Movie Review: News of the World

Movie: News of the World

Starring: Tom Hanks, Helena Zengel

Rating: Two thumbs up

It's been a long time since I watched, like, a "normal" movie. But my husband watched it and said it was good, so he "made" me watch it too. And what's not to like? Tom Hanks.. you know?

It's a Western setting... and our dude goes around to all the communities and reads them the news, since they have a hard time getting it any other way. In his travels he comes across a stage coach wreck and rescues a girl who is being transported to her family. After some time he learns that she was was kidnapped by the Indians years back and her Indian family was killed and so now she has been rescued from that situation and is being taken to the only family she now has, an aunt and uncle. It falls on our hero to continue that mission.

And so they have some adventures together and life is rough out there in the Western world, and they bond. And it's adorable. And then comes the time when he has to give her to this family that she doesn't know. 

Here's the trailer:

So yeah, it was a fun movie to watch after not seeing movies for so long. I really love Tom Hanks of course, and the girl they got to play this part was fantastic. Not an easy roll at all.  And of course, the music is fantastic... James Newton Howard. What's not to love there either, right? 

Watch it if you get a chance. If you've already seen, it what did you think?

Book Review: Texas Cowboy, Be Mine by Trish Milburn

 

Book: Texas Cowboy, Be Mine by Trish Milburn

Genre: Romance

Rating:  ★ ★ ★

I've read a bunch of Trish's kpop romance books, which I totally enjoy. So the other day when she was giving away some of her cowboy romances, I jumped in and actually won one! 

So over the holidays I added it to my fluffy read pile and also totally enjoyed it! Not as much as the kpop, but you know... close. LOL! I'm good with cowboys too. Awesome sweet cowboys anyway... (lately some cowboys are getting a bad reputation... I won't elaborate.)

Anyway, I think this book is one in huge series highlighting a family and friends too? (not sure) of a group of ranchers in Texas. Something like that. So this story features the youngest sibling in a family (who I'm assuming all their stories have been told in other books) and now it's finally her turn to find love. 

The book opens when suddenly one day she is finally paying attention to a dude who has been in her town and in her school growing up, who she has always kind of liked, but things just never worked out. And of course, he has pretty much loved her all these years, and now she is finally available. 

But of course, there are tons of obstacles to work out! But of course they do it!

My only complaint is that these fun little romances aren't long enough to truly develop a romance. They just happen so fast! You all know I love more of a slow burn! Anyway, despite that, it's fun way to escape for a bit. Now I might have to find the stories of the other siblings of this family!

Book Club Report: What We Thought of These Is My Words

Yesterday was a Third Thursday, which means it was book club at my house! Did I ever tell you how much I love book club? We seem to be on a roll lately. I don't know, it just feels like everyone is really into it right now and lots of people are coming out to it and everyone (mostly) seems comfortable enough to just say what they think... and I love it. Sometimes what people think cracks us up to the point of hysterical laughing, which I hope is okay with the person revealing themselves, but like I said, I think there's a sense of comfortableness lately that makes it all okay.

So the book this time around was These Is My Words by Nancy Turner. This is a book I read years ago and totally loved. I was hoping to be able to re-read it but of course, that didn't happen. I did manage to take a bit of time yesterday and skim through it to remember a bunch of parts... mostly the Captain Jack Elliot parts of course! Hello. And just that skimming reminded me how much I loved it and reminded me also how sad this book is. Many times I felt weepy just skimming... but then again... it could have just been my mood.

Quick summary of the book: It's the dairy of Sarah Prine, starting when she was 17 years in 1880 or so and lasting for twenty years until 1901 or something. She is a pioneer woman, living in the unsettled West of Arizona. She has to deal with all sorts of craziness including Indian attacks, rattlesnake bites, untimely deaths, etc. At the heart of this book is the love story between her and the captain of the local Army branch. Basically, this book is a mixture of a coming of age/historical fiction/western/romance novel.

Here's some random thoughts thrown out by the group last night:

-- Several people voiced the opinion the the Captain Jack love story was a little (okay a lot) too unrealistic. He was too perfect, they were too in love, it all worked out too well.

-- Some thought more of this story was based on the author's great grandmother... in fact, SOME of it was, but a lot was added and made up... including the awesome Captain Jack. That was, shall we say, disappointing to some of us!

-- Both of those observations got us onto the subject of "magical marriages" and is there such a thing.. really? And do we as readers truly enjoy reading about magical marriages? Does it make us look more closely at our own marriages? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Do we want to read about marriages that perhaps struggle like ours do? Or do we want the escape of reading about magical marriages? Or are our marriages magical and reading about them reconfirms to us that fact? Yes... interesting discussion!

-- Most everyone enjoyed the spunkiness of Sarah, the heroine of this book. However, some also thought that there was just too much spunkiness and that she handled every trauma that came her way TOO well. We needed to see her flounder and struggle a bit more.

-- Then again, some thought that she was forced to handle too much stuff. Too much happened, it was overwhelming! But then some thought that they'd still rather have her life and her problems, then to deal with some of the stuff our modern day life throws at us.

-- No one seemed bothered by the bad grammar she uses in the beginning and in fact most, because of the hint the title gives us, expected it to be worse. But it was fun, we agreed, to see her progress in that area and get better and better the more she read and learned of the world.

-- A few people felt like they had this book built up a bit too much and expected more out of it, so they were a little disappointed. Some felt like they would have enjoyed it more had they read it at a different time. But I think bottom line, everyone enjoyed it for the most part, but I'm not sure there was any one who totally loved it. We were told that the sequel is worthless and to not read it.

I think this book club surprises me every time and I'm thinking I will never be able to predict what they will love or not.

Up next month is Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. I'm excited because this is one I haven't read!

We then did our random book discussion, talked about summer plans and proposed books for next year which we'll be voting on in the next couple of weeks. Look for a separate post on all that.

Review: Open Country by Kaki Warner

Book: Open Country by Kaki Warner
Genre: Western Romance
Rating: A
For: Fun (and counting it towards Twenty Eleven Challenge)
From: I bought it from Amazon.

Last year I read the first book from this trilogy, Pieces of Sky, and loved it. Each book in this series is about a different brother. Brady in Pieces of Sky, and this next one is about the middle brother Hank. He and Molly meet on train. He's doing business and she is running away from her brother in law, with her niece and nephew, after her sister has just died. When the train crashes, Hank gets hurt and Molly, when she realizes that the train people will need to pay money to wives of anyone hurt in the crash, pretends to be Hank's wife. (Well, they actually do get married, while he is unconscious.) Because of course he is going to die and of course, she is desperate for money.

Well, you can guess what happens from there I bet. Yep he doesn't die. And so NOW what does she do?

Okay, so it's all pretty predictable perhaps, but I loved it, just like the first one. Lots of lovey dovey stuff, lots of edge of your seat moments, lots of "you go girl" bits. Yeah, it was just fun.  I like these kinds of books. I should read more of them. Really. (It appears this is not the type of book many of you, my book bloggin' buddies, read either, since I can't find any other reviews from y'all.)

Bottom line: I loved it.

Review: Pieces of Sky by Kaki Warner

Book: Pieces of Sky by Kaki Warner
Genre: Western/Romance
Rating: A
For: Fun
From: The library

This book was the first thing I read after my overwhelming desire to switch up the genres! And it was seriously just what I needed. Real world, real guys, real situations.

The story is about a girl, Jessica, who is fleeing a pretty terrible situation in England. She is searching for her brother to help her, in Texas(or New Mexico) I think, but on the way there's quite the stage coach mishap. Who comes to her rescue but a horse ridin', cow wranglin', rough and tough cowboy! :) Suddenly, she finds herself mixed up in his life, which isn't too perfect either. Both of them have major issues and together they just might figure things out.

Great story. I had a great time getting all mixed up in it and rooting for the both of them. There were moments of so called "bodice ripping" situations, but it wasn't too abundant and not overly graphic, so I was okay with it all.

And now I understand that this is the first of a trilogy and there's two other books about the other cowboy brothers. (Yes, there wasn't just one cowboy dude, but three!) So I look forward to reading some more about wild west adventures.

Bottom line: I totally enjoyed it!

For more info on the books and author Kaki Warner, check out this website.

Other reviews:

Queen of Happy Endings
Babbling About Books and More
Bloggin' 'Bout Books (thanks so much for the recommendation!)