Shoe Sunday

Hmmm I keep seeing these Saltwater sandals popping up over blogland.  These ones are from the Anthropologie website and they come in Orange, Navy, Red and Gold - all of which I would wear.

Of course we are heading into the depth of winter over here, and sheepskin uggs and leather boots are more in vogue.  But I dream of sandal weather, it's my favorite.

Ghost Protocol

Ghost Protocol - DVD (2011)

I guess putting fifty year old Tom in a hoodie will make him appeal to a younger audience.  I wonder if he'll still be making mission impossible movies in his sixties?  Nothing wrong with that I guess.

So there were some awesome stunts in this movie - scenes that make you think you'd pass out if you were that high up.  The rest of the story was a bit blah for me.  I didn't really care about what was happening, and if you asked me to explain the plot I couldn't really tell you who the baddies worked for.

So 2/5 from me.

Kisses From Katie - Katie J. Davis

Kisses From Katie - Katie J. Davis (2011)

At eighteen, Katie Davis gives up her life in Nashville Tennessee, to travel to Uganda to be a kindergarten teacher.  Telling her parents that she will stay a year, and then return to the States to study Katie finds herself pulled by the children she meets and is able to help.

Eventually adopting fourteen young girls, in order to help them and many others in the community, Katie starts a charity to enable children to get a an education and provide simple health care, and a warm meal, to many who have done without.

You have to admire a girl, who so far from home, has opened her doors and heart to so many and I was a bit shocked by the level of poverty that she described.  Katie relies on her faith to help guide her, and I did skim over a lot of the religious side of the book, which didn't take away from the rest of her story.  3/5

The Beginner's Goodbye - Anne Tyler

The Beginner's Goodbye - Anne Tyler (2012)

Aaron is a recent widower. After a small disagreement with his wife, he goes to bed for a nap, and is awakened by a crashing. Returning to his work and life after Dorothys death is difficult, and he begins to see her in different places.

In some ways I enjoyed this little book, I like stories about death and grieving and I felt it did a good job of portraying the lost feeling of losing someone close. The part I found difficult to believe was that Aaron was meant to be in his mid thirties. Everything about his character to me spoke of him being in his fifties or sixties. I could picture him in a cardigan sitting and eating his sandwiches at work.

2/5

Paris in Love - Eloisa James

Paris in Love - Eloisa James (2012)

After a tough year, with her mother dying and her own treatment for breast cancer, author Eloisa James, her husband and two children sell the cars and house, and head to Paris to live. 

She's a great author, the whole book had me wanting to pack my own bags and head off, but somehow I can't imagine I could afford more than a bed at a backpackers.  I could hardly afford the nights out and the fabulous shopping.

The beginning of each chapter gave a great flowing desciption, followed by little tweets and blog posts that were a little disjointed.  It did take me some time to get used to the flow, but  in the end I liked the little glimpses of Parisian life.

4/5 - because it makes me want to sell everything and head off.

Shoe Sunday

I'm always looking for a cute flat shoe, and I think these fit the bill, although I think it might be a few too many flowers on the top.  They are faux leather, and because of that nice and cheap at $80(NZ), which means if they only last this season that will be ok.  They are called Sandon - Wilde De Lites, and come in grey, coffee and blue.  Mmmm might have to think about these for wearing out over winter.

The Inbetweeners Movie

The Inbetweeners Movie - DVD (2011)

I had seen some of the Inbetweeners series on tv over the years, and when I got this movie out of the library (nerd - I know), the librariar said she had just seen it, and it was funny.  Hmmm, maybe she watched another movie.  For me it was just cliched teenage boy humour, except the eighteen year old school leavers in the movie, are played by twenty something year olds in school uniforms.  Then they leave school, and go on a lads holiday, somewhere sunny with all the other horrible people, that you would hate to spend your vacation with.

It could just be that I am twenty years too old to find it funny, although there was funny spot, the headmaster, who has the final frames of the movie as well.  So for me, it's a 1/5 for this sad movie night viewing.

My Experimental Life - A. J. Jacobs

My Experimental Life - A. J. Jacobs (2009)

I've met A.J Jacobs before - once when he decided to live biblically for a year, and again when he spent the year reading the encyclopedia from A-Z, both of which were mildly entertaining.

So this years effort was a bit different, he spends a month following different rules.  One month following George Washingtons rules of behaviour, a month with some outsources in India doing his bidding, posing naked for a female guest editor, and my favorite - a month following his wifes rules.

I wasn't stunned by this collection of little trials.  Maybe I was expecting a book about medical experiments, and at the end I thought that he should have done a year of following his wifes guidelines, that would have made for me a more entertaining book.  3/5

 

A Street Cat Named Bob - James Bowen

A Street Cat Named Bob - James Bowen (2012)

James is a recovering Heroin addict, who when he wonders home one evening finds a scrappy looking ginger tom sitting outside his apartment.  Eventually he realises he isn't going away so lets him into have some food, and sleep.  Seeing an abscess on his leg, he gets it treated with the vet, and tries to get him back on the street in case he can find his way home.

But Bob, isn't having any of it, and follows James around.  Becoming inseperable, James ends up taking Bob with ime into town, first busking and then when he ends up getting a job selling the Big Issue.

As he realises that Bob depends on him for food, warmth and  companionship James makes decisions in his own life, to give up the methadone treatment, and to reform connections with his estranged family.

A sweet story about a couple of mates.  4/5 as it made me smile on a night of insomnia, when I finally got a couple of hours sleep at 4.30am.

Heaven is Here - Stephanie Nielson

Heaven is Here - Stephanie Nielson (2012)

Stephanie Nielson has a popular blog, which I have been reading for ages about her life with husband Christian, and now with five lovely children.  In this book, she writes the story of their early life together, and then about the plane crash that they were in in 2008. 

Suffering 80% burns, Stephanie wakes in hospital three months after her accident after being in a medically induced coma.  With months of rehab, and numerous operations, she has to learn to do many basic tasks again.  It takes time to re-establish a relationship with her children, but with lots of family support, eventually they are able to move in together in their new family home.

I really enjoyed this book, she did a good job of describing both the great parts of her life, and the difficulties she faced after the accident.  You could only hope, that faced with the same struggles, that you could pick yourself up and get on with things, and still see the fun in life.  A good read, that was touching and truthful.  5/5