. There are 30 books in the series, plus 7 novellas. JD Robb is better known as Nora Roberts, underwhich name she writes romance novels.

book meme

1. Which book has been on your shelves the longest?
i have my childhood copy of the velveteen rabbit.

2. What is your current read, your last read, and the book you’ll read next?i am bookless at the moment, having finished my last read about 15 minutes ago, it was simple and chic sewing. my next book is the unseen academicals by trerry pratchett

3. What book did everyone like and you hated?
umm.. i don't hate books. they are shiny and fantastic. however the last book i disliked was faefever by karen marie moening. and most poeple i know who've read it seem to like it

4. Which book do you keep telling yourself you’ll read, but you probably won’t?
the host by stephanie myers

5. Which book are you saving for “retirement?”
the oddesey in greek

6. Last page: read it first or wait till the end?
wait till the end! no spoilers

7. Acknowledgements: waste of ink and paper or interesting aside?
very interesting and nifty.

8. Which book character would you switch places with?
the librarian in the discworld books

9. Do you have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life (a person, a place, a time)?
most of them.

10. Name a book you acquired in some interesting way.
when i was 14, i borrowed the first book of the finovar tapestry at a friends house, and promptly after returning it, we had a giant fight and stopped talking. 10 years later we met, and when i mentioned that i had fallen in love with the trilogy and that author, she gave me her trilogy.


11. Have you ever given away a book for a special reason to a special person?
yep

12. Which book has been with you to the most places?
the veleveteen rabbit. i got it in bc, and its gone pretty much everywhere with me since

13. Any “required reading” you hated in high school that wasn’t so bad ten years later? i liked most of the books i read.

14. What is the strangest item you’ve ever found in a book?
a movie ticket from a theatre in texas, from a library book i got in bc

15. Used or brand new?
both! but i don't do hardcovers

16. Stephen King: Literary genius or opiate of the masses?
absolutely fantastic!

17. Have you ever seen a movie you liked better than the book?
lotr:rotk

18. Conversely, which book should NEVER have been introduced to celluloid?
the seeker based on the dark is rising.

19. Have you ever read a book that's made you hungry, cookbooks being excluded from this question?
yes! pretty much all of the diane mott davidson books.

20. Who is the person whose book advice you’ll always take?

non fiction list

starting off my book list with the non fiction books i have read so far this year

1. brother cadfaels medievel garden
2.chic and simple sewing


#1 is a tie in to a medievel murder mystery series. i think my dad read it when i was younger. the books have also been turned into a tv series. I've seen a couple episodes and they are awesome. i grabbed it as a handy research book on herbs, and got some nice info out of it.

#2 has some awesome patterns that i can not wait to attempt

in the beginning...

there was kira and she loved books. alot.

actually, this story starts last january. i decided that i was going to read 365 books before the new year.
and i did! i kicked my resolutions butt 6 ways to sunday. my final number was 370 something. only counting each book once in the year (if i counted them each time i read the book, the number would have been much higher. i also got bored half way through the year and stopped taking precise notes on what i was reading. And i only counted the fiction books i read.

so in december i hit my library account and checked all my search info and request info and then hit my own shelves to go through all the new books i had picked up, and sorted through the pile of books i had read recently but hadn't properly reshelved. that was how i finished off my list. it wasn't 100% every book i read, but once i hit past my goal i decided i could stop trying to figure it out.

this year i have decided that i'm going to do it again. only i will take a better count, and that every time i read a book it will get onto the list. and i have decided that i'm going to write about it. every week i will update my lists. i'm going to have two, one for fiction and one for non fiction. i'll also be writing book reviews and book reccomendations and just rambling about the type of books i love and why i like them.

one of the other things i'm doing this year is writing a book. i've got the plot points mostly figured out, but it need a lot of reasearch, so i'll be blogging about the research i'm doing and the books and stuff i'm reading for that.

so yeah i'm kira and i'm crazy about books and reading. I have 4 book shelves and i have somewhere around 1600 books. i need to get more bookshelves and i definitly need to get more books. I speed read, and have for as long as i can remember. My parents were big on reading and my mom has a fantastic collection of romance novels, so when i was growing up reading was more than encouraged, and i have always been happy to curl up and read.