It was probably inevitable...

I promise I'm not trying post only Twilight stuff, but seriously you have to check this out. With Stephenie Meyer's works completely taking over the lives of many teenagers, I'm sure it was only a matter of time before they only spoke Twilight...

Brian Leaf, an author of several test preparatory books has now created Defining Twilight: Vocabulary workbook for unlocking the SAT. Yes, you read that right. It's a Twilight themed study guide.

Although the sensible part of me wants to mock the very existence of this, I actually think it's a great idea. I mean, why not? Between the Twilight Series and the Harry Potter Series, hundreds of thousands of kids (and adults for that matter) who would have never picked up a book for pleasure finally have and discovered... (wait for it....) they ACTUALLY LIKE READING!

Plus, if have to study, you might as well enjoy it.

Just in case you were planning on brushing up on your standardized test skills, they are also making a New Moon study guide




I searched, but have yet to find either a Hunger Games guide or a Harry Potter Guide. The SAT tutors obviously still have some work to do.

New Moon, New Links

Well, the blog has sit pretty dormant for a while. We've had a pretty low key summer and fall and are getting ready for our annual Christmas Book Club as well as November, which I would now like to designate as New Moon Month.

With the release of the movie less than a month away, the studio is hyping it up as much as they can (as if they really need to!) Still, I'm happy to have all the little clips and scenes they're willing to give us. Some of you may have already seen these, but for those who haven't, here's a round up of all the latest sneak peeks..


Wolfpack Clip
For anyone whose excited about seeing the werewolves come to life. Here's a behind the scenes look at their making as well as some great peeks at what they will look like. I know I'm a bit in the minority for being a wolfpack fan, but you all can just be excited for me anyway.

Volturi Fight
Check out a snippet of Edward and Dimitri (or wait was it Felix?-- who cares, they're hot Volturi!) in show down over Bella. Not in the book but SOOO worth it to be added

Meet Jacob Black
Once again, just be happy for me. No, seriously, it's worth it to watch.

Too Late Now
Paul changes in front of Bella. It rocks.


Protect Her
Risk Everything
Both of these are the same vein. Jacob and Edward on opposite sides, Bella in the middle but always in danger... you get the idea.

Also for those of you who are already looking forward, here's the title treatment for Eclipse.. (YAY!)

Eclipse title


and finally... in honor of Halloween this weeked, I saw this comic in the paper on Sunday and knew I had to share..




Hope to see everyone tomorrow at Rachel's! Have a great Halloween!

In case ya missed it...

OK, don't be mad Vanessa that I am posting pictures of your birthday bash at Claim Jumper!!!


Vanessa's fan club


Vanessa's typical response to cameras pointed at her face. -The person to her right is DeEtte, who darted out of the picture with super "Special" stealth. -This is a typical picture of DeEtte. I can't tell you how many pic I have of these two with hands in front of their face. I mean come on!


Vanessa opening her surprise gift from her fans. Vanessa: "Is this another 'tricker' box Sara?"
Lori: "No, it's really from Tiffany's!"



Carmen's gift plaque: "Every time I hear the word 'EXERCISE' I wash my mouth out with CHOCOLATE!


Cupcake charm necklace
You know she likes it if she'll actually smile and model it for the camera!

Thanks again everyone! It was a great night. Happy Birthday Vanessa

1st Official New Moon Trailer

There you go!!

New Moon Trailer

When did it all begin?

When did book club get started? There was a little discussion about it tonight and I thought it started before the wards split. I have to say sorry to Erin because I am wrong! I was thinking about it and realized I didn’t meet Lani and Vanessa until after the wards split and I was in O4, therefore book club couldn’t have started before the split. Was it around March of 2005? My little Alanna was born in May '05 and I remember bringing her to book club when she was only a few weeks old. Any ideas? Also, does anyone remember what the first book was?

First Offiicial New Moon Poster

For your viewing pleasure. The countdown has begun!

Fill me in!

Hi everyone! I was so sad to miss our Mimi's night (I wanted the Bread Pudding, too). It was a long baseball night. I want to hear the high points and interesting opinions though! What was the consensus . . . I really enjoyed it! Someday (maybe it will be just in my dreams) wouldn't it be fun to have a Book Club World Tour-- we could hit Guernsey Island, London (Platform 9 3/4, of course), Jane Austen's Countryside, Romania (remember the vampires?) and of course, Forks, WA!

Dedicated Reader

I was stuck in a blizzard over spring break, but I read the book of the month for book club!

End of the World!!

I came across this new challege while reading up on my favorite book blogs. It's right up my alley. Anyone else interested? Here's the description:

Read at least four books about "the end of the world." This includes both apocalyptic fiction and post-apocalyptic fiction. There is quite a bit of overlap with dystopic fiction as well. The point being something--be it coming from within or without, natural or unnatural--has changed civilization, society, humanity to such a degree that it radically differs from "life as we now know it." (Aliens, evil governments, war, plague, natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, hurricanes, depletion of resources, genetic manipulation, etc.) Here is a wikipedia article on the subject. Also see here. These changes can be small-but-still-significant or huge-and-life-threatening.

It also says you can reread one book... So here's my list.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (comes out in September, so perfect timing)
Uglies by Scott Westerfield
Specials by Scott Westerfield
Pretties by Scott Westerfield
Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau


Now, for those of you who are reeling at the thought of adding more books to your schedule, consider this. Enders Game is what we are reading in August (which counts) and most of us have read The Hunger Games (which counts) and will probably read the second one (which also counts) so you are only needing to make time for one more book! There are a few on our alternate reading list that would work (such as 1984, Gathering Blue, and Uglies.)

5k

Who is signed up for the 5k at camp pendleton? I think this could be a fun book club event!

CHICK FLICK NIGHT!!

Hey Literachicks!

If your up for a night out this weekend or if you know your honey won't sit through a chick flick this Valentine's Day... come join us!




We'll be seeing "He's Just Not That Into You" Friday Night @ 7:45 @ the Krikorian. Be there or be... well you know! Any questions call Vanessa or DeEtte!!

Oreo Truffles

As requested, here is my very easy recipe for Oreo Truffles.
One package Oreo Cookies ground very fine with no lumps. (I use my blender with about 7 cookies at a time)
One 8oz. package of cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon vanilla (or other flavor; I've heard mint is really good)

Mix all ingredients very well until no white shows through. Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper. Roll into truffle size balls, put on waxed paper and chill for 45 minutes.

Melt 1 pound milk chocolate (I like the Stater Bros brand called Candiquik. It melts really well, hardens up fast, and can be remelted easily. If I have extra that I melted, I store it in the fridge and remelt it later. It is awesome!) Dip chilled truffles into chocolate. You can also get some white chocolate and drizzle it over the truffles or even dip some in the white chocolate. Store in refrigerator.

Thanks to everyone who came last night, for the great conversations, and for the yummy treats you all brought.

Victorian Book Challenge Choices

Hey ladies,

I've signed up for the Victorian Book Challenge, basically read a certain number of Victorian Era books by the end of June. I'm going for 4 books, which puts me at the "a walk in Hyde Park" level.

My choices are as follows:

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stephensen (already on our list, so I thought I'd just read it early)

The Tenent of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte (you know how I love my Bronte sisters, but I've never read this one by the lesser known of the three.)

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskill (seen the PBS movie and LOVED IT -- I figure I should at least read the book)

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (because, well, it's victorian literature and it just seemed unnatural to NOT have a Dickens on here, and I haven't read this one; which is kind of embarassing....)

So, if you're up for it, list your books here!

Let's "Book" it!!

Hey ladies,

I wanted to give you an open invite to come run a 5k with me in March. The details of the 5k are at this link.

I figured it's a good one because it's close, on a Saturday and only $25 bucks if your doing the 5k only (the race info is a bit confusing because this is in conjunction with a duathlon.)

Just an FYI, I am in no way fast and this will be my first run since I've had Genevieve (I know so sad.. don't judge) so I'm not out for any kind of glory. I'm sure there are all different running paces in our group, so this is a no pressure, no competition (amongst the ranks) type of deal. I thought this could be a fun and different thing for us to do together. If you start now, you have about 2 months to get ready and maybe we could even plan a few Saturday morning runs together before then.

Oh yeah, and I will be wearing my "runs with vampires"shirt-- just for good measure (bonus points to anyone who does too.)


Who's in?

Hungry for more Hunger Games

Okay girls,

Just finished The Hunger Games, and I'm pretty certain this is the book that we should have read for January and what we should spend our time talking about this month as Shopaholics will take less than 5 minutes to discuss.

For those of you who were going to wait until the sequel is closer to coming out, you are REALLY missing out...DON'T WAIT! You will want to read this book over and over again before September anyway -it's that good. Right up there with Twilight and Harry Potter!

I found myself dying for when I'd need to feed Olivia next so I could sit and read it.

I am completely in love with the characters, the concept of the book, and can't stop thinking about it.

READ IT NOW!!! -Because everyone else is going to be talking about it...why are you still reading this post, go get this book!

The Victorian Challenge

Anyone up for joining the Victorian Challenge with me?  

Check it out...

http://victorianchallenge.blogspot.com/2008/12/welcome-to-victorian-challenge.html

January Meeting

Quick reminder of this month's meeting!

This Thursday --7:30 at Camille's house.  Bring something to share if you can.  Anyone who needs directions, email me or her.  

The book is "Confessions of a Shopaholic" by Sophie Kinsella.  If you haven't read it yet, you still have time, it's a quick and fun read.   If you didn't read it, come anyway, this will be a lighthearted and fun night. 

ALSO, any fans of the book, keep in mind the movie version comes out on Valentine's Day if you feel so inclined for a litchick outing.  

Alternate Reading for 2009

I'm still compiling the list of alternate reads for this year since I lost the one created at the Christmas party. So far what I have compiled is now listed underneath all of our monthly reads over on the right hand side. They are also all linked to Amazon for easy review and reference. If I am missing your choice, please email it to me since I want to make sure we have a good variety. Also, I strongly encourage everyone to post any great reads here on the blog for all of us to enjoy, either with our without a review.

Finally, I came across this blog a few weeks ago and thought I would share. You will find a lot of great and well written reading selections on here that are all clean free of smut (hence the name deliciously clean reads!) It's a good resource when you're looking to pick up something new. I saw that several of our favorites are already on here with review similar to ours. Many of the titles are Young Adult, so even if they're not for you, this would be a great resource for your daughter, YW, or nieces.

http://cleanreads.blogspot.com/

Getting Rid of Some Books...

I'm cleaning off my bookshelf and decided to get rid of a few books. I thought I would check with all of you before giving them away. First come first serve, let me know if you'd like any of these.

Atonement : Ian McEwan
The Pillars of the Earth : Ken Follett
The Portrait of a Lady : Henry James
Lost and Found : Carolyn Parkhurst

I've also got the first three books in a series by Chris Stewart called The Great and Terrible. Alot of people really love this series, I think there are 6 or so books now....

Just e-mail me, or leave a comment here.

-Devyn
dos.manns@gmail.com

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games

Step 1: Go buy it.
Step 2: NOW
Step 3: Tell all husbands and children to leave you alone
Step 4: Read like a crazy person
Step 5: Be completely in the depths of despair because you can't have the sequel until September.
Step 6: Call me when you done.

I'm not joking. This book is fantastic, fastpaced, addictive, amazing, deep, and you can't help but completely love the main character. You will not be dissapointed. There is some violence, so be warned. But it's also so beautifully written and so full of life that it completely haunts you when you put it down.

Here's a link to some reviews.