The Great Gatsby.

Hello!

So here's the thing. I gave up going to the Library for Lent. That means no new library material every weekend. I haven't put anything on hold, and I didn't send my sister in with a list of books and my card. I don't even go on the trips. I stay at home. There was this one time that I went so I could go to Walmart, and I did have to go into the library to drop things in the return box. This was only because everyone else was too chicken to go inside. (I guess they had fines on their cards and were afraid that the librarians would go super-ninja on em and take their lives.) So zipped up my hood and stared only at the floor as I returned the books. But that was pretty early on.

Since then, I have been holding up to it. I gave it up because it was what I most enjoyed. But now thinking back about it, I should have given up Pinterest. Lol. Maybe next year.

This time has given me a chance to read the books that I bought last summer that have been sitting on my shelf for a year. 

One of those books was "Stealing the Preacher" by Karen Witemeyer. I have written about her before and put her work up with high praise. My sister read this book before me (I know, I am ashamed--but I was busy!) and she kept harping me to read it. I finally sat down on Sunday and began.

This particular story follows Crockett Archer, rancher turned Preacher as he travels in the hopes of gaining a Preaching position in a neighboring town. Things don't go exactly as planned, and he runs into Joanna Robbins. Joanna has been looking for a parson to start up the church that has for so long been quiet. She wants this so that she can save her Daddy's soul. 

(Silas Robbins was pretty against preachers because of some sad, horrible back-story that I won't include.)

In the end, it all works out perfectly--though there are SO many challenges. Some of them almost made me cry. It was really good. 

We have seen Crockett Archer in "Short-Straw Bride," so it was easy to enjoy him once again. He's no Travis, haha, but a great character. Margaret claimed that he winked--to anyone and everyone, practically--about 45 times all together. So as I read it, it was more almost 20 times than 45 times.

Lovely book, if you are into Historical Fiction, I highly recommend it.

There isn't much in terms of fandom with these kinds of books. Unless you count the middle-aged Amish women that read them. I can understand reading the regular novels, but what gets me is that they also read the Beverly Lewis stuff. (I never cared much for the "Amish novels" as my brother calls them. I prefer the cowboys.) I don't understand, because, don't they live that kind of life? Why would they need to read about it? Though, now thinking about it, I am sure there is more drama in it.

Eh, who am I to judge.

SOOOOOO...anyway!! I finished it today, so I started the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Thus far, it's a book about this guy named Nick who went to visit some rich friends of his who he really didn't know at all.

Daisy is crazy.

Miss Baker is equally strange. 

We have yet to see Gatsby.

So far, it's pretty good.

Wow. That's a load of text up there.

Well.

I may be back, though we are nearing Easter so there is much to be done. David Tennant's birthday is on Good Friday this year, so I don't know if I will post something about that...on that particular day. It's really quiet around here on that day....

sigh...

I may come tomorrow.

♥

Anne

The Lord of the Rings: A new favorite ♥

 I had finally gotten to that place on my to-do list where it says, “See the entire trilogy of The Lord of the Rings movies.” I had wanted to see them for a long time, and about a week ago, I finished the third one for the first time. The ending was bittersweet for me. Mostly because I love Frodo and it was sad to see him leave. But I loved how Arwen and Aragorn got married, and when the Hobbits got back to The Shire, Sam got married. There is a small soft place in my heart for things like that. I guess that’s why I watch the Valentine Day movies on Hallmark Channel…

                                                       

 Anyway, the first time we saw a Hobbit was in the beginning of the first movie, The Fellowship of The Ring. The Hobbit was Frodo Baggins. When we (being my sister and I) saw him, we were both like, “whoa.” His eyes were so incredibly blue, it was fantastic. Then we got Gandalf the Gray, who was amazing. He was an instant favorite for me, and I still can’t figure out why. When he—stopping for spoilers—fell somewhere during the middle of the film, I honestly gasped. I thought that he had surely died. And I was devastated!

 The Fellowship consisted of Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin, who were all Hobbits. Pippin being my favorite of course, I think because of his accent. It was cute when he was asking Merry if Aragorn—who at that point was Strider—if he was aware of “second breakfast.” If I can find the real quote, I will post it. Got it ;)

Aragorn: Gentlemen, we do not stop 'til nightfall.
Pippin: What about breakfast?
Aragorn: Gentlemen, we do not stop 'til nightfall.
Pippin: What about breakfast?
Aragorn: You've already had it.
Pippin: We've had one, yes. What about second breakfast?
[Aragorn turns and walks off in disgust]
Merry: I don't think he knows about second breakfast, Pip.
Pippin: What about elevenses? Luncheon? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper? He knows about them, doesn't he?
Merry: I wouldn't count on it. 

 The other members including Aragorn, Legolas—who is an Elf, a pretty awesome one—and then Gimli, who was a Dwarf, and then Boromir, who was the son of a King. I only figured that out during the last movie when Gandalf—yes! He came back! I was soooo happy!—told the King about his death. Gandalf was also on the team, but was temporarily out of it for quite some time. He was found again in the second one, The Two Towers.

By then, however, Frodo and Sam were on their way to Mordor by themselves, until they met Gollum, who was actually Sméagol! Sméagol is really creepy to me, but I was sad for him because he was constantly fighting with his mind.

All in all, I think that the last one was my favorite. They were all fantastically wonderful, so it’s hard to choose. I am going to read the original novel as soon as I can. I have it sitting on my shelf right under The Hobbit. I am going to read that one first though. The movie for The Hobbit came out and I cannot wait to see it! I have seen costumes and screenshots and it looks amazing! It’s going to be awesome to be able to see how Bilbo got the ring; in movie form of course…I think there is going to be another Hobbit movie called There and Back Again; which is the name of the book that Bilbo was working on.

 Soooooo…That’s what I have been doing lately. Watching movies and now I am trying to learn how to write in Elvish. (I love how Microsoft Word doesn't spell-check Frodo or even Sméagol…^.^)

 ***

In other news, I have learned that Karen Witemeyer has a new book coming out this summer! It’s called Stealing the Preacher and we get Crockett’s point of view! I had always wondered how Short-Straw Bride—which I have just finished for the second time—would have been like if Crockett had been the one to marry Meredith. I have a feeling that this new one is going to be awesome. I have finished Head in the Clouds a couple weeks ago, and now I have To Win Her Heart on hold at the library again. I guess that’s what you do when you have a favorite author—of that genre of books—you read them all over and over again. Again, I am SO excited! Clicky here for her book site.

 Other books that I have tried to accomplish would be Crookedstar’s Promise by Erin Hunter. It’s a Super Warriors Edition. So far it has been really good. It must be somewhat easy to write something with a familiar character in it. Rather than starting from scratch with a new character.

 The story, in the beginning, follows this kit called Stormkit, but an accident with a slippery rock inspired his new name. He had broken his jaw and his mother had Hailstar rename him. My first thought was, “Dang, Rainflower, you are a cruel mother.” Basically, for a long time, she disowned him. Paying more attention to her other kit, Oakkit.  His kit name then became Crookedkit, then Crookedpaw. I haven’t gotten to the point in the story where he receives his Warrior name, but I know from reading Bluestar’s Prophecy, that his Warrior name is Crookedjaw. He had joked about that during a gathering when he had first met Bluepaw.  This was an older age of the Clans, back in the day of Pinestar of Thunderclan, and Hailstar of RiverClan.  Not too long before Bluestar took over, but it was some moons before Rusty (Fireheart) joined ThunderClan. Honestly I think Firestar is the best Clan leader ever, but that’s because he is my favorite. I am now getting off track…

 Anyway, what I was trying to get too is that I do own Bluestar’s Prophecy and I had torn it from the bookshelf when Crookedpaw began talking to Bluepaw at a Gathering.  It was so cool because I was reading the same scene, but in two different POVs. For the writing geek in me, it was amazing.  It was kind of like that when I was reading Yellowfang’s book. That book ended with Yellowfang being banished from ShadowClan, in which she wandered into ThunderClan territory. That’s when Firepaw had found her and took her back to ThundeClan’s camp. I think that that may have been the middle of the first or the second Warriors books from the first series group.

All the first 5 books of the Warriors series were in Firepaw’s view. ~sigh~ It has been a while since I have read those, but I had read those 5 about 3 times for each book. I have read the second group of books twice, and surprisingly, I had only read the third group once or twice. There are a few books from the fourth group that I haven’t read yet…Then some super editions, and then I think I have read them all! I think I have read 4 of the Super ones…Firestar’s being my favorite…There was a lot of Sandstorm drama in that one. Heh…Awesome book, nonetheless.

  Well, I have pretty much blogged myself out for today. Except I have one more thing to say.

With a second of thinking from my sister, we have come to the conclusion, that Ed Sheeran, must be a Hobbit. Yes.

Ah yes.

~Natsu

Bored. Honestly.

 It is almost 10pm. It's not unusual that I am not asleep by now. I guess I am like one of those masked night-creatures...Oh yeah, Raccoons. ☺



 Today I went to the library-gosh, I love that place--and I got two more books from Tamera Alexander. I had recently finished Beyond this Moment. Wonderful, extremely wonderful. I loved it. The Sheriff was my favorite character. Heh... Honestly I didn't think that I would find an author that I liked as much as I like Karen Witemeyer. But Tamera is GREAT! I love these books.

 On the topic of books, I was actually thinking about starting a book blog. Where I can post my thoughts about the books I read. Maybe that's a fall project..

  A few interesting things I found this week. The OVER music video, and the new trailer for Disney's new movie 'OZ'--which by the way, looks COMPLETELY amazing! The producers are the same from Alice in Wonderland. It has been made pretty clear that I LOVED that movie--I can't wait to see OZ.

  Here are Blake and Oz...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyywumlnhdw

  I was watching the trailer, with a quizzical mind-set. (If that makes any sense.) I had seen that actor before. Turns out, after brain wracking and finally Googling it, I learned that the actor is James Franco   I only really know him from The Spider-Man movies as Harry Osbourn. Which, I think is cool because he could be Harry OZbourn..THE GREAT AND POWERFUL! That's me being..ADORKABLE. (Heard that term on Jeopardy! and I said, "That's me!" LOL.)  I am glad that they decided to go with another actor and not Johnny Depp. I have NO problem with Johhny, but I think it would seem too...Mad Hatter-y? It's good to give others a shot.

 The side of his face reminded me of Micheal Keaton though. But then again, everyone reminds me of Micheal Keaton. That and Jim-Bob Walton. Everyone remind me of both. Either really...Which reminds me, looking through things to watch on tv, I clicked by the SYFY channel and instantly yelled Micheal's name. It was him in the end. It's pretty easy to recognize him after watching Jack Frost every Christmas...The movie was called 'White Noise'--or something to that affect--I didn't stick around though, I wish I did. It looked...creepily cool.

  I didn't expect this to go on as long as it did. I have dug through yet another Naruto Manga...Awesome stuff. Kakashi gets cooler and cooler, and more strange, every time I see him. I though my favorite character was Sai...Hummm.....

 Goodnight to those in the BLOGOSHPERE!

 You'r now tired-of-typing, book reading, movie watching, anime reading,

  ~*~*~*~*~`~*~*~*~NATSU~*~*~*~*

Jeopardy! And other fancies...

 Have you ever realized that the end of the Jeopardy! theme song sounds kinda like a slowed up version of the 'I'm a Little Teapot' song? Eh, that's what I thought anyway.

I am going to try to keep things on the sunny side around here...Even though some things slowly start to slip away.. But I don't like to talk about sad things. Like Marley and Me. I don't like to talk about it. So I won't. Although if you asked me what the saddest dog movies I have ever seen were, I would have to answer with Marley and Me and Hachi: A dog's tale. If you want to bawl your eyes out at the end of a touching dog movie, any of those would do. Trust me. :)

 Recently, I did see the Wreck it Ralph preview. It was a while back though. I saw it again a little while ago. Ralph seems like one of those characters that is going to be really sweet and quickly becomes the most favored character...But I can't fully understand a character with just seeing a preview. So I will be waiting for the holiday season! :) We'll see how it turns out. The little girl in the trailer reminds me of Agnes on Despicable Me...


 Another Karen Witemeyer book swallowed. And the next quickly going down my mental throat. *Heh*   I finished To Win Her Heart yesterday. Very good. The characters were great. Levi Grant was sweet. Eden was forgiving... I love how she switches the POV of the characters. Have I already said that? Hmmm...Well, it won't kill me to mention it again. A Tailor Made Bride, was started some time this afternoon...More to come. ♥

Well, the rain last night was great to listen too, but it DID NOTHING to help with the heat. So so humid.

I had low cal cereal for dinner...Yeash...THAT REMINDS ME!!! SNAP, CRACKLE, AND POP HAVE A BROTHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMGNESS, his name is POW! Awesome right? My Dad mentioned him. So it was and instant, TO THE INTERNET second.

 I gotta go,

Later Days,
GOODNIGHT.

~NATSU☺

Is it only Wednesday?

 My week has been totally weird. I mean, yesterday felt like a Saturday. But it wasn't so we have to continue on with the week.

Yesterday I went to the library and got three more books by Karen Witemeyer. I am reading now, To Win her Heart. It's really good so far. I am still trying to get used to the characters after being comfortable with Meredith, and the Archer clan.

Speaking of clan- Fading Echoes, from the Warriors series, by ERIN HUNTER- was very good. I hate to hear though when something happens to my favorite cats. Mainly Firestar...

 Anyway, the reason I wanted to be here was to post 'Even if it breaks your Heart.' By The Eli Young Band. It has become a habit that every morning I end up turning Froggy on. The first song I heard was this song. And when I learn how to play my guitar* I am going to attempt to master it. :D

Have a good day ^_^

NATSU♥

*Being that I will introduce my guitar soon! 

Angry Birds and This. ♥

 After a long 10 hour reading session, (not going to say it was JUST reading. I mean, there was food to eat during time periods and the other stuff...Like, I HAVE to get water inside of me every 11 hours or so...)

 I finished Short-Straw Bride yesterday. And today I started and FINISHED Stolen.


The reviews for both, I'll make 'em short and sweet. Kinda like the caramel corn my sister made... *shutters* That was some EPIC sweet crud right there...

ANYWAY! (Wait, let me get through this level of Angry Birds and I will be back...And I will be cake...WHATEVER THAT MEANS! Okay so I did originally type cake instead of back. It's not that hard to understand though. Back kinda sounds like bake and bake RHYMES with cake...So yeah. There ya are..) (Gotta have some Rhyme in your life :O) )

Short-Straw Bride was beautifully written. The story was beautiful. The characters were beautiful. And Karen wrote it in a way that made you feel like you were actually there. Knowing what was going on. What they were feeling...(That was the best part.) The whole thing was really really sweet. I REALLY REALLY loved this book. That's my opinion. I love the Historical Romances. ♥♥♥

Stolen, on the other hand, wasn't what I expected. I really did like the story. There were certain things that I really didn't like. I could have done with out the cussing. But the story was nice. The camel was really neat though...

That's my opinion.

Well, the book for tomorrow is 'Avalon High' by Meg Cabbot. I am pretty sure that is how you spell her name. It looks promising. Can't wait ;)

The night is some-what young, but I am going to bed...

Night ya'll.


Oh, one more thing.

This is the Limerick I wrote. Like two seconds it took me to write it...Heh. I love limericks.

  

                    "There was an old lady of Wombat,

                      She was never good at combat, 

                      One day she fell on her head, 

                       Now the floorboards are dead,

                     And now there's no lady of Wombat"

Wombat was the first word that came into my mind. Geekery. Yeah. That's good... :)

♥natsu