Break it Down Now!

Judges: Mary, Nigel and Kenny

1. The opening routine knocked my socks off
   
2. Huge fan of Kerry Muzzey over here
   
3. Love me some Christopher Scott choreography!
   
4. I do miss hearing about the inspiration for the dance and the story behind it. It lets me connect better to the number
   
5. Favorite

Whitney & Chehon with an Ansel Cha-Cha Routine: I liked it. Chehon did pretty okay with his ballet background, and of course Whitney rocked it. She was in her element so how could she go wrong? But then again, I have seen superbly better Latin dancers as well. These first rounds of dancing are pretty much confidence builders for the dancers themselves. The judges never really have anything super critical to say. They gave some pointers to Chehon about his feet and advised Whitney to pick up her first class ticket.

LINK

George & Tiffany with a Sonya Contemporary Routine: Truly seeing each other for the first time. Loved that jump move into George's arms. They partner really well together, anticipating where the other will be and completely trusting. I really enjoyed the dance and their execution of it. It was so well done. Great dance. Okay, judges, too much talking, not enough dancing.

Janaya & Brandon with a NappyTabs Hip-Hop Routine: Janaya, Alchoholic and choosing between the drink and her. Wow, she's pretty good out the gate with the hip hop and of course Brandon is rockin' it, but overall I was pretty impressed with Janaya. A little off at parts from each other but for themost part they're hitting it pretty good. I'm thinking that Nigel has a crush on Mary.

Alexa & Daniel with a Sean Cheesman Jazz Routine: There's a lot of lifts, and she's not a small girl and he's not a big guy. It seems like the routine had more tricks than real dancing. Those red suits are so awful it's not even funny. For all the red, her not having red lipstick was a bit out of place.

Amber & Nick with a Jason Gilkison Waltz Routine: I didn't realize Jason was that tough. That's awesome. I thought Amber did pretty dang good in the waltz and I think Nick got all his connections on time. Wow, there were so many phenomenal lifts and twirls. Jason looked completely surprised and amazed. Nick kind of came across as a goofy arrogant guy. Hubby and I feel weird about him.

Amelia & Will with a NappyTabs Character Pop Hip-Hop Routine: (The leopard unitard crept Hubby out, so he is not present for this number). Cute number I actually really liked it, but it seems more Jazzy than hiphop. Amelia did a REALLY good job, I 'll be honest, I was worried most about her, but Will is the one I felt could've brought a lot more to the table in this number. I really liked Amesila in this. Wow! That lift up to his shoulders was great. And cue the lame cat/purr jokes. Probably my favorite routine of the night. Favorite

LINK

Dareian and Janelle with a Sean Cheesman African Jazz Routine: Janelle's one of my favorites She's a crazy good dancer for only dancy belly dancing. And Dareian was pretty good in this number, I was impressed by both. Interesting they took out the trick where she broke herself. One thing I noticed at the end of the routine: Look how little they are!

LINK

Eliana & Cyrus with a Tyce Diorio Broadway Routine: Can I just say that I adid not recognize her at all with that wig. Hairspray! Tyce looked scared. Cyrus is just the perfect addition to to this show. His personality. I love how Tyce brought in some of Cyrus' moves to the routine. I was impressed with them. A good number. Annnnnd Tyce was happy with it. I thought that they were another great couple. Good pairing and chemistry between the two. Side note: Eliana has a really big mouth. While this wasn't one of my favorite routines, I was so very happy with Cyrus' performance!

LINK

Audrey & Matthew with a Travis Wall Routine: Titanic. I Think that there's some actual chemistry going on between the two of them. Good trust and lifts. The audience loved the routine. And I agree, it was pretty good. Standing house. Favorite

LINK

Lindsay & Cole with a Jason Gilkison Passodoble: This is my favorite Latin dance EVER! It's about Lindsay poisoning him. An interesting opening. (Me: Where's his cape? Hubby: He doesn't need one, he's a half naked samuri descended from the 47 ronin samurai.) I thought this was very well done. They both danced it so well, very powerfcul. Loved this dance. This was my other other favorite routine of the night. GREAT! And another great partnering. Wow, Mary is invested in her comments. Such compliments from the judges. Burn the Floor? A show choreographed by Jason. I must check this out. Nigel mentioned it showing Thursday night. Favorite

LINK

Two boys and two girls. I wouldn't mind seeing Nick and Daniel going home and Whitney and Janaya. I haven't connected with any of them. So, who are your favorite dancers? What routines did you like best?

 

Red Heart Tattoo Book Report

Red Heart Tattoo

Lurlene McDaniel

Pub Date: July 24, 2012

Rating: PG

Coffee Beans: 3.5

Spoilers: Nope

Favorite Line:
Girls clustered like a bouquet of spring flowers to admire the pearl. (pg 81, ebook)

Disclaimer: I received this ARC free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for this honest review.


 
Publisher's Summary:

At 7:45 a.m. on the day before Thanksgiving break, a bomb goes off at Edison High. Nine people die instantly. Fifteen are critically injured. Twenty-two suffer less severe injuries. And one is blinded. Those who survive, struggle to cope with the loss and destruction. All must find new meaning for their lives as a result of something they may never understand.

My Review:

An inspirational YA novel about the aftermath of a school bombing, Red Heart Tattoo is a story that follows the lives of a handful of high school students in the months leading up to the disaster and how they heal and cope after the catastrophe.

I didn't know when it was an inspirational novel when I started reading it. By now, you all know how I choose books: Cool cover? Check. Promising synopsis? Check. Count me in. I've been on a contemporary kick right now, so this was a good candidate. The more I got into it, the stronger my hunch became that that's exactly what this was. Not that that's a bad thing at all. Then, in the "about the author" section, it was confirmed.

Why did I think this was an inspirational novel? Let me count the ways.

1. There was little kissing (despite the high school setting)
   
2. The main couple made it plain to each other and to the reader they had ground rules that they weren't planning on doing the dirty and their rules about not spending too much alone time together
   
3. The writing wasn't quite at the level of excellence I'm used to
   

Moving on…sort of. The writing. I liked the plot and storyline. The characters were somewhat run of the mill, though. I liked that the story was told from several points of view, giving us a deeper look into the characters that we otherwise wouldn't have gotten (although, there was a lot of head hopping in the same scene, so at times it was confusing). The writing was okay, which supports my long held suspicion that writing doesn't necessarily have to be superb to be published; it only has to be fairly decent…as long as the premise is unique and fresh. Which I felt this one. I kept thinking throughout the book, "She's so close, I can feel that this isn't quite there." It certainly didn't stand up to some of the brilliantly written books I've had the pleasure of reading lately. I got the feeling it's aimed more towards the younger age range of YA.



I thought the way she covered the tragedy at the school was good, focusing on the individuals and how they were effected emotionally as well as physically; how they survived and got through it; and how they went on with their lives. In the end, I enjoyed the book. I read it in an afternoon—only took me about 4 or so hours to read it, so it's an easy, not too deep (about 6 ft or so) book.



Give it a shot. You may enjoy it or think of someone who would really enjoy it.



Happy reading, my friends!

Lincoln’s Alternate History is Entertaining and Educational…Sort of

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Seth Grahame-Smith
Alternate Historical Paranormal
PG-13 (Gore, some of which made me cringe. Well done.)
4.5 Coffee Beans
Any man who has seen the face of death knows better than to seek him out a second time. (pg 59, ebook) I have no more fear of hell, for I have this day seen it with my own eyes. (pg 268, ebook) Let us pray now for the future dead. Though we do not yet know their names, we know that there shall be far too many of them. (pg 269, ebook)
Publisher's Summary:
Indiana, 1818. Moonlight falls through the dense woods that surround a one-room cabin, where a nine-year-old Abraham Lincoln kneels at his suffering mother's bedside. She's been stricken with something the old-timers call "Milk Sickness."

"My baby boy..." she whispers before dying.

Only later will the grieving Abe learn that his mother's fatal affliction was actually the work of a vampire.

When the truth becomes known to young Lincoln, he writes in his journal, "henceforth my life shall be one of rigorous study and devotion. I shall become a master of mind and body. And this mastery shall have but one purpose..." Gifted with his legendary height, strength, and skill with an ax, Abe sets out on a path of vengeance that will lead him all the way to the White House.

While Abraham Lincoln is widely lauded for saving a Union and freeing millions of slaves, his valiant fight against the forces of the undead has remained in the shadows for hundreds of years. That is, until Seth Grahame-Smith stumbled upon The Secret Journal of Abraham Lincoln, and became the first living person to lay eyes on it in more than 140 years.

Using the journal as his guide and writing in the grand biographical style of Doris Kearns Goodwin and David McCullough, Seth has reconstructed the true life story of our greatest president for the first time-all while revealing the hidden history behind the Civil War and uncovering the role vampires played in the birth, growth, and near-death of our nation.

My Review:
I'll admit, I read this book because the movie was coming out and I was eager to start the Book Addicts first Book-2-Movie Night. So, I started reading it. Though I have a confession: Had I recognized that it was written the same author who wrote Pride, Prejudice & Zombies, I probably wouldn't have picked it up.
But this book stands apart from the other's he's written. This one, in my opinion, is so much better than the others. Abe Lincoln: Vamp Hunter is a LOOOONG book. It's a heavy 400 pages. The reason why is because it's basically a biography. Now, I haven't done any in-depth research on how ____ wrote this book, and all I know of Lincoln's history is the limited amount kids are taught in school, so I'm relying on my friend Tiff's word when she said she did research on the book and found that the biographical part of this (which is probably 85%) is all true.
Given that piece of gospel truth, I really enjoyed reading this book. Abe has always been one of my favorite presidents and I think he's one of the smartest, bravest men that ever led America. That being said, I loved every minute of this book. Learning about Lincoln's life, how he grew up, how he got started in politics and law, presidency, etc—it was all very interesting. I loved the way the author wrote parts himself and inserted already existing, historical texts to add to the believability of the novel.
As for the vampires…I thought the author did a brilliant job of subtly placing them in the plot and in Abe's life. Yes, at times it was comical, but as far as the story goes, it was all very believable. I won't say much because I don't want to spoil it for you if you're planning on reading the book (which I recommend you do), but the motives for Abe becoming president as well as fighting the Civil War were very different than what we've been taught in school.
Pick it up and read it, but don't expect to get through it quickly and without much thought.
Happy Reading, my friends!

Break it Down Now!

Due to the holiday and movie rentals done by Hubby and I, the recap for SYTYCD will be posted Friday morning. I know, my heart is broken, too. :(

But the movies were good :)

UPDATE: I completely forgot that there was no SYTYCD last night, so I'm in the clear! Until next week :)

--Me

Just Read...

Red Heart Tattoo by Lurlene McDaniel. A good quick, easy read; but could have delved a lot deeper.

Pub Date: July 24th, BR will be posted on July 10th due to publisher's guidelines. 

--Me

Book-2-Movie Night: Abe Lincoln: Vamp Hunter

If you read my book review on Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, you'd know I enjoyed it. Thought it was a pretty good fictionalized biography of a great man. So, I was eager to see the movie adaptation.

Yes, I know movies are never fully like the books they represent, and yes, I know they had to take 400 page book about a man's entire life and condense it down to a little under two hours. But, really? This is what Tim Burton came up with?

Where do I start? Oh, yeah, with advice. Save $10 and two hours and read the book.

I thought the movie would be like the book in that it would follow Lincoln's life and put in the vampire aspect for the motivation behind certain actions and wars. Not so, my friends, not so. There were very few lines of truth that the movie followed in its adaptation.

Where it strayed from the book:

• Nothing is mentioned of Abe's sister, his step mother or his step siblings. In fact, it's mentioned that his father dies fairly early in Abe's life
  
• When Abe gets married, only one son (Will) is ever mentioned or shown
  
• Abe's father comes across as a strong man, fighting for what's right, where as in the book (and in history, I believe), it's common knowledge that Abe's father did as little as possible, beyond making sure his family survived
  
• In turn, Abe is portrayed as a very weak man begging for the tutelage of Henry to know more about vampires and how to kill them (this is perhaps what irked me the most about the film. Abraham Lincoln—in my opinion—was one of the strongest and bravest men in America, so to see him begging when he didn't is a little distasteful. But I get the whole concept of showing his struggle with his hate, yada-yada-yada)
  
• Abe kinda really hates Henry, where as in the book, their relationship is one of mutual respect and a weird sort of admiration)
  
• In the movie, Abe doesn't know that Henry is a vamp until well into their relationship
  
• Henry is upset that Abe is running for political office. This point (and the one coming up about the Civil War) I think is the most crucial. In the book, the "good" band of vampires set Abe up to run for office as well as win and lose according to their grand plan of expelling the "bad" vampires. In the movie, Abe is running because he believes in what he's fighting for, and now that he's married, he wants nothing more to do with hunting vampires
  
• The Civil War. The whole power source for the "bad" vampires is the slave trade in the south. This lucrative business has been providing a no-questions-asked source of food. The "good" vampires believe that if they end slavery, the "good" vampires will be forced to leave America. Thus, the Civil War must be fought. It was their plan from the beginning and Abe was the key to getting it done
  
• In the book, Mary, Abe's wife, never knew that Abe used to hunt vamps. In the movie, she confesses to reading his journal and wants to help, diving in head first. Go Mary!
  
• The horse fight scene. Oh. My. Lanta. That was the most comical thing I have ever been a witness to. It took whatever integrity the film still had at that point and flushed it down the toilet.
  

There were some good things about the film. The cinematography was great and the special effects were pretty cool, too. It had more of a comic book feel to it (think 300) which was interesting given the movie, and there definitely wasn't as much gore as I thought there would be.

At the end of the movie, I told Michelle, "We have to come up with some rules or guidelines or something for future Book-2-Movie nights. Going to every single one could prove disastrous."

What about you guys? What'd you think about the movie? How'd you think it compared to the book?