"Lost time is never found again." - Benjamin Franklin

Instead of guiltily reading blogs while I avoid the blank "new post" box on the screen, I am back. Have I really not written since I read Just Kids? Seriously, I am a slacker.
Should I blame it on the NYC heat - sucking all the energy out of my body, while I rot my brain watching Bravo? Maybe.

So much has happened since we last spoke! But let me ease you all in with a list of books that I have read:

1. The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen by Syrie James: I stretched this read out so much. I knew how it was going to end, but I still cried like a baby. READ IT!

2. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger: Read it for May book club. We met up on a Saturday at Central Park. It was one of the most relaxing days I have spent in NYC thus far. C and I prepared a picnic for the rest of the members (probably went a little overboard with watermelon, cherries, strawberries, three types of cheese, crackers, bread, cookies, drinks etc, etc). We gathered around our buffet and discussed the book.
After we had exhausted our brains and our stomachs, we decided to walk around. On our journey we visited Strand, Union Square, Madison Square Park by the Flatiron Building, and ended up pleasantly exhausted, a few hours later, at John's Pizzeria on Bleecker Street. It was the best pizza I have ever eaten -- it could be because I was starving, or it could be because it was actually the best pizza in the world, either way - you should go check it out.
The subway is a magnificent thing. You don't have to find parking. You get to your destination rather quickly. But, there is something to be said about exploring the city's many neighborhoods on foot. Every few blocks, I couldn't help talking about how different one was from the other. I'm sure it was annoying, but it was like an epiphany. It just reminded me of why I love New York so much. It never gets boring and there is always a surprise waiting around the corner for you.

3. Juliet Naked by Nick Hornby: I had never read anything by Nick Hornby before, but I read a review about this book and he was said to be a "modern day Jane Austen". How could I not pick it up after that?

4. Jane Bites Back by Michael Thomas Ford: Yes, I realize that I am obsessed with Jane Austen, but this book was really funny. It was surprising and fresh. Jane Austen and vampires - you'd think it was a mess of cliches, but it was unique and clever.

5. Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold: Another one of those books that had been recommended to me forever ago, but I just couldn't bring myself to read it. And like always the catalyst to finally cracking it open was the movie. A phenomenal read - but I guess you already knew that, didn't you?

6. Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin: Remember when we read Alice in Wonderland for book club in April? Well, when I went to buy my copy at Barnes and Nobles, they had a whole table of Alice in Wonderland paraphernalia (most likely prompted by the movie out in theaters at the time - not the fact that I had strategically planned my book club that same month). Tucked nicely between various copies of the classic, was this little gem. At the time, I was "not buying books" because of lent, so I put it on my queue at the library. It takes about 100-120 pages to get into it, but I loved the mixing of fact and fiction. I was definitely rewarded in the end for powering through the beginning.

7. The Smart One by Ellen Meister: I've started a new project. I am only allowed to read the books I own....this will pan out one of two ways. One, I will hunker down and read every book I own, before buying any more (besides book club choices) and I won't request anymore books from the library. Or two, I will just buy all the books I want to read so they will technically be mine, therefore finding a loophole in this project....The Smart One, as you have probably already guessed was a book on my shelf - it was a fun, fast read. A good book for summer, especially for those with sisters :)

8. Writing Jane Austen by Elizabeth Aston: I cannot be held responsible for the fact that as soon as I decide to start my "reading-books-I-own" project, one of the books I have been waiting for from the library comes in. A waste of time, since I didn't even like the main character until 2/3 into the book. She didn't even like Jane Austen, and she hadn't even read her novels....that's bullshit. You don't have to like her, but make an educated decision, woman! (of course she eventually comes to love Jane Austen- but I could have told you that from the beginning).

9. The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian: Book club pick for June. LOVED this book. Suspenseful, and just when you think you know what is going on - WHAM! (post to come)

10.  The Perfect Elizabeth by Libby Schmais: Easy summer read. I didn't care for the ending.

11. Push by Sapphire: Wow. I finished this in one day. It was hard to get into because of the way it was written, but it was intense and sad. I don't know how I feel about it. I guess I would recommend it, just so I could discuss it with you.

Currently reading: The Book Borrower  by Alice Mattinson

Happy Reading my friends! I hope I will see you more regularly :)

Time Traveler's Wife - Pg 128

"Do you ever miss him?" she asks me.
"Every day. Every minute."
"Every minute," she says. "Yes. It's that way, isn't it?" She turns on her side and burrows into the pillow.
"Good night," I say, turning out the lamp. As I stand in the dark looking down at Grandma in her bed, self-pity floods me as though I have been injected with it. It's that way, isn't it? Isn't it.

Audrey Niffenegger **Double Feature** Part II

It is time to bestow upon you another one of my obsessions: twins. It's possible that this might even be worse than my obsession with Jewish people. While I can't convince myself that I am a Jew (although my mom likes to point out that we are "a little German-Jewish" on her dad's side), I have yet to give up on the idea that I had/have a twin.

The conversation with my mom usually goes like this:

Me: Mom?

Mom: Yes, honey?

Me: Tell me the truth.....I had a twin right? She died at birth? You had to give her up? You can tell me. It's ok. I just need to know.

At which point my mom rolls her eyes and continues doing whatever she was doing before I interrupted her with my ridiculous question.

I have had close encounters with fulfilling my life long dream of twin-dom. My sister and I always get confused for each other, and on one family vacation, my mom even got asked how old her "twins" were, that has to be something right? Did I fail to mention we're 8 years apart? Mere technicality.

My second encounter is with my friend L. There are so many things in our lives that mirror each other, it's just uncanny. We both sang in high school, our parents are divorced, our names rhyme, our moms are from South America, we both went to BC, we both had boyfriends named Steven...the list goes on and on!

I don't know why I am so intrigued by this. I guess I like knowing that people can be connected even when they are not together just because they shared a womb. Like when you hear those stories about a set of twins being separated at birth and then when they find each other, they find out they broke the same bones when they were little, they grew up to have the same jobs, they have spouses with the same name, they have the same number of children....etc. It's just so freaking AWESOME!

So you can just imagine when I started reading Her Fearful Symmetry and found out that the main protagonists were twins, my heart fluttered with excitement. Even though it was Audrey Niffenegger and things got dark and weird, it didn't really matter because I got to feed my obsession. Of course, this book wasn't all about twins. It was about deception, family secrets, unhealthy dependence and ghosts.
I definitely recommend you read this!


Stop Reading If You Don't Want to Know What I Thought Of the Ending (I do not actually tell you what happens, just thought I've give you the option. I know how it is when someone tells you something vague about a book and then all you want to do when you're reading it, is know what the heck she or he was talking about):




Once again, Niffenegger didn't disappoint with her whacked out twist that filled me with anger and uncontainable rage. How could she do what she did?!?! I think I actually had to put the book down before I finished the last 70 pages because I just couldn't believe it. I mean I had been suspecting that something like that would happen, but really? REALLY? ....BREATHE......Even with all that anger and rage, I still would recommend this book, because it was a great read, and shouldn't we be having these passionate reactions to books no matter what side of the emotional spectrum they land on?

Audrey Niffenegger ** Double Feature ** Part I

I've now read two of Audrey Niffenegger's books and I think I see a bit of a pattern. First she lures you in with the promise of mischievous fantasy, makes you fall in love with her characters and just when you are getting comfortable she pierces you with a (slightly expected but unwanted) twist.

I am frequently being sucked into bargain book stores, garage sales, and used book fairs. It doesn't matter if I'm running late for something or meeting up with someone for lunch. I can't stop myself from being sidetracked. The sirens call me and I answer. You might be thinking, "Get some self-control, woman!" But if it hadn't been for one of my unanticipated stops at one of these burgeoning blacktop businesses, I would never have stumbled upon my copy of The Time Traveler's Wife.

Normally, a book as clunky as this one would have made me look the other way. The vague description on the back would have waved me along. But something about the image on the cover kept me coming back. The impatient little girl with her pristine, white knee socks and the large brown leather shoes placed neatly on a flannel blanket waiting for the feet to fill them. Circling around the tables of books, I methodically made my way back to the same pile over and over again, the image of the shoes peeking back at me, urging me to give it a chance. So, what else could I do? I bought it.*  I didn't think anything of it. I knew this book would be placed on my shelf where it would wait for me to pluck it from its slumber when the mood struck. What usually ends up happening is, I forget that I own the book, I eventually hear that a movie is coming out based on the book, then I search for said book, plop down and read it.

When books get turned into movies, I become anxious and panic stricken. Will I have enough time to read the book before the movie comes out? Will the book be good? Will the movie be good? Will there be disappointment like there always is when Hollywood tries to recreate something as magical as what an author has created on his or her pages? Those pages that ignite your own imagination? But those aren't the thoughts that went through my mind when I finished Time Traveler's Wife (TTW). I was intrigued and somewhat excited to see how they would portray this epic love story on the silver screen.

It was the first time that I wanted them to Hollywood-ize a book. That's not to say that I was dissatisfied with it. I would even go as far as to say that TTW is one of my favorite novels. But when you are given the opportunity to see a different outcome, wouldn't you want it? It's kind of like watching a movie that gives you the option of seeing the "alternate ending"; don't you click it, just to see what else could have happened?

I was given the chance to appreciate both adaptations of a love story that surpassed practicality and time. I fell in love with Henry and Claire. I appreciated the innocence of fate weaving itself throughout their story. At times it was dark, a habit in Niffenegger's writing, but the dark moments just helped highlight the lighter ones. I really don't want to spoil it by giving away anything about the book, but I do highly recommend it.

In regards to the movie (which I am eagerly awaiting! I ordered it a week ago!!), what can I say? It won me over. The first song accompanying the beginning credits was "Lo, how a rose e're blooming", one of my all time favorite songs. And I think that they cast it well with Rachel McAdams as Claire and Eric Bana as Henry. But I may be biased, because I love them both. Yes, there was some disappointment with certain details, but all in all I liked it.

With all that being said, I would still suggest reading the book before seeing the movie. It is a personal preference, but I like to maintain the authenticity and integrity of the author's work in its original form. It makes it easier to create my own versions of the characters, instead of picturing the actors cast in the roles.