A Little Princess (Film)

A Little Princes, 1995
Based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Directed by Alfonso Cuaron

Summary: Sara Crewe is going to boarding school as her father goes off to war.  While there, she shakes the establishment up. Then comes news that her father is dead and his assets have been seized; because of this, Sara is now a poor orphan forced to work at the school she formerly attended.  But she maintains her belief that all girls are princesses which helps her keep up her spirits.

Thoughts: I watched this because my friend loves it and I had only seen it the once a long time ago.  I remembered the story but not all of the specific details. It was also great watching with her because she laughed at all my silly comments.  One serious comment though is that her father goes to serve England in WWI as it's 1914.  They arrive in New York and we see another guy going off to serve.  But America didn't enter until 1917.  Are we supposed to believe that guy is British? Because there are no indications of that.  There were a couple of other incidents (race is blipped over...in 1914 America-come on; latex balloons appear) but that was the most egregious.

There were some very cute scenes and it made me a bit teary-eyed at the end.  I don't think I've read the book but after skimming the internet, it seems that there were a lot of changes and I'm not sure I'd like it as much.

The Sevenfold Spell

The Sevenfold Spell by Tia Nevitt
Carina Press, 2010
70 pages
Fairy Tale; Adult
4/5 stars

Source: Netgalley

Summary: When Princess Aurora had a curse placed on her, all of the spinning wheels in the land were destroyed.  What happens to the women dependent on them for their living?  For Talia, a very plain girl, a new future is self-created no matter the whispers and rumors and begets the legend of the Sleeping Beauty.

Thoughts: I love fairy-tale retellings so requesting this was a no brainer.  I was a bit shocked at the romantic aspects that occur almost from the start.  When Talia is unable to marry her betrothed due to the loss of her income, she invites him in to her bed.  Continually.  And when he goes off to a monastery, she meets many other men who become her lovers.  I still think of fairy-tales as more meant for children so the descriptions were shocking to me. They made up a larger portion of the narrative, I felt, and that detracted from the quality.  After all there are only seventy pages, so you have to make them count.

But I soon got past it, eager to see how Nevitt would twist the Sleeping Beauty story.  It seems as if the curse is compelling certain events to occur, such as the creation of a spinning wheel and the introduction of Rose, unlike in the Disney film.  I liked all of those changes and I sped through the story.  And of course there's a happy ending!

Overall: Quick-moving, for the mature lover of fairy tales.

Cover: I think the cover is lovely, capturing several of the ideas of the book.

The Disappearing Spoon

The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean
Little, Brown, and Company. 2010
346 pages
Non-fiction; Science
4.5/5 stars

Source: Library (I was browsing through the stacks despite the massive pile I had already checked out and I remembered hearing about this somewhere so I grabbed it)

Summary: The subtitle is "And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of Elements," which I think does a pretty good job of summarizing what this is about.

Thoughts: The best part of this book is that Kean clearly loves the subject.  He is so passionate and he shares that he's been collecting these stories for much all his life.  His particular fascination is with mercury but he covers all the elements (I think) at least once, whether it's its initial discovery or with a new use that it's been put to.

I would also say that he does a good job of breaking down the science bits.  I'm a history person and there is some history here but there is more explanation of the chemistry and physics of the elements.  I'm not sure I understand everything but I know more now than I did before starting the book.

The stories themselves are really interesting and he also gives recommendations of some other books to give a try which I have added to my list.

Explanation of Title: (Not a spoiler, it's on the dust jacket) Apparently gallium melts at 84 degrees Fahrenheit.  Thus some pranksters would take it and mold it into a spoon.  They would serve it with tea and watch their guests' baffled expressions when the spoon disappeared.

Overall: Enjoyable and approachable science/history book.

Cover: I like the incorporation of the spoon and the green seems sciencey.  I think I would have liked to have seen part of the periodic table though.

Pearl in the Sand

Pearl in the Sand by Tessa Afshar
Moody Publishers, 2010
317 pages
Inspirational; Historical
4.5/5 stars

Source: Netgalley

Summary: Rahab, the former zonah and yet faithful servant of God, wife of Salmone and mother of Boaz, husband of Ruth and what do we know about her? Afshar takes on her story in this lovely historical book.

Thoughts: I chose to read this because of the Christian Book Club but I wasn't sure what it would be like.  I was intrigued by the idea of this Canaanite harlot marrying a Jewish leader and bearing Boaz who marries Ruth, probably my favorite Biblical female.  I'm really glad I read it though.

Rahab obviously has some serious issues to lay before God.  First her family sent her in to prostitution at the age of 15.  And she harbors anger at especially her father for this, shame at the fact that she did so willingly in order to take care of the family, and fear about being left by a man because she thinks she's unlovable. But she has a deep thirst for God as soon as she hears about Him.  Even before she knew, she recoiled at much of the Canaanite idolatry.  As she learns, she has an almost innate understanding of God but she maintains her amazement at His glory.

Salmone also has issues as he struggles with pride and his role as a leader of Judah.  He had previously been married but had not shared a deep spiritual life with his wife.  He thinks that he could have that with Rabah but he worries about dirtying his lineage by mingling with a Canaanite.  God teaches them both a lot.

The other characters were good particularly Salmone's sister Miriam and Joshua who plays a pretty big role.  These and other characters are useful in demonstrating God's character.  For example, Rahab's sister feels God's forgiveness for her idolatry and He fills the biggest gap in her life.  Miriam struggles with graciousness among other issues.

The epilogue was also great; while I don't usually like them, this introduces Boaz and his parents muse about what kind of woman he'll grow up to marry and how his children will be used by God.

There were two things I didn't really like. First, as a personal preference, I didn't really like the battle scenes.  I understand that Israel is fighting and claiming the Promised Land but I don't like to read those kinds of stories.  Luckily there is a lot more emphasis on the personal side than on the war.  The other problem I had was in the writing style.  Sometimes there were long monologues for characters and it seemed more didactic than how people actually speak.  Some of those passages I liked; some of them I skimmed.

Quotes: I don't usually include quotes but there were two I loved so I'm including them (quotes come from an ARC on Netgalley so they are not necessarily the actual page numbers).

"Son, a woman needs to feel safe in love. She needs to know her husband accepts everything about her and still loves her. To be known through and through, including the failures of her past, the shortcomings of her character, and still be loved, that's the Promised Land of a woman's heart" (238) -Joshua educating Salmone

"It was as if a shaft of love pierced her walled-in soul, and she felt for the first time that she was loved beyond reason, and esteemed far beyond what she deserved...She was worth being cherished..." (294)  -Rahab feeling God's love

Overall: An excellent novel with two very likable main characters; fantastic for those interested in Biblical stories.

Cover: I was not impressed by the cover and only picked it up for the Christian Book Club.  I think I don't like the two faces separated; I'm not sure what exactly displeases me about it.

The Cinderella Society

The Cinderella Society by Kay Cassidy
Egmont, 2010
322 pages
YA; Contemporary
3.5/5 stars

Source: Library

Summary: Jess is looking forward to the summer when she can escape Lexy, the bully who has targeted her for the past few months.  Until the last day of school when she receives an invitation in to the Cinderella Society.  These Cindys fight the Wickeds (Lexy being a member) and help protect the Reggies (regular kids) from their influence.  Suddenly everything changes for Jess.

Thoughts: I love anything to do with Cinderella so when I saw the title of this, I knew that I'd be reading it at some point.  But it wasn't quite what I expected.  In some places it read like a self-help guide.  And sometimes it was very shallow as Jess focused on clothes and outer appearances when that was obviously not what the Cindys were about.  Jess's extremely low self-confidence was also annoying; I understand that the teenage years are tough (um, I was a teenager) but when she dwelled on how perfect the other girls were and how not she was, I just wanted to throttle her.  She's been chosen to be part of this awesome organization and she persists in thinking she's not worthy.

Speaking of the organization, I like the idea of powerful ambitious women coming together and working to improve the world but the level of secrecy and not completely understanding the power structure makes me leery of it.  They also seemed a bit simplistic at times; the fact that the Wickeds bear that name seemed unfair as they have some good in them (probably).

Another issue I had was the portrayal of Jess's crush Ryan who had some extreme mood changes although it seems like they're pretty settled in the status of their relationship by the end (whether that's friendship, love, or hate would be a spoiler).

Overall: Cute story bogged down with self-help guidance.  Not sure if I want to read the sequel.

Cover: So pretty with the glass slipper and the pink!

October Stats

October Sum Up:

Books Read This Month: 21

Favorite Book: Pearl in the Sand by Tessa Afshar (review upcoming this week)

Least Favorite Book: The Deathly Hallows Lectures by John Granger (review before the film comes out)

Longest Book: Bleak House by Charles Dickens (finally finished this 817 page tome)

Shortest Book: The Sevenfold Spell by Tia Nevitt, a novella of 70 pages

Most Read Genre: I actually had 5 classics this month (yay-me!) but 7 non-fiction books for school and for fun comprise the most read genre. Oddly I only read 1 YA which I hope to fix this month, I have 6 with me right now plus some other books for review.

Total Pages Read This Year: 72,876

Total Books Read: 231

Plans for November: I have decided that it will be Netgalley November for me; I have some great books on there and I want to read them and promote them.  The other thing is that I will be doing Movie Saturdays where I talk about a film that I've watched lately; one of my best friends and I are watching movies Saturday evenings so I'll talk about the previous week.

Gladiator (Film)

Gladiator, 2000
Directed by Ridley Scott
Starring Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, and Richard Harris

I watched this as part of my quest to watch all of the best picture winners.  My friend said it was really good and I mostly agree.  It was very different from what I expected.

I thought that Russell Crowe pissed off the emperor Joaquin Phoenix and was then forced to participate in Gladiator games to his death.  There is actually more to the story.  Emperor Richard Harris wants Russell Crowe to take over and restore Rome to a republic; presumptive heir Joaquin Phoenix does not like that and wants Crowe dead.  Crowe manages to survive and ends up a slave fighting for sport before appearing before emperor Phoenix.

There is a lot of violence, blood, and death (after all the film is rated R).  I generally prefer funny movies and well this is not one but it is still worth watching when you have a chance.