KDanae Reads

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux. Wow! I don't even know where to start. What an amazing book! I started reading it on Wednesday night and finished it this morning. I seriously didn't get out of bed til after noon because I wanted to finish it so bad. I just couldn't put it down (in between my work shifts and sleep of course). I didn't want to put it down. I actually fell asleep reading last night. I don't even remember falling asleep or turning the light off apparently. But I just remember reading one minute and waking up the next. It was such a good book. It far exceeded my expectations. I have seen (and absolutely love!) the movie based on Andrew Lloyd Webber's broadway musical. The one starring Gerard Butler. Yup. That one. And I love it. It was one of the first things that got me interested in opera at about the same time that I started taking voice lessons from a girl in my church who sings opera... legitimately. Her degree is in musical perf...

I just finished reading Death Comes to Pemberley yesterday while driving home from Illinois. It was a nice easy read compared to Vanity Fair which seemed to kick my butt every time I tried to sit and read it. Death Comes to Pemberley was written by P.D. James and is a murder mystery surrounding the beloved characters of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It certainly was not what I was expecting. And I may have had my hopes up a little too high for it. It was set at Pemberley 6 years after Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy married days before the glorious Lady Anne's Ball that is held every year at Pemberley. Jane and Mr. Bingley, Georgianna and Colonel Fitzwilliam, and Lydia and Wickham all appear throughout the story. The night before the ball a murder takes place in the woods of Pemberley and Wickham is accused. Turns out he has an illegitimate child and a scandalous plan for saving face. Lydia is constantly in hysterics (just like her mother I suppose). Georgianna is falling in...

I know I have said this before. BUT... reading really is my refuge. I can't even begin to tell you how much of an escape it has been for me. Especially the last two weeks. I haven't read a lot. But I have read when I absolutely couldn't take the stress of life anymore or when I just needed a quick little break. With all of the craziness and stress of graduation, moving, weddings and work, I have been freaking out quite a bit. And my books have helped me to calm down just a bit. I am currently reading Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James. It is very interesting. Definitely not as good as I was hoping it to be. But not completely terrible at the same time. I don't think it is one that Jane Austen would be proud of. But then again, I could be wrong. I will write more about it when I finish it. I am about half way through it. I am looking forward to my honeymoon when I have a whole week to read to my hearts content sitting on the couch or by the lake in the mountain...

After a month of very slow reading, I finally finished Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray! I read a ton this week when I probably should have been doing work for the wedding or packing up my things for our big move. But oh well. I was able to get into the book around page 350 and was excited to finally finish it. So here are my stats for April and the first week of May!! The 2 books I read in the month of April/May: Mine is the Night by Liz Curtis Higgs Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray The number of pages I read in the month of April/May:  1,145 The number of pages read year-to-date (middle of December 2011 - first week of May 2012):  6,449 Next on the list:  Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James I am excited to take a break from the classics and read something fairly new by an author I have heard good things about. I am also excited to get back to reading on my Nook and not carrying one heavy book around in my purse! ...

So, as I have said before I am getting married soon (as in 29 days soon) and have started the process of cleaning out my room and attempting to pack. Well, while I was working on cleaning up my desk and sorting through cards and old mail, I found a Barnes and Noble gift card that had 10 bucks on it. I have no idea when I got it or who gave it to me. But needless to say, I was pretty darn excited and stuck it in my purse. Then today while I was out running errands I had about 45 minutes to kill before going to my dress fitting. So, I made my way to my favorite store ever and spent my time browsing the tables and shelves of new releases and classics. I kept debating on whether or not to use that recently discovered gift card. I at first thought that I should just save it and use it some other time when I have a smaller pile of books waiting to be read. Well, that didn't work. Especially since I found The Secret Garden and Candide on sale. Totaling just under 10 bucks. Well, I couldn...

So it's time for another Top Ten Tuesday hosted by the folks over at The Broke and the Bookish. This weeks topic is what 10 movies would I like to see made into a movie. Well it took me a little while to think on it, but I think I finally got my list. So here it is! :) 1. The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien. This could only be done if Peter Jackson and his team who did The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit filmed it. No one else could do half so good a job in my mind. Mostly due to the fact that Jackson and his crew put years and years of work into understanding Tolkien's writing and stories. They did a great job with the others and would do a great job with The Silmarillion. 2. Carry on Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham. This would probably be better off geared towards a younger audience since it is a book for younger readers. But it would still be a fun one in light of the storyline and the images of manning a ship and sailing the seas. 3. The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew P...