General Announcement and a Poll

Hey, everyone! Just a couple quick things...

1. I'm away for most of this week...will be home early next week. Therefore, I won't be replying to comments. Posts will be coming out regularly, never fear, but I won't actually be here. :) Don't worry, I will try to catch up on comments once I'm home, so keep leaving them!

2. New poll! Which Jane Austen hero would you most like to meet in person (and/or possibly marry)?

• Mr. Darcy (P&P)
• Edward Ferrars (S&S)
• Colonel Brandon (S&S)
• Captain Wentworth (Persuasion)
• Mr. Knightley (Emma)
• Henry Tilney (Northanger Abbey...which I need to read again)
• Edmund Bertram (Mansfield Park)

This silly blogger is only allowing me to put four people per poll, so there are two polls. I've opened it up to multiple answers, but try not to choose more than two. Have fun!

I'll look forward to seeing the results once I'm home!

Hobbit: Unexpected Journey -- Books

So y'all ought to know that the first Hobbit movie is coming out in just a few months...just less than two, now. There will be three movies total, coming in December 2012, December 2013, and June 2014. There are a number of Hobbit related products coming out soon that are very exciting! Some are related to the book, several to the movie. Please note: the list below is in absolutely no order -- utterly according to how I spaced the links when I first put them in. So! Ready for this? Here's my Hobbit wishlist/love-list. ;)

An A-Z of J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit": an Unendorsed, Colorful, and Critical Guide Celebrating the Movies by Sarah Oliver

Sounds like a fun and interesting movie handbook, full of strange and random facts! Can't wait to read it...hoping it's good!

Tolkien: the Hobbit: Official Calendar 2013

I need a Hobbit calendar for the year, and this may be the one I end up going to...we'll see. :) The pictures look like they'd be beautiful -- I know Alan Lee is an excellent artist from his drawings in Children of Hurin and concept art for Lord of the Rings movies. The Amazon reviews are mixed...but also mixed up. They seem to be about many different calendars, instead of just this one, so I'm not really sure how nice this one is.

The Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey Official Movie Guide by Brian Sibley

Gotta admit, this is what I'm most excited about! Hopefully this book will be as beautiful as the guides to Narnia, as opposed to the Brian Sibley guide to Lord of the Rings -- a disappointment. They say not to judge a book by its cover, but if this book is anything like its cover, it'll be wonderful! So excited about this one.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Visual Companion by Jude Fisher

If this book is full of pictures from the movie, along with just a few words, I'll be happy. Hope it lives up to my expectations!

2013 the Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Wall Calendar

There. I changed my mind. THIS is the calendar I want. Or can I have two? Cause I think I want two...anyway. This one looks amazing and I'm looking forward to it!

The Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey -- the World of Hobbits by Paddy Kempshall

While this isn't really a book that I'm considering buying, I think it looks like a book for someone who knows nothing about hobbits and is writing a paper about them. Though why someone would do that is beyond me. ANYWAY. Moving on.

The Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey Chronicles: Art and Design by Weta

Looks like a beautiful book! I'm sure it will be very interesting. 

The Art of the Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien by Tolkien, Wayne G. Hammond, and Christina Scull

I think this would be a delightful resource book, just for Tolkien fans! I would love to spend some time in it. 

Exploring J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit by Corey Olsen

Looks like a good book -- I'll read it someday. :)

This isn't all the books, though it's a fairly good sampling. I encourage you to poke around on Amazon and find some more! :) And if you find any exceptionally good ones, give me a holler -- I'd like to see them too!

Esther

Author: Ellen Gunderson Traylor

Genre: Life

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8.5

Type: Fiction

Number of pages: 206

Time period: Bible times

My overall opinion: I enjoyed it! Another interesting retelling. The ending…well, it was nice from a human perspective, but I highly doubt it’s historically accurate. Other than that – a good book.

Birthday: Viggo Mortensen

Viggo Mortensen

 

Birth: October 20, 1958

I’ve posted about him: http://austenitis.blogspot.com/search/label/Viggo%20Mortenson

It’s his 54th birthday!

You know him because – he was Aragorn in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings, and a wonderful Aragorn he was!

Artemis Fowl: the Eternity Code

 

Author: Eoin Colfer

Genre: Fantasy, adventure

Series: Artemis Fowl

Number in series: 3^rd

 

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8.5 (a high 8.5)

Type: Fiction

Number of pages: 309

Time period: Present

My overall opinion: Best Artemis Fowl book that I’ve read yet! I’ve come to have favorite characters. Can’t wait to read book 4! Mostly, just plain a fun book.

Cover Focus: Sixteen Brides

Sixteen Brides by Stephanie Grace Whitson

 

Book blurb from goodreads.com : “Sixteen Civil War widows living in St. Louis respond to a series of meetings conducted by a land speculator who lures them west by promising "prime homesteads" in a "booming community." Unbeknownst to them, the speculator's true motive is to find an excuse to bring women to the fledging community of Plum Grove, Nebraska, in hopes they will accept marriage proposals shortly after their arrival
Sparks fly when these unsuspecting widows meet the men who are waiting for them. These women are going to need all the courage and faith they can muster to survive these unwanted circumstances--especially when they begin to discover that none of them is exactly who she appears to be.”

Read my review: It was a great book and one I really enjoyed! http://austenitis.blogspot.com/2011/04/sixteen-brides.html

Why I like this cover: I think much of the draw of this book at first glance is the title. SIXTEEN brides? Wowza. But I do love the cover. All that green grass leading up to the immediate focal point – that big orange/yellow parasol held by the lady in the matching dress. My favorite color dress is the blue one, but I think that the black is my favorite style. A carpet bag and another parasol complete their accessories. As stated, this is a great book that I highly recommend!

The Shadow on the Quilt

 

Author: Stephanie Grace Whitson

Genre: Life

Series: Quilt Chronicles

Number in series: 2^nd

 

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 9

Type: Fiction

Number of pages: 319

Time period: 1800’s

My overall opinion: I found this book highly enjoyable! It was a touching story, one that was easy to empathize with. It had distinctly Christian elements, but wasn’t preachy, something that I appreciate. This is fiction at its best! It’s truly a beautiful story about the power of faith and love. Shadow on the Quilt is sure to touch your heart – it’s a book worth buying! I certainly won’t be getting rid of my copy. It’s an excellent story from a wonderful author! I admit…I totally empathized with Juliana, the heroine, even though many of the things she went through are things I’ve never experienced. I could still feel what she was feeling. Cass was a wonderful hero! This book fits well with Stephanie Grace Whitson’s other books…I give it two thumbs up, and recommend it for all Christian fiction lovers!

**I reviewed this book for the publisher, Barbour Books. I was not required to give a positive review, nor was I recompensed in any way for this review. The opinions expressed herein are my own. I received a free copy of the book, but nothing else.**

A Hobbit Devotional

Author: Ed Strauss

Genre: Devotional

Series: Well, of course, it fits right in with Hobbit, but it’s not part of a series

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8.5 (a high 8.5)

Type: Non-fiction (I suppose…yeah…)

Number of pages: 316

My overall opinion: I enjoyed it quite a lot! A good book. I was a little afraid when I first got it that I would find it too preachy – I don’t enjoy books like that. But it wasn’t too preachy, and the parallels were well thought out. There were plenty of quotes and paraphrases from The Hobbit. I think that anyone who’s a Hobbit fan will enjoy this book, even if you don’t usually read devotionals (I don’t). Contains 60 short chapters (readable in five minutes or so) – each chapter opens with a bit of Bilbo’s journey (or occasionally some history about the book) then neatly and smoothly segues into a connected devotional. I recommend it for any lover of Hobbit, especially Christians. It’s an excellent read.

**I reviewed this book for the publisher, Barbour Books. I was not required to give a positive review, nor was I recompensed in any way for this review. The opinions expressed herein are my own. I received a free copy of the book, but nothing else.**