Tag Archives: Book

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

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Started: 3 Dec 2013 Finished: 6 Dec 2013 I know, I know. I shouldn’t have. But I felt oddly compelled when I found it in the library. Like I needed to find out what all the fuss was about. And surprisingly I rather enjoyed it. It was difficult to put down and I’m intrigued enough to check out the rest of the series. Not sure about the movies though; we’ll have to see. 😉 The only frustrating thing was that while reading it I couldn’t get out of my head the way someone else had described the book to me: that it was like reading about two kids not having sex. :-p Anyways: on to the bits from the book that I enjoyed, made me think, and (in one case) frustrated me. Throughout the vast shadowy world of ghosts and demons there is no figure so terrible, no figure so … Continue reading →

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – AMC 12 DownTown Disney, Anaheim, CA

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I like Bofur, Balin, and maybe Dwalin. Possibly Ori’s face. 😉 Love, love, LOVE the Misty Mountains! Love that its the prequel trilogy theme. Also love the restrained callbacks to the original trilogy (only when it fits PERFECTLY). Add to this the fact that the songs are coming 99% directly from the text and I’m pleased as punch (that 1% is for making the song structures more palatable to human ears *wink*). Blunt the knives also makes me grin. Yay Lee Pace as Thranduril! Love seeing the Piemaker not interacting with stupid talking dogs. I also love how Peter Jackson is bringing in all these disparate pieces from Tolkien’s mythology (instead of Gandalf just going away and returning with a one sentence summary of what he did). It’s like he’s trying to construct the prequel trilogy that our generation deserves! Yay Andy Serkis as the second unit director! I mean … Continue reading →

Kingdom Keepers IV: Power Play by Ridley Pearson

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Started: 27 November 2012 Finished: 28th November 2012 Excellent continuation of the overall story, but…I had some definite “Disney” issues with this one. On the front cover of the book (hardcover edition at least) is a picture depicting a scene from the book (starts somewhere around page 128). This image depicts Judge Claude Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame threatening one of the Kingdom Keepers. But when he actually makes his debut in that scene…it’s really weird. He is described as wearing clothes that sound more like something Captain Hook would wear. And then he’s speaking in a French accent! How is that a realization of the character Disney created (voiced by the phenomenally talented Tony Jay)?!? On page 290, the Keepers are back in EPCOT and are splitting up into teams to get to two pavilions: China and Morroco. But as we follow them past the pavilions: they’re … Continue reading →

Kingdom Keepers III: Disney in Shadow by Ridley Pearson

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Started: 31 October, 2012 Finished: 3 November, 2012 Another excellent addition to the saga, although it was a bit like leaving us waiting for the other shoe to drop at the end. Thankfully the other book was already available and we were able to move right along to it! And as far as I can remember, nothing really “wrong”, at least not that this Disney nerd noticed.

Kingdom Keepers II: Disney at Dawn by Ridley Pearson

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Started 29 October 2012 Finished 31 October 2012 Great/quick/fun read and an excellent sequel/second book in the saga. Just as solid story/character-wise as the last book, and very fun to explore the backstage areas of Animal Kingdom this time around. Of course though, it once again comes with it’s share of Disney nerd problems that are puzzling and frustrating to endure. The biggest one (to wit) is this: Page 369: “…while black webbing formed under the thing’s arms like…bat wings” Excuse me? Chernabog doesn’t have glider wings like Lexington from Gargoyles. Click for full size. He’s got giant black wings on his back! Click for full size. Sad panda!

Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark by Ridley Pearson

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Started 9/10/2012 Finishes 11/10/2012 Heck of a good story. So much fun to have the worlds of Disney and technology merged and to hear so many exciting background details around Disney World! Makes me want to go re-read Cory Doctorow’s Down and Out In The Magic Kingdom. Laura brought up an interesting point in comparing this teen series with the beloved teen series of my youth (K.A. Applegate’s Animorphs) – the teenage protagonists feel much more real here. The things they say, the way they react to events, the choices they make; she find them more believable. My friend Nik (Disneyland Cast Member / fellow Disney nerd) brought up an interesting point as well: how could Walt have placed the quill clues in attractions that weren’t built until years after his passing (to be even more exacting, the Magic Kingdom was just a gleam in his eye when he passed)? … Continue reading →

Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Property, Martyr, Spy: A Righteous Gentile Vs. The Third Reich by Eric Metaxas

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Started 11th June 2012 Finished 10th September 2012 I dislike Metaxas’ penchant for reducing a person’s name to a nickname without clearly defining the situation. Is frustrating. Also disliking his “start a chapter with a quote out of context because it’s shiny” thing where he then uses the quote in context in the chapter (or the next chapter) and I read the quote in context and am suddenly struck with the ugliest feeling of deja vu I’ve encountered yet in my life. But those things aside, the book is an amazing testament to the life and times of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I started reading this book shortly after my wife devoured it as we both prepared for/participated in a production of Tim Jorgenson’s play, “Bonhoeffer”. Not only was being a part of the play a deep and meaningful experiences, but this book helped bring some much more depth and clarity to … Continue reading →

The Pirates! In an Adventure with Napoleon – By Gideon Defoe

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Started 27th August 2012 Finished 3rd September 2012 Just brilliantly silly and wonderful. If you’ve never read Gideon Defoe’s rampant silliness, what are you waiting for? Permission? Than I grant it you. Just go. Enjoy. Be sure to approach with an open mind as it’s very, VERY, silly. But that’s part of the reason I love it. In this latest romp, the Pirate Captain (that’s his entire name) decides to quit pirating and become a beekeeper But his ambitions are challenged by a recently deposed Napoleon. Thus chaos ensues. Epic, hilarious, anti-common sense hilarity.

Mornings On Horseback – by David McCullough

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Very interesting approach to a biography. Examines how Theodore Roosevelt (Jr.) grew up and the various challenges he faced growing up that made him the man he was. Started 3/25/2012 Finished 6/22/2012 “[Theodore Roosevelt Sr. ] had a passion for fine horses and to see him astride one of his own in Central Park was…to see the model of Christian manhood” (pg 32). “Separated from home and the beloved ‘home faces,’ he could slip rapidly into abject homesickness and sounds, on paper at least, most uncharacteristically plaintive. He felt bereft of real friends” (pg 32). “Then they turned south again, from Edinburgh to York, an exhausting, sooty eight hours ‘in the cars’ relieved by some of the most appealing scenery of the whole trip: distant blue glances of the Firth of Forth, small white beaches, rolling surf, rolling country; then red-tiled Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Tweed emptying into the North Sea; … Continue reading →

To Try Men’s Soul by Newt Gingrich & William R. Forstchen

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Started: 2/5/2012 Finished: 3/2/2012 An absolutely fascinating study. I like how the foreword directly addresses the fact that they (Gingrich and Forstchen) interrupted a perfectly good narrative of alternate history in World War II’s Pacific theatre to dramatize this particular event. Before reading this, the only thing I had in my mind regarding this historical event was that one painting of “King George” standing stern and glorious in one of the boats as it sails through the ice floes of the Delaware. I never really thought about how much that night truly sucked and how on edge Washington was regarding the crossing and the secret plan.