books and movies and music

most of you will know that i read a lot. sometimes 'actual' reading, and sometimes audio books.  in fact, i've developed an audio book addiction, as it significantly helps pass the one-hour-each-way commute to work.

my latest audio book was 'the guernsey literary and potato peel pie society', and i absolutely loved it.  i'm not sure that i would have taken to it as quickly in traditional book form, but the audio book format, and the different readers, entranced me from the first words.

i know (based on your goodreads shelves) that many of you have already read the book, but for those of you who haven't, let me see if i can convince you that you should.

the book consists solely of correspondence between the characters in post- wwII britain. every character description and plot narrative unfolded within the context of these letters, and you spend the entire book feeling like an eavesdropper or voyeur, and loving every minute of it.

fiction about this time period often feels dismal and sad, and while i'm not averse to serious subjects, i prefer to finish a book not wanting to kill myself.  this book tackled subjects of sacrifice and loss, and circumstances i hope i never find myself in, in powerful and moving ways, without leaving me depressed and disheartened.  instead, as i neared the conclusion, i found myself wanting to find out how it all ended while simultaneously never wanting it to end!   and, of course, i found myself wanting to book the next flight to guernsey.

i won't go into the details of the plot, as you can read it for yourself, but suffice it to say that in my opinion, it has everything a good book should have...including british accents.

in addition to my 'reading', it's been a busy movie week!  while in dallas, i absconded to a local theater in my off time to see 'secretariat', and i think it's fairly obvious that the movie appealed greatly to the horse-loving cow-girl in me.

my only fear had been that the 70's setting (and wardrobes) would be a distraction (not a fan), but it turned out to be a non-issue.  i was reminded just how much i enjoy diane lane, john malkovich's portrayal of secretariat's trainer was laugh-out-loud funny, and yeah, i cried like a baby.  just something about the power, intelligence, and sheer magnificence of an animal like that, tickles my weepy bone.

on friday a few of us from the ward got together to see 'the social network.'  the reviews were good and the movie was as well.  my roommate and i were surprised that we were the only girls in the group, but also not complaining.  and, since our original show time preference was sold out, we had some time to kill before the next showing.  since i'm on the road so much, there are so many people in my ward that i don't know very well, and the wait time gave me a chance remedy that.

i was a little embarrassed when i asked one of the guys in the group how he knew one of the other guys.  his response was 'from the ward,' and i followed up with 'oh, how long have you been in the ward?'  turns out, he's been in the ward for a year, and yes, i am a shmuck. ah well, just another reason i'm glad to be home for awhile!

i wrapped up movie week on saturday afternoon when my roommate and i took advantage of the drizzly day to lose ourselves in a little josh duhamel.  i've actually been looking forward to 'life as we know it' for some time, and i'm glad to say that i wasn't disappointed.

i mean, it's a chick flick, so you pretty much know what you're going to get.  and while it was fairly stereotypical, i also appreciated that there were some deeper layers and truly tender moments relating to unexpected parenthood.  it, unlike most chick flicks, is on my 'to buy' list.

last but not least, i'll just mention that at both movies this weekend, in a trailer for a new reese witherspoon/owen wilson movie,  there was a song i adored and had to look up later.  turns out, i loved almost every itunes clip from the album and immediately downloaded it. if i ever get around to posting a new playlist (i'm sorry about that. really!) brendan james will definitely be on it.  in the meantime, check him out for yourself.  my favorites are 'the lucky ones' and 'the fall' (video below).  it will take more time to be sure, but (dare i say it?) there may be a joshua radin dethroning in the future.