A New Look & A New Kind of Post

I want to start by saying congratulations to Kristia who won my book in the giveaway that was held during my book blog tour. Thanks for your support, Kristia! And, thank you to all who participated. It was a lot of fun.

As you can see, I changed the look of my blog. It needed updating. It was therapeutic. As I learn more, I'll do more. I'm happy with this...for now. :-)

My book is under some...construction. When it's done, I'll explain what that means. But, for now, I wanted to share my thoughts on the movie The Host. I am a huge movie buff. I love movies---good movies, that is. But, of course, I also love to read, and I read The Host like many did when it came out, so I was looking forward to the release of the movie. I know this won't make many fans, but I wasn't thrilled with the cast of the Twilight series. Sorry. Kristen Stewart and Rob Pattinson just didn't do it for me.

However, I really liked the cast for The Host. The lead actress, Saoirse (pronounced sear-shuh) Ronan, wouldn't have been my first pick for Melanie, but she did a respectable job, and by the end, I really liked her. I thought Max Irons was spot on for Jared. I swear he was who I pictured when I read the book (and such a cutie). Jake Abel as Ian, and William Hurt as Jeb were also excellent picks in my opinion. I thought they portrayed their characters very well.

The movie itself clipped along well. I had a hard time engaging in the book, and it wasn't until about the eighth chapter that I really became immersed. But, the movie does a good job at trying to say all that needs to be said without dragging. Like most movies that are adaptations of books there were some changes, but I thought they hit the highlights the best they could with their time allotment.

All-in-all, I thought The Host was a good movie. My mother, sister and I were laughing as we walked out of the theater; we bet Saoirse didn't mind all her "on screen" kissing time. One girl + two hotties = one very lucky girl.

If you liked the book, or you like movies in general, I recommend seeing The Host. It's a fun getaway with a beautiful message.

P.S. For what it's worth, The Hobbit was exceptional, Safe Haven was a sweet story, and Jack the Giant Slayer (yes, I know, some of you may be rolling your eyes) was just good, clean fun. :-) I recommend them all.