Day 58 - The 19th Wife

How do I pick out my reading materials? I read the synopsis and if the story catches my interest, I'll read the book. The current book I am trying to finish is a book I picked up at Costco months ago.

The story is fascinating as it deals with the Mormons and "celestial marriage" also known as polygamy. It is interesting to read about how people can be brainwashed into believing something such as celestial marriage. Thank goodness established practices and beliefs from the past are questioned in modern times, otherwise, we, as women, would be in trouble!

Day 4 - The Love for Books

I read. I don't get to do it as much as I want to but I do try to read at least a book a month. As you can see from my collection, I read all sorts of books.

I love books and I've read since I could recite my ABC's back in kindergarten or first grade. I remembered picking up books with such titles as Amelia Earhart, Eleanor Roosevelt and Helen Keller in the third grade. As I progressed through elementary school, I read The Babysitters' Club and Sweet Valley Twins. How could anyone forget Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield??

Now that I am older, I continue to read various books that catch my interest. I think it is a bit sad that not everyone enjoys reading but I don't expect people's hobbies to be the same. I do think that we are so occupied with modern amentities like DirectTV and the internet that sometimes picking up a book is considered a complete bore. I think the best books are the ones that can get you to cry, laugh, giggle or become angry at a character or situation. How about picking up a book the next time you consider turning on the TV? Or maybe not...

The term "Regency"

I came upon the term "regency" twice this week as I was surfing the internet.

The first time was when I was blog stalking Trista Lerit's blog, a photographer based in Orange County, CA. She blogged about her recent home decorating and her love of "Hollywood Regency." I seriously thought the term was made up to give the whole Hollywood thing more glamour. Oh who am I kidding? It probably is but who cares because we get suckered into these things anyway. The term "regency" just sounds so much more elite and sophisticated then Hollywood style or Hollywood decor.

Anyway, the second time I encountered that term was when I was looking for romance novels similar to Judith McNaught's writings in Whitney My Love, A Kingdom of Dreams, Once and Always (probably my favorite among the bunch), Until You, Almost Heaven and Something Wonderful. What do all of these books have in common? (OK besides being romance novels!) For the longest time, I always thought they were considered historical romance novels and they are, BUT they are also considered around the British "Regency" era. Isn't that interesting? Well...maybe not to some people but it definitely got my interest since I encountered the word "regency" only days earlier. According to wikipedia, "The era was distinctive for its architecture, literature, fashions, and politics. It was a period of excess for the aristocracy..." In any case, you can find the full excerpt about British Regency here. Another interesting thing to note, the author, Jane Austen, falls into this category as she was from this era and her books were written in this period and I love Jane Austen! Although I must admit - some of her writings require repeat reading to fully understand its meanings.

Twilight Series

I read the books as well as saw the movie.

In my opinion - these types of books can never become good movies. Although I enjoyed the books, the language in the books are laughable. I was not expecting a great movie and I was actually thinking that I would probably laugh out loud if I heard some of the sentences being repeated in the movie. With that said - I think the movie was as good as it got. I don't think it was completely terrible and I don't think it was great. It was a so-so movie. I thought the actors did a decent job of portraying the characters. And yes - I did laugh at parts where it was not supposed to be funny because let's face it - most romance novels cannot be repeated without giggling. It is corny and cheesy.

As for Robert Pattison - I thought he did a decent job. I think the problem is that everyone has visualized this gorgeous Edward where possibly no actor can fulfill. My only comment is that he always looked like he was in pain. As for Kristen Stewart - I thought that she had the look to portray Bella. Some of her facial expressions throughout the movie was slightly annoying but passable.

Don't expect too much and you're enjoy the movie. Most romance movies are cheesy, predictable and corny. I consider the Twilight series romance with a slight Vampire twist. Everything is very predictable and of course, I am a sucker for things that are predictable. :P

Book Review

My friend gave me two books for my birthday and I finished them!

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
Set in 19th century China, this book starts with a young girl named Lily from a less fortunate family and Snow Flower, from a wealthy family. Both girls are born on the same day and year and became laotong, bound together for life. Both girls' feet were binded (a custom that was practiced in China on young girls - if you ask me is similar to mutilation) at a young age. When they turned seventeen, they were married off in arrange marriages. This is where it is interesting in that Lily was married into a wealthy family and Snow Flower married into a low-status family. There's more but you'll just have to read the book if you are interested.

My personal review - the book was o.k. It was entertaining to read the book and gain a better understanding of the old days but I am glad I did not live in that 19th century China mentality where women were basically treated like they did not matter and were only put on Earth to give birth to sons. Bunch of crap. There's a saying in the book where it is basically saying that a girl should listen to her family when she is young, once she is married, she needs to listen to her husband and when her husband passes on, she needs to listen to her son. What the hell?? What a stifling atmosphere.

Peony in Love by Lisa See
Set in 17th century China, this book is about a girl named Peony, who feel in love with a boy she met on an evening at her home. She was supposed to be married when she turned seventeen but five days before her arranged marriage, she died because she was a lovesick maiden and did not want to be in the arranged marriage. The irony of it all is the person she was supposed to be arranged to was the boy she feel in love with but when she realized that, it was too late. She dies and becomes a ghost. Now you will just have to read the book if you are interested.

My personal opinion - I did not enjoy this book as much and actually scanned through some of the readings. The ghost part was not as appealing and it is a good 75% of the book. The thing I did find interesting is some of the cultural practices and rituals when a person is alive as well as when a person dies. This book reminded me a bit of The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I enjoyed The Lovely Bones much more.

Randomness

I did it! I signed up for my pilates classes! I bought a series of 10 classes to start out and I hope I like this new studio. It's close to home and actually also conveniently by the freeway as I head home from work too! I'm excited! My first class is this Sunday! I just hope this studio is as good as the previous studio I attended.

What other random thinking? Oh, I met with another bride AND GROOM this past Sunday and they booked me! Heehee...I think the groom was a bit taken aback. He said that I seemed kind of young and asked how long I have been wedding planning. Hmm...sometimes I think it's partly because I am short that makes me look young. Oh well...after 5 minutes with me, they were convinced I knew what I was doing! =)

As for continuing education, I printed out two sessions and I have been reading one session. My goal is to finish that session this month and read my February book, The Cider House Rules by John Irving. That's a lot of reading! I will have to cut back on web surfing which I really should because sometimes I can spend a few hours a night online wandering around aimlessly.