Author: sokorra

A thirty-something Graphic Designer and writer who likes to blog about books, movies and History.
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Christmas Movies

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I have decided that its time for a list post.  This one is a list of my favorite Christmas movies.  Every year we are given more and more christmas movies to enjoy, and some are good, some are bad, and some are so bad they are good.

But I’ll just stick to my favorite five, in no particular order.

  • Borrowed Hearts

Borrowed Hearts is a 1997 CBS Christmas movie starring Roma Downey and Erik McCormick.  The premise of the movie is a bit cliche:  Sam Fields’ Buisness partner Dave lies to a potential investor that Sam has a family, so they need to hire one for a few days.  None of the actors work out, but in stumbles in Kathryn and her daughter Zoe, who seem to fit.  He convinces her to be his pretend wife for a few days, which due to Mr. Delcampo’s extended stay ends up staying over Christmas.  Its a cute movie, and has Hector Elizondo as DeCampo.

(I would put a clip here, but alas most of the clips on Youtube appear to be either the complete film or another film all together.

  • White Christmas

So here’s my traditional movie on the list.  I grew up watching this movie.  Even though its a little oddball (Its a part musical, so its not suprising) its a fun movie to watch.  Plus I love Danny Kaye, and Rosemary Clooney has a wonderful voice to listen to.  There are two main plots to this story. Phil and Judy want to live their own lives, so they push Bob and Betty together an in attempt to get the two to focus on something else for awhile.  Except it backfires when Betty gets some misunderstood gossip from the General’s personal assistant about Plot #2.  That plot involves Bob and Phil trying to pull together a show and a special reunion of their war buddies to aid their favorite commanding officer whose hotel in Vermont is not doing as well as he would hope.

Its also Irving Berlin Music which shows up in a lot of musicals of the time.   And then there is this scene:

  • Love Actually

This is a lovely assembly movie. It begot a bunch of less awesome assembly holiday based movies, but I can forgive it.  For one it has an awesome cast including Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Andrew Lincoln, Martin Freeman, Emma Thompson, Laura Linney and many many more.  Although some of the various plots are a bit annoying (Poor Andrew Lincoln for example plays a creepy best friend in love with Best friend’s wife) the overall film is cute and the various examples of love and relationships are splendid.

  • Nightmare before Christmas

This is a Christmas movie AND a Halloween movie.  The premise of the movie is that Jack, the king of Halloweentown, finds himself bored with his life.  It never seems to change.  One day while walking his ghost-dog, he stumbles into Christmas Town and Suddenly is awash with new things to do.  He’s going to do christmas up in style.

Except things don’t go as planned, because its hard to explain Christmas to citizens who live Halloween.  This is my favorite Tim Burton film.

  • The Holiday

Another cute movie (my big requirement for a christmas movie is it be cute) where two woman switch places for a vacation before Christmas to Take a break from some crappy life happenings.  My favorite plot line of the move is the one for Kate Winslet, who not only finds happiness, but also finds her own personal strength and ‘gumption’ through friendship with her temporary neighbors.  Sure, its ultimately a romance, but the friendship is one of the highlights of the movie.

Posted in book reviews, bookit

Bookit Review: Her Hopes and Dreams

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Title: Her Hopes and Dreams
Author:  Terri Osburn
Publication: November 15, 2016  (Kindle/Kindle Unlimted Edition)
Grade: B-

Please note:  This novel contains references to PTSD and other trauma-induced psychological issues  (One character has PTSD from military related events, another from being abused by their spouse).  If you feel triggered by this, please skip this book.  

I was a bit underwhelmed by this addition to the series.  Carrie Farmer’s story has been a back plot along most of the first three books.  In the first book we are introduced to her as Spencer’s ex-wife, who is being abused by her second husband.  In the second and third books she is adjusting to being a widow, a single mother, and being free from abuse.  In the last book in particular, she starts to focus on helping others who are in similar situation by creating a shelter for the area with Haleigh and her mother.

In this book, we get her point of view and see how she is adjusting.  She seems to have settled into her life, but she is determined, sometimes against her own safety, to help other women.   She meets her next door neighbor, Nathan, who happens to be an old childhood friend of her late husband.  They get off to an awkward start due to Nate not knowing what had gone on while he had been away at war.  There is also the aspect that both of them have trauma-induced psychological issues that they have to deal with.

The story is enjoyable, although it seems at times to be overly optimistic.  I do like the fact that Ms Osburn brings up the idea that people with PTSD and other trauma-induced psychological disorders can find a happy life.  The idea that it can be relived by finding “the one” seems a little misleading because it puts a lot of pressure on the significant other, but considering this is a romance novel, and the concept that love heals everything is a trope we all tend to find/write into these books.

There is a fifth book in this series, but it won’t be released till May 2017, so look for it under the ‘bookit 2017’ tag on this blog or the Terri Osburn tag.

 

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Bookit Review: My One & Only

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Title: My One & Only
Author: Terri Osburn
Publication: May 17, 2016 (Kindle Edition/Unlimited Edition)
Grade:  B

This is the third book in Ms Osburn’s Ardent Springs Series, and I reviewed the first two books earlier when I was doing my reviews on Bubblews.  Sadly since that website is down I can’t link back to those reviews, but I enjoyed the first two books and was happy to see that she had two more books (and one in the works) for this series.

In this particular one, we go to one of my favorite romance novel cliches – old friends who finally notice one another as something more than friends.  Although in this case its more they notice they might be able to take the chance more than just notice one another.   It also has a focus on a few issues.  Haleigh, the main female character, is a recovering alcoholic with relationship issues with her mother, Meredith, who has some issues of her own to overcome over the course of this novel.  Abby, the sister of Cooper (the main male character in this novel) is dealing with grief after the death of her husband and it affects the various characters in different way.  And a side plot involving a young mother trying to find her own family with the help of Haleigh, Copper and Abby and their Ardent Springs friends.

This book was enjoyable.  My only issue was the fact that sometimes the issues seemed circular.  Instead of movie along, it just repeated itself. Which I suppose, given the obstacles involved is just the way things work but sometimes It felt like we had just had this scene already.  That is why I gave it a B.   It also made Haleigh have objections to various things and then have her not explain why or it disappears later in the novel and nothing is said as to why she changed her mind.

My next bookit review is the fourth book in this series, Her Hope and Dreams which should be posted on Wednesday.  I am looking forward to the yet unpublished 5th book, which is Abby’s story, which may fill in some of the blanks of this story.

 

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Bookit Review: Second Impressions

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Title:  Second Impressions
Author: Amy George
Publication Date:  August 10, 2016 (Kindle Unlimited version)
Grade: C

The concept of Second Impressions is an interesting one.  In this, Darcy ends up holding up the engagement to Anne Darcy, and Elizabeth travels to America to visit some family there in an attempt to get over her heartbreak.

A few years later she returns to help her sister who’s expecting a baby and she is reunited with a depressed Darcy whose wife has died.  SHe and Darcy have to reintroduce themselves with who they are now.

The issue however, is that the book doesn’t really live up to the concept. In fact, the story seems to be almost more about Elizabeth’s gutsy futuristic cousin Emmeline Poston.   There is her awkward romance with John Dalton, and the side plot that really only shows up in the last third of the book where an Ex of Emmeline’s shows up and decides to kidnap her at Elizabeth’s wedding.

The positives of this book include an expansion of character with Charles Bingley, Jane, and Kitty.  They start to have more of a personality then in Austen’s original novel.  Although Jane seems more outgoing then she really was in the original material.

I feel like there are two novels in here, just both didn’t have enough so she threw them together and they didn’t meld as well as perhaps the Author hoped.

Although it should be noted that I didn’t realise it was a novella (despite that being listed on the cover) till I was finished with it.

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Bookit Review: Cinder & Ella

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Title:  Cinder & Ella /  Say Car for Me:  Bonus Brian POV scene (C&E 1.5)
Author: Kelly Oram
Publication Date:  Cinder & Ella:  October 1, 2014 (Kindle Unlimited Version)  Bonus Scene: Kelly Oram website, 2016)
Grade: B-

As is the case with many of the books I’ve been getting off Kindle Unlimited they aren’t the best books.  They won’t be put on my re-readable shelf.  I may persue sequels, as I am doing with this one, but not strongly.

Cinder & Ella as you can imagine was inspired by Cinderella. The book gets credit for making an interesting reason why things end up in the arc that does follow the traditional cinderella story.   Its the other parts where it goes off the rails.

Ella, the main character, is a 19 year old girl who was in a car accident and has severe burns that left scaring over her body.  She is somehow declared incompetent and forced to live with the father that abandoned her when she was a child.  Her step-mom and siblings are traditionally insensitive and in some cases outright cruel.

The “Prince” in this story is the titular “Cinder” who is in fact actor Brian Oliver.  The two of them haven’t met, haven’t even given their real names and have fallen for each other.  Brian is currently starring in the movie adaption to their favorite book (where their nicknames come from, although hers has the benefit of being her real name).

The issues with this book is that none of the characters feel particularly sympathetic.  Some are outright caricatures of stereotypes.  The story keeps you reading long enough but I can’t say I stuck around for any of the characters.  I’m hoping that the full length sequel that is coming out soon will improve on that, give characters depth.

The Author did recently publish a reverse POV of a pivotal scene as a anniversary celebration for the two year anniversary of the book’s original publication.  It doesn’t really make me like any of the characters more.  Brian and Kaylee don’t look too good in it, honestly.

I am tenatively giving the full length sequel a chance when it comes out, and the Author as well.  Hopefully they will both improve my expectations.

 

 

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General Update

Posted on by sokorra

For those of you who follow me regularly, you may have noticed large amount of time between posts.  This is for a couple of reasons.  November was an very busy month for me, and “real” life had to get prioritized.  There was Nano, which I had meant to write four posts about, one a week, but ended up doing none of that.  There was also the fact that early last month I got a new nephew, who arrived a month early.  So part of my time was helping out my sister while she was in the hospital by watching my older neice.

But now its December, and I’m hoping to get back on track with a few of the things I want to do, one of which is to post more regularly on this blog.  I’ve started a Posting schedule in order to help me track my posting so I know what I’ve already posted, and what I need to post.  This way I don’t forget to finish post series, like the one on the constitution I was doing prior to the election.

Primarily the posts on this blog tend to be about either history topics or book reviews, with Writing in third.  It’s going to continue that way.   There is going to be a lot of book reviews in the near future as I try to catch up and meet my bookit goal of 52  (I’m at 39 really, though Good reads will tell you I’m at 40).  I believe I did a post like this in October, so its basically a recommit.

This a part of my plan to do my new Years resolutions now, instead of waiting for January.  In January I can recommit to my goals for the year.  And unlike the last time, hopefully I’ll actually keep to them.

So thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy the posts to come.

 

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Bookit Review: Epic Fail

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Title: Epic Fail
Author: Claire LaZebnik
Publication Date: August 2, 2011. (Kindle version)
Grade: B-

Claire  LaZebnik has a series of novels that take the general plots of Jane Austen novels and makes modern versions of them.  In the case of Epic Fail she took Pride and Prejudice.  And in a sense, failed herself.

Now the book itself wasn’t horrible.  Let’s start with that.  It was a nice novel for the pre-teen set who like a little romance with their stories.  It doesn’t have overdone love scenes and for the most part is PG.  The only scene where it might be higher is where they discuss a possible sexual assault on a minor character.  I wouldn’t dissuade anyone from reading Epic Fail.  I just wouldn’t be “Oh, you definitely should!” should anyone ask me.

This year I’ve been reading alot of Jane Austen adaptions and variations.  Some are good, most seem to fail the mark in some way, and this one is no different.  Derek and Elise, the modern versions of Darcy and Elizabeth, don’t really feel like they have any connection to their 19th century counterparts.  Some of the structure of the original novel can be seen, but for the most part, I would say this was more an inspired by then a true modernization.   The characters seem to fill the slots but don’t really have much of the rest of it.  I do however like that this book took Kitty Bennet/Kitty Benton and gave her a personality.

So I’m going to give it a B-.  It’s a nice rainy day read, easy to digest and nothing that will make you want to throw the book out the window.  However, it’s not Jane Austen really.

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The Trump Problem

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It’s hard to find inside myself the ability to respect Donald Trump.  I respect the office he has now won, but not him although I will be respectful.  There are many reasons why I don’t find it easy to respect him, some of which I can only explain by saying that he just gives me a bad feeling, that’s all.  But others are a bit more clear-cut then that.

  1.  He promotes racism
  2. He actively taunts other countries to try to attack us
  3. He lies about things easily checked
  4. He promotes violence towards those who are different
  5. He mocks the disabled
  6. He generalizes in his opinions of groups of people and then uses those generations to set policy.
  7. He has no respect for women.  He’s even admitted this.  I’d go as far as to say he is misogynistic.
  8. He has little respect for anyone outside himself, including his own children.
  9.  He promotes hatred towards immigrants and minorities.
  10. He is incredibly easy to taunt into a reaction, and does not seem to have a diplomatic bone in his body.

Now in the end, he’s still going to be president.  However I ask people to deal with the Trump problem (and yes, it is a problem) by getting involved.  Make sure you vote in your local elections even when its not a presidential election year. Contact your representatives both locally and nationally.  Keep an active participation in your government.  Hold Donald Trump to higher standards and demand he meets them as they are the bare minimum of being President.

If you see people using Trump’s election as validation of their hateful behavior, stand up against it.  Show your fellow Americans that you see them, and don’t stand for what is happening to them.  Don’t share racist/ablest jokes on Facebook.  When someone decides that Trump’s so-called “locker room” talk is acceptable, tell them it is not.

Don’t let the Trump Problem become something that stands for us as a Nation.  Show that despite Trump being President, we aren’t going to stand for that kind of behavior in our citizens.  We are better than that.  This is America, and we should treat people better then Donald Trump treats people.

There are already instances of violence attributed to people using Trump’s win as an excuse.  Clearly they see Trump’s win as some sort of nod that their behavior is socially acceptable now.  Make sure they know it isn’t.  I don’t blame Trump for these actions, but his behavior makes these people feel their behavior is acceptable.  They see it as vaildation. They see it as someone saying “Yeah, you are right, that is how you treat someone!”

Don’t become part of the Trump Problem.

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Bookit Review: A Soft Place to Fall

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Title:  A Soft Place to Fall (Shelter Rock Cove #1)
Author: Barbara Bretton
Publication Date: April 14, 2012 (Kindle Unlimited; Original Publication 2001)
My Grade: C

This is the third book and the second series I’ve read by Barbara Bretton.  There seems to be a pattern to her book duos wherein the first book in the series is most often rabid in timeline and weaker in story while I enjoy the second book better.  They seem more involved, more depth. Continue reading “Bookit Review: A Soft Place to Fall” →