tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70098724995836983022024-03-12T21:32:54.477-07:00About Books BlogA book is like a garden carried in the pocket.
~ Chinese proverb ~Jazz R.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03016796107614501932noreply@blogger.comBlogger273125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009872499583698302.post-52053862182895185962016-09-13T12:38:00.000-07:002016-09-13T12:38:12.716-07:00New Blog and BookTube Vlog LinksHello to the followers on this blog. As you might know I've been posting my bookish thoughts as well as other things on another blog for a few years now. I have also started a book related YouTube channel. Recently my blog's link has changed and I thought while I was updating the new info on my blog I would post the link to my YouTube channel as well. Here are the links. Keep it shiny!<br />
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My blog link for Dancing, Dreams, and Shiny Things: <a href="http://ddst7.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://ddst7.blogspot.com/</a><br />
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My YouTube Channel: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFcpF5kR4e0tmfgt1Rc9J4g" target="_blank">ShinyThingsReviews</a>Jazz R.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03016796107614501932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009872499583698302.post-68907512894521448292014-01-23T13:53:00.001-08:002014-01-23T13:53:28.522-08:00Today's Book Post LinkHello all. Here is the link to today's book related post. Five tips on how to read more than one book at the same time. Keep it shiny!<br />
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<a href="http://www.ddst7.com/" target="_blank">Dancing, Dreams, and Shiny Things @ ddst7.com</a>Jazz R.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03016796107614501932noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009872499583698302.post-12226020836420262922014-01-16T14:09:00.001-08:002014-01-16T14:09:27.442-08:00The Book Nook Link 1/16/2014Hey guys. As promised here is the link to this weeks book related post. It's about how reading helps build empathy and it also contains a short review of the Fraggle Rock comic. While you're over there feel free to check of Must See Movie Monday, Tune Tuesday, and Weekly Obsession Wednesday. Link to the blog is below. Please follow over at the other blog if you can.<br />
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<a href="http://www.ddst7.com/" target="_blank">Dancing, Dreams, and Shiny Things @ ddst7.com</a>Jazz R.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03016796107614501932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009872499583698302.post-870382877023455872014-01-09T14:49:00.001-08:002014-01-09T14:49:32.297-08:00Please Check Out My Other Blog and Reading PostsHey readers. It's a new year and I'm really taking my transition to my afore mentioned blog change over. I will from now on be posting my book reviews and other bookish things on there, so if you want to keep getting updates on what I'm reading you might want to pop over there and follow. To ease the transition I'm going to be posting links to my reading related blogs over here every Thursday for the the next couple months. This week I wrote about my reading challenges so check it out. Also while you're over there you can check out my Weekly Obsession Wednesday post and other info. Hope to see you over there. The links will be below. Keep it shiny!<br />
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<a href="http://www.ddst7.com/2014/01/the-reading-corner-my-2014-reading.html" target="_blank">The Reading Corner - 2014 Reading Challenge Post</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.ddst7.com/" target="_blank">Dancing, Dreams, and Shiny Things Blog @ ddst7.com</a>Jazz R.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03016796107614501932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009872499583698302.post-23873134790168731662012-09-11T22:59:00.000-07:002012-09-11T22:59:07.159-07:00New Blog is Officially PublicHello Guys and Girls. The new blog is officially online. So if you want to follow me over there the link is below. Keep shiny!<br />
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<a href="http://www.ddst7.com/">Dancing,Dreams,and Shiny Things @ www.ddst7.com</a>Jazz R.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03016796107614501932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009872499583698302.post-7528997027592522912012-09-06T22:07:00.003-07:002012-09-06T22:18:30.154-07:00Out with the Old and In with the NewHello Everybody. Long time no see. I had what I can only call a blogging breakdown. I just didn't feel like blogging. Instead of boring you all with a rant about it, I decided to take a break to figure out why I didn't feel like writing.<br />
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After several months I finally understood my reasons. Reason one was that I simply didn't have the time or the energy to keep up with both my song blog and book blog. Reason two was that I didn't only want to write about books and music. I wanted to write about books, music, and my other interests. Many times over these months I've had a great idea for something I'd like to share with the world, but I didn't because it didn't fit with the book or music blog concept. Once I figured out what I wanted out of my blogging I had to brainstorm to figure out what to do about it. Over my trip to New York this summer an idea smacked me in the head. I thought the best thing to do was merge both my blogs together into one blog. Not only that but I could add all the other things I've been wanting I to talk about such as: movies, TV, crafts, dance (I am a dance teacher after all), and whatever else I feeling like reviewing or sharing. As my mother said I'm basically making a blog that is more like a ...well...blog. Haha!<br />
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The idea is still in it's early stages so bare with me as I put everything together. I have to figure how exactly how to transition from my two current blogs. I don't want to lose all the book reviews on this blog. I will leave this one up for awhile and eventually make a page with all my previous reviews on the new blog. As for the the song blog I might keep that up for a few months. I'm thinking I might transfer my playlists but that is about it. I still have a lot of things to sort out, but right now I have the two most import things set in stone. What I want the layout to look like and of course a name for my new writing adventures. The new blog will be entitled Dancing, Dreams, and Shiny Things. I will post another post as soon as the new site goes public so you can find me again. I hope you all will still follow me on the new blog. I have always appreciated you support. Keep it shiny!<br />
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Jazz R.J. Jazz R.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03016796107614501932noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009872499583698302.post-591791419885824632012-05-10T16:41:00.000-07:002012-05-10T16:41:15.515-07:00Short Story and Children's Book Combo Pack (Weekend and Ballet)<div style="text-align: center;">
Hello all. It's getting close to the end of the week so I just thought I'd review this week's short story and children's book all in one post. I might have to do the post like this through the month of May, because of work. Let's start with the short story shall we.</div>
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<b>Story Title: Weekend</b></div>
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<b>From: The Doll</b></div>
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<b>Author: Daphne du Maurier</b></div>
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A couple starts their weekend away thinking that they are perfect for each other. A misguided boat trip soon makes them see their relationship isn't a perfect as they thought. </div>
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Weekend was just an okay story for me. I didn't think it was bad, but something about it annoyed me a little. I don't know if it was the dialogue, the characters, or the ending. Maybe it was a little bit of all three. I just didn't effect me like some of the other stories in this book. Weekend does get points for at least being an entertaining read. I may have had to roll my eyes at certain sections, but I was not bored. Ha ha!</div>
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<b>Book Title: Ballet</b></div>
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<b>Author: Kate Castle</b></div>
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<b>Age Level: 8 and up</b></div>
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Kate Castle, former member of The Royal Ballet company, teaches you about the art of ballet dancing.</div>
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My life is obviously all about dance. Especially right now when my students are so close to doing their end of the school year dance performance. I thought why not pick a book that is about dancing since that is what is on my mind. I personally think that this one of the best book about ballet. Not only for children but for adults as well. This book tells the reader all the elements of ballet dancing: history, training, what to wear, performance, ballet stories, etc. What I like about it is that it does it in such and accessible way. The book has short sections in bold that give an overview of what the page is about. This is great for younger kids that just want to gain the smaller concepts of this dance style. However, each page also has sections in smaller writing that go more in depth in case you want to know more about the subject which is great for older kids and adults. I like that Ballet doesn't just talk about the dance style but other elements such as famous dancers and technical work of performance (light, set design, costumes). It also gives great advice on how to watch a ballet by explaining the difference between contemporary ballet and classical ballet. I highly recommend this to everyone interested in learning to dance or even people that just enjoy watching dance. </div>
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<br /></div>Jazz R.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03016796107614501932noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009872499583698302.post-64340234721109411282012-05-03T14:48:00.000-07:002012-05-03T14:48:31.387-07:00Children's Book of The Week - Max and The Big Fat Lie<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="200" src="http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e355/scarletcherry/MaxLie.jpg" width="158" /></a></div>
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<b>Book Title: Max and The Big Fat Lie: A Book About Telling The Truth</b></div>
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<b>Author: Michael P. Waite</b></div>
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<b>Age Level: 4 and up</b></div>
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Max lies to his mom in order to go see a scary movie. He soon discovers that one little fib can turn into a big fat lie.</div>
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Yay! Children's story of the week is back. The segment was lost but not forgotten. I re-read Max and The Big Fat Lie earlier this week when I was attempting to download some software to my computer. I figured why not make the process go faster by reading a nice children's book. This book was a particular favorite of my mother's though I love it quite a bit as well. It teach the importance of telling the truth without getting too wordy about it. It's actually very humorous and it is written all in rhythm to boot. Like that the book has some elements that are fantastical to prove the point that it's trying to make, but that the situation that Max finds himself in is realistic. This makes the story easy to kids to relate to. Max and The Big Fat Lie made me smile as a child and it still does now.</div>
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<br /></div>Jazz R.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03016796107614501932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009872499583698302.post-89660589361398042662012-05-02T12:30:00.001-07:002012-05-02T12:30:23.652-07:00Short Story of The Week - Rumpelstiltskin<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Story Title: Rumpelstiltskin</b></div>
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<b>Authors: The Brothers Grimm</b></div>
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A miller's daughter makes a trade with an imp in order to become the wife of a king.</div>
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I am particularly interested in Grimm's fairy tales at the moment. I've kind of made in my plan to read as many of the stories as I can. Today I decided to start with Rumpelstiltskin simply because I haven't read it in some time. I actually started off the morning reading it and I have to say it was a fun way to start the day. There really isn't a lot to the story. Fairy tales often get right to the point with out using flowery language or a ton of character developement. However, the benefit of that is that it was a quick read that made me feel like I was using my brain cells. I totally forgot the Rumpelstiltskin gets ripped in half at the end of the tale. Gross! Ha ha! I guess I see why I might have blocked the ending out. Otherwise, it's an interesting story. It is also a fun one to study on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumpelstiltskin">Wikipedia</a>. Actually most Grimm's tales are if you are into looking things like that up on the internet. </div>
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<br /></div>Jazz R.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03016796107614501932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009872499583698302.post-36109150478546306082012-05-01T15:28:00.002-07:002012-05-01T15:28:56.633-07:00An Update<div style="text-align: center;">
Hello darlings. This is just a short update. Sorry I've been gone for almost a month. Time got away from me. In a nutshell work commitments, various allergies, and back problems have kept me from sitting at the computer. I just decided I should take a break. I realized yesterday that I could have written all this time if I had just used my voice recognition software more, but what can I say, your blog mistress is clueless at times. Since I came to that conclusion I will definitely plan some posts for this week. At least this weeks short story and children's book. I will also work on my reviews for The Girl Who Played With Fire and First Love. I intend to make a post reviewing some film adaptations I've watched recently as well. See guys tomorrow. Thanks for your patience. </div>Jazz R.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03016796107614501932noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009872499583698302.post-50589082920442418032012-03-27T15:32:00.001-07:002012-03-27T15:32:35.507-07:00My Epic Reading Adventures - Reading On A Budget<br />
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Hello All. Lately I've been trying to budget my funds more effectively. I figure part of that is keeping my book purchasing addiction to a minimum for a little while. At first this was going to be the equivalent of going on a few strict diet, an experience also known as no fun. I started looking in my library of print and e-books and realized I have more than enough reading material already in my possession. A factor I probably would have noticed sooner if I had read some of the unread books in my library more often instead of buying a new book every time I finished reading something. The awesome news is that several of them apply to my current reading challenges. For the next few months I'm going to try not to buy any new books over the price of a dollar. I might make a small exception if I find a short story book that I really like. However, I realized that I had some short story books on my phone already. In addition, the Aldiko application has quite a few free books and short stories. I don't know why didn't think of that before. </div>
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I'm a little behind on my reading schedule for reading 105 books this year. I'm not overly concerned, because I'm taking next week off for spring break. I know I'll have some extra reading time to catch up then. Plus, I finished The Girl Who Played With Fire, First Love, and Neverwhere in the last two weeks. Yay! Right now I'm listening to North and South on audio book. I just started reading Fear Nothing today. I'm making good progress on it already. I'm trying to pick my books to read over spring break early. I'm thinking I'm definitely going to re-read Jacob Have I Loved. I'm not sure what else. I've got way more choices than I thought. </div>
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See you guys later. I'm off to read some more and write some more. Keep it shiny!</div>
</div>Jazz R.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03016796107614501932noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009872499583698302.post-2413913849791882262012-03-20T14:06:00.000-07:002012-03-20T14:06:30.766-07:00Short Story of The Week (64) - Why Mr. Cropper Changed His Mind<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Story Title: Why Mr. Cropper Changed His Mind</b></div>
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<b>Author: Lucy Maud Montgomery</b></div>
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Ester must find a clever way to prove to Mr. Cropper that is capable of being a school teacher for his two ill behaved sons. </div>
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I had completely forgotten that I had this collection of short stories by Lucy Maud Montgomery on the Kindle App. on my phone. I'm so glad I remembered because this story was both sweet and clever. I loved that it had a lot of snappy dialogue. This story also celebrates girl power in an underlying way. Sometimes we forget until we read something that was written in 1903 that women weren't always considered equal with men. The main character, Ester, really had to cook up a well meaning scheme to prove that she could teach a class of students just as well as anyone. Overall, I generally enjoyed this. It's a very quick read that made me smile. </div>Jazz R.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03016796107614501932noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009872499583698302.post-57311201231077973652012-03-14T16:48:00.000-07:002012-03-14T16:48:38.493-07:00Short Story of the Week (63) - The Butterfly<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Story Title: The Butterfly</b></div>
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<b>Author: Hans Christian Andersen</b></div>
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A butterfly searches for a flower to be his bride.</div>
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I'm still on the look out for a new short story book, but I figured until then Hans Christian Andersen will suffice. His stories are always at least entertaining. The Butterfly was an alright little tale. I felt like it didn't have much of a point. I thought the butterfly was really quite a silly character. However, the story amused me regardless, and the writing had a lyrical quality that I liked. This story was at least much happier than some of Andersen's works. In fact it's was much more joyful than any of the short stories I've read in the last few weeks. I need to find some funny short stories. </div>Jazz R.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03016796107614501932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009872499583698302.post-1908627085490453492012-03-13T23:49:00.000-07:002012-03-13T23:54:27.406-07:00About Books Blog 57 - The Looking Glass Wars Trilogy<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="200" src="http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e355/scarletcherry/LGW.jpg" width="133" /></a><a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="200" src="http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e355/scarletcherry/SR.jpg" width="133" /></a><a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="200" src="http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e355/scarletcherry/AE.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
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<b>Author: Frank Beddor</b></div>
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<b>Genre: Fantasy/Young Adult</b></div>
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<i>“Control and power aren’t everything. Allow yourself to be the agent by which a cause greater than any single individual triumphs.”</i> - Looking Glass Wars</div>
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<i>“The most important questions are always answered with yet more questions.”</i> - Seeing Redd</div>
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I don’t usually use book trailers but since this one summarized the books so well I thought why not.</div>
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The Looking Glass Wars sounded too interesting for me to pass up. Which is why I picked up the book despite my previously stated issues with Lewis Carroll’s <a href="http://aboutbooksblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/about-books-blog-56-complete-alice-in.html">Alice in Wonderland</a>. The Looking Glass Wars Trilogy turned out to be awesome. Each book was just as good as the one before it. I literally could not put it down until I had read the whole series.
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I loved Frank Beddor’s writing style. It was witty and imaginative. I also appreciated that he wrote his action scenes and descriptions in a way that was very easy for the reader to visualize. I thought it was brilliant that the author choose to combine his vision of Wonderland with historical events and people from Earth. He used real people such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Carroll">Charles Dodgeson (a.k.a Lewis Carrol)</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Liddell">Alice Liddell</a>, and even <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Leopold,_Duke_of_Albany">Prince Leopold</a> as an part of the story. In a very fictionalized way of course, but still it inspired me to want to look up the history of the real people themselves. The first book includes a timeline describing the parallels between what happens in Wonderland and what happened in reality on Earth. I thought it was a clever detail to add.
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I absolutely adored the characters. Alyss was such a wonderfully developed protagonist, and she is surrounded by excellent supporting characters. I even enjoyed the villains, Redd and Arch, who kept the story interesting with their ability to scheme and destroy with the help of some very creative minions. What was great about the development of the characters was that the books shared the back-story of so many of them. This made the characters incredibly engaging for me as the reader.
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The best thing about Looking Glass Wars, Seeing Redd, and Arch Enemy is that there is something in there for everybody. Action, drama, fantasy, steampunk, and a little romance. I think it is something both girls and guys would like. It is also something a variety of ages would enjoy. You don’t have to read Alice in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass to have fun reading The Looking Glass Wars. However, it is more intriguing to see where Frank Beddor’s ideas come from if you read the source material and some history on Lewis Carrol. I highly suggest that everyone go to the book store and pick up The Looking Glass Wars. It is certainly going on my list of favorite book series.
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: large;"><b><u>Interesting Facts</u></b></span></div>
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Frank Beddor claims that the story was inspired when he saw an incomplete set of ancient playing cards at the British Museum with images that resembled Wonderland characters.</div>
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There is a spin-off comic book series entitled Hatter M. The series centers around the character Hatter Madigan and his adventures searching for Princess Alyss.</div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: large;"><b><u>The Movie</u></b></span></div>
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I would be overjoyed if this movie makes it to the screen. There is a movie in the works, but it has been on stand still for awhile due to other Alice themed movies that have been released in the past years. Hopefully it will be a fully developed project soon. This book deserves a really great movie.
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: large;"><b><u>Music To Read By</u></b></span></div>
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I enjoyed listening to music with ethereal or mechanical type sounds while reading this. I liked listening to <b>Confessionals by Florence and the Machine.</b> I also liked listening to <b>Speak For Yourself </b>and<b> Ellipse by Imogen Heap</b>. In addition, I read a bulk of this series while movies were playing on the TV. It was particularly lovely to read this while Starwars, Van Helsing, and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider were on the television. Hence I have included songs from the movie soundtracks on my playlist. I’m thinking this is a playlist I may add on to later, but I like what I have on it so far.</div>
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<b><u><span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: large;"> The Looking Glass Wars Playlist </span></u></b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Looking Glass Wars</span> - Geek</div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Red Heart</span> - Vicki Hanson</div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Heartlines</span> - Florence and the Machine</div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Burn It Down</span> - Alan Silvestri</div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Wait It Out</span> - Imogen Heap</div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Equinox</span> - Skrillex</div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Duel of The Fates</span> - John Williams</div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Have You Got It In You?</span> - Imogen Heap</div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Invincible</span> - Muse</div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">The Clock</span> - Graeme Revell</div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">We Can Make The World Stop </span>- The Glitch Mob</div>
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<span><a href="http://grooveshark.com/playlist/Book+Playlist+The+Looking+Glass+Wars+Trilogy/68416312" title="Book Playlist: The Looking Glass Wars Trilogy by Jazz Johnson on Grooveshark">Book Playlist: The Looking Glass Wars Trilogy by Jazz Johnson on Grooveshark</a></span></object></object> </div>
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That's it darlings. See you tomorrow with the short story review. I would have posted it today, but the book review won out on the writing table today. Happy reading and keep it shiny!</div>Jazz R.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03016796107614501932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009872499583698302.post-58110339471620841662012-03-08T14:00:00.000-08:002012-03-08T14:00:03.857-08:00Children's Book of The Week (4) - Very Worried Walrus<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e355/scarletcherry/WW-1.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b>Author: Richard Hefter</b></div>
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<b>Age Level: 3 and up</b></div>
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Walrus tells his friend Pig all his concerns about the bad things that could happen while riding a bike.</div>
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I picked this because the kids at my dance school seem to like it so much. During dance breaks I often find them reading this with their parents. I have to say I like it quite a bit as well. The art is rather cute and the theme makes me giggle. Walrus really blows his fears about falling off his bike out of proportion. The creativity and lengths he takes it to are hilarious. It's is a good thing that he has a friend like Pig who reminds him that riding his bike can be fun, and it's really not the end of the world if you fall off. We should all have friends like that to remind us to focus on the positives of a new experience instead of the negatives.</div>Jazz R.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03016796107614501932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009872499583698302.post-41914718004222986672012-03-07T15:54:00.000-08:002012-03-07T15:54:32.105-08:00My Epic Reading Adventures - Rebel Without A Short Story<div style="text-align: center;">
Hello everyone. I've been surprised by having some actual free time this week. Thus, I finally finished the rough draft of my long awaited Looking Glass Wars review. Thank goodness. This means a book review by the end of the week. I still have some brain storming to do on the playlist for the book. The only problem this week is that I have no idea what to read for the short story this week. I usually post the review by Tuesday, but I wasn't interested in my usual short fiction books. I think I need a new short story book, but I don't know what to get. Any ideas?</div>
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I've been a bit of a rebel the last few weeks. I'm just so inclined to breaking my new year's resolutions. I must get back on track. That means I much tear myself away from my obsessions with Netflix, TV, Youtube, and Fanfiction. I also much learn to stop over analyzing my writing so much so that I don't get behind on my book reviews. I must remember that I just need to relax and get the ideas on paper first, then I can go back and fix them. The good news is that I've been a reading rebel. I finally hit the mid-point in The Girl Who Played With Fire, which means things are starting to get really interesting. I was also in the mood for what I like to call dance fiction. I decided to read a book about dancers called First Love. The book has been on my shelf for something like two years. It is high time that I read it. I desperately want to listen to an audio book, but I made a resolution to only read two books at a time this year. I refuse continue to break my own rules no matter how much I want to listen to North and South on audio book. Ha ha! </div>
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Oh, by the way, I just want to thank the people who have commented on my posts lately. It means so much to me that you are enjoying the blog and reading. See you all later. Keep it shiny! </div>Jazz R.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03016796107614501932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009872499583698302.post-68210549253144190512012-02-28T15:01:00.002-08:002012-02-28T15:01:49.927-08:00Short Story of the Week (62) - The Highwayman<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Story Title: The Highwayman</b></div>
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<b>Author: Alfred Noyes</b></div>
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The tragic tale of a Highwayman who is in love with an inn keeper's daughter.</div>
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<i>"And the blood of her veins in the moonlight throbbed to her love's refrain"</i></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: large;"><b><u>My Thoughts</u></b></span></div>
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Technically this is a poem but it's a longer story poem. I think it still counts as a short story. I was struck by a mood to read this in it's entirety for the first time. I've read and heard excerpts of it several times, but I have never read the whole thing. Luckily The Highwayman is one of those poems that is easily found on the internet. Shiny! I have to say that this poem is awesome. It's incredibly depressing and poignant, but definitely awesome. I love the rhythms and the imagery. The Highwayman is completely worth reading. </div>
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e355/scarletcherry/willy.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b>Author: Anthony Brown</b></div>
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<b>Age Level: 3 to 8</b></div>
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<b><u><span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: large;">Short Summary </span></u></b></div>
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A little monkey named Willy dreams about life and bananas. </div>
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<b><u><span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: large;">My Thoughts</span></u></b></div>
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Willy the Dreamers is a cute little tale. Perfect for a variety of ages because it is both simple and thoughtful at the same time. Each page contains very short phases which is excellent for introducing three-year-olds to reading. The illustrations are imaginative and lovely to look at. You can always have great fun with a child trying to point out where the bananas are incorporated into the pictures on each page. This book is part of the curriculum I use for my creative movement class (a dance class for 3-5 year olds). I read the book aloud to the kids. Then we stand up and act out some of Willy's dreams from the book. For example: I may tell them to act like a singer or a scuba diver. It's a fun activity with movement, and what the kids don't know is that they are getting a little acting and performance lesson as well. </div>
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<br />Jazz R.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03016796107614501932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009872499583698302.post-21648080317208519112012-02-21T17:41:00.000-08:002012-02-21T17:41:59.181-08:00Short Story of the Week (61) - Ice<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Story Title: Ice</b></div>
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<b>From: The Rose and the Beast</b></div>
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<b>Author: Francesca Lia Black</b></div>
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A woman is heartbroken when the man she loves is enchanted by an ice queen.</div>
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<i>"He is too perfect. Like an angel carved on a tomb. If you try to keep something so perfect, you get only silent stone."</i></div>
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I'm not completely sure but I believe that Ice is a modern re-telling of Han Christian Anderson's fairy tale <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Snow_Queen">The Snow Queen</a>. I've never read the original tale, but I enjoyed Francesca's interpretation of it. I just love how poetic her writing style is. This story is a little sad. However, I got a hint at the very end that maybe there was hope. The build of the story kept me interested all the way through. Overall, Ice was a intriguing and enjoyable way to spend part of my afternoon reading. </div>
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<br />Jazz R.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03016796107614501932noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009872499583698302.post-85149094054929269402012-02-16T14:01:00.000-08:002012-02-16T14:01:51.729-08:00Children's Book of The Week (2) - Dancing in the Wings<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="200" src="http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e355/scarletcherry/dancingwings.jpg" width="155" /></a></div>
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Author: Debbie Allen</div>
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Age Level: 5 and up</div>
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Sassy fears that her big mouth, big feet, too long legs will keep her from her dream of being a star ballerina. With the encouragement of her family and the idea to audition for a summer dance festival she discovers her dream might be closer than she thinks. </div>
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<b><span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: large;"><u>My Thoughts</u></span></b></div>
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I realized last time I reviewed a children's book I forgot to post the picture of the book cover. Ha ha! Silly me. I remembered this week. </div>
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I'm a dancer so I have to recognize my favorite dancing book, Dancing in the Wings. I love it not just because I talks about the art of ballet. There are tons of wonderful children's books that talk about ballet. This book is stands out because it teaches lesson that sometimes the qualities that you find negative about yourself can actually be positives in the long run. You just have to be patient and have support to overcome obstacles. I think that is a good message not just for children but for adults as well. This book has longer paragraphs on the pages. I've found that some really young children have trouble focusing on long paragraphs, so I would wait until they are at least in kindergarten to introduce them to this book. Kids could could probably start enjoying it on their own around 1st or 2nd grade. </div>
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<br />Jazz R.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03016796107614501932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009872499583698302.post-88425932264494478652012-02-15T16:32:00.000-08:002012-02-15T16:43:53.649-08:00My Epic Reading Adventures - The Writing Plan and Gossip Girl<div style="text-align: center;">
Hello everyone. I'm finally back. It seems like it took me forever to get better. I was still feeling some pain early in the week. The good news is that I'm feeling better now and I have tied up a lot of things at work as well. That means more reading and writing time. Yay! I thought why not get the ball rolling with an adventures in reading post. I haven't written one in a few weeks.</div>
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I have a new writing plan that I'm going to implement as of tomorrow. I'm really into self improvement this year, and I'm not doing as well as I would like. I have to find a better way to approach writing. I love putting words to the page, but I realized I just intimidate myself with looking at everything as one huge piece of writing instead of several little parts. I've come up with a new writing technique to get past my current technique of procrastinating, panicking, and then writing. The plan is to a least three times a week write at least one or more paragraphs on three of my internet based sites. For example: I would write a paragraph or two of a book review, then one for my song blog, and then answer and email on the days when have the most free time. I think that this will be a far more effective method of writing. Everything will be split up in small manageable pieces. I'm really to start putting it into practice.</div>
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I'm incredibly behind in my reading. One reason is I haven't been able to find the right short book to read along with my longer read, The Girl Who Played With Fire. After several different attempts I suddenly realized that I had both the Hunger Games series and the Twilight series just waiting to be re-read on my Nook. Neither of them are short but they are quick reads. I'm going to re-read Hunger Games first because the movie comes out soon. Yay!</div>
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There is another reason I'm behind in reading. I'm ashamed to admit this. I haven't really been using my Nook just for reading but for a lot on Netflix watching. One of my teen dance students convinced me to watch the TV show Gossip Girl. I wasn't that receptive to the idea at first because it's not the type of show that I wouldn't usually watch. Meaning that it doesn't have crime solving, fight scenes, singing, or some type of supernatural element. I figured since it was on Netflix it wouldn't hurt to give Gossip Girl one episode to impress me. Plus, I had to see what all this talk about "Chuck Bass" was about. Little did I know that it was actually quite addictive. It's become sort of a guilty pleasure. I must remind myself that I must watch less soap-opera-ish drama and get to reading. I'm actually considering reading the books. I'm pretty sure they won't be my thing, but I just like to try things for fun. Did you know there was a Gossip Girl graphic novel? Believe it or not there is. Is it weird that I think that is weird? </div>
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On a not really reading related note. I started a Tumblr page a few weeks ago. It is great fun and I figure it's another good place for writing practice. Also it is a excellent replacement for my list blog that I intend to delete. I only wrote on it twice and then proceeded to focus on my book blog and song blog instead. It makes far more since to put all my lists and random musings on Tumblr instead. Here's a link if you guys want to follow me. <a href="http://jazzrj.tumblr.com/">http://jazzrj.tumblr.com</a></div>
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Well, I'm signing off. I have some unexpected free time to work on a book review. See you all tomorrow afternoon with the children's book of the week. Keep it shiny!</div>Jazz R.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03016796107614501932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009872499583698302.post-73783877742204246482012-02-09T12:34:00.000-08:002012-02-09T12:34:22.235-08:00Update and Brief HiatusHello everyone. This is just a short note to tell you guys I won't be aroud for a few days. I hurt my back and at some point I had to realize I had to limit my time sitting at the computer this week. For me the realization came when I had to teach two higher level dance classes laying on the floor. I'm actully writing this on my Nook so I can save my energy for teaching and my private ballet lesson tomorrow. I should still be able to work on my book review but nothing else right now. I will try to have the book review up by Monday to make up for my absence this week. Thanks for being understanding followers. Keep it shiny!Jazz R.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03016796107614501932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009872499583698302.post-74338604203689345262012-02-07T10:20:00.000-08:002012-02-07T10:20:46.120-08:00Short Story of The Week (60) - Nothing Hurts for Long<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Story Title: Nothing Hurts for Long </b></div>
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<b>From: The Doll</b></div>
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<b>Author: Daphne du Maurier</b></div>
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A woman prepares for her husband's long awaited return. When he comes back she finds that he is much changed.</div>
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<i>"It's all right, nothing hurts for long."</i></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: large;"><b><u>My Thoughts</u></b></span></div>
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I found Nothing Hurts for Long slightly sad. There's no death in it or anything. It's just that I hate to see people disappointed. The woman in this story definitely was on the edge of feeling deep sadness and disappointment. This story surprised me with it's ability to pull at my hearts strings. Daphne wrote it in a way that made it easy to connect with the emotions of the narrator. I liked it even though it was on the somber side. It was kind of like listening to a sad song, and I love listening to sad songs. </div>Jazz R.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03016796107614501932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009872499583698302.post-42921859959154705992012-02-03T23:00:00.000-08:002012-02-03T23:00:02.637-08:00About Books Blog 56 - Complete Alice in Wonderland<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="200" src="http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e355/scarletcherry/alice.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>
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<b>Author: Lewis Carroll </b></div>
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<b>Adapted by: John Reppion and Leah Moore </b></div>
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<b>Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy, Classic </b></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: large;"><b><u>Favorite Line </u></b></span></div>
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<i>“I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is 'Who in the world am I?' Ah, that's the great puzzle!” </i></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: large;"><b><u> Summary</u></b></span> (from Barnes and Nobel)</div>
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Take one stubborn and opinionated young girl. Add an overactive imagination. Shake in a heavy mix of puzzling and bizarre guides. Reduce all morals and lessons to the nonsensical degree and send it all on a journey to nowhere...
These are the ingredients that Lewis Carroll combined to create a fairy tale unlike any other.</div>
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Dynamite Entertainment is proud to present for all ages The Complete Alice in Wonderland, the most vivid adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s genre bursting tales of young Alice and her Adventures in Wonderland.</div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: large;"><b><u>My Thoughts</u></b></span></div>
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I want to like Alice in Wonderland. I really do. The fact is that it bothers me. It wasn’t always that way. As a child I thought it was quite a lovely tale. Then I re-read it sometime in my late teens and I suddenly found it unsettling.</div>
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I started to notice that the story made zero sense. All the characters are mean beyond measure. Except for Alice of course, she’s quite nice. A little eccentric...but she’s still pleasant. I don’t know why all the other characters have to yell at her so much. I do like the bit of the story with the mad tea party. On the other hand, I find the part where the Duchess sings about beating her baby when he sneezes decidedly disturbing. I unexplainable issues with the mock turtle section as well. I like Through The Looking Glass better. Living chess pieces are awesome. Sometimes all the poetry gets on my second nerve. Though there are one or two poems I do enjoy. It’s safe to say that I have mixed feelings when it comes to Alice’s adventures. The nonsense of it all makes my head spin.</div>
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Despite my qualms I decided I wanted to give it another try. Like I said, I really do want to like it. I found this graphic novel version of Alice in Wonderland and thought this was the perfect way to give it a chance. After all I haven’t met a graphic novel adaptation that I didn’t like. Not yet anyway. The complete Alice in Wonderland is a collection of four comic issues telling the whole tale from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass. It even includes the lost chapter from the second book “A Wasp In A Wig.” Obviously not everything from the novels ended up the comic. Still so much of it remain true to the original material. I thought the authors did an excellent job at converting it graphic novel form. <a href="http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=preview&id=4060">The artwork</a> is so beautiful that I bought it for that factor alone.</div>
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I did like the story a better in this format. However, I couldn’t shake the fact that Lewis Carroll’s original tale disturbs and annoys me just the slightest bit. I did get some insight while doing research for this review. Alice in Wonderland is classified under the genre <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literary_nonsense">nonsensical literature</a>. A writing form, which focuses on wordplay and the well...general lack of logical reasoning. So the author wasn’t insane. Alice in Wonderland is actually supposed to make no sense. Somehow understanding the concept of the story has helped me realize that maybe I’ve been taking it too seriously all along. Alice in Wonderland might not be exactly my cup of tea but this graphic novel was certainly worth buying and keeping in my library for re-reading.</div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: large;"><b><u>Interesting Facts</u></b></span></div>
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Lewis Carroll was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Carroll">Charles Dodgeson’s</a> writing pseudonym. Not only was he a writer but he was also a mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon, and a photographer.</div>
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The original manuscript of the book was entitled Alice’s Adventures Underground.</div>
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The character Alice is said to take her name from the real life figure <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Liddell">Alice Liddell</a>. The poem in Though The Looking Glass “A Boat Beneath A Sunny Sky” is an acrostic poem that spells her name.</div>
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There is said to be a hidden code in the chess theme of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Through_the_Looking-Glass">Through the Looking Glass</a>. It has something to do with Alice Liddell and references to Dodgeson's favorite number 42. It's a very LOST like theory isn't it? Ha ha!</div>
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One of the authors of this graphic novel adaptation, Leah Moore, is the the daughter of renowned comic creator Alan Moore, who wrote such works as Watchmen. She and her husband, John Reppion, also collaborated on a story for the graphic novel Comic Book Tattoo. Ironically I have reviewed both <a href="http://aboutbooksblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/about-books-blog-24-watchmen.html">Watchmen</a> and <a href="http://aboutbooksblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/about-books-blog-comic-book-tattoo.html">Comic Book Tattoo</a>.</div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: large;"><b><u>Movies and TV</u></b></span></div>
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There are quite a few movies and television depictions of this novel considering it has been adapted again and again since 1903. This is a quick overview of the ones I’ve seen. Forgive me if some of my recollections are a little foggy. I haven’t watched some of these since I was a child.</div>
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The 1951 Disney animated film of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043274/">Alice in Wonderland</a> was of course my first experience with the tale. The movie combines elements from both the first and second book which was a lovely choice. The songs are full of wit. I love “The Unbirthday Song.”</div>
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When I was young they used to play and old version of Alice and Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass on TV all the time. I remember really loving both films but I can’t figure out what year they were made. I don’t think it is 1966 version. Hmm...Maybe it was the 1972 version. I also use to watch a re-watch a version of Alice in Wonderland that I had on tape. This one depicted Alice as a teen and had so stop motion elements I believe. Gosh, I don’t know when that was made either. Curiouser and curiouser. Warned you that I was fuzzy on some the details.</div>
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I do remember enjoying the Disney TV series <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088473/">Adventures in Wonderland</a> in the 90’s. I thought it was darn cute. I was nice that Alice could step through the looking glass and have her unusual friends help her solve her problems. I haven’t seen it since then. I kind of miss it.</div>
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In 2009 the Syfy channel came out with a science fiction re-imagining of the story in their two part mini-series <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1461312/">Alice</a>. If you’re wanting something true to the book this movie isn’t it. It’s one of those things where you have to play find the relationship to the original material game. If you want some creative steampunk with some entertaining acting performances, Alice is a nice choice. The first part of the series was a little slow, but the second part was pretty fast paced. It’s one of the the better Syfy original movies. </div>
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There is of course Tim Burton’s 2010 adaptation of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1014759/">Alice in Wonderland</a>. I wouldn’t say it was my favorite Tim Burton film. The only reason I didn’t completely love it is because it gave me that feel you get when reading the second book in a series without reading the first. Does that make any since? I couldn’t really get into the way the screenplay was written. Even so it has really cool imagery, and awesome actors doing awesomely. I would watch it again. However, never again in 3D. I had a headache for two hours after seeing in 3D in the theater. Perhaps the imagery was just too over powering in three dimensions. </div>
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Lastly if you are looking for something not Wonderland exactly, but related to it you can take a look at the film <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089052/">Dreamchild</a>. The movie centers around fictionalized flashbacks of an elderly Alice Liddell, primarily focusing on her childhood around the time the book was written. I watched this several years ago. I vaguely remember it was pretty good. The only thing I strongly remember about it was this creepy flashback/dream about the “mad tea party.” That part totally freaked me out. I haven’t watched it since, but maybe I should try it again. </div>
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<b><span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: large;"><u>Music To Read By </u></span></b></div>
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I didn’t listen to any music. I just enjoyed reading though the television commercials this time around. I was going to make a playlist containing all the songs written that are based on the book . Then I found a web page that listed <a href="http://www.spinner.com/2010/03/03/alice-in-wonderland-music/">20 songs inspired by Alice in Wonderland</a>. I thought why not just link you to that page. It even includes songs with music videos based on Alice in Wonderland. That is way more awesome than the playlist I had planed. </div>
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That is all my darlings. This was a long one and a link extravaganza. Now you see why it took me so long to post it. Sorry for the wait. Happy reading and keep it shiny!</div>Jazz R.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03016796107614501932noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009872499583698302.post-40720886203171649852012-02-01T12:58:00.000-08:002012-02-01T12:58:28.351-08:00Children's Book of The Week - Frog and Toad Are Friends<div style="text-align: center;">
Hello all. Welcome to my new weekly blog segment. I'm not a child, I don't have children, but I work with children. Thus, I like children's books. Every week I will be posting a review of some of my favorites.</div>
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<b>Book Title: Frog and Toad Are Friends</b></div>
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<b>Reading Level: Ages 5 to 8</b></div>
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<b><u><span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: large;">Summary</span></u></b></div>
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The adventures of a Frog and Toad who are best friends.</div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: large;"><b><u>My Thoughts</u></b></span></div>
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When I was a kid I always loved the Frog and Toad books. However, I never owned this particular one as a child so it was a new experience for me. Frog and Toad Are Friends consists of five short stories, which you can read all in one sitting or read separately. What I love most about the book is that both Frog and Toad are such great characters. The each have their own personality. As you know I love a book writing with a quirky sense of humor and this book definitely has that. It gave me the biggest giggle while was reading it. The story in which Toad attempts to think of a story to tell Frog when Frog is feeling sick was the most hilarious of all. This is a good pick to read to the young ones, and the first and second graders should be able to enjoy reading it by themselves. If you have a Nook Color I high suggest you get the enhanced version of the book. You can read it yourself or you can have it read to you. The guy that reads it does all the voices and brings the characters to life. I will have to get more Frog and Toad books from now on. I had such a good time reading this. </div>Jazz R.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03016796107614501932noreply@blogger.com2