The Century Trilogy by Ken Follett finished!

Hummingbird nest at my work!

I finally finished the entire Century Trilogy by Ken Follett.  I finished it last week.  Boy what a feat.  almost three thousand pages.  The first book is about World War I, the second about World War II, and the third is about the Cold War, ending in 1984 with an epilogue of 2012 with Obama being elected as President of the U. S.  At the end I started wondering if Follett had waited a few years, how would he have ended it with Trump being elected? It was pure elation at the end with Obama, would the books have ended on a downer with Trump or would he have still ended it in happiness with Obama and just not even mentioned Trump?

The books were good.  Focused on the U. S., USSR/Russia, England, and the first two included Wales.  It's historical fiction, so all that happened around the characters is real history and the main characters were fictional.  Because he focuses on families from those countries it did get a little bit confusing with the second and third books because the main characters ended up being generations from the first families in the first book.  There were times where I was trying to remember who a character in the second or third books were related to in the previous one(s).

Other than trying to keep characters straight and sometimes confusing characters, it was a good read.  And I learned a few things. There were facts and events that were left out, due to time constraints and the fact that the books were just shy of or over a thousand pages already. Some of that I really wanted him to tie in and was a bit disappointed they were not included.  But then I remembered that I was complaining that I didn't put any of the books on my Kindle and was carrying them around and didn't mind so much anymore.  They were definitely a good read and I'm very glad I finally embarked upon this trilogy.

I'm now reading The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman. This one is quite the melodramatic story. I'm not complaining, quite the contrary, I'm enjoying it immensely and cannot put it down, but it is a crazy story!  Very well written too.  I'm hoping to finish it soon, because I want to know how this will end and I got a notice saying a book I put on hold is waiting for me at the library.  Once this one is done I'll tell you my final thoughts.

My coworker say this hummingbird nest yesterday and today I went and took some pictures of it.  Pretty cool, huh?  Maybe I'll regale you with the story of two battling hummingbirds who flew into my apartment a few weeks ago next time too.  Probably should work now.

Over and out.

Books to Movies

 Kitty in a bucket!

Truthfully, if I have a choice I'd much rather see the movie before reading the book.  My reasoning is then I can be pleasantly surprised with the "extra" things in the book that the movie left out.  I understand others like it the other way because they think it clouds their imagining the characters and I agree with that, except that I'd rather have the image of someone in my mind and be surprised by the "extras" than be disappointed because the movie left out things that I thought should be in the movie.

I also get annoyed by the mis-casting of movies.  There are some book characters where I think the movie really does the story a disservice by casting certain actors that are too young, too old, too pretty, or just not what I feel the author described as the character.  Not that any of these actors are bad actors, there are just many that I really don't agree with at all and then clouds my judgment of the movie.

Or my favorite is when they completely and totally just abolish the story and the only thing that is the same between the movie and the book is the title.  Ugh.  I can't even get through the first 10 minutes of the movie 'In The Heart of The Sea.'  That book is wonderfully researched and written and the movie just completely changed it all.  And it's non-fiction!  Who changes non-fiction like that?? They really should've called it something else and put a credit of 'based on the novel' (ever so loosely).  I'm still appalled by it.

I have a point to all this rambling, I promise.
I went and saw 'The Girl on The Train' with my Mom yesterday.  We both read the book a few months ago and were excited by the movie coming out.  I was a little hesitant because I think Emily Blunt is too pretty for the main role, as the character in the book is written as a little overweight and a bit dumpy (she's an alcoholic, so bloated and bad skin, etc.).

But, I was pleasantly surprised.  I still think Emily Blunt is too pretty for the role.  They tried to make her more plain, but she's just a pretty woman, so it's not so easy.  However the movie was pretty good!  Kept super close to the book and only left out some minor details that were okay to cut.

As to the book, since this is a book blog, I know it's controversial, some love it, some hate it, I actually liked it.  I have to firstly admit, I did not read Gone Girl.  I did see the film and liked it. It's that love-hate thing.  Where the characters are deplorable, but great story! And I know that these two books are similar in that the characters are awful and there really is no hero, but only anti-heroes.  And then in the end there is still no redeeming qualities about any of them.  However, I kinda like that idea.  Who needs a protagonist?!  Long live the anti-hero!  Now, I didn't love The Girl on The Train, but I really did enjoy it.  It was well-written and very hard to put down.  And the movie did it justice.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

 My shower buddy

I've gotten so busy and preoccupied with my (kinda lame) little blog of Find The Kitty, featuring guess who...Zim, that I completely have slacked off on my fun ranting and raving book blog.  I really should get back to it, as I'm finding myself complaining out loud about books.  Most of the time it's just to people I know, but I don't think they all read as much as I do and probably find me a bit odd.

And, if you're curious, here's Zim's blog: http://findthekitty.blogspot.com/


And I got married last year!  That's right, me married.  Strange how that all works.  But it's good, thankfully.  Although I have to admit that planning a wedding was completely and utterly awful.  Yes, that's right, I actually said (wrote) that.  I really should've just been complaining here about it all.  Instead my college roommate and other best friend from college (my maids of honor) had to listen to me cry every other day or so up until the actual wedding.  I'm just so very glad that one is over.  Turned out to be a fun wedding, I think (ha!  how would I know, I got plastered!).  Fortunately or unfortunately the (free) drinks were made very, very strong and I didn't eat much that day.  Hence, a totally drunk bride.  Ugh, I'm still a little embarrassed about that.  But I heard that everyone had fun and that it was a good wedding.  The pictures make it look nice.  I have an album.  The pictures were all taken before I was drunk though, so there's that.  Seriously though, it sounds all rainbows and butterflies to plan and have a wedding, but in fact, it just was difficult and hard.  You're told, as the bride, that it's your day.  That's a complete and utter lie that other brides tell each other to make themselves all feel better.  It's about everyone else and if they are going to like the venue, the food, the music, the flowers, where they sit, where you sit, etc. Does anyone really notice it all.  I've been to a bunch of weddings, I suppose I only notice if I don't like it.  So, yeah, maybe people do actually notice.  But my point is, it actually isn't your day.  I'm sorry to break it to all the husbands and brides to be, but it's not. Maybe it is if you can afford a wedding planner who does it all for you and you just say, "Yes, that color of napkin," and "No, I don't like onions, so no one can have them." But for the rest of us, it's just crazy!  So, that happened.

Zim is huge.  We keep saying that someone came in the middle of the night and switched out our kitten with a full size cat.  He's 3 and a half and is still a furry ball of craziness.  I was first told he would start calming down around 2, now I've been told it's not until age 5.  He's just an insane creature, but pretty darn cute.

Still reading a ton. I don't think that will ever change. Married or not.  I (re) signed up on Goodreads as some friends have been bugging me about it.  Last time I was on there was 2008.  I know.  But whatever.  I don't think people are clambering to find out what I'm reading or read and whether I liked it or not.  But okay.  Social network and I are not really friends though.  I just don't know what to do with it all.  I'm still not on Facebook, but am thinking about Instagram instead of the Find The Kitty blog.  Might be easier and more fun.

Reading The Century Trilogy by Ken Follett.  Finished the first one, Fall of Giants, last month.  Now I'm halfway through the second one, Winter of the World.  They are historical fiction about the 20th century.  The first one covered World War I and this one is about World War II.  I'm enjoying them, learning a bunch and I like the characters he created.

I'd better work now...even if I don't want to (which I don't).

Chicken Wire

I just realized that I posted those pictures of Zim on the edge of the balcony, but never updated that he actually fell/flew over the balcony one night some months ago.  It was crazy, as we did hear a sound and then could not find Zim anywhere.  Now, he is a cat, so he rarely (if ever) comes when we call his name.  And it's not that he doesn't know his name, as he really does, it's just that he's a cat and will only come to you when he's good and ready, not just because you want him to.  So, we searched everywhere, inside and outside.  Finally after about an hour of that madness (did I mention that it was 10pm? thankfully, a Friday night and not a school-night) we called our downstairs neighbor, who has a fenced in patio, which lies under our balcony.  As soon as we went out onto her patio, I rounded the corner and there is Zim all happy-go-lucky.  I scooped him up and brought him upstairs to find some blood under his mouth.  He either scraped it on the way down or...??  Thankfully he seemed fine otherwise.  But because of that, we were scared it would happen again.  The next day I bought chicken wire from the hardware store and on Sunday we had our work cut out for us.  We locked Zim in the bedroom and finally completed our task after about 4 hours.

Makes us feel much better.  But it was a pain to put up.  We have so many plants on the balcony, we had to move all of them, cut the wire, secure it, and then put all the plants back.  Talk about painstaking work!

I've read quite a few books since my last post.  Let's see if I can remember them...
My Story by Elizabeth Smart was captivating.  I enjoyed it and feel so sorry for what happened to her.  Although I am really glad she has been able to move past that terrible time.  Poor kid.
I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb was a fabulous book.  If I had money to spare, I would give money to her organization.  What a great blend of history of the region she is from and her life story, thus far.  I still am amazed at what kind and loving parents she has.  I highly recommend this book.
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez was a little disappointing.  Firstly, I had thought I'd read it before, but I was mistaken.  I really enjoyed it, don't get me wrong.  I suppose I thought I'd get more out of it or something, the way everyone talks about it.
China Dolls by Lisa See was wonderful.  She's a fabulous writer and I was so excited to hear she had a new book out.  She does historical fiction almost as good as Isabel Allende.  It was a great story and a really wonderful read.
There are a couple more that I know I'm forgetting, but I cannot seem to remember.  I'll have to post again when I remember.

And now I'm reading Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami.  I've all of his novels and am really enjoying this one too.  He doesn't disappoint, which is not surprising, but I have a feeling I'm going to finish it too quickly.  I'm trying to savor it, but it's difficult as I just want to read and read and read.  I suppose this is not a bad dilemma to have!

That's all I have for now...get back to reading!

Rescuing Sven

Zim has a reindeer toy that I've renamed Sven.  He loves attacking Sven and carrying him around in his mouth.  Well, Sven needed to be washed, and I was putting everything in the laundry basket to get ready to do a load of laundry.  I though Zim was not in the bedroom, but he was stalking me (what's new?) and saw me grab Sven from the couch and, worse yet, saw me put Sven in the laundry basket.  It turned into a rescue mission and a few minutes later, when I went back into the bedroom, I found Sven outside of the basket and Zim inside it.  Not only did Sven get rescued from the clutches of the laundry basket, but also Zim realized that it's a great place to play in.

I finished Run by Ann Patchett over the weekend.  It was lovely, but I felt it ended way too soon and wanted to read so much more about my new friends in the book.  I suppose that is the sign of a good author.  I have decided I need to read more of her books, so I've put a few more on hold at the library.  While I wait for some holds to come in, some Elliott Smith biographies, I'm reading a complete guilty pleasure book, which I'm thoroughly enjoying, Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger. She wrote Devil Wears Prada, which I'm still upset about because that is actually my story but it would've been called Satan Wears Gucci.  Oh well, maybe one of these days I will actually try my hand at writing a novel and get all the money and fame I deserve.  Ha! 

Zim as Evel Knievel

Here is the daredevil on the edge of our balcony.  It's a bit scary to see him up there, but he goes up there no matter what we do.  It's best just not to look at him up there, makes my stomach drop.

I started (and am already halfway through) Run by Ann Patchett.  It's great.  I forget how much I love her writing style.  If you haven't read Bel Canto by her, you should!  Back to work!

Cat Toys in the Bathtub

Wanted to share some fun video clips of Zim playing with his jingle ball in the bathtub.  He loves when we throw them in there, so he can dive in and go crazy.  He also loves to pick them up in his mouth and carry them in and out of the bathtub.  We do have to be careful before taking showers though, as those jingle balls hurt if you accidentally step on them.  Plus it's not fun to shower with a bunch of Zim's toys.

It's been too hot lately.  I'm hoping the weather cools down a little, it's really bad, especially when it reaches beyond 100 degrees.

Books...
I finished Wool, Shift, and Dust by Hugh Howey.  It was a great series, very entertaining and he even ended them well.  I have to admit, I was impressed.
I just finished Isabel Allende's Inez of My Soul.  It was great and I thought it was historical fiction where the characters were all made up, but the goings-on was all real.  Turns out that the characters were real people too.  Pretty amazing and so great.  I got to read a good story and learned a few things.  I forget how much I enjoy her books until I pick one up.  I've only read a few and think I need to read more.
I'm now on a memoir kick again.
Until next time.