The Demon King Winner!

Thank you to everyone who entered and participated in this giveaway!  I enjoyed all your comments!

The Winner is.....

KAPRI from Book Fanatics

Congrats Kapri!!  I'll be contacting you soon for mailing info!  You have 48 hours to reply or I'll choose another winner.  

Cyrano de Bergerac

From Goodreads:    Regarded as one of the greatest dramas ever written, this story of the silver-tongued soldier whose unfortunate looks drive him to woo his love by speaking for his handsome but dull-witted rival is beloved around the world.

My Thoughts:

-    This was a really fun and beautiful play.  I laughed and almost cried.

-    I couldn't pronounce a lot of names, but it didn't detract from the story at all.

-    I liked the first few poems at the beginning.  They were really fun and used well.

-    I think I would almost fall for Cyrano as well.  He was very witty and eloquent.  He is really prideful though, and I don't know if I could get over the big ego.

-    The ending is sad, real sad.  Why do plays have to end sadly?  

-    Even though it is written as a play, it was really easy to read, and I could picture everything. 

-    I've never read this classic play before, but I'm glad I did, and I really want to add it to my library now.  It is a keeper!  

-    I'm going to be thinking about this play for next few days.  

Cinder

Goodreads Synopsis:    Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, the ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . . 

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

My Thoughts:

-    The story and characters are brilliant!!  This is such a unique twist on a classic fairy tale that has been re-told countless times!  Meyer has brought the story back to life!

-    I love the font.  It's so different, but still easy to read.  Plus it looks really cool.

-    A lying sensor would be very useful, but I wouldn't want everyone to have one, just me.

-    The plot was predictable.  I figured it out really early in the book, but the story is still great, and it kept me captivated.

-    It ends with a bit of a cliffhanger!  Grrrr!!  I'm angry that I have to wait for the 2nd book to find out what happens!!!!!

-    I loved all the characters!  Even the evil characters, they are the kind that you love to hate.  I hope justice is served in a very brutal manner!  I LOVED Cinder!  She is a girl I can really relate too.  I enjoyed her attitude and confidence.  I also liked Prince Kai!  He is a wonderful knight in shining armor type protagonist.  

-    I didn't have a ton of thoughts while reading, I just enjoyed the story and let it take me along for the ride.  It was a really fun read!

Talk N Swap

I went to Talk N Swap at the Provo Library last night.  It was fun, and I got a lot of great books to add to my library!!

Here is what I picked up:

Brave

My Thoughts:

-    Super Super Super CUTE movie!!  I thoroughly enjoyed it!  I laughed a lot!

-    The whole movie is visually stunning.  The CG was amazing!  The scenery was so beautiful!!  I loved all the colors.

-    The story was great!  It was really heartfelt, I even got teary.  The moral was really touching!  It was all about mother and daughter bickering and differences, and how we need to swallow are pride.  

-    The music (minus the pipers) was fantastic!

-    The animated short is called LaLuna.  It was AWESOME!!  It was so cute.  I loved it! 

-    The dad and the 3 little boys were hilarious!  They were probably my favorite characters.  Every scene with them was just a riot.

-    I laughed every time the bear walked upright.  It had this bum wiggle that just cracked me up.

-    The voice actors were perfect!!

-    The little blue wisps reminded me of the little forest spirits from Princess Monoke.  I kept expecting them to bobble their heads.  It wouldn't surprise if John Lasseter patterned them after the spirits.  He is such a Miyazaki fan.  

-    I loved her horse!!

-    There were some bums in the movie.  They were comical bum shots, but I'm not a fan of seeing butts in general.

-    This was a really charming movie.  I highly recommend getting to a theater to see it!!  It is worth it. 

Marry Me

From Back of DVD Case:    Rae Ann Carter always wanted the fairytale where she meets a prince, falls in love and gets married but feared that dream would never come true.  Suddenly, Rae goes from having no man in her life to having three.  Charming Luke, passionate Adam, and sophisticated Harry are all in love with Rae and asking to marry her.  Which man will she choose?  Marry Me is a romantic movie event that will sweep you off your feet.

My Thoughts:

-    This was terrible!  TERRIBLE!!!

-    At first I was like, this is a weird movie, it feels and looks like a TV show.  After a little Internet searching, I found out that it is a 2 episode mini series.  That explained A LOT!

-    There was a lot of fast talking, and it was hard to hear what they were saying sometimes.  The guys weren't too bad, but all the girls talked really fast.

-    Rae acted like a blonde.  She was really fickle, and she made a lot of really really  bad/dumb decisions.  

-    I liked Luke for the first 3/4 of the movie show, but then he turned into a pansy.  In the beginning, he was charming, confident, and he knew what he wanted.  Then he watched The View and lost his manhood.

-    Rae's dog was really cute!

-    Rae's family and a lot of other people gave her really really bad advice.  Her mom and sister were the WORST!

-    The 3 guys were ridiculous!  She should have told the 2 she wasn't going to end up with anyway to get lost!

-    I liked Amy, she was fun and spunky.

-    There were a few moments where my heart melted and I gushed, but it didn't make up for the overall lameness.  

-    There were moments where I wanted to just quit and stop watching, but then I just wanted to see what happens, and I kept going, and there would be a line or a scene that I thought was funny or good, but then it went dumb again. 

-    Overall, I never want to see this again.  Lucy Liu, you have failed me!!

Tyson's Thought:

-    Even Lucy Liu couldn't save this movie. 

Hubby's Thought:

-    Lucy Liu's left eye squints more than her right, and it bugged me.

Poison Study

Goodreads Synopsis:    About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace—and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.

And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dust—and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.

As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren't so clear…

My Thoughts:

-    The story captured me from the very beginning, and it never slows down.  Each chapter is full of awesomeness!!  The plot is intense!!

-    A lot of chapters ended with a little cliffhanger, so I kept telling myself "just one more chapter," but then I couldn't stop.  I read this in 2 sittings.

-    There is some sexual abuse in this book.  Nothing extremely graphic, but it made me cringe a little inside.  This book is probably more for adults.

-    I LOVE LOVE LOVE the banter and bond with Ari and Janco!!!  They crack me up!  Yelena couldn't ask for better friends.  Their loyalty is priceless.  They remind me of how my older brothers protect me.

-    Valek...*sigh*...he is my literature heart throb.  The little flirtations between him and Yelena just make me swoon!!  I haven't swooned this bad over a guy from a book since Gilbert Blythe.

-    Every character is AMAZING!  I really liked how complex some of the people were, like Rand.  I also LOVED seeing Yelena grow so much from beginning to end.  I really connected and fell in love with a lot of the characters, and I just want to read more about them!!

-    Snyder's writing style is perfect.  Everything flows so well, and I can picture everything so clearly and easily.  She is one of my favorite authors.

-    This book gives me such a thrill.  The emotions I go through while reading are crazy!  I feel sad, happy, hopeful, gushy, angry, suspicious, excited, etc.  I love books that let me experience so many things!  

-    I just can't say enough about how great this book is.  It is one of those books where you can't stop turning pages to see what happens, but you are sorry it is over cause you never want it to end.  

Tiger Lily

From Goodreads:    Before Peter Pan belonged to Wendy, he belonged to the girl with the crow feather in her hair. . . .

Fifteen-year-old Tiger Lily doesn't believe in love stories or happy endings. Then she meets the alluring teenage Peter Pan in the forbidden woods of Neverland and immediately falls under his spell.

Peter is unlike anyone she's ever known. Impetuous and brave, he both scares and enthralls her. As the leader of the Lost Boys, the most fearsome of Neverland's inhabitants, Peter is an unthinkable match for Tiger Lily. Soon, she is risking everything--her family, her future--to be with him. When she is faced with marriage to a terrible man in her own tribe, she must choose between the life she's always known and running away to an uncertain future with Peter.

With enemies threatening to tear them apart, the lovers seem doomed. But it's the arrival of Wendy Darling, an English girl who's everything Tiger Lily is not, that leads Tiger Lily to discover that the most dangerous enemies can live inside even the most loyal and loving heart.

From the "New York Times" bestselling author of "Peaches" comes a magical and bewitching story of the romance between a fearless heroine and the boy who wouldn't grow up.

My Thoughts:

-    This is not your typical Peter Pan story!  No flying, no happy thoughts, no magic...just the life of a young girl.  

-    The story is told from Tinker Bell's viewpoint.  I wasn't expecting this at all, but it was cool to get the story from an observer's perspective.  I also liked getting to know Tink and being inside her head.

-    It was fun to see how Tink, Tiger Lily, Peter, and Wendy all meet each other for the first time.

-    The writing style was different, but it really worked for this book.

-    Sometimes I got so wrapped up in Tiger Lily's world that I forgot it was Tinker Bell speaking.

-    The cross dressing shaman was a little weird for me, especially for the time period.  I really liked Tik Tok's character though.  He was so compassionate and wise, and I loved his relationship with Tiger Lily.  He reminds me of my own father, minus the long hair and dresses of course.

-    I'm not sure if I liked this or not.  I kept going back and forth about how good it was.  I'm still a bit undecided.

-    The story is a slower and solemn one.  I wasn't expecting that at all!  In fact, the whole thing was just so different from what I thought it would be.  The story picks up speed a bit towards the end.

-    I am happy with the way things turned out, but I'm also a little sad by it.  This story is closer to real life than a lot of stuff I read.  

Analyzing Aesop #2

I love Aesop's Fables, and I'm sure everyone knows at least one of them.  I love Aesop's use of animals and symbology.  I love the lessons he teaches through parables. 

I want to start a series of Analyzing Aesop blogs.  It will be loads of thought provoking fun!  I'm going to share one of his fables, and we're going to dissect it and find the meaning and lesson behind the parable.  I'm eager to read your response! 

Ready?

A man and his wife had a good fortune to possess a goose which laid a golden egg every day.  Lucky though they were, they soon began to think they were not getting rich fast enough, and, imagining the bird must be made of gold inside, they decided to kill it in order to secure the whole store of precious metal at once.  But when they cut it open they found it was just like any other goose.  Thus, they neither got rich all at once, as they had hoped, nor enjoyed any longer the daily addition to their wealth.

Much wants more and loses all.

My Thoughts:

-    First of all, those people were dumb!

-    I think the message is simply:  Don't Be Greedy!!

-    I wish I had a bird like that.  It would be sweet!

-    Sad thing is, there are really people out there like this.  

The Island

My Thoughts:

-    I wish the doctor's offices had a toilet that checked pee.  Then I wouldn't have to mess with the cup. 

-    McGregor needs that mole on his forehead removed.

-    That facility's security sucks!!  It is supposed to be super advanced right?  WRONG!

-    There were moments that reminded me of Dollhouse

-    MSN Search in 2019?  Ya right!!  ha ha ha!!  

-    There were some queasy moments where I shielded my eyes.

-    After falling off the big red "R" (which looks likes the Team Rocket building), they'd be dead.  

-    The action scenes were great!  I loved the train wheel scene.  That was awesome!!

-    It was a really good flick overall.  I really liked the message it sent.  

Tyson's Thought:

-    Scarlett Johansson has some smooth skin.

Hubby's Thought:

-    This movie should have taken play further in the future.  

The Scorch Trials

Goodreads Description:    Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end. No more puzzles. No more variables. And no more running. Thomas was sure that escape meant he and the Gladers would get their lives back. But no one really knew what sort of life they were going back to.

In the Maze, life was easy. They had food, and shelter, and safety . . . until Teresa triggered the end. In the world outside the Maze, however, the end was triggered long ago.

Burned by sun flares and baked by a new, brutal climate, the earth is a wasteland. Government has disintegrated—and with it, order—and now Cranks, people covered in festering wounds and driven to murderous insanity by the infectious disease known as the Flare, roam the crumbling cities hunting for their next victim . . . and meal.

The Gladers are far from finished with running. Instead of freedom, they find themselves faced with another trial. They must cross the Scorch, the most burned-out section of the world, and arrive at a safe haven in two weeks. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them.

Thomas can only wonder—does he hold the secret of freedom somewhere in his mind? Or will he forever be at the mercy of WICKED?

My Thoughts:

-    This book made me angry!  So many twists!  So many questions without answers!  Come on Dashner!!  Give me something!

-    There were some serious graphic scenes in this book!  I hope they never turn this into a movie, cause I won't be able to stomach seeing some of this stuff.

-    The book turned into a Zombie book.  Didn't see that coming.

-    I don't know who to trust or what the heck is going on!

-    The jargon didn't bug me as much in this one.  It wasn't as prominent.  

-    The first half of the book was a little slow for me, but the 2nd half really picks up.

-    Thomas...what will become of you!!

-    A love triangle?  Really?  I was not expecting that.

-    I wasn't expecting any of it really.  This series is crazy!!

-    I really can't decide how I feel about this book.  I liked it, but I hated it.  Things better wrap up all nicely with lots and lots of answers in the last book.

No Reservations

My Thoughts:

-    I am not a chick flick person!  However, I now have 3 chick flicks that I really like.  

-    I love movies that involve food.

-    I LOVED Nick.  He was SO charming, but I hated the pants he wore to work...and the crocs.

-    Their 2nd kiss was hot!

-    I admit it...I got teary during a couple parts.  Ever since I had my little gnome, children losing parents or parents losing children really get to me.

-    The acting and actors were great!!  They were perfect for their roles.

-    Zoe stole my heart, and I just ached for her.  

-    Kate is pretty.

-    I really enjoyed this!  If you're a chick, I highly recommend this one!

-    I want to watch it again. 

Beastly

My Thoughts:

-    TERRIBLE!!

-    The dad is Adam from Parenthood!  

-    Kyle was supposed to turn into an animal humanoid thing, not a guy with scars and tattoos.

-    Why did they call him Hunter instead of Adrian?  I like Adrian much better!

-    They changed a ton of stuff from the book.  I didn't like it.

-    The movie was LAME!  I kept rolling my eyes and wishing it was over.  

-    Lindy was too pretty.  I wanted her to be more plain.

-    The dialogue was dumb, and there wasn't much substance.  How did they fall in love?

-    The acting wasn't great.

-    The alternate ending was better, but not by much.

Beastly

Goodreads Synopsis:    I am a beast.

A beast. Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog but a horrible new creature who walks upright—a creature with fangs and claws and hair springing from every pore. I am a monster.

You think I’m talking fairy tales? No way. The place is New York City. The time is now. It’s no deformity, no disease. And I’ll stay this way forever—ruined—unless I can break the spell.

Yes, the spell, the one the witch in my English class cast on me. Why did she turn me into a beast who hides by day and prowls by night? I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you how I used to be Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you wished you were, with money, perfect looks, and the perfect life. And then, I’ll tell you how I became perfectly . . . beastly.

My Thoughts:

-    This was a really enjoyable twist on Beauty and the Beast.  I liked how it took place in the present, and I liked that it took place from the beast's perspective.  

-    Kyle is one piece of work!!  He is the kind of guy you love to hate.  He deserved to be taught a lesson.

-    The chat room bits weren't really needed, but I enjoyed reading them.  It was fun to read about characters from other Fairy Tales.

-    Roses, especially white ones, will never be beautiful to me again.  Thank you Hunger Games.  

-    Linda's dad is the lowest sort of scum on the planet!!!!  I can't believe he sold his daughter for drugs...TWICE!!

-    There are some lines and bits that were cheesy and a bit too sappy for me.

-    There were a lot of similarities between this and Disney's Beauty and the Beast.

-    It was a quick and fun read.  I really enjoyed it!

The Maze Runner

Goodreads Description:    When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse enclosed by stone walls.

Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them, open. Every night they are closed tight. And that every 30 days a new boy is delivered in the lift.

Thomas was expected. Only the next day, a girl is sent up—the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers. 

Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets that are buried within his mind.

My Thoughts:

-    I don't like the jargon in this book.  Words like Shuck, Shank, Klunk, etc.  It's annoying.  The characters use them like made up swear words.

-    The whole book was pretty suspenseful.  I was hooked from the first chapter.

-    It felt like Lord of the Flies and Ender's Game.

-    There were lots of unanswered questions at the end!  I'm excited and NEED to read the next book.

-    I love the Maze concept and how they solved it!!  It was awesome!

-    I got a little frustrated from all the questions and no answers

-    I couldn't really relate to any of the characters, probably because there was only 1 girl, and she didn't really do anything til later, but I still felt for the characters.  I love Thomas.  He is WAY braver than I am, and he is motivated to help others.  

Blast from the Past

My Thoughts:

-    Calvin Webber is one prepared guy.

-    I would go NUTS underground!!  I think I would be a lot like Adam's mom.

-    This was a pretty funny movie.  I laughed a lot.

-    I am not a Brendan Fraser fan.  In fact, I usually shun movies he is in, but he was good in this one. 

-    Growing up in Genola in my parents house, I kinda feel like Adam sometimes.  For instance, Abbott and Costello are my favorite comedians!  

-    I enjoyed Dave Foley's character.  He plays a fun gay man.  I want to be his friend. 

-    There were some cheesy moments. I like the first half better than the second half. 

-    I thought I wouldn't like this movie, but I did! 


Tyson's Thought:

-    Alicia Silverstone looks gassy.

Bitterblue

Goodreads Bit:    Eight years after Graceling, Bitterblue is now queen of Monsea. But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities, lives on. Her advisers, who have run things since Leck died, believe in a forward-thinking plan: Pardon all who committed terrible acts under Leck’s reign, and forget anything bad ever happened. But when Bitterblue begins sneaking outside the castle—disguised and alone—to walk the streets of her own city, she starts realizing that the kingdom has been under the thirty-five-year spell of a madman, and the only way to move forward is to revisit the past.

Two thieves, who only steal what has already been stolen, change her life forever. They hold a key to the truth of Leck’s reign. And one of them, with an extreme skill called a Grace that he hasn’t yet identified, holds a key to her heart.

My Thoughts:

-    Leck is one of the (if not the most) creepiest villains I've ever read.  He is seriously messed up!!  

-    Ask and ye shall receive!!  I'm so happy this is a sequel to Graceling!!!  All the wonderful characters are back, and they have their hands full!!

-    It feels kind of like a Maria V. Snyder book.


-    There were times when I wanted to smack Saf!!  I'm so glad he finally shaped up!

-    I LOVE Bitterblue's character!  She has become a very strong woman.  I do not envy her life, but I feel for her, and I'm really proud of her.  She didn't hide from her past or her father's atrocities.  She faced them head on, so she could repair her kingdom!  What a gal!!

-    I didn't like how many homosexual occurrences there were.

-    Why does Bitterblue think of her mother as Ashen and not as mother?

-    This story is so mysterious and intense.  It was definitely a page turner!  It killed me to put it down at times.

-    The romance part of the story was good, and I liked how it ended up.  It wasn't your typical romance, and it was nice to read something new, different, and realistic.  

-    There is some dark stuff in this book, and it gives me the willies!!  I feel sorry for everyone who had to endure the 35 years of hell under Leck's reign.  

-    This was the perfect ending to the trilogy.  I loved how this book tied the others together.  I kept thinking why Fire was so important to have in the series, but now I know, and I know how the 2 worlds are connected. 

-    I really enjoyed this book!!  It is my favorite in the series!  Even though it creeped me out a bit at times, it was still a great read.  

Analyzing Aesop #1

I love Aesop's Fables, and I'm sure everyone knows at least one of them.  I love Aesop's use of animals and symbology.  I love the lessons he teaches through parables. 

I want to start a series of Analyzing Aesop blogs.  It will be loads of thought provoking fun!  I'm going to share one of his fables, and we're going to dissect it and find the meaning and lesson behind the parable.  I'm eager to read your response! 

Ready?

A hungry fox saw some fine bunches of grapes hanging from a vine that was trained along a high trellis and did his best to reach them by jumping as high as he could into the air.  But it was all in vain, for they were just out of reach.  So he gave up trying and walked away with an air of dignity and unconcern, remarking, "I thought those grapes were ripe, but I see now they are quite sour."

My Thoughts:

-    I feel like this Fox sometimes.  I want something really bad, but it is so far out of reach, so I just pretend I really don't want it or need it right now.

-    Why didn't the fox try climbing the tree?

-    Is this a healthy way of thinking?  Do we sometimes get lazy and talk our way out of things?  I think so.  

Dark Shadows

My Thoughts:

-    It wasn't as funny as I thought it would be.  There were a few moments that were pretty funny, but not a ton.  It was more drama than comedy.

-    There were some inappropriate bits in the movie.  Nothing too terrible, but there was a couple scenes and a few lines that were iffy.

-    It started out good, but the ending was disappointing.  

-    Michelle Pfeiffer with a big ol gun was cool.

-    I wish there had been more Danny Elfman music.  They used a few 70s songs, and I would rather have more Elfman.

-    The werewolf thing at the end was lame.

-    I thought they could have done without a couple characters.  They really didn't add anything to the story.  

-    I kinda wish they had gone into Victoria's history more or done more with David's story.  Then the drama part of the movie would have had more depth.

-    It was just a fun movie, there really wasn't a message or anything deep, it was just for fun.  I wish there had been more comedy.

-    Overall, I was a little disappointed.  It definitely wasn't Tim Burton's best movie, but it was ok.  

Mr. Popper's Penguins

I had a request to review this a while ago (after I read the book), and it took me a while to get it from the library...and work up the courage to watch it. 

My Thoughts:

-    The only things that are remotely similar to the book is:

      A)  There was a Mr. Popper

      B)  There were Penguins

-    The sailing story at the beginning was WAY WAY WAY cheesy.

-    Jim Carrey is old, and it really shows in this one.

-    Angela Lansbury!!!!  She is still alive!?!?!

-    Terrible James Stewart impersonation

-    That charity/art/old people party thingy took place in a weird building.  It looked like a parking garage.

-    How the heck did the penguins find him in the city?  

-    I did laugh a few times...I admit it.

-    I liked his secretary.  

-    The penguin flying with the kite was terrible!!  TERRIBLE!!

-    The square toilet was cool.

-    The ending was pretty lame.  

The Actor and the Housewife

Goodreads Synopsis:    What if you were to meet the number-one person on your laminated list—you know, that list you joke about with your significant other about which five celebrities you’d be allowed to run off with if ever given the chance? And of course since it’ll never happen it doesn’t matter…Mormon housewife Becky Jack is seven months pregnant with her fourth child when she meets celebrity hearththrob Felix Callahan. Twelve hours, one elevator ride, and one alcohol-free dinner later, something has happened…though nothing has happened. It isn’t sexual. It isn’t even quite love. But a month later Felix shows up in Salt Lake City to visit and before they know what’s hit them, Felix and Becky are best friends. Really. Becky’s husband is pretty cool about it. H er children roll their eyes. Her neighbors gossip endlessly. But Felix and Becky have something special…something unusual, something completely impossible to sustain. Or is it? A magical story, The Actor and the Housewifeexplores what could happen when your not-so-secret celebrity crush walks right into real life and changes everything.

My Thoughts:

-    There is a lot of controversy surrounding this book, so naturally, I wanted to read it.

-    I understand why there is a lot of controversy about this book.  I am torn about it.  Can a man and woman be best friends while they are happily married to other people?  I believe so!  I am friends with a guy I met in college.  I met him the same time I met my husband.  My friend became my co-worker.  We went to lunch together, got drinks together, hung out together at work, and it was totally innocent.  There was nothing wrong with us being together as friends.  However, I believe this is a delicate line.  It depends on your circumstances.  I think Becky and Felix got a little too close to that fine line.  

-    The Exclusive magazine description of Becky made me laugh!

-    I love that Becky punched Felix in the jaw!

-    I don't get giddy over my friends.  I don't understand the giddiness.  The only people I've been excited and giddy to get a text or phone call from are guys I've been interested in.  

-    Dang it Shannon Hale!!!  You made me cry...ok...I was weeping....for like 3...maybe 4 chapters.   I don't want to spoil anything, so all I can say is that I feel the same way about my husband as Becky feels about Mike.   I've had nightmares about my hubby leaving me, cheating on me, dying, etc.  They happen often, and I always wake up sobbing and clinging to my poor confused hubby.  He has gotten used to me waking up crying in the middle of the night though, and he is so nice to just hold me and know what happened.  

-    I thought I had predicted the ending...but I didn't.  It was a shocker ending for me.  I'm not sure I liked where this story went.  I not sure if I liked this story period!  I'm internally debating about it. 

-    I didn't like how LDS people were portrayed as...well...a little nuts.   Although this book is highly accurate about of a lot of LDS people,  I just want to say all of us aren't that stereotypical.   For example, me!

-    Honestly, it is hard to put into words exactly how I feel about this book.  It was fun, but terrible.  It was good, but terrible.  It made me cry, and that was terrible.  I just don't know what to think about all of this.

-    I need a really long hug from my hubby right now.