Monday Musings: "Hunger Games"

"The Hunger Games" DVD releases this Saturday! Can you guess what I'll be doing on Saturday night?

In other "Hunger Games" news, the role of Finnick has finally been cast for the film version of "Catching Fire," which is due out in November 2013. Sam Claflin of "Snow White and the Huntsman" and the great PBS Masterpiece Classic miniseries I just so happen to be watching right now, "Any Human Heart," landed the coveted role.

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While he's definitely handsome, this is not how I pictured Finnick when I read the book (though he does look like he'd make a good Christian Grey -- it's all in the hair!). Perhaps simply because I had just finished watching the entire "Gilmore Girls" series for the first time right before I read the "Hunger Games" books, my Finnick looked more like Rory Gilmore's college boyfriend Logan: tousled dark blonde hair and a kind of palpable cockiness. (Somewhat ironically, Sam Claflin's character in the PBS movie I mentioned is also named Logan...)

While I seldom find a movie to be better than the book it's based on, I always think it's interesting to see how other people interpret and imagine scenes and creatures and people from the book. I guess that's one of the joys of reading -- each individual reader gets to fashion his or her own little imaginary world from the writing.

Happy reading (and movie watching)!

Book Review: "Death by Darjeeling"

"Death by Darjeeling" by Laura Childs
First published in 2001
My rating: 3.5 out of 5

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"Death by Darjeeling" is a charming little murder mystery set in Charleston, South Carolina. A despised property developer keels over dead after drinking a cup of tea from the Indigo Tea Shop at Charleston's annual Lamplighter Tour, an evening walking tour of quaint, historic Charleston held in late October. After a friend and occasional assistant at the tea shop becomes a suspect, Indigo Tea Shop owner Theodosia Browning decides to do some investigating of her own.

This tea shop mystery pretty much stuck to the usual plot points, writing style and atmosphere of most amateur sleuth novels. While I know this series won't become my favorite of the genre (that honor goes to Donna Andrews' Meg Langslow series) I'll definitely read more of these easy, inviting tea-themed murder mysteries. The cast of characters is likeable, there's a dog involved, and these days I'm all about tea. Maybe I'll save the rest of the series to read once we've moved to Ohio this winter and I can curl up next to the fireplace on a snowy day. Isn't that the ideal setting to read one of these cozy mysteries?

Happy reading!

Furry Friday: 5 Years of Conan

This Wednesday, August 8, was the five-year anniversary of the day we got our beloved Conan! He was just 11 months old and so, so adorable. This picture is one of eighty gazillion that were taken shortly after Conan became our furry son. Who could resist that face? Certainly not us!

Book Review: "Gone Girl"

"Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn
First published in 2012
My rating: 5 out of 5

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Gillian Flynn's number-one New York Times bestselling novel is an essay on marriage gone horribly, darkly wrong. "Gone Girl" is masterfully written and superbly thought-out novel. It centers on married couple Nick and Amy, and Amy's suspicious disappearance on their five-year anniversary. The mystery -- and the truth -- is revealed in small doses, layers to be peeled back by eager/horrified readers.

After a storybook courtship and marriage, Nick and Amy have had a rough couple of years. They were both laid off from their jobs and moved from posh New York City to rural Missouri to care for Nick's ailing parents. Suddenly, they're having money troubles and personality clashes. The book opens on their fifth wedding anniversary, when Amy inexplicably vanishes. Though the evidence is to the contrary, Nick maintains that he had nothing to do with Amy's disappearance. But it turns out that everyone is hiding something and no one is quite who they've been pretending to be.

Flynn deftly switches between masculine and feminine, sweet and shocking, playful and vengeful, romantic and rageful. She kept me on my toes, never quite sure who to believe, and my alliance shifted accordingly between the characters throughout. After suffering through so many novels with rushed or amateurish or bogged down, heavy writing, Flynn's novel was a soothing balm. It was perfect.

And while the plot may sound vaguely ordinary, this novel is anything but. It's one of those rare books that I'll remember reading forever; there's something so unique, so haunting about this story. Though I knew I wouldn't like what I found, I kept plowing through the pages to discover the next stunningly horrific development. It's because, as dark as the book is at times, there's also something so stark and honest and true about it, about the relationship between men and women, about marriage, and about our own behavior.

Happy reading!

What I Want From Etsy

I adore Etsy, but if I bought all of the gorgeous handmade products I lust after then I'd be broke! Typically I think about an item for at least a couple of weeks before I purchase it -- if it's for myself, anyway -- to determine if I really, really want it. There are several items on my want-to-buy list right now, so I thought I'd share!

Etsy shop: LaLaCrystal
$26

 Etsy shop: blockpartypress
$25

 Etsy shop: symmetricalpottery
$55
This can be customized with all sorts of colors and pet's name, too!

 Etsy shop: PrettyLittleCharmsUK
$20
This is my favorite snitch necklace I've come across on Etsy.

 Etsy shop: TaylorsEclectic
$60
This necklace is made of wire and paper!

 Etsy shop: JenniferCasady
$43 

 Etsy shop: FlourishCafe
$15 for a 5x7 print
So very true!

Etsy shop: FlourishCafe
$10 for a 4x6 print
I've been thinking of redecorating my kitchen in cheery shades of yellow, turquoise and grey. This would be perfect!

Etsy shop: barnowlprimitives
$32
I've been eyeing this sign for something like a year, but I've held off because of the whole re-decorating the kitchen idea. Wouldn't this look nice in turquoise?



Furry Friday, Hawaiian Style

We now know for sure that we'll be moving from Hawaii this fall, and while the location isn't 100% set-in-stone, it will be a huge change from Oahu! I've got a sudden itch to get in as many island activities as possible over the next couple months so I can have those memories to savor when I'm huddled under a mountain of blankets in a frigid, snowy place and complaining about how impossibly cold I am!

Yesterday I took Conan to the dog beach. He always has such a great time there, especially if it's low tide and the sand bar is exposed. He loves frolicking and running carefree with the other dogs.

When I noticed these stunning hibiscus bushes at the entrance to the base pool where I recently starting doing a water aerobics class with a friend, I knew instantly I'd have to get pictures. Red, pink, yellow, and even peach hibiscus are common, but I've never seen ones in these orange-y shades before. So gorgeous! The flower in the top photo reminds me of a sunset.

And this morning I took myself to the base beach, propped up my beach chair and read my book ("Gone Girl" -- I'm loving it so far). Then, after dipping my feet in the clear, cool water, I closed my eyes and basked in the warm sun, the light trade winds tickling my skin, and listened to the gentle sloshing of the waves. At times like that, I agree wholeheartedly with the Mainlander perception that Hawaii is "paradise!"

Book Review: "The Night Circus"

"The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
First published in 2011
My rating: 3.75 out of 5
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Two magicians, ancient and powerful, have been dueling over their respective styles for ages. Each man selects a student to bring up under his style of magic, and these two pupils are forever bound together in a game of magical skills and endurance.

In the late 1800s, young Celia and Marco become the latest chess pieces in this brutal game. They have only the very slightest notion of their fate: a game is afoot and they will be required to match their opponent -- whose identity is unknown -- in magical feats until one becomes the winner.

The venue is the Night Circus, a fantastical  and mysterious traveling circus of dreams, open only at night with a magical black-and-white color scheme. There are the usual acts -- a contortionist, an illusionist, acrobats, a maze, mirrored rooms, a fortune teller -- but they're all elevated, different, special, unique... magical. Because they all involve the very real magic of Marco and Celia as they play out the game, the stakes of which they have no idea.

But everything changes -- and the future of the Night Circus and all its moving parts and people are in jeopardy -- when the players discover each other's identities and can't help but fall in love.

"The Night Circus" got off to a bit of a slow start for me, and it took a while to make sense of all the different stories, which take place in two separate time periods, and start to unravel the mysteries of the plot. Even after I closed the book for the last time, I still didn't fully understand what had happened. But I enjoyed the book nonetheless -- it contained a plot like no other I'd ever read and it took my imagination on a delightful ride. I'm intrigued to watch the movie (due out next year) and see how other people pictured the amazing scenes in the novel.

Happy reading!