i heart ... pride and prejudice and zombies

remember when i told you earlier about pride and prejudice and zombies?

i thought i was the only person interested in pride and prejudice and zombies,
but i was so wrong.
it turned into a new york times bestseller!
and when i was buying it, the guy behind the counter said,
"what is with this book? these have been selling like hotcakes!"
and oprah, even oprah!, put it on her summer reading list.

pride and prejudice is my favorite book

and you would think i would hate the idea

of someone turning zombies loose in my favorite book.

i was even surprised with myself that i was excited about the idea.

so what did i think?
i liked it, but unfortunately, i didn't love it.
the zombies weren't integrated enough into the story.
it was mostly just pride and prejudice (word for word) with zombies on the side.
but it was still fun and good for a laugh.

up next: sense and sensibility and sea monsters!

i heart ... a fine st. patrick's day

the other day natalie and i were reading this book:

and then i remembered, hey, i saw some shamrocks in the backyard just like the shamrocks in this book!

(okay, really it was clover, but "shamrock" sounds more st. patrick's day-ish, don't you think?)

so we picked some and they really were quite cute with leaves in the shape of hearts.

i heart ... the invention of hugo cabret

this book was my birthday gift to my niece, sierra, a couple of years ago.

i finally got around to reading it myself.

magical.

unlike anything i've ever read before!

4 hearts out of 5.

from barnes and noble:

orphan, clock keeper, and thief, hugo lives in the walls of a busy paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. but when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station, hugo's undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. a cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from hugo's dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.

i heart ... vnsa

vnsa! i love vnsa!

what is vnsa you ask? it's only the largest booksale in the southwest which is held once a year during the second weekend in february. all the proceeds go to charity. put it on your calendars for next year.

on saturday i went with brook.

we had to wait in this big long line to get in. and by the way the way, that is not the only line. there is another line equally as long that you can't see to the right of this picture . if you're asking if it is worth it, the answer is yes.

just look at these beautiful books that you can get for, like, 3 bucks!

back in the day we didn't have to wait in that big long line because we would volunteer to help brook's mother (my aunt) set up the books in the "classics" category.

so the week before the sale we would go set the books up and then on the morning of the sale we would walk right in the door to man our category - and as soon as the doors would open we would shop!!! there are people who literally camp out overnight to be first in the door - if they only knew that if they just volunteered they could just walk right in the door without having to step foot in line. those poor schmucks!

i (kinda) heart ... confessions of a shopaholic - the movie ...

... but i totally heart the book. i've read it, like, 5 times (okay 3!).

the movie did not follow the book very well, but it was still a fun movie. i give it 3 1/2 hearts out of 5. lots of cheap laughs, but some real laughs too.

isla fisher was a perfect becky bloomwood, but london was grievously miscast - as new york.

becky bloomwood may be the main character of the book, but london is a close second. reading the book i could feel like i was right there in london - many of the places written about, i've actually been to, before i ever read the book ...

bella pasta

boots

pret a manger

body shop

waterstone's

accessorize

marks and spencer

notting hill gate

high street kensington

hyde park

camden market

harrods...

... you get the picture. these are real places to me and when i read about them i am right there in my mind. so, yeah, i really missed london in the movie.

but still i would say, sure, go see the movie.

i heart ... zombies

i don't really want to say "i heart ... zombies", but i kinda do because they are quite thrilling. and i certainly never dreamed of blogging about zombies twice in one week (or ever!), but when i saw this photo i couldn't resist sharing. this is a news photo from austin:

wouldn't it be cool if you were driving and there really were zombies up ahead? what would you do?

if you need some helpful tips you could read the zombie survival guide: complete protection from the living dead. they give advice on such things as how to prepare your home, avoiding urban areas, which weapons to use (molotov cocktails, power tools, slingshots...)...

if you'd like to learn more, barnes and noble has a plethora of helpful books, such as:



zen of zombie: better living through the undead




punk zombies




how to draw and fight zombies


consciousness from zombies to angels: the shadow and the light of knowing who you are


zombies vs. robots vs. amazons


zombies, lilliputians and sadists: the power of the living dead and the future of australia





and of course... pride and prejudice and zombies

i('m not so sure if i) heart ... pride and prejudice and zombies

actually, i do heart pride and prejudice

and

i do heart zombies
(bet you didn't know that)

but do i heart them together?

not so sure.

but i guess i'll find out after i read this:

"it is a truth universally acknowledged that a jane austen novel in which zombies are hunted down and decapitated by a young lady of modest means but charming manners must be a crime against literature." - matthew du plessis

one obvious question, of course, is what would ms. austen think of this unconventional adaptation? salon book critic and austen fan laura miller says:
"well, she'd be astonished, of course, since her age was, sadly, as bereft of zombie movies as it was of indoor plumbing. however, I don't doubt that elizabeth bennet would adapt quickly to the imperatives of a zombie attack and in time prove one of our ablest leaders in the war against the undead. the real question is: if mr. darcy became infected, would elizabeth have the fortitude to behead him in time?" - salon.com

so will this book indeed be a crime against literature and will elizabeth be able to take out mr. darcy if he turns into a zombie? i'll keep you posted!