Mr. Popper's Penguins

I'm feeling sentimental today. I'm also feeling cold, as in it's been snowing non stop for the best 24+ hours. These two things combined equals Mr. Popper's Penguins.

Have any of you out there in blogland read it? I think the I first read this book in 2nd or 3rd grade and people... I loved it. I still love penguins and the thought of them living with Mr. Popper is just too good for a child to pass up on. If you know any little kids who are looking for books - this is the one! Possibly my most highly rated children's book! I also like Chica Chica Boom Boom! but let's not get into that right now. This is a grown up reading group afterall.

Since my mind is a bit fuzzy other than remembering that I loved this book, here is a review from a real source:

Poor Mr. Popper isn't exactly unhappy; he just wishes he had seen something of the world before meeting Mrs. Popper and settling down. Most of all, he wishes he had seen the Poles, and spends his spare time between house-painting jobs reading all about polar explorations. Admiral Drake, in response to Mr. Popper's fan letter, sends him a penguin; life at 432 Proudfoot Avenue is never the same again. From one penguin living in the icebox, the Popper family grows to include 12 penguins, all of whom must be fed. Thus is born "Popper's Performing Penguins, First Time on Any Stage, Direct from the South Pole." Their adventures while on tour are hilarious, with numerous slapstick moments as the penguins disrupt other acts and invade hotels. Classic chapter-a-night fun. --Richard Farr

You really want to read it now, don't you..

Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief

That's what I read over the weekend.  Now I'm about to read Percy Jackson and The Sea of Monsters.  You're jealous.  I know you are.  Admit it.  You're sorry that you have not read the latest 11-year old boy hit book and you can't converse expertly with said boys about whether the movie or the book was better. 

I can.

I think the book was better by the way but Uma Thurman is a fabulous Medusa and Pierce Brosnan--- well, you never would have guessed what he really was all that time you thought he was James Bond.   It's a good story -- no Harry Potter -- and there's quite a bit of variation from book to movie although I was told by Will that it didn't matter and we had a serious discussion about why they left a fairly significant character out of the movie and whether you cold film a movie scene in the St. Louis Arch and if the whole idea of Hades was as depressing as I thought it was.  I had the last part of that discussion by myself...guess it was more like a monologue.  "Mom, you may not realize this, but I've stopped listening.."

I've been told I have to read the rest of the series by the end of next week. I'll let you know how that goes because the Elegance of the Hedgehog I had on reserve just came in at the library plus I finally started reading a Tree Grows in Brooklyn. 

I want somebody else to read this book so that we can talk about Hades. I promise it won't take very long.  Maybe you could read it in German to spice things up. 

ZooBorns

Ok, slightly off-topic but......
Look at this incredibly cute blog, please!
ZooBorns
We're publishing a book on these little ZooBorns and we're all in cute overload.

Book vs. Book-to-Movie

I think Auntie G's comment deserves a post of it's own:

Can you think of any book-to-movies that you prefer over the original book?

I've thought long and hard and so far all I have is Twilight and Bridget Jones's Diary. It seems to me that if a book is a real classic and well written it's hard to make a movie that will compare.

On the other side of the spectrum I can think of almost a billion books that I prefer over their movie counterparts. Let's not even get that list started...

Rumo & das Wunder im Dunkeln...

Well... now that I've gorged a couple "mother language" novels, I'm returning to the world of Zamonien! I love reading Rumo as I loved reading Blaubaer, though I will say that Rumo is a little more brutal. It's possibly more of a 'boy's book,' though I can't gauge at all what age is appropriate. The amazon.com (in english) review had this to say: Illustrated with the author's appealing line drawings and full of sly humor, this rambunctious novel will appeal to fans tired of the usual epic fantasy, though they should be prepared for some violence in the tradition of the Brothers Grimm.

Btw, I live in the city of the Brothers Grimm! Their picture is all over everything Hanau-ish and we have weird sculptures of or referencing them throughout. There's your use(less/ful) factoid for today!

The Time Traveler's Wife

You know how sometimes you read a really good book and when you finish it you think, "boy, that was a really good story.  I liked it:" and then you put the book on a shelf or pass it along to a friend not worried if they'll ever return it?  You don't worry because you know chances are, you aren't going to reread that book.  Chances are you probably won't even think about it again unless someone mentions it.
That is not the Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.

I finished TTW almost three weeks ago and I'm still thinking about it.  Daily, I think about Claire and Henry.  There's some message in this story that won't let me go. Is it the science fiction time travel?  Is it the beautifully-crafted "fictional" love story that makes you believe in soul mates?  Or is it the recurring chicken and egg  quality to questions of destiny and fate? 

Like Life of Pi (one of my all-time favorite books), I found the Time Traveler's Wife to both beautifully written and well-told.  A truly novel novel.  I could easily have devoured this book in one sitting if my life allowed me to sit that long.  More delectable than a Magnolia Bakery Cupcake, a glass of Sticky Fingers BBQ sauce or a Columbia's special.

Read it and let me know what you think.  Borrow my copy if you want but be warned...I might want it back!


(p.s.  the movie of it comes out on DVD this weekend which I would rent from my video store but I can't because my video store closed and I STILL don't have Netflicks...soon...very soon Isabelle...)