Fan Art Friday

showcasing

I found some awesome stuff for this one. 

I love the different scenes and symbols that these artists captured.

I really love the one with the apple and all the pictures flying off of it, and I love the last one. The sled is the first scene I think of when I think of The Giver.

Which is your favorite?

If I Stay

Goodreads Synopsis:    Just listen, Adam says with a voice that sounds like shrapnel.

I open my eyes wide now.
I sit up as much as I can.
And I listen.

Stay, he says.

Choices. Seventeen-year-old Mia is faced with some tough ones: Stay true to her first love—music—even if it means losing her boyfriend and leaving her family and friends behind?

Then one February morning Mia goes for a drive with her family, and in an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, all the choices are gone, except one. And it's the only one that matters.

If I Stay is a heartachingly beautiful book about the power of love, the true meaning of family, and the choices we all make.

My Thoughts:

-    It started out good, but it lost my interest about halfway through.

-    The story reminds of Just Like Heaven with Reese Witherspoon.

-    I really struggled with the last 20 pages. I just wanted to know if she lived or not. I got tired of all the back story stuff. I wanted more about what was happening in the present.

-    I love that the main character was a cellist. I related to all her musical aspirations and fears.

-    The book moved too slow for me. It was pretty boring.

Cesar's Way: The Natural, Everyday Guide to Understanding and Correcting Common Dog Problems

My Synopsis:

-    Cesar Millan is best known for his show The Dog Whisperer. He helps rehabilitate dogs, and he trains their owners how to keep their dogs balanced.

-    This book describes why so many dogs are out of control and have bad behaviors. 

-    Cesar gives a lot of good examples of dogs and owners throughout the book. 

-    In the beginning of the book, Cesar tells his story of how he came to America and how he became a dog whisperer.

-    This book mostly covers dog psychology. Cesar gives clear direction on how to stay in control and communicate with your dog.

-    He also gives you a formula for a well balanced dog. 

My Thoughts:

-    I needed this book!

-    My dog Max thinks he is king of our house. He doesn't have major behavioral problems, but enough to irk me, and he is really stubborn. 

-    Since reading this, we started walking Max more, and we're giving him more structure.

-    My confidence has gotten a bit of a boost as well. I'm learning to be more calm-assertive, and it is helping me with my dog and my kid. I try not to get angry or flustered, I try to stay calm and assertive. 

-    My dog is responding a lot better to me, and so is my family.

-    I highly recommend this to every dog owner! It is full of great information about how we are treating our dogs like humans and not like dogs! They need to be treated like dogs!

Boxers & Saints

 

My Synopsis for Boxers:

-    Christians have come to China, and they are converting some of the people. 

-    Bao sees the foreigners as evil, and he wants to protect China and it's people from them.

-    Bao learns Kung Fu, and then he masters a ritual that lets him change into a Chinese God. He teaches others this ritual and forms an army.

-    Bao's fighters follow a strict code, and they are determined to destroy every foreign devil and their followers.

My Synopsis for Saints:

-    The main character is a girl that doesn't have a name. Her family treats her poorly, and doesn't really want her around.

-    She discovers Christianity and is baptized, and at this time, she takes on the name Vibiana.

-    Vibiana is visited my Joan of Ark, and Joan helps Vibiana discover who she is and what she is meant to do. 

-    Vibiana is determined to fight the army that is killing the Christians.

My Thoughts:

-    These books are the same story, but told from different perspectives. It was hard to know who was good and who was bad.

-    The endings are sad and depressing.

-    There is quite a bit of violence, especially in Boxers. It didn't really bug me, but there is a lot of brutal things.

-    There is also some talk about the female menstrual cycle. That was awkward, weird, and gross. 

-    I felt sad for both Bao and Vibiana. They were both fighting for something they believed to be good, but nothing really good came out of their efforts.

-    I wonder how much of these stories are true. I know some Chinese had a hard time westernizing everything. 

Fan Art Friday

showcasing

I found a lot of art, so this post a tad longer. I also included some fan art of the movie.

I LOVE the one of Neil Gaiman reading the book, and the pictures are popping out.

Which is your favorite?

Calamity Jack

Goodreads Synopsis:    Jack likes to think of himself as a criminal mastermind…with an unfortunate amount of bad luck. A schemer, plotter, planner, trickster, swindler...maybe even thief? One fine day Jack picks a target a little more giant than the usual, and one little bean turns into a great big building-destroying beanstalk.

With help from Rapunzel (and her trusty braids), a pixie from Jack’s past, and a man with inventions from the future, they just might out-swindle the evil giants and put his beloved city back in the hands of good people ....while catapulting themselves and readers into another fantastical adventure.

My Thoughts:

-    Like I've said before, triple Hale = triple the fun!

-    I love this retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk! It is kinda steampunky! 

-    I think it is kinda weird that Rapunzel still carries her cut off braids around for lassos. Couldn't she get a rope now?

-    I like how the giants ran the city and were causing havoc. It was a cool twist to the original giants.

-    Poor Jack is not the confident schemer he was in Rapunzel's Revenge. He has some self doubt, and I like that he has to find his courage.

-    The Illustrations are great, of course. 

-    I liked the new members of the gang. I liked the inventor guy (I can't remember his name), but he was fun. I really liked the pixies, and I loved the crazy beasts guarding the tower.

-    I read this to my daughter, and she loved it! Gnome kept expressing concern for Jack, and she really wanted those giants to go down! This is a great read for kids and their parents.

Top Ten Tuesday

Hosted by The Broke and The Bookish

Top Ten Popular Authors I've Never Read

John Green

I need to read one of his books!! I just haven't gotten around to it.

Stephen King

I'm not really interested in reading his stuff.

Brandon Sanderson

I tried Mistborn and quit about 100 pages in. I just couldn't get into it, and I haven't given him a try since. I want to read his Stealheart book though.

Robin Hobb

Since I love fantasy you'd think I would have read a book by this author right? I've heard so many great things about her books, but they just aren't a priority for me.

Arthur Conan Doyle

I WILL READ SHERLOCK HOLMES!!!

H. G. Wells

I want to read his stuff some day. They seem like they'd be really fun to read, 

but I'm scared they might be boring.

Cassandra Clare

This will be remedied this year! I promise!

Diana Peterfreund

I promise to read her work this year as well!!

Truman Capote

Breakfast at Tiffany's is one of my all time favorite movies, and I NEED to read the book!

Rainbow Rowell

Her books were all the rave last year! I must get my hands on them!

Anya's Ghost

My Synopsis:  

-    Anya and her family have moved to America from Russia, and Anya doesn't like being reminded that she's an immigrant.

-    Anya is a typical self conscious teen. She worries about her weight and where she fits in at school. Her only friend is an outcast and a loser. 

-    She also has a huge crush on a cute and popular boy, but he already has a beautiful girlfriend, of course.

-    While in a huff, Anya falls down an abandoned well, and meets a ghost. 

-    At first, this ghost is awesome, and she is really helping Anya in a lot of ways, but things aren't always what they seem.

My Thoughts:

-    I can see why someone like Neil Gaiman call this a masterpiece. It is pretty creeptastic, especially towards the end.

-    I can kinda relate to Anya. I feel self conscious and fat too.

-    I wish Anya had learned more of lesson. Yes, she learned from a mistake and made things better, but I really wanted there to be more about self worth. Anya thought she had to be thin to be cool. She also thought she needed to smoke to be cool. I wanted Anya to learn to like herself for who she was. 

-    The story is supposed to be all about Anya, but in a way the story shifts and it becomes all about Emily, the ghost. I liked Emily's story, and I wouldn't take it out of the book, but I wish the focus had stayed on Anya and her struggles. 

-    The illustrations were fun and cartoony. I liked the style.