This Weeks Reading List: Feb 16, 2009

I found this on J. Kaye’s Book Blog and thought I would join along.

Following in the creator’s footsteps, I will keep a record of what I finished last week and what I am reading this week. While every week is different, I most likely won’t get around to all the books listed in a designated week but I may at least start them all.

Finished Last Week:

• Startled by His Furry Shorts by Louise Rennison
• Spiderwick Chronicles: The Wrath of Mulgarath by Holly Black
• Matilda by Roald Dahl
• Have You Seen…? by David Thomson
• Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi

Reading This Week:

• A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley (just finished)
• The Host by Stephenie Meyer
• Three to Get Deadly by Janet Evanovich
• Mystic River by Dennis Lehane
• Pop Goes the Weasel by James Patterson
• Love is a Many Trousered Thing by Louise Rennison
• Stop in the Name of Pants by Louise Rennison
• East of Eden by John Steinbeck

I’ll try and remember to do this regularly, so remind me if you see I haven’t posted in awhile.

TV Meme

Found this on My Friend Amy‘s site today. Sounds like something fun.

1. Name a TV show series in which you have seen every episode at least twice: Friends, Beverly Hills 90210
2. Name a show you can’t miss: Lost or Grey’s Anatomy
3. Name an actor that would make you more inclined to watch a show: Kyra Sedgwick or Michelle Pfeiffer
4. Name an actor who would make you less likely to watch a show: Not a fan of Jack Black, Sacha Baron Cohen or Will Farrell
5. Name a show you can, and do, quote from: Friends
6. Name a show you like that no one else enjoys: well in regards to my friends, I’m the only one who likes The Closer, Saving Grace, and Fringe
7. Name a TV show which you’ve been known to sing the theme song: Friends
8. Name a show you would recommend everyone to watch: The Closer or Saving Grace
9. Name a TV series you own: I have Friends, Will and Grace, ER, Grey’s Anatomy, Lois & Clark, NewsRadio, Lost, Saving Grace, The Closer, Joan of Arcadia, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, 21 Jump Street, Beverly Hills 90210, Las Vegas, Nip/Tuck, Saved By the Bell, Sex and the City, and Weeds
10. Name an actor who launched his/her entertainment career in another medium, but has surprised you with his/her acting choices in television: Well Holly Hunter and Kyra Sedgwick both started out in movies and have made a very successful return to the spotlight in television
11. What is your favourite episode of your favourite series? That’s too hard, but the series finales of both Friends and Will and Grace, or the two part of ER when Carter and Lucy are stabbed on Valentine’s Day, also the first appearance of Mark Sloan of Grey’s Anatomy
12. Name a show you keep meaning to watch, but you just haven’t gotten around to yet: The Tudors and Mad Men
13. Ever quit watching a show because it was so bad? I haven’t fully given up on anything. Watching Medium died off and same with Desperate Housewives and The Sopranos but I’ve continued catching up when I get a chance and still record them.
14. Name a show that’s made you cry multiple times: Grey’s Anatomy
15. What do you eat when you watch TV? dinner or ice cream … usually I just drink wine
16. How often do you watch TV? I watch some every day
17. What’s the last TV show you watched? The Sopranos
18. What’s your favourite/preferred genre of TV? Drama
19. What was the first TV show you were obsessed with? Beverly Hills, 90210
20. What TV show do you wish you never watched? Hmmm … not a lot of regrets but I wasn’t a huge fan of the Office
21. What’s the weirdest show you enjoyed? Lost or Fringe … same creator and both great but very strange
22. What TV show scared you the most? Medium had a lot of suspense and scary stories … America’s Most Wanted did when I was a kid
23. What is the funniest TV show you have ever watched? Friends or Weeds

My Friend Amy added question 24
24) What show was cancelled too early? Inconceivable, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip … I know there are a couple others but I can’t remember right now

A Thousand Acres

Title: A Thousand Acres
Author: Jane Smiley
Finished: February 16, 2009
Pages: 405
Published: 1991

A modernized King Lear, where a farmer, Larry Cook, decides to divide his farm into three pieces for his three daughters. While two go along with the plan, the youngest daughter, Caroline, voices reservations and is left out in the cold.

The book is told from the perspective of the older daughter, Ginny, as she watches her family change over the course of four-five years.

Made into a motion picture staring Michelle Pfeiffer, Jessica Lange, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Colin Firth the story is all about family struggle, pain, deceit, forgiveness, jealousy, and death.

I’ve seen the movie a few times, but the book is much more than movie could ever be. It helped being able to picture faces to the characters but Smiley’s in depth struggle of this family and their traditions shows greatly through the written word.

Challenges: Book Into Movie, 999 Challenge, 50/100+ Book Challenge, New Authors Challenge, RYOB 2009, Winter Reading Challenge, Book vs. Movie Challenge, EW’s New Classics

Persepolis 2

Title: Persepolis 2
Author: Marjane Satrapi
Finished: February 13, 2009
Pages: 17
Published: 2004, in translation
Challenges: 999 Challenge, 50/100+ Challenge, 2nds Challenge

A great finish to the story of Marjane as she is once again on her own and searching for her true self.

While the movie was so-so, in my opinion, mainly due to the subtitles, I thoroughly enjoyed the two books that make up the story of Persepolis. Sometimes I would read and even forget that this is a true story and not just a tale

I would highly suggest the complete Persepolis for anyone searching for a little history lesson along with an adventure because this certainly is a great story to hear.