I NEED...

something to read! Desperately! I have taken all of my (overdue) library books back to the library and can't check any out more until I have paid my (overdue) fee and I am just about to go stir-crazy because I have read everything in our house and need something new! *whew* My poor husband...He knows me well, that's all I can say! When I called him at work yesterday to whine he was so sympathetic and tried to cheer me up. It was pretty sweet, actually. :o) Guess where I'm going to be Tuesday morning during my lunch break? Any guesses? Anyone? I'll tell you because I know you can't bear the suspense...I'll be in the library sniffing the books (books, not book glue people) and in reader heaven.

Did anyone hear my heart breaking the other night? I watched 'Becoming Jane' and bawled like a little baby. Of course I knew what was going to happen (well, not exactly but I knew about Tom Lefroy) and I still cried my eyes out. *sigh* I was almost afraid to put in 'Mansfield Park' (the 1999 BBC version) afterwards but am so glad I did! It cheered me up immensley. I can totally understand why MP was Austen's favorite novel...It is currently tied in second place with Sense and Sensibility in my list. :o) I remember reading online somewhere that an author has created a whole series based on the leading men of Austen's novels. The series is made of diaries of the leading men...I'm definitely going to try to look into these...

Ta ta for now!

A little of this and a little of that...Take 2...

Some adorable pictures of Jonah taken the day of his birthday party...He looks so grown up in these! And tan! Lord, that boy tans up quick! I'm sure it has nothing to do with his Asian father...

The car he's playing with here was actually *on* his birthday cake. This is what it looked like before he realized that those decals were paper and could be pulled off easily. It looks pretty naked now...

He really is starting to watch tv/movies more. I'm pretty sure he was watching the Cars movie here. In fact, it had to be. Because that is all we watched all day, every day for about a month straight. We're now branching out - we've added Finding Nemo and a Little Einstein dvd. Or in Jonah-ese, "Fish...Meemo?" and "Steinafoeijfawohfhi?". I love Jonah-ese. :o)

Have you ever read a book and right at the end, the author decides to switch things up a little and completely throw you off? Normally that doesn't bother me but...I finished a book the other night that I thought I had all figured out. I was just cruising along at the end waiting for the happy ending...and then *BAM!* Girl DOES NOT end up with boy (who was very,very handsome, btw, with gray eyes and built nicely....) but instead finagles around, gets upset with something he says and takes off. Granted, said boy did not use the best judgement and was a bit of a dolt but still! Said girl ends up pregnant, travels to a country far, far away and never tells boy about baby. And that's how it ends. WHAAATTT?! <--- That was my face at the end of the book. *sighhh* That is what I get for assuming! Good thing that was a library book.

Ta ta for now!

Jane Austen

What is it exactly about Jane Austen and all that she has written that entrances women, I wonder... Is it her characters, who are so real and remind the reader/viewer of very dear friends and aquaintances? Is it the beautiful clothing and surroundings that you can only imagine, or see if you are watching a movie adaption? Or is it the romantic storylines that embody so beautifully what women want in their love lives? I tend to think that it is a combination of all of these but vary in importance for each person. I love the books although I have not read all of them. It is so nice to watch the movies though...I've owned Sense and Sensibility for years now and one of my fondest memories with my friends is watching it with them. And since Pride and Prejudice was released in 2005 it is my new favorite. I love those tall, dark and brooding English men and Alan Rickman as Col. Brandon and Matthew McFayden as Mr. Darcy certainly fit the bill. They are exactly the type of men that I daydream about. Er...that is, if I would daydream they would do nicely. Which I don't, daydream, of course. *ahem*
Moving on...I'm planning on buying an biography about Jane Austen because it struck me the other day that I really know nothing about her other than she was one of seven children and she died young. And that is strange to me, seeing as how I like her books so much.
Which Jane Austen book or movie is your favorite?

Books

I finished a wonderful book last night called Silent in the Sanctuary by Deanna Raybourn. It's a historical mystery with a dose of romance - just the kind I like best. :o) I picked it up at Walmart, not realizing that it was the second in a series (I don't like to start a book series halfway through - there's all kinds of things going on and I'm just anal that way) but that's okay because I really enjoyed it... I didn't really start reading mystery novels until I was in college due to a bad experience with a particular book that scared the heebie-jeebies out of me my sophmore year. I had sort-of inherited the book from my Mamaw Berty's collection after she died. Mamaw Berty was an avid reader. I mean, avid. Avid as in we still haven't read all of the books that we took from her house and she died in 2000. My father very forcefully put his foot down after the first two book trips home... :o( Anyways, Mamaw loved mysteries. The majority of her books was mysteries - classics and more modern series intermingled on her bookshelves and it was always a treat to just look. I can honestly say from personal experience that there is nothing better than finding another book lover and looking at what they have on their shelves. There's always the feeling that you might find something really good that you have never heard of or a classic that both of you like and can talk about. (Okay, insert nerd smiley...) Looking at Mamaw's bookshelves was wonderful - as a child I knew I wanted to read particular ones but realized I probably would not understand all of the nuances and references better suited for adults and not get the full effect. So I waited patiently. And now that she is gone it is hard reading them and wondering what her take on each particular one was. And now that I have graduated to mysteries, and historical mysteries in particular (Mamaw's fav), I feel so much closer to her at the end of each one. And miss her that much more.