Movie Review: Xmen: Days of Future Past

Movie: Xmen: Days of Future Past
Genre: Fantasy/Drama
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy
Rating: PG13
My Rating: Two thumbs up

I'm a late bloomer regarding the Xmen thing. I think I missed the first several movies but then caught up to them on DVD. But the last few I've been right there when they came out! This one sort of slipped under my radar until my sister came to visit and said, hey, we should see Xmen! I thought, yeah, we should actually!

This one is about how the guys of current Xmen days are facing a huge problem. The bad guys have taken Mystique's DNA and created a weapon out of it. The only way they can think to stop this is to go back in time at the moment when she (Mystique) kills the bad guy and stop her. You'd think killing the bad guy would be good, but no, it sets in motion the events that cause her to be captured whereupon her DNA is stolen!

Well, the only guy that can handle the going back in time procedure is Logan aka. Wolverine. So, he does...and we suddenly find ourselves in the awesome 70s when Charles has lost his power and is a drunken recluse being tending by Beast. It's very sad, but Wolverine convinces him to help and off they go to stop Mystique.

Of course it's not easy and stuff happens and it by the end, all your nails will be bitten off! Yep. Intense! And that dumb old Magneto messes everything up like usual, even though in the future (or the current?) he is trying to help.

So, yes, of course I loved it! The action was AWESOME! And everything else. I love Beast. And I'm intrigued by Warpath. We need more of him, okay? And, ah, they are all so cool. Oh, and a new character... Quicksilver! I think he's new anyway? Yes? No? Anyway... he was the BEST! There is scene... just... yes... so so good!

Here's the trailer for those interested:

Book Review Discussion: The Rent Collector by Camron Wright

Book: The Rent Collector by Camron Wright
Genre: Literary Fiction
Rating:★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
For: Book Club (not mine, my mom's!), Supporting Local Authors
From: Bought it!

Short Synopsis: A young mother living in a dump in Cambodia wants to figure out how to make her sick baby better. When she realizes the ornery rent collector knows how to read, she begs her to give her lessons. She feels the ability to read will better both her life and the life of her baby. In the process of the reading lessons, she not only learns to define literature, but she learns the back ground of the rent collector herself and it's not at all what she imagines in the beginning.

My Response: A very profound look at what's important in life. Is it where you live? What you own? Or is it what you know? Or maybe what you've experienced? I enjoyed this look into a lifestyle so different from my own. I also enjoyed the look into the history, the terrible history, of the Khmer Rouge... stuff I remember hearing about when I was a kid, but never really understood. Not that I understand it now, except that it's not a good thing.

Side note: The author came to my mom's book club and told the story about how this book came to be. His son was working for the Cambodian Children's Fund and wanted to do a documentary film on them. But he ended up finding this woman and her family and filmed them instead. It went on to win a bunch of awards. The author was so moved by this family, that he decided to write their story. The book is fiction, with most of the story of the rent collector made up, but the family it's about is real. There are even pictures included!

Bottom line: I really enjoyed this one!

Let's Talk About: One of the interesting things the author discussed when he came was how they have tried and tried to hep this family get out of the dump, but no matter what they do to help, they just keep on living there and doing what they know best.. how to pick garbage and scrape out a living at it. We talked about the "teach a man to fish" thing, but it seems it just doesn't work.  What a frustrating thing this is! What do you think?

Other Reviews:

This story is eye-opening, intellectual, heartbreaking, and inspirational. From Sincerely Stacie

The Rent Collector has such a great message about hope and happiness amid struggles and trials. From I Am a Reader

I will savor this book, the characters, the message and my personal thoughts about life’s perspective. From Bookworm's Dinner

My heart was so moved by this tender story. A triumph rising out of tragedy and hope out of despair. From Swinging on Small Hinges

Reading Recap for May 2014

It's been a weird reading month. I don't know how else to explain it. Just weird.

Here's what I read for May:

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson: The story of a girl who starves herself nearly to death and how she sort of manages to pull out of it.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart: Four cousins spend the summers on the private island owned by their grandpa and one summer, something happened.

Signed, Skye Harper by Carol Lynch Williams: A girl and her grandma set out on a road trip to rescue the mom, but things don't go as planned.

The Rent Collector by Camron Wright: What life is like living in a dump in Cambodia and one woman's courage to change her fate.

The Hitler Dilemma by Carolyn Twede Frank: This boy has to join the German army and fight for Hitler, even though his morals say it's wrong.

An Ocean Atween Us by Angela Morrison: The story of William Glover and how he ends comings to Canada from Scotland and get a mine of his own, and a family too.

Favorites of the month: We Were Liars and The Rent Collector.

Plans for June:

• Read The False Princess for book club.
• Read Drift for a blog tour
• Finish Words of Radiance
• And I'm really not sure what else right now! How's that for committing?

Armchair BEA: Thoughts on YA

Do you see all the discussion all the time on Twitter and elsewhere between authors and the stuffy know-it-alls in publishing? It's happening all the time! It seems like we have to defend our love of YA over and over and over again. And I'm happy to do it here as well!

Here are the questions of the day from Armchair BEA:

 Our final genre of discussion is one that we know is a popular one these days: books for the younger crowd, from middle grade to young adult. If you do not normally talk about this genre on your site, maybe you want to feature books that you remember impacting you during this stage in your life. If this is where you tend to gravitate, maybe you want to list your favorites, make recommendations based on genres, or feature some titles that you are excited to read coming later this year.

So, it goes without saying that I love YA books. Middle grade books too, though I tend to not read as many of them. Last week, there was a Twitter campaign about YA (#IReadYA) that I found fun and I wanted to respond to it all day long, except I didn't. So I'll pretend I did and write my list here:

I Read YA... because I will always be 17 in my head.
I Read YA... because these books tend to be faster and easier to read.
I Read YA... because there are so many awesome characters!
I Read YA... because I love to experiences all the firsts all over again.
I Read YA... because the coolest authors write this stuff!
I Read YA... because the stories are intense and exciting.
I Read YA... because sometimes the stories are simply fluffy and fun!
I Read YA... because we can all (no matter our age) learn something from all sorts of books and stories no matter the intended audience.

Yeah, I always laugh when I see someone say.. "I'm GASP, like 25 (or 27 or 30 or even 35) and even I read YA!" Well, gasp, even nearly 50 year olds read YA! And can totally relate to it all. (Like I said, still 17 in my head, always and forever.)

Some of my favorite YA books:

• the Legend series by Marie Lu
• the Under the Never Sky series by Veronica Rossi
• the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins
• the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
• The Scorpio Races by Maggie Steifvatter
• the Partials series by Dan Wells
• the Finnikin of the Rock series by Melina Marchetta
• The Distance Between Us by Kasie West
• anything and everything by Markus Zusak! (even his first books about the Wolfe brothers!)

Okay. I'm stopping now. I pretty much love them all. So, if you're "scared" of YA... it's time to suck it up and read 'em!

Armchair BEA: Beyond the Borders

Day Four of Armchair BEA! What a week, eh? So fun. Today we are talking about Beyond the Borders. Some questions to get us thinking:

It’s time to step outside your comfort zone, outside your borders, or outside of your own country or culture. Tell us about the books that transported you to a different world, taught you about a different culture, and/or helped you step into the shoes of someone different from you. What impacted you the most about this book? What books would you recommend to others who are ready or not ready to step over the line? In essence, let’s start the conversation about diversity and keep it going!

One of my favorite things about reading is experiencing other cultures. In fact many of my all time favorite books would fall into this category. So I thought I'd just highlight a few of them.

The Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye: The first book that I remember reading that takes place in India. I was fascinated. The book is huge and I was so so sad when it ended. Man, I really need to re-read this one sometime to see if it holds up to that initial coolness!

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry: Later, I read this one also taking place in India. This one is even more real than the first one. (That one you see how the royalty lives, this one, not so much!) Again, I was blown away.

Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende: This one shows the cultures of both South America (I forget which exact country now) and Chinese, and how those two cultures come together in San Francisco during the gold rush. Awesome story.

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck: An intense look into Chinese culture. It haunts me, the decisions made in this book!

A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park: A YA (maybe even middle grade?) book about a Korean boy. I loved it. So very moving.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini: Taking place in Afghanistan, and I learned so much about this country that we hear so much about but have a hard time relating to.

Fiesta of Smoke by Suzan Still: A book I read last year about the Mexican revolution.. and so many more things. Mostly an amazing love story.

.

The Rent Collector by Camron Wright: A book I just finished and mentioned in a post already this week. A great insight into the lives of extremely poor Cambodians.... in our current day. Based on real people that the author and his son met and befriended

Ah... there's so much more! I need to put these sorts of books on my list more often because I truly do love them. And they make me want to travel and see the world. But even if I don't get the chance, I can through the books. Which is the best thing ever.

Armchair BEA: Expanding and Growing

Today's Armchair BEA topic is about expanding our blogging horizons, something I'm always interested in, doing the next cool thing, right?

Here are the specific questions:

What do you think about when you think about going beyond blogging or expanding your horizons? Is it a redesign of your blog? Have you branched out into freelance writing or even published a novel of your very own? Or, have you moved into a different venue like podcasts or vlogging? This is the day to tell us about how you have expanded on blogging in your own unique way.

I think for me, expanding just simply means staying involved. That's why I'm trying to keep Bloggiesta going, and why I've been helping Armchair BEA this year and why I sometimes (depending on timing and such) cheer-lead for different things, and why I'm figuring out Google+ lately and such. I think it just means that it's good to try (I know it's hard and overwhelming) to stay current and keep up!

I've always found the idea of podcast fascinating, but haven't figured out how to make that happen. Besides, I'm not a good talker, so why would I even think about a podcast? Kinda funny I'd say. But still, it seems like it would be really fun especially if you were talking to a buddy and could just ham it up or something.

As for vlogging, I'm also intrigued, but watching me talking sounds even worse than listening to me talk! So, why would I even think about it? Because it's a challenge and something different and it's fun! I don't know. I think if I were to do something like this, I'd have to think of a whole new spin on what everyone else is doing because I wouldn't want to be boring or anything! :)

Of course you all know (if you've been reading here lately) that I've been bitten by the writing bug. Well, I was bitten a long time ago, but have only recently acknowledged it. I think that sometimes morphing from a crazy reader to a wanna be writer is inevitable. And not a very unusual thing, but still, it's fun to try and to see what writing a book is like. I'm having fun, and I think that's all that matters right now!

Anyway, for me, and I've said this a gazillion times, this blogging thing will always be a hobby and if it seems to be moving from that category, I'll know I've crossed a line I didn't want. So as long as expanding keeps it in the hobby realm, I'm all for it!

How about you all? What are you doing to make sure you blog is growing?

Blog Tour and Review: The Hitler Dilemma by Carolyn Twede Frank

Book: The Hitler Dilemma by Carolyn Twede Frank
Genre: YA Historical Fiction
Rating:★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
For: Review (and supporting local authors)
From (and FTC Disclosure:) Received for free from the author. All opinions are my own. 

Short Synopsis: This is the story of Max, a German who is 14 about the time Hitler is coming to power in Germany. Like all other youth, he has to attend the Hitler Youth groups and school has changed to include much Nazi propaganda. Hitler is promising to make a better Germany, but the things Max sees happening around him makes him think otherwise. He begins to worry about when the time comes for him to be drafted into the Germany army. And of course, it comes. He is torn with anxiety over it because his beliefs do not allow him to fight for this man. But he is able to understand that if he just does his duty, he will survive. His faith helps him through the experience.

This is told from the point of view of an older Max as he is travelling to live in Utah and his looking back and remembering these experiences. I think for young people reading this book, this method helps them to know that Max truly does make it through some of the harrowing things he faces, because there are some pretty hard things to read.

My Response: I found it to be a very real and touching story, one that I'm sure so many kids went through during this time, no matter the faith they belonged to. I mean, look at The Book Thief! Yes, this is a story sort of like that one where we see the events of World War II from the perspective of the German people and how they simply had to deal with it and to do things they didn't want in order to save their own lives, or the lives of their families. It's heartbreaking. But the story is uplifting and inspirational, all told based on the real life experiences of a man the author knew.

Bottom Line: Great book for kids to learn what it would have really been like as a German teenager during this period in history.

Let's Talk About: Books like this make me want to ponder what I would have done had I lived during this time. Could I have just calmly let my kids join the army? Or see my brothers be sent away? Or send my kids to Hitler Youth?  Even, "heil Hitlered" without thinking? Watch my Jewish friends be hauled away? You know, it's a hard hard thing to think about but I would imagine that most of us would have done much like this family did, or like Leisel's and Rudy's family... just try to stay inconspicuous and get through it the best you can.

Here's the book trailer if you're interested:




Be sure to check reviews on the other blogs participating in the tour:

The Hitler Dilemma Book Blog Tour Stops
May 24th. www.franklycreative.blogspot.com
May 25th: annadelc.com/blog
May 26th  http://www.fayklingler.com/
May 27th: lindzeearmstrong.blogspot.com
May 28th: sueysbooks.blogspot.com
May 29th: themusingsofabookaddict.com
May 30th: ldsandlovinit.blogspot.com
May 31sth: http://www.tarynataylor.com/
June 1st: Julielcasey.com/blog
June 2nd: renaewritespot.blogspot.com
June 3rd: thewriteblocks.blogspot.com
June 4th: maryanndennis.blogspot.com
June 5th: whynotbecauseisaidso.blogspot.com
June 6th: donnakweaver.com
June 7th: lisaswinton.blogspot.com


About the author: 

Carolyn grew up in Utah and went to school at USU. She always wanted to write, but dropped it when a teacher tore her down to the point that she gave it up. She instead majored in Biology and started her own company. Now that she has raised her family and has been successful in her business, she has rediscovered her love for writing and writes YA/Middle grade historical fiction and speculative fiction. Be sure to visit her at her website.