Book Challenge Theme

So, in thinking about what I'm going to read in June, I wanted a theme, but nothing too closely related, so that it wouldn't be boring, and I came up with the idea of reading books that have become movies. I started with a list of 1001 books to read before you die (so they're at least decent) and eliminated any books that I'd already read (fortunately, such as American Psycho - DON'T want to read that again....unfortunately, such as Hitchhiker's Guide). Right now, there are still books that I've seen the movies of. Don't know if it's better or worse going in with a pre-conceived notion. For example, this wasn't even on the list, but I've read the "Bourne" books by Ludlum. Great books, great movies, but NOTHING alike. However, I don't want to read something that will match word for word. Here are the books that are being debated. Feel free to comment on any you think should or should not be included:

Atonement - Ian McEwan*
The Hours - Michael Cunningham
The Reader - Bernhard Schlink
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis de Bernieres
The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides*
Get Shorty - Elmore Leonard
Like Water for Chocolate - Laura Esquivel
The Black Dahlia - James Ellroy
Watchmen - Alan Moore & David Gibbons
Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel García Márquez
The Cider House Rules - John Irving*
The Shining - Stephen King*
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson
The Godfather - Mario Puzo*
2001: A Space Odyssey - Arthur C. Clarke
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel García Márquez
In Cold Blood - Truman Capote*
The Graduate - Charles Webb
Breakfast at Tiffany’s - Truman Capote*
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest - Ken Kesey
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
Doctor Zhivago - Boris Pasternak
Casino Royale - Ian Fleming*
I, Robot - Isaac Asimov
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day - Winifred Watson
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell*
The Postman Always Rings Twice - James M. Cain
The Thin Man - Dashiell Hammett
The Maltese Falcon - Dashiell Hammett
Tarzan of the Apes - Edgar Rice Burroughs*
The War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells
Dracula - Bram Stoker*
The Island of Dr. Moreau - H.G. Wells
The Time Machine - H.G. Wells*
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson*
Ben-Hur - Lew Wallace*
Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
Around the World in Eighty Days - Jules Verne*
Les Misérables - Victor Hugo*
The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
The House of the Seven Gables - Nathaniel Hawthorne
Moby-Dick - Herman Melville
The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas*
Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens*
The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Victor Hugo*
Last of the Mohicans - James Fenimore Cooper*
Mansfield Park - Jane Austen
Dangerous Liaisons - Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe
The Thousand and One Nights - Anonymous

*I've seen the movie

Looking forward to tomorrow

So, yesterday downright is worthy of some four letter words. Trying to move past that. My childhood church is closing for renovations for a year, so I no longer have a place to get married, Chris's computer and camera BOTH died, and as I was on the phone with my mother learning of the church fiasco, I walked into an apartment covered with cat puke b/c the antibiotics don't agree with our little fighter. Joy. THEN I totally blew my solo at orchestra rehearsal (by the way, our next concert will be Weds, May 13 at 8pm at the Dogwood Festival). Guess I need to put in some time planning, cleaning, fixing, and practicing. Onto tomorrow.

MotherReader: The Fourth Annual 48 Hour Book Challenge

I am super psyched to be participating in the 48 Hour Book Challenge! I will have to delay my start time because of a wedding, but we'll see how dedicated I can be, and knock out some of the books I've been meaning to read. Maybe I'll come up with a theme. Feel free to go over and commit yourself!

MotherReader: The Fourth Annual 48 Hour Book Challenge

My cat, the fighter

So, Monster took another trip to the emergency room this weekend while I was out of town. Poor Chris had to deal with the beast after he got out and got into yet ANOTHER fight. Getting beat up doesn't seem to bother him. This time, aside from tons of bites and scratches, he tore open his paw and got it infected. And he doesn't seem to be able to close the outer eyelid of one eye, so he's just using the inner lid, which has totally freaked Chris out. Maybe one day he'll learn to play nice with others.

Running

Well, partially because I had been abnormally lazy, and partially wanting to get into good shape before the wedding, I've been an exercise fiend. Running, biking, yoga...-ing... Not sure it's working yet, but I feel accomplished. We've signed up for a 5k in early June, so hopefully we'll be back to fighting weight (or at least strength) by then. Chris's semester ends next week, so he gets to join me on runs soon. Yay!

Making Chris Happy

Recently, I've made a lot of decisions on the wedding that may or may not thrill Chris, and I've found it to be kind of a hard debate. For instance, I have decided AGAINST a dress that looked amazing on me. Yes, AMAZING. The problem? Chris is definitely a fan of me wearing more conservative clothing in public. And this dress had quite the plunging neckline. No worries, I can just look for one that is similar, but without the cleavage. It's got to be out there, right? The shop owner was trying to tell me that we could alter the dress, and cover more decolletage, but it just wouldn't have looked right.

On the other end of the spectrum, while Chris sometimes refers to my decorating taste as "a rainbow throwing up", I am going with some loud, creative flowers. And I'm as pleased as punch. He'll probably like them, anyway, but I'm loving the craziness and rainbow that's ensuing.

Regardless, I do not believe that this is "my" day. That's always struck me as a crock. It's "our" day, and I AM trying to treat it as such, even if the rainbow is going to be an honored guest.

Reading list

Recently, I just have not found time to read, which, really makes me sad, but it's the way life goes sometimes. However, I'm actually really enjoying The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory. Never thought I'd read it, never thought I'd like it, always struck me as romantic drivel before I started. Actually, not so bad. And, when I get a chance to sit down and read, it actually goes pretty quick. Maybe I shouldn't be so quick to judge. I just don't read a ton of fiction anymore, and if I do...tends to be wacked out sci-fi stuff. So...here's to expanding horizons.