The Alliance and August's Pick

So I was super slow at getting the book for May read. I just finished it and I loved it! It was an exciting read and I had a hard time putting it down. I couldn't believe it was only Gerald Lund's second novel. I am a little embarassed to admit this but I've never read "The Work and the Glory" series and this book got me excited to read more of his works. It was fun to read an action/adventure novel written by an LDS author. I love how he did things like "the Major swore and then said..." instead of including the swear word. It made me smile a little. Anyway, here's my cast picks if this ever was turned into a movie. I actually find it a little hard to believe no one has pursued this as a possible movie yet. I think it would be a great one. It was hard to sit and thing of people who would do a good job in these roles. This was the best I could come up with and the only ones I could think of. It was hard to think of someone for Cliff and a few of the other bigger characters. Here's what I picked:

Ben Affleck: Travis

This guy from Mission Impossible 2 (can't remember his name): Clayne

Christopher Walken: The Major (for some reason he always creeps me out in whatever role he's in)

Leonardo DiCaprio: Eric

Jennifer Love Hewett: Nicole What do you think? Who would you have picked?

Now for August's Pick: Austenland by Shannon Hale

Here's an excerpt from her website:

"Jane Hayes is a seemingly normal young New Yorker, but she has a secret. Her obsession with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, is ruining her love life: no real man can compare. But when a wealthy relative bequeaths her a trip to an English resort catering to Austen-crazed women, Jane’s fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman suddenly become realer than she ever could have imagined. Decked out in empire-waist gowns, Jane struggles to master Regency etiquette and flirts with gardeners and gentlemen—or maybe even, she suspects, with the actors who are playing them. It’s all a game, Jane knows. And yet the longer she stays, the more her insecurities seem to fall away, and the more she wonders: Is she about to kick the Austen obsession for good, or could all her dreams actually culminate in a Mr. Darcy of her own?"


You can get it used and new from Amazon starting at $2.47


If any of you have already read this let me know and I'll pick a different one.

Hello? Is anybody here?!

June: The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester

Stephenie Meyer loved this book and I love Stephenie Meyer so...voilà!

“It’s the oddest/sweetest mix of Little House on the Prairie and X-Men. I was smiling the whole time (except for the part where I cried). I gave it to my mom, and I’m reading it to my kids—it’s absolutely multigenerational. Prepare to have your heart warmed.” —Stephenie Meyer, The Twilight Saga

$11.53 new on Amazon and $8.99+ used.

I'm so bummed I never found a copy of The Alliance. I love that book!

May: The Alliance by Gerald N. Lund

Nancy asked me to post her book choice since she is without internet for a while longer."It's 18 years after the nuclear holocaust and the end of civilization, as we know it. Survivors are being relocated to a new society known as the Alliance. It seems like a dream come true for many of the new citizens. Crime, as well as harmful emotions, such as anger and prejudice have been eliminated, because the Alliance has computerized control over it's citizens from a computer chip that has been implanted in everyone. Eric Lloyd discovers the Alliance's corrupt power structure and vows to destroy it. But can one person change the world?"

This book is available on Amazon but it's listed for $17 for a paperback copy! I found a few other sites where it's available for less just by googling it. Deseret Book and Seagull Book are a good place to look if you want a hardcover for around $18. The book has been around for a long time so hopefully it's available at the library. If it proves very difficult to find for cheap (although it's worth the $18) I know she has another pick - which is the one I was thinking about for June!

Nancy would like to pose a bit of a challenge with this book as well...As we read, she thought it'd be fun to come up with a list of actors we think should play these characters if this book were made into a movie!

Have fun and happy reading!

Mango Thoughts

I'm almost a month late finishing this but I had hardly any time to read last month. I flew through this book this week trying to get it finished before Goodbye, Mr. Chips arrives in my mailbox, and I really think that this book is probably most beneficial when it can be enjoyed slowly. I think I'm going to start over and read one chapter a day so I can really think about how much is being said with so few words.

Like Joanna, I really enjoyed the author's writing style - so eloquent and concise. The bike part cracked me up. What I can't stop thinking about, however, is the chapter titled "Those Who Don't." It's only a paragraph long and yet it hit me hard. It said so much about how we feel about neighborhoods and cultures that are different than our own. I couldn't help but think back on my drive through inner Philly, where I was the minority and where frankly, I was a little scared. Now I wonder about each of those faces that had made me so nervous. What do their neighbors call them? What are they known for?

I was so sad when that stupid boy found Esperanza (to put it in G-rated terms) but love how the book ended.

Completely unrelated: Can you guys believe we've been doing this book club for over two years now?! I just noticed that. My, time flies!

Mango Street Thoughts

Thanks for the new book. I think I saw this one on another book recommendation list so I'm excited about it! On to March's book. After I got through reading it again, I'm pretty sure they should not have let junior high school students read it (or maybe I was in 9th grade). There were parts that I'm sure went over my head at that point so I'm sure it wasn't too big of a deal. Anyway, I still liked it but not as much as I had remembered liking it. There were parts that made me laugh out loud (like when they all went by on the bike and a large woman commented that they had a large load there and her friend made the same comment back to her). I also really like Cisneros' style of writing. She made everything so simple and detailed at the same time. Her writing form is truly an art form. I also did like the stories she told. It was amazing that you could learn so much from one short chapter. We recently moved to a smaller town in Utah County. I love our house but it's kind of in a more run down part of town. I almost felt the same way Esperanza felt when she was describing Mango Street and so it was nice to relate to that. Anyway, there's my thoughts. I'm curious about yours...

April: Goodbye, Mr. Chips by James Hilton

So I've chosen the book for April. I'm sorry it's a little slow in coming... The book I chose is Goodbye, Mr. Chips. It was recommended by my mom and sounded like a good, short read. (That's the kind I gravitate to these days.) I hope you'll all enjoy it! Find it on Amazon here.